Feedback on audio production

[Daniel Pier]

Dear colleagues,

I am requesting your comments on the audio programme production!

You have all very diligently focused in our discussions here on the content of the program, which is much appreciated. ITEN would also like to know your opinion of the audio production.

Please note your perception of the level of quality of the production (quality of sound, pacing and audibility of the voices, quality of acting and narration, use of music, lack of errors in production, etc.). Did the quality of production either enhance or detract from your ability to benefit from the content? How so?

Many thanks for any comments you provide.

Best regards,

Dan

[Gale Mohammed-Oxley]

Hi Daniel,

The audio program was a good effort. I did not follow the program to point but I adjusted the objectives and evaluation to match different subjects and different levels of the educational system. The approach to having that topic was challenging as I was amazed that children worked and the teacher was looking forward to seeing the student at work! The content can be adjusted.

The pacing was adequate for what the tutor wanted me to do but I had to replay many times in order to grasp the instruction. The guide was helpful in this aspect to help follow and clarify the points of the lesson.

I had to play the whole series to grasp the real concept of critical thinking. Having done a course in critical thinking with data before I was looking for areas of movement within the lesson. But it seems to me to be more than one lesson. I am asking - is each episode a separate lesson? I may have missed something. I am still listening to the program.

In Trinidad the teachers are given a curriculum guide and I asked the teachers I worked with to give me the topic which is in sequence to their scheme of work and the objective. I adjusted the wording of the objectives to include critical thinking in some cases. At the secondary level the adjustment was less as the curriculum guides from the Ministry of Education and the syllabi from the Caribbean Examination Council provided the objectives for teaching at this level.

What was instrumental is that at the primary level the focus was on concept learning and the application of that concept and the secondary level the focus was on gathering information to analyse. Strategies were different at both levels but the scope of learning was the same. The time taken was the same. The questioning to move from concrete to symbolic and problem solving were the same for both levels.

The classroom teacher had to be given the handouts (Critical Thinking Skills and Socratic Questioning to aid critical thinking) to assist in recognising the movement from knowledge through to problem solving. Using Bloom's taxonomy and the Critical Thinking Curriculum from the Intel Data Analysis Project helped me to place the students at an advantageous point where their regular classroom teacher was surprised at their responses.

[Macian Moreen Lloyd]

Hey there!

I loved the narration and dramatizing utilized for the audio. The First episode where the students spoke was moderately paced and easy to follow. However, when it came to the teachers, I had to replay a few times to understand succinctly all that was said.

In addition, I found myself replaying the audios where tasks were involved and having to pause to write and then replay. Further, it would have been nice to actually be listening with a colleague who was also doing the program and sharing face to face as the audio sometimes suggested.

The sound quality was quite good and the music, I would imagine, must have added a lovely touch to the audio, for persons who like music while they work! 

Overall, good job in providing audios that were easy to follow and beneficial in the long run!

Sincerely

Macian 

[Janelle Melissa Thomas]

I really appreciated the simple and fun way these audios brought across such astounding information. It was easy to grasp for beginner-teachers and not toO basic for experienced ones. I think even though some of us are teacher-trained, we still learned the importance of helping our students to think critically, and not to just one day wake up and be able to. I really loved the fact that BOTH teachers in the audios were able to HELP EACH OTHER and it did not make one seem "better than the other". I am very excited to share with my colleagues and to see what this training will bring to our classrooms come the new year.

Thank you (and the OAS by extension) for coming up with such a wonderful course. I like that it was just one month and that I was not "imprisoned" by having to listen to the audios on a particular day and time - I was able to listen in my own timing. (BIG PLUS)

I AM REALLY LOOKING FORWARD TO MORE SHORT COURSES LIKE THIS WHERE WE CAN IMPROVE ON OUR TEACHING PRACTICE FROM TIME TO TIME!!

[Tracey GSE Little]

[Tracey GSE Little]

Hi Daniel,

I quite liked the fact that critical thinking was "taught" to us using such a medium. For me, I found that it made the whole concept come alive because of the practicality factor in the classroom and between the two teachers for instance. Having said this,the music for me was a bit of a distraction, primarily because I wanted to focus on the content of each lesson. I did have to replay the tracks several times just to clarify various pieces of the content. For me this was an issue of the accents used. I also appreciated the pauses in the tracks to allow for pondering on the questions that were asked and responding to them. I do believe that much thought was given to how the lessons were structured on the tracks to allow for optimal learning to take place. Daniel this was a very good effort.