A few people have asked recently, “What exactly do you do?” and I struggle to give a simple answer. So here’s a portfolio and a link to some cool infographics instead!
And because I’m feeling extra nice, there’s a link here to some bookmarks we used in a training session with careers advisors on using web2.0
Ange 
Thought it was about time we had another of these. I just found this crowdsourced collection of tips, ideas and ways to use mobiles for learning (click here). It says in the classroom but we all know that mobiles are for using on the move and that the majority of learning happens outside of classrooms so take advantage of the good weather (unless you’re in Wales) and do something fun!
Ange
(PS more ideas here)
November is Sharing Good Practice Month at the college where I lecture so I thought I’d jump on the Chalkface blog and share two of my favourite things.
I love historypin. It’s a Google Maps mashup where you can upload pictures from the past and compare them to the current street view. You can add video and audio too. There’s heaps of potential for school projects and it’s a great tool for digital storytelling. Have a look at the Beatlemania tour for inspiration!
Continuing with the maps theme, every maths teacher needs to know about the Maths Maps project. Again using Google Maps this collaborative resource links maths questions to physical places. For example, a pin in Real Madrid Football Stadium invites you to zoom in and calculate the area of the pitch. Further more, one map can cover many topics and colour coded pins allow for age or level differentiation. There’s more information on how to join in with the project on the edte.ch blog.
I wrote in my dissertation draft (Version 1037.2) that the reason I was surveying students about their experience of initial assessment was because I thought that they were more likely to give candid responses than their lecturers.
I beleive that academic staff would have answered my questions about assessment based on; what they think they should say, what their organisations policy says is done, and what they think they’ve done. Whereas a student would say; “we did this” or “we didn’t do that”.
Now of course I have to find some evidence to back up my assumption.
After throwing out the non-completers and the time wasters I have a set of 31 survey results. Admittedly not a huge sample but since each of them represents a student in a separate institution, some interesting patterns are emerging.
As expected, all of the students provided their university or college with their name, address and date of birth before their course commenced. All but one reported that they had also provided information about their existing qualifications, and the grades they had attained. All but one respondent provided their university or college with a personal statement.
The next most common information provided prior to the course starting was references, 17 respondents reported giving this information. Less than a third of respondents gave any further information before the course started and even fewer gave any of the information once the course had commenced.
Numeracy ability was provided prior to the course starting in 8 cases and afterwards in 1. Literacy ability was provided prior to the start of the course in 7 cases and not at all once courses had started. Which suggests that 23 of the colleges or universities sampled did not carry out initial assessment in numeracy or literacy. Either that or 23 students didn’t realise they were being assessed!
Analysing the results of my dissertation survey I realised that I’d forgotten to ask my respondents some basic information. At the time the age and sex didn’t seem like relevant information but once the results were in and I discovered that I had around 60 Postgrads with literacy problems, I started to question why, were they male or female, was English even their first language? So here goes Mark2 http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/screeningstudents fingers crossed!
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about how people use the same platform in completely different ways. Taking Facebook as an example, the information and type of information people choose to share varies from a running commentary of what’s happening on the TV to thoughts that would or should otherwise have been kept secret.
I was interested to see a “facebook friend” deleting status updates and removing news feed items, personalising the platform by removing the auto-generated content rather than adding to it.
In his blog entry Graham expresses concerns about privacy and draws our attention to the issues around tagging photographs. He says that it is critical that we have the rights and the tools to manage our digital identities, but with rights come responsibilities and I think that we have a responsibility to exercise those rights.
Not content with my MA research and a part time lecturing job I’m keeping myself busy working for Pontydysgu, I say working, I’m not sure work is supposed to be quite so interesting, or fun (it’s not fun Graham, I’m working really hard, honest!). At the moment I’m trying to find out about the use of personal learning environments in training activities. I need to find some examples of good practice and determine what is actually going on at the moment in terms of using PLEs in training. So far I think that the “personal” bit is a barrier to using PLEs and social software in training. I know that people use Twitter to create their own “Personal Learning Networks” but this is done by individuals looking out for their own personal proffessional development, not by your boss tweeting you the latest Health and Safety updates! Or is it? Suppose I should get to work and find out.
I need to interview PLE developers and researchers, teachers and trainers, or trainees. I’m looking for ideas, answers and comments on the following questions…
1) What ICT is used in training activities in Lifelong Learning?
2) What is the level of use of PLEs in training activities?
3) What are the possibilities of PLEs in training/learning?
4) What has been improved by using PLEs?
5) Who is involved in the promotion and development of the PLE: Past /Present /Future.
6) What are the main achievements of the PLE in training/learning?
7) What are the barriers to the development of the PLE in training activities: technological / social /educational.
8) What is the role of the PLE in lifelong learning/training: is it a suitable tool for managing lifelong learning/training?
9)The future of the PLE in lifelong training strategy: what are the main characteristics which can define the PLE as the training tool of the future? Policy support? Etc
That’s a lot to think about
Every year, colleges and universities invest large amounts of time and money into the recruitment of students. The process can involve numerous steps from the obligatory form filling, interviews, conditional and unconditional offers to open day events and induction weeks. The purpose of these stages are two directional, the institution wants to fill its courses with suitable candidates, the student wants to make sure that they have chosen a suitable institution. During this period, vast quantities of information exchanges hands. I want to find out just how much this information is used to impact upon the student learning experience.
Much of the data collected is not used to benefit the teaching or learning process, instead it is collated and used to produce statistics for institutions and to obtain funding. There may be little information in application and enrolment forms of any worth to subject teachers, (they were never intended to be used in that way) if this is the case then the whole process could be a missed opportunity.
Many institutions do collect Initial Assessment data, the theory being that by taking a series of short tests an idea of the students’ levels of literacy and numeracy can be gauged, those falling below a certain level can then be offered further assistance. Having recently been at both ends of this process, as a teacher and a student, it became apparent that Initial Assessment was merely a box ticking exercise. I received no feedback about my own initial assessment and I am still waiting at the end of the school year for the required further assistance to be granted to my own students.
I am curious to learn about other students’ experiences and hope to uncover a more positive view of initial assessment in the UK. I’m not asking the institutions because I want to focus on practice not policy. I would also like to find examples of good practice and ways of improving the system for everyone.
Finally got around to finishing the survey last week, tried it out on my sisters and a student friend (thanks all) who suggested a few tweaks to the language.
The final version is here.
Now I’ve got to get it to as many students in the UK as possible. Hope they don’t mind breaking from revision for five minutes!
MOOCs and beyond
A special issue of the online journal eLearning Papers has been released entitled MOOCs and beyond. Editors Yishay Mor and Tapio Koshkinen say the issue brings together in-depth research and examples from the field to generate debate within this emerging research area.
They continue: “Many of us seem to believe that MOOCs are finally delivering some of the technology-enabled change in education that we have been waiting nearly two decades for.
This issue aims to shed light on the way MOOCs affect education institutions and learners. Which teaching and learning strategies can be used to improve the MOOC learning experience? How do MOOCs fit into today’s pedagogical landscape; and could they provide a viable model for developing countries?
We must also look closely at their potential impact on education structures. With the expansion of xMOOC platforms connected to different university networks—like Coursera, Udacity, edX, or the newly launched European Futurelearn—a central question is: what is their role in the education system and especially in higher education?”
The cost of austerity and privatisation
There is growing concern over the consequences of the English (Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have different policies) government’s cutbacks and privatisation of careers guidance for young people. The International Centre for Guidance Studies reports on a discussion paper called ‘Cost to the Economy of Government Policy on Career Guidance: A Business Case for Funding and Strengthening Career Guidance in Schools‘ from Lizzie Taylor who is an Careers England Affiliate Member. “The report claims that the economic consequence of current government policy on career education is an escalating annual cost to young people in reduced and lost earnings, reaching £676m p.a. in 2018 before dropping back slightly to £665 m p.a.2022. The total cost in reduced and lost earnings to young people in the period 2013 to 2022 is estimated as £3.2bn.”
Open Education 2030
The Institute for Prospective Technological Studies (IPTS) –part of the Joint Research Center of the European commission – is calling upon experts and practitioners to come up with visionary papers and imaginative scenarios on how Open Education in 2030 in Europe might look with a major focus on Open Educational Resources and Practices, in different education sectors.
The foresight scenarios submitted can be normative or descriptive, idealistic or provocative, critical or imaginary, reflective or polemic, imaginative or concrete, comprehensive or selective, general or specific. They should be both inspiring and scientifically sound.
Submissions are free to choose any angle, subject, approach, but they say the future vision and/or scenario should address the key question of how Open Education in 2030 in Europe might look, and include the role of OER.
More details from the EU Europa website.
PLE Conference Update
I wasn’t overoptimistic about the Personal Learning Environments Conference this year. Discussions about PLEs have been subsumed in the hype over MOOCs. And most conferences are struggling with the ongoing recession. But I am delighted that we have received 59 submissions including a number of great proposals for interactive workshops.
The PLE Conference takes place on 10 and 12 July in Berlin.
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Our next programmes will be live from the Online EDUCA Berlin 2012. We will broadcast at 11.00 CET on the 29th/30th of November. Here the stream URL: http://uk2.internet-radio.com:31022/live.m3u
