by Nicola Dann
Last time I wrote an entry (I'm not a blog productive as others at Nelson Croom!) I told you about the work we are doing with the ADI and the challenges of persuading the thirteen appointed authors to come up with the goods. As the deadline draws ever nearer, both the stick and the carrot are being used to get in the last pieces of content so we can move on to the reviewing stages.
After an author get together in December 2007 to introduce all the authors and project members to each other, we decided to hold another Author Day last month to give them all an update on where we were and allow them to moan to each other about how much I nag them. The carrot was a day out of practice or office in London, and a free lunch. Who could resist? Well, as it turned out quite a few of them, as we didn't end up with the numbers we'd hoped. But for those who did make it we had a highly productive day. So what's the secret of making a day like this so productive? This is where the stick comes in. Once we had lured them in to the room with the carrot psychology, we locked the door and wouldn't let them leave until each author had written a couple of reflection activities for their course ...
The production of knowledge content from these authors isn't a problem. It is when we ask for activities where the learner has to reflect that it becomes more difficult. So we found ourselves in a situation with courses rich in knowledge, facts and information (which is crucial for learning) but without the added rigor of activities which will require learners to do or think of something in a practical situation and then examine the knowledge implicit within it. These activities ensure the online learning experience is rounded, holistic and relevant to what dentists will encounter with patients. It will lead them to being able to successfully apply knowledge in a given scenario, then analyse the results and reflect on the outcome, leading to a continual cycle of learning and improvement.
So you'd think that on their Author Day we allowed the authors to take the time to try out writing activities, then allowing pause for thought and time to reflect on how they had done, followed by the opportunity to refine their ideas so they felt a sense of achievement with what they had produced. Well, no. It was back to the stick psychology where they were told to each write two activities or they'd be home late that evening. I have to say that under pressure they all came up with great activities that will be appearing in their courses soon. Sometimes brute force is what is required. And they'll all have had plenty of time to reflect on it over the festive period!
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