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!
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