Gary Meers, Ed.D.

About me

I am an Education Advisor/Consultant for MaxKnowledge. I write courses that assist in the professional development of career college instructors. These courses range in content from the introductory level to advanced instructional development. I started my teaching career as an instructional technology teacher on the high school level, completed graduate school and then moved into higher education. I spent many years in the area of teacher training at the University of Nebraska. While at the University of Nebraska I stared working with career college instructors to improve their instructional delivery skills. As a result of these experiences I have been a consultant to career colleges throughout the United States and a number of foreign countries.

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Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Discussion Comment

Understanding learner characteristics...

Hi John, Good thoughts about how to work through the syllabus. By keeping students focused on the course requirements and reducing confusion learning can progress at a much quicker rate. Gary

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Discussion Comment

Understanding learner characteristics...

Hi John, Thanks for those words of inspiration. We, instructors do get tired and beat down with all that we do but with attitudes like yours we can bounce back and remember why we are teachers in the first place. Teaching is a great profession even with some of the challenges we face. Gary

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Discussion Comment

Matching Content to Need

Hi Maria, You are doing a great job of personalizing your instruction to meet the individual needs of your students. No matter what field they are in they can find some application to themselves. Keep up the good work. Gary

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Discussion Comment

The Learning Environment Effect

Hi Monica, Great idea with your posting of "office hours" for your students. It is a comfort to students to know that for a set period of time they have an instructor available to them to bring up any concerns, questions or comments they want to address directly. Gary

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Discussion Comment

The Learning Environment Effect

Hi Brian, The hardest part I think as an instructor is keeping up with how best to integrate technology into my classroom for maximum learning to occur. The first introduction of technology has a bit of "shock and aw" to it and then the newness wears off and I have to make sure using it is really helping my students learner more effectively. You make a very good point about the use of technology. Gary

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Discussion Comment

Clarifying Your Expectations To Students

Hi Maria, The signed copy of the addendum is a good idea. This is getting to be a common practice in career colleges. This protects both the instructor and the students. This "contract" can be a source of reference and documentation should a problem ever come up. Gary

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Discussion Comment

Clarifying Your Expectations To Students

Hi Heather, Thank you for sharing how you start a new online course. What are some examples of the "ice breakers" that work to help get online students comfortable in the course? Gary

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Discussion Comment

Motivation techniques...

Hi Robert, Quick feedback really helps to keep the students focused on the course. By knowing both the good and needs improvement areas right after a project or quiz the students know how to proceed with their learning efforts. Gary

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Discussion Comment

Motivation techniques...

Hi Gabriel, I commend you for your understanding of how learning works when teaching lecture based subjects. They can be dull. I experienced this over and over again as I made my way through the educational system. These subjects don't need to be as evidenced by your forum comments. There are many different activities that can be incorporated into the delivery to keep them from becoming boring. This is the only way that the students are going to be engaged in the learning process. Keep up the good and interesting work. Gary

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Discussion Comment

Matching Content to Need

Hi Catherine, I bet your students really like to do this. This gives them a chance to have input plus bring relevant topics to the classroom. Gary

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