Walt Bilous

Walt Bilous CHEP

Discussion Comment

Soft skills are certainly a problem for most of my students also. In order to help them, I have developed an EQ lesson for my career success class which my students take in their 1st term. I also follow up in my 4th term Professional Development class. I also encourage my students to find a mentor indide or outside of school who possesses excellent soft skills and follow their lead. Another thing I do is to share with my students the type of questions an employer may ask me when a former student has used me as a reference. Typically,… >>>

Walt Bilous CHEP

Blog Comment

teaching with technology

As instructors in the for-profit education sector, we really need to learn more about copyright and fair usage laws. ED119 provided an overview of the materials and listed the link to the US Copyright Office website but a MaxKnowledge course dedicated to these two important subjects may be in order. I hope to see this course in the future!

Walt Bilous CHEP

Discussion Comment

I-pads

For my program, we use both I-PADS and "hard copy" textbooks. We have listened to student preferences and have abided by them.

Walt Bilous CHEP

Blog Comment

Enhancing Student Retention

There are many more strategies we, as instructors can use on a daily basis to enhance student retention. I have found that getting to know your students is a key factor. Instructors must spend some time to learn about student's hobbies and interests inside and outside of class. We also have to spend time to listen to them making note of any problems or issues they may have which may affect their attendance. If I do learn of an issue, I will immediately suggest that they visit Student Services for a resolution. I have personally taken students to Student services… >>>

Walt Bilous CHEP

Blog Comment

ED 112... a must take course

I agree that ED112 is one of the most valuable courses offered within the CEE program. The course contains so much excellent material and ideas to utilize in the classroom. Just implimenting the concepts of security and autonomy in the classroom will be very helpful for the students and will allow them to gain more knowledge from their classroom experience.

Walt Bilous CHEP

Blog

ED111 Active Learning Strategies...

Traditionally, We as students and now as instructors have been subject to pure lecture as the main strategy for teaching. Completion of this class has opened my eyes to how ineffective pure lecture truly is as a teaching strategy. Many of us fail to utilize active learning techniques simply because we are resistant to change. As educators and professionals, we have to overcome this obstacle and be willing to impliment high and low risk tactics into our classroom environments to enhance the educational experience for our students. In addition, doing so adds to our already large workload but in the long… >>>

Walt Bilous CHEP

Blog

Reflection/Action Plan for Active Learning Strategies in the Classroom...

After reading the course material, it is apparent that all course participants can easily integrate many active learning strategies in our classrooms. By doing so, we are greatly enhancing the student experience and making our day a lot more fun. We, as instructors are vulnerable to falling into ruts at times. We should empower ourselves to include both low risk and high risk activities in our classrooms as the course material dictates and include mitigation strategies in case things go wrong.

As instructors, we have to overcome the Barriers to Active Learning. We are all resistant to change but we… >>>

Walt Bilous CHEP

Blog Comment

How Can Universities Increase Student Retention?

Student retention is best accomplished by getting to know your students and by discovering their learning preferences. In addition, we, as instructors need to be aware of any potential problems in their personal lives which may preclude them from attending class. These can include transportation issues, loss of housing, etc. Our school has an excellent Student Services department staffed by caring individuals. They are miracle workers and have saved many students from dropping out. Our responsibility as instructors is to refer the at risk student to the appropriate resources ASAP and to follow up with Student Services as well as… >>>

Walt Bilous CHEP

Blog Comment

Soft Skills

As my teaching career progresses, it becomes more apparant to me each day how important the soft skills are to my students. I recently read that out of ten people who lost jobs, nine of them were dismissed due to inadequate soft skills. This says it all. Several of my former students have actually come back to school to speak of their experiences in the workplace and by and large, most of them cite excellent soft skills as an attribute and a means for advancement.

Walt Bilous CHEP

Blog Comment

Managing time and stress reduction

Taking care of yourself in the educational environment is essential to your survival and to the success of the students. I have learned to embrace the down time between classes and to even eat lunch or dinner in that time period. Sometimes this means just being unavailable for student or peer interaction.