To this point I had not heard mention of Relevant and Innovative Learning Scenarios (RILS) or in my professional educational and training career. The idea of developing lesson plans and sharing what has been learned through the implementation of said lessons, was unheard-of. Personally, the exposure to RILS in conjunction with an introduction to Educator Studio has initiated a new interest in curriculum development and implementation.
Through my first experience with the RILS process I have learned a few things, both about myself and the potential learners I will encounter in the future.
I have high expectations for learners with regards to technological knowledge; I must lower these expectations in order to elevate the level of student participation in this and subsequent lessons.
The content of a lesson isn’t nearly as important as a student’s ability to communicate their needs to the instructor; students appreciated being able to contact me directly with questions both technical and non-technical in nature.
(from Microsoft Word)
Students are often harder on themselves when they believe they have failed to complete the task. Constant reinforcement helped individuals to see past phantom obstacles they’d set for themselves.
With this RILS in particular, I was very happy with the outcome. Students realized that they could use both the tool/technology and the RILS procedure in other aspects of their lives. A popular thought was that LiveBinders could substitute for many of the Apps they had downloaded (or wanted) to their smartphones. We all agreed that the lesson itself was easy to manipulate to address any number of audiences.
If I could go back in time to re-implement this RILS, I would have learners share their LiveBinders with peers/colleagues to gather feedback about the usefulness of the tool and assess their ability to apply what they’d learned from this lesson.
Brief Overview: The purpose of this Relevant and Innovative Learning Scenario (RILS) is to introduce a simple method for organization to professionals that manage multiple job tasks. By implementing the following into the learner’s environment the instructor will provide students with the means to multitask and complete projects from any location utilizing a single tool.
Target Audience – The target audience for this RILS scenario are mid-level adult professionals who supervise at least one other employee and who either manage more than one project or perform multiple job functions.
• The learners in this group are between the ages of 22 and 62.
• Learners expressed a need to organize their multiple job responsibilities but also wanted to minimize the number of devices/tools necessary to accomplish their goals.
• The learners already possess various levels of technological knowledge but it is clear that ease of use is a requisite for the group as a whole. They would not have much time for learning radically new techniques or skills.
• This RILS scenario will provide each learner with a personalized experience that they will be able to build on and utilize on a daily basis. The processes covered in this RILS will help learners manage future tasks both personal and professional in nature. Learners will develop time management and organizational skills that will increase their understanding of focusing on individual tasks rather than entire projects which will in turn reduce confusion and stress in the workplace.
Materials – Each student will need the following:
• Computer with Internet access
• Personal email address to register for LiveBinders.com and communicate with instructor and peers
• A personalized list of job responsibilities
• A personal calendar/organizer for reference on future goals and deadlines
Objectives – At the end of this scenario the learner will be able to:
• Analyze their work related duties to determine how to organize and plan for the completion of required tasks.
• Design an outline for their personalized LiveBinder.
• Create a LiveBinder using their analysis of work related tasks and their personalized outline for content material.
Procedure –
• Learners will create a list of daily tasks they are expected to complete within a 30 day timeframe
• Learners will then prioritize their lists, placing the most time consuming tasks toward the top of the list and tasks requiring less time constraints towards the bottom
• Learners will then sort tasks by required/desired due dates
• Next, learners will create an outline that describes step-by-step how to complete each task on their list
• Group members will then exchange their list with two other learners to verify steps are clear and easy to follow
• Learners will then organize these outlines according to their previously made prioritized list.
• Learners will visit LiveBinders.com to sign-up and register for a free account.
• After verifying their accounts students will receive a link to their first LiveBinder (titled Your First Binder).
• Learners will open this link and complete the tutorial.
• Once done with the tutorial, learners will add one tab for each of their work related tasks (tabs will be entered in their prioritized order according to students’ lists)
• Learners will then add sub-tabs for every step required to complete the task listed on each tab (If one task has 4 steps, then the learner will add 4 sub-tabs to that section of the binder).
• Learners will then go to the Tips and Tricks tab of their binders and follow the steps to share their binders.
• Learners will email a link to the instructor and at least 2 other non-group members showing their shared LiveBinder. In this email learners must provide their addressees with a description of LiveBinders and how they plan to use the tool in the future.
• Finally, group members will email the instructor with a brief overview of one fellow learners binder and include the link to that LiveBinder.
Emerging Technology – LiveBinders.com provides users with a means to organize tasks, projects and multimedia files in a central location without the need for external or portable storage devices.
Social Participation/Social Learning – Learners will connect with an audience of personal and professional peers by sharing their LiveBinders and learning experiences.
Making Connections –The learner will make connections with:
• Previous knowledge about organizational tools (i.e. meeting work related deadlines with the use of personal calendars) in order to create new knowledge (how to use LiveBinders to simplify professional organization and management).
• Leaner input (developing and designing outlines) will create an aspect of relevancy for the content in this RILS. Learners will come away from this RILS with a new method for organizing both personal and professional tasks and goals.
Create/Produce – The end product of this RILS will be a new virtual binder created by each learner.
Assessment – Each learner must meet the following requirements in order to demonstrate RILS objectives have been met.
1- Create a work related outline detailing task specific steps
2- Produce a virtual binder using LiveBinders.com that follows the task specific outline created by each learner.
3- Share the LiveBinder with fellow learners, the instructor and peers.
Reflection –
• Learners will email the instructor and peers to explain how they plan to use their virtual binder and what they thought about their RILS educational experience.
• The instructor will issue a survey and compile those results with learner feedback from their reports of educational experience. The instructor will then address aspects of the RILS process that require amendments or improvements.
The RILS process that I outlined for my students was easy to follow but slightly more time-consuming than I’d anticipated, but overall that steps were adequate in helping me to better understand how LiveBinders.com works.
The first three were simple but required quite a bit of detail.
Learners will create a list of daily tasks they are expected to complete within a 30 day timeframe
Learners will then prioritize their lists, placing the most time-consuming tasks toward the top of the list and tasks requiring less time constraints towards the bottom
Learners will then sort tasks by required/desired due dates
The next required that I create an outline that describes step-by-step how to complete each task; fortunately, I had a little help with the timeline I created earlier this month.
Next, I had my husband and a friend review my list of steps to determine if they were clear and easy to follow
Learners will then organize these outlines according to their previously made prioritized list.
Learners will visit LiveBinders.com to sign-up and register for a free account.
After verifying their accounts students will receive a link to their first LiveBinder (titled Your First Binder).
Learners will open this link and complete the tutorial.
Once done with the tutorial, learners will add one tab for each of their work related tasks (tabs will be entered in their prioritized order according to students’ lists)
Again, my AR Timeline aided in completing the previous steps.
Learners will then add sub-tabs for every step required to complete the task listed on each tab (If one task has 4 steps, then the learner will add 4 sub-tabs to that section of the binder).
This step was very tedious, but the end result was a well-organized outline for the next 9 months and essentially the entire EMDT program.
Learners will then go to the Tips and Tricks tab of their binders and follow the steps to share their binders.
Learners will email a link to the instructor and at least 2 other non-group members showing their shared LiveBinder. In this email learners must provide their addressees with a description of LiveBinders and how they plan to use the tool in the future.
Finally, group members will email the instructor with a brief overview of one fellow learners binder and include the link to that LiveBinder.
The final steps in my list were altered to complete this blog post.
Please visit the LiveBinders.com icon below to view my AR Capstone Binder.
Completing this RILS process for myself helped me to realize that even after the basic steps have been completed, this LiveBinder will continue to be a work in progress as life will introduce new obstacles and future project deadlines. This makes LiveBinders even more valuable as an adaptable organizational tool.
This week in my ETC course, we were required to review a classmates ET (Emerging Technology) Review using the RISE model. My classmate Steve Kappre is a very creative music teacher and I found his ET Review of AudioTool.com to be very thorough. AudioTool can also be found in Google’s Chrome Web Store:
Photo of AudioTool app collected from Google’s Chrome Web Store
Steve’s blog also serves as an excellent resource for other educators who wish to bring music and creative technology into their learning environments. If you’re a music enthusiast or just plain curious, you have to make Steve’s blog your next stop on your web-nav today.
Initially, I couldn’t identify a reason for yet another organizational online tool; but its required so I followed along. To my surprise, the iGoogle Personal Learning Environment (PLE) provided just what I needed to organize my Coast Guard assets for my Capstone project. I can now access my personalized list of AR resources from one site, my FSO/AR iGoogle tab. And my To-Do-List will help me stay on task with upcoming deadlines.
FSO/AR iGoogle tab
The How-To
The steps to complete this task were clear and easy to follow. When I couldn’t find a Gadget that met my personal needs, I decided to add another Box of Links. This allowed my to create my very own list of Coast Guard links. Customizing my Box of Links was simple to do and added personality to my page. Afterwards, I was even able to show my husband how to set-up his own iGoogle page. Like my Home tab here, he now has a place to access all of his social media pages at once.
My iGoogle Home tab
Product Value
Though I wasn’t entirely happy about the prospect of making iGoogle my Homepage (I have other homepage preferences), I can see the value in having it readily accessible when I am ready to begin working on class assignments. The EMDT tab is an excellent place to start with such tasks.
EMDT iGoogle tab
I’d Recommend It
Preferences aside, the iGoogle PLE provides users with a means to manage projects, calendars, social media and email account from one central location.
LaToya
Copyright info: All images were collected from my iGoogle page. EMDT iGoogle image used with permission from R. Hanaway.
The use of Personal Learning Environments and Emerging Technology are new concepts for me since I am not what you’d consider a traditional educator/teacher. With my experience as both a military and healthcare instructor you would expect me to have collected a plethora of instructional tools with cutting edge technology and capabilities. But such was not the case, much like the approach to today’s standardized public education; the non-combative departments of the U.S. military often follow well behind the technological wave. This of course is the exact opposite of departments that train and deploy combat ready personnel and unmanned drones. As a matter of fact the use of Web 2.0 tools and open source software is widely frowned upon in both the defense and healthcare fields. The problem is that many outside software programs have not been tested for compatibility and security issues and system integrity is essential to the stability of both fields. Moving further into the educational community has helped me to see the benefits of working within an open learning environment.
LiveBinders.com
Of the new technological tools I’ve been able to locate I have found one more platform to assist in the development of what I consider to be an ideal learning environment for Department of Homeland Security trainees.
Through Pinterest.com, I found LiveBinders which provides a free online platform for creating your own virtual binder. An instructor can create unique virtual workbooks for students to use in conjunction with other resources
The tutorial was extremely easy to follow by just reading along the tabs and sub-tabs
LiveBinders Tutorial tab
Customizing the names of each tab allows the creator to tailor every aspect of the virtual binder. Colors, tab name, the number and position of tabs can all be modified.
Users can even add digital content such as web links to their binder. This was the one feature that impacted me the most; while most hardcopy and electronic textbooks include links as student resources, few allow the student to access these sites through their textbook. Students can read about a particular topic and immediately visit a webpage, article or forum dedicated to that very subject.
I also discovered that you could fill a binder with Google search engine content.
LiveBinders’ Google EMDT Tab
Having the ability to customize the binder allows creators to easily update their content with changes that may occur (i.e. curriculum changes). This is another great feature that would save time and finances when the time comes for educators to update course materials.
Users can go on to build bookshelves for a number of LiveBinders, storing binders for both private and public use. Sharing (or protecting) was not covered during the tutorial, but the last tab of my Binder provided more help.
I learned how to email my LiveBinder and even embed it into my blog. (Click on the icon to see for yourself)
To learn more I visited the LiveBinders page dedicated to enhancing the user’s creative experience with helpful Tips and Tricks.
Live Binders’ Tips and Tricks
LiveBinders would be a great tool for any number of audiences but I believe that it is most appropriate for members of the educational profession, researchers and students. Educators especially would like the collaborative features offered by LiveBinders Blog space.
LiveBinders is a valuable Web 2.0 I’ve discovered just recently, but I am sure I will use it again and again.
in my professional educational and training career. The idea of developing lesson plans and sharing what has been learned through the implementation of said lessons, was unheard-of. Personally, the exposure to RILS in conjunction with an introduction to Educator Studio has initiated a new interest in curriculum development and implementation.
Becoming an Expert in my Field 