I recently completed a course on Adobe Captivate 2019 Fundamentals on Udemy. I also designed and created an elearning scenario-based training for parents called Screenwise Conversations. I really like Adobe Captivate even though Articulate Storyline is the most used software for elearning. If you are like and are used to the Adobe products and enjoy having a seamless workflow with those products. It's really advantage especially if you are a Mac user as I am and don't want to bog your computer down with a program like Parallels so that you can run PC only programs which unfortunately Articulate is. The two features that Adobe Captivate has that no other elearning software offers is responsive design with fluid boxes and also a really robust advanced actions feature that allows you to do really sophisticated interactions. I am still working on getting command of these features and chose to keep my elearning project simple. The course was great and creating my own elearning project while I took it really allowed me to hone and cement my skills with Adobe Captivate.
I finally read the book, Map It by Cathy Moore. It is on almost every influential instructional designer's recommended reading list and the only reason that I had not bought it earlier is that it is quite expensive. Now that I have read it, I will admit it was worth the money. It provides a pragmatic and thorough explanation of how to create an action map for training materials. As Cathy Moore states: "We're going to turn vague 'they should know this' training requests into projects that solve real, clearly defined performance problems. Our solutions will be targeted to specific groups in specific situations and provided when they are most needed. The solutions might not include conventional training at all." Moore asks that when we design learning experiences instead of asking "What do people need to know?", we should be asking "What do people need to do and why aren't they doing it?" Only then can we get at creating learning experiences that solve problems and are meaningful to people.
Moore walks us through really concrete examples as she shows how to create an action map and then prototype an activity. She is big on scenario-based storytelling as an engaging format for learning experiences. Below is an example she used with soldiers in Afghanistan to help them improve cross-cultural communication with Afghani tribes. She reveals the importance of showing not telling and engaging learners in scenarios that require them to consider situations that happen in the real world. She is also a big proponent of streams of activities that provide small increments of training over a longer period of time rather than a one-shot workshop. Her book validated much of what I have come to understand about effective learning experiences for audiences with diverse abilities. Her book provides a wonderful map of how to stay true to what learners need not what others think they should know. While I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in learning experience or instructional design, her website also provides a wealth of good information to get started with action mapping even if the book is not yet in your budget. Haji Kamal activity from Cathy Moore on Vimeo.
Image by jcomp on Freepik
As I work to upskill my professional abilities, and revamp my career goals, there is one gaping hole I need to explain and fill in which is my 6-year career break. In my mind, I feel frustrated to call it that as a break could not possibly describe my experience over the past 6 years as a stay at home mom. I have grown and learned so much as a person. I have had a chance to step away from work that I had been doing for 15 years and come back with a fresh perspective. As Tosha Schore and Patty Wipfler remark in their book Listen where they describe the perception of parenting work note: “Your parenting work is almost invisible in the world. With zero fanfare and a million interactions, you build your children’s character…but there is no preparation, pay or protection from the overwhelming circumstances for parents. Parenting holds the economic status of a hobby.” It has been a challenging six years that began when I left work to care for my daughter who we adopted from India at the age of 4. Trauma and a rare birth defect have made things especially challenging for my daughter. There were many surgeries and hospitals stays as well as an educational system that did not know how to help her thrive. Two and a half years ago, we began fostering my now adopted son who came to us from a really horrible situation at the age of 6. Then COVID hit and there was no question the right choice for our family was for me to stay home and support our children. Adoption is known as an elephant pregnancy as each one can take 2-3 years. For us it was a 10-year journey where I certainly learned how to navigate a foreign adoption system and our domestic foster care and medical system. Learning how to parent is a process in itself. Learning how to parent children with significant trauma requires an entirely different set of tools that took time and energy to cultivate. Making up for the years of my children’s childhood that I missed, requires a commitment that I felt bound to as they adjusted to a new family and life. I was fortunate to land a seasonal job at Girls Who Code as a site lead this summer. It was an incredible experience where I was placed in a position that required all of my skills and experience and paid well. Reshma Saujani, the founder of Girls Who Code has recently started a new initiative called, Marshall Plan for Moms whose mission it is “to transform our workplaces, our culture and our government to enable moms to thrive.” I feel strongly that this philosophy played strongly in my ability to get such a fitting job as this one, but unfortunately it was only for the summer. And frankly, I still need this year with my children, who are doing wonderfully at 8 and 10, but still need some support. I am using my spare time to learn the skills I will need to re-enter the workforce in the field of Learning Experience Design and Curriculum Development. I have been working part-time as a boxing coach too, which feeds a strong desire to give back to the sport that gave me so much. I am looking forward to seeing what the future holds for me as I come back to work from a “break” that has taught me so much about what is truly important in life.
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Bringing in a whole new technology product that students and teachers are expected to use extensively was a little terrifying. Ultimately, my job is to support faculty in their use of technology and the fear of any technology facilitator is to garner the resentment of the people you are there to support, because you chose a tool that is cumbersome, ineffective, or simply doesn’t do the job it was supposed to do. I am happy to report that this was not the case with Canvas. It was a good year with Canvas. I think the fact that all teachers were required to use it and now are fairly comfortable with using it on a basic level is huge for the first year of implementation. They also see now that the work they do is saved and can be built upon for future years. Also, we had a great group of early adopters who did some inspiring things with Canvas and shared them with the community. I can honestly say I have learned Canvas inside and out and as far as learning management systems go, I really like it. What I appreciate most about Canvas is its flexible structure, great support, and constant improvement. New features are always popping up both small fixes and major improvements. It was approximately a two year process to go from a needs analysis to selecting the best LMS to getting early adopters and then on to training the entire staff to be ready to implement Canvas for the following year. Giving faculty the summer to add content to their courses and creating a schoolwide course template to use, so that subsequent training could be cohesive was especially helpful. I am proud of the work around Canvas at Saint Mary’s School. It was a huge undertaking, but now a part of the school culture.
"Each bone represents a call to action, a story, a voice." -Naomi Natale
It is hard to imagine an art installation that is comprised of 1,000,000 bones created by students, artists, and activists laid out on the National Mall. But the vision of one artist Naomi Natale came to fruition on June 8, 2013 and I was there to be a part of it as well as witness the amazing sight in the nation’s capital. In the following video Naomi Natale explains how the One Million Bones project came about:
I got involved with the One Million Bones project back in 2012 as part of the Congo Design Challenge. Students made bones to help raise money and participate in the art installation that raises awareness of the ongoing problem of genocide around the world in places such as Burma, the Congo, and Somalia. Over a two-year period the students at West Career and Technical Academy made approximately 5,000 bones. Being only a 5-hour drive from Washington D.C., I knew I had to be there for the actually laying of the bones. My husband and I drove up in a crazy rainstorm where it rained non-stop for 5 hours. But the following day, the sky cleared and made for a beautiful ceremony that involved guest speakers, music, and a sea of people dressed in white to lay the bones. We were placed into sections to lay the bones and walked back and forth with handfuls of bones. The cellist Amy Ziff played solemn music that rang through the air during the laying of the bones which put us in a meditative frame of mind.
We worked with teachers and artists from the Artworks studio who run art programs for kids in the D.C. area. It took about 4 hours to lay all of the bones. It was incredible to see all the many unique touches and interpretations that people from all over the world had added to their bones. Bones came from every single state in the U.S. and thirty countries and were made of a variety of materials such as clay, papier mache, styrophone, knitting yarn and glass. I also was able to see Grace Lau from Students Rebuild/Global Nomads Group who played a big role in the video conferences my students did with students from Haiti and the Democratic Republic of the Congo which was an added bonus for me. The amount of energy and coordination to make this event a success was almost unfathomable, but it really went off without a hitch. Naomi Natale founded the Art of Revolution during this project, and it will be interesting to see what her next installation piece will be. You can check out my photo gallery of the event here. Image Source: freepik.com This past week I was completely reinvigorated when Vicki Davis and Julie Lindsay invited me to be a Co-teacher and Community Builder for the current cohort of the Flat Classroom Teacher Certification Program. I felt so honored to be chosen. My role is to give feedback and support to the members of the cohort. I get to peek in on the work of another amazing set of global educators and support them as well as learn from them. It’s been a little bit hectic as I was brought in 3 weeks after the program started and have had to spend some time figuring out how to best do what I have been asked to do. Luckily, I have a fantastic partner in Sandy W out of Wisconsin who has also taken on the challenge wholeheartedly, making the task a little less overwhelming. We are starting to get into a rhythm and I think things will go more smoothly from here on out. Regardless, I hope I can continue to be involved in the Flat Classroom Movement as it continues to grow exponentially, because its core values and the people it attracts are at the heart of what gets me excited about education.
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AuthorYvonne Caples is a Learning Experience Designer who is passionate about making learning meaningful and engaging for all. Posts
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