Digital Design Theory: Watching a video does not make you an expert

We were late to my daughter’s birth at St Joseph’s Hospital because we were watching This Old House on PBS. My husband and I were avid fans of the programs that recycled old houses back to their glory days. However, watching TV did not make me an expert. My roof has a hole in it and I have no experience making repairs. I have lots of knowledge but my hands have never touched a hammer.

I would make the same comparison with learning computer applications: you can’t become a skilled professional just watching the videos. At some point, your hands have to learn the steps. Expertise is knowledge in motion.

Videos in a Flipped Classroom:  The best use of videos is to demonstrate a sequence of events. Students get to see the project from start to finish and how the instructor handled the options. 

I applied this concept to an Intro to Computer Productivity class at Washtenaw Community College. It is a required course that teaches beginning Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint.

Here’s the plan I announced: If all of the students watched the videos prior to class, then we could walk through the 100 point projects together each Friday. Everyone would pass the course with high marks.

This worked out better than I hoped. As an instructor, I was pleased to teach students who understood the material. They were ready and informed. Students who did not watch the videos quickly learned that they were at a disadvantage when we worked on the various documents, spreadsheets and presentations. They did not know where to find the options so their progress was very slow.

Win-Win-Win:  This class has 97% attendance and their productivity skills are excellent. My students are getting between 90-100% on all of the assignments, including the quizzes and homework. Everyone wins: the students, the college and the future employer who gains an asset.

Emmitt Kelly Jr., Computer Whiz, from the Precious Moments Collection of Marni Frank

Does the picture fit or not?

Today, a news article announced that the GDI grew at a fantastic rate of 3.6%.
The article from Forbes indicates that there is a picture of the United States Bureau of Economic Analysis, Department of Commerce. The image next to the article is the iconic Hollywood sign.

So, miscue or fact checking?

Google News December 6, 2013 5:13 AM

Google News December 6, 2013 5:13 AM

Computers and Babies

Trying to juggle a computer and a baby is an on-again, off-again affair.  Depending on the age of the kid, you may or may not be able to steal time away on the computer.

I always figured that I could get on the computer while the new baby was sleeping.  Sure, I knew that newborns only sleep for a few hours at a time, catnapping all day and night between feedings, but the average newborn still sleeps about 20 hours a day.  Average… no, my son wasn’t average.

I think I went through computer withdrawal those first months, while my son claimed every moment of my attention.  If not for escaping to work at my night job, I would have been nearly completely deprived of my computer time.

And on top of this, I didn’t even have time to install the other really neat thing I got that June: a copy of Office 2010.  Yes, I will equate new software with being as fun as a newborn baby.  Maybe more so at times, since software doesn’t cry.

Finally, my son began to grow and now I can steal some time on the computer.  My little laptop had become a very useful tool.  It’s little more than a netbook, but it’s small enough that I can balance it on my lap while racing toy cars with one free hand.  How do you think I’m writing this post, anyway?

Of course, at the toddler age, my son is very, very interested in anything that falls in either of the two categories: things that Momma is going and things that get a reaction from Momma.  My computer falls into both, since my attention is on it and, more importantly, when my son touches, pokes, or pushes it, he gets a reaction from me.

I know that my son will continue to grow.  He’ll learn more to play on his own.  Make some friends, go off to school.  My computer time will, slowly, return.  While I often miss the time I used to spend on the computer—writing, usually, or communicating with friends and other folks online—I don’t feel any desire to rush these years with my son.  My computer will always be here, in some form or another (though probably a desktop with REAL keyboard, but that’s a musing for another post), my son will only ever be this age once.

Thank you, Steve Jobs

For 8 years I supported my family and earned a living on my Mighty Mac.

All this and the Flying Toasters Screen Saver.

It was FUN to discover something new every day.

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