Learning Things

G’day! My name is Chuck Bagley.  I am one of the Instructional Designers for Granite State College’s online courses and a member of the faculty.  I feel I am very fortunate because I really dig going to work.  Why do I dig it?  I get to work with excellent faculty, bright and inquisitive learners and remarkably dedicated and expert staff.  As if working with great people isn’t enough to get me out of bed in the morning, the field I work in is constantly changing with new innovations and discoveries.  Seldom does a week (sometimes a day) has gone by without a new learning technology or application to explore. 

I have always had a passion for learning though (as Winston Churchill once said) I don’t always like being taught.  I have experienced some real train wrecks in the education world particularly in public school, as an undergraduate learner and, unfortunately, more than a few vocational workshops.  Therefore, I enjoy trying to figure out the best way to get good learning between the ears of a learner.  As Barry Sheckley from the Neag School of Education at the University of Connecticut puts it, “Adult learning is about creating or re-creating experience.” That has become my mantra and my goal when designing learning.
 
I have a Master of Education in Adult Learning and Development from Plymouth State University (PSU) and I am working on a Certificate of Advanced Graduate Study (CAGS) in the Neurodevelopmental Approach to Learning at PSU. I am also a certified fitness trainer as well as an avid skier, cyclist, runner (plodder more like it) and hiker.  I used to row crew and ski biathlon (cross country skiing and rifle shooting) years ago.  As a result of this experience I developed some pretty good strategies that enhance optimum performance for either competitive or non-competitive applications. These seem to fit in with the whole adult learning “thing” and enhancing motivation to learn.  Keywords: Adult and Continuing Education, Adult Education and Training, Adult Online Classes, Education and Career Advancement, Online Classes for Adults, New Hampshire University System