Section 7: New Directions for Instructional Design

Distributed Learning Examples

There are a variety of distributed learning examples in chapter 28 of the Reiser text. Using the list of links and the internet, I was able to find many to review.

Corporate Distributed Learning

SyberWorks is a corporate solution for many distributed learning applications. It has web conferencing as well as a training center and web authoring tools. There are many companies that realize that corporations have limited in-house resources for training. A solution like SyberWorks can be a great time saver, and likely a money saver over hiring a staff to create from scratch many of the applications that are available on-line.

Academic Distributed Learning

Jones International University is online university. They were the first to receive regional accreditation. They offer education and business degree plans that range from certificate programs to doctorates in both. The degrees can be achieved completely at the virtual campus. I thought the online graduation was anticlimactic, however, if you took all your classes online it might not seem that odd.

Hybrid Classes

Texas A&M University has offered hybrid courses. Recently I finished two different SED courses that met occasionally but most classes were online. I have found that online courses are terrific for busy people who can access their education in their own time instead of fitting into set time slots as with normal “bricks and mortar” classes. A drawback can be the drudge of getting stuck behind a computer for hours at a time with no social interaction.

Skills Based Training

Apropos Smart Characters is an online tool for learning Chinese and Japanese by using an online word processor that works in these languages. I originally thought this would be a Knowledge based learning site, but it is really just tools that can help a user create correspondence. I have found in teaching English that one of the best ways to get my students spelling correctly is to let them use a word processor. By continually correcting the student’s mistakes, and forcing them to choose a correct spelling or usage, they start to learn. The Apropos system seems to work the same way, but also has interpreters.

Free Distributed Learning

http://www.nationaltechcenter.org/index.php/2009/09/03/federated-registry-architectures/ The National Center for Technology Innovation has free distributed learning through Webinars. In September there was a free webinar on “Choosing Authoring Tools”. They had a webinar on “Creating Reusable Content with SCORM. Many of these webinars are still available for download.

Reusability

When I was working toward my undergraduate in English Literature, it was mandatory that I take Physics. I was actually very interested in science and how things worked in the world and universe. The graduate student who taught the course was very difficult to understand because English was not his first language. He mispronounced and stumbled through lectures as quickly as he could so he could get to what he really enjoyed which was scribbling exotic formulas to explain the world and universe. I had to go to tutoring every day after class to re-learn the work and struggled horribly. Of course this was back in the late 1980’s, so technology has changed quite a bit, even though elementary Physics likely covers similar material.

There are many things that I would have changed about the class to give it more reusability. If the instructor had difficulty lecturing, then I would find video lectures from great physicists and play them for the class and give the class links to where they could find other relevant video or audio lectures. Instead of scribbling on a chalk board, I would find a white board with handwriting identification software to show formulas in a neater format. In addition, the course should have been applied to real life experiences. Students should have worked together on problem based learning models, outside figuring the height of buildings without climbing them, or figuring out how long it take gravity to act on something dropped from the top of a building etc. If the learning were to take place in a virtual setting then simulations could be found online for students to work through and save the resources in their bookmarks on their computer or a program such as Delicious.

Rich Media

Nanotechnology

The science fiction world of yesterday is happening today. Nanotechnology, for years, has been thought of as a spectacular creation of limitless possibilities. I would like a chip imbedded in my finger that would instantly know exactly what inventory I have of longboard equipment in my warehouse. The chip would read all the tags within 500 feet. It could transmit the data to an application on my PDA to keep a running total on a spread sheet, that would be of great help. The chip might chime my cellphone alarm if I am running out of a particular item and highlight every time I open the application. Right now items are scanned into inventory and are supposed to be scanned out, but things get put in the wrong place, some items are given away as promotion, some go missing for whatever reason. It would be nice to have a definitive inventory.

The Inclusive Road

The inclusive road is definitely the way of the future instructional design and technology. It seems that the world-wide web is the great equalizer for most businesses and applications. There is no discrimination when people interact relatively anonymously on the web. People and ideas are taken for what they are. Even though there are many corporations looking to profit by creating educational designs, the marketplace on the web is world-wide dictates that competition will eventually race most good ideas to zero on pricing. The “race to zero” is basically pricing that is under-cut by competition until there is no profit to be made by anyone involved. So, with that model, unless someone comes up with a unique patented design, or continually chases after emerging technologies, most likely they will eventually become obsolete. This is why staying plugged in to the technological community is so important, and why the diffusion of information that Brent Wilson speaks of is such an issue. Years ago it was easy to stay up on journals and communities because the industry was small. Now it has branched in so many directions that it is difficult to stay up on the latest trends.

The dilemma for an instructional designer is to stay relevant or perish. Certainly understanding the cycle time of a product or technology will be important, but also continually creating new and different theories and designs. From my experience in business, I know that the most talented graphic artists have a shelf life of about 5 years before they are out of ideas and become stale. The only way to continue to be current is to be a great manager. A great manager can hire quality individuals, understand their usefulness, and unfortunately, know when they are no longer useful. In today’s market place, it seems that the first person or company to come up with a great application, offer it for free, and then sell advertising time on the website will probably win out in the end. Finding that product is the key.

Section 6: Getting an IDT Position and Succeeding at It

Positions

Chapter 24 gives some excellent advice for finding a job as an Instructional Designer or manager. A brief search for “Instructional Designer” brought up pages of prospects. I condensed my search to within 100 miles of Dallas and added “entry level” to my query.

I noticed many titles such as Instructional Designer, Training Specialist, Solutions Architect, Interactive Media Designer, Sr. Leadership Training Instructor, ETL Technical Lead, Director of Training and Development and more. There were a few interesting jobs that I came across:

1.    The job called for designing, developing and maintaining instructional training materials in various formats including but not limited to instructor-led, self-paced web- based, distance-learning and computer-based technologies. The description asked to identify support requirements and equipment vendors. The description asked for the applicant to determine performance standards and training objectives. Perform task analysis to identify appropriate training resources and procedures. The job called for courses to be designed for entry level through management levels and conduct follow ups to determine how well the material worked. In addition it asked the candidate to be able to develop courses and learning interventions and integrate a variety of adult instructional techniques. It looked like an interesting job with opportunity to storyboards, job aids, scripts, & instructor led as well as self-paced materials. The job had a great deal of description and made me feel that the position was a very busy and respected job. It included assessment of instructional materials for purchase and the position was looks to for recommendations.

Some things were a little tougher. It asked for experience using Photoshop, Paintshop Pro, Flash, Lectora, Captivate, Adobe Connect, Adobe Presenter, Test Craft & Survey Monkey. Some of these programs, I have used, others I have not even heard about much less had experience using. Finally the job called for no particular supervisory experience however a minimum of 5 years' experience in Instructional Design, which I do not have.

2.    Another job I found was at Pinnacle, which is a nationwide staffing company. The job is based in Irving, Texas. The title for the position is Instructional Designer. It called for many things that I have been studying such as assessing employee training needs and performance gaps. The main role of the job is to produce training design plans to develop courses and learning interventions that utilize adult instructional techniques. The job description mentioned MS Word, Information Mapping software, model documents, basic web-based lessons and system simulations using pre-programmed templates, and synchronous learning technologies (which I am not sure what they are talking about). It also mentioned storyboards, job aids, scripts, self-paced workbooks, leader’s guides and simple on-line materials.

The job skills required were Web-based Training Expert, Instructional Design Expert, HTML / Dreamweaver Expert, Information Mapping Intermediate, Flash software Intermediate, Communications skills Expert, Project management Expert, Microsoft products Expert, SCORM/TCG Intermediate, Minimum Bachelor’s Degree. Some of which I am familiar with and some like Dreamweaver and Flash, I am yet to learn.

3.    The ASTD link was out-of-date, however, I was able to find the site and get to the http://jobs.astd.org/jobs link and find the job listings. There were a few in the area and many across the United States. I found a job listed for Bell Helicopter, a division of Textron. The job was basically consulting with employees to find performance gaps and creating training to close that gap. They used the term Individual Development Plan. The courses to be designed would be professional training courses adapting and modifying existing training courses as needed. The job would manage the production of training offerings which they mentioned as copying and assembly. It includes mentoring facets and also enrolling professionals into the Textron University Courses to fill seats. The main technological requirements were MS Office tools. It asked for 5 years of professional instruction experience but this looked like a job I might be able to walk into and perform when adding some of my 20 years of work experience in the printing and paper industries.

Self-Assessment

The self-assessment turned out pretty good. Actually I would consider it a home run. I took the employability profile based on having a master’s degree and wanting to go into education somewhere in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex with a  $45,000 starting salary. According to this site, the salary I selected was actually below average. I should expect between $48,000 and $64,000 per year and my education for the position above average because most people in education still only have a bachelor’s degree. In addition the growth rate listed between the years 2006 and 2016 for secondary education is over 32% and industry is expected to grow by 12%. Unemployment statistics in the area are better by two percentage points from the national average. The information can be found at:

http://www.careerinfonet.org/employabilitycheckup/emp_rpt.asp?matincode=611000&soccode=252031&stfips=48&educ=Z&wage=45000&rate=yr&MSA=23-019124&nodeid=15&x=27&y=11

Professional organizations

Association for Educational Communications and Technology (AECT)

Mission: The mission of the Association for Educational Communications and Technology is to provide international leadership by promoting scholarship and best practices in the creation, use, and management of technologies for effective teaching and learning in a wide range of settings.

Cost of membership: $125 per year

Publications: TechTrends for Leaders in Education and Training (6 issues a year included in membership) also publish Educational Technology Research & Development and Quarterly review of Distance Education, and several books regarding Instructional Technologies.

Conferences and meetings: 2010 AECT Fall Convention, 2011 AECT International Convention

Opportunities for professional development:  AECT_SL hosted Sessions on CAVE Island during the 2010 convention. These are virtual training sessions in the Cloud 9 Training center.

American Society for Training & Development

Mission: Through exceptional learning and performance, we create a world that works better.

Cost of membership: Individual $199 per year and Student is only $59 per year

Publications: T+D Online, a monthly. Then there is a books section and a Research section

Conferences and meetings: There are lots of conferences including ASTD TechKnowledge and the ASTD 2011 International Convention and a Telling Ain’t Training Conference

Opportunities for professional development: Lean from the Best, Sales Training Drivers Conference, There are all sorts of Educational Programs and Certificate programs including Multimedia Design, Action Learning, Advanced Designing Learning Certificate, Blended Learning Certificate, Blended Learning Certificate. There are courses available on Lectora and too many to list, really quite an array.

Professional publications:

The American Journal of Distance Education

Focus/Goals of the journal:  This journal has the mission of disseminating information about research and scholarship in the Americas. Mainly this publication is focused on utilizing the World Wide Web, on-line, e-learning, asynchronous learning and blended learning.

Submission guidelines: AJDE encourages the submission of articles about methods and techniques of teaching at a distance, about learning, and about management and administration but also encourages authors to write about policies, theories, and values that drive distance education. Articles should be based on research, although all methods and approaches to research are welcome. Authors are advised to ensure that their work is appropriately grounded in a review of existing literature. Submissions are accepted with the understanding that they will be subject to review and editorial revision and that they neither have been nor will be published elsewhere.

The Chicago Manual of Style, fifteenth edition, should be used as the guide for manuscript style, especially for quotations, references, reference lists, punctuation, style, and grammar. If the manual is not available, authors should study previous issues of AJDE. Manuscripts should be submitted electronically by e-mail as an attachment in Word format. The length should not exceed three to four thousand words, including captions, bylines, notes, and references.

All manuscripts and inquiries about articles should be sent to:

Michael Grahame Moore, Editor

The American Journal of Distance Education

College of Education

The Pennsylvania State University

E-mail: mgmoore@psu.edu

Is this a peer reviewed journal?  Yes

Is the journal online?  The journal is published in paper format, but is also available on-line as back issues.

How are the journal and organization useful to you and your career? Were you aware of the organizations/journals that you researched? 

This journal could be of great help if I decide to pursue a career in distance education. I am also interested from a standpoint of blended teaching approaches if I one day teach dual credit courses to high school students. Before reading the Reiser text, I was unfamiliar with this publication.

eLearn Magazine

Focus/Goals of the journal:  eLearn Magazine is one of the leading sources of information about online learning and training, with articles, tutorials, best practices, case studies, book reviews, and more—a wide range of information and ideas for anyone interested in technology and learning.

Submission guidelines: Pretty simple. Contact Lisa Gualtieri or Jill Duffy with a clear and well developed idea for an article (about 3 paragraphs is all we need), or submit an article as a Word document attached to an email using the format guidelines below. Please submit your article as a Word document or RTF (see the Submission Guidelines below for complete instructions).

Your article should include:

At least one suggested headline or title for the article, subject to change.

Authors' full names and affiliations.

Body of the article, with NO images.

A 3- to 4-sentence author biography with an email address and links to your web site and blog, if applicable. If you would prefer your email address not be made public, please indicate that.

Sidebars, if applicable, such as a list of links to resources or additional reading.

Is this a peer reviewed journal?  No

Is the journal online?  Yes

How are the journal and organization useful to you and your career? Were you aware of the organizations/journals that you researched?

This site looks awesome. It is free and seems to be endorsed by some reputable sources. Anyone can submit articles. They seem to make their money through advertising. There is a Blog and users can sign up for updates. This looks like a great way to stay connected to the pulse of instructional technology.

Competencies for a Performance Technologist

The performance technologist is ultimately responsible for improving an organization by educating and utilizing the human resources of the company to its fullest. So, I might put together a list of competencies that might look like this:

Ø  Improve the effectiveness and efficiency of organizations by properly utilizing the human resources within the organization

Ø  Properly identify where intervention is necessary and apply appropriate goal oriented techniques

Ø  Provide systematic approaches to solving performance issues

Ø  Understand the environment where the job and instruction take place

Ø  Uphold moral, ethical and legal approaches and practices

Ø  Protect privacy

Ø  Facilitate individual accomplishment by providing the instructional tools necessary to achieve set goals

Ø  Focus on results, bottom line, ROI

Ø  Use partnerships and collaboration as needed

Ø  Implement the solution

Ø  Assess achievement after the intervention and establish support to continue education and advancement

Ø  Evaluate the process on an individual and organizational level for effectiveness and revise as necessary

The list differs from those that appear on table 27.6 in the Reiser text. The difference is mainly in the accountability of the performance technologist to identify, intervene, implement a solution, assess, evaluate and revise. Some of these basic tenants have been discussed before in instructional designs, however, for some reason they seem to have been left out for the performance technologist. Everyone can improve, so implementing and evaluating should be repetitive in the job description.

Section 5: Trends and Issues in Various Settings

Rapid Prototyping

Rapid prototyping is a great way to speed up the instructional design process through the use of a working model. An example of this might be the development of word processing software. The designers might ask themselves some basic questions such as, Question: “What do I want to type?” Answer: “Letters, essays, short stories, poems and novels.” In the United States the standard format for these type writings is on an 8.5 x 11 sheet of paper, which will become the pallet for the model. Q: “What other functions might be needed?” A: Fonts, Bold, Underline, Colors, Page numbers etc.

Once the basic needs are established then the directives are given to the programmers to put a basic model together. Once it is together, the team of subject matter expert’s (SME’s) and instructional designers (ID’s) can begin to work with it, modifying and improving it until there is a finished product. The finished product may be completely different than the original prototype or may just be an advanced variation.

In education, there are many possibilities for “Rapid Prototyping”. One such application might be the creation of a distance learning website. The ID would talk to the SME’s on what is to be designed taking into account learning theories, the two would establish a working model. The model might be comprised of a Syllabus, Links to important resources, a method for distributing course assignments, a calendar, a way to turn in assignments, rubrics, grade tracking etc. Thumbnails of the project could be discussed with programmers and graphic artists to come up with an initial working model that could be used and utilized to assess function on an ongoing basis.

Even lesson plans could have a rapid prototype. Teachers build lesson plans and continually modify them based on what works and what does not work. If a teacher has never had a failed lesson plan they are probably not trying new things. As teachers build a lesson, they should feel that it is a prototype. Once it is in shape, they should present it to their pupils. After, they should assess the lesson for achieving the intended result and then modify the plan based on the findings.

Full Spectrum Diagram

The military presents many unique environments for instruction and education. While we might design computer simulations for use in a garrison, or volumes of instructional manuals for a classroom, the soldiers deployed in the field may not have access to these tools. Designing instructional aids across the Full Spectrum of the service men and women’s needs is vital.

Some instructions may be in the form of mini pocket books that could be easily tucked away in a uniform for reading in the field. IPods could be loaded with audio instruction. Small solar chargers could recharge hand held devices. Technology such as kindle reader could be loaded up with training information and charged from a military vehicle. Cell phones such as the iPhone could have military applications (apps) built into them for access where service is available. Communications radios could be set up with a modem for transmission of information. Depending on the level of security, all files could be encrypted.

If teaching in a classroom or garrison, the options seem limitless given budget. Finding the resources with the highest relative advantage for instructional goals is paramount. The classroom could utilize white boards, WebQuest activities, audio, video, instructional manuals, models, laboratories, and simulations.

Staff Development

To introduce staff members to the methodologies of Guidance System for Transforming Education (GSTE) and Step-Up-To-Excellence (SUTE) a one day seminar might be used.

GSTE & SUTE SEMINAR

I.              THEME: CHANGE

A.    Send out a newsletter with a photo of coins (Change)

B.    Establish the theme by asking staff to change something for the meeting (clothes, hair, nails, etc. nothing too bizarre!)

C.   Have staff enter the seminar area with David Bowie’s “Changes” looped on an audio

II.            Warm-up Presentation: Embracing Change

A.    Looping video of Erik Erikson’s Developmental Crises, photos of technological advances, plants changing with seasons, old photos contrasted with digital age imagery and evolution models.

B.    T-shirts for participants a chameleon on the front  and the slogan, “Change is a good thing!” on the back

C.   A welcome bag with a copy of the presentation, a pen (with multiple ink colors for changing ideas), and a notepad (chameleon if possible)

III.           Presentation

A.    Video testimonials of Superintendents and School officials who have implemented the two methods

B.    Video showing the types of changes implemented

C.   Break for Lunch (Theme related...Ethnic foods?)

D.   Guest speaker for GSTE or presenter

1.    White board presentation (Flip Chart of Core Values)

2.    White board presentation of the IV Phases

3.    Speech on how the changes took place in a real district and their effects

E.    Guest speaker for SUTE or presenter

1.    White board presentation of the 5 Steps

2.    Speech on how changes in a real district took place and effects

F.    Question and Answer

G.   Conclude with David Bowie’s “Changes”

University Faculty Development Offices

University of North Texas (UNT)

The University of North Texas has a button on its homepage for “Faculty and staff”. From there, under the “Human Resources Department” is a link for “Training and Development”. There are a large number of items listed in a catalog of training options. The issues range from basic employee benefits, business communication, ethics, and how to cope with change to handling difficult conversations, mentoring, project management and conflict resolution. The training list is vast; however, I was unable to find anything specifically related to pedagogy for instructors.

There are courses scheduled every month except September. A list of the 2010 training courses may be found at this link: http://www.hr.unt.edu/main/pdf/training/Training_flyer.pdf . There are between 2 and 10 courses available each month except September, so training opportunities are robust.

Southern Methodist University (SMU)

The Southern Methodist website has a button for a Faculty and Staff page. Scrolling down that page on the left side brings you to a link for SMU Human Resources. That takes you to a page with a link to the human resources home page. On the left side of the page there is a menu that includes “Recruit U”, “Develop U”, “Benefits U” and “Healthy U”. Each of these buttons will take you to various educational opportunities. The Develop U site has several workshops, short sessions and customized learning options. The actual courses for faculty are orientations, preventing sexual harassment, and benefits. There is nothing in particular on pedagogy. The seminars are geared toward resolving issues, having tough conversations, managing projects and managing other people. Courses are given monthly and may be accessed from this link: http://smu.edu/hr/develop/

Texas Christian University (TCU)

Texas Christian University has a technology button prominently on their faculty page. By clicking on the Faculty Staff button on the home page, you will land on the faculty page with several large buttons to select . Technology Resources and Human Resources are both prominently displayed. Selecting technology will take you to a page that home page and at the top there is a button for “Training”. Selecting http://www.tr.tcu.edu/training.htm  brings you to a menu for training on MS Office3, Mac OS X Leopard and Office, Self training, SharePoint User Group and Windows 7 training. In December there are 7 courses available ranging from Mail Merge to PowerPoint, and several advanced tutorials on MS Word. I was very excited to see TCU up to speed on technology issues and found the site well managed and easy to use.

Clicking on Human Resources (HR) from the Faculty page takes you to the HR homepage. At the top of that page there is a link for training. This will take you to http://www.hr.tcu.edu/515.htm .TCU offers actual developmental classes that could be helpful for pedagogy, though not directly called out as instructor courses. They offer classes on books and creating checklists, management, a just for fun section with a holiday fashion show and tasting party. There are also the more mundane benefits and crucial conversations and confrontations, but all in all, a great site with a lot of options for faculty and staff. This was the best site that I visited.

SECTION 4: Human Performance Technology

Non-Instructional Solutions

Finding non-instructional solutions for instruction is an interesting proposal. One problem that I have in my English class is vocabulary study. Currently, students are asked to write words, look them up in a dictionary, define them, understand the part of speech, spell them correctly, and use them in a sentence. Performance has been low on assessments. The students are writing the definitions and burying them in their folders never to be seen again. Then on test day each week a large percentage is failing.

Authentic methods for learning derived from constructivist theories seem to have great advantages when managed correctly.  The students need to see the real world advantages of having a good vocabulary. One non-instructional solution would be to have students work in teams. The teams would select positions such as someone to define the words, another would concentrate on the part of speech, one would work with both to come up with properly punctuated sentences, and another would be in charge of posting the sentences on a Blog. Each team in a class would then go to the blog and write comments in the form of approval or disapproval on the other team’s Blogs. Team members would be asked to participate in the critiquing of the other team’s Blogs. Assessment for this might come in the form of a discussion where students are graded on participation and accuracy in orally using the vocabulary words and discussing the parts of speech.

Electronic Performance Support Systems (EPSS)

There are many types of EPSS available for use. I have worked with several over the years. There are a variety of customer support sites where you can receive real time information. As a small business owner, I am always impressed with the United Parcel Service (UPS) system. I receive regular e-mail updates automatically when a package shipped, if there are any known difficulties and can even track packages to find out where they are at a particular time. I know that their internal system is fantastic as well from talking to representatives on the phone when I had issues. The amount of information available to them is incredible.

When I worked in the printing industry, we had a network program that gave employees real time updates. We could manage our client’s inventory in one section, check shipments in another, and schedule jobs to be printed in another. The same system was used by estimators to create client quotes, by customer service to track projects, and functions for management to see how much time and money was being spent on each project. The business managers could print real time reports about the fiscal operation of the company and information in manager’s meetings had meaningful statistics.

More automated systems are being put into place every day. The main issue that companies have with EPSS is the expense. Especially in a down economy, however, the evolution of these systems should increase because of increased productivity. I am familiar with many graphic arts programs. Illustrator and other programs traditionally have not had a built in tutorial. It was very possible for programmers and designers to build in fail safes that might ask the user if they really want to perform a certain action, or a window might pop up warning the user that there might be an overlapping design flaw that would prevent printing properly. The tutorials were not built into the original software because of the expense. Now there are other companies who have created “Preflight” programs that check the work after the fact to make sure it is compatible with the printing process. It makes sense to me that eventually the two programs would be combined into one. I believe there are many redundancies in the business world that could be corrected with electronic performance support systems.

Knowledge Management (KM)

As a high school English teacher, I see KM in place in a variety of areas from the school management, to the library, to our curriculum C-Scope. The schools management uses a program for keeping attendance and real time student grades and behavior issues. The library keeps a database of books, articles and media available for students and faculty. C-Scope contains a growing database of lesson plans and gives a solid outline for each core curriculum class.

One problem that might be solved with a blended approach would be to have a student database. This would be a searchable on-line repository for the specific subjects offered in the school. If a student was having trouble in grammar, they could go to the English tab, select their grade level, and the topic covered. Once on the correct topic they might receive tutorials in the form of audio or video instruction. Students and teachers could upload their individual examples and trade ideas that worked for them. An incentive could be used to create an environment for students to use the KM solution.

Informal Learning

Some people are natural leaders. I call them teachers. The best boss I have ever had gave freely of his knowledge. He loved his work and it was infectious. He treated everyone as if they already knew everything that he might say. He built people up to new heights. He was an exceptional leader.

The methods he used to teach were natural. Because he loved his work, he would find examples of great work, and it did not matter whether it was from his company or a competitor. Once he had the example in hand he would show it to anyone who would listen; explaining the minutia of why it was such a great example. All the while he would keep saying things like “isn’t this great?”, “I think it is terrific that you have the ability to see this fine specimen for what it is.” He would always put people on his level, and through discussion he would break down complex ideas into the most basic terms, where when you walked away from a discussion, you actually did understand the concepts as well as he did.

I always wanted to be like this mentor. Many people are afraid of letting go of their knowledge for fear they might be replaced or lose their relevance. Sometimes it takes a person at the top of the pyramid to give so freely of information. It takes fearlessness to give someone else all that you have.