Joseph Morris - October Summary

Joseph Morris – October Summary

I commented on the research papers of Group 3 & 5

I was encouraged at the beginning of October when our group submitted its first research project on Leading Adult Educators.  I felt at ease scheduling teleconferences for the group.  During our teleconference meetings, we enthusiastically discussed the roles we would assume in gathering research on Cora Wilson Stewart and Myles Horton, putting the paper together, proofreading, summarizing and submitting the project.  I was a bit confused about APA style.  It seemed that every resource I located had a slightly different set of rules.  Still, I was pleased that we earned 11 out of 12 points for our efforts. 

I am determined to embed a video into my posts and hopefully into our next group paper.  I have followed all the steps, but I can never get my video to play when I attempt to post it in Blackboard or in the Blog.  I am going to reach out to a classmate or two and figure out what I’m doing wrong.  I feel that I need to embrace as many technical aspects of communication to reach learners and colleagues.  The expectation is that as a professional in education, I need to have these skills. 

I felt the article entitled Education for Adults through public lectures in New York City provided a much needed reminder that some adult and community learning is best delivered face-to-face in town hall style meetings.  I reported that in my hometown recently, a professor of religion and several subject matter experts educated community members about the facts and myths of Islam and ISIS.  Another effective face-to-face method of educational delivery illuminated in the article involves outreach programs.  I found numerous examples of social workers that venture into senior communities to educate them on the dangers of contracting sexually transmitted diseases. 

I was disappointed overall with the results of our second group research project on Unique Adult Education Programs.  I had difficulty getting a commitment from the members to attend teleconferences so our communication suffered.  We exchanged sporadic emails instead.  One member of the group was unable to complete their part of the research by the submission deadline and our paper was late.  Again, I was surprised at the difficulty we experienced because our first effort went so smoothly. 

Moving forward, I consulted Dr. Chang about this situation and she offered good advice. She suggested that we set firm deadlines for submitting research and that we need to establish a policy and timeframe for responding to one another.  I offer up this experience because I feel I’m learning a valuable lesson about collaborating with other researchers.  It is apparent that I can eliminate misunderstandings and missed deadlines if the rules are clear from the start.  My intention is to conduct research collaboratively and learn from my Group 1 colleagues.  I look forward to our next project.