As I have worked my way through the 3240 class on Media, I have pondered greatly on how I could incorporate more technology into my classroom given our college's strict stance on technology in the classroom (mostly due to copyright material and legal obligation to maintaining outside resource validity).

In the 3220 course, we learn about the 10-minute mini lesson and present 3 lessons each. Following each lesson that you teach, you discuss how the lesson went with your instructor and he gives his feedback. Then your classmates also give their feedback. It is a great way to see through the eyes of your students how well you completed your set objective.

One of the best things about preparing a mini lesson like this is that any type of Web 2.0 tool that is introduced in 3240 could be used to enhance virtually any mini lesson.The next best thing about this, is that the time commitment is only for the first creation of the lesson, as the material can then be used repeatedly, freeing up a great deal of instructor time in the future. Adding in web 2.0 tools adds more depth to the lesson by introducing a variety of ways to teach the objective, moving away from traditional lecture-based instruction.

it is also a great way to learn time management as the lesson so are only 10 minutes, you become much more aware of where and how you spend your time. 

Im glad I got to take 3240 before 3220 as I was primed to open my scope of possibilities within the mini lessons.

Attribution: 10 by Geralt  on https://pixabay.com/en/background-windows-10-ten-720224/ CC0 Public Domain

A number of years ago, I ran across a quotation that addressed providing a personal opinion to another person using 'brutal honesty, attributed to Dr. Robert Anthony. At the time, back in the 80's, it seemed that being harsh and straight-to-the-point was considered the best way to communicate resulting with many people giving their 'brutally honest' criticism of someone.

I remember experiencing the stab of people being "honest", with brutality, and this quote long resonated with me. When providing someone with feedback, there is NEVER a need to be brutal about it. You can be honest in critiquing another or their work, but there is absolutely never a need to be brutal.

Leadership does not require brutality to be successful. As I have worked through the years in education, I have always kept this in mind. What is the real purpose of providing someone with feedback? To assist them in making improvements in areas that they might not be able to see themselves. We are their second set of eyes, or hands, or taste buds. We provide them feedback so they know better where improvements, adjustments, or the tiniest of tweaks can be made to be more successful. We as instructors, friends, peers, or family, must not be there to destroy or belittle anyone nor their efforts towards taking chances, growth, and success.

Because, really, how is brutality helpful? Simply, it isn't. It provides the giver of the feedback with a perverse sense of power by bringing someone else down. It gives the provider of this negativity an undeserving feeling of authenticity. It strengthens the bully's own feelings of superiority, but only through the diminishment of another's.

To quote the late U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower,
“You don’t lead by hitting people over the head—that’s assault, not leadership.”

https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Dwight_D._Eisenhower
Photo of HonestyTrustRespect by Zaneology on Flickr

There are many studies out there that tout the virtues of caring instructors, and the importance of this to student success. I recently read an article on Faculty Focus by Maryellen Weimer, PhD (Nov 11, 2015) that once again highlights the need for students to know that they are not just a number. She summarizes the studies she has reviewed by saying, "The interactions students have with their teachers and the kind of relationships that teachers establish with students profoundly affect students' learning experiences."

But what if you don't care about your students?

We have all had "that" student who is difficult in the classroom, whether it is because the students shows such disrespect to us as their instructor or the course as a whole, or the way they treat and interact with other students. What then? Can we fake our caring, like a good actor on the big screen? Even if you could, for a while, could you continue to fake it for the duration of your course, and should you?

You should, in my humble opinion. Perhaps not fake it, but make an effort to not  disconnect from your students' needs, regardless of how they accept your concern and caring for them. As with parenting or teaching students in the elementary and secondary school system, often the ones that are the hardest to reach and who reject us the most are the ones who NEED us and our concern the most. By remaining calm and assertive (yes, that is from Cesar Milan), and not wavering from what we envision for our students and classroom, we will be able to make a difference even to the most unreceptive of students. Even if they don't show it, I think they will appreciate our willingness to not give up on them if nothing else. I have witnessed it countless times over the course of my years of teaching and I know it matters.

"Be the change that you wish to see in the world." Mahatma Ghandi

Weimer, M. (2015, November 11). Caring About Students Matters. Retrieved November 11, 2015, from http://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/teaching-professor-blog/caring-about-students-matters/

The protection of intellectual property is a big concern with materials that are found online. Videos, photos, and published material are often used, and abused, despite most everything being covered by copyright laws. Some of this happens intentionally, where plagiarism and downright theft of material is committed almost every minute of every hour, and other times it is done innocently by people simply not understanding the rules of copyright an d fair use.

Creative Commons licensing provides the public to use material with various levels of restrictions. It can be confusing to someone new to the concept of sharing information freely, so I found an info graphic that explains what each of the different licenses mean, as shown below:

Source: http://www2.cidde.pitt.edu/sites/default/files/creativecommons.png

So now that we know what it is, where can we find material that is free to use? Creative Commons makes that easy for us through their own search engine called Creative Commons Search.  Simply go to the link and type into the search bar what you are looking for.

There are a number of sites in which to search, including Google and Flickr to name a few. This search engine will provide you media which you can use under the above stated licenses, enabling you to safely add photos or videos to your blog (for example) without needing to worry about copyright infringement. Just be sure to properly source your work to give credit, where credit is due!

For our third assignment, I chose to complete an info graphic for a number of reasons. First of all, it is something that I had never attempted to do before so I knew I was going to have a steep learning curve, which typically inspires me to try to go above and beyond what is expected of me. I think I accomplished that goal this time as well!

Also, I wanted to create something for my workplace that would be put to good use. As the president of my college was the recipient of more than 20 units of blood (equivalent to 2.5 times her normal blood volume) when she hemorrhaged 10 day postpartum, and as our college's focus is bringing international students up to par with Canadian nurses before they are able to enter the workforce, educating them on the importance of donating blood and acquainting them with Canadian Blood Services is something special to all of us working at the college. 

I am already planning further info graphics for both my classroom and for public areas within the college. I'm very excited!