Using XP to Level Up My Learning

By Kyra DeLoach

"Dungeons and Dragons Board" on PXFUEL is licensed under CC BY-ND 2.0.

I have been working my way into my busiest time of the year. I am currently working on opening a residence hall at my institution, training 18 student staff members, and much more. In the last few weeks I have been planning training sessions and I have been trying to use what I have learned in my class to make the best learning experience for my students. I decided to rework a way they learn our policies and protocols, and it was a success.

Throughout my 811 course I have learned many things about using tools to assist learning but the things that have stuck with me the most have been Constructionism and failure, accessibility and feedback, and using my social media resources.

There are over 50 policies that we expect our Resident Assistants to know how to address at my institution. We are always looking for the best ways to give this information to them. I have learned through my class that I need to focus on Constructionism and try to let my staff gauge their own learning, and use what they already know to learn more. I have been nervous about failure, but learning is the time to fail. In the past, we have used PowerPoint presentations to go through the scenarios. I decided to use something they would be familiar with, but switch it up.

I created a ‘Choose Your Own Adventure’ PowerPoint for our Dungeon’s & Dragons themed training. I found a PowerPoint template to assist me with this, and I got to work. All of our staff knows most of the policies, so I thought they would be able to use their prior knowledge to collaborate on this experience.

Screenshot from "Reslife Choose Your Own Adventure - Policies" by Kyra DeLoach

Reslife Choose Your Own Adventure - Policies.pptx

Download PPTX • 5.23MB

As I made the template, I thought about how I could make it accessible to all my students. I projected it on the screen, large and clear. The text matched the theme of my training, however it was a bit difficult to read so I made it large and decided I would read it through. Making the text large and dark I thought most would be able to see it, and if not I could clarify the options for them.

I went through three different scenarios that are most common: a party, a maintenance door being open, and an unconscious student who needed medical attention. When they chose an answer that wasn’t the ‘best’ or ‘first’ choice it corrected them and encouraged them to pick the best answer. The ‘failure’ was something that made them reflect on why another choice was best, and it evoked conversation.

While planning my two week training, I looked at posts from the Student Affairs and Higher Education Professionals Facebook group I’m a member of for inspiration and to see what other institutions were doing as we are all in about the same time of ‘busy season’. I felt like I was getting out of my ‘filter bubbles’ like I had learned from Eli Pariser in his video Beware online "filter bubbles" | Eli Pariser.

While presenting, I had a large group of 18 which I feel like didn’t allow everyone to pick what they wanted to, or speak up about how they felt they should answer the questions. If I could do it again, I would split up the group so everyone could get a chance. In the large group, there were still discussions and even debates about what answer was best.

The information I have learned during my time in 811 is setting me up for success, and in return setting my students up for success. I won’t be perfect, but with the knowledge I have I can work towards making things the best they can be for my students and will continue to learn and grow.

Reference

TED (2011, May 2). Beware online "filter bubbles" | Eli Pariser [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8ofWFx525s