Introduction to Reflection

November 2, 2009 at 11:34 pm (1st Year Experience, PG-Cert, Student Support, learning)
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Although I had always planned to host a session on reflection and how it could be recorded using Mahara, it was evident that from my last class that a significant number of students required more work to be done in this area. Feedback from the students, both formal (online CIQ) and informally relayed a range of concerns over this issue. Questions raised by the students were:

  • Whether reflections were personal or public?
  • Difficulties with reflecting for the first time i.e. Where to start?
  • How will it benefit their education?
  • How will it benefit their career?
  • How does reflection ‘marry’ with their ePortfolio work?

I had already designed several solutions to the above questions, specifically those that related to Mahara. The student feedback confirmed that theses solutions were valid, however some of the questions raised weren’t addressed in the original design. A major re-write was required. It was also an ideal opportunity for me to show that the students that their input into the evaluation process, was as much for them as it was for me. Within a week, their comments had been acted on and their learning needs were being addressed. I emphasised this during my introduction to the session.

50% of the students had completed their assignment, set last week. As a result, those who did, received formative feedback and went on to to submit more evidence and reflections. There was a flurry of activity on Tuesday evening on Mahara, as students left the work to the last minute, forgoing the benefits of timely feedback. It was also evident that, in a lot of cases, the assignment wasn’t completed solely because of student apathy. There were those who were struggling with the technology itself. The pace at which we went through the Introduction to Mahara session did not suit every student and as a result they struggled to keep up. The CIQ clearly supported this. As a result I have rewritten the next session to allow the students more time to explore the software, with myself in passive attendance, in order to support them if required. I had originally attended the session to be solely on how to gather digital evidence and upload it into Mahara, outlining several techniques e.g. screen capture, online file conversion, hyperlinking etc… I will produce an online resource to cover these aspects and present it on Mahara for the students to use.

I had been disappointed by the initial student response to the CIQ I had posted last session. In order to address this lack of evaluation (though the little I did receive was enough for me to redesign a large portion of the reflection session) I asked each student to fill the form in, there and then. It was the last opportunity to do so as I didn’t want them to mix up the this and last weeks sessions. It was at this point that I reiterated the value of these forms. I am glad that I did now, as several students have commented that they were impressed that I had moved so swiftly in addressing their concerns.

I then outlined a new support mechanism that I had instigated for them, where TPA staff were allocated several students each to support them with their evidence gathering and reflections. I had asked the staff to make at least one comment on each of their students Intro to TPA views. The breakdown was as follows:

Martin – Holly Baxter, Joy Bonfield-Colombara, Nicola Stewart, Alexander Ridgers

Christine – Emily Black, Gillian Tormey, Adam McCall, Rosemary Sims

Jamie – Rachael Brown, Roishann McGuire, Emma Fitzgibbon, Alexander Morgan

Zander – Maisie Cottingham, Sarah Crooks, Rachel McGovern, Elizabeth Milne

Simon – Samantha Burns, Iain Jolly, Ching Long Koo, Simon Legg

Steve – Dougal Gudim, Fiona Nisbett, Hannah Nicol, Barbara Brza,

John – Chris Gowling, Margaret Kiernohan, Siobhan MacIntyre, Ellen Porteous, Sarah Wilson

Ros – Ross Oliver,  Fraser Walker, Danielle Farrelly, Jonathon Towers

I was surprised to hear from the students that a few staff members hadn’t done this, even though the students had posted artifacts and reflections up onto their views. I plan to have a training session in place for the staff as soon as possible as I may have wrongly assumed that they were comfortable with the software and the concept of ePortfolio learning. Those who did receive feedback, found it useful and a positive step towards their own learning experience.

What are you doing here?

I wanted to find a question that was fundamental to the reflection process i.e. What happened?, with the emphasis on ‘what’. To simply reflect on this aspect of a learning experience would be tantamount to writing a diary, a chronological recording of events that happened. By suggesting this as a place to start their reflections the students were in familiar territory, as most had recorded events in this way, at some point in their lives. I recommended that if they found themselves staring at a blank screen (or paper), unable to conjure up words that adequately express their reflections, then perhaps a paragraph or two of recounting what happened would kickstart the process. Somewhere within that simple process the ‘what?’ may transform into the ‘why?’.

Why are you here?

After the initial paragraph had been recorded, the next phase of reflection could be attempted, the ‘why’. Using the three earlier questions we had posed during the PDP session and then as part of the assignment I had set last week, I reiterated their use and suggested that as their reflective practice progressed, the students would begin to create their own questions, perhaps more specific and detailed. Understanding the ‘why’ is the first steps towards a deeper set of cognitive skills. I suggested that, with practice, the learners could develop better analytical and problem-solving abilities. The brain after-all is an organ that requires exercise.

We then discussed the differences between secondary education and higher education. Higher education having different demands on learning responsibility than that of secondary schooling, in so much as the learner is expected to manage their own learning, albeit from within a support network. Most agreed that self-created learning was the most likely to create knowledge that remains with the student on a much more permanent basis than the rote, “parrot-fashion” methods which only served to skim the surface of learning. This open discussion wasn’t intended, but I let it run as I found it invigorating. I could sense the energy in the room change as more of the students expressed their opinions. I had a real sense that the students were indulging in a non-facilitated group reflection. It’s amazing what a simple question can produce.

At some point, I manage to segue into the subject of blogging, or micro-blogging to be precise. As soon as I uttered the word ‘Twitter’ I was met by a chorus of low groans and sighs. It would seem that my chosen subject was somewhat derisory. I sensed another debate brewing…. I outlined the three main uses of Twitter:

  • as a communication medium.
  • as a networking tool.
  • as a micro-blogging/thought capturing tool.

All of which could aid in capturing and gathering evidence in the moment and as a way of reflecting on idea’s through 140 character summaries. I suggested that an effective way to do this would be to RSS feed your tweet streams directly to your blog. In this way the learner has a way of recalling topics for reflection on the same page as they are writing their blogs. With more and more theatre’s and practitioners using Twitter, it has become a direct way of creating contacts within the industry and for knowledge transfer. The debate that ensued seemed to highlight that Twitter had evolved a social stigma, which, it was felt, belonged to a specific type of Web 2.0 user. It would seem that the modern learner and socialite are extremely territorial when it comes to their personal digital environments. It cannot be assumed that any online tool, offered by a teacher, will be eagerly adopted by all digital learners. Their choice of tools are carefully selected to suit their digital identities, an example of this can be found in the devotion Bebo users have to their environment and the distaste they have developed towards the FaceBook clans and vise-versa. The debate was left in the balance, though several students did admit that their opinion of Twitter had been altered slightly and they may try it out.

The session then continued with a short discussion on the topic of blogging proper. The following benefits were discussed on the advantages of using digital reflection:

  • Allows instant feedback
  • Tracks progress
  • Develops deeper cognitive skills
  • Allows media-rich content
  • Can easily be shared or secured
  • Allows collaboration

Again, the issue of making blogs publicly viewable came up, there was a sense of discomfort by a few students at the notion of their personal thoughts and opinions being exposed to a wider public. I realised that, at some point, these students had assumed that because a blog was an online tool, it had to be public. We discussed the options available to bloggers and ePortfolio users which gave them the choice to reflect privately, semi-privately (to an invited audience) or publicly. There is also the option to make online reflections non-searchable i.e. they can’t be located using a search engine. The concept of online learning (blogging) communities was raised, where learners can link, comment and quote from blogs covering a common theme and forming a peer network of reflective practice. A few students also expressed a concern that their writing skills weren’t up to public scrutiny and this would cause them some embarrassment. However, studies have proved that in a high percentage of students who, at the outset, had shown poor creative writing skills, developed these skills to an acceptable level (some excelled beyond the standard) after exposing their writing to a wider audience. Not only did they receive formative feedback throughout, they also developed a self-confidence which motivated them to progress and succeed. I agreed to accept and proof read any students work, before it was uploaded to Mahara and made it clear that their folio’s need not be public at all. I did recommend that their ePortfolio support lecturer, at the very least, should be allowed access for guidance purposes.

Questions?

A statement, not a request. To further emphasise the use of questions to start the reflective process, I suggested that the post heading may be a question e.g. What did I do well during the technical rehearsal today? or Why did I start getting confused in Props class this morning? This may be a useful mechanism to focus the learners reflection and get the process started.

Game-based Learning

I had wanted to introduce game-based learning to my practice for a while, but had never been able to find a suitable platform or game that served the purpose well. I had searched for online management simulations that gave the students variable parameters to experiment with. A critical element of the game had to include the student making basic decisions which would somehow affect their digital environment or virtual situation at the time. It also had to be fun in order to engage the learner. There are many online management simulations (some SCORM compliant) but most were either too complex, boring or expensive and none were 100% suitable to Stage Management. This session wasn’t subject related so I had an opportunity to demonstrate the reflection process with a much simpler (and free) online game. After much searching I found a game which seemed to fit all of the criteria I needed.

I attempted to break down the reflective process and based this (loosely) on Kolbs learning cycle. By using a stage by stage flow chart I portrayed the reflective process thus:

Reflective Process
Reflective Process

I found a game which was simple enough to use as a vehicle to demonstrate this simple model of reflection. It’s called Student Sim and is a basic ‘point and click’ type simulator. The game can be found here.  The students all signed in and I gave them 10 minutes to orientate themselves to the games interface and concept, they were to do this without any instructions. I also asked them to note down any tips that they came across as they played. Some did basic screen captures while others used simpler technology i.e. paper and pen. Having successfully orientated themselves to the software, I then asked them to reflect on the evidence that they had gathered, which they shared to their peers. We then decided to set a common ‘group’ goal and played the game again, for another  10 minutes, with this goal in mind. Again I asked the group to gather evidence by making notes and screen grabbing. As the students progressed through the stages of reflection, I revealed the next stage on the screen, further emphasising the process.

We stopped after the 2nd Action phase as time was running short, but the students seemed to understand. We then discussed the process, contextualising it with theatrical practice. The general feeling from the room seemed to be that there was no need to break down reflection in such detail as most of the learners did this process naturally. I did feel however that it did serve a purpose in highlighting where the reflective phase should reside, as many had admitted to being aware that reflection was a process and had struggled to grasp the concept. It also underlined that reflection was deeply rooted in a practical cognitive process. It will be interesting to review and evaluate the student feedback to this class as the game element was very experimental. I did recognise a problem with this approach, as the session progressed  I felt the students became distracted from the main purpose of the exercise, especially those who became engrossed in the game play. The flowchart, as a visual prompt wasn’t enough, neither was my vocal prompting. However, I was pleased to note that the conversation that ensued was deeper than I had anticipated and the majority of the cohort seemed to understand what I was trying to achieve with them.

I finished the class with another assignment based around reflective practice. I wanted to return to theatre somehow, to leave the students with a contextualised aftertaste. I showed them a short and incredibly experimental production called Fuerzabruta. I had, over the last 3 years, showed this video to 1st year students to inspire them to think outside of the box and that not all theatre plays were stuffy and classical. I asked the students to reflect of their experience of watching the show and highlight moments which inspired them or disappointed them. Which elements worked and which didn’t? Why these elements had this affect and finally; What could have been done to improve the production and their overall experience?

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PAT to PDP (the missing link)

October 30, 2009 at 12:16 am (1st Year Experience, PG-Cert, Student Support, learning)
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After considerable reflection on how to make stronger links between the Personal Academic Tutorial (PAT) system in the Academy and Personal Development Planning (PDP) framework (as identified in my Lighting a Fire post) I have suggested a solution to my colleagues. By extending our PAT student group support to include mentoring indivduals in reflection and evidence gathering (using Mahara) we add a further layer to thier learning experience.  PAT then becomes interwoven with PDP, using ePortfolio’s as the tool to accomplish this. An equal distribution of  1st year students amongst the lecturing staff from the outset would ensure that every student recieves learning support and each member of staff shares an equal workload.

We have decided to trial this method using a current assignment that I have set the first year cohort (see An Introduction to ePortfolio post). I have assigned a lecturer to a group of 5 or 6 individuals and have asked them to make comment on the views that the students have posted. It is hoped that, by the assignments submission deadline, every student will have a few lines of formative feedback to support them. This may only act as an encouragement to continue, but at this stage, may be enough. Providing this early scaffolding is essential in embedding reflective processes as well as orientating the students in using new tools, which they can use to manage and deepen their learning.

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Lighting a Fire

October 19, 2009 at 8:03 pm (1st Year Experience, PG-Cert, Student Support, employability, learning)
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It’s been a while since I have reflected in this manner and I must confess that it has been difficult to restart, especially since I have only just returned to teaching. This in itself is a point I will return to in a later blog i.e. How to encourage my students to reflect outwith term time?

“Education is not filling a bucket, but lighting a fire.” (Yeats)

As part of my final assignment on the PG-Cert course I decided to take on the challenge (opportunity?) of embedding Personal Development Planning (PDP) within the School of Drama. Most undergraduate and post-graduate courses within the school have some degree of PDP already in existence, the methods were somewhat fragmented and scattered. I chose to introduce the concept of ePortfolio learning to the whole school first, by redesigning an already existing introduction session hosted by two of my colleagues (Jamie McKay & Christine Murphy). Thankfully they were both open to the suggestion and based on student feedback from last year, we went about developing the session. It was agreed that the length of the session had to be re-assessed so we moved from one three hour session to four consecutive sessions, each lasting 1.5 hours. These shorter sessions were more manageable, especially as the School of Drama intake had almost doubled, with several new courses coming online this year. We decided on 4 main themes that we wished to cover, these were:

  • Evidence Gathering
  • Reflection
  • Goal Setting
  • Employability

However, we wanted to allow the students to explore what PDP meant to them. They were to be reorganised into four groups and given the question “What is PDP?” We were aware that some secondary schools and certain employers had instigated PDP frameworks in their respective environments already, we wanted to ascertain if the students had been exposed to these processes already. The students were then asked to write down keywords that captured the essence of their understanding. The results were surprising, nearly all 16 groups, throughout the day, had a grasp of the concept already and few required prompting. A few of the groups had no experience of PDP but still managed to find most of the keywords. Most encouraging was the fact that all of the groups seemed to understand the link between PDP and reflection.

We then presented the QAA definition of PDP:

“a structured and supported process undertaken by an individual to reflect upon their own learning, performance and/or achievement and to plan for their personal , educational and career development.”  QAA (2002)

As expected we were met with blank stares, so we launched into our own interpretation of this sentence. I had ’spiced’ up the old PowerPoint slides with bright and colourful graphical animations, which were designed to catch the eye and hopefully be retained in the memory. Feedback from the session seemed to support this. I then presented another quote, which specifically summarised the process of reflection:

“Follow effective action with quiet reflection. From quiet reflection will come even more effective action.” (Drucker, 1909)

This allowed me to outline reflective practice in it’s simplest terms and lead me to suggest 3 simple reflective questions that the students should consider as a starting point for their own reflective learning. These were:

  1. What did I do well?
  2. What didn’t I do well?
  3. What will I do next?

The next slide outlined learning progression and the transition points that the cohort may have encountered on their way to the Academy. I emphasised these points as being both goals and barriers that had to be overcome before they could progress. I also pointed out that the students would have had to exercise elements of PDP in order to break down these barriers and achieve their goal. The slide also served to emphasise that learning (through PDP) doesn’t stop after graduation from HE, but continues through a framework of CPD, during employment.

PDP.007

To further impress upon the cohort the importance of reflection and how it relates to three main aspects of their lives (Personal, Academic & Career), Jamie showed how these three can come together and where the overlap happens between any two, we suggested questions to reflect upon. Where all three converge, reflection through self review becomes central to the learning process.

PDP.009

The following slide simply showed where the individual fits into the learning process i.e. student centred with a Personal Academic Tutorial system acting as the next immediate framework for support which in turn is embedded in PDP. Finally the students chosen subject forms the underlying foundation on which to base their learning.

PDP.009

It was at this point that I took over and explained the advantages of using an ePortfolio as a tool to drive PDP. I had already delivered this content before to my PG-Cert class as a Pecha Kucha, so I knew it all inside-out. This time, I slowed it down by taking out the timings and any irrelevant slides. The result was encouraging, there was a host of interest from the students, with lots of questions to answer after each session. The critical incident form I posted on Moodle seemed to back this up.

Christine then went on to explain the PAT system within the Academy. This was probably the least thought-through aspect of the sessions and I felt that we lost the momentum that had been built up until now. We had no supporting images, but most importantly, hadn’t adequately linked PAT with PDP. Much more work needs done on this for next year. We need to work more closely on how to marry PAT to PDP, this year it became an afterthought. I think this was due to the fact that PAT had already become fairly established, so we neglected it, leaving it to languish unsupported. The result was a muddied, confused  experience for the students. Again, the CIQ feedback supported this. Most of the criticism of the session was aimed at this portion of it. The responsibility for addressing this must be shared between the three of us and learned from for next year.

To further compound the problem, we then asked the students to fill in a PAT form without much guidance on how to. The reason for this was to a) give the students a first try at completing one, b) provide a base-line for the PAT process to build from and c) begin the process of PDP. It wasn’t until the final session that we tried to change the format and provide guidance for each section of the form, prior to cohort filling them in. This seemed to help the students a little. Further reflection is required on how to deliver this more effectively in future.

We had decided to print business cards with both the Mahara & Moodle URL’s on them, along with the number to call for absence reporting. This was in an attempt to help the students remember these important bits of information and perhaps also remind them to at least try Mahara. Moodle is all but useless to them if their courses don’t provide content, the absence number in mandatory, the only aspect of the card that the students have any control of is the Mahara address. A faint spark, but a spark nonetheless.

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RSAMD Mahara

June 28, 2009 at 9:08 am (1st Year Experience, 2nd Year Experience, Flexible Delivery, PG-Cert, Student Support, assessment, employability, learning)
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ePortfolio’s

“An unfolding narrative of a unique learning journey”

(JISC 2008)

How can ePortfolio solution’s such as Mahara provide and enhance employability skills through Personal Development Planning to Academy students?

Current research being carried out by organisations such as JISC and BECTA have identified that e-Portfolio’s can enhance Employability Skills, Lifelong Learning provision, Internationalisation, Retention, Widening Participation, Achievement and Attainment Levels along with offering a high level of Personalisation to the learner. (JISC 2008) With these high level agenda items in mind and a pressing need for an improved Personal Development Planning framework within the Academy, this investigation was both timely and required.

The Academy’s Learning and Teaching strategy clearly states that its mission which, in essence, is to nurture creativity through a focus on the individual through the promotion of innovative methodologies and the exploitation of new and emerging technologies.

The term portfolio has a range of meanings, depending on the context you are engaged with, with Higher Education it can be best described as a collection of artifacts (evidence) presented alongside associated reflections for learning. This archive is collated and drawn on by the learner as evidence of learning achievement. These achievements can then be used to plan targets and set goals. Therefore a portfolio can be associated with the gathering of records which can be used in the Personal Development Planning (PDP) process. The concept of Personal Development Records (PDRs) is closely related to the Higher Educa-tion Progress File, a recommendation found in the Report of the National Committee of Inquiry into Higher Education (Dearing, 1997) and extends beyond that, to incorporate artifacts which may evidence claims made in PDRs. Many institutions are choosing to implement PDP (and to encourage learners to manage their PDRs) through electronic means, often linking this to the term e-portfolio (Ward & Richardson, 2005) .

In 2008 The Academy made the bold decision to implement Mahara as its institutional e-Portfolio solution. It was a bold move as the software was, as yet untested, having only been released two months prior to it’s installation. Two main reasons for it’s adoption was it’s integration with Moodle and that it was Open Source i.e. free. Further to this, the Academy also made the commitment to contract e-Learn Design as consult-ants and to maintain both Mahara and Moodle installations, for a period of 12 months. This move was seen as a positive step towards fulfilling it’s Learning Resources and Student Support Strategy which states, as an objective for December 2009 to “implement Mahara as an Academy-wide platform for Personal Development Planning” . Four Moodle site-wide Administrators were found, including myself and a single Administrator for Mahara (myself), appropriate training was provided for Moodle.

Lessons learned on the JISC funded ISLE (Individualised Support for Learning through ePortfolio’s) Project found that ePortfolio’s cannot be introduced during the academic year. Greater success was found when you introduce them at induction. (ISLE). This Pilot scheme initially focused on employability skills amongst learners at Dumfries and Galloway College. Themed templates were created to provide structure to this process of PDP with categories which included: about me, My CV, my learning style, my interests and hobbies etc… All of which exist as default fields in Mahara, thus reducing the workload of tutors.

Encouraging students to personalize their learning spaces by deciding on layout as well as content can enthuse them to become more creative with their learning. The celebration of achievements can hence be more rewarding, with positive feedback from both peers and tutors acting as motivational devices. Improved retention levels were also recorded during the ISLE Project ranging from 30% to 100% improvement in some cases (JISC, 2008).

Results of an online survey I conducted, where I canvassed the opinion of 79 students and 11 staff members on ePortfolio’s, returned some revealing results. Out of the total number surveyed only 17% currently used an ePortfolio solution and from those, most (13 individuals) used Mahara. When asked the question, “Would you considering using one?” 53% said yes, with a further 36% stating that they “didn’t know” (see Chart 1). This shows that there is an interest worth considering and more promotion of Mahara needed.

Chart 1
Chart 1

When asked what they considered to be the single most important benefit of keeping an ePortfolio, the results were revealing (see Chart 2).

Chart 2

Chart 2

The results in Chart 2 clearly show that Employability would be a major contributing factor towards a learner engaging with an ePortfolio, with the organistaion of work being a major secondary concern. These statistics appear to align with the theory that both professional and vocational focus relies heavily on the development of praxis rather than knowledge alone. In this light, the ePortfolio serves as a developmental log in which to track ‘fitness of practice’. (Beetham & Sharpe, 2007).

In Art, we find ourselves confronted with a series of stimuli, such as a performance, a design, literary text or a piece of music. These artifacts  of learning more than often require our learners to ‘respond’ rather than to unravel an answer. These responses are often aesthetic in nature and require a degree of reflection that involves more than finding a formula which leads to a solution. (Beetham & Sharpe, 2007). Having the ability to present these stimuli as media; .mp4, jpeg, .doc or mp3 etc. provides the learner with a platform to host their evidence alongside their interpretations of it. It is hoped that the outcome would be that the learner has a greater understanding of the artifact.

“focus on creative activity is typical of the arts and that the methodologies (i.e. discussion) used to study the artefactual focus of these disciplines are to some degree themselves inspired by the methodologies employed in the creation of those artifacts.” (Beetham & Sharpe, 2007).

This form of reflective discourse based on the study of existing artifacts lends itself perfectly to the learning artist. The creation of new work commonly inspired by existing work. e.g. a learner uploads an .mp3 to their Mahara view then invites collaborators to listen to it, a discussion builds around the work from within a Mahara group forum. Changes are made to the work based on peer evaluation and the view is opened to the tutor for feedback and perhaps assessment.

The collection of this evidence could be a key driver to PDP being a key element to the UK Governments e-strategy (DfES, 2005). The Center for International ePortfolio Development is based in the University of Nottingham and is proof of the United Kingdoms commitment to research and development of this important learning tool.

To promote employability skills is as much about good learning experiences as it is about work placements or careers advice. (Bloxham & Boyd, 2007). They go on to state that more traditional methods of enhancing employability (entrepreneurship, careers guidance and PDP) do not necessarily contribute to the overall learning environment that is designed to foster employability, as they are often stand alone modules or lie outside of programme altogether. In this respect, there seems to be the need for a tool which draws all of these elements together and is still designed for learning. As the electronic portfolio is essentially a student centered solution, in which the learner has control over who and when their evidence is to be subject to academic scrutiny, then it would be fair to conclude that they can also choose when their work is open for employers to gauge their suitability for employment. Mahara can be viewed externally, allowing the learner to produce a media rich CV, which can be viewed by anyone of their choosing. Access to a particular view can also be time-limited or suspended at any point, by the learner.

In the online survey I asked how often those who completed it reflected  on their learning and whether these reflections were self motivated (non-assessed) or part of their course (assessed).  Chart 3 shows the frequency of reflection:

Chart 3

Chart 3

Now that the statistics were in place (and I was surprised at the amount of reflective practice stated) the task was then to ascertain why the learners were reflecting i.e. was it because they had to or was it because they felt it was a viable learning process?

Chart 5

Is this reflection….?

Chart 4

The findings here are even more surprising, it shows that learners are prepared to take ownership of their own learning where reflective practice is concerned. Thus going some way to prove that reflection is seen by a cross section of students in the Academy as an effective way to learn. Couple these statistics with those who outlined an interested in finding out more information about Mahara (85% of those surveyed wished to learn more, while 10% did not) and there is a clear case for further investigation.

To find out which methods were used in reflection I asked ‘how’ these learners reflected, giving a choice of the most common tools available. The results were mixed (Chart 6) and dependent on the learners definition of nomenclature e.g. a log book could be considered a journal by some. What is interesting is that 89% of those surveyed considered themselves to be computer literate which aligns closely to those interested in pursuing an interest in ePortfolio’s, yet most reflections seem to be recorded using analogue (paper-based) tools. One could conclude that this was due to the learners preference. Though when asked if the Academy should be doing more to promote Mahara, the response was that 58% thought so, 6% thought the Academy shouldn’t be promoting it and 35% didn’t know we even had one!

Chart 6

Chart 6

Mahara also has social networking functionality which has great potential to create both formal and non-formal learning environments. The ability to build communities of practice within a rich learning environment has obvious collaborative and knowledge sharing potential. This approach could open the door to both self and peer assessment models. These assessment skills are seen as valuable in developing lifelong learning skills such as self-evaluation, giving feedback, justifying a point and negotiation skills (Boud, 2000). Furthermore Stefani reminds us that “If assessment processes are intended to enhance student learning then it follows that students must be able to reflect on their current attainment” (Stefani 1998: 346, cited in Bloxham & Boyd, 2007). The skills required to develop objectivity (needed for self assessment) by reflecting on their own work, carves a path for the learner to direct their own work and thus making steps towards becoming autonomous learners. (Bloxham & Boyd, 2007). Peer feedback is often more accessible to the learner, being that it is not ‘emotionally loaded’ (Black et al, 2003:77) being that the language of peers is much easier for the student to understand, digest and evaluate.

When asked the question, “How often are you required to collaborate with others on your course?” (Chart 7), the results were as expected on programmes that involved both group and individual tuition. Only a 3% minority perceived that they did not collaborate at all, it should be a serious consideration to offer a support platform for these students to enter the fold and be able to reflect and collaborate with other learners. There is scope here for further development in cross curricula design and implementation, there would seem to be strong evidence that student aspirations stretch to include both peer feedback and a more collaborative environment in which to learn.

Chart 7

Chart 7

The final chart (Chart 8 ) was based around formative feedback and it’s perceived quantity available on individual courses. This question was purely subjective i.e. “What are your feelings on formative feedback?”, this was done intentionally as I wished to gauge student perception rather than objective fact. Feedback, or the amount of, is an academic responsibility and the student perception of this is dependent on the individuals requirements. A student who is struggling will percieve that they require more formative feedback, delivered in a timely manner. Race recommends that; “ if assessment is the engine that drives learning (Cowan cited in Race, 2007) then feedback is the oil that lubricates the cogs of understanding” (Race, 2007). Boud goes on to add that, “Assessment methods and requirements probably have a greater influence on how and what students learn than any other single factor. This influence may well be of greater importance than the impact of teaching materials.” (Boud, 1988).

I order to ascertain student perception of formative feedback provision within the Academy I asked, “What are your feelings on formative feedback?” with options depicting quantity rather than quality:

Chart 8

Chart 8

These statistics seem to suggest that there is a balance needing addressed in this area of learning. It has often been alleged that the Academy is heavy on summative assessment and light on the side of formative assessment. With these statistics in place it would seem that this is indeed the case. ePortfolio provision can address this issue head on, with 24 hours access to student evidence and reflection, more importantly it is the learner who opens their portfolio’s for scrutiny by tutors. This places the procurement of feedback firmly in their own hands.

Recommendations

The following are recommendations for the implementation of ePortfolio-based practice within the Royal Academy of Music & Drama, in order to address the findings in this investigation:

1. Staff training on the use of ePortfolio’s with particular emphasis on Mahara as a tool to enhance learning and employabilty within the student body.

2. The implementation of a robust framework for PDP in which ePortfolio provision can exist.

3. The introduction of ePortfolio-based learning at induction at the very latest.

4. Further investigation into allowing new and incoming 1st Year students to access and build ePortfolio’s on Mahara.

5. The introduction of a pilot scheme to encourage FE feeder courses to implement ePortfolio provision within their institutions as a recruitment driver.

6. The introduction of a pilot scheme to encourage employers to access final year students work as a recruitment driver.

Bibliography

Dearing, R (1997) Report of the National Committee of Inquiry into Higher Education (The Dearing Report) http://www.leeds.ac.uk/educol/ncihe/

(accessed 18.06.09)

Developing a progress file for HE: Guidelines on HE progress files http://www.qaa.ac.uk/academicinfrastructure/progressfiles/guidelines/default.asp

(accessed 18.06.09)

Ward, R & Richardson, H (2005) Report to the JISC: Generic guidance for stakeholders implementing Personal Development Planning through e-portfolio systems http://www.erdee.org.uk/natsem/eport_seminar_report.pdf

(accessed 18.06.09)

ISLE: Individualised Support for Learning through ePortfolio’s, http://isle.paisely.ac.uk/default.aspx

(accessed 19.06.09)

Bloxman S & Boyd P, (2007) Developing Effective Assessment in Higher Education: A Practical Guide. Open University Press, Berkshire

Stefani, L.A.J. (1998) Assessment in partnership with learners, Assessment and Evaluation in Higher Education, 23(4): 339-50.

Black, P., Harrison, C., Lee, C., Marshall, B. and William, D. (2003) Assessment for Learning: Putting It into Practice. Maidenhead, Open University Press.

Beetham, H & Sharpe, R et al (2007) Rethinking Pedagogy for a Digital Age: Designing and delivering e-learning. Oxon, Routledge

Boud, D (1988) Implementing Student Self-Assessment, HERDSA Green Guides Vol.5, University of New South Wales, Australia

Race, P (2007) The Lecturers Toolkit: A practical guide to assessment, learning and teaching, Oxon, Routledge

Boys, J & Ford, P (2008) The e-Revolution and Post Compulsory Education: Using e-Business models to deliver quality education. In association with JISC. Oxon, Routledge

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Twitter Revisited

June 15, 2009 at 3:44 pm (1st Year Experience, 2nd Year Experience, Flexible Delivery, Student Support, learning)
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I’m having real trouble with Twitter of late. The stream of student consciousness that I am party to 24 hours a day, 7 days a week has revealed a world of stress, confusion and unrest. To be fair, it isn’t all negative but one tends to tune into ‘what’s wrong’ especially where it is relevant to your teaching practice or the course you are part of. Familiarity also breeds contempt and though this may be overly strong, it isn’t far from the truth.

Twitter has exposed holes in our course, that would not have been noticed by us before. Many of the tweets are ’spur of the moment’, ‘knee-jerk reactions from tired minds, I am sure. However, it is becoming increasingly difficult to decide which to act on and which to leave, in the hope they are transient concerns. I find myself constantly struggling whether to take the “ignorance is bliss” option and pretend that I had never opened Pandora’s Box, unfortunately it is not that easy.

Alternatively, I could face the issue more positively and use Twitter as a feedback mechanism. I know have information that could lead to enhancing the programme or improving communications between staff and learner. The ease in which we can know point students in a particular direction (to professional practitioners or hyperlinks for example) has proven to be invaluable.  I now feel closer to my learners and more readily able to enagage in a more honest dialogue after the tweets have flown about. Sometimes the tweeting verges on becoming a tutorial, where snippets of guidance can be afforded 24/7. I’m sure that a few of the students actually prefer this type of support.

A great deal of  the messages are frivalous and irreleavant to the programme and sifting through these streams can be both time consuming and tedious. I tend now to only read direct messages, @ replies and whatever is on my screen at the time (without having to scroll down).  This method seems to work and has cut out a great deal of the open tweets that are wild and trivial.

All said and done…. the jury is still out….

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RoME – The Rise of the Mobile in Education

March 14, 2009 at 5:14 pm (Flexible Delivery, learning)
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I have just returned from a rare event in the world of educational technology; Apple have finally stuck their head above the parapet in the UK and co-hosted an event with Handheld Learning with the title The Rise of Mobility in Education.  It didn’t didn’t take me long to discover the mnemonic RoME in the title, which seemed a highly appropriate hash tag to use on Twitter, as I intended to tweet throughout the event. Scheduled for two hours and situated in Apple’s Executive Briefing Center in the heart of London I was fully aware of the rarity of such an event as Apple have been very quiet about the educational uses of their mobile devices. The iPod range being the most popular mobile device in history. Of course my interest was more vested than simply my usual passion for all things Apple, I have an iPod Touch pilot scheme running currently and this was a rare opportunity to be in the company of experts.

I just prayed that the event wasn’t going to be another product pitch or technical dissemination on why the iPod is the only gadget for education. I wanted to hear about pedagogy, learners and those who facilitate that learning, in fact, as I walked along Regent Street prior to the seminar I became resolute that if the event was pitched at the sales/technical level then I would ask determined questions about the latter. I had done a little preparation by familiarizing myself with the chapter on mobile and wireless learning (pg180-190) in Rethinking Pedagogy for a Digital Age (Beetham, Sharpe et al, 2007). I created another mnemonic to summarize and aid me in remembering the basic characteristics of ubiquitous, mobile, learning technologies. It was;

Situated

Informal

Mobile

Personalized

Learning

Experience

Simple and effective.

As it turned out, I had no need for this invasive tactic as the lecture was purely embedded in educational paradigm.  Our speaker, Gordon Shukwit (Worldwide Director of I.T & Learning, Apple) introduced himself and was quickly off the mark. An explanation of how pedagogy, content and technology can overlap following the  TPACK model (see Figure 1) ensued. This model clearly shows how the three primary constituents of knowledge can form a complex interplay, creating hybrid knowledge where they intersect.

TPACK Model

Fig.1 TPACK Model

“Considering P and C together we get Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK), Shulman’s idea of knowledge of pedagogy that is applicable to the teaching of specific content. Similarly, considering T and C taken together, we get Technological Content Knowledge (TCK), the knowledge of the relationship between technology and content. At the intersection of T and P, is Technological Pedagogical Knowledge (TPK), which emphasizes the existence, components and capabilities of various technologies as they are used in the settings of teaching and learning.

Finally, at the intersection of all three elements is Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK). True technology integration is understanding and negotiating the relationships between these three components of knowledge. A teacher capable of negotiating these relationships represents a form of expertise different from, and greater than, the knowledge of a disciplinary expert (say a mathematician or a historian), a technology expert (a computer scientist) and a pedagogical expert (an experienced educator). Effective technology integration for pedagogy around specific subject matter requires developing sensitivity to the dynamic, [transactional] relationship between all three components.” (Mishra & Koehler, 2006)

I had not come across this framework before and, for the first time, I recognised a model which I could adopt for the m-SM project and possibly a whole lot more besides. It was one of those moments in which you can feel a ’shift’ happen in your logic, perhaps this was that ‘defining moment’ I had been looking for? The framework itself is still at the early stage of development but has made it beyond theory into praxis, with several case studies available. The most informative of which being Brigham Young University’s Instructional Technology for ElEd and ECE course. On the course website can be found links to a number of trainee teacher’s reflections in which they have evidenced the use of the TPACK framework in their practice. The blogs can be found here.

Shukwit continued onto how students are required to be ‘librarians’ and understand classification systems in order to access content, drawing comparisons with folder structures and libraries. He asked the question, “How do students know when to delete a folder or portion of content?” and how multiple views of content can be ambiguous, demanding a need for content creators/organisors to be clear and succinct.

The next model presented was entitled the Technology Adoption Life Cycle and was based around Rubens’ SAMR model of ICT integration. The model is a progressive four tiered adoption scheme which begins with Substitution, followed respectively by Augmentation, Modification and finalizing in Redefinition. See Figure 2;

SAMR Model (Rubens, 2006)

SAMR Model (Rubens, 2006)

A explanatory podcast with audio by Ruben can be found here.

It is strange to think back to a time when using a spellchecker was considered cheating by a great number of institutions. These attitudes are to be expected and are often necessary for the innovators to control their innovations, they serve to open the idea to a greater degree of open scrutiny, challenge assumptions and eventually mold it into a more streamlined concept. This concept  can then become embedded in society.

“When Technology fails (it’s learners) it’s Technology itself that gets the blame, never the content or pedagogy.” (Shukwit, 2009)

The Digital Learning Environment (DLE) has been driven by an ‘us’ or shared ideology and three basic types of technology have been the vehicles for this i.e. tethered, portable and mobile. It would be timely to give definitions to these innovations:

Tethered: wired technologies such as desktop pc’s.

Portable: can be wired on wireless such as laptops and tablet pc’s.

Mobile: wireless and can ‘fit into your pocket’ such as mobile phones, PDAs and mp3 players.

Tethered and portable technologies are predominantly shared user content and collaborative devices where the emphasis is on networking. Mobile however carries it’s own unique learning qualities, where the emphasis is on ‘me’ and singling out students as individual learners with their own requirements and needs. Hence the emergence of Individual Learning Plans (ILP) in which the student takes control of their own learning e.g. downloading content ‘as and when’ they require it to be used ‘as and when’ they please. Teachers can now identify a learners specific requirements and ‘push’ content to that learners device, or the learner can ‘pull’ content from content rich servers.

Apple’s iPhone Enterprise Programme allows content to be delivered and received in this way. It bypasses the now standard iTunes (us) model and utilizes a fundamentally different and ‘me’ centered approach, where learners target or are targeted by educators for content pertinent to their specific learning needs.

The remainder of the seminar was presented around the iPhone Enterprise Programme and all of it’s merits, I have to admit that the proceedings became overly technical and resembled the instructions on the back of a MicroSoft product package (sorry Apple!) and I switched off. I did however manage to ask a couple of questions to which the answer’s were wholly unsatisfactory I felt. I asked whether or not ActiveSync was a robust system to which  ‘no comment’ was pretty much the reply, Shukwit was either unable to comment on another companies product or unwilling to. I had assumed that since Apple were engaged with this particular Microsoft product they would be wholly endorsing it as ’secure’, in this sense, I was suprised at the reply. The reason I required confirmation was not a sleight on MicroSoft, but more to assure my own institution (who are extremely reluctant to install AciveSync due to ‘horror’ stories they had heard) that ‘even Apple’ considered it safe enough to use. Now I am left with the feeling that it is either not secure or Apple simply couldn’t or wouldn’t confirm this for whatever reasons. Several other attendee’s tried to push the question farther nut where met with the same dance.

The other concern I raised was the lack of a quality camera and video capture on the iPhone/Touch making it less suitable for educational purposes than other similar mobile devices. The reply was similar to my previous attempt, I was requested to add it to the feedback sheet we were all given because “we like to listen”. On that note I left the seminar bursting with inspiration, by the time I had reached Regent Street the inspiration had dissolved into frustration. In that short journey in the lift I remembered what I faced back at RSAMD. ActiveSync was the key to unlocking a great resource in both educational and productivity terms, these rumors of it being vulnerable were stemming a potential groundswell of technological enhancement. Paranoia was the real enemy here, as well as an ignorance of how technology, content and pedagogy can be a trinity to be reckoned with.

Mishra, P., & Koehler, M. J. (2006). Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge: A new framework for teacher knowledge. Teachers College Record. 108(6), 1017-1054.

Ruben R. Puentedura. Transformation, Technology, and Education. (2006)

Shukwit, G. ( March 12th , 2009). in proceedings of the The Rise of the Mobile in Education seminar, London, UK.

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Micro Teaching Assignment – Links

March 7, 2009 at 12:09 pm (Flexible Delivery, PG-Cert, assessment, learning)
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The following are links to other pages in my WordPress account that specifically deal with the Micro Teaching Assignment in chronological order:

The Brief

Initial Concepts

Blocking Concept

Podcasting

Contexts

Simplify

Mentoring

Dry Run

The Lecture

Gathering Reflections

Evaluation

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Stage Management ICT

February 13, 2009 at 10:05 am (2nd Year Experience, Flexible Delivery, learning)
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This morning I had my first attempt at an ICT Class, specifically for Stage Managers. To be honest, I wasn’t happy with it and it is definitely and area that requires further development. I was guilty of under-planning, assuming that I could engage my class simply with the technology itself. I underestimated how difficult it was to engage the Facebook generation with specific online activities using Web 2.0. Give them a fast internet connection and they instantly take ownership of their own browsing and do not completely focus on the task at hand. However, a balance was reached as the class progressed, the time that we lost with ‘distractions’ such as Twitter and Facebook was regained almost instantly with the expertise and speed the class brought to completing the tasks I set out.

Noticing Twitter windows hidden behind behind the ‘task’ windows (which became active when I returned to my own workstation) a realisation hit me, I had openly encouraged the use of these technologies in the past and had reflected about their use in classroom environments, now I was actually engaging in my reflections. Up until that point in the morning I had been ‘instructing’ and that left a bad taste in my mouth. I swiftly changed my tact and was thankful that I hadn’t commented on these ‘distractions’ yet. I started to encourage the students to openly Twitter about the class, which they had already been doing (I discovered later when viewing the tweet streams). Personally, the whole dynamic of the class changed for me, I didn’t mention it as I wanted to see where this openness would take us.

We had started working with Google Docs, for a long time I had been aware of it’s potential for Stage Management. One of my personal goals was to explore eDocumentation and how to distribute and share paperwork electronically. Google had supplied a fantastic tool for this purpose. We set up accounts and began to work on several files I had uploaded. After a brief discussion on the benefits for Stage Managers, it was clear that the students found it useful but only if everyone used it. Collaborations would be fruitless without participants. It was a brief introduction, but a useful one, awareness had been established but further self determined orientation and development was the next stage.

We moved onto to exploring the possibilities behind Scribd, an online publishing web facility that allowed participants to upload files for viewing and scrutiny. I had used this in the past for the purposes of research and wanted the students to glimpse it’s potential. Again, we set up accounts and began to explore the basic premise behind this powerful yet simple tool. I had uploaded our Deputy Stage Managers Handbook and, as with Google Docs earlier, we all linked our accounts in order to share resources. This Web 2.0 tool was more suited to learning and research than to Stage Management, but I wanted this morning to be for both learning and professional practice.

After a short break, we stepped into the world of Wiki. Using PAPERCLIP (Stephen Macluskie’s innovative site for technical theater collaborative solutions) we added our very own m-SM project and began to explore Wiki script. Covering the basic’s; uploading photo’s, hyperlinking and page layouts we build a page for the project. This should now give us a base to expand the m-SM project. Through our explorations we also discovered how to link directly to the iTunes applications store, opening iTunes on the host machine in the process. Creating Wiki’s in PAPERCLIP will become an assessable part of their learning in the near future. This tool will eventually replace the old ‘box file’ system which is traditionally used to archive production paperwork. Another example of RSAMD Stage Management attempt to modernise an industry that still uses archaic paper-based systems, which are less efficient and unsustainable.

The next tool we looked at was Diigo, a social bookmarking site. This is an excellent resource in which web pages can be centrally bookmarked, portions of text highlighted, commented on and finally shared. Highlights and comments are saved with the bookmark, drawing the attention of fellow collaborators to the relevant sections. In turn, comments can be returned and collaborations are built. All of this can be done ‘live’ while surfing, using a series of browser plug-ins, meaning that you only have to return to your profile to review your bookmarks at the end of a browsing session. Another important research tool.

We finished the session with 15 minutes on Moodle and the students filled in a couple of Critical Incident online reports that I had set up earlier. For those who finished (or had already completed the task prior to coming to the class) they were given time to ‘play’ online with any of the tools we had used today.

The general consensus was that, as an introduction to these facilities, the class was useful. Some were more engaged than others and each student had different opinions on the resources we had covered. Each student showed a level of individual expertise and I felt the issue of engagement drifted from student to student as they crossed into thier own comfort zones. This, of course was to be expected. We all agreed that a regular series of SM ICT classes should be in place throughout the course, allowing orientation to take place. I also want to stage similair classes were skills sharing through peer learning can take place i.e. a student with particular interest and expertise using a specific e-Tool or software solution can lead a session with their peers. This would open up a host of learning opportunities, as yet untried, within Stage Management.

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Twitter

February 12, 2009 at 9:58 pm (1st Year Experience, 2nd Year Experience, Flexible Delivery, Uncategorized)
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At first, I was a doubter.

I just couldn’t see the benefits of Twitter, in fact quite the opposite was true, on a number of occasions I publicly berated it.

So what is it?

Twitter is a free  micro-blogging service, allowing you to  communicate and stay connected through the exchange of quick, frequent answers to one simple question: What are you doing?

I see it as a step up from SMS text and not quite blogging, a fast and easy way to communicate and network. It’s also incredibly addictive, a recent tweet I received only the other day described it as “the digital equivalent of popping bubble wrap” which is fairly accurate.

It wasn’t until much later, while listening to a podcast of Clay Shirky, he described Twitter as being a ’stream of consciousness’ in which you can filter and tap into at any time. This sparked my curiosity and persuaded me to at least install the free software then and there, on the bus, via my iPhone. And… I still didn’t ‘get it’.

After a couple of months of persevering (on and off, more off than on) I was ready to cast Twitter into digital oblivion. It wasn’t until I attended the Handheld Learning 08 conference that I discovered an underground digital world in which tweets were being swapped and shared discretely. Comments from parts of the conference that I couldn’t attend kept me informed of happenings, general theories and feelings riddled the airwaves. I had entered this particular ’stream of consciousness’ and it wasn’t long before the small band of renegades grew to become a larger network. At the same time, my own tweets were being followed by several members of staff and students 500 miles north of my location in Glasgow. It was also a great way to gauge the ‘mood’ in the room, like passing notes under the table at school, commenting on your teachers poor choice of clothing… This time opinions on the speakers content and idea’s were being discussed, both positively and critically. The hash tag prefix (a way of labeling and grouping tweets to be filtered at a later date)  #hhl08 was used and the tweet streams would be made available on the website later. This was a great way to gauge audience reactions and allow speakers to judge what worked and what didn’t. Could a lecturer use this feature to poll the learning experience of their learners? I honestly can’t see why not. This form of discrete evaluation would allow those shy or ‘not wanting to look stupid’ attitudes to disperse. Even though it’s not an anonymous method, there is something to be said for not having to speak out loud for the less confident learners.

At scheduled breaks in the conference I met up with a few of the, until then,  faceless tweeters. The power of this relatively new medium began to sink in. In the hotel after the conference I began to reflect on how to harness the potential of Twitter within educational  institutions, particularly my own. It seemed to come into it’s own when used as on a mobile platform. It was certainly ubiquitous (the buzz word at the conference) and had a certain amount of kudos with the likes of Stephen Fry an active user.

Shortly after I returned from the conference I made another stride deeper into the Twitterverse, I secured money to implement my m-SM (mobile Stage Management) pilot scheme. We now had 5 iPod Touch devices within the department, a perfect platform to begin using Twitter. Twitterific (an iPod application) was free and one of the first downloads on the scheme. At first the tweets were fairly banal and of a social nature but that was to be expected during this orientation period. The students were getting used to the devices at this stage. There also wasn’t an immediate uptake as neither myself nor my students really knew whether or not Twitter would be of any great use to us.

In a fairly radical move, earlier on this year I decided to experiment with Twitter on a larger scale. This time it was with the 1st Year Production students as part of their Stage Management brief. They were asked to set up both WordPress and Twitter accounts. I wanted to experiment with Twitter as a note-taking tool to help feed their reflective practice. I then asked them to RSS their tweets to a column in  their blogs, at a glance they could ‘collect’ their thoughts and idea’s in a micro format and use them to enhance their reflections. For an entire week they Twittered and blogged accordingly and the results went far beyond my expectations. With the exception of about 10% of the cohort, everybody used both mediums to communicate, network and reflect.

With the Twitter streams busier than ever, the 2nd Year SMs rejoined the party. With Twitter it does seem to be the rule that ‘the more the merrier’. I now notice distinct bucks and trends in the student experience from the constant stream of tweets emanating from the student network. They are open and honest about their evaluation of classes and learning sessions. The analysis can’t be that deep with a 140 character limit, but does it need to be?

I am still following all of the delegates I met in the Twtterverse at HHL07 and have built up a network of educationalists and learning technologists, most are on Twitter to collaborate and share. From these collaborations I have gleened many idea’s and useful links, the most significant of which being a tweet from Louise Drumm (Learning Technologist at Napier University) who has asked to use portions of my bog and some of my tweets as examples. I am also meeting Kath Trinder (Learning Technologist at Glasgow Caledonian University) for coffee next week to tap her for idea’s. Neither of which I have ever met in person, only through Twitter. It’s also a great networking tool!

Clay Shirky’s book ‘Here Come’s Everybody’ outlines some of the more serious usages of Twitter. An example he gives is of political activists in Egypt, where having a Twitter account has made the difference between imprisoned ativists being tortured on not. Quite simply, if a lot of people know that you are held captive in jail, then the chance of any human right violation against you is greatly reduced. All it takes is one tweet and the world knows of your plight and if you have sympathetic followers on Twitter then you have a great chance of escaping torture. Corrupt governments can’t shut down a free democratic online system when they aren’t directly hosting it.

In summary (140 characters) Twitter is:

A tool that has great educational potential, promotes networking and communication. Offers simple evaluation in the classroom and it’s cool.

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Paperwork, Sound & Light

February 6, 2009 at 7:14 pm (2nd Year Experience, assessment, learning)
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As has been the case every morning this week, the students had score reading classes. Today was their last day and they all came back with the usual enthusiasm for the sessions. I must see if I can get the go-ahead to schedule more in. While they were attending the class I set up (on Moodle) a Critical Incident form and notified them that they should fill it in. The nice thing about doing one of these forms online is that Moodle collates al of the answers onto one sheet, making it easier to evaluate group responses. Hopefully I will get a better response than last years paper-based attempt.

I began the class (again in the Chandler) by introducing an old friend of mine from my theater days, Ruth Alexander. She is currently the Company Stage Manager at Pitlochry Festival Theater, the only repertoire venue in the UK. Pitlochry have always been good employers of RSAMD graduates and are a leading voice in FST. The combination of this and it being a repertoire system made getting Ruth involved with my students all the more interesting for them. The PLX students came along to sit in and contribute.

After the complaints of over work and long hours during the Opera from this same group of students, this actually turned our to be timely. Ruth’s talk made it clear that professional theater and the style in which Pitlochry works is not for the work shy or those adverse to working long hours. She brought around a raft of paperwork examples and had a series of supporting Powerpoint slides. This was much more than any other guest lecturer had ever turned up with to one of my classes. The students didn’t have to write anything down as notes were also provided. I was really pleased with the way the session went and on leaving I arranged a venue visit with Ruth for both myself and my students.

After lunch we sat around a table and discussed the paperwork they had produced so far. We discussed corporate layouts and I gave a series of tips and tricks to help them to produce professional looking documentation. We also touched on eDocuments and how we would be exploring this at a later date. This is an area that, if used appropriately could modernise Stage Management. I have never attempted to teach this area before and it is one I am looking forward to immensely.

Later on (after a few minor technical hic-cups) we were joined by the PLX students and ran a Sound Plot for both shows. We agreed on a cue order and added some new cues. We then briefed them on all the LX cues that were required, leaving them with a free reign to design any extra cues themselves.

In all it was a slow and relaxed day. I left the students to rig lighting and continue designing the sound, the SMs were briefed on getting thier Prompt Copies ready for Monday, when they were to cue thier shows, leaving an hour on Monday morning to go over thier weekend homework and make corrections. Another day full of simulations of actual production sessions, but slowed to a crawl.  I wish I could use an actual production in this way as a learning environment, but the pressures placed on TPA by other departments agenda’s always makes this next to impossible. My aim is to use 2nd Year productions, such as the A2 Shakespeares as on such purely ‘learning production’ where the schedule is drawn out to accomodate both learning and reflection. A production where sessions can be paused for educational purposes and less emphasis is placed on simpley ‘gettin the show on’. That would leave 3rd Year as a purely production based forum for practise and the honing of skills.

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