When I consider my own personal learning style, I find that I learn the same way I teach.  I prefer my instructors to approach course objectives with some dimension, depth and differentiation.

The use of a tool because it is available is simply not acceptable.  Each component must have a raison d’être.  In the same way that barbecue sauce goes poorly on chocolate cake, the use of a power point that crams too much information onto each slide is distasteful; as is the use of the “talking head” as a video component.

As a teacher I am a facilitator of knowledge.  I take all the information that is important for my students to understand, measure it, weigh it and present it to them in a logical manner that will help them build understanding.  Occasionally, I toss in a formal or informal assessment to gauge misconceptions and to track growth during and after the lesson.

These assessments help me move the lesson along in a direction and speed that will best help student understanding. Thus, a good lesson in my French class will begin with a problem or question to get the learner thinking about the objective.  Next we share our perspectives.  The whiteboard lesson will take the intangible thoughts and give them a bit of structure.  Next we can insert applicable video or reading.  Pausing from time-to-time to assess grasp of the concept, I can use these videos as opportunities for informal assessment — adjusting speed and direction as necessary.  A practice set allows me to see how their understanding has developed during the class.

I teach how I learn.  Using all the tools I can to help build real understanding in my students.

On a personal note, I have to say that I was impacted by the lecture style of Professor Steinhoff back in the late 1980s.  Anyone who attended Liberty back then likely experienced one of  his multimedia extravaganzas.  It seemed each lesson brought to bear so much… overhead, posters, slides, VHS, acting… It all made sense when taken in together.

An instructor must differentiate his instruction in order to be effective.  Using a broad spectrum of presentation tools and styles helps give the student more angles on the learning objective.  So, as a learner, this is what I prefer.

I am an active member of a number of online communities.  They reflect different interests in general, but tend to converge at various points.  I am active on Facebook, Edmodo, CCAEagles.org, luonline, ISTE, and a number of other sites like Skype and Twitter to lesser degrees.

To me, online communities allow for better contact with students and parents.  Within the confines of these contact points, I am able to explain and clarify the intricacies of the day’s lesson.  I am also able to assign work and collect assessments of my students through sites like Edmodo.  Here, students are able to message me with questions or post those questions to the stream so the entire class is able to benefit from their question and my response.

Through my school blog/class website (ccaeagles.org) I am able to easily interact with parents and students about academic progress and the like.  Here is where I post notes whole cloth.  Via the email function of the page, students are able to voice concerns or gain clarity on tougher concepts, thus, allowing me to reach out to their classmates with the clarification or additional information the class needs to succeed.

Facebook is the tool I use to connect to friends and family near and far.  I prefer these discussions be in the open with students, should they have an urgent question.  Photos, videos and text converge in this forum to provide a fairly balanced platform.  As with any technology, care must be taken to not over-use Face book.  I try not to check my Facebook too often, but daily birthdays and occaisional notes about big events are posted here.

With each of these, balance is key.  If we are not careful, we can easily get swamped by artificial obligations to check and post to our online communities.