The Online Learning Consortium (OLC) is reaching out to our global community of thought leaders, faculty, innovators and practitioners to bring you insights from the field of online, blended and digital learning. This week, Dr. Scott Hamm, instructor for the Mobile Learning Mastery Series, joins us to discuss the importance of collaborating and intellectual communities, as well as a variety of other topics.
OLC: There are many opportunities to teach online. Why did you choose OLC and which Institute course(s) do you teach for OLC?
I chose the OLC because of the relationships and excellence of their professional development offerings. I have taught for other professional development organizations but the OLC has a high level of competence and quality. They are the industry standard and I absolutely love the quality of the people and the product. I have taught several different workshops and my specialty is the Mobile Learning Mastery Series.
OLC: What are the 3 most important things prospective participants should know about the course you teach?
I would tell people interested in enrolling in the Mobile Learning Mastery Series :
- Adults and students consume the largest portion of their digital content on mobile devices.
- Mobile learning allows online and face-to-face students to incorporate their everyday tools into the learning process which accelerates learning and is an evidence-based practice in the science of learning.
- Integrating mobile and online learning will improve your student evaluations, accelerate learning, and your students will love the interaction and engagement!
OLC: How do you define innovation?
To me, I define innovation in retrospect. I look at it and say, “That. That was innovative.” What causes me to say that is there was usually a personal and communal process that achieved an outcome, a new way of doing or expressing something with a tool, process, or vision the establishes a new path and offers hope to everyone who is looking to reimagine a new path.
OLC: OLC’s Institute offerings help professionals stay current in their prospective fields, and often times assist in the advancement of their profession. What do you believe are the top 3 ways in which professionals in our field can stay current and move ahead?
Relationships, Research, and Reflection. Collaborating and intellectual community are invaluable. Research and acting upon evidence-based processes move our field forward and personal and corporate reflection is needed to continue to refine our findings and provide a balance for praxis.
OLC: What was the last book, journal or article you read that relates to the field?
The last book I read was “Change We Must: Deciding the Future of Higher Education” edited by Matthew Goldstein and George Otte. Buy it, read it, give it away, read it again.
OLC: How can people connect with you?
Twitter: @ScottEHamm
About Dr. Scott Hamm
Scott is the Director of Online Education at Hardin-Simmons University, Abilene, Texas. He is the former Director of Mobile Learning Research in the Adams Center for Teaching, Learning, & Technology at Abilene Christian University. Scott teaches the Mobile Learning Mastery Series and other workshops for the Online Learning Consortium. Additionally, he teaches in the Graduate Education program at Abilene Christian University, the Graduate Educational Technology program at Fresno Pacific University, and in the Graduate Education Department at Hardin-Simmons University. His participation in the Educause Breakthrough Models Academy has led to Succeed You, a project funded by Avenue Scholars Foundation, Omaha, NE that is providing a mobile solution to developmental high school math students. He recently directed a Gates Foundation Grant (Next Generation Learning Challenges) studying Mobile Enhanced Inquiry Based Learning with the California University of Pennsylvania and Del Mar College. In October, Scott received the 2014 OLC Effective Practice Award for his research on using text-messaging in online and face-to-face classes to increase learning outcomes and engagement. Scott was recently named as one of the top 100 educators in Texas to follow on Twitter.
Scott did his undergraduate work in rehabilitation education at the Pennsylvania State University, graduate work in Religious Education at Abilene Christian University and received Doctorate in Educational Ministry at the Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Ft. Worth, 2006. He is currently a Ph.D. student at Nova Southeastern University in Information Systems.
In his spare time, Scott likes to collect vinyl (old records) and restore vintage stereos. Recently, he restored his Radio Shack Clarinette 97 record player/8-track stereo system and is “spinning vinyl” on it again.