Wks 21/22 My personal Learning Environment

wks 21/22 A1d How has technology affected me and my organisation?

My job role is an elearning advisor for the JISC Regional Support Centre in the North West,  so technology has had a huge impact on my job and the organisation i work for, neither of which existed a decade ago.  As well as the large scale affect technology has on me and my organisation, there are a number of smaller day to day aspects I can highlight.

Protopage- Within the team we have a shared webpage which we can access and modify anywhere and gives us a collaborative area to share links to key documents, to do lists, booking calendars, contact details, etc.

Netvibes- As well as the shared webpage, I also have a similar personalised web page created using net vibes which includes, news feeds, email  and updates from blogs I am following.

Google Docs-   Although we still use MS office, we also use google docs for collaborative documents.

Google calendar- We use MS outlook for our calendar, however I have set this up to synchronise with a google calendar account.  I can access this easier than my outlook calendar, and can share a summary of the calendar with others which makes it easier to arrange times for meetings.

Presentations-  I often use flickr images for presentations and workshops.  This allows me to be flexible and non-linier when discussing  topics, as opposed to powerpoint.

Communication- email is a key communication device but we also make use of skype and twitter.

Wks 21/22 A1 Stepping over the edge

As part of the first activity of weeks 21/22 we were asked to read a chapter of  Stepping over the edge:the implications of new technologies for education by Gráinne Conole.

This was an interesting read which I mostly agreed with.

Points included;

-          The difficulty in trying to classify web 2.0 technologies as they don’t fit older classifications, they can be used for a wider range and functions and they can often be integrated with other web 2.0 systems which changes their purpose.

-          Web 2.0 has led to a breakdown in boundries eg in applications ( google docs; word processing or wiki?) in individuals and communities (blogs/ social networks) and the roles of teachers and students.

Also particular issues for learning providers in a web 2.0 world

-          What is the role of systems provided by a learning provider when other, ofren superior systems are freely available to students  (eg email)

-          What are the quality, copyright and privacy issues related to user generated content?

-          Learners (and staff) not having the digital literate skills required to find filter and interprite information from such a wide range of sources

-          Do students learn more now through experiential interaction than guided steps?

-          Teachers have changed alo less than students with a small number of exceptions

-          Teachers lack the time and incentive to explore new technologies

-          The notion that teacher is expert and student is a receiver of information is out of date.

-          “To label it as a generational effect is too simplistic”

-          Academics often fail to see the benifits of web 2.0

-          Teachers can not be shown the benifits of web 2.0, they need to be useing it and emerserd in it to fully grasp its potential.

-          As the role of the teacher/ learning provider changes, what is it the student is actually paying for?

Send the message

This has nothing to do with my H800 course but I recently gave a Pecha Kucha style presentation entitled ’send the message.

Links

What is Pecha-Kucha?

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9NZOt6BkhUg

Creative Commons image and content search

• http://search.creativecommons.org/

Word Clouds

• http://www.wordle.net/

Online Cartoon Strips

• www.toondoo.com
• www.bitstrips.com

Create 3D Animated Videos

• http://www.xtranormal.com/

PowerPoint Games

• http://jc-schools.net/tutorials/PPT-games/

Teaching from the back of the classroom

• http://www.rsc-northwest.ac.uk/content/view/703/262/

Illuminated text- Creative ways of using text in powerpoint

• http://www.awaytoteach.net/taxonomy/term/20

Zooming presentations

• http://prezi.com/
• http://www.officelabs.com/projects/pptPlex/Pages/default.aspx

MindMaps

• http://bubbl.us/
• http://www.mindomo.com/
• http://www.mind42.com/

CamStudio- Free streaming Video Software

• http://camstudio.org/
• http://www.rsc-ne-scotland.ac.uk/eduapps/accessapps.php

Create video presentations from Photos

• http://animoto.com/
• http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/digitalphotography/PhotoStory/default.mspx

Paths/Trails of websites

• http://www.jogtheweb.com/
• http://trailfire.com/

Create online Poster Presentations

• http://www.glogster.com/

Visualisers

• http://www.rsc-northwest.ac.uk/content/view/715/262/

Credits for Creative Commons Images taken from Flickr

• Alexander Slides by Mary Witzig
• at slide’s end by I, Timmy
• Ben Slides Down by jculverhouse
• carnival @ Annandale – IMG_2210 – Carolyn, slide by Lieutenant Major Malarky..
• Colorful Water Slide by fxp
• Electric Slide by kretyen
• Frances down a slide… by $ensei
• Free Happy Auntie Sliding With Baby Nephew Creative Commons by Pink Sherbet Photography
• Get the message Pecha Kucha
• india on water slide by apdk
• Just Full Of Ideas by Cayusa
• Logo do Creative Commons by radarculture
• Question mark by Marco Bellucci
• rachel was afraid to go down the slide – nick started without her – _MG_2223 by sean dreilinger
• Slide by Just Us 3
• Slide by MikeWebkist
• Slide by Pete Ashton
• Slide in Parc Jarry by Humanoide
• Slide to Nowhere 2 by Mr. Ducke.
• slide! by dogwelder
• Slides by spakattacks
• Slides in Parc Jarry by Humanoide
• Sliding dog by fd
• Snow Slide by nep
• Squiggle Slide by krossbow.
• The slide was a little ho-hum by happykatie
• Twin Slides by CarbonNYC
• Water slide by Mogrin
• Thank You 2007-10-11 by vernhart
• the path by alicepopkorn

Wk 19 A2: MAODE students and mobile devices

 

Based on Going with the grain: mobile devices in practice

Of the various interviewees in the paper – Interviewee A, B, C, etc. – whose account do you find most interesting, or most relevant to your own personal or professional life, and why? You could start at the section headed ‘Interview data’ about half-way through the paper.

I found i identified most closely with interviewee H who used their mobile device for listening to audio books, lecture, podcasts ect.  Although the interviewee did this on a phone, I use an MP3 player plugged into my car stereo for this.  I find this is a great way to make the most of the many hours driving time I have a week.

Where would you place your own use of mobile devices in comparison with those of the alumni in the paper above? I don’t mean, ‘Do you do more than them, or less?’ After all, they varied considerably. But what are the similarities and differences, and is this connected with the fact that the data for the paper was gathered in 2005?

I used mobile devises for many of the reasons mentioned in the paper although not necercarraly the same devices.  I think it is getting harder to categorise types of devices, an iPhone could be classed as an mp3  player, a phone, a pda, ect. There are also now netbooks which may or may not be classified as a mobile device depending on your definition.

Which areas would you explore if you were carrying out research into mobile practices now?

I would concentrate more of the uses of the devises than trying to categorise the type of device I think the majority of these devices are better suited for capturing evidence and information (eg, audio recordings, video and photos) rather than receiving large amounts of information on with the exception of audio content.

Wk 19 Mobile devices A1

Twitter life cycle

I have found this graph of the twitter life cycle via John Harens blog

Wk 18 Google Reader

Google reader

Google Reader is a Rss reader which allows you to share your rss feeds with friends.  I didn’t really get the hang of it and never figured out exactly how to add the feeds of friends.  I already use netvibes to collate my RSS feeds, and without figuring out the sharing facilities, I didn’t feel compelled to persevere. 

I have seen a number of ways of sharing rss feeds with friends.  The one that seemed to work for me was Jaiku.  This is a Microblogging system which i used before Twitter.  It had a number of advantages over twitter, includeing the facility to share RSS feeds with friends, unfortunately the system was biurt out by google who then stopped supporting it and it therefore lost a number of its successful features, including the RSS feeds.

Wk 18 – Twitter

www.twitter.com/kevhickeyuk

I have been using twitter and microblogging for some time now and was interested to see how the weeks activities would incorporate twitter.   I use twitter to communicate with friends and work colleges. As twitter is generally a broadcast medium, rather than a closed communication, it meant the messages i sent and received were odd combinations of personal, work related and course related.  I felt that the tweets about the course felt a little forced which it why it didn’t really work for me.  Others in my tutor group didn’t see the point in twitter, which I think was how I felt about microblogging at first.  In the forum I posted comments about how I have used twitter and microblogging for events.  I had generally come to the conclusion that twitter doesn’t really work when its over controlled, managed or prescribed.  Having said that  I have found this video about how twitter can be used in a classroom;

Wk 18 A2: The researchers’ perspective

The following questions refer to “ Education 2.0? Designing the Web for Teaching and Learning,” which has been produced by leading UK researchers of technology-enhanced learning.

Read ‘What are web 2.0 technologies and why do they matter?’ by Charles Crook.
See if you can answer the question in the title for yourself. Make notes in your blog.

I would define web 2.0 as web based resources and content which allow the average user to create, rate and edit content and provides a greater choice in how it can be used and viewed.

Web 2.0 provides learners with the opportunity to create and collaborate in new ways, shifting the focus from learning provider/teacher to the learner.  The explosion in content created by web 2.0 requires learners to develop skills in judgement regarding its appropriateness.

 

What does Crook mean by the ‘virtualisation of exchange practices’?

I think this refers to the move towards using web tools to interact with others and resources which would have been traditionally been done offline eg;

-          Google Docs instead of MS Office

-          Flickr instead of a folder of photos

-          Amazon Wish list instead of a handwritten wish list

 

Would you agree that the learning dimensions that Crook sets out as characteristic of Web 2.0 can be grouped as either more social or more cognitive?

I can see how the 4 dimensions listed can be separated into social (Collaboration & Publication) and Cognitive (Literacy’s and Inquiry)although in my mind this causes confusion as I don’t think the 4 dimensions should be listed as equals.  The social dimensions are more than the benefits of web 2.0, they define what web 2.0 is.  While the cognitive dimensions are ‘side affects’, skills required to make the best of web 2.0.

Read ‘Educational hopes and fears for Web 2.0’ by Neil Selwyn. Selwyn raises a number of fears on page 11, including disengagement and impact on ‘traditional’ literacies. Weller takes a different view. Which side of the argument do you favour at this stage?

I agree that web 2.0 could lead to a decline in traditional skills such as making handwritten notes in a lecture theatre, in the same way the advent of the printing press led to decline in people remembering information.   I think this just means that different skills are required in the real world.  If there is a distance between the realities of formal education and learners uses using web 2.0 tools, I would argue it is formal education that needs to catch up.

I disagree that web 2.0 could contribute to a generation incapable of independent thought.  I would argue the opposite that the nature of content such as Wikipedia encourage learners to question everything.