When I’m stressed out I find it relaxing to put my spices in alphabetical order. Knowing this you may understand why I am rather captivated by GuideVue, the technology introduced recently in my Emerging Tech class. It has flow charts! And multiple A-V stuff. And it’s easier to use than it appears - so it makes me look smart. Girl geek heaven.
GuideVue is a mobile teaching application that allows users to access step-by-step instructions from experts. Any combination of text, still photos, slides with charts or diagrams, spoken narration, sounds or video can be used to support teaching based on a structured workflow skeleton.
I had a class assignment to author a GuideVue. I asked my husband for a suggestion for a topic. Bob is an avid do-it-yourself enthusiast. He is convinced dry wall finishing is a skill everyone needs. Before I knew it we were drawn into a multi-night family project on dry walling. It did turn out to be time consuming. To draft and revise a flow chart for even a simple project like taping a dry wall seam took the better part of two evenings. The script was partly a product of the flow chart and took about an additional hour. Gathering the materials and shooting the still photos while finishing two dry wall seams was another full evening. There was another hour involved for the shots of sanding the dry work the next day.
I spent an afternoon editing the still photos. (But I tend to get carried away photoediting so many folks would save time there.) This was the first time I had used the GuideVue authoring program. It’s pretty clear with a simple, uncluttered interface. The help section appears to be a work-in-progress so there was a bit of trial and error involved. A GuideVue on authoring GuideVues would be helpful. I set aside a whole Saturday to build the skeleton, add the photos and add the sound. It actually spilled over to a second day. I used Audacity to generate MP3's of the narration and bring them over to the author. It turned out to be a labor-intense but enjoyable family project.
I was particularly impressed by the ability to separate out the audio giving the possibility of making multiple versions with different soundtracks. The potential to customize the narration by gender, accent or jargon is powerful enhancement to social learning. The model could “sound so much like me.” I wanted to potentiate dual coding. Also I wanted to consider the needs of the hard of hearing and those with limited English. So I treated the text like captioning and matched the narration to the text. I could easily make another version following Bob’s suggestion to use the spoken narration to provide helpful hints and more advanced material.
Another advantage I found was the use of short segments. Producing good-quality long videos is not an easy task. However, many people can manage quite acceptable short segments. With GuideVue an author doesn’t need advanced filming, recording or editing skills.
GuideVue is still in development with a few glitches yet to be worked out. I think it has tremendous potential for community educators - religious and cultural school teachers, craft instructors, sports and recreation teachers. Just think of having an effective way to share a skill - donning kimono, braiding challah, tying a bowline knot - with a student miles away. GuideVue is grounded in educational theory. Creating the flow chart for the skeleton forces the organization that is a challenge for many community educators. The possibility of customizing for local needs is especially appealing. Preparing a GuideVue is somewhat time-consuming. I think many dedicated community educators will see this as a labor of love and well worth the effort. GuideVue authoring and viewing are already fairly easy to use. When the last bugs are cleaned up and the help section is completed, this will be a very useful tool for community educators.
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Week 7
As part of this week’s lesson I built a park bench, was entertained by a hoochie-coochie dancer and was blown up by a sandbox bully - all without leaving the comfort of my favorite chair. Initially, I had some reservations about taking part in Second Life. At best, I knew it as the butt of jokes. At worst, I associated it with the seamier side of the internet. After being assured by the only person I know who would admit to using Linden Labs’ virtual world that it was “creepy but harmless,” I decided to give it a try. A quick search of the internet showed that Linden is making an effort to mainstream Second Life and a number of institutions are using Second Life for teaching and research. I was actually very enthusiastic about the possibility of trying three locations - a mining museum; a tensile tester simulation and computer hardware activity; and a recreation of crucial moments in the civil rights movement. I had heard that some of my old student hangouts in the real world were still popular with international students trying to practice English. I was looking forward to revisiting them in the virtual world.
But my enthusiasm was soon beaten down. I found Second Life to be the most frustrating application I’ve ever tried to use. I had no trouble downloading the viewer to my PC but had persistent error messages when I try to open the viewer. I borrowed a Macbook Pro and successfully downloaded the viewer and opened Second Life. The tutorial in the welcome area was sufficient to get me started walking, running, flying and chatting. But I found the play lumbering. Even on the Mac, the graphics are slow to redraw and the play is slow to the helm. The keyboard locks up frequently. Not only does the game crash frequently but it takes time to completely shut down leaving the computer unusable for up to ten minutes. I found the search feature almost useless. “Teleport” is unreliable, reporting that my desired location was unavailable about one time in four. A simple change of outfits from the existing inventory was easily accomplished. A half hours’ work enabled me to make some changes in my avatar but I estimate it would take many hours to craft an avatar I would be happy to represent me.
Beyond the technical issues, I was disappointed with the interaction. I spent most of the time wondering empty streets. I found that if a scene has too many residents, the computer usually slowed to unplayable speed. It was rare to find a location with just the two to five residents that made interaction possible. From wiki.secondlife and videos on YouTube I got useful advice on navigating and on creating objects. I found my way back to the Genome Island. I attended a music event with disappointing sound quality. I managed to locate and enter two of the locations that had originally interested me - a museum and an outdoor mall with café, shops and an art gallery. In only one did I interact with another resident. I did come away with several nice t-shirts, a miner’s helmet and a cup of coffee. I found a public sandbox and was making good progress on building a bench. Next thing I know my bench was blown up and I was being tossed about. And then there is the matter of the dancer...
An article retrieved from this January’s scincemag.org described NSF grant evaluation panels meeting in Second Life. The article states “Not everyone liked it ‘But the work got done.’” What made this experience successful? This short piece did not provide answers but it does suggest some direction for questions I might like to pursue. I would think that this panel had access to the most advanced graphics processing and internet connections. Would this improved technology make SL less aggravating by improving the speed of play and reducing the number of crashes? Would the fact that the panel would likely proceed directly to the meeting location alleviate the frustration associated with searching for and transporting to locations? By directly entering the controlled meeting island, the panel would avoid griefers and touts for mature islands. The participants were able purchase “a decent set of virtual clothes.” It would seem that this would be less taxing than trying to learn to customize an avatar while learning all the other aspects of the simulation. I think this would make the process of identifying with one’s avatar and benefitting from the advantages of presence move along quicker.
It appears to me that Second life elicits mixed reviews. I believe that in order to capitalize on its strengths, professional users must address its shortcomings, both real and perceived.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qOFU9oUF2HA&feature=related
Educational Uses of Second Life
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-6jrxxpmzEY
RIT island video
http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/01/19/students-recreate-the-civil-rights-movement-in-second-life/
civil rights recreation review
But my enthusiasm was soon beaten down. I found Second Life to be the most frustrating application I’ve ever tried to use. I had no trouble downloading the viewer to my PC but had persistent error messages when I try to open the viewer. I borrowed a Macbook Pro and successfully downloaded the viewer and opened Second Life. The tutorial in the welcome area was sufficient to get me started walking, running, flying and chatting. But I found the play lumbering. Even on the Mac, the graphics are slow to redraw and the play is slow to the helm. The keyboard locks up frequently. Not only does the game crash frequently but it takes time to completely shut down leaving the computer unusable for up to ten minutes. I found the search feature almost useless. “Teleport” is unreliable, reporting that my desired location was unavailable about one time in four. A simple change of outfits from the existing inventory was easily accomplished. A half hours’ work enabled me to make some changes in my avatar but I estimate it would take many hours to craft an avatar I would be happy to represent me.
Beyond the technical issues, I was disappointed with the interaction. I spent most of the time wondering empty streets. I found that if a scene has too many residents, the computer usually slowed to unplayable speed. It was rare to find a location with just the two to five residents that made interaction possible. From wiki.secondlife and videos on YouTube I got useful advice on navigating and on creating objects. I found my way back to the Genome Island. I attended a music event with disappointing sound quality. I managed to locate and enter two of the locations that had originally interested me - a museum and an outdoor mall with café, shops and an art gallery. In only one did I interact with another resident. I did come away with several nice t-shirts, a miner’s helmet and a cup of coffee. I found a public sandbox and was making good progress on building a bench. Next thing I know my bench was blown up and I was being tossed about. And then there is the matter of the dancer...
An article retrieved from this January’s scincemag.org described NSF grant evaluation panels meeting in Second Life. The article states “Not everyone liked it ‘But the work got done.’” What made this experience successful? This short piece did not provide answers but it does suggest some direction for questions I might like to pursue. I would think that this panel had access to the most advanced graphics processing and internet connections. Would this improved technology make SL less aggravating by improving the speed of play and reducing the number of crashes? Would the fact that the panel would likely proceed directly to the meeting location alleviate the frustration associated with searching for and transporting to locations? By directly entering the controlled meeting island, the panel would avoid griefers and touts for mature islands. The participants were able purchase “a decent set of virtual clothes.” It would seem that this would be less taxing than trying to learn to customize an avatar while learning all the other aspects of the simulation. I think this would make the process of identifying with one’s avatar and benefitting from the advantages of presence move along quicker.
It appears to me that Second life elicits mixed reviews. I believe that in order to capitalize on its strengths, professional users must address its shortcomings, both real and perceived.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qOFU9oUF2HA&feature=related
Educational Uses of Second Life
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-6jrxxpmzEY
RIT island video
http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/01/19/students-recreate-the-civil-rights-movement-in-second-life/
civil rights recreation review
Monday, February 21, 2011
Week 6 - Synchronous Communication
The technology we are looking at this week is synchronous communication. My experience and reactions are all over the map. Repeated attempts to set up multi-person video connection proved quite frustrating. I could manage good audio links but never got stable video with more than one person. At first I was disappointed. However, in the end, using the audio through voice-over-internet (Skype) or speaker phone and sending pertinent web links via email was quite efficient.
I also used chat one-on-one through Google and Facebook and with a large group through Moodle and a Facebook group. Some of the experiences were planned, others just dropping in on someone I noticed online. I found the lack of non-verbal cues can be almost maddening at times. For a quick question and answer; or sending a link for a short comment, chat seems quite adequate. What sometimes bothered me most about the chats was the slow speed. More than once I looked up and realized an hour had passed online. I chided myself for wasting so much time. But was it a waste? I had deepened social and professional connections. I had learned about things I would have not otherwise encountered. I remember having similar reactions when I would spend an unplanned-for amount of time chatting with friends and extended family I might encounter on walks around my old neighborhood. Same activity - chatting - different medium. The computer replaces the front porch for spontaneous synchronous communication. Despite the frustration and the time “wasted,” I think have found value in this opportunity for serendipitous chat.
Is there nonverbal communication during computer-mediated communication?
I notice some level of non-verbal communication even in text-only communication. Silence, level of formality, spamming, lurking, attempts to control the flow of the conversion - these are non-verbal aspects of text communication. I think users of text are so hungry for non-verbal signals that we have invented a set of non-verbal conventions such as emticons and graphics and typing all capitals to fill the gap caused by the scarcity non-verbal cues. The addition of audio adds many non-verbal cues to computer communication. Cues such as physical appearance, dress, adornment and many emblems and gestures come into play in when video is added to computer communication.. However, unless great effort is made to rectify the problem, camera placement contravenes the communication we generally glean from eye contact. For me this is a major loss. I find that many of the regulators, adaptors and facial feedbacks we depend on in face-to-face conversation seem distracting when caught on camera. Signals from touch are not conveyed. Certainly video connection provides much more non-verbal communication than text-only communication, but many of the nuances of face to face-communication are still lost or distorted.
I also used chat one-on-one through Google and Facebook and with a large group through Moodle and a Facebook group. Some of the experiences were planned, others just dropping in on someone I noticed online. I found the lack of non-verbal cues can be almost maddening at times. For a quick question and answer; or sending a link for a short comment, chat seems quite adequate. What sometimes bothered me most about the chats was the slow speed. More than once I looked up and realized an hour had passed online. I chided myself for wasting so much time. But was it a waste? I had deepened social and professional connections. I had learned about things I would have not otherwise encountered. I remember having similar reactions when I would spend an unplanned-for amount of time chatting with friends and extended family I might encounter on walks around my old neighborhood. Same activity - chatting - different medium. The computer replaces the front porch for spontaneous synchronous communication. Despite the frustration and the time “wasted,” I think have found value in this opportunity for serendipitous chat.
Is there nonverbal communication during computer-mediated communication?
I notice some level of non-verbal communication even in text-only communication. Silence, level of formality, spamming, lurking, attempts to control the flow of the conversion - these are non-verbal aspects of text communication. I think users of text are so hungry for non-verbal signals that we have invented a set of non-verbal conventions such as emticons and graphics and typing all capitals to fill the gap caused by the scarcity non-verbal cues. The addition of audio adds many non-verbal cues to computer communication. Cues such as physical appearance, dress, adornment and many emblems and gestures come into play in when video is added to computer communication.. However, unless great effort is made to rectify the problem, camera placement contravenes the communication we generally glean from eye contact. For me this is a major loss. I find that many of the regulators, adaptors and facial feedbacks we depend on in face-to-face conversation seem distracting when caught on camera. Signals from touch are not conveyed. Certainly video connection provides much more non-verbal communication than text-only communication, but many of the nuances of face to face-communication are still lost or distorted.
Monday, February 14, 2011
Week 5 - Social Networking
A few thoughts on my experience with social networking - This week I joined Linkedin as part of our class assignment. It looks very practical. While I do enjoy Facebook to keep in touch with friends and family who live at a distance, I can appreciate Linkedin as a useful, professional alternative. I wish it had been available when I had a small business in an isolated community. It is quite interesting to me to learn through Linkedin that some people I know through their “day jobs” have second careers or are very devoted to their work in music, art, sports or civic service.
I was intrigued by Estus’ article describing the use of Facebook in a geriatric course for pharmacy students. As a health educator, I am interested in effective ways to bring about change in attitude as well as changes in knowledge or skill. Estus states that three-fourths of the students reported a change in their perceptions of older adults. Improvement in the relationship among the students was also noted. In this situation, the Facebook discussion was used to enhance an educational strategy that also included reading and in-class discussion. The instructor was involved in facilitating the Facebook discussion thread. Estus showed that the judicious use of Facebook discussion teamed with other educational interventions can be a useful tool in the challenging arena of teaching in the affective domain.
I was intrigued by Estus’ article describing the use of Facebook in a geriatric course for pharmacy students. As a health educator, I am interested in effective ways to bring about change in attitude as well as changes in knowledge or skill. Estus states that three-fourths of the students reported a change in their perceptions of older adults. Improvement in the relationship among the students was also noted. In this situation, the Facebook discussion was used to enhance an educational strategy that also included reading and in-class discussion. The instructor was involved in facilitating the Facebook discussion thread. Estus showed that the judicious use of Facebook discussion teamed with other educational interventions can be a useful tool in the challenging arena of teaching in the affective domain.
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Week 4
E Books
In his June 26, 2010 NYT article, Steven Johnson defended the growing adoption of electronic
readers. He states: “We are marginally less focused, and exponentially more connected. That's a bargain all of us should be happy to make” In her 2010 white paper for the ACLS, Nina Geilen points out that “Scholarly content generally involves extensive networking and cross-referencing between individual works through various channels, including bibliographically citation and subsequent analysis and discussion.” Geilen's statement leads me to think that the networking and connectivity needs of the scholarly users of handheld readers is in some ways different from the needs of the social and business users. Some additional tools and features are needed by the scholarly user.
Most of the respondents in Geilen's assessment of scholarly E-books were satisfied with the hardware and interactive features such as adding notes, bookmarks and highlights. However, some of the needs of the scholarly user were not meet satisfactorily. Many expressed frustration with the search function. The inability to access and search across a large number of titles was seen as a problem. Difficulty was noted with citing and referencing. Gielen concluded “...the convenience of portability and access to permanent downloads (perceived as a boon for the casual reader) did not outweigh the limits of functionality when it came to scholarly reading.” I agree with Galein that advancing technology can overcome the current challenges to the use of handheld readers for scholarly applications. The growth in the availability of scholarly E-books as noted in the January 12, 2011 edition of The Chronicle of Higher Education and the introduction of new technology such as the Android-compatible Nook Color bring scholars ever closer to the happy bargain touted by Johnson.
Cloud computing
My experience with cloud computing is still somewhat limited. I enjoy Audible Books. I have used cloud back-up and storage for personal use. My understanding is that security and privacy standards for the cloud are a work-in-progress and that there is a history of security breaches. Being a rather dull and private person, I just don’t store anything that I would worry much about others accessing. I would think twice about using the cloud for sensitive or confidential material.
I recently began using another aspect of cloud computing. Overall, I found the experience with Google docs positive. It seems very useful to share and collaborate on documents. There are some drawbacks for me. The frequent automatic saves don’t suit my working style. I like being able to do the code manipulation that I can manage in the Corel products. I understand that I would need to know Python to do any code manipulation in Google docs. I also have some security concerns for confidential work. The cost is certainly a plus. I can see why Google docs is so popular.
Monday, January 31, 2011
Week 3 - Podcasting
I found podcasting to be by far the most challenging project I've undertaken for this class. I was starting from scratch with no experience in audio editing and little knowledge of the terminology or technology. I came away with a fair working knowledge of Audacity. I also have a better grasp on two of the concepts we had talked about in class. I have a better feel for the novice experience. As a novice, I have enough familiarity with creating a podcast that I can follow directions but I can't make accommodations for any variance from the script. This podcasting experience has provided a concrete example of the zone proximal development by leading me just beyond my previous skill level through guidance and collaboration.
Schreiber, Fukuta and Gordan (2010) concluded “...students preferred a live lecture to video podcast, although knowledge gain was not significantly different.” The students were tested on Bloom's knowledge level. Based on this article, I would view podcasting as being as useful as a lecture for the same purposes as a lecture, to deliver knowledge broadly, quickly and conveniently. To me the abilities to pause and repeat a podcast are appealing. I was surprised by the concerns raised by the students about interruptions and about being less likely to finish. It seems a certain level of discipline is needed to effectively use podcasts. This study compared podcasts to lecture to measure changes in knowledge. I'd like to see how podcasts might be used to tackle some higher levels of learning.
Monday, January 24, 2011
Week 2
Technologies
One of the technologies I used this week was the image sharing site Flickr. Setting up the account was not difficult. There’s still quite a bit for me to learn to get the full potential of this site, but the basics are straightforward. I was comfortable with the privacy options. I uploaded and tagged a raw picture http://www.flickr.com/photos/micemom/5374088002/ and one I had edited http://www.flickr.com/photos/micemom/5374088002/. Searching, I found not only pictures but Groups who share my interests.
My experience with Flickr led me to another discovery. I wasn’t sure about how I could use the images in terms of copyright and fair use and in terms of Flickr etiquette. My first tendency was to google “copyright” and try to bone up on it. It didn’t take long to realize that was overwhelming. On the other hand, my son is an archivist at a university library and is very knowledgeable in this area. A call to him cleared up some but not all of my questions. I’ll call him again to learn more. Slowly, I’m learning to make use of technology and my social network and rely less on my own individual memory.
One of the other technologies I used for the first time this week was Delicious. I accessed it through FireFox which I use as a secondary browser. I like the idea of tagging and the ability to organize bookmarks. Once I got the Firefox extension installed, bookmarking and tagging was easy. But before I install the extension for Google Chrome I want to understand more about the privacy options and automatic sync options.
I also uploaded a video
http://www.youtube.com/my_videos?feature=mhsn
Wow! Eleven views and only five are from people related to me by blood or marriage.
I can be followed at twitter.com/SecondSpring2
Considering most of the interests I’m following have something to do with epidemiology, I fear that I am actually becoming less cool by being on Twitter.
Comment on Chew and Eysenbach
The biggest shift in my attitude and behavior this week was looking at Twitter. My previous outlook on Twitter can be summed up in this Facebook exchange:
My 19-year-old son:
I've desided that I'm not hipster enough and that you lesser people don't know enough about what I'm doing at all times. Therefor, I've made a twitter. Follow me at twitter.com/xxxxxxxx
Son’s friend:
not only do you update your status an inappropriate amount but your spelling is appalling
Frankly, I saw neither use nor ornament in Twitter. Granted it could serve to alert a group in an emergency. It might be used to quickly share useful links or information. But Facebook does those things. Then I read Chew and Eysenbach’s 2010 “Pandemics in the Age of Twitter: Content Analysis of Tweets during the 209 H1N1 Outbreak” This “infodemiology” study analyzed tweets to provide near realtime information on public response to the pandemic. As a health educator, I find two aspects of this study particularly interesting. One is in the ability to identify possible misinformation. This knowledge would allow public health educators to more effectively adapt their educational messages. Second is the authors' suggestion that analysis of tweets can be used by public health authorities to be aware of the real or perceived concerns of the public. Looking at the volume of tweets and at the rates of expression of humor, frustration or concern can be helpful in determining the public’s perception of risk. The Health Belief Model, a popular tool used by health educators, considers perceived susceptibility and perceived severity of risk to study health behaviors. Having a tool to quickly gauge perceived risk could be very useful to health educators applying the Health Belief Model. I now see Twitter as a valuable tool for public health research and planning.
Application of Learning Theory
Thinking about the application of leaning theory, I am recalling a situation in which I was the learner. Two years ago I decided to become certified as a Red Cross first aid and CPR instructor. The facilitator for the certification course was a retired Cornell extension agent. I was very impressed by his mastery of the content area and his teaching skills. He not only taught how to teach, he modeled how to teach. First the desired behavior was coded by readings, lecture and videos. In the class we had opportunity to rehearse the desired behavior and receive feed back. I often refer to the notes I took in this class and try to reproduce what we practiced. Many times find myself conscientiously trying to emulate the instructor. I even follow his suggestions about the way to dress for class.
I see this as an example of Social Learning Theory. My adopting a valued outcome was facilitated by coding and modeling. The fact that I respected and identified with the facilitator made it even more likely that I would take on the targeted behavior.
One of the technologies I used this week was the image sharing site Flickr. Setting up the account was not difficult. There’s still quite a bit for me to learn to get the full potential of this site, but the basics are straightforward. I was comfortable with the privacy options. I uploaded and tagged a raw picture http://www.flickr.com/photos/micemom/5374088002/ and one I had edited http://www.flickr.com/photos/micemom/5374088002/. Searching, I found not only pictures but Groups who share my interests.
My experience with Flickr led me to another discovery. I wasn’t sure about how I could use the images in terms of copyright and fair use and in terms of Flickr etiquette. My first tendency was to google “copyright” and try to bone up on it. It didn’t take long to realize that was overwhelming. On the other hand, my son is an archivist at a university library and is very knowledgeable in this area. A call to him cleared up some but not all of my questions. I’ll call him again to learn more. Slowly, I’m learning to make use of technology and my social network and rely less on my own individual memory.
One of the other technologies I used for the first time this week was Delicious. I accessed it through FireFox which I use as a secondary browser. I like the idea of tagging and the ability to organize bookmarks. Once I got the Firefox extension installed, bookmarking and tagging was easy. But before I install the extension for Google Chrome I want to understand more about the privacy options and automatic sync options.
I also uploaded a video
http://www.youtube.com/my_videos?feature=mhsn
Wow! Eleven views and only five are from people related to me by blood or marriage.
I can be followed at twitter.com/SecondSpring2
Considering most of the interests I’m following have something to do with epidemiology, I fear that I am actually becoming less cool by being on Twitter.
Comment on Chew and Eysenbach
The biggest shift in my attitude and behavior this week was looking at Twitter. My previous outlook on Twitter can be summed up in this Facebook exchange:
My 19-year-old son:
I've desided that I'm not hipster enough and that you lesser people don't know enough about what I'm doing at all times. Therefor, I've made a twitter. Follow me at twitter.com/xxxxxxxx
Son’s friend:
not only do you update your status an inappropriate amount but your spelling is appalling
Frankly, I saw neither use nor ornament in Twitter. Granted it could serve to alert a group in an emergency. It might be used to quickly share useful links or information. But Facebook does those things. Then I read Chew and Eysenbach’s 2010 “Pandemics in the Age of Twitter: Content Analysis of Tweets during the 209 H1N1 Outbreak” This “infodemiology” study analyzed tweets to provide near realtime information on public response to the pandemic. As a health educator, I find two aspects of this study particularly interesting. One is in the ability to identify possible misinformation. This knowledge would allow public health educators to more effectively adapt their educational messages. Second is the authors' suggestion that analysis of tweets can be used by public health authorities to be aware of the real or perceived concerns of the public. Looking at the volume of tweets and at the rates of expression of humor, frustration or concern can be helpful in determining the public’s perception of risk. The Health Belief Model, a popular tool used by health educators, considers perceived susceptibility and perceived severity of risk to study health behaviors. Having a tool to quickly gauge perceived risk could be very useful to health educators applying the Health Belief Model. I now see Twitter as a valuable tool for public health research and planning.
Application of Learning Theory
Thinking about the application of leaning theory, I am recalling a situation in which I was the learner. Two years ago I decided to become certified as a Red Cross first aid and CPR instructor. The facilitator for the certification course was a retired Cornell extension agent. I was very impressed by his mastery of the content area and his teaching skills. He not only taught how to teach, he modeled how to teach. First the desired behavior was coded by readings, lecture and videos. In the class we had opportunity to rehearse the desired behavior and receive feed back. I often refer to the notes I took in this class and try to reproduce what we practiced. Many times find myself conscientiously trying to emulate the instructor. I even follow his suggestions about the way to dress for class.
I see this as an example of Social Learning Theory. My adopting a valued outcome was facilitated by coding and modeling. The fact that I respected and identified with the facilitator made it even more likely that I would take on the targeted behavior.
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