(G)ATHER Best Practices

As an MCT, MODL is your new best friend. The average MODL instructor Metrics That Matter (MTM) scores have been consistently much higher than corresponding MOC scores. This is because the MODL teaching paradigm encourages (and in some cases ... demands) student engagement. Students love to participate!

Following are three key best practices to help you make the most of your MODL teaching experience:

• Teaching the MODL Orientation
• Managing (G)ATHER Interactions
• Timing Guidelines for Teaching MODL

Teaching the MODL Orientation

You will start Module 1-1 of every MODL course with a brief LiveMeeting and GEAR orientation. Your students should have configured their workstations and reviewed the Live Meeting Orientation recording prior to class. All of this information is presented in the “Before You Begin…” link within the MODL Portal. Check out Toolwire’s demo Portal at the link below:

• Toolwire MODL 2785 Class Portal

During your MODL orientation, you should cover the following key topics:

• Attendee Permissions – Make sure the following Attendee Permissions are checked:
  • ASK QUESTIONS
  • ANNOTATE
  • INTERACT (NO CHAT)

• Audio – Describe the Audio mechanism for your students. You can use a conference service or Voice over IP (built into LiveMeeting 2007). Remind yoru students to put their phones on MUTE when they are not talking. With most conference services, Mute is *6 and Unmute is #6.
• LiveMeeting Layout – Ask everyone to Restore the Default Layout of their LiveMeeting console by choosing Restore Default Layout from the View menu. This way, the Seating Chart and the Question Pane display for them. Ask students if they can hear you and can see the seating chart, to change their seat color to Red. Explain that Red indicates raising your hand and Green indicates that you are ready to proceed or you are finished with an activity. If you encounter a color blind student who cannot distinguish between the colors red and green, explain that the student will be able to use the Ask Question pane to communicate the same information to you.
• Questions – Explain how students can ask questions. Type a question into the Question field at the bottom right of the Live Meeting screen and click Ask. Explain that questions only go to you. Explain that you can answer individually or to the group.
• Team Colors – If your class has over 6 students in it, a recommended practice is to break up student names into teams:
  • BLUE Team – <Insert Student Names Here>
  • GOLD Team – <Insert Student Names Here>
  • PURPLE Team – <Insert Student Names Here>

• Personal eCard – Remind students that if they have not already done so, they should add Personal Information to their eCard to introduce themselves to the class. They can find the Personal Information screen by selecting User Preferences from the Tools menu.
• Expanded View – Explain the Expanded View option and ask the students to test both Expanded View options: Ctrl-H (with Menus) & F5 (without Menus). This is primarily used for Media Clips and Demos.
• Annotations – Explain how the Live Meeting Whiteboard works and ask students to experiment with the following ANNOTATION tools:
  • HIGHLIGHT
  • SHAPES AND FREEHAND
  • STAMP

• Portal Demonstration – Demonstrate the portal. You can put a screenshot of your actual portal in the slide if you want to. Describe the Course At a Glance. Make sure to update the dates and times to reflect the actual MODL GEAR schedule.
• Scenario Demonstration – Show a quick demonstration of the “Day-in-the-Life” LiveLab Scenario environment.
• Icebreaker – Use an ice breaker. You can use your own fun “getting to know you” activity or use the activity provided. Ask each student to answer the questions provided, using text annotation, in the box below their name or team color.

Now, you (and your students) are ready to kick off the interactions and enjoy a whole new way of learning! Let’s take a closer look at the Top 7 (G)ATHER interactions.

Managing (G)ATHER Interactions

Engagement activities are central to the MODL learning experience. This section describes the available engagement activity types and provides general guidelines for using these engagement activities in the G component of the MODL course. We will discuss these Top 7 (G)ATHER interactions:

• Lecture
• Animation
• Brainstorm
• Case study
• Short answer
• Demonstration
• Game

The following table provides a description of each of these engagement activity types and outlines the student participation model that corresponds with each. In addition, we provide some best practices for how to manage the interactions in the physical and virtual classroom.

So that’s all there is to it. Now that you are an accomplished MODL MCT, check out the sample screen capture in the graphic below. This is what your interactions should look like in “real life”.

Have Fun!

Timing Guidelines for Teaching MODL

“Timing” is one of the most challenging aspects of teaching anything. This is especially true when teaching technical topics, such as Microsoft IT Pro or Development.

MODL is no exception. In a typical MODL (G)ATHER session, you will orchestrate 35 interactions in 100 minutes … that’s only 3 minutes per activity! Use the timing guidelines below to help keep yourself on track:

• GEAR Components:
  • The overall MODL course experience is 40 hours, divided into 10 sessions and spreading over a 5-day or 5-week period.
  • Each GEAR session/cycle is 4 hours long containing the following components:
    • 2 hours live GATHER session
    • 1 hour EXPAND content
    • 1 hour APPLY scenario-based lab experience
    • ~10-15 minutes REVIEW for self-assessment
  
  
• Live GATHER session content timing:
  • 2 hours (120 minutes) total in duration per module
    • 10 minutes introduction
    • 10 minutes break
    • 100 minutes in total reserved for module delivery
  • Each module contains 3-5 lessons
  • Each lesson contains 3-7 topics
  • Each topic has 1-3 engagements, with each engagement being lecture or any other activity types such as brainstorming, case study, game, and so forth
    • 3 minutes per engagement activity
    • Slightly more than 1 engagement activity per topic
  • 5 demonstrations per module
    • 1 demo at the end of each lesson
    • Maximum 5 minutes per demo