How to Teach Webcraft and Programming to Free-Range Students – Week Two Response

This is the second week of my p2pu.org course.  From last weeks responses, it became obvious that while the term “free-range students”* refers to non-traditional learners, it can apply to a variety of different types of students in different scenarios including online, mini classes, project-based courses and more.  My challenge this week is to determine what kind of free-range learner I am serving.  Since I am not officially a teacher, I realized that the first step is to figure out where in my life I am assisting free-range students to learn.

My Role

I manage a computer lab that is aimed at teaching technical skills to undergraduate women on campus.  The students we serve spend a lot of time teaching themselves and each other technical skills that they haven’t had the opportunities to learn in their classes.  I want to be able to more effectively support their learning.  Also, I also serve as a mentor to help get middle school students excited about technology careers.  In this role, I want to be able to show how programming is accessible and fun. Finally, I want to give helpful information and encouragement to my friends and colleagues who are trying to learn about web design or programming.

My Learners

I realized while writing this blog, that I have similar types of learners across each role that I play.  I’ve identified three in particular, including newbies, bridge builders, and the jack-of-all-trades.  User interface designers often write up stories about fictional characters who represent their users in an attempt to better understand them.   Using this method, I will describe three people who would fall into these categories of learners.  Also, having spent some of my life in each one of these learning states, I explain how I feel it is best to assist each learner in their quest for knowledge.

Newbies

Newbies come in from all ages and backgrounds.  They often have had limited exposure to technology so far, and are mostly lacking preconceptions about it.  They often they wish knew more about technology, but do not know where to start.

To assist a newbie, it is good to be patient and try not to alienate them with technical terms advanced concepts.  Be there for them when they have a question, and try not to pass along your own technological frustrations to them.

Bay B. Newb hasn’t spent a lot of time with computers yet.  She likes to watch other people on the computer, and sometimes they even make it play movies for her.  Bay wishes she knew how to make the computer do things.  All she knows is that people start pushing on the keyboard thing and cool things start happening.  Sometimes, she tries her luck at using the computer, but it doesn’t usually go well.  Someday she hopes to use the computer to make her own movies, but for now she just wants to learn how to operate the keyboard.

Bridge Builders

Bridge builders are people who work in a non-technical field, but feel that technology could make their lives easier.  They want to learn about technology in a way that will make them better at their primary job.  They are often the first ones on their teams to start implementing technology into their role, and so they face many challenges.  However, their hard work paves the way for others in their organization and/or field to follow.

Bridge builders may share characteristics with both the newbie and the jack-of-all-trades.  To assist them, it’s best to help them find the exact resources they will need to accomplish their task.  Be patient and answer any questions they may have about technology that is new to them and help them discover the wide array of online resources available to them to see what has already been done.

Bobby Bridges likes to look for novel new ways to connect previously unconnected territory.  He is often the first person to try something if it might help him in that goal.  He recently heard about how technology can help him do things more efficiently and he has decided to start learning more about it.  At first it seems like a daunting challenge, as there are very few resources for him to turn to for help and using technology requires much hands on effort and creative thinking.  His friends sometimes tell him he should just stick to the old ways of doing things.   But, Bobby knows that if he sticks with it, he will be able to accomplish exciting things.

Jack-of-all-Trades

The jack-of-all-trades already knows something about everything.  Technology can be both a blessing and a curse in that it is constantly providing the jack-of-all-trades with new things to learn and keep up on.  They usually can pick up on new topics quickly, but may not dig deep into the subject.  Because the Jack-of-all-trades already know a lot of things, and it is hard to keep up on everything, they may revert to less efficient methods of doing things using information they already know.

To assist a jack-of-all-trades, try to instill upon them the importance of the deeper and more challenging material.  Also, it is good to provide reminders of the topic and what has been learned to encourage the jack-of-all-trades to return to the topic and learn it more thoroughly.

Jaqueline O. Valtrades is interested in a lot of things.  She loves learning and doing things herself.  She is often found trying to read and do other things at the same time using her many different devices.  Often when learning a new topic, she will read the Wikipedia page and do a couple Google searches to feel proficient.  She rarely spends a lot of time on any one topic.  She doesn’t feel that this is much of an impediment for her, but sometimes recognizes that she might not always be accomplishing things in the most effective manner.

* P2PU Course organizer Greg Wilson stated that he coined the term “free-range” so that traditional lecture-in-classroom learners could be referred to as as “battery-farmed students.”

Over the next few weeks, I will be participating in course on P2PU called “How to Teach Webcraft and Programming to Free-Range Students.”  This course explores the challenges faced by “free-range” students, best practices from traditional classrooms and how they translate to other types of learners.

The first activity for this course was to read a blog post by Greg Wilson at Software Carpentry.  Here, Greg explores the recommendations made by the Institute of Educational Science in “Organizing Instruction and Study to Improve Student Learning.”  These recommendations present many ideas that the facilitators of non-traditional spaces would do well to strive for.  However, there are obstacles.   For example, many of the recommendations require students to revisit material, which is difficult to enforce in an online setting.  Additionally, assessment can only practically be done through basic drill exercises, which can limit the teacher’s ability to know how the student is doing overall.

Below is a list of the recommendations provided by the IES, and my thoughts as both a learner and facilitator in non-traditional classroom settings.

1. Space learning over time.

   This could be difficult in a free-range setting, since students are dropping in to pick up some new skills quickly and then move onto the next thing.  It is left up to them to return at a later time and review the skills.  However, there may be ways to remind the student about the topic from time to time using RSS feeds, newsletters or social media.  I have noticed that websites aimed at helping people learn new life skills often will send out newsletters or post blog posts that cover similar topics and often have reminders about things you may have learned before.

2. Interleave worked example solutions with problem-solving exercises.

   Again, this requires that the student take the time to read through the worked examples and problem-solving exercises in order.  You might be able to offer the examples and exercises in this order, but there is no guarantee that the student will actually take the time to complete the exercises.

3. Combine graphics with verbal descriptions.

   On the Software Carpentry blog post, it was brought up that research has shown that combining visuals, text and audio can actually lower learning because it requires the brain to process two data streams (linguistic and visual) at the same time.  Most commonly when trying to learn something new, I have used some sort of book, blog post or tutorial text with images and text captions and/or video.  As a learner, I tend to prefer text as I can read through it more efficiently than sitting and watching a video.  However, when the content is more difficult, I find that well-made videos with helpful visuals can help me understand the content better.

4. Connect and integrate abstract and concrete representations of concepts.

   This seems fairly straight forward.  Providing concrete examples that a student can relate to will help them to understand the more abstract concept.  For example, geometry can be made more understandable by describing the principles using blocks that the students can interact with.

5. Use quizzing to promote learning.

   This is especially difficult to do in a free-range setting.  Quizzes can be provided, but it is often up to the student to make use of them.

6. Help students allocate study time efficiently.

   This also requires the student to choose to follow the recommendation.  In a free-range setting, the student may be reminded of good study habits, but it’s up to them to follow them.  I haven’t seen any good solutions for ensuring that students follow the suggestion.

7. Ask deep explanatory questions.

   Again, deep explanatory questions may be provided, but it is usually up to the student to take the time to make use of them.

Many of these recommendations provide challenges because there is no structured way of ensuring that the student will take the time to implement them.  To encourage good habits, the facilitator may need to offer reminders and incentives to complete quizzes, answer deep questions, study effectively and space the learning over time.  However, in the end, the student will get as much out of the learning process as they are willing to put into it.