iLearn provides a framework for developing engaging activities that take into account a number of different branches of development from both a professional and learner perspective. The benefit of the framework is it enables us to take a "big picture" approach to activity development, ensuring we develop activities that are rich in technology, rich in content, focused on the learner, and not designed as simple rote tasks. It also ensures we (as facilitators) review our process of development.
As we become more familiar with Web 2.0 apps, we will find too that integrating higher levels of technology is easier. If we review our use of technology against both the iLearn framework and Blooms Digital Taxonomy, we can ensure the activity is pitched at the right level, or is ensuring an outcome that is consistent with the intentions of the activity.
While programming each term, I find it highly valuable to review the iLearn framework, Blooms and Apple's CBL framework. Each of these demonstrate and help to structure the integration of high-level technology, while ensuring that each activity is developed as learner-centric.
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Scootle! (Module 9)
Scootle is an impressive resource. I have had the joy of using it in the past for activities, resources and obtaining information on food and hospitality based learning. It is often difficult to find useful resources when it comes to these topic areas, and I would like to spend some time getting to know the guidelines better for submission so I can contribute some learning and content resources to Scootle.
Social Media
The impact of the online social experience on student learning is something I am particularly interested in, and think there is still significant research that needs to be made into the reality of this experience on students. The rate and depth to which students are involved and immersed in social medias is somewhat disturbing, and often creates many behavioural and engagement issues for teachers. The question for me is, how do we both embrace the technologies and ensure students are getting the best from the use of them?
The social network sites such as Facebook and Second Life (purely from the perspective of Peer-to-Peer interaction and individualised experience) are not conducive to educational use. However, like with YouTube, it is the way and extent to which it is used that makes the tool worthwhile. Often I have waled around rooms to see students engaged in YouTube videos that are not on task, or browsing Google for many articles that are not educationally based, and yet it is advocated that we use these resources (and why not - they are extremely useful!). The way in which they are used and the management of the experience we want the students engaged in is what will determine the potential for the tool. If, in the case of Facebook, we use it to form groups and manage students from that perspective, we take away the individualised aspect. Yet, by then asking students to post a question to their facebook wall about the topic being studied, they are gaining on the learning and experience of others. Suddenly, the tool is no longer a personalised social tool, but an instrument of learning and collaborative thought.
These are just thoughts, and I am yet to prove them to be even remotely possible, but I feel there is a place for this style of learning, and if we use the tools that are already available to us, it might just pave the way for deeper, more social collaborative learning experiences that maximise student learning.
Social Media
The impact of the online social experience on student learning is something I am particularly interested in, and think there is still significant research that needs to be made into the reality of this experience on students. The rate and depth to which students are involved and immersed in social medias is somewhat disturbing, and often creates many behavioural and engagement issues for teachers. The question for me is, how do we both embrace the technologies and ensure students are getting the best from the use of them?
The social network sites such as Facebook and Second Life (purely from the perspective of Peer-to-Peer interaction and individualised experience) are not conducive to educational use. However, like with YouTube, it is the way and extent to which it is used that makes the tool worthwhile. Often I have waled around rooms to see students engaged in YouTube videos that are not on task, or browsing Google for many articles that are not educationally based, and yet it is advocated that we use these resources (and why not - they are extremely useful!). The way in which they are used and the management of the experience we want the students engaged in is what will determine the potential for the tool. If, in the case of Facebook, we use it to form groups and manage students from that perspective, we take away the individualised aspect. Yet, by then asking students to post a question to their facebook wall about the topic being studied, they are gaining on the learning and experience of others. Suddenly, the tool is no longer a personalised social tool, but an instrument of learning and collaborative thought.
These are just thoughts, and I am yet to prove them to be even remotely possible, but I feel there is a place for this style of learning, and if we use the tools that are already available to us, it might just pave the way for deeper, more social collaborative learning experiences that maximise student learning.
The social, or community, experience (Module 10)
In the past, I have spent some time working on a Ning, and have used Facebook Groups, built Wiki platforms using various free tools, and used XWiki Collaborative tools to manage classrooms of students and projects. There is significant interest and research paving the way for the use of collaborative online communal environments (such as Wiki's, Ning's Facebook, Google Groups etc), and it may be beneficial to students that teachers immerse the learning experience in the areas of their life that they are so constantly engaged - social media.
The evolution of Facebook has incorporated Groups, Pages and Communities which is beginning to emulate packages like Nings - which in themselves are a social collaboration tool designed to focus on the community rather than the individual user. This has its benefits, and can create a better, more rounded social experience while enabling the student to learn.
Yet, the issue will be the adaptation to the new environment and the commitment for the students to check the page for updates etc. If we were to adapt our use of the Ning to a FaceBook Group, we could create all the same content, with the same privacy settings, yet the student is already plugged into the interface. It also supports our quest to integrate real life learning experiences where learning becomes a product of experience, and knowledge is build on the experience and knowledge of others. Status notifications from the group can be easily posted to each students wall, and the ease of communication exists, as many of our students rarely check their email.
As an example of this, I am part of the Apple Distinguished Educators program. We have a fantastic Social Collaboration tool which was built by Apple to replace a Ning we were using. Unfortunately, it is not often used by ADE's as it is not connected to their every day experience on the internet - regardless of where it is placed, it tends to be an additional thing we have to do. If, for example, it was plugged into Facebook, it might be more accessible and easier for me to update and participate in as I am already on Facebook about 4 times a day.
This is not to say that all students or situations could be managed correctly, but it is a way to tackle the problem of ensuring students are connected to their learning. Furthermore, it might even enable us to manage their inappropriate use of Social Media's in the classroom.
For social and community learning to be effective, we need to make sure that we are not trying to emulate the social experience, but be involved in it. Web apps like Ning's and Wikis are one avenue of doing this, it just needs to not be a separate product, but an extension of products that are already used so students are readily adapted to the product.
A Wiki is a fantastic way for individuals to collaborate on a single project, or even to help develop ideas further and build on knowledge. The content needs to be monitored, as in my experience students often use it to gain attention by posting inappropriate comments, however if managed properly it can be a very useful tool.
The additional benefits of any of these tools is the ability to integrate web 2.0 tools (called embedding) into them. Take a look at Twiddla - an online collaborative white board tool that enables students to work on ideas and concepts together, which to minimise the interface, using their API, can be embedded and is a great way to enhance a Ning!
Overall, I think any of these tools are great, they just have to be used and managed in a way that makes it useful and not additional to the experience.
The evolution of Facebook has incorporated Groups, Pages and Communities which is beginning to emulate packages like Nings - which in themselves are a social collaboration tool designed to focus on the community rather than the individual user. This has its benefits, and can create a better, more rounded social experience while enabling the student to learn.
Yet, the issue will be the adaptation to the new environment and the commitment for the students to check the page for updates etc. If we were to adapt our use of the Ning to a FaceBook Group, we could create all the same content, with the same privacy settings, yet the student is already plugged into the interface. It also supports our quest to integrate real life learning experiences where learning becomes a product of experience, and knowledge is build on the experience and knowledge of others. Status notifications from the group can be easily posted to each students wall, and the ease of communication exists, as many of our students rarely check their email.
As an example of this, I am part of the Apple Distinguished Educators program. We have a fantastic Social Collaboration tool which was built by Apple to replace a Ning we were using. Unfortunately, it is not often used by ADE's as it is not connected to their every day experience on the internet - regardless of where it is placed, it tends to be an additional thing we have to do. If, for example, it was plugged into Facebook, it might be more accessible and easier for me to update and participate in as I am already on Facebook about 4 times a day.
This is not to say that all students or situations could be managed correctly, but it is a way to tackle the problem of ensuring students are connected to their learning. Furthermore, it might even enable us to manage their inappropriate use of Social Media's in the classroom.
For social and community learning to be effective, we need to make sure that we are not trying to emulate the social experience, but be involved in it. Web apps like Ning's and Wikis are one avenue of doing this, it just needs to not be a separate product, but an extension of products that are already used so students are readily adapted to the product.
A Wiki is a fantastic way for individuals to collaborate on a single project, or even to help develop ideas further and build on knowledge. The content needs to be monitored, as in my experience students often use it to gain attention by posting inappropriate comments, however if managed properly it can be a very useful tool.
The additional benefits of any of these tools is the ability to integrate web 2.0 tools (called embedding) into them. Take a look at Twiddla - an online collaborative white board tool that enables students to work on ideas and concepts together, which to minimise the interface, using their API, can be embedded and is a great way to enhance a Ning!
Overall, I think any of these tools are great, they just have to be used and managed in a way that makes it useful and not additional to the experience.
Feed Me (an RSS feed!) (Module 8)
RSS feeds, although a fairly underused and older technology, can be a useful way to maintain connectivity with various news and information sites. In the past, I have used RSS feeds to display lists of videos from the MasterChef website within MyPLS, so students get an up-to-date feed of videos that might capture their interest during the term, or for displaying news articles from the Sydney Morning Herald site's Food site. In fact, if you have the Delicious toolbar installed, you can add an RSS feed to your Live Bookmarks too!
With some basic knowledge, it would be fairly easy for us to integrate the Podcast module into our teaching, and display the feed from YouTube or a similar video hosting site in a page on MyPLS (or another LMS system). This would help us keep track of the videos we were posting, and minimise the amount of work it takes to continuously update two pages; One page for hosting the video and one page to display it to students / provide them with a link. The RSS feed would automatically update the list each time you add a video to YouTube (for example).
The further benefit of RSS feeds is that they are generally pretty flexible, so from a developers perspective we can add style elements to them, making the feed more interesting and easier to read.
Another great (and fairly underused) resource!
Check out the feed for Sydney Morning Herald below!
With some basic knowledge, it would be fairly easy for us to integrate the Podcast module into our teaching, and display the feed from YouTube or a similar video hosting site in a page on MyPLS (or another LMS system). This would help us keep track of the videos we were posting, and minimise the amount of work it takes to continuously update two pages; One page for hosting the video and one page to display it to students / provide them with a link. The RSS feed would automatically update the list each time you add a video to YouTube (for example).
The further benefit of RSS feeds is that they are generally pretty flexible, so from a developers perspective we can add style elements to them, making the feed more interesting and easier to read.
Another great (and fairly underused) resource!
Check out the feed for Sydney Morning Herald below!
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Bookmarking (Module 7)
Investigation of a social bookmarking tool I have not yet had an encounter with, was somewhat interesting for me. I have used other tools to manage bookmarks, but was not really aware of the power of something like Delicious.
Not only does it have the power to save and manage bookmarks all over the web, but integrating a social networking experience brings to it a new dimension of usability that may help students to track resources available to them in class activities, assessments and more. I have found that connecting my delicious account to other people accounts enables me to see what things they are interested in, or to follow a particular folder of bookmarks. This would be particularly useful when managing resources for assessments for students. You could even enable differentiation with this type of social bookmarking, as different resource networks could be setup for each group of students.
Overall, I would be interested to further investigate the uses of this tool, and use it in an assessment or ongoing class work for providing students with links to resources.
Not only does it have the power to save and manage bookmarks all over the web, but integrating a social networking experience brings to it a new dimension of usability that may help students to track resources available to them in class activities, assessments and more. I have found that connecting my delicious account to other people accounts enables me to see what things they are interested in, or to follow a particular folder of bookmarks. This would be particularly useful when managing resources for assessments for students. You could even enable differentiation with this type of social bookmarking, as different resource networks could be setup for each group of students.
Overall, I would be interested to further investigate the uses of this tool, and use it in an assessment or ongoing class work for providing students with links to resources.
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Maps of the mind! (Module 6)
Mind mapping is one of the most useful tools we have. It gives students a chance to think and flesh out ideas, and gives facilitators a chance to review their ideas and make sense of the pattern of thought, which discussion can often miss.
I spent some time looking at Bubbl.us, and created a mind map, uploaded and attached below. I would say the interface is good, and gives students a chance to have a go, without too much complexity. Some of the 2.0 features took some getting used to, but overall it was a good web-app.
I really like Glogster. I think the collaborative power of the app is going to provide facilitators with the ability to get multiple students contributing to an overall project. This would work great with Challenge Based Learning projects, and group assessment strategies.
Overall, I think I was introduced to some useful tools, and would plan to use them in the classroom for many activities.
Check out my MindMap!
I spent some time looking at Bubbl.us, and created a mind map, uploaded and attached below. I would say the interface is good, and gives students a chance to have a go, without too much complexity. Some of the 2.0 features took some getting used to, but overall it was a good web-app.
I really like Glogster. I think the collaborative power of the app is going to provide facilitators with the ability to get multiple students contributing to an overall project. This would work great with Challenge Based Learning projects, and group assessment strategies.
Overall, I think I was introduced to some useful tools, and would plan to use them in the classroom for many activities.
Check out my MindMap!
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Frame by frame... (Module 5)
Podcasting in my classroom is integral to the success of my students, especially in the early parts of the course. Being a facilitator of the AQF Hospitality course, I find that students struggle in the first parts of the course, remembering names of specific cuts, processes, and concepts. The way I combat this is to use video of entire lessons to help students learn and recall information by being able to revisit the lesson content over and over again.
I did find it time consuming to have to go through the video and edit it, and getting it to both look right and not be too long can also be an issue, but it was worth it in the end.
Enough talking! Lets look at one video I have made and used in the past. I do plan to do more of these, but shorter and more succinct... Maybe in my holidays :)
Enjoy!
As I said, they need refinement and they are a bit long. But you get the idea!
I did find it time consuming to have to go through the video and edit it, and getting it to both look right and not be too long can also be an issue, but it was worth it in the end.
Enough talking! Lets look at one video I have made and used in the past. I do plan to do more of these, but shorter and more succinct... Maybe in my holidays :)
Enjoy!
As I said, they need refinement and they are a bit long. But you get the idea!
Flick me! (Module 4)
Flickr... For many people, the drive for public appreciation and recognition can change their perspective, especially on the significant issues of privacy. It is a fine line to draw on how much information to actually place on the internet, and the ease of which this information can be taken for personal use can cause much concern.
For instance, from an educational perspective, we could not use Flickr to save or share photo's, which is essentially what the application's function is. It is designed to host and share albums of photos. Given, those albums can be made private, but then it simply becomes organised cloud storage, and not really a place for sharing images (as is its intention). Now, if that album was private, or open only to those that had the passcode for it, then it could be useful - but we still have to ask: Who is the audience and what do they plan to do with those pictures? As the reality is, those pictures are easily downloaded and used in other mediums, or even posted to not-so-secure albums in another persons account, Facebook or similar. Case in point: My wife is part of a forum. One day, a person joined and started chatting. A while went by and pictures, Facebook accounts, and websites were setup with the persons name and photo's pf her children. After about 4 months, it was discovered (and is now under investigation) that this person had actually been following and stealing photos and stories from another persons blog, Facebook account and forum postings on a similar site, and "living" through this person... So, who's looking at your pictures?
In regards to copyright, we the author has to consider that any person could potentially steal and use out photo's for their own use. Either we are happy for this to occur, and we license our work under the Creative Commons License system, or we watermark our images.
Creative Commons is a fantastic organisation that allows material a certain license for sharing under certain conditions. Much of the PHP and Javascript code I write is licensed under the same system - I dont mind who uses it, but it must be credited correctly. This is called Attribution. There are other levels, but the emphasis is on collaboration and ensuring credit is given where it is due.
Overall, I think there is a use for Flickr, it simply has to be managed and we have to make sure that anything we upload, we are happy for others to use.
Anyway, below is a photo I will upload to my Flickr account.
For instance, from an educational perspective, we could not use Flickr to save or share photo's, which is essentially what the application's function is. It is designed to host and share albums of photos. Given, those albums can be made private, but then it simply becomes organised cloud storage, and not really a place for sharing images (as is its intention). Now, if that album was private, or open only to those that had the passcode for it, then it could be useful - but we still have to ask: Who is the audience and what do they plan to do with those pictures? As the reality is, those pictures are easily downloaded and used in other mediums, or even posted to not-so-secure albums in another persons account, Facebook or similar. Case in point: My wife is part of a forum. One day, a person joined and started chatting. A while went by and pictures, Facebook accounts, and websites were setup with the persons name and photo's pf her children. After about 4 months, it was discovered (and is now under investigation) that this person had actually been following and stealing photos and stories from another persons blog, Facebook account and forum postings on a similar site, and "living" through this person... So, who's looking at your pictures?
In regards to copyright, we the author has to consider that any person could potentially steal and use out photo's for their own use. Either we are happy for this to occur, and we license our work under the Creative Commons License system, or we watermark our images.
Creative Commons is a fantastic organisation that allows material a certain license for sharing under certain conditions. Much of the PHP and Javascript code I write is licensed under the same system - I dont mind who uses it, but it must be credited correctly. This is called Attribution. There are other levels, but the emphasis is on collaboration and ensuring credit is given where it is due.
Overall, I think there is a use for Flickr, it simply has to be managed and we have to make sure that anything we upload, we are happy for others to use.
Anyway, below is a photo I will upload to my Flickr account.
Monday, November 8, 2010
Google Docs (Module 3)
Google is a company that spends a significant amount of time researching the needs of consumers, and providing easy to use, stable web based applications to meet these requirements. Google Docs is no exception to this...
Docs is an amazing tool, that has so much untapped potential. Spreadsheets, forms, and documents are easy to share and discuss, and the application integrates with many other Google technologies, making many simple tasks streamlined. Some examples:
Assessments for students I can create in Google Spreadsheets, and port it to an online Form. The online form is then accessed by the students and the assessment completed. The final page of the form is used to survey the students on the content of the unit, or the assessment specifically (depending on what is appropriate). Check this out as an example: Google Form for Assessment
I access Google Search and conduct a search. I can nominate a number of documents found during that search and save them to my Google Docs account. Saving these files and making them shared means students can access the documents, without me having to download and re-upload them to a server (such as MyPLS).
There are many applications where this would be useful, and I propose that the technology will only improve over time.
Docs is an amazing tool, that has so much untapped potential. Spreadsheets, forms, and documents are easy to share and discuss, and the application integrates with many other Google technologies, making many simple tasks streamlined. Some examples:
Assessments for students I can create in Google Spreadsheets, and port it to an online Form. The online form is then accessed by the students and the assessment completed. The final page of the form is used to survey the students on the content of the unit, or the assessment specifically (depending on what is appropriate). Check this out as an example: Google Form for Assessment
I access Google Search and conduct a search. I can nominate a number of documents found during that search and save them to my Google Docs account. Saving these files and making them shared means students can access the documents, without me having to download and re-upload them to a server (such as MyPLS).
There are many applications where this would be useful, and I propose that the technology will only improve over time.
Blogs (Module 2)
What of a reflection of the humble blog? I guess from my perspective the blog is almost a way for people to share opinions and thoughts on a open, but controlled environment. Blogs are something like a newspaper, but (in many cases), without the facts that *usually* proliferate professional articles. For us as teachers (facilitators) they can be a way to share in a rich community of educational experience, and experience the challenges of others in a deep, somewhat anonymous environment. The complexity remains though, that we know how to use them.
I have to admit that my experience of Blogging from a student perspective is that it is somewhat misinterpreted, and often seen as superfluous to an end result. Students are so used to the short, slang-style conversation of Twitter and Facebook that to write more than 140 characters (Twitter) seems all too much. I think the question is not so much about the application of the Blog in the classroom, but the purpose behind it.
Purpose of the blog can come from many places, but we have to ensure that it is explicit so students see the point. Without purpose, the intention of the Blog is lost, and the result will, more often than not, become a less than sufficient result. Take a look at assessment as an example.
Assessment in the past has taken shape of questions to problems that require answers, or problems that require solutions. But, with the shift of assessment to challenging, project style tasks, the blog becomes a communication tool; more than a place to simply complete written answers. It is a place to explore emotional input and response, a place to discuss problems, and obtain feedback. What if a teacher actually completed the blog with the students, to see if the purpose was sufficient to maintain engagement and create enough conversation to explore this emotive response?
For me, a blog is a great tool, so long as it is used for the right purpose, and that the intention behind it is to create an ongoing pattern of development, communication, feedback and response to solution. A diary, if you will.
I have to admit that my experience of Blogging from a student perspective is that it is somewhat misinterpreted, and often seen as superfluous to an end result. Students are so used to the short, slang-style conversation of Twitter and Facebook that to write more than 140 characters (Twitter) seems all too much. I think the question is not so much about the application of the Blog in the classroom, but the purpose behind it.
Purpose of the blog can come from many places, but we have to ensure that it is explicit so students see the point. Without purpose, the intention of the Blog is lost, and the result will, more often than not, become a less than sufficient result. Take a look at assessment as an example.
Assessment in the past has taken shape of questions to problems that require answers, or problems that require solutions. But, with the shift of assessment to challenging, project style tasks, the blog becomes a communication tool; more than a place to simply complete written answers. It is a place to explore emotional input and response, a place to discuss problems, and obtain feedback. What if a teacher actually completed the blog with the students, to see if the purpose was sufficient to maintain engagement and create enough conversation to explore this emotive response?
For me, a blog is a great tool, so long as it is used for the right purpose, and that the intention behind it is to create an ongoing pattern of development, communication, feedback and response to solution. A diary, if you will.
Web 2.0 Introduction (Module 1)
The concept of Web 2.0 is interesting, especially as the terminology and tools have been around for so long, they are becoming a way to describe a multitude of tools, many of which are done so incorrectly. Similar to many physical technologies, it seems that the ability for people to adapt is actually restricting the growth of the tools that could be possible with the scope of programming languages and server-side scripting available. As a consequence, the tools are built on interfaces that are not evolved, and are often hard to learn and difficult to sustain interest in. In comparison, the streamline design of iOS software (and subsequently WebKit, the web port of iOS) enables sophisticated designs and application development, maintaining user interaction and consistency, so evolved interface design can prevail.
Nonetheless, the nature of the web is enabling us, the user, to see the possibilities and expect more from developers. It would be good to see the educational community adapt to these technologies at a higher rate, so the potential can be realised both for students and for facilitators.
Nonetheless, the nature of the web is enabling us, the user, to see the possibilities and expect more from developers. It would be good to see the educational community adapt to these technologies at a higher rate, so the potential can be realised both for students and for facilitators.
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