Interview with Patti Shank, Innovators in E-Learning Series

Welcome to an interview with Patti Shank, a learning programs innovator whose ability to bring clarity to the design and implementation process is extremely useful in a time of rapid technological change, and a context of constantly shifting knowledge needs.

1. What is your name and your relation to e-learning?
    Patti Shank, PhD, CPT.  I got into e-learning before there was an "e." ;-) We just called it using technology to support learning or digitally enhanced learning or something like that. We simply had a need (in health care) to reach people who were busy (clinicians, patients) and started using technology (mostly video, at the time) to reach them. The Internet was just becoming available but it was complex to use and not ready for prime time.

    BTW, I think it's long past time to drop the "e." The technology piece is just part of the solution. It's never the entire solution. It never should have been split out in the first place.

2.  How did you get interested in e-learning?
    When the Internet became more widely available, I started  looking into it. But in some ways, we went backwards before going forward again. The Internet was mostly text at first.

    And we're finally getting to the point where we can move social interaction into place where it should be. Learning from and with each other is a natural part of learning. I'm hoping that purely asynchronous learning will start becoming more hybrid in the near future.
 
3.  What are the most overlooked issues in developing good learning programs?
    Using good instructional practice is the most overlooked issue! It's sad how much "instructional content" (text, video, audio, etc.) is not sound from a learning perspective. A recent research project I worked on showed that learning sciences may not be as available or easy to read as we think. Practice certainly shows that it doesn't get used as much as we'd hope. (I hope to change that, one person at a time.)

4.  What are key questions to ask when putting together an educational program?
    The key question for organizations is:

    1. What business and human performance outcomes are needed? 

    Here are some others:

    2. How do you know this is a problem? (What are the signs and symptoms?)

    3. What would you consider a "fix" for this problem?
    These are very high level. There are ton of others and I could go on for hours.

5.  What is your latest book? What is it about?
    My last book isn't on learning so might I talk about what's coming out soon? I'm working on how to easily apply learning sciences in everyday instructional content.

    We're taking the most common problems of learning content (text, video, audio, etc.) and showing how to apply learning sciences to those problems. And we're writing it so anyone who writes learning content (teacher, trainer, subject matter expert, etc) can do it.

6.  What are some of the things that you have found out about yourself and life in writing the book?
    We found it's hard to make difficult topics easy. (Duh. We know this!) So it took us a while to figure out a good process. But it's been super rewarding with many eureka moments!

7.  How can the ideas in the book help the individual reader?
    We want the materials to help the average instructional content builder build instructional content that makes it easier to learn. A lot of instructional content doesn't, which we know by the number of frustrated people.

8.  What are the key secondary messages in the book?
    There are some key ideas in the learning sciences that when applied well, make it FAR easier for people to learn.

9. What are your plans for the future?
    Expand on what I am talking about in 5-8. I'll be rebuilding my site (pattishank.com) in the very near future (next 3-4 months) to make this project available to all who need it. We want to make it easy for all people who teach others to make it easier to learn. Simple as that. I feel like it's the culmination of my life's work.

        Thank you!!

Interview with Arlene Ang (New Series - Life in the E-Learning Organization)

Welcome to an interview with Arlene Ang. While not directly involved in elearning, her involvement in publishing, particularly in creative texts and online journals, makes her work very appropriate as instructional materials in online courses.

Arlene Ang is the author of The Desecration of Doves (iUniverse, 2005) and Secret Love Poems (Rubicon Press, 2007). Born in Manila, Philippines, she currently lives in Spinea, Italy with her husband. In 2006, she received the Frogmore Poetry Prize (UK). Her poetry has been published in Diagram, Georgetown Review, Painted Bride Quarterly, Poetry Ireland, Poet Lore and Rattle.



1. Name, background. How have you been involved in online publishing of poetry and poetics?

Arlene Ang. I’m a poetry editor for The Pedestal Magazine (http://www.thepedestalmagazine.com/) and Press 1 (http://www.leafscape.org/press1/).
I started out in 2002 as editor for the Italian edition of Niederngasse (http://www.niederngasse.com/). In 2006, I guest-edited for the English edition and for Pedestal. It was then that I realized English poetry was more my element than Italian and so handed the keys over to someone who was more in contact with the Italian literary world than I was. Early 2007, Pedestal editor-in-chief, John Amen asked me if I wanted to become a permanent member of the staff and I said yes.
Press 1 sprouted out some months later, a labor of love for Valerie Fox, Phyllis Wat, Dennis Moritz and me. Valerie and Phyllis are, I think, the “serious” editors since they do much of the reading and scouting while I occupy myself more with the web design.


2. What do you see as some of the advantages of publishing online?

For one, with online magazines, anyone with an internet connection can access your work. There’s something liberating about reading contemporary poetry for free. Some journals actually have an “E-mail this poem to a friend” button—which helps spread readership. For another, submissions are usually sent via e-mail—when you’re living abroad, this facilitates a lot of things. I’m continually surprised and pleased by submissions to Pedestal that come from countries like Nigeria or China. I don’t think this happens much to print journals, even if only for the mundane reason of SASEs or finding IRCs. And yes, no trees are killed in the process.




3. What are some of the trends in e-journals?

A good part has begun to request audio recordings of poems. I really love how this gives a voice to the work and also to the author.
I also love the new submission system, like the one adopted by Kenyon Review—where you can be assured that your submission was received and are able to track or withdraw it online.
Some ‘zines focus on experimenting with mixed media. A prime example would be Born Magazine (http://www.bornmagazine.org/)—which never fails to astound and delight with their Flash presentations of poems.


4. What are a few of your favorite sites?

Diagram (http://thediagram.com/) remains at the top, near at hand are Tarpaulin Sky (http://www.tarpaulinsky.com/), Drunken Boat (http://www.drunkenboat.com/), Typo (http://typomag.com/) and Painted Bride Quarterly (http://pbq.drexel.edu/).
Sidebrow (http://www.sidebrow.net/) is another favorite because it’s so different—submitters are encouraged to respond creatively to the work published there. The term “incestuous” is bandied around a lot when referring to internet writers—I think this applies evocatively to the work in Sidebrow, too.


5. How can you envision using online poetry repositories and journals in online education?

The internet contains a universe of information. I’ve actually found step-by-step instructions on how to write almost anything—from ghazals to sonnenizios. Education-wise, research becomes a question on knowing what to look for because, chances are, it’s out there.
Because online journals are accessible to everyone, they make very good reading material especially when it comes to contemporary (world) poetry.

Project Gutenberg (http://www.gutenberg.org/) is a great resource—instead buying books like Shakespeare’s Macbeth or Joyce’s Ulysses, you can just download an electronic copy. And, funnily enough, for required reading, there are free Cliff Notes (http://www.cliffsnotes.com/) for students who have no love for literature.


6. Do you have a philosophy of creativity?

More than having one of my own, I’ve adopted my dad’s, I think—which works really well for me. He was quite a successful painter. In his life he must have done more than 1000 studies of the seated figure, among other things, using different media. As a child, I loved joining him in his studio every day and often complained about not knowing what to draw. He would tell me patiently that everything I needed was before me, all I needed to do was open my eyes. It was only decades later that I understood what he meant—that creativity is not about finding a worthy subject, but rendering that subject worthy of interest and, in the process, evoking emotional response in the viewer or reader. In many ways, it’s a lot like energy—we all have it inside, how we harness and release it depends on us.