From Jane's Back Porch
Reflection on Using Dialogue Education in Universities
by Jane Vella,
EdD
GLP Founder
Preparing, Packaging And Presenting Input
(# 2 of the Four I’s: Content Added)
Substantive, well-researched, current input is the heart of Dialogue Education. We are teaching what is important to very important people who are going to re-construct that content and contextualize it to make a vital difference in the world. Nothing less!
We need to prepare that new content by long hours of research: on the Internet, in the library, in the laboratory. We need to do our homework before naming our WHAT: content – in the Seven Design Steps.
We can package that content in an infinite number of ways: a set of Power Point slides learners will examine on the screen, and in handouts on their desks; a chapter from a relevant textbook, a url with the content set out focused and illustrated, a handout with a summary of the content and references for further reading.
How much of the content can you set out? That is determined by the time (WHEN: the time frame). Learning begins in a class session; it does not end there. Further readings, added learning tasks can keep motivated learners going far beyond the 90 minute class period or workshop.
However, it is our responsibility to assure that what we have set out as the content of the session is learned by all involved, and that there are cogent indicators of that learning. This learning is the foundation on which further learning is laid.
We present input as part of a learning task. A learning task is an open question put to a small group with all the resources they need to accomplish it. Those resources are the well-researched, substantive content: presented via whatever packaging you have selected, with the explicit small group learning task attached. For example:
