James Jackson

Location: chicago, il

About me

James is the Senior Associate at JAJ & Associates, Adjunct Faculty and eLearning Consultant at MaxKnowledge and member of the Board of Advisors of Dream Catchers Global. James was the Associate Provost of Faculty Development, President of the Online Division at Harrison College and the Director for the Center of Technology Resources for Indiana Business College. Because of his extensive background in technology and his entrepreneurial spirit and passion for assisting aspiring business owners, James has provided his leadership/project management skills in many start-up operations mentoring dozens of young leaders over his career. All providing great growth opportunities for his stakeholders.

James has developed more than 50 courses and dozens of programs in the areas of technology, business, progress management and general education. James has been an instructor for more than 15 years during which time he provided training to over 500 trainers and more than 5000 students. His academic background includes a Masters of Education in Occupational Training and Development and is currently working on his doctoral dissertation in Higher Education Administration emphasis on Strategic Enrollment Management. James enjoys working with students and assisting them through complex concepts which he is able to turn into easy to understand and usable skills.

A full profile of my professional career is available on LinkedIn:

http://www.linkedin.com/in/jamesajacksonjr

Connect with me on LinkedIn and here in the Lounge.

Interests

my family, golf, tennis, swimming, and participating in youth sports.

Skills

faculty development, elearning, program and curriculum development, project management, business analysis and technology integration

Activity

James Jackson

Discussion Comment

Small Groups

Jennifer, hard to comment when I do not know the subject matter and the level of blooms taxonomy they need to be mastering the subject matter but classes this size tend to accommodate case studies and projects more than lectures and discussions. Each student can take turns playing different roles and levels of leadership. I would see this as a blessing to be able to dedicate so much time to each student but like I stated the more I know about the subject matter and the curriculum the better I can assist you. You may also gain some incredible insights… >>>

James Jackson

Discussion Comment

School Discipline

Georgia, are you able to bring in guest speakers? Students may take a different view point on such issues when they hear from local administrators. This is especially useful when the administrators are from organizations that may be employing your students. Some times rules coming from us as instructors is just noise but when we bring in outside representatives the policies seem to take deeper roots. Just a thought. James Jackson

James Jackson

Discussion Comment

School Discipline

timothy, policies are created to allow any institution to maintain order and discipline. Typically there are policies that are created due to factors outside of academics such as insurance and liability for different states. As instructors we need to be in sync with our administration and take their lead as to how the policies are to be implemented. Some of the most restrictive policies tend to be created to allow better management of less than 5% of situations that ever take place within an institution and as such need to be managed carefully. All students need to be treated equally… >>>

James Jackson

Discussion Comment

Improving Classroom Management

Sarah, the great takeaway here is you are willing to experiment and take the actions necessary to constantly improve. Just like our students, we as instructors need to be willing to learn from our mistakes. If we are unwilling to fail then we are unable to learn. This does not imply we need to go out of our way to be radical and fail often but it does imply we need to me willing to try new things and then evaluate their overall effectiveness. Keep what works and be willing to remove those techniques that do not. James Jackson

James Jackson

Discussion Comment

Improving Classroom Management

Rhonda, a good guide can listen, be friendly, be concerned, show compassion, take control and above all always be fair and consistent. What you want to avoid is to favor one of the other traits most of the time as they tend to not lead to successful student outcomes. A great guide knows when to become any of the other traits for brief moments in time. James Jackson

James Jackson

Discussion Comment

Classroom Discipline

Ellen, nicely done and resolves several issues. Allows the disruptive students a way to easily remove themselves if they do have a serious issue to discuss. They are obviously aware that you are not going to tolerate such disruptions to the rest of the class. It also lets the entire class know that they too could be asked to leave the classroom if they are not paying attention or become disruptive. James Jackson

James Jackson

Discussion Comment

Classroom Discipline

Charles, such disruptions are at the extreme level and of course require immediate and decisive attention. If you are in an environment where this happens more than once or is actually somewhat common then I also highly recommend always having a go to assignment that students are trained on during the early stages of any new class. Examples can include reviewing current events that relate to the topic being studied and writing a brief explanation or having student take an extra credit quiz which could be used in place of another quiz that maybe they were not able to prepare… >>>

James Jackson

Discussion Comment

Classroom Discipline

Liset, using a Socratic type question is a great technique on multiple levels. You can quickly regain the attention of your students and you also get the entire class to think more deeply about the subject matter. Another great technique is to use a current event to relate to a specific subject matter. When students can properly relate a current event to a specific topic you are teaching you know they truly understand the materials. James Jackson

James Jackson

Discussion Comment

Classroom Discipline

Gwendolyn, there are times when a student is taking so much of the attention of the class that some level of immediate action is necessary. The goal is to have the least negative impact on all parties as possible. We want our overall classroom to move forward while allowing the unruly student to understand the impact they are having on the class. Another good technique that can be used is to let the student know you understand they seem confused about the subject matter and thus are acting out in class which is not the correct method of seeking help… >>>

James Jackson

Discussion Comment

Traits of Successful Instructors

Mark , well stated. Students can easily identify instructors that enjoy teaching and their subject matter versus those that are just teaching to earn a paycheck. If any instructor finds the day to day as a grind or drudgery they need to find a new profession. Each day is special and we need to rejoice in the opportunity to make a difference in the lives of our students. James Jackson

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