Teaching Massage

Since I'm on a roll discussing the process of teaching, I wanted to talk about how excited I am about ABMP's new "Teaching Massage" book and class. I've taught martial arts and I've taught massage therapy for almost 5 years now, but this is the first time I've such a great resource for the art of teaching massage.

About the Book

I will say that I haven't read the entire book yet, but I have read the first few chapters and had time to browse through the rest with some depth. The book is authored by some of the major players in massage education over the years and was written collaboratively. Even just a glance through the table of contents is enough to get a massage teacher excited. It is packed with information about different learning and teaching styles, classroom management, learning theory, instructional methods, adult learners and special needs, lesson design and planning, and tips from the experts on how they teach certain subjects like pathology or ethics.

Why It Is Needed

I don't know about any of you massage teachers reading this, but when I started teaching I was thrown to the wolves. I'd never had any formal education or training in education itself. All I had was my natural talent for teaching. I'm told that I am a good teacher by people who have had the training, but that doesn't mean that I have a solid theory or system to what I do. I'm still, 5 years later, feeling my way through the process. This book (and course) is a Godsend for the massage instructors who experienced the same thing I did - which I am sure is most of us.

Unfortunately, it is often assumed that if you are good at what you do, you will also be good at teaching it to others. I have known brilliant practitioners that simply fall apart in the classroom because it requires a completely different set of skills. Instead of being the authority on where people go for the answers, as a teacher you have to set the stage for the students to discover them and be able to apply them - a very different prospect.

Because there also seems to be a fairly high turnover in the teaching of massage as well, I think it is fantastic that there is now a resource in which a massage teacher can get a foundation in instructional methodology and be better prepared to hit the ground running.

Why so expensive? It actually is sold as part of a 20CEU class, so at a little over $150 (or around $121 through amazon) it's well worth it.

I'll keep posting as I work my way through the book. Until next time...

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Hybrid Education in Massage Therapy

Right now, we’re standing on the cusp of a new era in education. With the advent of Learning Management System Software (LMS), there is a lot more power at the fingertips of teachers in delivering course material. Some material works fantastically well in an online environment delivered via LMS. Courses that are heavy in theory, reading, or lecture work very well. Of course, massage therapy does require a substantial hands-on component so online delivery isn’t a complete option for most courses. A hybrid model is to combine part in-class training with part online. This solution is ideal for massage therapy because the online component can replace or reinforce the lecture components of a class, leaving potentially more hands on time with the teacher.

What can LMS Software do?

An LMS is a system for the delivery, tracking, and management of training (wikipedia). It can include everything from online test-taking, grade-reporting, lecture & powerpoint components, video and multimedia presentations, online forums and class discussions, wiki’s, and more. One of the advantages is that the LMS can be either a guided, structured process or more free-form and self-paced.

I've been interested in using LMS ever since I found out it existed in a few online classes I’ve taken and trainings at work. As a teacher, I’m always looking for better ways to implement learning objectives. Technology isn’t always better, but it is a tool. Most of the students I see in the classroom are increasingly tech-savvy (text messaging anyone?), so moving some of the learning online isn’t that much of a leap. The added bonus is that after some work to set it up, some of the process is automated.

I’m planning on bringing LMS into my classroom in stages and I’ll keep you posted here about how the implementation is working. The first step is to take the testing online. LMS software includes the ability to import/create a testbank and administer the tests online. The nice thing about it is that the test is automatically scored and their grade entered in the LMS. Our program is spending too much time on tests and retests and grading and I’m hoping that after the initial testbank entry that this process will be much more streamlined.

As a parent, my daughter’s middle school just implemented an LMS called School Loop. It’s great to be able to log on and see your childs progress any time you like and check how they’re doing. She’s on there every day making sure she’s completed all her assignments. It’s great. So much for the old “I forgot my assignment at school” excuse.

What Are The LMS Options?

There are quite a few options out there, from the very expensive to the free. Commercial vendors include Blackboard, eCollege, and others. The two big free players are Moodle and the Sakai Project; both are open-source and have similar functionality. I have chosen Moodle, primarily because there is a larger user base and to the uninitiated I thought Moodle seemed easier to get into. I’m not a big advocate for one or the other, but from here on out I’ll be talking about Moodle, since that is what I’m using. Here is a good place to take a look at some of the eLearning options.

Hosting

Once you decide on your LMS, you’ll need to host it. There are packages that you can download to host a server on your own, but I elected to go with a free (ad-supported) off-site server called NineHub, but there are other free hosting solutions available. If you choose to go commercial, you’ll probably want to set up a vendor-hosted solution that can provide enterprise support. Setting up NineHub was a breeze though and I was off and running.

A Sample Test

Once I got into the system, it took a couple of hours to learn my way around. Give yourself some time to get acquainted, especially if you aren’t at all familiar with the online classroom environment. You can get some help from a downloadable guide from Moodle. In short order I was able to figure out how to import some of the questions from an existing testbank and set up a small quiz. It worked! Based on that test, I’ve decided that we will try a pilot test in a few weeks in an actual class to see how it goes. We’ll gauge student response and see if it has the desired results in reducing teacher overhead. I’ll let you know how it goes.

Closing Thoughts

I’ve been in classes using online learning before and can definitely see the potential. I’m excited to try some of these solutions in my class now. As learning continues to evolve, as teachers we need to use the best tools available to ensure the best learning. While technology can’t guarantee more effective learning, it has a place, and in it’s place it excels over anything that has come before.

You can read more about eLearning here and here.

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