Welcome to IT Instructor Bytes! Plus: Instructor Tips from Keenan Adcock

Welcome to our new newsletter: IT Instructor Bytes. Our aim is to establish a space where IT and technology instructors can come together to share and learn ideas that contribute to their success in the classroom. How will we achieve this?

• Monthly tip: In each edition, we will feature an instructor sharing valuable insights that have proven successful in their teaching journey. Stay tuned for these insightful nuggets! Including next month's tip from the well-known Professor Robert McMillen, MBA, MCT .
• Comment board: Our comments section serves as a forum exclusively for you, the IT instructor. Share your thoughts on the tips, contribute your own insights, or pose questions to fellow instructors, fostering a community where collective growth is encouraged.

How can you contribute? Subscribe to the newsletter and pass it on to instructors who may find it enjoyable or beneficial. Engage with each post through comments, extending a helping hand to fellow instructors.

Keenan Adcock: Maintaining Student Engagement in Class

"Using these instructional/learning approaches will make ALL the difference in your teaching journey!" - Keenan Adcock?

Our debut tips come from Keenan Adcock , an instructional trainer at Utah Valley University (UVU) in Orem, Utah - and an avid baker, pickleball player, soccer/basketball referee and Disney-lover.

In his work with UVU's Office of Teaching and Learning, he helps teachers and students keep up with the ever-changing technology and tools at their fingertips. With years of teaching technology to both students and faculty, Keenan has extensive knowledge in how to enhance the learning experience for the student and the teacher.

We talked with Keenan and he shared with us his three essential tips for any teacher:

1. Early Arrival

Show up 7-10 minutes before class. Getting to the classroom early enables you to get your tech up and running without taking away from instruction time.?

It also gives early arriving students an opportunity to ask questions. Students can assist other students who may be struggling to understand a concept, and students have access to ask you questions that are easier to communicate in person than over email. It's not uncommon to have an anxious student or two whose anxiety would decrease with an early arrival and opportunity for you to resolve their concerns and questions.

Most importantly, showing up early also sets an example for your students to be on time and shows them that you value their time.? Showing respect to your students through early arrival, patience, a kind smile, and an occasional "aloha" will help you get the respect you expect back from your students.

2. Get Outside the Teaching Zone

Multiple studies have shown that students who sit in the middle of the classroom (the T-zone) received higher grades, found the instructor more engaging and described the class as more enjoyable than those who sit on the edges of the room. This effect does not just happen with eager-beaver students; but also, for students who were not excited to take the class.?

However, classrooms contain more seats outside of the T-zone and you cannot ignore those students. Be inclusive of all types of students and learning styles, and make sure you frequently engage students sitting outside the zone. Call on them for answers, respond quickly to raised hands and questions, look at them as you teach and, if possible, learn their names and use the names when you talk with them.?Dale Carnegie said, "A person's name is to that person, the sweetest, most important sound in any language," (How To Win Friends and Influence People).

3. Train-the-Trainer

Keenan is a Dutch-speaker and currently learning Spanish. He said this about his time teaching Dutch to others, "When I taught the Dutch language, culture, and literature, I 'mastered' the language and grammar because I was responsible for teaching others."

No matter what class you're teaching, after instructing your students, have them train you or train each other on a concept you’ve just covered. This “train-the-trainer” approach helps you know if you’ve provided the correct steps or not, and give you the opportunity to provide additional instruction if they don’t fully understand.

Being a good instructor means paying attention to all of your students, and implementing ways to receive feedback and ensuring that they all have an opportunity to be successful.

Arriving early, getting outside the teaching zone, and implementing the "train-the-trainer" technique are surefire ways to increase engagement in your classroom. Have you had experiences with any of these tips? Comment below!

Next Edition: Q&A with Professor Robert McMillen, MBA, MCT

This newsletter is the first in a monthly series to help IT and technology instructors. Subscribe to our newsletter to be notified when next month's edition comes out, featuring renowned IT consultant and instructor Robert McMillen. We asked him a few questions about how he prepares for class and keeps students' attention on him, not on their cell phones??.

Helpful Links:

• Follow Keenan Adcock on LinkedIn: https://www.dhirubhai.net/in/keenanadcock/
• Learn more about Ascend Education: https://www.dhirubhai.net/company/ascendeducation
• Have a tip you want to share in one of our future newsletters? Know of a great professor we should highlight in the future? Shoot us an email: [email protected]