Section 4: Human Performance Technology

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.

Many mission statements for schools or organizations state that we are educating for a "global society" or to help promote "global citizens." To help achieve this goal, we do many things related to technology education, being good and aware citizens, teaching about racism/bias/stereotyping, forming partnerships with other schools around the world, and attempt to educate our students in global issues. The Common Core State Standards (CCSS)  are designed to help students gain an edge to compete in a global market. However, I'm not sure I consider this possible if we don't first educate our teachers in the standards and in the technology that goes along with it.

This chapter and question really caused me to go back to my years of teaching grades 6-12, rather than my current adult training and eLearning development position. I should say up front that I love the English CCSS, but I'm not fond of the math ones. Do I think we need a change to the systematic way we have been teaching both of these subject areas? Yes. Do we need it to compete in a global market? Yes. The issue is that the "powers that be" implement, but the "frontline" individuals receive no training on it. By 2014, the CCSS are to be fully implemented. I know many districts of teachers that are still struggling with what this means to them and how they are supposed to accomplish this task. The technology they need may be available, but the training and time to learn are absent.

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.

Rather than ignore the issue, school districts need to be proactive in assisting teachers in the implementation of CCSS. Some districts provide excellent examples of this. They have informative websites with a multitude of resources. They have been educating their entire staff on what the CCSS means to them and to their teaching. They continue to provide a support system as the Standards are being implemented. They provide year round training for teachers to learn the technology that is required for teaching. They believe in integration and collaboration. The teachers who work for these states/districts are very blessed. I don't believe it is the norm. All of the things I mentioned need to be in place for teacher and student success. In Oklahoma, we have the "talk" of this support system, but it has not been the reality. Large districts have CCSS coaches, but the jobs are very difficult, the school districts are too large, implementation at the elementary level eats up most of the time, and turn over of these positions is very high. Individual schools are coming up with their own performance support teams through collaborative teaming, extra planning time, technology inservices, and sending teachers for training as much as budgets allow. The teachers return and share the knowledge with others through establishing written instruction manuals (if applicable), developing and conducting professional development sessions, and conducting individual or team training when needed.

Chapter 16 explains knowledge management: the way we manage information, share information, and use it to solve organization problems. Organizations, such as schools, accumulate a great deal of information/data, which must be organized in a way that we can make sense of it in order to use it 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?

I believe my issue with the CCSS fits perfectly into this question. Large amounts of data/information are collected throughout the year from the school and then once to twice a year through standardized testing. While I don't necessarily support this practice, it is being used to make decisions on what areas need more emphasis within the school, who is at risk, and helps identify other measure that may need to be implemented to help a student be successful. It also raises "red flags" to help students not fall through the cracks. With the resources available, the teachers can feel prepared to adapt and teach to the CCSS. Through collaboration with the teachers who are receiving the extra training and sharing the knowledge, they are able to codify the instructions and take advantage of their tactic knowledge to share ideas, make improvements, and base decisions on data.

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 for others?

To me, informal learning experiences can not be codified and managed. I participate in informal learning experiences all the time at my job, but they are usually part of an informal discussion that involves talking to others and enhancing or understanding differences in our own knowledge base. While I value formal learning and my team works to provide that, we often share during our development, bounce ideas off each other, apply something else we know, give an example from one of our classes (each of us is in a master's program), etc. I learn so much from these informal conversations and always take away something that makes me think, even if I don't apply it directly to what I'm working on. It might send me down another avenue as I work. Just as I learn so much from my co-workers, students in the classroom learn from each other. The more discussion, collaborative activities, and experiments a teacher can provide, the more opportunity for informal learning. Informal learning is different for each person and attempting to replicate it alters it more into formal learning, in my opinion.