Review: Treehouse Training and Badges

February 3rd, 2012 | by Jeremy | analysis, assessment, distance learning, learning, review, technology, training

Feb
03

Having finished all the available badges on the Treamtreehouse.com website, I thought I would provide an evaluation of what I thought of the website, the learning method, and the delivery.

Website

The website is very well put together, even though there is a feeling of “start-up” on the site. The feeling comes from the three badges (as of this writing) that are incomplete (JavaScript Foundations, Photoshop Foundations, and Ruby Foundations). Also, there is generally a delay in getting to certain pages (like the Profile and Dashboard). When you take the quizzes to get your badge, occasionally some will blank out for no obvious reason, meaning you need to go through the questions again.

But the organization is very well done. It’s easy to navigate through the course materials, from one badge to another, and the Dashboard makes it easy to follow up on what your next badges would be. Over all, I really like the website.

Learning Method

The badges are organized by topic, which build upon each other to show which skills you have accomplished. You know you have accomplished the skills, because most badges have challenges and final challenges that require you to show your knowledge by accomplishing a task. It’s well built, and equates to a classroom Topic then Quiz learning method to establish skills. I’ve mentioned the incredible motivating factor that comes from earning a badge.

Straight video lectures with demos are not for everyone. They are great for those who learn in a visual and/or auditory, but those who are tactile in their learning (needing to get hands-on) will find the speed of the videos a little frustrating. Another frustration I experienced was the number of videos or length of videos that will precede a quiz. It requires the student to retain a lot of information. Without more practice for each video, quizzes can get frustrating. In particular I’m thinking about the Introduction to Programming badge and the iOS 4 badge. Both badges had videos that lasted 11+ minutes, and had several in succession, making it harder to retain information for the quiz. And I find that it’s the test that helps you learn more than just the lecture.

Overall, I think this is a great way to learn. Video lectures can work well when quizzes are appropriately spaced, and most of these badges do really well.

Delivery

I found the most effective learning experiences with Treehouse were those that had videos lasting no more than 7 minutes, badges (modules) that had no more than 4 or 5 videos, and challenges that preceded a small selection of modules. From there the retention was optimal, while also giving me plenty of content on which to work.

Conclusion

Overall, I would definitely recommend using Treehouse, or any similar badge-based learning method. The motivation you get from earning badges that build into more badges is intense, the ability to show your knowledge in such a clear cut form is refreshing, and the knowledge that you know what you know is even better. Overall, badges are looking like a very viable new way to qualify learning at an incremental level.

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Parental Training for Autism

January 27th, 2012 | by Jeremy | autism, learning

Jan
27

Article first published as Parental Training for Autism on Technorati.

Child with Autism and his teaching support group. The state of Autism support is daunting. More children are being diagnosed with Autism then ever before, schools are running low on funds and are unable to provide necessary services. Parents are running low on funds to provide services for their children personally. Insurance companies are reluctant to pay for services at the risk of raising premiums for their customers. The government is already running in the red in most States and at the Federal level. The financial situation is daunting when it comes to paying for specialists and therapists to work with children on the Spectrum.

But there is one group of people who are wiling to do the job for free, if they could only find out how: parents and caregivers. They consult with websites, books, and their children’s therapists and teachers. They do their research in trying to understand what they need to do. But we as parents are, quite frankly, not prepared. It’s not because we don’t care, it’s because we just don’t know. We need training, we need consultation, and we need help.

Luckily, at least in the Granite School District, the school system has had the insight to set up a parental training class on how to help their children with Autism. They have specialists come and talk to each parent about each part of Autism. Last night was the first night my wife and I attended, and we loved it. From what we learned, we are better able to understand the behaviors of both our children, and therefore better understand what they are trying to communicate.

It was also a good opportunity to get to know other parents who have children on the Spectrum. We can talk about shared experiences, goals, and get ideas from each other. It’s a social relationship that we can’t get any other way, as few others seem to understand our experiences. They don’t understand that when your child is yelling “No!” at you and trying to get you to say what they want, even if they are wrong, it’s progress.

This type of program is definitely something we need to continue for our schools. In the end, with the help of a few specialists, they are training a legion of special needs aides that will all work for free. That, in my mind, makes for a sustainable way forward in teaching children with Autism.

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Badges: Motivating Education

January 26th, 2012 | by Jeremy | assessment, distance learning, learning, technology, training

Jan
26

For many years Education has had a big problem: It’s been seen as being boring, tiring, and a chore. Since the days of “No more Teachers, no more books” to the “Hey Teacher, Leave them Kids Alone”, people have been complaining about education. Everyone from parents to teachers have been looking for some way to make education fun again. And it seems something has grown from the video game world that can help: badges.

Badges are, essentially, minor accomplishment trophies, showing a mastery of a skill. Unlike the old “Gold Star on Forehead” methods used by teachers to reward correct answers, badges can be linked directly to a single skill (or series of skills). Video games use them as a way to modivate the player to continue to play the game by giving them something to work toward that takes perhaps less than 15 to 30 minutes. Before long, you have a player that has spent hours playing a game just to get a virtual award and feel accomplished. While many parents have seen these accomplishments as hollow, educators have seen them as a way to keep students interested in learning.

I have to admit, I was skeptical at first when I saw a number of institutions that apply them. How can you be sure they show a level of accomplishment? What is the standard of measurement? How is the badge a sign of a quality of education, and show a quantative, measured result? Well, the only way to know for sure would be to test it out. I found a website, TeamTreeHouse.com, that provided training videos that built the student up with a number of badges. The rates were reasonable for registration, so I signed up to see what it was like.

They (currently) have three main badges: Web Design, Web Development, and iOS 4 Programming. Looking at the number of videos, the length of each video, I figured if I booked through them I might be able to finish the whole training regime within a month, so I selected every badge path they had. Then I started on the first badge, which was an Introduction to HTML. As a learner, you watch a series of short videos (the longest was almost 20 minutes, the shortest was less then 2), and then at the end take a quiz to see how much you learned. After answering five consecutive questions correctly, you are awarded the “minor” badge, and move on to the next. After accomplishing all the minor badges in the HTML badge set, you are awarded the HTML badge, and so move on to the next set. After completing all the Web Design badges, you are awarded the Web Design “super” badge.

Once I saw how it worked, I was impressed. Evaluation of student knowledge is critical to learning, both before they start to learn, and after. By using this method of taking a quiz at any time during the badge sessions, the student can evaluate how much they already know about a given topic, and how much more they need to know. For online learning, this is great, because students have a way to self-evaluate when they need more instruction, how much instruction, and get instruction on targeted skills they seek. Also, as an added bonus, badges show everyone involved in the person’s education from the teacher, to the parent, to the student, and even to a potential employer, what skills they truly have beyond having “taken a class”. They may be minor accomplishments, but they represent real skills that have been acquired.

There is a caveat to this though: with the automated testing on TeamTreeHouse.com it is possible to continue to try answering questions until you get them right, as the questions repeat from a relatively small subset of questions. Of course that can be easily remedied by having either a larger question set, a limited amount of time to take the quiz, or both. Personally I don’t think it’s too terrible, as even by answering a question wrong it forces you to rethink the answer, and that in and of itself is learning.

So what about our guilded halls of learning in education, both K-12 and Higher Ed? How can this be implemented? Well, it would be both very easy (at least in concept), and extremely complex (in execution). Most educators have already built a well-ordered lesson plan that breaks down into topics, skills, knowledge, etc. that would directly relate to badges, both minor and regular badges. Continue to collect them, and you get a certificate with all your accomplishment badges, detailing the skills you have learned while studying. The real problem would be keeping track of these badges. An easy way would be to offer quizzes and assign them as each quiz is passed. But someone would need to manage the badge accomplishments, and provide a way to make them “puiblic”, either by having physical badges or digital badges.

The logistics of the badge question can be worked out, but it will take time to apply it to traditional education. In the mean time, to illustrate just how addicting learning by badges can be, I started the task of completing all 66 available badges on the site (as of this writing) on Monday and I have just 10 more to go. It is definitely taking less than the month I thought it would take, and that for me is reason enough to take education with badges seriously. If you would like to see what these badges look like, you can view my profile. This is just one very exciting thing I can see coming up for educating a connected generation. What do you think?

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Mobile Devices and Treating Autism

April 21st, 2011 | by Jeremy | apple, autism, ipad, iphone, learning, technology

Apr
21

Mobile devices have become the next stage in speech and language therapy for Autism. While they do represent a huge up front investment, the benefits of having a a mobile device are becoming clear.

First, they represent a more intimate interaction. Instead of having to make a correletation between key and action, a finger on the screen makes the interaction more simple. No longer do you need to relate a mouse location on a desk to a visual pointer, you instead point with your finger. That makes for a more simple interaction with data. It is similar to interacting with paper, a book, or a poster on the wall.

Another reason is the versatility of the mobile device. Starting with the iPod Touch and iPad, and now with Android tablets starting to show their heads, developers have found a way to bring the old paper therapy tools to life. That means increased engagement on the part of the student (in this case with Autism), which follows with more progress.

To date, developers have created communication tools to allow children with Autism to relate pictures with spoken words and actions, games to teach social skills, apps to teach reading, games to teach social interaction, and even apps to help children visualize what the mouth is doing in order to learn how to speak. While all this technology has been previously available for the desktop, or even a laptop, never before has it been made available in a device that can fit in your pocket. Yes, the new multitouch device has been a technology advance that has come at a time when Autism is growing as a diagnosis.

But how do you use these great applications? Not all of them are intuitive, and that is what is often what defines a good app from a bad app. Many are designed by speech therapists, occupational therapists, special education teachers, etc. who know what they want, but do not often know what the parents need. Not that it’s a problem generally, if you are working with your special education teacher, or are willing to do a little bit of reading on the apps main website.

So to all those out there who continue to doubt the “magic” quality of the iPad, Motorola Zoom, or any other mobile device for children with Autism, I hope you rethink your position. Sure the iPad is not the immediate support tool, as it doesn’t replace a therapist, but it can reduce the number of meetings and the amount of time spent in one on one therapy sessions. And I, for one, think that is pretty neat.

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Benefits of Teaching

April 15th, 2011 | by Jeremy | learning, training

Apr
15

There are several things that make Teaching worth while. These things help you look past the politics, layers of red tape, and constant posturing for respect and position. And all these things come down to the students learning something.

In spite of what most people tell you, where you go to school doesn’t necessarily guarantee that you learn more things. You may have better tools for learning elsewhere (like books, equipment, etc.), but ultimately learning is a personal responsibility. As a teacher, it is your responsibility to provide information in such a way as to increase someone’s ability to learn. So we present learning plans, schedules, assignments, assessments, quizzes, tests, grades, grade levels, etc. all to provide you, the student, with a healthy, safe, responsible environment to exercise your rights to learn.

There are times when that fails. Construction, relocation, faulty air conditioning, etc. can all distract from the skills, knowledge, and attitudes necessary to learn. But these are just that, distractions. Often, they can be taken as excuses for not learning, reasons for letting that responsibility slip from your grasp while trying to fling it on to someone else.

And then there are times when we as teachers succeed, and that alone makes it all worth while. For instance, today in my Linux class, my students started telling me how they integrated using the command line and scripting in their work. Both techniques they learned while in my class. Both stories warmed my heart no end. That, my friends, is what teaching is all about. That is what makes it all worth while. My personal investment in my students was accepted, and validated in their learning process.

Ever wonder what makes parents really proud of their children? It’s the same thing. They work with their kids to teach them something, pass on knowledge they gained, and see their children apply it. Teachers are the same, and take just as much pride in the learning of others. It’s a great feeling.

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Bullying and What To Do About It: Taking Autism Into Account

September 21st, 2010 | by Jeremy | autism, learning

Sep
21

One thing that frightens me most about my son’s schooling is the potential for bullying. I saw it with my older brother, and often my older brother would be the one getting in trouble for defending himself (hence the reason why I hated Jr. High, and Gym class). A lot of parents are determined to have their child with Autism mainstreamed. Others prefer to isolate them within special schools or home-school their children. The route you take will be completely up to you, but when dealing with Bullying, The Kiowa County Signal has posted ways to deal with it, particularly with children with Autism.

Bullying isn’t just hitting kids on the playground. It’s much more insidious than that. Bullying is harassing children verbally (including texting and instant messages), physically (like forcing them to sit at another table, or move from their spot), or even psychologically (forcing unacceptable and often humiliating behavior, from a person).

Too often it’s too easy for school officials, being human themselves, to dismiss bullying if they can’t see it. Because it often doesn’t happen within eye-shot of an authority figure, they fear incriminating another student on "hear-say". This is understandable, as it underscores the basis of our justice system, innocent until proven guilty (or at least until tried by the media at any rate).

As a parent, it is also your right to make sure your child, with or without Autism, is in a safe environment. This starts with contacting the school. Find out what their anti-bullying policy is, and how it is enforced. How do they react to reports of bullying, and how is it addressed? It’s important to note that adults in schools are very much out-numbered, and cannot be everywhere at once. And also losing your temper cannot help any situation. Accept they are human, and see how you can work with the system.

But even more important, let them know that your child has Autism, and what that means. Find out if they are aware of what Autism means, particularly when it comes to psychological bullying. Do they understand that children with autism are more likely to take things literally, and will often be very trusting of everyone? Do they know how to recognize a bully leading another child into a bullying situation, using manipulation? These are crucial to your child’s protection, and need to be addressed.

Bullying is a frustrating issue for all concerned. Often it requires a lot of patience, and sometimes some creative thinking. Be a help to your school, and I’m sure they will be happy to make any necessary changes to guarantee your child with autism will have a safe learning environment.

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SME’s and Instructors: The Good, and the Difference Between Them

April 23rd, 2010 | by Jeremy | learning, training

Apr
23

I was talking with my friend Joseph about a training that he had in Puppet, and the instructor’s assumptions when they started the class. Now, before I start, let me tell you that Joseph was a trainer and instructor with Guru Labs, a well-respected source for Linux training. He started relating to me the experience he had with the trainer, and how he reacted to the training process. I immediately identified the trainer as a SME, or Subject Matter Expert. This prompted a quick discussion on the differences between the Subject Matter Expert and the Instructor or Trainer.

If you have been following my posts for a while, you know that I have a different definition of what a Trainer is, or rather what a trainer should be. Trainers are those who not only know their subjects, but know how to convey the subject to the student without exceeding their cognitive load. There are a lot of tricks to doing this that anyone can learn, but the real instructor can recognize and adjust to their student’s cognitive capabilities.

At the heart here is the cognitive load. That is, the level a student can reach before they feel overwhelmed. Some do so quickly, either because they are new to the subject or they have inhibited their learning somehow (no breakfast, poorly hydrated, medicated, distracted, etc.). A great instructor can adjust the environment, terminology, and teaching methods to appeal to the student’s learning ability.

So where does the SME fit into this? A poor SME can be easily identified by how they react to a question to which they do not know the answer: they lie through their teeth. They make something up that sounds plausible, and then teach it as though it were fact.

A good SME will do the research, though usually they do it during the training when they should be moving on in the lecture. This means they keep the students on hold, often bored, while he tries to find the answer. A bad instructor will do this as well. Also, it’s well worth noting that a good SME can become a good Instructor, with proper experience or training.

A good Instructor will place the question on hold (often after polling the students present to see if anyone has had a similar experience), and then will do the research after the lecture and while students are going through exercises. He will then immediately come back when he has the answer to let everyone know what the answer was, and as a bonus point, tell them where the answer was found.

There are a lot of other clues to telling a good instructor from a good SME, but this one is the one that came up in our discussions. Does anyone else have a similar experience, or one they would like to share?

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Job Posting: Looking For Additional PHP, JavaScript, and Database Driven Websites Instructors

October 5th, 2009 | by Jeremy | learning

Oct
05

We are currently looking for additional instructors for PHP, JavaScript, and our Database Driven Websites classes to help supplement the demand for these classes. We are looking for instructors with some teaching experience, and hands on knowledge in these areas.

If you are interested, please contact Inita Lyon at ilyon@aoce.utah.edu with your resume. Please mention the specific class (or classes) you would like to teach, and your experience in these areas. Be sure you also check out our main website at http://continue.utah.edu/edtech/ to learn more about our department and the classes we offer.

Thanks everyone!

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Autism and Resources: What We Have, and What We Need

June 9th, 2009 | by Jeremy | autism, learning

Jun
09

The news is all a buzz with the needs of families with Autism, the treatments that work or don’t work, the quacks and celebrities that offer their opinions based on anecdotal evidence and fudged research, and the tools that are available for autistic children. All these articles do is outline the scope of the problem, blow it a little out of proportion, and even mislead us into thinking what solutions there are. Ultimately, we come to the same conclusion: we as families working with Autism don’t have the resources to be effective.

What do I mean? I mean that though there are sources for autistic treatment that has proven to work time and time again, those sources are expensive and/or unavailable. Don’t get me wrong, the services that most public and private entities are generally top notch, and work well with our children when they have them. But they can’t work with our autistic children 24/7, and as such they just can’t be as effective as they could become.

Also, most parents who have recently had their child diagnosed with autism immediately seem to want to find "the cure", the one thing that will make their child become "normal", and as such not need special attention. They expect their child to learn from imitation as they did, instead of through direct instruction. It’s frustrating for anyone to try to teach people in a method that is different than there own, which is why working with autistic children in a learning environment can be very taxing.

So what is the solution? We have the resources in raw form, but the supply and demand process is not working, because the resources are too expensive for many families and Autism is becoming more prevalent. We need something that will provide both more resources and help parents and care-givers understand what needs to be done.

The answer: provide educational resources for parents and care-givers of autistic children. These resources can be in the form of specific exercises to take their children trough, computer programs that can engage the child while still teach them useful tools, and a support center that can answer questions and make sure the family is continuing on the right track.

The best way I can see to distribute this out would be to provide online courses for parents to participate in, engaging parents, caregivers, and children in such a way that they understand what they are doing, and why. This method should be attainable, assuming the learning methods are soundly rooted in combined auditory and visual methods.

It’s a lot to ask, but I think it can be done. There are a lot of tools that are out there already, floating around and separate. By focusing our efforts and combining these tools into a single course method, I think it’s possible to provide parents with the help they need.

Unfortunately, I don’t think I’m qualified to provide the materials personally, as I don’t have the necessary qualifications for autism counseling (yet), but it would be nice if our government took this under their wing and helped parents to help themselves. It would be a heck of a lot cheaper than the alternative that continuously gets thrown around.

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iPhone/iPod Touch and Autism in the News

May 28th, 2009 | by Jeremy | apple, autism, iphone, learning

May
28

This morning while going through the morning routine, I came across several news articles talking about communication applications for the iPhone and iPod Touch. Proloquo2go was the app being featured, but each article spoke vaguely regarding the quiet applications that provide a benefit to those with disabilities.

I started to think about how the truth in that statement. Sure, we have all heard of the applications that help students lives on a college campus, help people get around town, or the games that can be played. And I’m sure the application sales will reflect that the real market for apps on the iPhone and iPod Touch are these areas, but there is such a wealth of other applications that fill real needs in peoples lives, rather than just wants.

For instance, there are a ton of learning and education applications. Each application does one thing, and does it well. You can learn another language, have reference books at a click of a button, or have access to a graphing calculator without needing to buy another device for roughly the same price (at least mine was back in the day). Here I have found several applications for preschoolers, toddlers, and children in school that help them learn and develop in fun and engaging ways. Some are even well adapted for several learning styles, and can be used by autistic children. For me, at least, it alone makes the purchase of an iPod Touch worth the price.

So, while the news is only catching up with what I’ve already posted in the past, it’s refreshing to see the platform and those developers out there get recognition for the fine and important work that they do. Sure, applications like iConverse or Proloquo2go will not have the downloads that Sound Grenade had, but I can guarantee that the applications will be used more often and longer than those little annoying apps that work once for a reaction and then are never used again.

My thanks to all those out there who wish to use the iPhone and iPod Touch as a tool to help those with Autism show just how special and unique they are. You are invaluable to our community, and the community of iPhone Developers.

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