I was watching president Obama’s speech this morning and found that the viewers could participate in the event and interact with one another. It just occurred to me that this idea could be extended a bit more. Let me explain.
With the Internet, I thought perhaps the government could solicit ideas and action plans from America, with explanations and justifications for each idea or plan if necessary. It might be useful to use a template/form to organize them like this:
( Government staff may fill out:)
Context of situation
Objectives
Tasks, problems, issues, questions (e.g. subprime mortgage crisis)
Resources at disposal (manpower, funds, facilities, organizations…etc)
( Idea contributors may fill out:)
Problem analysis
Solutions proposed
Explanations and justifications
Action plans
Assessment of outcomes
Then these forms can be categorized on a mind map based on different themes so that the viewers could choose a topic that is within their expertise or of interest to them and then participate. Furthermore, the tasks/problems/issues could also be grouped together by different levels, e.g. international, national, state, municipal levels. In addition to contributing ideas, the viewers could also vote on their choice of solutions for each issue.
The government staffs may organize and synthesize these forms on a daily basis and submit them to different theme-based committees for review. Then the committee may decide on which proposals to accept and carries out the action plan.
Depending on the issues and the proposal that is accepted, the idea contributors could get paid for their proposals. By doing all these, the administrative procedure and decision making process could be a bit more transparent.A transparent system may reduce the possibility of ditatorship and promote democracy.
I am not sure how feasible this is. I personally use this for problem solving. I just thought this could be used for soliciting ideas and feedback for the government (or corporate operation). History tells us that lots of innovations and reform just start with a simple idea, because one idea could lead to another. When I need ideas to write about, I try brainstorming. It works even better when a group of people brainstorm together. 1+ 1 could be greater than 2, isn’t it? :-)
Monday, February 28, 2011
Saturday, February 26, 2011
Learning Is a Lifelong Process
"Human potential is far from exhausted". It is said that we have only used 10 to 15 percent of our brain during our lifetime. If we could wake up our brain cells, use more of the brain, or use it in a more effective way, we could create more wealth. Improving the brain could be another way of combating poverty in addition to developing local economy. One way to improve the brain is through learning and practice. Good learning/education can transform life and change the destinies of the individuals and even the whole country.
Most successful musicians (like M.J. and J.B. ), actors, and comedians are able to distinguish themselves not because they have good teachers, but mainly because they are good learners themselves. They learn from anybody at any time and anywhere. A teacher’s job, therefore, is to guide and facilitate learning, and turn the students into independent good learners who are capable of critical thinking and creative thinking. There is a saying that“ To give someone fish, is not as good as to teach someone how to fish.”Likewise, to impart knowledge, is not as good as to train the students to seek information and construct knowledge on their own.
"Never too old to learn." I see myself as a lifetime learner. There are always new knowledge and information to learn, new challenges, tasks, and situations to handle, new people to meet and work with, new places to visit and so on. In some sense, every day is a new day. Life would be boring if nothing is new.Did you learn anything new today? Well, you have just learned some new information from a new perspective from this post.:)
Most successful musicians (like M.J. and J.B. ), actors, and comedians are able to distinguish themselves not because they have good teachers, but mainly because they are good learners themselves. They learn from anybody at any time and anywhere. A teacher’s job, therefore, is to guide and facilitate learning, and turn the students into independent good learners who are capable of critical thinking and creative thinking. There is a saying that“ To give someone fish, is not as good as to teach someone how to fish.”Likewise, to impart knowledge, is not as good as to train the students to seek information and construct knowledge on their own.
"Never too old to learn." I see myself as a lifetime learner. There are always new knowledge and information to learn, new challenges, tasks, and situations to handle, new people to meet and work with, new places to visit and so on. In some sense, every day is a new day. Life would be boring if nothing is new.Did you learn anything new today? Well, you have just learned some new information from a new perspective from this post.:)
Saturday, February 5, 2011
My Reflections on the Pearson Tutor Training
January 28, 2011
After teaching composition for ten years, in January 2011, I spent two weeks taking an intense online tutor training course with Pearson. Upon completion of the course, I took the certification test. After that, I wrote a short essay to reflect on what I had learned from the course. Below is that essay:
I have taken composition classes in the Ph.D. in Rhetoric and Composition program of Purdue University and the Ph.D. in TESOL/Applied Linguistics program of New York University. However, most of these courses were quite theoretical, including the teaching practicum. The Tutor Training Course with Pearson was very practical, useful, and concise. I have learned a lot from this course. My understanding of online writing instruction in the form of asynchronous tutoring has changed. Let me elaborate on the changes that I have by contrasting what I did previously with what I have just learned:
a. Higher order concerns (HOCs)
I was first exposed to the idea of higher order concerns (e.g. content development, thesis,introduction and conclusion, as well as organization)when I was at Purdue University. However, at that time when I was teaching Freshmen Composition, I spent the same amount of time dealing with both HOCs and LOCs (lower order concerns such as grammar and word choice). My students were overwhelmed by my comments and I was exhausted by the grading tasks. In the Tutor Training course with Pearson, I learned to prioritize HOCs, putting aside most LOCs for the time being. In each tutorial, I only took care of 2 HOCs and 1 LOC. That way the students can take my advice on the HOCs first and deal with HOCs one at a time so that they can learn to improve their composition bit by bit. Prioritizing HOCs is a really effective strategy in teaching and tutoring composition.
b. Mini-lesson
Previously when I provided feedback on my students’ essays, I never taught any lessons on paper. I just pointed out their problems and offered my suggestions for revision. In the Tutor Training course with Pearson, I learned to include a mini-lesson in my tutorial to address one or two of the HOCs. Again, I think the idea of “one at a time” works better with the students. I also bulleted the key points in the mini-lesson so that those points stood out for the students.
c. Four-step process of intervention
Previously in my feedback to the students, I trouble-shoot their problems and offered solutions. Now I learned to explain why the problems existed and use examples in their own writing to demonstrate what to do to fix the problems. That is to say, before I only used two steps for intervention, now I am using four steps, namely, “what, why, how, do”.
d. Ready reckoners/templates
Previously I provided teacher feedback to my students on paper, that is, I wrote my feedback on the hard copies of their essays directly. That was quite time-consuming. Now I learned to write my tutorial on a MS WORD file, incorporating ready reckoners/templates for recurring problems. It is more efficient and reliable. It works particularly well with routine tasks such as greetings and signing-offs as well as with mini-lessons.
In my opinion, the Pearson online asynchronous tutoring can be viewed as a combination of face-to-face tutoring and paper-based teacher feedback.
1. Using the certification essays as examples, discuss your strengths and weaknesses as a tutor in this environment. Please be aware that admitting to weaknesses is not a reason for not certifying you as we are all learning new processes and ways of teaching in this venue.
I always knew my own strengths and weaknesses. I am a top-down processing person instead of a bottom-up one. The tutor training course confirmed that again. As a top-down processing person, it will be easier for me to read through the students’ essays globally and identify higher order concerns. For instance, one of the certification essays was about porn sites. There were content development and organization problems in that essay. The author tried to discuss two things: he/she didn’t think that all porn sites should be eliminated and misdirection to porn sites needed to be stopped. I suggested that the author present these two points separately with reasons and evidence for each. On the other hand, however, I am not detailed-oriented enough. Due to the time constraint, sometimes I overlooked tiny details such as space.
My second strength lies in the fact that I have been serving as a manuscript reviewer for TESL-EJ, an academic journal hosted by UC Berkeley since 2004.When I reviewed manuscripts for that journal, I focused mostly on HOCs such as content and organization because those people were scholars who were advanced writers.
My biggest weakness is that it is hard for me to complete a tutorial within the limit of 30 minutes, namely, the time on task. That is because I am not a fast writer or typist and yet to familiarize with the Pearson online tutoring format. However, I am getting faster with more practices.
2. Again using the certification essays as examples, what would you like to see students accomplish as writers through your asynchronous tutoring?
I am an advocate of prioritizing HOCs. Through my asynchronous tutoring, I want my students improve their content development, thesis, and organization first because once they accomplish those, their essays will be substantially improved. For instance, in one of the certification essays, the student meant to compare and contrast two novels in the light of naturalism, but he/she only focused on one novel, totally neglecting the other one.
3. Finally, what are your personal goals for working with online writing tutoring in the Pearson writing program? In what specific ways would you like to participate in the growth of this program? In terms of your professional development, what kinds of additional training opportunities would you like to receive? How can we assist you with your goals?
My personal goals for working with online writing tutoring in the Pearson writing program include the following ones:
Improve my diagnostic skills so that I can identify HOC problems quickly and precisely;
Familiarize with Pearson tutorial format so that I can shorten my time on task;
Work hard to be a veteran online tutor, tutor trainer, and quality control person.
Finally, I have some suggestions for the order of HOC/LOC considerations on page four of the Pearson online tutoring guiding document. The way I would put the HOC/LOC considerations in order would be like this:
A. Thesis
B. Content development
C. Organization
D. Introduction/ Conclusion
E. Use of Resources
F. Transitions
G. Sentence Structure
H. Grammar/Mechanics
I. Word Choice
I thought the thesis should be considered before content development because without identifying the thesis, we have no clue of how to develop the content. The thesis is the condensed version of the whole essay. The content is supposed to expand and support the thesis. The way I put the other HOCs and LOCs in order was by the level of information processing, namely, at the levels of the whole essay, of paragraphs, of sentences, and of words. This is just a thought.
To sum up, through this tutor training course, I have learned many new techniques for teaching composition and responding to students’ essays online. I have reflected on my strengths and weaknesses as an online tutor. And I have also thought about how my students could benefit from my tutorials and how I could grow professionally as an online tutor with Pearson.
Thank you very much!
After teaching composition for ten years, in January 2011, I spent two weeks taking an intense online tutor training course with Pearson. Upon completion of the course, I took the certification test. After that, I wrote a short essay to reflect on what I had learned from the course. Below is that essay:
I have taken composition classes in the Ph.D. in Rhetoric and Composition program of Purdue University and the Ph.D. in TESOL/Applied Linguistics program of New York University. However, most of these courses were quite theoretical, including the teaching practicum. The Tutor Training Course with Pearson was very practical, useful, and concise. I have learned a lot from this course. My understanding of online writing instruction in the form of asynchronous tutoring has changed. Let me elaborate on the changes that I have by contrasting what I did previously with what I have just learned:
a. Higher order concerns (HOCs)
I was first exposed to the idea of higher order concerns (e.g. content development, thesis,introduction and conclusion, as well as organization)when I was at Purdue University. However, at that time when I was teaching Freshmen Composition, I spent the same amount of time dealing with both HOCs and LOCs (lower order concerns such as grammar and word choice). My students were overwhelmed by my comments and I was exhausted by the grading tasks. In the Tutor Training course with Pearson, I learned to prioritize HOCs, putting aside most LOCs for the time being. In each tutorial, I only took care of 2 HOCs and 1 LOC. That way the students can take my advice on the HOCs first and deal with HOCs one at a time so that they can learn to improve their composition bit by bit. Prioritizing HOCs is a really effective strategy in teaching and tutoring composition.
b. Mini-lesson
Previously when I provided feedback on my students’ essays, I never taught any lessons on paper. I just pointed out their problems and offered my suggestions for revision. In the Tutor Training course with Pearson, I learned to include a mini-lesson in my tutorial to address one or two of the HOCs. Again, I think the idea of “one at a time” works better with the students. I also bulleted the key points in the mini-lesson so that those points stood out for the students.
c. Four-step process of intervention
Previously in my feedback to the students, I trouble-shoot their problems and offered solutions. Now I learned to explain why the problems existed and use examples in their own writing to demonstrate what to do to fix the problems. That is to say, before I only used two steps for intervention, now I am using four steps, namely, “what, why, how, do”.
d. Ready reckoners/templates
Previously I provided teacher feedback to my students on paper, that is, I wrote my feedback on the hard copies of their essays directly. That was quite time-consuming. Now I learned to write my tutorial on a MS WORD file, incorporating ready reckoners/templates for recurring problems. It is more efficient and reliable. It works particularly well with routine tasks such as greetings and signing-offs as well as with mini-lessons.
In my opinion, the Pearson online asynchronous tutoring can be viewed as a combination of face-to-face tutoring and paper-based teacher feedback.
1. Using the certification essays as examples, discuss your strengths and weaknesses as a tutor in this environment. Please be aware that admitting to weaknesses is not a reason for not certifying you as we are all learning new processes and ways of teaching in this venue.
I always knew my own strengths and weaknesses. I am a top-down processing person instead of a bottom-up one. The tutor training course confirmed that again. As a top-down processing person, it will be easier for me to read through the students’ essays globally and identify higher order concerns. For instance, one of the certification essays was about porn sites. There were content development and organization problems in that essay. The author tried to discuss two things: he/she didn’t think that all porn sites should be eliminated and misdirection to porn sites needed to be stopped. I suggested that the author present these two points separately with reasons and evidence for each. On the other hand, however, I am not detailed-oriented enough. Due to the time constraint, sometimes I overlooked tiny details such as space.
My second strength lies in the fact that I have been serving as a manuscript reviewer for TESL-EJ, an academic journal hosted by UC Berkeley since 2004.When I reviewed manuscripts for that journal, I focused mostly on HOCs such as content and organization because those people were scholars who were advanced writers.
My biggest weakness is that it is hard for me to complete a tutorial within the limit of 30 minutes, namely, the time on task. That is because I am not a fast writer or typist and yet to familiarize with the Pearson online tutoring format. However, I am getting faster with more practices.
2. Again using the certification essays as examples, what would you like to see students accomplish as writers through your asynchronous tutoring?
I am an advocate of prioritizing HOCs. Through my asynchronous tutoring, I want my students improve their content development, thesis, and organization first because once they accomplish those, their essays will be substantially improved. For instance, in one of the certification essays, the student meant to compare and contrast two novels in the light of naturalism, but he/she only focused on one novel, totally neglecting the other one.
3. Finally, what are your personal goals for working with online writing tutoring in the Pearson writing program? In what specific ways would you like to participate in the growth of this program? In terms of your professional development, what kinds of additional training opportunities would you like to receive? How can we assist you with your goals?
My personal goals for working with online writing tutoring in the Pearson writing program include the following ones:
Improve my diagnostic skills so that I can identify HOC problems quickly and precisely;
Familiarize with Pearson tutorial format so that I can shorten my time on task;
Work hard to be a veteran online tutor, tutor trainer, and quality control person.
Finally, I have some suggestions for the order of HOC/LOC considerations on page four of the Pearson online tutoring guiding document. The way I would put the HOC/LOC considerations in order would be like this:
A. Thesis
B. Content development
C. Organization
D. Introduction/ Conclusion
E. Use of Resources
F. Transitions
G. Sentence Structure
H. Grammar/Mechanics
I. Word Choice
I thought the thesis should be considered before content development because without identifying the thesis, we have no clue of how to develop the content. The thesis is the condensed version of the whole essay. The content is supposed to expand and support the thesis. The way I put the other HOCs and LOCs in order was by the level of information processing, namely, at the levels of the whole essay, of paragraphs, of sentences, and of words. This is just a thought.
To sum up, through this tutor training course, I have learned many new techniques for teaching composition and responding to students’ essays online. I have reflected on my strengths and weaknesses as an online tutor. And I have also thought about how my students could benefit from my tutorials and how I could grow professionally as an online tutor with Pearson.
Thank you very much!
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