Reflection: Learning

LEARNING

Where do I start on this reflection? I WONDER….

Wondering is the start of all learning, and I certainly spent lots of time wondering what the heck was going on around me in Hungary. I wonder what that store clerk is asking me? I wonder what that sign says? I wonder what’s in that package on the grocery shelf (is it butter or nice spreadable pork fat)? I wonder what this poster is advertising, where the event will be, and when?

With my background as a librarian, a traveler, and my father’s daughter, I did prepare for my trip to Hungary. I bought guidebooks, phrasebooks, and dictionaries. I read about Hungarian writers and poets. I listened to Hungarian language CDs as I walked the neighborhood, secure in the belief that if people heard me speaking Hungarian to myself, they wouldn’t be able to criticize my pronunciation. I bookmarked helpful sites, including that of EKF. I asked questions about our likely living situation, work expectations, and climate. I determined what clothes we would need, resulting in: 1) too many, 2) too warm, and 3) too formal.

I decided that a blog would be a good way to demonstrate and document learning, and came up with a framework and a tool to use (Blogger). I prepared as best I could, and went into the experience with the attitude that I would carefully observe, risk mistakes, deal with resulting anxiety, push through shyness, and take advantage of every opportunity offered. That pretty much describes what happened.

Observing was pretty much a given. On the surface, Eger was not a very strange environment. A very pretty small city, with streets, stores, cars, banks, theaters, college buildings, churches, bicycles, and people that seemed familiar. First observation—yes, navigation is easy, but understanding where you are is not. Obviously the difficulty of the language was foremost—it doesn’t help if you’ve studied French or Spanish or German—the words on the sign are not readable, and they are definitely not pronounceable. So there was a lot of good reason to watch and learn—at the store, at the bank, and especially at the train station! Observing also led to speculation—again, to WONDER what was going on, come up with a hypothesis, and then check it out later with colleagues at the office. More than once, that resulted in great hilarity when I missed my guess!

But risking mistakes, and dealing with the resulting anxiety, was also an important component in my learning. Those of us who have been successful in our jobs and social interactions take everyday competence for granted. Living in another culture strips that competence away in a hurry. Take for example the butter example from above—yes, I bought the nice block of pork fat, widely used in Hungarian cooking. I learned from my mistake—but didn’t end up spreading my mistake on toast in the morning! It’s constant work to make sense of an unfamiliar world, and the experience provided me an interesting, personal, and concrete example of developmental learning processes. I have more empathy for learners, whether they are strangers in (our) strange land, or students beginning graduate work in an unfamiliar discipline. Anxiety, mistakes, and fatigue are givens, as are discovery, comprehension, and satisfaction.

Making the most of all opportunities was most important in learning from this experience. Most people don’t think of me as a shy person; I’ve learned to push through that in everyday life when I have to do so. I had to sometimes do the same in Hungary, and ‘play the part’ of a confident visiting professor. I was helped by an excellent piece of advice offered to me by a VSU professor who had been on faculty exchange to other countries, “Accept every invitation.” Doing so brought me into many different situations, and put me into lots of great ‘learning environments’. I would add another piece of advice, “Go to everything, no invitations necessary.” It became a habit to look for posters (events are often not advertised until just before they happen), take digital photographs of the poster, and then go home to interpret what, where, when, and how much, using the dictionary. Sometimes this method worked, sometimes not, and sometimes led to interesting confusions (is this a Hungarian dance where you dance or is it a Hungarian dance where you watch dancing?).

It is interesting to think about changes in learning over the four months. As I understood more, and was more comfortable and competent in the daily or common tasks, I think my pace of learning slowed. I noticed that I wasn’t studying language as much, nor taking as many ‘sense-making’ photographs. I found that some tasks (like buying train tickets in Eger) had become quite easy, a marked difference. I never did get around to learning metric quantities, settling for the foolish-looking (but effective) practice of asking for two handfuls of beans at the market. I eventually managed to answer my phone (usually, but always reluctantly), make calls (usually), and replenish minutes at the T-Mobile store. I figured out (duh!) why my colleagues wanted to call me rather than email (their oral English proficiency, written English lack of practice, and general cell phone addiction), and why I wanted them to email me (my oral comprehension anxiety, email addiction, and general cell phone aversion).

I did continue to query my colleagues and asked advice and interpretation on everything from food to politics. I shared what I learned through the blog, including some reflection. I continued to have some frustrations, particularly around miscommunications, but embraced those “rabbit hole experiences”. I must admit I did sometimes look forward to the expectation that when I was “back home” I would be competent again, and not have to try so hard everyday to figure things out. That has happened (although I have had a time catching up at the office), but I find I miss the inevitable sense of WONDER that living in another culture brought to each day.

Learning: Through the Eyes of Visitors

It's hard to decide how to classify this blog--through our various visitors while we were in Hungary, I learned, I taught, I experienced and conveyed culture, and I definitely had fun. Let me just use this blog to thank Susan, Catherine, Dennis, Luana, Robert and Elsie for coming to Hungary. It makes such a big difference to have others here in the U.S. (and in Scotland) who can share with us..."remember when we were in Eger...?"

Learning: Lifelong Learning through Libraries

While it was a great opportunity for me to get to present at the NETWORKSHOP 2009 conference in Szeged in April, I must admit I was relieved when told there wasn't enough time for me to do a presentation (on blogging!) at the ENTITLE: Lifelong Learning Conference in early May in Eger. I wouldn't have been the only English-language presenter at this conference, and they did have the equipment for simultaneous translation. But what do I know of lifelong learning services in European libraries? Actually, as it turns out, quite a lot. At least the topics discussed seemed familiar.

I have a doctoral student at Valdosta State University who is working on quality of life and lifelong learning, and found that some of the same research she had cited was also relevant in the European context. Libraries seemed to be poised to be centers for lifelong learning activities, both in place and virtual.

The format of the conference was familiar-- keynote session, concurrent sessions, and displays and vendors. As often the case at Eszterházy Károly, the venue for the meeting was beautiful--the original chapel with an impressive ceiling covered with murals in the Lyceum.

The conference audience seemed familiar--mostly female, professionally dressed, mostly from Hungary, but from other countries as well. The speakers were, unfortunately, also predictable--mostly male administrators. Some things about library conferences are definitely cross-cultural.

And, as usual in Eger, the refreshments and hospitality were GREAT! Interesting and informative conference. I'll have to tell my doctoral student all about it!

Learning: Now you see it, but maybe you don't

Our experiences in Hungary have included equal amounts of serendipity and regret. We've bumped into auto rallies, and missed folk dances. We've thought we deciphered festival schedules and venues, and been wrong, and we've found ourselves in the middle of activities we didn't even know were scheduled. We've done the best we could by gathering as many resources as possible, asking for local help, and just being open to whatever happens. Sometimes I've taken photos of posters for later translation through the dictionary, web translation, or, best of course, translation by friends.

At the beginning of our "Auto Outing" we stopped in Gyöngyöspata on the recommendation of a friend. He hoped, but didn't consider it likely, that the Gothic church would be open so we could see the inside. Another church, says the jaded European traveler (not me). Well, we were definitely lucky that the church was open for cleaning. We walked to see the unique altar shaped like a tree with branches holding a representation of the family tree of Jesus. The photo doesn't do it justice. More information about the church can be found by clicking the link above.

A later part of our "Auto Outing" included Szécsény, a town not far from Hollókö. We wandered that way because we'd heard there was a 600 and somethingth town anniversary celebration. It was a Saturday, and we found a parking space not far from the Center (we thought). There was something in the air....utter silence. Not exactly the festival atmosphere we thought we might find. So we looked around...

If only we'd read the guidebook ahead of time...

Szécsény is worth visiting for the beautifully preserved and renovated Forgách Palace (saw that but didn't go in) in the area of the former castle (didn't know that) that forms the historical town centre (thought so). The building, constructed in rural Baroque style (learned something), houses a museum (saw the sign) and its park is a nature reserve area (thought there was green space back there). You do not necessarily have to go to Pisa to see a leaning tower (at a distance, didn't notice the angle). The Fire Tower, the symbol of the town (whoops), is spectacularly leaning due to a sliding clay-bed. And do not forget (we forgot) the remnants of the former castle or the Franciscan church (I think we saw) while in town.

For all that we missed in Szécsény that day, we did find a festival eventually in the park behind the museum. Drawn by the sound of the loudspeaker, and having no idea what was being announced, we made our way down the hill to find that we'd missed (of course) the archery competitions by people dressed in mail and peaked hats, but could watch the horse jumping contests.

We also saw the sure winner of a competition not held that day: Hungary's best set of dog ears! And the matching sweater is very nice, too!

Learning: Colleague Honored

We were disappointed that we could not witness the acceptance of our colleague's book into the highest academic and scholarly recognition in Hungary at the Petöfi Literary Museum in Budapest this week.

Here's the announcement of the ceremony on the website in Hungarian and here it is as translated by Google. Scroll down to the May 8, 2009 program that includes the book, Elektronikus tanulási környezetek (Electronic Learning Environments) written by Dr. Bertalan Komenczi.

While not at the ceremony in person, we are with him in our thoughts, congratulations, and appreciation for the many in-depth and interesting conversations we've had over the past few months. I hope we can continue to work together in our electronic learning environment that spans the distance from Georgia to Hungary.

Learning: Peer Review 2

This blog entry was done a day after observing in a totally different kind of class than the Peer Review 1 entry. The following excerpt from the instructor email sets the stage for this upper division class utilizing teamwork and presentations as instructional strategies. I have made a few comments from my observations following the course description.

From the Teacher:

Marketing - 22. April, at 8:00-9:30 (Room 406)

The name of subject: Methods of Marketing Communication and Public Relations
Term of subject: One semester (15 week) Number of lessons: 2 lesson/week
Type of subject: practice
Main goals: 1) the students use correct expressions of marketing language, and, 2) they understand advantages and disadvantages of various strategies in a marketing project

Strong point: interesting instructional method. Weak point: low motivation to learn about marketing; a grade is more important

My method of education: I lecture on one of marketing method and then they do a small project in groups. This method is different than in most classes in which students don't work on lessons in groups. Every group presents what they did after working together for 20-50 minutes. They can finish the course in two different ways. They may write a written test without help alone or they may work together in groups. They can choose. If they work in a group then they get from the teacher an average percent, for example 75%. As a group, they can decide how to distribute the grade. They can designate so many percent for every member of the group; the average of the group has to be what the teacher designated. During the group work, they can use all of the previous PowerPoint lectures (available on the instructor's website), and consult with the professor, and refer to any other resources they have in the classroom. The marks: 0-59%->(1),60-69%->(2), 70-79%->(3),80-89%->(4), 90-100%->(5) 1 is too low; the semester has to repeated, the other marks allow the student to advance.

My observations:

I was a bit late; I had mixed up the rooms. The door locks so I had the experience of the only one other person late to the class in having to face the professor as he let me in (obviously, he was nice, but at least I know how to say I'm sorry for being late in Hungarian!).

One important cultural point for this blog posting is about the use of the term 'professor'. In Hungary that designation is reserved for those academics who have achieved a very high level of scholarship, and have been voted on by the entire academic community to be worthy of that designation. I use the more general term professor, as is common in the US, to indicate a teacher at the college level, whether an assistant, associate, or full professor (status granted by the employing institution or system). But I also don't mind elevating, or promoting my colleague to the professor level, in this posting. It may be unofficial, but it is sincere.

The classroom is a great contrast to the one I saw yesterday. This room also has many computers lined up on long tables in rows. But the room itself was obviously once used as a TV studio, and the remaining acoustic ceiling, hanging lights, and heavy dark curtains completely covering the windows were still in place. The instructor had given an opening description of what the students were to do today. It's near the end of the semester and the small projects done each week on various aspects of marketing communications were coming together. The instructor assigned the students into three groups, with each group having 3-4 people. He gave them a grid that included the various aspects of necessary communication for a company (e.g., sales, public relations, marketing). The groups then worked on an overall plan for one of two companies--a large fictional furniture company, or a small (existing) chocolate confectionary here in Eger. That was the first I'd heard of Stühmer Chocolates--I'll have to go look them up! (I did and greatly enjoyed my first Stühmer dark chocolate truffle!)

As the students worked together, they consulted earlier PowerPoint lectures available on the Web. Occasionally, students would ask the instructor for assistance or advice. He was very fluent in his lecture and replies, and the students were attentive. The room was not very conducive to group communications, since the students were sitting in rows behind computers, and there was no room to gather elsewhere. This is a common problem with 'networked' classrooms--only the computer function had been taken into consideration in the design process, forgetting the need for people to interact face to face. We have many classrooms like this at Valdosta State University, and I've seen many here in Hungary as well. This is a particularly interesting dilemma, since laptops are now so ubiquitous. Soon these high density computer labs will be quite obsolete, I believe.

During the group work, the professor discussed his methods with me. Because the topic of this course is business-related, he tries to build skills that have been designated as lacking in the Hungarian workforce--namely, computer skills, communications, and teamwork skills. Another workforce skill that is often mentioned is the ability to communicate in a language other than Hungarian, but that is beyond the scope of this class (however, he did introduce me in both English and Hungarian).

It was interesting to speak to him about the differences in the ways Hungarian students communicate in contrast to US students. While somewhat of a generalization, I had to agree that US education stresses much more student-student communication and gives opportunities for teamwork. Hungarian education is still very teacher-centered, and students often only speak in class in reply to direct questions from the teacher. He believes that this early training (or lack of opportunity for different strategies) contributes to the difficulties of effective communications in Hungarian workplaces and society. The problem can be credited to the long period of top-down rule during the socialist era, and the slow progress toward changes since then.

At the end of the class period, each group was required to stand up and deliver a summary of the strategies they had devised. The instructor called on individuals to contribute, so everyone had to know all parts of the strategy. I stayed for two groups, and could see some unease in the students. The professor said they were much more comfortable now than at the beginning of the course, so obviously his strategy is having benefits toward improving communication skills.

It's interesting that the recognition of the importance of group work and team-based projects is clear, but the obstacles to achievement of these strategies is based in the common problem of instructors--lack of time to design, prepare, and plan. In Hungary, this problem is even more acute. Professors, especially those junior faculty who do not hold the Ph.D. teach many courses, and many sections of courses in the week. They also hold tutorials with correspondence students, and weekend students, and some also teach at the secondary level. Many are enrolled in doctoral programs in other parts of the country, and must travel on a regular basis over the course of several years to complete the degrees. Post-secondary education is changing in Hungary, but under many stresses including financial ones, especially at this time.

Learning: Peer Review 1

This blog entry is an interesting one. I'm blogging while sitting in a classroom during a lesson and practice test in Bóta László's Word class. The room is large with many computer workstations, and windows all around with a beautiful view of Eger--almost as panoramic as the view from the Terrace upstairs. It would be a bit difficult to pay attention to the computer screens and the presentation screen with the distraction of the view, at least for me. The quotation seen to the right is posted prominently at the front of the room.

This is not my first observation in my colleagues' classes, but is the first when I'm specifically invited to observe, compare and contrast the teaching methods used in two classes taught by the same faculty member. In the US, some institutions incorporate peer review, or guided observations of teaching, into faculty evaluations, whether formative (for improvement purposes), or summative (to provide input for decisions of promotion, retention, or pay). The peer review I am doing here is more to add to my understanding of the resources and challenges of higher education teaching at Eszterházy Károly.

I'm typing (inefficiently) on a Hungarian keyboard, and making many mistakes with the Y and Z and quotation marks in different locations. I don't even know how to make an accented lower case vowel, so I can't even spell Laszlo's (the instructor) name correctly! (I corrected above and below when I got back to my own office keyboard and cheat sheet).

László is currently walking around looking at the work of the students, and correcting and grading (scale 1-5) on the spot. He says that is the best way for the students to know what they have done wrong and right, and saves on paper, and avoids viruses that might be introduced through saving the files. I'm quite sure I wouldn't do very well on this practice--my inept skills in making the correct accent marks, different capitalization rules, and different formatting (i.e., justified text, centered headings) would likely render a 1 rating, meaning I'd have to repeat the test!

László has shown me how the students access the practice exercises and tests from his webpages. He gave me a paper copz (hereás what happens when Yahner doesnát look at the kezboard') of the exercise, this time about Hungarian Nobel Prize winners. The grading criteria is very clear, with each item (e.g., title page, table) marked with a percentage of the total grade.

When László finished grading he showed me the marks. It was as he said it probably would be--students did not do well, with most of them getting 1 marks, which indicate a failing grade. There is not a lot of room for error--total accuracy on an element is necessary to get credit for that element of the document. But in looking at the marks from the first practice test, which are mostly good (3-5 level marks), it does look like László is right when he says the students don't practice new skills, and so do not ever get any better than they are when they start. I'm sure this is a frustrating position for the instructor, but certainly not an unusual situation as most instructors could agree.

When I was invited to this class I asked about the general goals and objectives. László did much more to help me understand the context. He sent an email that outlined the course, including a good description of the teaching method. He identified advantages and disadvantages of the teaching strategy used. With his permission, I'll quote from his email below. I plan to attend another of his classes later this week and will add a second Peer Review entry to the blog then.

Laszlo's Email

Word - 21 April, at 10:00-11:30 (Room 605)
---------------------------------------------
The name of subject: Digital Textprocessing
Term of subject: one semester (15 week)
Number of lessons: 2 lesson/week
Type of subject: practice

Main goal: students can use the word processor on a professional level for the essay (examination paper) and for the dissertation.

Other goals: the student can use the word-processor at work in the future.

Advantages: 1. The students use the computer every day 2. They learned about word-processing in the high school 3. The subject is useful for them 4. Every student can work with a computer (1 computer/student)

Disadvantages: 1. The class size is high in the group 2. Most students learned little in high school (they played or left the lessons) [We haven't any teacher-control at the IT lessons in Hungary] 3. The students don't want to understand why the topic is useful for them 4. They don't want to work week by week, only the end of term before the exam. 5. They don't want ask help from me.

My method of education:

Unfortunately, it's a simply elementary, sometimes secondary school method. We do the practise together, then they can try again alone, and they can ask. After the practise we make a little summary of theory. Many don't practise, so I give an exam every second week. These are "little" practise exams (quizzes). They have 4 quizzes. If the student earns a five or four mark on each quiz then he/she earns an adequate mark in this subject, and, at Week 10 has finished the subject. If not, the student has to take a summary exam in the 14th week, and can correct it in the 15th week. Usually students write very bad quizzes, but they believe it's enough to finish the subject. It's a very basic method at the college level, but about the 75% of students can word-process well following the class.

Learning: Blog Comments

I've had problems, and have had problems reported, with the comment feature of this blog. Sometimes it has worked for people, sometimes not. I made a change on the settings to have the comment box open as a pop-up. It seemed to work better. Any of you who have been frustrated by the malfunction (or who would just like to troubleshoot this problem), please write a comment on this posting. That way we can figure it out...maybe.

Learning: Libraries and More Libraries

I've posted before on library tours, but wanted to make sure that I highlighted the award-winning Heves County library. Jack and I recently were invited to tour the library with Komló Ági, who works there as a system librarian, and her husband, my Institute of Media Informatics colleague Komló Csaba.

The tour was short, but we'll be back! I was asked to write a little note about the visit for the library newsletter--I'll reproduce it here and hopefully be able to add a link to the 'real thing' if it comes out electronically.

For the Newsletter:

People in Hungary seem to really appreciate books. Since Jack and I have been in Eger, we've noticed many bookstores, and enjoyed tours and privileges to borrow books from the college libraries and the American Corner. But we didn't know what a fine county library Heves had until Komló Ági gave us a tour recently. We were impressed by the beautiful buildings, the attentive staff, and the collections, especially the special and local resources, and media materials. As a librarian myself, I can tell you that this facility would be a treasure in our own community in the US, as it is here. Congratulations to the Library of the Year!--Dr. Jane Zahner, visiting professor from Valdosta State University, Valdosta, Georgia, USA.

The only thing that was missing from Heves County Library (besides much needed room to expand!) was the children's collection. I asked Ági about that and was told that the children's materials and programming were in the Forrás Gyermek Szabadidó Központ, a community youth center a few blocks away. As it happened Csaba and Ági were taking their daughter to storytelling and crafts there in the late afternoon and I was invited to go along. Csaba was also going in an official capacity to check on some library student interns doing practicum hours with the children (sound familiar?).

A great place, homey, full of books and seasonal decorations. I'd been making origami cranes lately, and was glad to see a whole ceiling full of them in the children's library. I listened as intently as the children did to the wonderful storyteller. Although I could only understand occasional words, the drama of the story was evident. I'm not sure the metaphor would translate, but she definitely had them "eating out of her hand"! That experience made me think more about my past storytelling and puppetry, and awakened a desire to do that again in the future.

After the storytelling began the crafts. I believe we were to make a fabric collage based on the story. Since I didn't know the story, I cheated, and peeked at the work of kids, teachers, aides, and parents. There was definitely a castle involved, and possibly a goat. Somehow rain, lightning, and aliens entered my work--it was rainy that night, and I am an alien!!!

Much thanks to Csaba and Ági for the invitation--it was great to meet your daughter and see dynamic child-centered learning going on!

Learning: VSU Mailbag

When I checked my VSU mail this morning I was struck by the connections between happenings at Valdosta State University and Eszterházy Károly Föiskola, particularly in content areas that are taught within the Institute of Media Informatics, where I am hosted. I wanted to bring these connections to the attention to faculty at both institutions, to encourage collaboration and communication.

I've written in this blog about the intense interest and activity in film-making here at EKF, both by students and professionals. It seems that everywhere we go, whether to a park, the Castle, or the hallways of the Lyceum, there are students making movies. Thus, the announcement of the 5th annual Valdosta Film Festival posted by Brian Day clearly caught my attention. Here's an excerpt:

"The submission deadline is Thursday March 12 by 5:30. Films, entry forms and dues can be dropped off in the Communication Arts office in Nevins Hall. Entry Forms and more information can be found at the following website: http://www.valdosta.edu/filmfest."

Another posting today connected with library instruction and training, also supported here in the Institute. Emily Rogers (ecrogers@valdosta.edu) encouraged faculty to have students enroll in a one-credit library instruction course, offered either face to face or online. That brought to mind discussions I've had with both the academic librarians here, and a public librarian in the very fine county library they have in Eger. I don't know if EKF is offering any library instruction online, but it might be interesting to compare notes about how instruction is done, and what is included. It may also be interesting to compare opinions about who is responsible for making sure the library skills are strong--the student, the faculty, or the librarians!

An excerpt from Emily's message:

"Do you wish your students had stronger library research skills? Are your students looking for a class to complete their Fall 2009 schedules? Consider LIBS 1000, a one-credit class taught by Odum reference librarians that helps students learn to use library resources more effectively. For Fall 2009, we're offering LIBS 1000 in both face-to-face and online versions..."

Of course, the Institute of Media Informatics in interested in teacher training and technology integration in the classroom. A posting in my mail offered an interesting opportunity to VSU College of Education Faculty and students from the Georgia Educational Technology Centers (a state funded system of centers and staffing dedicated to improving P-16 student performance through technology integration). Here's an excerpt:

"The Georgia Educational Technology Centers (ETC) coordinate a regional/statewide project-based learning competition entitled “GA ETC PBL.” Students in grades K-12th compete to create educational web sites or thematic movies based on Georgia curriculum standards. I am soliciting volunteers to judge the web sites or movies using an established online rubric. Ideally, we need two judges per project to ensure fairness. For those of you at colleges, this would be a great assignment to give to some of your college students as well."

Sheila Hall, the ETC staff member who wrote the posting, gave the deadlines and procedures for volunteering for judging. She also offered the following opportunity that I extend to anyone following the blog who might be interested in creating projects like these:

"If you would like to view last year’s entries, visit http://www.gaetcpbl.org/ and scroll down to the “Projects” section."

As evidenced by the ongoing E-Teaching for E-Learning Seminar I've been leading each week, faculty in the Institute for Media Informatics are, like many faculty at VSU, interested in professional development in the area of technology. I happened to get a e-newsletter issue today from Slideshare.net, which is one avenue through which I've been sharing the Seminar presentation materials. This commercial site is a great place to post your conference presentations, and to look for presentations in which you are interested. It's free to use (has advertising), and has an intriguing set of opportunities for professional development including "presentation camps", awards competitions, featured 'cool' presentations, and hosts synchronous events at many conferences. Here's an excerpt that might intrigue you:

"Watch conferences in your underwear! And continuing with our underwear theme from last newsletter, if budgets have let you down and you are going to miss your favorite conference then check out our events directory. You can also use it to look up presentations after attending a great conference."

Well, I hope we'll continue to have our face-to-face Seminars on E-Teaching, but we may also have some virtual presentations where the dress code will be lax. Who knows? We may even get it together to have an E-Teaching for E-Learning Wimba Classroom session with faculty from her, and my colleagues from VSU. Last week in the seminar, we started learning to use the Wimba classroom, so we should be ready to try it out soon. I hope so, and we'll work on it!

Learning: Marketing

We're lucky to have a nice ABC store (small supermarket) just down the street where we can get most necessities. There's a bakery just a little further, and many other small fruit markets, flower shops, and other ABCs within a three block area. The only challenges have been to learn the various opening and closing hours (on weekends only morning hours, if at all), to learn the rules about bottle deposits and weighing/labeling produce, to remember to bring a shopping bag to bring home the goods (or plan to pay for one), and to manage to position yourself so that you can see the numerals on the cash register. The cashiers are kind and patient, but when you hear that you owe, "ezerkilencszaskilencvenkettö" it just doesn't get from my ear to my brain in a timely manner (that's 1992 forint, about $8.50). Add to that our (mostly) resolved fumbling with Hungarian bills and coins, and the need to bag our own groceries, the next person in line does appreciate whatever we can do to hurry it up.

Another challenge has been to know for sure what we are buying. Mostly it's not too hard; the brands may be unfamiliar, but the products are similar, and sometimes identical. I must admit I've been the one who's brought home some oddities, such as when I thought I was getting a tube of a pate-type substance and it turned out to be paprika flavored velvetta-type cheese, and the same day managed to bring home a block of 'fat' (lard) instead of butter. Jack has been surprised when cherry filling in a strudel was poppy seeds, and I brought home chocolate cake with cherries in it for breakfast one morning. We both contributed early on to buying a nice large box of feta cheese, which was a full pound of the richest and most delicious cream cheese you could imagine. All in all, we're doing fine at the supermarket and in the kitchen, where we've been cooking somewhat like we do at home, beans and rice, veggies and noodles, and soups. There's so much meat in the restaurant meals that, except for some sausage, we've left that all at the store.

A bigger challenge, and much more interesting, is to go to the downtown market. It's everyday (I think), and has both indoor and outdoor stands. Fruits, vegetables, meats, fish, breads, honey, cheeses, are sold by individual vendors. They are sold by metric measurement, of course, so when it's not as easy as handing the vendor three oranges (delicious, from Spain), sometimes I'm reduced to forming a sign language equivalent, such as two handfuls of dried beans. That's probably better than garbling grams and kilograms and ending up with having to take the beans home in a wheelbarrow.

The method of positioning oneself to see the cash register readout doesn't work so well at most of the booths in the market, since the produce is weighed the old fashioned way. But the vendors are very good about writing down the figures, or even, in a particularly obtuse moment of mine, taking the proper bills and coins from my outstretched hand. I definitely have learned to smile, and say my excuses and thank yous in Hungarian.

We went to a new booth, for us, a few days ago. The cabbage stand sells freshly made sauerkraut, peppers stuffed with pickled cabbage, and other such delicacies. We had heard about the stand, and wanted to have a nice meal of kolbász and sávanyú káposzta. So we took a plastic container with a tight fitting lid, found the stand, and found this sign.

Not hard to get what we wanted (although we bought too much!), but I took the picture so that I could translate some of the other choices for our next trip.

Upstairs in the market there is an area with 'fast food' that you can eat standing up at tables, or take out. There are lángos, palacsintas, rétes, kolbász, and pogácsa (some of you from the upper Midwest may recognize some of these dishes). There are also many items that are stuffed, fried, or both--likely all delicious.

So, each time we go to the market, we get a little better at it. As of yet, I haven't bought any flowers there, but I certainly look--they are beautiful. And they are now putting out seeds and garden plants, and pussy willows, sure signs (I'm told) of the impending TAVASZ (Spring!).

Learning: Teacher Education Promise and Problems

Eszterházy Károly Föiskola is an important source of teacher training in Hungary. And, as in many teacher training institutions in the USA, there are constant efforts to improve recruitment, training, and retention of teachers. Among these efforts is establishment of educational partnerships with schools, enabling high quality education for children, while providing timely, substantial, and mentored learning environments for teacher training candidates. An extremely rich example of a partnership can be found in the demonstration school we had the opportunity to visit last week.

We visited a classroom with friendly eight year olds, who had clearly been studying English for some time. We also attended a presentation by József Sándor, the energetic leader and school master of the school. He clearly described and delineated roles of administrators, experienced teachers, mentor teachers, teacher trainees, methodologists (specialists in pedagogy), and college (Föiskola) faculty in the shared responsibility for 'growing' teachers for the future.


We had heard about the 'Bologne' procedure, a new model of teacher training that emphasizes advanced preparation at the Master's level. He spoke of this process as well as the problem that teacher education units face in Hungary -- fewer candidates pursue teaching as a profession, and many who do pursue the teacher credential either do not practice, or drop out of the profession within a relatively short time period. Other problems common to education included funding shortages, problems with matching education to workforce needs, and the need for differentiated learning and adequate supply of specially trained educational personnel to work with a variety of learners.

These problems certainly sounded familiar to someone who teaches in the USA in a College of Education. The same themes, and some of the same solutions. I hope to spend more time in the schools, particularly in English language practice with children during this faculty exchange time. There is so much that is interesting in the full PowerPoint presentation by József Sándor, available at the link below.

Presentation by József Sándor, School Master of the Demonstration School, High School, and Elementary Art School of Eszterházy Károly College in Eger, Hungary. Posted for blog readers by permission.

Learning: Library Tour

Director Czeglédi holding a restored book dated 1637.


Lászlo Czeglédi took time out from his busy schedule as library director to give us a tour of the impressive library facilities of Eszterházy Károly. The libraries are housed on two floors of the Lyceum and include the collections of natural sciences, social sciences, humanities, arts, and literature. There is a large collection of periodicals, including many in English, and the library has extensive access to periodical articles online through databases such as Ebsco.

The professional staff of eighteen manages the collection which ranges from special collections, with some very old and restored books and materials, to modern media like like DVDs and CDs. The media room had been very recently upgraded with new work stations for multimedia production.

In contrast, the area where Hungarian literature local history resided included cases with materials dating back several hundred years. The reading rooms are spacious and well-lit, some with beautiful two level stacks, with fine wooden shelves, and stairs curving to the upper level. In one of these rooms, the upper levels include the Churchill Collection, and an impressive collection of American Literature. In fact, I almost immediately found a book I've been wanting to read, and couldn't find in bookstores in the U.S. before I left!

Although not technically a part of the libraries, the American Corner is also housed in the library area, and accessed through the library on the ground floor. There are interesting collections there, as well, but seeing the American Literature collection was like discovering treasure. Can't wait to get my library card...

As we toured with Lászlo, I couldn't help thinking of "my" library; that is, Odum Library at VSU. Although the physical scale of Odum Library is much larger, there seemed to be a lot of similarities. Well, except for the ratio of foreign titles! I think the librarians at our library would be very excited to visit in Eger, as would the faculty of the School of Library and Information Sciences. I'll have to see about promoting a study tour, and I'll volunteer to be the travel guide so I can get back to Eger!

Learning: Snow Day

When I was a child in the midwestern US state of Iowa, the best day in winter was a 'snow day'. That was a day when heavy snow, either the night before, or the day itself, made school bus travel impossible so school was canceled for the day. We would hear about the cancellation on the radio, and be overjoyed that there was a nice long day ahead when we could stay home, and, eventually, be ushered out the door by Mom to play in the snow.

Today I took a 'snow day' and stayed at our flat in the Napsugar Vendégház. Yes, it is snowing; actually more is piling up today than we've seen. The TV weather report mentioned up to 20 centimeters. But the snow is light and fluffy, the wind is calm, and the temperature not too cold. My boots would take me easily through the snow to the office, so there's not really a weather excuse for staying home.

My reason, though, is that the list of experiences, perceptions, and events about which I want to blog has now spilled over onto a second page. I certainly can't complain about having such a full life, but it's also good to occasionally step back and reflect upon what learning is taking place. I want to spend some extended time today writing and sharing some of the events that are forming this faculty exchange experience.

I've learned that a true welcome for a visiting faculty member is not just kind words and gifts, although we've been showered with those. The true gift is invitation for meaningful involvement with the place and people. We've been invited to so many different places and events--lunches with colleagues, formal tours of the library and campus, a dinner party in our rector's home, a water polo match, trips to the pool and thermal baths, a professional educator's conference and reception, Global Cooking night by the International students, a film festival, lunch with a notable young Hungarian film director and a Fulbright Scholar, a presentation and tour of the teacher education practice school, classes and lectures by colleagues, brainstorming sessions, and Hungarian language survival classes.

We've responded to nearly every invitation and suggestion, because everything is a learning experience here. Even going to the grocery store is a learning experience, as we usually bring home what we thought we were getting (although not always!), and, increasingly, we remember to take shopping bags and returnable bottles with us, and fumble less with our forints. So learning is taking place, at and away from Eszterházy Károly Föiskola--and learning to type accents is a part of it!

Learn: Blog in Hungarian (for my English speaking friends)

If you want to see the blog in Hungarian, go to this great site!

http://www.webforditas.hu/weblap-fordito.php

Just put the blog address http://zahnerpkm.blogspot.com/
into the translator. If only I could write in Hungarian--oh, I can!

Thanks, Sandor!

JZ

Learning: Like a Child

An interesting thing happened last week, just after moving in. We awoke around 2:00 A.M. to the sound of the doorbell, downstairs in our guesthouse. We thought we were the only ones in the house, and that the landlady did not stay here. But then we heard footsteps on the stairs and had one of the "what do we do now" moments.

It's interesting that we hadn't really anticipated what it would take to report some kind of emergency, whether it be crime, fire, or medical. It immediately reminded me of what our young grandchildren had been drilled on--learn to say your name, address, phone number, etc. So now I can recite the essentials in Hungarian, including spelling of my name. And I can even use my cell phone, now that the commands are in English! By the way, there was no emergency and everything is fine in our house...just an interesting lesson in the basics.

Learning: We were (mostly) right

Getting ready for this trip has been a long and hectic experience. All the wondering and anxiety about what we'd need to "survive" four months in Hungary, and how our home would "survive" four months without us, has been put to rest. We (mostly me) did more than adequate preparation and worrying, and, I think, did well. The house will survive, thanks to the care of friends. The office will survive, thanks to my colleagues. Our families will survive, thanks to Skype and the fact that we saw everybody in a whirlwind trip from Georgia to Virginia to Iowa to New Orleans in December--and that they usually don't see us for at least four months at a stretch, anyway. In fact, the grandkids didn't seem particularly impressed yesterday when they could talk to us and see us through Skype--what's the difference, Hungary or Georgia? (and we got them a globe for Christmas!). And my students will survive, since I brought them with me on the other end of Bb WebCT Vista, just six hours offset.

Jack and I will, no doubt, survive and thrive. Yes, it's winter here, and we get to regularly wear long coats and long underwear for the first time since we left in Wisconsin almost 30 years ago. But they say unusually warm winters are happening more and more (global warming), and this is one. Maybe we'll get snow tomorrow, but maybe not. Anyway, what a great excuse for buying beautiful knee high black boots (yes, everyone is wearing them), and silk long underwear (who knows?), and great wool clothing from the consignment shop! By the way, that last sentence was strictly for Jane! Jack gets to sport a leather driving hat and his Uncle Pat's cashmere overcoat--very handsome.

The main reason we will survive and thrive is our hosts. Amazing hospitality and organization. After an easy (and empty) flight from Atlanta to London on British Airways, and transfer to a full Malev (Hungarian Airline) flight, we were met at the Budapest airport by a young woman from the International Programs area, and a driver. Our luggage arrived without incident or loss (whew) and we went to a giant Walmart like place for some shopping. Between disorientation caused by jet lag and more disorientation by finding ourselves in a megamart, we bought a few useful groceries (cabbage, onions, garlic, potatoes, pasta, beans, olive oil, salami, cheese, bread) and proceeded to Eger.

It was kind of a long way around, so it took awhile to get to Eger. We had a great time talking with Anita, who wants to come to our University for further study (we'll be fortunate to have her), and to improve her English (already very good). It was interesting to me how much she knew about the U.S., and especially her interest in the national parks and different regions of the country. As we were coming into the city, we passed through the vineyards near the "Valley of the Beautiful Women", an area famous for the wine cellars embedded in the limestone caves there.

Our home for the next four months is the Napsugar Vendeghaz in Eger, Hungary. Napsugar means "sunshine" and we've seen some here, already, plus a few lazy snowflakes. We're very comfortable with a large sitting room with balcony (for warmer times), a bedroom and bath, full kitchen across the hall, and access to an additional guest room and guest bath. We've even got wi-fi that works pretty well! Right now we're the only people in the building, although Valera (our landlady) is here a lot, and we haven't quite figured out her schedule. We've unpacked, cooked on the gas stove, made espresso stovetop, listened to music (yes, I brought my iPod and speakers), slept, showered, watched TV (more on that later), and shopped (mostly) without difficulty (difficulties will be in the "Culture" postings!). We have not yet washed clothes, vacuumed, or hung clothes out to dry on the balcony--those are kay-shoob (later, transliterated, since I don't know how to type accents properly yet).

In any case, I think we prepared the best we could, and it's turned out well. Maybe we brought too much stuff, especially cold weather gear. Maybe we shouldn't have bothered with some of the shampoo, toothpaste, etc., since it's all clearly available here. I know we were right to bring books, both Hungarian language materials, and English reading materials. I know I was right to listen to Hungarian language recordings, because I can say and understand a few useful things already. I'm glad I brought the laptop, now that I know I can "work from home". I know this was the right exchange for us right now, and we're very happy to be here.

Learning: Getting Started...

It's the first of February, the day I've contracted to begin a faculty exchange assignment in Eger, Hungary. My husband and I arrived in Eger last Thursday, and the intervening days have been full and interesting. I'll backtrack to those days, as well as to the (seemingly) months of preparation in upcoming posts. However, right now I want to get this blog started with today.

I'm inviting friends and family to read the blog, as well as my colleagues and students. The focus will be on teaching from Hungary, since while I'm here I'm continuing to teach a post-masters level course in instructional technology online through my home institution, Valdosta State University. Some people say that a big advantage of online teaching is the freedom from geographical limitations--both students and teachers. Well, this will be a test of that theory.

I am a very interactive and involved online instructor--one might even say compulsive. I get to know my students very well through lots of online discussion and feedback, and through synchronous activities, mostly using Wimba Live Classroom. Having experienced an early start in distance learning via two-way interactive television back in the 90's, I have enjoyed reintroducing video and audio in my online classes, now that the technology has become more robust. Am I going to have problems with my class structure now that I'm six hours ahead of my students? No doubt. Can we work around the time difference and maintain the level of interaction I value? We'll see.

So one purpose of this blog is for me to analyze, reflect upon, and communicate what it is like to teach from a FAR distance, that is, out of the normal support situation, and with very different competing concerns that the usual University office administrivia that takes away from instructional time. In parallel, I will be holding a weekly seminar on the Eszterhazy Karoly Foiskola (note to self: need to learn to type accents and diacritical marks) in which I describe to interested faculty what has gone on that week in my class. They are interested in seeing how a professor dedicated to lots of interaction in online instruction goes about it.

Exercises in reflective teaching--after all, I'm up for post-tenure review this fall! All of the posts in which I focus on this purpose will have a subject line that starts with "Teaching".

"Learning" is what I really expect to be doing a lot. Whether it's understanding the Hungarian language (whew!), dealing with keyboards and cell phone directions in Hungarian, or using an unfamiliar washing machine, library, or subway system, the next four months had better include serious learning on my part! When I comment on these experiences, the subject line on the post will start with "Learning".

The blog isn't going to be all academic and dry, however. I want to make this a place for my friends, family and colleagues to follow our adventures and share our travels. I know I'll want to post a lot about "Culture", that is, what you don't know about Hungary, and to share our "Fun". Posts that focus on those two areas will have subject lines indicating the content--if you want to skip the teaching and learning posts--go ahead!