THE PROBLEM
Education students at Colorado College were recently sent around the U.S. to research various topics and asked to collect video, photos, location data, and notes for creating media presentations once they return in July. The problem? After nearly four weeks of research, they are given only two days to compile everything they’ve gathered into polished presentations with little or no skill in multimedia production and editing.
They know their topics, have gathered their media, and understand the stories they want to tell but most don’t have the technical skills to finish the project as assigned. There are gaps in their skill sets that have been neglected and need filling. So, how do they get the skills required in the frenzy of the block?
The Block Plan
The block plan is an intensive college course schedule used by a small number of schools including Colorado College (CC), Cornell College, and Tusculum College.1 Students are immersed in one subject, enjoy small class sizes, and cover the equivalent of a semester’s instruction in less than a month.2
“Each block is three and a half weeks, and you only take one class during it. Then, you get out on a Wednesday and can go on a trip or something ‘til the next class starts the following Monday.” -Montana Bass, Colorado College class of 2018
Students who choose a block program college are highly motivated, career-focused young people looking for a challenge. Montana Bass, a junior Comparative Literature: French major from Hingham, Massachusetts, says:
“CC students’ situate their lives in relation to the Block Plan schedule. From personal timelines to everyday interactions, it is impossible to be a student at CC without internalizing the rhythm of the Block Plan.”
In this fast-paced liberal arts environment, instructors teach critical theory and philosophical approaches to confront social issues and push agendas using creative thought.
Anthropology students study the world’s cultures and are asked to create moving windows that peer into the struggles and conflicts they find. The film program at Colorado College focuses on teaching storytelling and activism through media production. Poetry students are asked to convert great words into great imagery to visualize their translation of a poet’s intent.
Both instructors and students have the big picture framed nicely in their 3.5-week frame, but presentations and films don’t edit themselves. This oversight is under-thought until deadlines are looming. Students are stunned to find that iPhone social media story making doesn’t translate easily to slick production for the big screen.
And, regardless of motivation and focus, attending one class 3-5 hours a day is not just immersive–it’s exhausting. In the afternoon students head to computer labs, the library, or a favorite study spot to work on projects that are often due the next day. A traditional semester program would allow a week of preparation for what must be completed overnight in many block courses.
This system neglects technical instruction and students find themselves frustrated by not knowing the tools for creating the message.
What Hasn’t Worked
Colorado College has tried running hour-long workshops in the afternoons to teach Adobe Creative Cloud applications such as Photoshop, Premiere, and Audition.3 But, the learning curve for photo, video, and audio editing programs is more challenging than first realized for many, and an hour can pass quickly without covering much ground.
Workshops longer than an hour have failed to draw interest due to the time commitment. And, many students choose not to return after one session because they feel hindered by the slow pace often caused by lower skilled learners who ask a lot of questions.
Giving up time for little gain or reward is enough to turn off students of the block program, and they may wander off to fiddle and flail with software and gear.
So, what’s the solution?
THE SOLUTION
How can we provide supplemental knowledge efficiently and attractively that reaches each student at their current skill level, at a time that works for them, is accessible for follow-up, and rewards their efforts?
Interactive Adaptive Tutorials
“Adaptive learning, at its most basic, is learning that adapts to the learner,” says A.J. O’Connell of the Litmos learning management system.4 “Learners in an adaptive course might all start with the same video or information,” continues O’Connell, “but based on their answers, the platform feeds them different content and questions.”
Students who answer a question incorrectly may be redirected to a lesson that teaches the missing fundamentals they need. Students who answer a question correctly could be moved on to an area of greater challenge.4 But, all students will eventually master the essential competencies for the subject.
O’Connell likens an adaptive course to a straight road that leads to one destination for everyone but also offers “branched content” which takes “each learner through the content of a course differently, based on each learner’s interaction with the course material.4
Colorado College is working to develop an online library of short interactive adaptive tutorials that give students access to flexible instruction 24-hours a day. Learners of varying skill levels in a given subject can choose to quickly take the straight road to the knowledge they need or branch off into additional areas for additional information.
Using tools such as the open source H5P.org interactive content creator, assessment questions can be set to pop up periodically, learners’ answers analyzed in real time, and the instruction instantly adjusted accordingly.5
Hotspots can also be placed strategically as video overlays that give students the option to click and trigger pop-up text boxes that explain specific points of interest.
The options for creating interactivity are many, and the emergence of technology such as that available through H5P.org, PlayPosit, Screencas-O-Matic, InsertLearning.com, and others is providing educators the tools needed to easily and affordably build libraries of adaptive content for higher education.
Recognition and Rewards
The ability of these tools to be integrated into learning management systems such as Canvas, Blackboard, Moodle, and even WordPress, not only offers greater accessibility to this style of instruction but also allows the use of existing rewards and badges for recognition of effort outside of required coursework.
One new theory in academia is that if you gamify it they will come. Some instructors “give students ‘missions’ instead of assignments,” says Matthew Sherlock, “allowing them to ‘level up’ as they progress through grade points, and generally using a flexible approach to student learning.”6
A competitive rewards system may not motivate all students, but the satisfaction of some visible indication of accomplishment is a helpful measurement of progress. For students and instructors, this record is evidence of a relentless pursuit of competence and mastery of the subject.
Adaptive learning technology allows for the easy tracking of this pursuit and shows the filling of knowledge gaps that once hindered progress. When students are trained to use the tools of their trade they can tell great stories greatly. The message becomes the priority again, and the artistry of polished presentation carries ideas with strength and force–even within the frenzy of the block plan.
References
1. Block Plan Colleges. (2012). Available at: http://www.expertadmissions.com/ExpertAdmissionsBlog/tabid/70/PostID/46/Block-Plan-Colleges.aspx. (Accessed: 3rd July 2018)
2. The Block Plan • Colorado College. Available at: https://www.coloradocollege.edu/basics/blockplan/. (Accessed: 3rd July 2018)
3. Digital Arts and Media Workshops • Art Colorado College. Available at: https://www.coloradocollege.edu/academics/dept/art/resources/visual-resource-center/vrc-tutorials.html. (Accessed: 3rd July 2018)
4. O’Connell, A. J. Adaptive Learning: What Is It And What Does It Mean For Your Learners | Litmos Blog. Litmos (2018).
5. eThink. 3 Benefits of Utilizing Adaptive Learning in Your LMS. eThink Education | Hosted Moodle & Totara LMS (2018).
6. Sherlock, M. Is It All in the Game? Gamification in Higher Education. Ex Libris (2017).
