10 posts tagged “ict enhanced learning and teaching”

Yesterday, Monday 31st August, Diana, Ed, Trisha and I made our way over to the Sports' Department building and having located important things (like the kitchen to make tea) we set about re-arranging the furniture so that everyone would be able to sit around the table and share laptops between them. We promptly fired up the laptops, opened the browser and the Ning that had been set up specifically for Sports. Several people had already added their profiles and a sense of community was being built by the addition of photographs from.

Diana artfully facilitated the session as I typed notes like a mad woman and fielded the occasional request for technical assistance. The session started with introductions and each person chose a category off the board which they had to describe (around assessment, evaluation, and design etc). The activity encouraged a lot of engagement, with a healthy mix of competition, encouragement and humour.

After an overview of some of Fink's ideas, Diana encouraged everyone to login to Mindmeister and start putting together the key aspects of a Level 5 course. There were some of the 'so what do we do? ' questions, but then everyone got up to speed. Someone commented that they were chuffed that we were using the same software that was used to create some of the earlier graphics that Diana had used. There was a continual buzz and exchange of ideas, with everyone on task and engaged - in fact everyone was so involved that Diana had to work hard to get everyone back into focus.

Diana wrapped up by giving everyone a quick tour of some of the key resources in the Ning and encouraged people to go and have a look at some of these resources, thereby modelling some of the uses of the Ning.  She in particular introduced reflective evaluation, introducing the blogs and targeted feedback, and described what the participants were going to do as 'homework' before the next session.

All in all there was a great mixture of fun, inquisitiveness, and professionalism, which Diana worked to encourage. Roll on the next session which is on 22nd September.

Design & open spaces

Just wanted to jot a couple of thoughts down in response to this podcast "Teaching outside the limits of space and time" which I listened to while running along the waterfront in Auckland a couple of days ago. The podcast features the EdTech Posse who pretty regularly have entertaining discussions around a whole heap of aspects of ICT enhanced learning and teaching. (They have a laid-back, pretty unstructured approach, sometimes featuring pub-settings, and often with guest appearances by the dogs...you just have to listen :-) )

In this particular podcast a lot of what they were saying hit a note of accord and I found myself grinning like an idiot (not a good look at the best of times). Some of the key topics they covered were designing programmes and what (if any) is the optimum duration for a course for effective learning, and aligning assessment (types as well as content with course design) - i.e. if you have a course that encourages open learning, then more traditional forms of assessment are unlikely to measure the effectiveness of the learning that has taken place. They also mulled over the importance of building learning networks, but that these too need time to develop, and that it is hopeless to try to force a community to develop. The final point was about podcasting - taking offline conversations and putting them online...but in a forum where futher discussion from disparate voices from around the globe is encouraged.

I did think there were a couple of points I'd like to add into the mix. For example, when they discussed the optimum length of a course, one aspect that I don't think was mentioned directly was motivation (extrinsic or intrinsic), although there was discussion about how interest in a subject can shape the learning experience (irrespective of duration). Alongside this factor is the notion of whether a learner is 'ready'...if they have developed the necessary cognitive framework that can be built upon with this next set of thinking and/or skills. If the learner is in just the right spot then an hour may be all it takes to turn the tide; something that just falls into place that makes sense of everything else. I think that this may be the case irrespective of whether it's a content based or process based course.

The other thing that really struck my imagination was the embedding of one discipline with in another that really 'smokes the tyres' of the learner. The example was the art class with embedded math. Awesome. We did something similar (but not as sophisticated) at Dubai Men's College where we had a project-based ICT enhanced blended-learning programme over 40 weeks. Math, English, academic literacies, ICT literacies, and Arabic were all integrated into the incremental, experiential learning course. Students would gradually produce one artefact over 10 weeks, building cumulatively another 'bit' each week, and the focus was very much on the process - the learning journey - rather than the end product.

I reckon I've drivelled on for long enough. I'd highly recommend the podcasts as thought-provoking and entertaining.

Sometimes wondered what all the fuss is about multimedia? Pondered how to express a gnarly concept? For me the answer is illustrated by this animated video "Democracy is..." (bu Lucas Szozda). It is, in my opinion, beautifully eloquent and yet hauntingly simple.

This video is an extract from a workshop that was facilitated by Diana Ayling and Hazel Owen with the Business Department at Unitec NZ. The workshop was part of an initiative initiated by the Business Department to revisit the programmes that they offer students, and the learning experience. Formal and informal sessions focussed on aspects such as:

• Course design and lesson planning
• Facilitation of learning
• Assessmenta
• Evaluating teaching and learning

A sense of the dynamic discussions that have been ongoing is captured, as well as a feelings of excitement, seeing potential, anxiety, and concerns around pragmatic issues.

The extract features discussion around the results of the ICTELT survey that participants had completed before the session, as well as dialogue around blended learning in general, and what a course that uses the ICTELT design mindmap as a foundation may feature.

(If you would like to find out more about the work that underpins some of the workshop and the ICTELT mindmap, please feel free to visit the ICT Enhanced Learning and Teaching wiki.

I'd like to recommend a short article that gives an brief overview of a US university that has created a free application specifically for its students' iPhones and Blackberries. The application gives students access to information about courses, faculty, and sport, as well as having an interactive campus map. One neat feature is the ability for students to directly text or email the faculty who facilitate their courses.

College creates iPhone application for its students

Posted using ShareThis

If you are involved in any sort of academic support or, on the other hand, are a faculty member who is working at an institution where new technologies are becoming a focus, you may well find this podcast created by Gerry Bayne (EDUCAUSE) on April 15, 2009, of interest.

One of the key points made is that it is all about the learning and teaching, and very little to do with the tools. The blurb on the site advises: "In this forty-two minute podcast we feature a conversation from the ELI 2009 Annual Meeting. Participants in our lively roundtable discuss their experiences with introducing new technology to faculty, approaches to digital literacy, and ways to think about teaching with (or without) technology". Sometimes thought provoking, and well worth a listen:

ELI In Conversation: Introducing New Technology to Faculty

Access the Mp3 file by clicking here.

May 4th dawned sunny and cold - an auspicious start to a day when Vickel and I facilitated our first Turnitin workshop with faculty from the Department of Landscape Architecture. Little did we realise - we had checked the room out the Thursday beforehand but Gremlins appear to have been mucking around with the projector... The fun began. We set everything up, only to find that the projector would not work with either my laptop or the desktop. Fifteen minutes later and everyone was getting restless (six of the participants having arrived). We decided to go for plan B and wing it. We logged everyone into computers (some of which were not working - and we didn't have the passwords for the Macs), got them into the Turnitin Moodle course and into their Moodle blogs.

The definition of plagiarism was not tough, and most people came up with something, and checked each other's blogs out - which seemed to go down reasonably well. However, as there was no screen,

and it was difficult to summarise and segue into the next topic area - avoidance of plagiarism. Same thing - participants looked at the task, popped their ideas into Moodle. Shared, and I showed them where to look at the resources. I need to think of a way to celebrate their knowledge of plagiarism, and tie the session closer to Turnitin...any ideas? :-)

Next everyone watch the Sky News video around the student who sued for having his work put into Turnitin. This led to the most animated discussion so far, and we talked about the ethos of creativity, ownership and sharing. Some of the issues identified led into Vickel's practical bit that followed.

Everyone set up a TII account for themselves, created a course and set up an assignment. Unexpected 'learning' bonuses came with some of the experiences from hands on tasks. It was great to have two facilitators as one of us was able to help participants who were facing problems, while the other continued with the session.

All in all, not too bad a session all things considered. We got some great feedback about the session itself, and what we can do differently next time we offer it.

Moral of the story - always take a portable projector with you :-)

A few days ago I was out running and listening to podcasts, one of which was by Sarah Robbins-Bell entitled "Social Media and Education: The Conflict Between Technology and Institutional Education, and the Future" (which can also be watched as a streaming video). I was very impressed with the accessible way that she described the potential of Web 2.0 and social media with learners, and the potential of these types of ICT to enhance teaching.

She emphasises the role tertiary education in helping students develop critical literacy skills to enable them to evaluate and analyse the resources and information that they locate, and the knowledge creation that they become involved in. Key concepts that she mentions are active participation and collaboration, especially in blended sessions...if the students are on Facebook instead of participating in a session it is to do with the design and facilitation of the session...not, necessarily, the learner.

The Educause site provides the following summary of the session: "Today's technology enables users to form and join communities of common interest to learn and share information. In opposition to the privileged learning spaces of higher education, social media encourage learners to seek out their own answers and construct knowledge as a community rather than as individuals. Twitter, Flickr, Facebook, and Second Life offer new learning spaces, but how do they fit into the learning expectations of institutions?"

Well put together (although quite long :-) this is a great Slideshare presentation tailored to ESL learners and teachers. It has some superb ideas of how Web 2.0 tools might be used in language learning, as well as links to example tools. For key concepts that need further exploration and explanation Thiago Eduardo (the creator of the presentation) has included links to You Tube and other resources that give clear, accessible overviews.

Crocuses_thmb

I found it a little odd, but incredibly inspirational, to find that communicating through Web 2.0 was actually helping folk in rural communities, especially those working in agriculture, share and improve their practices.

The full report can be downloaded from the IAALD blog ( http://tiny.cc/aNGS ) and covers issues such as literacy and connectivity, as well as describing the results from specific case studies.

Peter Ballantyne (the IAALD President) concludes:
"Where information and knowledge in agriculture once comprised rather linear processes managed by specialists, tomorrow’s harvests will spring from more organic approaches where innovators of all types become active creators and managers of information and knowledge. This is already happening as researchers and farmers become bloggers, extension workers build wikis, and librarians become film makers. Underlying it all, the new ‘social’ Web 2.0 acts as a catalyst for people to interact, for knowledge sharing and communication to flourish and for innovators to connect and act together." (p. 19, The Participatory Web -
New Potentials of ICT in Rural Areas)

Well worth a read if you are interested in ICT enhanced learning and teaching, literacy, the potential of Web 2.0, or anything to do with climate change and sustainability.