Mahara Time

November 16, 2009 at 6:06 pm (1st Year Experience, Flexible Delivery, PG-Cert, Student Support, assessment, employability, learning)
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This session was changed at the last moment, again as a direct result of the previous sessions CIQ feedback. I had originally intended to cover evidence gathering, with specific focus on digital gathering e.g. hyperlinking, converting and embedding media etc… Reading the students responses over the last two sessions, it became evident that we needed to slow down and actually allow time for reflection to happen, especially during these introductory sessions. I can foresee this being a major problem in the future, knowing the content of the Production strand and the curriculum in which it’s embedded. There is simply not enough time for the students or staff to effectively reflect. As part of my 3 year PDP I intend to tackle this problem head on, perhaps using the Curriculum Reform process as a vehicle to solve this perennial issue. After all, there is little point in embedding reflection if there is no time in which to reflect. Last years cohort was a good example of how reflective practice was dropped as soon as the production throughput rolled into action. Out of a dozen or so keen reflective practitioners, only 3 now remain and they aren’t reflecting at the same consistent level as before.

The class was simple, without much planning required. I was in attendance as the students worked on their ePortfolio’s. We worked together, solving problems that they had come across between sessions. It was hoped by taking this approach, the slower members of the class would catch up with their peers. It was great to see the students helping each other and not always coming directly to me for advice, this seemed to enforce the belief that you should always plan your IT classes around one PC to 2 students, as it encourages collaborative learning. It is a method I witness every day when my two sons collaborate on a video game (the Lego Star Wars games in particular), they achieve much more when working together, though in the early days this wasn’t always the case! This approach allows frustrations to be shared and eventually dispelled through working the problem in a methodical manner, I believe that this is the same for young adults at varying levels of IT competency.

I opened up a Moodle chat room on the front page of the VLE, so students could go elsewhere and work if they feel that they needed a workstation of their own. They could then be in direct contact with me or their peers and in turn ask questions. It seemed to be a success, so I left the Chat room up on Moodle, to add an extra level of support to any student having problems with either Mahara and the VLE. I shall monitor this over the next few weeks to evaluate it’s effectiveness and my work load!

I finished the session with a final assignment for the students to complete, which was:

Pecha Kucha Assignment

“You have 6 minutes, 40 seconds and 20 slides and your time starts NOW!

It’s a game.

The rules are simple. Anybody can present but you’re allowed 20 images that you show for 20 seconds each giving you a total of 6 minutes and 40 seconds before the next presenter is up.You can’t spend 6:40 on one image/slide or 2:20 or any other denomination you can only spend 20 seconds on each image/slide. It’s all part of the fun and keeps presentations concise. If the facilitator decides then the presentation may be open for discussion with the audience otherwise it’s straight on to the next presenter.

Each presentation is pre-loaded onto a laptop (Powerpoint or Keynote) and then is ready to go. The facilitator will make a brief introduction of the presenter and then the talk begins. Each presentation must be configured to advance every 20 seconds, so it’s up to the speaker to keep pace with their slides.”

Pecha Kucha is a style of presentation with rules governing the focus, time and content. Your assignment is as follows:

For Wednesday 11th November in the Fyffe Lecture Hall.

Select an element (or elements) of your learning so far i.e. during Creative Beginnings and/or PP1a. You may decide to present all or some of the processes you have experienced so far. These may be a mixture of sessions you enjoyed, didn’t enjoy or were confused about.

Using your reflections so far, summarise your thoughts by selecting 20 still images (no text) that are relevant to your experiences. You should then prepare a script for your presentation giving 20 seconds to each slide.

During your presentation you may use your script (no need to memorise it!) and the slides will run in the background (with fixed timings), emphasising your words. The key to Pecha Kucha is to rehearse beforehand as 20 seconds can feel like 2 minutes. You will be presenting on your own with the remainder of the class as your audience.

Please research Pecha Kucha online to familiarise yourself with the concept.

The entire presentation should last 6 minutes and 40 seconds exactly.

Pecha Kucha helps you to; build self-confidence, focus on the content you are presenting, summarise data, present concise reflections, evidence your learning and build on public speaking skills.

Each session will be recorded for you to use on your ePortfolio.

I wanted to end these Introductory sessions with a completely non-IT method of reflection and a way in which the students could summarise their learning achievements and issues in as concise a way as possible (bearing in mind the size of the group). Pecha Kucha is an ideal vehicle to end, not just a series of sessions, but also a module.

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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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An Introduction to ePortfolios

October 20, 2009 at 8:59 pm (1st Year Experience, PG-Cert, Student Support, learning)
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It felt good to get the class size back down to something nearing manageable. I had half the cohort in two repeated sessions. This class was designed to introduce Mahara to the year group and to set a small assignment for next week, which would start the reflective ball rolling. First of all came the task of familiarising the learners with the relevant tools. The TPA lecturing team had met earlier that morning and I proposed that we use Mahara as the exclusive tool for evidence gathering and reflection with this new cohort of first years. We didn’t want to make it completely compulsory as that could disadvantage some students, I knew there was at least one who was inexperienced (and hence uncomfortable) with the concept of using digital tools. We opted to ’strongly encourage’ the cohort to adopt Mahara for the duration of their 1st Year. After which, they could either continue or opt for a different set of tools e.g. another ePortfolio or paper based solution. We had all been encouraging the students to gather digital evidence since the module began and today was a chance to consolidate these artefacts and offer a place to store, reflect and present them.

I must take a moment to thank my colleagues for openly collaborating with me on this project, without their continual encouragement through reminding the students to collect these artefacts, I wouldn’t have been able to progress as far as I have done so far. We have now purchased a further 2 flip camera’s (4 in total) to assist the students in this process, but most have used their own mobile phones and recording devices.Furthermore, they have done so with enthusiasm. As one of them stated to me today, “It’s much better than doing an essay!” as he slunk off, video camera in hand. It occurred to me at that moment, how these tools could be motivational in nature. I felt we had, at last, found the tools which were exactly right for the generation.

The class itself was short, but I made another modest discovery; as there weren’t enough Mac’s for everyone and some had to share, I was reminded of a theory that I had heard at the Handheld Learning conference earlier this month. It stated that you should never supply a pupil with a computer each, instead one between two was a much better solution. The students collaborated much better in this way, working out problems together by sharing knowledge. Though the original quote referred to primary school children, it would seem that the same was true of young adults. The result was that there were much less questions asked of me and the session merged into an exploratory workshop, which suited the purposes of learning much better.

I had converted a series of short video clips, taken by the students during an earlier introduction to Stage Management session in preparation for this session. These were taken on the flip camera’s and uploaded into a files repository on Moodle for the specific purpose of providing artefacts for the students to use.

Once the main features of Mahara had been explored, each student set up a view entitled “Introduction to TPA” (the current module) and they then started to befriend each other on Mahara in much the same way you would do on Facebook or Bebo. Invites were sent out to each other and the lecturing staff, allowing everyone access to see their first views. I then set them a small assignment for the following week, which was:

Introduction to ePortfolios
For Wednesday 28th October please upload any relevant media that you have gathered into your Introduction to TPA view. Choose an aspect of the module so far that you wish to reflect on and write a short blog, considering the following:

  • What you did well?
  • What you didn’t do well?
  • What you will do next?

Please make sure that you have invited the following to see your view:

  • All TPA 1 Students
  • All TPA Lecturers

Your reflections should be supported by the media that you have uploaded.

Use this guide to remind you how to set up a view.

This assignment was designed to set up next weeks session which is based around reflection. To get them started with the process I uploaded and asked them to read a short 3 page paper by the HEA. It was written in a non-academic tone and summed up the process of reflective practice both simply and coherently, ideal for new adopters of this learning process.

What did I do well?

I felt that the session took on a life an purpose of it’s own. The students took control of their own learning and drove the pedagogy forward themselves. They were enthusiastic and determined, finding value in what they were learning. I wanted the session to be light and uncomplicated, with the minimum amount of input from myself. This approach seemed to work and with few exceptions the session had a flow and real purpose. I didn’t rely on fancy graphical slides as a backdrop to my delivery, instead (and probably for the first time) I relaxed and allowed the students to learn in their own time.

What didn’t I do well?

I got a few basics wrong during this session. Firstly, I didn’t achieve all that I wanted to, I felt that the time I had was too short to effectively embed the principles of ePortfolio’s effectively. The lack of computer’s, though it turned out to be advantageous in one respect was detrimental in an other. The students who couldn’t log into their profiles and were simply commenting on their partners efforts, where unable to familiarise themselves as effectively as those actually ‘doing it’. In this respect I left a number of important e-Portfolio functions to the students to work out for themselves. Perhaps this isn’t such a bad thing on reflection, at the time I wondered if this was going to be detrimental to some of them.

What will I do next?

I have already offered two students extra tutorial time as they were struggling to grasp the software and the principals behind e-Portfolio’s. Though they appeared keen to learn I felt that it was only fair to offer an extra session and perhaps scaffold them at their pace. I am also looking into getting access to more computer’s, perhaps in the Student IT suite instead, in order for each student to participate more fully. I don’t want to loose the collaboratory nature of the session, so perhaps I could find a solution that does both?

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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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Flexible Delivery

January 8, 2009 at 8:27 pm (Flexible Delivery, PG-Cert, learning)
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Over the last few weeks students on the PG-Cert class have been furiously posting on the Academies Moodle site. We were each given an enhancement theme to research and present our findings on individual forum posts. In addition to encouraging others to post and keeping our own spaces topped up with enhancement information, we were expected to contribute to the other themes postings. The Enhancement themes were divided up as follows:

The First Year Experience
Integrated Assessment
Flexible Delivery
Research – Teaching Linkages
Meeting Student Support Needs
Employability – Skills for Life
Assessment

At first I struggled to get my forum off the ground, I seemed to be the only one posting. I reflected on WordPress, searching for a solution, when it struck me that perhaps I was being too technical (not sure if thats the right word?) and decided to bring the subject closer to home, especially with my posed questions. i.e. I aimed the content directly at how we were currently benefiting on the PG-Cert course by using a flexible, online approach. It seemed to work and the posts began to appear.

It was an interesting exercise. Studying flexible learning whilst partaking in it. At times I did feel as if I was cheating! The others didn’t have the benefit of a live scenario in which to test their themes. By the end of the research period, I had very little to do but encourage and answer the others questions. They all seemed appreciative of the effort I had put in, as I was of them and what they had provided. It really felt like a community of learners, communicating and collaborating effectively.

There were a few things that I would do differently next time though and I began to address them nearer the end:

1. Change the subject line when posting a new thought or sub-category.
2. Maintain a better balance between reporting in an Academic style and a lighter more social tone.
3. Present more research into the pitfalls of the subject matter. I don’t feel I presented a well balanced discussion.
4. Reduce the amount of personal opinion i.e. non-cited theories.

What do I still need to do?

Having scraped the surface of flexible delivery I am, more than ever, convinced that it is the way to go. My worry is that I have been blinded by technology. Even though I know that eLearning is not all that a flexible program would have to offer, but merely a very effective tool that helps facilitate it, both terms have almost become synonymous with each other. I must separate the two in my head as I still refer to a flexible program as being a wholly technological solution.

I still have to look, in more depth, at how best to assess on a flexible learning activity. It would seem that self and peer assessment are the most popular solutions, or at least the ones that are cited most often. More research is needed in this area, I am particularly interested in how to assess reflective journals, especially online blogs.

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