Peer Assisted Learning (PAL) Groups

The PALgroups Podcast is a new resource available for the education community. Using a new instructional technology, audio episodes are provided through this blog page as well as available for free subscription through Apple's iTunes.

Two ways to listen to the episodes which last about 5 to 10 minutes.

#1. Click on the web link within the blog posting that describes the podcast episode. This will download the audio file to your computer. Whatever serves as the default media player on your computer (example: iTunes, RealPlayer, Windows Media Player, QuickTIme Player) will automatically open up the file and begin to play it. If iTunes opens up the file, it will be saved to your music library on the computer that iTunes manages for you.

#2. Subscribe to the podcast series through iTunes. Assuming that you have the free iTunes software installed on your computer, open up iTunes and select the Apple Store from the main web links. In the upper right hand corner in the search window type "Arendale". Up will pop several podcasts that I produce. Select "Peer Assisted Learning (PAL) Groups" and click "subscribe". It will ask you confirm again by requiring you to click "subscribe" again. The episodes will automatically download to a folder within the podcast section of your library. If some of this is difficult, ask any student. They can guide you (it is what I did to get started).

Take care,
David Arendale, Podcast Host and Interviewer

Posted by David Arendale at 1:03 AM | Permalink

Following is a link to a presentation that I delivered at the 2009 Noel-Levitz Conference on Student Recruitment and Retention. The presentation focused on a decision-making system for selecting the most appropriate peer learning program for a campus. After sharing a system for analyzing not only the proposed academic intervention, but also the capacity of the campus to support the innovation, an overview is provided for seveal of the major national models in peer assisted learning (PAL): Emerging Scholars Program, Peer-led Team Learning, Structured Learning Assistance, Supplemental Instruction, and Video-based Supplemental Instruction. Click on the following link to download the PDF handout of the presentation.
NL 2009 PAL Programs, Choosing the Most Effective Model.pdf

Links to the right hand side of this blog also provide links to other helpful resources regarding PAL programs. The annotated bibliography of PAL programs provides a summary of all the publications related to the major PAL programs. An updated version of the annotated bibliography will be posted by the end of August 2009. Check back then.

Posted by David Arendale at 3:05 PM | Permalink

On Friday, October 10th I made a presentation at the 2nd Annual Tutoring Summit Conference that was sponsored by the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities (MnSCU). They asked me to conduct a survey of tutoring programs in the state. Fourteen tutoring programs responded to the survey. Please click on the following web link to read the data and the findings from the survey.
Download file

Take care,
David Arendale

Posted by David Arendale at 12:50 AM | Permalink

Today I am making a conference presentation on "Research-based Models of Peer Assisted Learning". It features background, overview, and recommendations regarding six of the major PAL programs: Accelerated Learning Groups, Emerging Scholars Programs, Peer-led Team Learning, Structured Learning Assistance, Supplemental Instruction, and Video-based Supplemental Instruction. Click on the following link for a copy of the slides used during the workshop. Download file

Posted by David Arendale at 1:25 PM | Permalink

Greetings,
Another posting from College Station, TX. I shared the following presentation, PAL Principles and Impact on PAL Facilitators at the annual Academic Peer Educator CDonference hosted by Texas A & M. Click on the following link to download the presentation slides. Download file

Posted by David Arendale at 6:58 PM | Permalink

Greetings,
I am in College Station, TX today sharing at the annual Academic Peer Educator Conference hosted by Texas A & M University for its staff. I shared the following presentation on using technology to engage and enrich learning for students. You can download the presentation slides by clicking on the following link. Download file

I also have much more information about podcasting at another web site. Click on this link for narrated PowerPoint presentations, handouts, and web links to other resources. Link to Resources. http://podcasting.arendale.org

Posted by David Arendale at 6:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)