Competencies?

I have been thinking about competencies and teaching. In the Information Technology Specialist program at Tanana Valley Campus we have created a list of competencies for each of our courses. Competencies are a list of skills and tasks that a person should be able to accomplish in order to master a skill. Competencies are pretty boring, but very useful. Competencies are a sort of template out of which you can create training programs and courses. For Microsoft Excel here is a list of competencies.

Another way of demonstrating competencies is through scenarios. Scenarios are situations in which you have to apply a tool appropriately to solve a problem. For instance assume that you are managing a restaurant, create a spreadsheet to track weekly orders for food and supplies. A scenario can be a simulation that will extract a demonstration of the necessary skills to master a tool.

A third method of demonstrating competencies is through projects or demonstrations in which skills are demonstrated "on the job". Show me how you will apply using an Excel worksheet in your current life situation. Create a relevant and useful chart that will make a difference in your life or work. Demonstrations should be embedded in a persons life situation, they are real and practical applications of tools to solve real problems.

Another method of "stimulating" competencies is through inspiration. Seeing multiple examples of interesting and unexpected uses of worksheets can stimulate competencies though inspiration and imitation. Immersion in using a tool to solve relevant problems and seeing other peoples use of similar tools to solve similar problems motivates and inspires. Sometimes just seeing a tool being applied creatively opens the door to mastering skills. Show me why and I will learn how.

Ideally a course would include all these different methods of teaching and learning. None of these approaches are mutually exclusive.

I am sort of thinking on my feet, what motivated this posting was the Business Week article on Tech's Future. The example of "itinerant photographers who walk the streets of their farming communities carrying small backpacks stuffed with a digital camera, printer, and solar battery charger". That single example opened the door to thinking about technology in different ways. Sometimes a clear specific example can stimulate more comprehension and learning then multiple step by step exercises. Hopefully on my sabbatical I will find examples of all these different modes of learning.