Jay Hollowell

About me

Please allow me this opportunity to welcome everyone to The Lounge! As someone who has had the honor of being in career education and corporate training for thirty years (gee, it makes me feel much older!), I can honestly say that I am the happiest professionally when having the opportunity to interact with fellow career educators - whether it be a training event, webinar, or medium such as this where we can collaboratively share our thoughts.

Activity

Jay Hollowell

Discussion Comment

Developing Your Communication Skills

Hi Aneesa! Yes, using specific examples to back up concepts moves our students, I beleive, closer to comprehension and application. I have found that asking students to share examples of their own can also be an effective learning tool. Thanks for your input, Jay ED106 Facilitator

Jay Hollowell

Discussion Comment

Using Student Learning Groups

Thanks for your comments, Aneesa! You are right on course with the elements of effective learning groups. I haven't heard the term "synergy" in awhile and it is so important. When true synergy happens in the learning group setting, as participants are working through an assignment, project, or issue, solutions result that may be completely different from any of the individual contributions. What a wonderful result! True, a mismatch of skills or personalities can undermine a group's progress, though it is a "dose of real medicine," so to speak, as representative of the workplace. As we help students work through… >>>

Jay Hollowell

Discussion Comment

Using Student Learning Groups

Excellent information, Duane, thanks! Step-by step activities, clear expectations of desired outcomes, clearly communicated ground rules and established group members' roles and responsibilities all certainly create a workable foundation to learning group success. Jay ED106

Jay Hollowell

Discussion Comment

The Diverse Learner

Thanks for your comments, Duane! I beleive too that when an instructor can masterfully utilize the diversity adult learners bring to the table without drawing undue attention to special circumstances, that instructor has crossed a significant hurdle in the classroom. Jay Hollowell ED106 Facilitator

Jay Hollowell

Discussion Comment

Instructing Learners with Disabilities

Hi Harry, You're right, research is very important. I also have privately and appropriately asked a physically disabled student how best I can work with them without drawing undue attention to the situation and without positioning it as just an accomodation. For learning disabilities, it is more of a step-by-step process in discovering the best way for a student to master a concept or application. In many circumstances, the learning disability was never diagnosed or addressed, and studnets with the same type of learning disability, still react and assimilate information in different ways. Thanks, Jay ED106

Jay Hollowell

Discussion Comment

Using Student Learning Groups

Thanks, Harry, making sure that each group has a student, or students, that you know will take on the roles of initiator, motivator, harmonizer and evaluator is crucial to learning group success: initiator: gets the discussion started motivator: encourages participation and inclusion harmonizer: helps to smooth group conflict evaluator: summarizes and keeps the group on track and on schedule Jay ED106

Jay Hollowell

Discussion Comment

Refining Your Communication Skills

Hi Harry! Having students paraphrase presented topics, without putting them on the spot, is a recommended way to check for understanding. Thanks for your comments, Jay Hollowell ED106

Jay Hollowell

Discussion Comment

The Diverse Learner

You're right Caridad, I think that experimentation is fine when working with student learning needs; our adult learners bring a lot to the table, so to speak, and appreciate our creativity when teaching. If something works, we use it, if it doesn't, we might try again with a different set of student dynamics, or drop it. I also believe when working with different student learning needs and styles, we need to take students a little out of their comfort zones. The workplace might require them to learn a procedure or application in such a way that does not necessarily compliment… >>>

Jay Hollowell

Discussion Comment

Organizing Student Learning Groups

Hi Caridad! I too have found that students enjoy the latitutde of work and learning in the group setting. There are though, as you referenced, those that do not carry their weight - not fair, but certainly characteristic of the classroom and the workplace. I think making sure the group members'roles and responsibilities are clarified and communicated, minimum expectations identified, ground rules established, and desired outcomes projected certainly helps, and it seems that group members will often use peer pressure to bring group members up to par. Thanks again for your input! Jay ED106

Jay Hollowell

Discussion Comment

The Diverse Learner

Thanks, absolutely, knowing what skills students bring to the table and being able to authentically assess them is a major step in instructional planning; there are many industry-specific resources that help us in pre-assessment. Jay ED106

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