This Week's
Hot Topic

Keeping Cool in Instructional Technology
by Knowing about Hot Topics

Consider this scenario:
You (a firefighter) get your first job as a firefighter at a local station.  Your first day on the job, you walk into the firehouse kitchen just as lunch is being served.  The cook (one of your new fellow firefighters) is just announcing,  "Come and get your 3-Alarm Chili!!" After introducing yourself, you sit down at the table with the other crew members and say to the cook, "So, do you call it 3-alarm chili because you made it in the firehouse? Is that firehouse lingo?" Everyone simply stares at you....

Although this scenario is not likely to happen to many firefighters as "cool" as you (because you know it is called 3-alarm chili because it is HOT and not simply because it was made in the firehouse), the world of Instructional Technology (even if you are in it) can make you feel dumb quick.  Whether it be because you don't know the latest gadget that has come out; you can't get your scanner to work; you have no clue what instructional design means; you've never heard of SCORM, RLO, CBT, CBL, PBL, PDA, FTP, or ADL much less know what they stand for; it can be a bit embarrassing to say "I'm going to be an Educational Leader in IT in my school," but not be able to answer all the questions people automatically think you are supposed to somehow know just because you have taken a course or two:-) Or it can simply be frustrating and confusing to be around such language (as many are in today's work environment) and not be able to join or at least follow the conversation.

If you tell someone you are taking courses in IT, some people will misunderstand what Instructional Technology means and think your are a computer programmer or network specialist that can solve all their woes. Others will be in occupations in which they have the most cutting edge technology available as it comes out (Oh to be in one of those:-) and will strike up a conversation about the latest and greatest.  Others will simply be news watchers who here the latest technology news on CNN or MSNBC and want to strike up a conversation about it with you.  Others will be parents who hear a foreign language coming from their children and are too embarrassed to ask them so they decide to ask you.  Just last weekend I was at a party when a couple asked me what I did.  When I told them they immediately asked, "Can you tell us what Cold Fusion is?" Once I answered this (with my minimal yet acceptable knowledge for them) numerous questions followed.  We spoke for at least an hour about their son and what he was involved in, etc.  They confessed they had asked him a few times to explain but did not really understand and did not want to keep asking (didn't want to get the rep as a pesky parent). I walked away from the conversation thinking, "I bet they think I am cool for being able to answer their questions." Well, not really, but I am sure there have been or will be instances in your past or future in which you will be called upon to answer some "techie" question and this week's hot topic is just for such a situation!

Whether you want to be cool or just not look too dumb in relation to topics in the field of instructional technology and technology in general (because many people will not differentiate the two) this week is for you.  There are, of course, many ways in which you can keep on top of the hot topics in IT, but this week we will be discussing 3 ways.  First, rely on others in the field.  Build a network of friends within the field or who simply "know stuff" and use them wisely as a resource.  With the different forms of communication we now have available, networking with colleagues is a breeze. 

Second, read current technology news.  This focuses on web sites that are "up-to-the-minute." You may also get such news from watching current technology news on CNN but you only get the highlights there - online you get the in-depth reports.  Reading research journals is a frequently recommended source of current issues in a field of study.  However, quite frankly, by the time it makes it into a print publication, the study may be 2 years old (not quite current if you ask me).  There is a time and place for reading research journals so don't go tell someone Dr. Curda said research or research journals are useless.  My point this week, however, is to keep you up with the latest and greatest technology news...to keep you cool! We will save the research stuff for later in the semester:-)

Third, utilize online tutorials.  Some of you may be completely amazed at the step-by-step tutorials available online and many free that can quickly teach you what you need to know.  In fact, as I was designing this course I went through 2 tutorials on Java applets to build part of the site.  Before that, I had not used Java at all.  I knew what it was and what it could do but had not really needed it in the past.  I decided to get fancy and also update some of my skills so off to google.com I went looking for an online tutorial to help me. 

These 3 ways...networking, reading, and self-study...are what we will focus on this week to help you get and stay cool in the field of IT.

There are numerous ways to network with others in the field of Instructional Technology. 

One of the main ways is to join a discussion list (also called mailing lists or listservs) that focuses on the field in general or specific topics in which you are most interested.  You have already had practice joining a listserv for this course and subscribing to others usually follows the same basic procedure. 

Another way is to participate in a learning community or community of practice.  For our purposes we are going to focus on such communities online. Many online communities have resources, tutorials, and other info available online for community members to use as needed.  Most also have discussion lists which you can join. 

The decision to simply visit an online community whenever you like versus joining their discussion list is an important one.  Some discussion lists are very active and will result in you receiving lots of email.  Some of the messages may pique your interests, others may not, but you receive it all.  I am on a few discussion lists but I try to limit how many so my box doesn't get too full and your emails do not get lost in the junk:-) The best advice I have in choosing is to join ones you think will be the most interesting and then see how active it is.  If it is too much or not interesting, simply unsubscribe (NOTE: Always keep your email that tells you how to do this so you do not look dumb when trying to signoff a listserv)

Another way (and one which you will become quite familiar with during this course) is to have a few buddies that are always willing to help you out in a jam or answer a question (no matter how silly).  These buddies may be near or far because with the communication tools available to you today you can communicate in real time with several communication tools without paying the long distance charges.  Two ways are using chat rooms and instant messaging.  We will be using both of these in this course. This week you will get set up for using these tools and also find at least one other person to partner with throughout this course.  You can choose your partner by reading the threads from last week and seeing who interests you, chatting with others in the chat sessions this week, or instant messaging another who is online at the same time you are.  For some of you this is the first of many courses you will take in the your master's degree program.  It is likely that many of you will see each other again in future courses.  To find a partner(s) now will benefit you as you continue throughout your program.  You and your partner(s) can serve as motivators, problem solvers, and other roles (some of which I am sure will be complaining about work, your courses, your instructors, etc.:-).

Drill

• Read Chapters 15 through 17  and Chapter 31 in your text this week. These provide you with background information related to this fire drill.
• Check out IT FORUM, an IT listserv. See what's available online and think about joining their listserv.
• Visit Asynchronous Learning Networks, a people network for anytime-anyplace learning.  They have online discussion forums using a new voice system called Wimba.  Check it out.
• Download AOL's Instant Messenger Program (Click on "Get Started" on the right side of the screen). Choose a screen name and start chatting!  Please send me your screen name so I can post it to the class list.  If you need assistance using AOL's instant messenger please follow the online instructions when downloading and use the help links along the left side of the download page. I will be on IM whenever I am logged on this week so try to catch me if you can.  My screen name is "firechief6344".
• Use the help within elearning.uwf.edu as necessary to access the chat room for our course.  If you can, make it to chat one of these times this week.  Or, email someone you are interested in partnering with and schedule a time to Chat or IM.  The chat sessions this week will mostly be about technology news on the web and any course related matter.  Chat time for me is:
  • Tuesday, January 20, 9:00 - 9:30 PM
• Finally, find 1 or 2 partners for this course.  These should be people you can rely on to problem solve together and troubleshoot with one another.

Keeping current in our field is not the easiest thing to do due to its ever-changing nature.  The following technology news sites are just a few web sites I would recommend.  The topics are updated frequently (many daily) and are not of the static nature of many informational web sites today that can become outdated quickly. Reading these are what will keep you on the cutting edge. 

Don't be afraid if you don't even understand many of the headlines...keep reading...find something that floats your boat (or feeds your flames :-).  You may know another site that you think is worthy of this list. Feel free to send it to me via email or share it with others via the listserv. Once you peruse these sites you will probably notice that the same information is available on different sites.  Thus, there is often little need for you to go to every site to keep current,  Find a site that you like - you may like the way it is arranged, the other links it has, the colors, etc. - and stick with it to keep current, but I would definitely bookmark all of them. 

Finally, you should also notice that each site has a slightly different focus, some are focused on education, others government, businesses, or just plain geeks:-).  Just because you are an educator does not mean you should just stick with the site that is for you.  Step out of your box every once in a while and see what others are doing and talking about.

• World Technology News
• Tech Web
• Washington Technology News
• MSNBC Technology
• CNN Technology
• CNN Education
• ZDNet
• Slash Dot: News for Nerds, Stuff that Matters
• Technology and Learning
• Syllabus Web
• Distance Educator
• ELearning Post
• Online Learning Daily

Drill

Explore all the Hot Technology News Sites,

• find 1 or 2 that you think will be most useful,
• find your own if you do not like any of the above

Post to the listserv the following information

• provide the url of the one or two you liked
• describe what you found as most useful and why,
• which one do you think you will read regularly?
• how will the site help you in your work setting / life?

Our last drill this week related to our hot topic covers online tutorials.  Online tutorials are fabulous IF they are good and they do what you want (which is usually solve a problem, teach a skill, or impart some knowledge).  There are lots of online tutorials related to technology.  Some are for the beginner while others are for advanced users.  Almost anyone can find an online tutorial about some topic they are interested in learning more about.  This week I would like for you to explore the following sites where some online tutorials are available.  Find a tutorial that interests you and complete it, then report back to the crew using the listserv. I have provided only a few below along with some suggestions so as not to completely overwhelm you but if you cannot find anything interesting on these, try doing a search on a particular topic using google.

Drill
Find one or more tutorials to complete on one of these sites:

• Tons of Tutorials from the Ashland Independent School District
• Newbie - Items for beginner, intermediate, and advanced - brief tutorials on practical things
• A online tutorial on Network-based learning by Teleologic.  If you like this check out there web site and see other things in their portfolio ...who knows you may work for a company like this one day.
• HTML Goodies - Good stuff from the basics to advanced
• Internet4Classrooms tutorials for educators and others
• Learn the NET: Downloading Files (if downloading makes you nervous because you are afraid you will not find it once you have downloaded it try here for some pointers)
• Learn the NET: Under the Hood of the WWW (For newbies to the net - what you probably don't know about the WWW)
• Java Tutorials for the brave firefighters who want a challenge

Post a message to the listserv that provides the url of the online tutorial you used, the name of the tutorial, what you learned, and your recommendation to others.

• Check the FAQ Page to see if your question has already been answered.
• Email Chief Curda.
• Email EMT Kelly.
• Email the firehouse crew and see if another firefighter knows the answer.

Now let's take a look at the Chief's
Inspection List for this week!