Learning Technologist Learning

[mark-a-williams]

Analytics: getting helpful information out of an LMS

At the recent Australian Moot, a hot, emerging topic was “analytics”. Analytics have the potential to help students, teachers and institutions make better choices that lead to improved learning out…

Excellent article on Learning Analaytics for a range of users.

[mark-a-williams]

Reflections on #Digifest14

The JISC organised event presented an opportunity to meet colleagues from across the UK, speak with old friends and make some new ones, set against a backdrop of innovative practice around information and educational technologies.

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An example of a learning resource I have created for staff that shows how to populate a module within the VLE with the essential information that students need. The resource utilises short video as well as text, to suit different learning styles (Honey & Mumford) and contexts.

[pgche]

Open Badges as a digital credentialing system

A resource I created as part of the x.0 sessions I deliver for staff using technology in teaching.

This video offers a short introduction to open badges and their role in supporting  learning

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PGCHE Summer School

Last week (30th June - 4th July) saw our group engage in a 5 day long summer school intensive, which explored a variety of learning spaces, through an equally diverse range of teaching activities and delivery methods.

A couple of themes arose from the week's activities; those of communication, fear and trust. Creating dance duets allowed us to explore the idea of communication through touch and movement. Though the environment of the performance studio felt easy and familiar, it was an uncomfortable and unusual experience devising a dance duet with a colleague that was more intimate than any of us had been with each other throughout the year. However, it didn't really feel unnatural and this was because the tutor introduced the concept to us through a series of activities that eased us into the space and made touch a familiar and neccessary way to explore the subject. This learning by doing approach worked perfectly for the performance activity and the tutor acted as a facilitator, seemlessly moving between roles of teacher, performer, participant and student. 

Another activity forced me into another uncomfortable place and that was improvisation. I am a tireless planner when it comes to teaching delivery and like to make sure I know exactly what I am going to say before I say it. Within my role, I often have the space to do this, but as colleagues identified, sometimes you have to "wing it" at the last minute if a colleague is off ill and you need to cover. I really enjoy "off the cuff" stream of conciousness writing, which I'm doing now, but put into a verbal context and I dry up, so when asked to devise one minute of improvised chat for a radio show, I felt paralysed by fear. It's such a strange thought that 1 minute of your life can really induce that level of apprehension but it wasn't an uncommon feeling within the group. I don't neccessarily feel unconfident in what I say, but more that I'm not in control if I haven't planned it. The difficulty is that the longer I had to plan my one minute of fame, the more fear crept in, something that one of our tutors identified as being problematic in the "group crit" situation. Slow breathing does help in these situations though and I thought back to the dance activity which was a very mindful and internal place to be and without fear. In these situations, I seem to turn towards trying to get a laugh out of people, maybe because I have a touch of what our tutor called "imposter syndrome", where you aren't sure you have the authority to talk about what you're talking about. Anyway, I came up with the concept of "Deep Learning Minute" based on Alan Partridge's Deep Bath and also Biggs' deep and surface approaches to learning, one of our first PGCHE readings.

Place yourself in your students' shoes, being thrown straight in to the Lion's den in the first few weeks.

The activities of the week took me beyond levels of comfort, but having an open mind, placing trust in colleagues and being part of such a supportive community, made the experience enjoyable and easy to engage with. The format would really lend itself to induction activities for students, encouraging breaking down barriers, communicating and collaborating at early stages of the university experience.

[pgche]

Link to download our improvised radio broadcast as part of PGCHE sumer school.

[pgche]

A methodology for identifying ways in which technology might impact learning and teaching

A presentation made using HTML5 and Reveal.JS that explores the SAMR methodology for technology choice and adoption in the teaching and learning environment. Using this model, we can constantly develop and critically reflect on our use of technology within the Leaning and Teaching Environment.

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I thought I'd put up my notes from the year. Mainly ramblings, possibly not connected and developed, but probably informing some of my formal written work.

I've just returned to these at the end of August 2014 as I've been thinking about our first converstations around transformative reflection and particularly the Brookfields reflective lenses stuff from the summer school and looking at a mirror of what you might become. I realised one of our first tasks was talking about the type of classroom climate we were trying to create. 

I mentioned that I was keen to explore more workshop based approaches rather than the traditional chalk and talk lecture approach and I realised that over the last year, I have been able to put this into practice through exploring learning theories such as Communities of Practice and learning partnerships in workshops for Staff.

Brookfield, S., (1995) Becoming a Critically Reflective Teacher San Francisco: Jossey-Bass

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A review of my own development in teaching and learning throughout the PGCHE course.

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This assignment documents student learning experience and evidences development of a teaching activity that supports developing this.

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This session was delivered to Creative Events Management students in Stage 5, but it was also identified that it would be a useful lesson for other Stage 5 students. CEM students use these tools within collaborative projects in year 3, so it is important to consider digital identity and footprint before immersing oneself in the use of web tools.

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This document forms the 1st peer observation element of the PGCHE. Here, I was observered by a fellow student delivering a session on collaborative practice to a group of Academic staff.

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This assignment provides context for "professional practice" presentations delivered to the group. I found the distinction between the profession and the teaching awkward, if part of your role is to educate should that not form part of your profession? i think in this manner, this could be approached more holistically.

As of 27th August 2014, I still havent received a mark or feedback on this assignment, so can't reflect upon that.

[mark-a-williams]

Example of Google Forms as Entry/Exit tickets

Added this as an example of how nicely google forms, sheets and charts play together and how you can easily publish data to the web via a site or a blog. This example might be used as an Entry/Exit ticket for students strating to use print making

This example comes from a presentation I made about collaborative working with Google Apps for Education.

[mark-a-williams]

DIY Lecture Streaming using Google Hangouts On Air

As part of an ongoing series of events aimed at establishing an online community of practice in Educational Technology, I tested out the Hangouts on Air and Youtube functionality that Google Apps For Education now offers us. 

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[pgche]

Just Enough, Just In Time, Just For Me - An adaptive approach to learning through technology

An essay regarding creating an inclusive learning environment, with a focus on adaptive technologies.

Feedback suggested that we consider ‘commuter students’, who are not mentioned by the Act. Technology can also support them in learning at their own pace. We must also ensure that we aren't excluding students without access to technology and presuming a level of literacy.  Through the series of x.0 events, I am trying to develop a community around technology in teaching that will help support this. 

There is a concern that making learning accessible outside the physical environment encourages non-attendance by students. In designing learning, we can used approaches such as flipped classrooms to facilitate better use of face to face time and we should adapt our practices in this way to reflect external developments and greater student mobility.

[pgche]

A collection of notes from the MA Research Symposium on 7th April. I used Twitter to broadcast the events of the day and I've contextualised my Tweets on Storify.