Section 4: Human Performance Technology

Section 4: Human Performance Technology  

Not all problems in learning and/or performance require an instructional one. Many times a non-instructional approach is a more appropriate solution. This week's reading and reflection focuses on human performance, performance support systems, knowledge management systems, and the concept of informal learning.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1. Chapter 14 discusses the concept and evolution of human performance improvement. Several sections of Chapter 14 present a variety of non-instructional solutions to performance problems. Identify a performance problem in your area of work and identify non-instructional solutions that may help solve the problem

 A problem I have seen at the schools I did my student teaching at was the use of the Promethean boards. Let me state however, that I was split between an elementary and pre-k campus and here is the backwards part in my opinion, the pre-k had boards in all of the classrooms whereas the elementary did not. The reason behind this was of course funding which I know the schools have very little control over and the pre-k was also funded by Headstart so they had a bit more funding to buy said boards than the elementary did but to me it still was a waste almost of funding. The elementary teachers have been asking for this technology and the teachers at the pre-k it seemed to take them for granted and did not even use them on a regular basis. The elementary campus did have one board per grade level as of last year and this year that has expanded starting with 5th grade having one for each 5th grade teacher. Hopefully this will be able to continue down the other grades. The way to get the teachers more comfortable with them because I think that was the problem at the pre-k was the teachers were not motivated and could not see all the possibilities in how to use the boards. The knew how to play movies for sure with them and even some used them create flipcharts for the students and even used them to create art. But other than simple projects such as this they needed more training I believe and also support from the administration and maybe even the lead teachers on each team. To me this is were the true support and change can occur, a principal can send everyone to training and everyone will go but they will not get as much as out of it compared to say, if they went to their lead teacher and asked for help or rather that lead teacher came to them informally and taught them several ways to use the board in their lessons.

 

2. Chapter 15 presents performance support systems. Define performance support systems and explain how a performance support system might (or might not) help solve the problem you identified above.

The Three Performance Needs that must be met at each of the Three Levels are:

• Goals - specific standards or expectations that customers have for products or services
• Design - configurations that enables goals to be met efficiently
• Management - practices that ensure goals are up-to-date and are achieved

After seeing this it could be used to help in the problem I have seen in the schools. Each school would need to implement this into their solution.

Goal: to learn the Promethean Board to use it in the classroom
Design: training that the teacher could go to and learn how the board works
Management: the principal or even the IT person on the campus could be in charge of this for the school by checking with teachers and how they are implementing their training in the classroom. The IT person could also have private conversations if the teachers are not comfortable in a whole group setting discussing their problems.

 

3. Chapter 16 explains knowledge management: the way we manage information, share that information, and use it to solve organization problems. Organizations, such as schools, accumulate a great deal information/data, which must be organized in a way that we can make sense of it in order to use for making decisions. What knowledge would help solve the problem you identified above and how would that knowledge need to be collected and managed to help facilitate problem solving?

Seeing as how it is based on the teacher and the lead teacher talking about the problem. Collecting information would be the lead teachers responsibility and getting that information to the teacher. The teacher can collect any information that they have questions on and take that to the lead teacher and discuss it with that teacher. The teacher can also go to their designated IT person and discuss the issues with them. The teacher can also go to their principal and ask for training in this area and go to that training so they can then in turn take it back to the classroom which is the whole point of our own training as teachers.

 

 

 

4. Chapter 17 describes types of informal learning. What informal learning experiences have you participated in at your organization? Could those informal learning experiences be shared with others? Could the knowledge gained in those settings be codified and managed? And should it be managed or should the informal experiences be replicated or broadened to include others?

 
The terms formal and informal learning have nothing to do with the formality of the learning, but rather with the direction of who controls the learning objectives and goals. In a formal learning environment the training or learning department sets the goals and objectives, while informal learning means the learner sets the goals and objective (Cofer, 2000).



Again, I do not have years of experience to pull from for this question, honestly I have had only formal experience in career path so far. Student teaching for experience was formal with a sprinkling of informal. Everything was set out for us to follow, such as teach this lesson, teach these many lessons, teach this grade level, teach these strategies, the list goes on. At the end of each semester of student teaching we had a meeting to discuss what I learned from the experience based on the Five Proficiencies set forth by the TEA with my mentor teacher and college liaison. I could say that any and all talking that I did with my mentor might be considered informal because I would have to initiate the conversation and ask the questions based on what I needed to know. That I would say is were I learned the most other than just observing the teacher in the classroom, those daily conversations about a specific content area, behavior strategy or even how to teach the content is what helped me to expand my knowledge. Based on my experience I think this strategy of pairing mentor teachers with student teachers and even when we are first year teachers is the best way to pass on knowledge from one colleage to the other. This way is exactly what informal means so the pressure that formal training carries is gone and you feel more comfortable asking those questions that maybe you would not in a large group.




http://www.knowledgejump.com/learning/informal.html

http://www.nwlink.com/~donclark/performance/pi.html