On day 2 I presented the investigation of creativity within our MSc ePortfolios, see the presentation on slideshare. This was really well received and I got lots of questions from the audience including from action researcher Jack Whitehead and DCU careers advisor Denise McMorrow. A lot of interest in ePortfolios!
Ciaran Mc Cormack of IADT and the Creative director of FIS, gave a magical keynote and spoke about the FIS Book Club, a place where children create a video book review based on their independent reading. According to Ciaran the success factors of digital video are: curriculum integration, ownership by the teacher, facilitation, leadership from top & bottom.
Professor Michael Wesch, an anthropologist at Kansas State University gave a keynote exploring the effects of new media on society and culture. His video ‘A Vision of Students Today’ went viral on the web in 2007 showing how today’s students learn and the impacts that social media is having on learning.
I just attended Diverse 2011 (Developing Innovative Visual Educational Resources For Students Everywhere). This was a really terrific conference with a main aim of enhancing the use of visual media in teaching, learning and creative inquiry.
I found the conference hugely energising and creative and I am inspired with new ideas in relation to teaching here at DIT and ideas for projects. The conference exposed creativity in diverse forms, the 5 senses were engaged at every opportunity through mediums of music, singing, art work and music.
Funky balloon sculpture of a doll
DCU’s VP for learning innovation Richard Kennedy welcomed all delegates to the conference and from there a range of interesting and engaging presentations from keynotes and practitioners were facilitated.
Roy Pea mentioned 360 degree panoramic cameras within his keynote which are ideal for teacher education and useful tools to enable teacher reflection. The iPhone enabled Kogeto is coming out later this summer and would be ideal for microteaching sessions we facilitate on our Postgrad Diploma programme.
Theo Lynn from DCU explored ‘what does your digital footprint say about you?’ and provided interesting websites so that we could self-monitor our own online brands. webmii.com is a search tool that show you how the web sees you, similar to performing a ‘google search’ of yourself on the web, but better http://klout.com/home and http://www.peerindex.net/ both measure your online influence.
Interestingly this tool ‘The Museum of Me’ from Intel is like a automatic portfolio development tool, it integrates with Facebook and shows you the story of your life using Facebook data
Theo also showed this video of Abbey, a 4 year old digital native – I am a digital native and I want it now!
Last Friday 14th (also my birthday!) I attended BETT 2011 (British Educational Training and Technology Show) in Kensington Olympia, London.
After a whole and very intense day at BETT I was really shattered, but also very excited having experienced at first hand some of the latest in technology for learning. BETT is really a wonderland for learning technologists and would recommend it for all educational gadget enthusiasts!
I had been warned in advance that BETT is colossal event, so on first arrival I investigated the map of the arena and planned my main targets for the day. I focussed on meeting Turningpoint technologies (DIT clicker/classroom response systems); SMART technologies (to try out the latest in SMARTboards); and Microsoft (to hear fellow tweeter @chickensaltash present about free Microsoft tools he uses for learning at school).
Meeting with Turningpoint technologies was really useful, particularly as we are starting the DIT Enhancement of learning with classroom response systems (clickers) project. I took advantage of an offer for one to-one training from Michael Jones on the Turningpoint stand. It was really beneficial to ask specific questions and discuss aspects of Turningpoint relating to various question styles that Turningpoint offers. These included Priority ranking, Comparative links and Tracking demographics. Another useful feature I discovered was the creation of automatic participant lists, these tips will be really useful when I am working with DIT lecturers.
I also got to try the Smartphone app for Turningpoint, which can be installed on Android and iPhone. In time the app is forecast to replace the clicker devices. However the app option is still quite expensive. I was also quite lucky at the Turningpoint stand as I won an iTunes voucher! And did an interview on how DIT are using Turningpoint clickers for enhancement of learning.
The next generation of SMARTboards from SMART technologies are really impressive, I was absolutely fascinated by the 3D-ready SMARTboard which was demonstrated for a geography lesson. It simulated what an aerial view of the earth looked like, and focussing in on landmasses, oceans and mountains it was amazing to see the topography of the landscape below. Just like being on a simulated flight looking below at the earth really.
Some things that SMARTboards have improved on is the SMART touch, which is enhanced touch recognition (similar to the zoom option on an iPhone), this can be switched on by upgrading the SMART tech software. Also I saw a Maths Add-on tool which can be downloaded as a 30 day trial, this would be really useful for any maths/sciences lecturers in DIT.
The Microsoft seminar facilitated by Dan Roberts saltash.net (@chickensaltash), a deputy-head teacher and also learning technology fan introduced some Microsoft free classroom innovations.
The Flashcardstool sounded like a useful tool for language teachers. It generates Flashcard quizzes which could be useful for learning vocabulary.
The Maths Add-in for Word and OneNote could be valuable for maths teachers/lecturers. This tools enables equations to be visualised as graphs. This could be useful for physics or engineering subjects, where students can compare equations to the visualisation in the graph
Microsoft have their own clicker/classroom response system designed using the mouse device. ‘Mouse Mischief’ integrates into Microsoft PowerPoint allowing questions, polls, and drawing activity.
Partners in Learning is a professional development support network for teachers. This network advertises free events and demonstrates examples of best practice for technology in learning. Also for teachers Microsoft publish a Blog with suggested classroom innovations
I was really delighted to attend BETT 2011. It is a vast exhibition of almost all the suppliers of technology for the education sector. I would recommend it as an opportunity to experience and try-out the latest technology first-hand. It is also a good chance for networking and if you are strategic enough you can avail of free-training!
Using http://www.splicd.com/ to slice up a YouTube video Yesterday I slipped on the ice and I was reminded of that scene from Home Alone 2, where the 2 bad guys slip on marbles and end up two feet in the air!
I did a search on YouTube, found the movie clip (9 minutes long) and then used http://www.splicd.com/ to chop out parts of the clip that I wanted.
See from minute 3.33-3,38 on this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iPJ-Jp8t1RU
To cut out this small clip video, go to http://www.splicd.com/
Insert the full URL(web address) and input the start and finish seconds of the clip you would want.
So based on student feedback I need to change how the Mahara ePortfolio is introduced to the MSc Applied Elearning students. It has only dawned on me that my method of teaching this was putting emphasis on the technology before the pedagogy. I had introduced the Mahara technology without really devising an activity to get the students to form understanding of what a portfolio consists of.
So based on this next time I will do the following: Portfolio introduction
1. Discuss what a portfolio is (collection of learning evidence/artefacts) Collecting evidence/artefacts
2. Get the student to write about ‘hopes, fears motivations’ in a word file (as an artefact) which they can later copy/paste into ePortfolio.
3. Give the students activity of writing up of part of their ‘elearning philosophy’ independently after class. Also ask them to look for images/files/videos of interest for their ePortfolio. They can bring these to the Mahara technology tutorial to upload into the ePortfolio system.
4. At the Mahara technology tutorial (students can upload their previous pieces of writing).
a. First get students to create blog for ‘elearning philosophy’ (copy paste previous written piece here).
b. Create blog for ‘hopes fears motivations’ (copy paste previous written piece here).
c. Create blog for ‘ongoing/continuing learning’ for the module. First entry on this can be ‘learning so far’. This blog can provide ongoing reflections during the programme Views
5. Then create the View entitled ‘MSc Applied eLearning Introduction’, add 3 blogs(above) to this view
6. Then ‘Edit view access’. Add viewing access to MSc student group or public
Professor Michael Prosser’s (University of Hong Kong) seminar on ‘research on student learning in higher education’ described key variations in the way students approach their studies in higher education, how those approaches relate to teaching and learning contexts and perception of those contexts, and to student learning outcomes. His viewpoint of student centered learning is based on understanding the student perspective and their perception of context of the learning.
Michael spoke about the innate differences between students culturally; these factors influence motivations at higher education. As educators we need to be aware of the diversity of our students. Also the surface and deep approaches taken by students towards their learning is situationally related. Michael gave the example of teaching physics to engineers, if the student engineers can see a direct application of the need for physics in engineering then their motivation is increased.
The importance of reflection within teaching is vital; he stated that “The search for the best way of teaching is a wasteful task”. Teaching and learning strategies that work well should be constantly reflected upon, and continuous enhancements made for the future. His method for developing learning outcomes is based on the following questions:
1. What do I want the student to learn?
2. What activities should the student do in order to learn?
3. Have the students learned (did this strategy/activity work?)
4. To what standard did the students learn from the activity?
This triggered me to reflect on the module Instructional Design and eAuthoring again. What do I want the students to learn – (how to design and develop learning objects). What activities they will undertake to achieve this (group work, team building exercises, design and planning workshops, development [HTML, rapid elearning development etc]). To find out if students are learning will require constant feedback and communication from and with the students to gauge if the learning strategies and activities are working.
Last week I attended NAIRTL / LIN Annual Conference held at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI). Over 300 people attended and I early benefited from this conference as many of the presentations were fresh topics to me. All speakers presented on learning and teaching enhancements that they were investigating at their institutions. Martina Crehan and I were lucky to be chosen to present on how we have “Integrated reflective practice through the use of blog technology for professional development of teaching staff in higher education”. Martina coordinates the Post Graduate Diploma in Third Level Learning & Teaching and quite often it is a challenge for students to begin writing as a means to enhance reflective practice. Martina and I thought that blogs could be the ideal way of providing support for students to develop reflective practice. Blogs were piloted with students from February until June 2010. The findings were quite positive, the students enjoyed writing reflections in their blogs and felt that it contributed to their practice of reflective writing.
Based on the findings the blogs will now be made mandatory for all future students of the Post Graduate Diploma in Third Level Learning & Teaching.
The Peer Assisted Learning (PAL) workshop organised jointly by Athlone Institute of Technology and Galway Mayo Institute of Technology was very useful. This workshop featured role-play, the presenters took on the role of PAL tutors and the participants played the role of the first year students. It was a novel way of experiencing PAL from the first year student perspective.
I was delighted with the Technology Enhanced Learning stream and gathered lots of information. Etain Kiely (IT Sligo) investigated emerging technologies and showed how Dropbox, Googledocs, Sciplore (mind mapping package that identifies and tags files within a folder on your computer, then it links docs together) and Livescribe can all be used for learning and research.
This week Dr John Dallat, the Head of Learning and Teaching at DKIT facilitated a workshop on “Supervising Students at Master’s Level”. The workshop explored common issues that arise when supervising students. We discussed ‘what good research is’, ‘what makes an appropriate literature review’ and ‘30 common weakness found in research theses’. I found the workshop beneficial in thinking about the support we provide to students during the 2nd year of the MSc in Applied eLearning. Traditionally supervisor-student time is one-to-one, but increasingly the same issues arise with many students, so we are going to try one of John’s suggestions for group supervisory sessions with ‘sets’ of students. This should also keep up the peer-learning and communication among the students about their projects on the MSc. His 30 common weaknesses discussion investigated faults that regularly occur in areas of the introduction, main body and conclusion. To help potential pitfalls we should encourage: Simple and clear language to express the intention of the thesis, explanation of how theses or project is structured. Clear connections between sections of a thesis/project write –up. Critically analysing literature (not describing), use of up-to-date resources. Clear explanation of a methodology used. In the conclusion the research needs to be restated, limitations of the research stated (time due to deadline of the project seem obvious) , needs for recommendations. These are just some of the workshop recommendations, and Roisin and I will be embedding these into our sessions with the 2nd year students of the MSC
(Thanks to Doug Belshaw for this idea, he publishes weekly blog posts on what he has learned) Be prepared ……well in advance
Always test software and hardware at least a day ahead of a workshop! I started organising the clicker information workshop for librarians on the morning of the Library Annual Information Seminar. My laptop has a newly installed version of Office 2007 and when I used Turningpoint clicker software with it was unbelievably slow. The previous version of PPT was fine, but now when I use the Turningpoint tool with it, it grinds to a halt. Anyway it is an issue noted by Turningpoint (http://www.turning-talk.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=174&start=10 ) Iwill uninstall , reinstall, and try again, fingers crossed. Marking and Feedback
This week I marked some portfolios for a range of programmes here at the LTTC. I am learning more and more that writing and channelling constructive feedback to students is challenging. Thinking and reflecting past first impressions is very important and taking a whole view of student work is vital. However this might be in direct opposition to modularisation which promotes each module as a discrete learning entity. ALT-C 2010
This week I listened to some ALT-C activities remotely (via twitter and blog posts). There seemed to be hullabaloo about Donald Clarke’s Keynote, regarding the Lecture, although more people were criticising his use of language rather than the content of his argument.
I enjoyed reading “The student is mobile”, an analysis of student use of mobile phones as part of their learning. Results show that students are not carrying their laptops around with them, instead they use mobiles as storage device and students were using their phones to take advantage of dead time, such as travelling to work. This is just-in-time information for us at the LTTC, as we are developing workshops on mobile learning.
