The Virtual Instructor Podcast

Join Dr. Timothy M. Stafford, Director of Grad/Online Academic Programs for St. Thomas University, as he discusses Dr. Clayton Christiansen's Principles of Disruptive Technology in his bestselling book, The Innovator's Dilemma, and applies them to the educational process. 

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Christensen, C. (2013). The innovator's dilemma group guide. In The innovator's dilemma: When new technologies cause great firms to fail (pp. 232-234). Harvard Business Review Press.

Join Dr. Timothy M. Stafford, Director of Grad/Online Academic Programs for St. Thomas University, as he discusses the role of artificial intelligence like ChatGPT and how it can positively affect the ways that we teach, build and design coursework. This is especially true in light of utilizing the concepts of demonstration and real-world application in Merrill's First Principles of Instruction. 

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Join Dr. Timothy M. Stafford, Director of Grad/Online Academic Affairs for St. Thomas University, as he lays out the foundations of education, objectives, activities, and assessment and then talks about the role of the instructor in a virtual course and how to use this basic educational framework to bring value to the course and students through the announcements each week. 

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Demonstrations can be a useful tool in the classroom, helping students to engage with the material and understand complex concepts. When used effectively, demonstrations can also help to create an environment of inquiry and discovery. Join Dr. Tim Stafford of St. Thomas University as he continues with part 2 of a 6 part series on David Merrill's First Principles of Instruction.

Links from the Show:

Article: Merrill (2002) First Principles of Instruction

Book: First Principles Revised - AECT

The Principles of Instruction for Creating and Facilitating A Successful Course 

If you are an instructor, you are likely to be an industry expert already, and understanding how the course fits in the reality of what you want the student to become is key. Finding out what the program emphasizes, the performance indicators, and the concepts the students need to be competent based on industry standards and the institution’s mission will help you understand what makes it work and what doesn’t. A successful course is subjective to the mission of the institution and what the industry says is a confident, competent, and accomplished practitioner. It also aligns the students with the field of work, which is critical to their success, and it goes for every course. 

Join the conversation with your host, Dr. Tim Stafford of St. Thomas University, as he shares about Dr. M. David Merrill's work on the First Principles Of Instruction and why it is important for you as an instructor to know and understand it. 

Tune in!

During this episode, you will learn about;

[00:01] Introduction to the show 

[01:14] Today’s focus: The First Principle of Instruction by David Merrill

[01:36] When Dr.Tm Stafford was first introduced to David Merrill’s work and his transformation

[04:54] The foundational idea behind David Merrill’s principle of instruction

[07:07] What to review when creating or writing a course  

[09:44] Aligning the programs with the school and the industry’s mission standards

[10:44] Approaching courses in a way that aligns students with fieldwork competencies

[12:53] Enriching your approach by understanding where a course sits in the overall body of education. 

[14:14] Identifying competence and performance indicators to point to when building a program or certificate 

[15:40] The idea that we should start with when writing a course 

[17:57] Ending the show 

Notable Quotes 

Resources Mentioned

Article: Merrill (2002) First Principles of Instruction

Book: First Principles Revised - AECT

Connect With Dr. Tim Stafford

Website: https://www.tmsphd.com  

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tmstaffordphd/ 

Join Dr. Tim Stafford of St. Thomas University as he "opens his toolbox," as a virtual instructor and talks about the 7 important tools that you need to be a successful virtual instructor. There are many different kinds of tools out there, and many of them do a great job, so you need to have them in your toolbox as you continue to teach in a virtual environment. You don't want to miss this episode. 

Show notes:

Infographic: 7 must-have Tools for the virtual instructor

We are back! 

Join Dr. Tim Stafford from the MS in ID&T program at St. Thomas University as he kicks off the 2021-2022 season with the first episode of Season 2 - the 4 Cs of Value-added feedback. We have reengineered this episode to be better, shorter, and more impactful so take a listen and see what you think.  

In online learning, providing feedback is a critical component of the job of a virtual instructor. Students do not interact the same with instructors and peers in online and digital environments, so feedback becomes an important voice and tool in the process, and so this episode goes into greater detail of how to give great feedback that will give value to your learners regardless of your industry or type of digital learning environment. 

Thanks for listening!

Show Products:

Click here to download the Infographic that does along with this episode. 

Join Dr. Tim Stafford from St. Thomas University as he wraps up the podcast year with: 

2020 has been difficult but has given us so much opportunity, and we cannot thank you all enough for all of your support, emails, encouragement, downloads, and most of all, thank you for being rockstar virtual instructors, and instructional designers. 

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! May 2021 find transformational success for you and your loved ones as we transition into the world of "next year.

In this episode, Dr. Timothy M. Stafford of St. Thomas University continues with Part 2 of his three-part discussion of David Thornburg's incredibly insightful book, Campfires in Cyberspace. Dr. Stafford explores the application nature of Marshall McLuhan's framework about the implications of technology called the Tetrad. There are insightful discussions here about the impact of technology for enhancement, obsolescence, reversal, and rekindling and attempts to look at all of these things through a lens of education and educational technology. Join us for some thought-provoking ideas. 

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In his incredibly insightful book, Campfires in Cyberspace, David Thornburg explores and revisits Marshall McLuhan's framework about the applicational implications of technology called the Tetrad. In this episode, Dr. Timothy M. Stafford from St. Thomas University begins a three-part series in Thornburg's work published in 1996 about the impact of technology on education and the needs of humans for the learning process. Join us for some thought-provoking ideas. Also, be sure to download the transcript from this episode thanks to fireflies.ai. 

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