I'm Back

Well after a hard earned rest I have today enrolled in H800 for the new year to continue my studies. Slightly hesitant due to the workload but looking forward to getting stuck in. A busy year has seen me pass both H807 and H808 so I am hoping this will give me a lift up with this course.

A good thread.

What started out as just a comment on e-assessment has led to a thread on lurking or lurkers. It wasn't meant to be a personal comment aimed at anyone merely an observation. Salmon (2004) defines lurkers as three types:-

• Those still trying to use the system
• The sponge- those need more time
• The silent thief - those happy to freeload on other peoples work.

Ouch I am not sure I like the last term much. As for techniques to encourage activity Salmon goes on to offer a few methods along the lines of give more time, I am not sure on this one either 14 weeks into the course. I am sure we all lurk at times when learning online but when it constitutes a part of the assessment then there is a requirement to take part.

I was a quiet student in my younger days, just studied the material and handed in the work on time very rarely went to tutorials and in hindsight probably missed out. These days I like to get my monies worth and to be honest I am really enjoying the conferencing on H807. I just wish I had more time. 

Salmon ,G.(2004) E-moderating: The key to teaching and learning online, 2nd edn, London: Routledge Falmer.

Available online E-Moderating

Google reader makes life much easier.

I am not sure I could cope with all the information I need to keep on top of, without google reader.

• My study material
• My fellow students Blogs
• My students groupwork and conference areas to name a few
• Topics I am interested in  
• News and sport

can all be brought into one web page area.
An additional benefit is the ability to be able to search all these specific locations for key information and find it quickly. Imagine being able to search for a conference post you made containing the word Chasm but you just can't find it. This short clip is just a different approach to help show reader in action and a little bit on mashups.


Short Video Clip using GoogleReader

Social values wiki users adopt, are they really any different?

This activity falls straight in the middle of my tutor group having to prepare fro a group work activity next month, they are in the process of setting rules for group work which will involve the production of a Wiki.

”…plainly put, a wiki is a website where anyone can edit anything anytime they want” (Richardson, W. 2009) 

What is interesting when you consider the rules the groups have set is the way they all seem to focus on social rules. The main focus of the discussion was on:- 

How often members were expected to log into the system
How decisions were to be made
What would happen in the event of problems

There was very little discussion about how to use or behave with respect to the wiki itself. Was this because certain things were taken for granted or were they overlooking this aspect of the activity. As a group they will compile a number of pages together; there are issues that need to be considered.

The creation of the wiki will unfold as they progress as a group, they need to trust each other that the contents added will be original or referenced properly and there will need to be acceptance and value put on each others contributions.

The task of the wiki will need to be made clear and the individual tasks set to the group members will need to be clear, possibly stated at the top of each page.

Is it acceptable to keep correcting the language, is it not best to get the ideas on the wiki before the polishing commences.

It is important that the combined efforts of the group are acknowledged and the responsibility for the production is shared. If this is to be made available to a wider audience then there will need to be willingness to share a collaborative effort and trust each others opinions and values.

It suddenly becomes more complex and similar to any other social event, there are differing characters and a wide variation on opinions some how all the differences have to be moulded together to agreement in the form of a webpage open for all to see; interesting lets hope its not a controversial subject or it will never reach an end.

No doubt there will also be the same social satisfaction when the event is completed and a feeling of mutual pride at its completion and the overall experience in the same way as a combined team drive towards a common goal, ready to move on to the next event. This will only be possible if all members have made a contribution otherwise there will be a number of negative issues to address. Why has one person not contributed as much or met his targets being a common problem. However if the measures are in place to reward the efforts and encourage the less active then the next task may well be improved upon.

Not too dissimilar to a normal team it’s just an online event. The rewards are obvious though,
‘wikis can extend their reach far beyond departmental or organizational limits, expressing the interests of virtually any community’ (Lamb, B.2004).

The enrichment brought to the event then can be quite diverse and opinions very varied a small price to pay for this is the need to adapt the social skills accordingly, taking into account different cultures, feelings, opinions and needs of our wider audience in order to be rewarded with a much wider perspective and valued contribution to the ever increasing electronic media available on the web. 

References
Richardson, W. (2009) Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms Corwin Press

Lamb, B. (2004) 'Wide open space: wikis, ready or not', Educause Review, vol. 39, no. 5 (September/October), pp. 36-48. Available from: http://www.educause.edu/pub/er/erm04/erm0452.asp (accessed 07April 2010).

Just sharing an experience.

I was fortunate enough to be teaching at Surrey University on Saturday and I feel the need to share my experience, why you ask because I saw innovation in action and it worked, not the case at my workplace where every barrier possible is popped in the way.

I arrived at 10:00 for a two hour lecture/tutorial walked in to the lecture room armed with memory stick and prayed. I needn't have worried. I touched a touch panel picked the tools I needed, down came a projector screen, on came the projector, up purred the PC and we were in business. I logged on with the username and password that had been emailed to me, got a friendly welcome; it even knew my name and I was in business. I requested internet access and it was there and low and behold when I popped in my memory stick with a presentation and some notes on 'it worked'. I was in heaven I had arrived early because you just don't know what to expect but thanks Surrey I was impressed.

Back to work on Monday, I'll leave my keystick at home forget about using any video or web 2.0 apps as for Google apps, you're having a laugh. Such is life.

Innovator Interview

Innovation where I work ? Come on there all a bunch of 'Laggards', a bit harsh I know and not strictly true. One of the major problems is allowing the technology in. I managed to interview a colleague who has provided elearning to help address the requirement to update / teach basic mathematics skills to our students.

Like Mark I have enjoyed this although it hammers home the reality that we are behind the curve somewhat, because on reflection I am not sure that an elearning package is particularly innovative these days. Given the circumstances though and the focus on reducing marking time and enabling the brighter students to progress quickly I saw it as innovative. I would much sooner be talking to a colleague that has brought web 2.0 apps into the learning environment though.

Affordance, 'What way does the technology affect our behaviour when we use it'.

Emails:

I think that the use of emails has changed the way we communicate, most emails are short and straight to the point and quite often full of spelling mistakes and errors in our grammar. However it is seen as a fast and efficient way to communicate and it is more acceptable to see the odd error in an email than it would for instance in a formal letter.

So has this changed our behaviour? Yes, many people used to only writing formally have a problem with emails and get hung up over the language, not to dissimilar from the approach first made to 'text speak' with a mobile phone.

I believe this is because as you use the technology we change our attitude, yes we  could spell check and waste more time, but it is meant to be a quick communication with a colleague that also has the odd typo in his emails.

As for text speak once you have used a mobile phone to send text messages you will very quickly realise why text speak has appeared. What is concerning though is when you see exam scripts containing essays and they are full of text speak.

Blogs

I have been a blogger for years but its only during my H808 and H807 studies that I have really realised its use, I thought it was a lot of fuss about nothing, not anymore though.

As for shaping our behaviour twenty years ago if I suggested you published a diary and allow everyone to read it and make comments about your thoughts, I would have been considered mad. However today its common practice, its an acceptable way of finding out information. If someone is prepared to share their thoughts and opinions with you, then 'thank you very much'. I may find it useful, I may not, but I certainly appreciate it being shared. As more people use Blogs it becomes a wider practice and the benefits are realised.

What affect has this had on our behaviour. We are more likely to share information, we feel we should give as well as take information, a community spirit develops and we form worldwide groups sharing a common interest.

Just a few thoughts I hope I am on the right track here.

TMA01 at Final draft

How an earth do you fit 2000 words into 800 a challenge and I am not sure I will ever be happy with this so time to call it a day. A quick proof read and its off to the eTMA system; happy to say goodbye to this one. I have been working on and off on this for a few weeks.

To my fellow H807ers a big thank you lots of good contributions both in the conference and on the various blogs. I found it difficult to narrow this assignment down but obviously no more on this until after the cut off date.

Next step - start writing questions for an innovator, now where can I find one of these?

I need more hours

There are just not enough hours in the day. H807 is both interesting and challenging I am working with a diverse range of students from all walks in life with plenty on offer. Trying to balance my work life with my study life and my OU tutor life is getting to me this week.

I am thankfully on top of TMA 01 which is a huge weight almost off but I look at my reminder email telling me there are 26 TMAs to mark is depressing me. I want to ignore them and enjoy the studying at the moment but I guess I am going to have to hide away with a few bottles of wine and my laptop over the weekend.
A slight success this week has been the use of web 2 apps to come to a decision on the location of my next tutorial.
Students rightly didn't want to travel to Canterbury, to cut a long story short:
I created an online poll asked all students to complete it and surprisingly 21/26 did, a good start.
Opted for Guildford so change has been made.
To help with this I created a Google map and popped all students postcodes on it this helped to identify the centre of population and I have also used the map to sort out groups for group work later this month. Just in case they want to meet in a pub for some good old fashioned studying.
Good old Google.

Exploring Tangible Benefits of e-Learning:

The following is a summary of a number of case studies found when 'Exploring Tangible Benefits of e-Learning',JISC (2008). I have also tried to identify what is my opinion the main areas of innovation covered and the driving factors.

The case studies cover the following areas:-

• Working together collaboratively
• Innovative Online training 
• Staff training to raise the profile and awareness of e-learning
• Video conferencing sharing of modules across a number of universties.
• Eportfolio system
• Adoption of moodle
• Blended approach to learning
• Developing partnerships with local trusts 
• Exams designed to support disabled students
• VLE to support worldwide students
• Online learning for eteaching practice
• Podcasting to see real images instead of photographs
• Blended approach to training use of moodle, podcasting and handset voting
• Simulation gaming to help produce blended learning
• Elearning resource for sharing best practice amongst staff
• Website for the support of learning with wide ranging needs and support
• Elearning to support paper based distance learning material
• Virtual farm to enable collection of real time data
• Eportfolios fro reflecting on teaching practice
• Eportfolio to help support first year students
• Course design to accommodate childcare arrangements 
• Audio commentaries to accompany archaeology images
• Creation of a virtual space for sharing elearning resources for staff 
• Online assessment for medical staff reducing the assessment time required

In general the site offers examples of innovation that covers the following areas:-

• e-assessment
• Online learning
• Eportfolios
• Collaborative working
• Podcasting
• Gaming and virtual simulations

The driving factors apparent from these case studies include:-

• Improving the learner experience
• Developing staff effectively 
• Sharing best practice as both a student and staff level
• Performing assessment more efficiently
• Provision of support material for all areas of academic work

JISC (2008) Exploring Tangible Benefits of e-Learning: Does Investment Yield Interest? [online],
http://www.jiscinfonet.ac.uk/publications/publications/info/tangible-benefits-publication (Accessed 12 November 2009).

A quick Reflection, Plenty of innovation this week.

Another busy week in the classroom, started with my OU Tutorial, six students helped to make it a worthwhile event and the disappointment within the group with respect to the location of the next tutorial led me to produce an online poll. I won't post it here because I don't want any extra votes:-) that I am not expecting.
With 26 students seven days after the poll only 12 have answered which is disappointing, it’s only a 10 second task. Here I am considering moving my tutorial to suite the students and many haven’t even responded. I have also produced a Google map showing all there locations to help me identify groups for the next activity another innovative idea thanks to Google.
Most of my working week was spent teaching the only rest bite was a Technical visit to Mitsubishi UK on Friday, where an update on the latest technology in controls was experienced. What’s this got to do with H807 I may well ask, well innovation is all around my life and the sharing of ideas and concepts within the tutor group is both invigorating and rewarding. I wish I had more time to follow up some of the discussions I know now I should be completing the TMA as I go along but I intend to reflect on this during the week and go back over some of the discussions.
The week ahead sees my students complete a practical controls project using all the latest technology I will experience innovation in practice this week, its always interesting to see how as a group they approach this they should divide the work up programming the controllers, touch screens and SCADA system to make the solution but I bet they don’t.
In addition to this a few of my colleagues are finally starting to show an interest in the VLE so I might strike while the irons hot.

e-Assessment in Medicine and Veterinary Medicine, University of Edinburgh

http://www.jiscinfonet.ac.uk/case-studies/tangible/edinburgh/index_html
University of Edinburgh, e-Assessment in Medicine and Veterinary Medicine

The Online System for Clinical Assessment was developed in-house by the College of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine's Learning Technology Section to support the delivery of online assessments in the undergraduate medical degree programme and undergraduate veterinary degree programmes. Objective, Structured, Clinical Examinations are an essential component of assessments for medical and veterinary students.

The system was used to replace the labour intensive testing methods already in place and also to speed up the assessment process.Some of the Clinical Examination would be replaced by assessments, testing the same competencies/skills but delivered in a secure technological environment requiring no staff support thus enabling all students to be examined in two sittings over a single day instead of two days.

This innovative approach would enable electronic marking, a greater variety of scenarios yet still test the competencies and skills required.

The Learning Lab staff development initiative Swansea University

http://www.jiscinfonet.ac.uk/case-studies/tangible/swansea/index_html
Swansea University, The Learning Lab staff development initiative

Summary
The Learning Lab is an informal collaboration between schools and departments on all aspects of e-learning. A forum to discuss, formulate and disseminate ideas and best practice and an area where learning and teaching rather than technology drive the process.The plan was to learn by actually performing a number of e-learning tasks; a hands on approach.

The learning lab is a website of shared resources and information to help support the University in engadging staff in participation and self learning. Sharing of best practice and ideas because a number of staff had very little idea when it came to using the tools or indeed understanding what e-learning was actually about.

By allowing staff to use and explore the use of the tools it was hoped that they would be able to identify the benefit to their classes where appropriate and start using some of the tools. However the Learning Lab site is a community and where everyone had an opportunity to partake, there was to be no dictation by 'Learning Technologists'.

A team-based approach to developing e-resource at Warwick

http://www.jiscinfonet.ac.uk/case-studies/tangible/warwick/index_html
The University of Warwick, A team-based approach to developing e-resource

Summary

The aim was to introduce a planned approached to the development of elearning resources that would gradually develop rather than leave it to a few enthusiastic but isolated individuals.

It involved a number of planned activities designed to promote understanding and share best practice. It took the form of online support, face to face sessions and hands on training in the ICT suite.

Staff were encouraged to attend a number of sessions lured by the free hot lunch and invited to share ideas and suggest future activities

The innovation with this case was the fact that innovation was being used to sell innovative ideas and encourage the adoption of new practices and facilities. By learning about the e-resources in a combination of events it was hoped that staff could see and indeed embrace the benefits. This case did highlight the fact the staff lacked confidence in the use of the the tools available and the online conferencing.

Formative e-assessment in Economics at Derby

http://www.jiscinfonet.ac.uk/case-studies/tangible/derby/index_html
University of Derby, Formative e-assessment in Economics

Summary
The purpose of this innovation was to support private study with the aim of reducing failure rates on the micro-economics first year module.

The idea was to put in place a number of formative e-assessments available to the students so they could be completed in addition to the lectures and tutorials. By putting these assessments in place and allowing students to take them multiple times it was expected that the students would be able to address common areas that were found to be a problem on previous courses.

The courses were already using a VLE and this was just an additional component. However to ensure that students actually completed them a support and follow up mechanism was put in place. This enabled the identification of students that needed additional support early on in the course.

 A slight problem was that of connectivity; the e-assessments could only be accessed on campus  through the network and were not available outside of the campus. Part of the reason for this was the file size, in fact initially it was found that many of the PCs on site were not up to specification.

Innovative
In terms of innovation, e-assessment is common place now it does enable repeat tests and students to self help. In the case of this study the assessments have been designed in house therefore cost effective and the case study emphasises the fact that the tests have been designed with extensive feedback loops therefore supporting the natural progression of the student.

Case Study Investigations

By exploring the JISC website it is planned to perform a review of four case studies looking at the background information about the approach taken. My blog will be used to record my views and share with fellow H807ers. For each case study that I consider, I will add a blog entry. I start today by listing my selected case studies.

http://www.jiscinfonet.ac.uk/case-studies/tangible/derby/index_html
University of Derby, Formative e-assessment in Economics

  http://www.jiscinfonet.ac.uk/case-studies/tangible/warwick/index_html1
The University of Warwick, A team-based approach to developing e-resource

http://www.jiscinfonet.ac.uk/case-studies/tangible/swansea/index_html2
Swansea University, The Learning Lab staff development initiative

http://www.jiscinfonet.ac.uk/case-studies/tangible/edinburgh/index_html
University of Edinburgh, e-Assessment in Medicine and Veterinary Medicine

Concept Map Elearning

There are a number of concepts and themes associated with elearning. When placing on a concept grid What pattern is formed? Were they evenly spaced or in a cluster? My analysis and perception led to a grid that created a cluster towards the new side implying elearning technologies. 

1.      To what extent should we think of elearning as a distinct discipline with a need for its own concepts and vocabulary?

Learning is learning I am sure in years to come the this will become more apparent but with the introduction of m-learning could we pose the same question in this direction. I think there are clearly new technologies and practices that have come about as a result of elearning which warrant their own distinct discipline and technical vocabulary the learning technologist for example has a role of introducing technology into the classroom; do they need to be teachers or technologist? Or dare I say both.

2.      Do you think the formal–informal divide is more or less evident in elearning than in more traditional forms of learning?

Yes although I feel the advent of elearning has generated a fresh look at how we indeed learn. The introduction of social learning via the web is not new, social learning has always gone on in the playground, down the pub blah blah but with social sites enabling participation from a wider audience and the ability to join like minded group social learning has become more predominant and accepted.

The speed of electronic assessment has made testing easier and perhaps more realistic in some cases. However the vast amount of information at our disposal has meant thet plagiarism is more of an issue now. I could go on the introduction of m-learning may well exasperate it even further.

3.      Did you find any of the concepts difficult to place on the grid provided? If so, why was this?

Work based learning has always been around; the apprentice that is guided on his tools to attain a skill or profession I wasn't sure where to put this I tried to detach this from elearning however if work based learning is not the traditional approach and indeed involves using a computer package to learn a skill then it would need to move to the right. 

4.      Can you think of two different axes for such a grid that might also help categorise elearning concepts?

Initial thoughts lead me to think perhaps splitting the skills required by a teacher as opposed to a technologist and then whether the activity was an individual effort or collaborative in the form of group work.

Week 1 H807

Having completed week one of this course I think its safe to say it is going to be an interesting course . There is a  good mix of students with varied backgrounds to influence the discussions throughout the course. The first group work activity started slowly, in fact I thought I was on my own for a few days, then suddenly the conference burst into life  and the outcome was a successful one.

On reflection I may have jumped in a bit quick but I knew I had little time at the start of the working week so felt I had to contribute during the weekend. This mean't there was not a great deal left for the late arrivals to do. It apparent from the off that the conference activities have got to work this year there is too much emphasis on them in the assignments, but its been a good start and there's certainly been aplenty of good discussion within the group.

What is Innovation.

My experience within the area of teaching is where I would like to focus on this area, what have I experienced that is innovative over the past 15 years.

The introduction of many learning technologies that have included:-

•     Powerpoint and multimedia
•     Social communications 
•     Touch screen interfaces and whiteboards
•     Electronic testing and marking
•     3D virtual worlds and graphics    

I guess for me innovation means using modern technologies in the classroom for the better of the student learning experience. If you get it right there is a certain buzz in the classroom and good results naturally follow.

Rich, M. and Holtham, C. (2005). The innovation was taking what was a new technology and adding it to the general makeup of the course. The use of email within a face to face training environment, can you believe this was seen as innovation now its taken for granted that email is available when learning.
Lück, M. and Laurence, G.M. (2005).The addition of video conferencing was technically more challenging and indeed even now it creates challenges for students and their systems there is a such a wide range of platforms and limitations as a result make it inevitable that some learners will not be able to see videos easily. In this example it was seen as a change and valuable addition to the course and certainly seen by students as a useful addition to the course. It was mean't to enhance F2F not replace it.
Generally innovation brings increased productivity and with it increased profits, this is not always the case but it is safe to say that innovation generates interest albeit in some cases only for a short time. It is important that new ideas are generated and experimented with after all many technological leaps have come about because the ideas of an individual have been shared and developed by someone else.

I teach in a College my students are being paid to be there and generally want to be there. Yes a strange but true notion. I have a captive audience but students of today want more and want to do less. They don't see the point of exams, would prefer to do an assignment or project, they struggle to see the need to memorise something that is just a few clicks away.

I see innovation in my place of work as trying to embrace the modern student and improve the learning experience but I am surrounded by some dinasours who still think that using a 10 year old viewfoil is acceptable. Over the years I have developed web sites and supportive material to help the students but let me share a frustration with you.

I spent ten years developing a DVD with all my lessons on and resources which I used to issue students the content is in web format and therefore accessible I have been working in the cloud for years too. Due to security measures put in place all PCs in the college are now locked down, no USB access no DVDs and the internet is filtered to stop me having access to web 2.0 apps and 'Cloud Working', The college put in place a Moodle VLE and have basically left use to get on with it. No training, no guidance and so I now have to consider moving all my lessons into this environment.

Whilst I welcome Innovation, its needs to be considered as part of the whole picture. I am certainly an activist trying to address this issue but in the meantime its all a bit frustrating.

Reflection 

Reading what most contributors made of this theme it was clear the most thought that innovation is good it as long at it improves the learning experience. Time is seen as the enemy many educators are already overburdened with bureaucracy and forms and just do not have the time to implement new ideas. It is not until demonstrations of the real benefits are seen that the additional effort can be seen as worthwhile.

We live in an innovative world the transistor was invented just over fifty years ago and all this technology has come about as a result, scary, its no wonder some cannot keep pace with the developments let alone any new innovations as they come along.

There is also a clear goal for an educator, 'educate', 'inspire' and 'enthuse' the student, enable their creativity and help them find what they aspire to. Can this be possible without innovation, of course, as has been pointed out many talented teachers can inspire their class with good teaching and many talented innovators can overdo the the technology at the expense of the teaching.

References
Lück, M. and Laurence, G.M. (2005) ‘Innovative teaching: sharing expertise through videoconferencing’, Innovate, vol.2, no.1 [online]http://innovateonline.info/index.php?view=article&id=59 (Accessed 6 November 2007).
Rich, M. and Holtham, C. (2005) ‘New technology in learning: a decade’s experience in a business school’, British Journal of Educational Technology – Special Issue on Innovation in Elearning, vol.36, no.4, pp.677–679; also available online athttp://libezproxy.open.ac.uk/login?url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8535.2005.00545.x (Accessed 6 November 2007).

Just an observation

Was it me or was the 'Learning Technologies Conference' Exhibition a bit of  a let down?
I found as I wandered around company after company trying to sell elearning the old way they seem to neglect the fact that social learning is around now. We can learn in a less formal way, as demonstrated by BT with their in house social network.
 Reading around I wandered to Janes post of the day and found some useful thoughts  and more importantly a link to an interesting article. Well worth a read.

Ref  Internet Time Alliance
http://internettime.posterous.com/go-straight-to-the-finish-line

Elearning Technologies Conference

Olympia and a mass of ‘Learning Professionals’ embark on a two day event to receive an update and motivation for the next twelve months.
Preaching to the converted in my case I already work in the cloud; believe we should be changing the way we teach; want to use innovative ideas in my classroom and finally ‘I am willing to do something about it’. There was a number of high and low points for me it started on a high and ended on a high an in between a bit of a mixed bag.
I think Lord Puttnam, who ‘pressed the case for digital learning with a moral purpose’ made a number of good points but one that stuck for me was the points he made about ‘Needing Teachers’, its time that educators realised that elearning does not reduce the need for educators.

‘In fact we need to consider educators, technologists and arguably the students themselves, as joint stakeholders in the design and delivery of whole new learning environments’.

He also stressed the importance of the educational process, and the requirement to put the world right. I am not sure I agree its ‘our’ fault and its certainly not too late, but I wouldn’t mind being a young lad starting on his educational adventure now with all the trimmings on offer.
OK a pet hate of mine is listening to someone reading a lecture or presentation and we went from a presentation that fell well into this area, out of respect I listened rather than read what was in the brochure, but it was no where near as good as the last presentation. Professor Stephen Heppell it wasn’t just about the content, it was delivered and sent out into the audience in a wave and you could feel the interest in the room. Yes we know the classroom has to change, but its not all about elearning, we are always going to need the teacher. I wonder, will we ever see a day when young children learn at home on the internet in their virtual classrooms under the supervision of mum or dad; perhaps going in to school once or twice a week. I didn’t have the nerve to ask that one.
Other good points for me; it was good to see Jane Hart, author of a site I use frequently, it’s a real person. Peter Butler, BT showed how BT make use of social networking and podcasts plenty of food for thought here, why did I leave BT.
‘Mobile technology is going to be the next big thing’, Steve Wheeler, obvious to me Steve but what you said was both up to date and useful which was not the case with some of the other presentations I saw. Overall a great couple of days away from the class and although I heard one presenter use the opportunity to promote ‘his paper’, and another tell me, ‘before you use tools do your research’, doh really, and a workshop that encouraged discussion and then shut us up each time we got going, it did not spoil it for me. You are never going to get it all right and match everyone’s needs with every session. It was nevertheless a good blend.

As for the exhibition, I know we have gone through a recession and sales are down but I am sorry guys elearning is not the only thing to do with 'Learning Technologies', I felt like I was walking down a street containing a number of restaurants and being beckoned in, too much sales pushing; show us the technology where are all the new gadgets. I would also like to see the sharing of expertise there are a lot of universities doing good things, look at the OU, MIT and can't believe they are paying companies to develop material, so what are they using. More importantly what with all the sweets, I am proud to say I never took one.
The conference follow up will be on the events website
Always worth another look when considering education 'Did you know'

H808 comes to an end, where next?

Its all been a bit quiet, I guess I have been busy. Where did the last 6 months go. Almost as soon as it started I find myself completing an ECA. And breathing a sigh of relief as the final assessment flies off into cyberspace. Hopefully to return and signal the successful completion of H808, ‘The elearning professional’. Now I have had a few moments to catch up I think a gentle reflection is in order.

It’s been a fast and furious journey how did it all fit in, we have created wikis, blogs and performed group work. A pause here on the group work because, yes it was a successful group work as a result of the contributions within the group I think. Not easy as group work across the globe is certainly a challenge. I have tutored course with group work and watched groups fail despite all my efforts, you tend to blame yourself as a tutor and think you can control the efforts of your students when you can’t.  However a couple of catalyst in the group and you can be away, the trick is plan quickly and layout a flexible structure with clear targets. Members can plan with clear aims other wise the first 3 or four days are wasted and then before you know it a week has past.

OU students are motivated not that students in full time study aren’t , there is just something different about an OU student. I am not sure it's the fact that they are paying for the course its more to do with the reasons they have for study. 'fun, it keeps the brain active, the materials are second to none, its more than just learning; just some of reasons given to me in the past for my students wanting to study the OU way. As a student myself I can add to this, its certainly not an easy option.

What else have I learnt this year.Having researched and discovered eportfolios I have changed my approach, gone is Pebblepad and in comes Google Docs, Sites and all the trimmings of working in the ‘cloud’. I have collaborated online and built a power point presentation with 5 other students. It worked well was easy and was actually effective. I have been a cloud user for over a year but a security issue at work prevents me from fully embracing it which is a pity. It will come I am sure but for now it’s a case of , steady as she goes.
Academic writing is back on the agenda, I was a bit rusty but it soon comes back, blogging is laid back, no one should read a blog and start correcting the grammar of spellings, come on peeps let the blogger just rattle it off, don't spoil it; we want more blogging and sharing of information. 

Where to next ? Quite simply a short break perhaps a little reflection and it’s off to H807 and ‘Innovations in elearning’, hoping for some inspiration from the Learning Technologies Conference in Olympia.

I almost forgot I am now Tutoring a new course T215 and all the adventures that brings, actually looking forward to it, it was time for a change and it should keep me on my toes.

CA 9.1 Desktop research

Since the start of H808 I have been more active on my Blog I have seen its use as a key component of my learning it falls quite clearly into the category of 'tool for students to keep a reflective, learning journal'. It has been used for this purpose and has developed over the course into a useful reflection and log of activity.

This reflection looks at what other uses can be made of Blogs within education and identifies a number that I feel are particularly relevant to my area of work and my personal development. I have started by forming a category list and then identifying a number of blogs that fall within these categories.

Category List

Subject Specific

Educational Issues

Educational Tools and Reference

Course specific

Teaching and Personal Development

Subject Specific:
A range of sites that are subject specific that enable research and updating of knowledge. These sites also share expertise and subject specific teaching experiences. One example lists a number of different sites therfore acting as a useful index page.  http://movingforward.wikispaces.com/Education+Blogs+by+Discipline

Educational Issues:

 It is important that educational issues are discussed and debated in as wide an audience as possible, to include international aspects as well. Education has changed considerably since the arrival of internet based resources. This site is just one such example http://kylesmodernclassroom.blogspot.com/ it tends to focus on issues relating to the modern classroom but this is a significant issue for some of the more experienced teachers that have not grown up with modern technology.

Educational Tools and Reference:

 With the many tools and skills required to to produce an effective elearning experience forever growing the sharing of these skills an experiences are paramount in order to save time yet still stay up to date.

http://terenceonline.blogspot.com/ is one example site where experiences are share and useful information has been provided on some of the tools available. Another site that is useful and updated frequently is http://elearningtech.blogspot.com/ and http://janeknight.typepad.com/pick/ covers tools and technology in a social learning environment.

Course specific:

To make the most of the accessibility of the internet many educational institutions are making facilities available to its teachers to share resources and course content within the context of an individual course. This enables group work, further learning and the sharing of experiences to access such material usually requires passwords and access control to limit its content to those actually on the course. As an example of this I have selected H808 from the Open University where the use of Blogs Wikis and group conferences are made use of.

https://msds.open.ac.uk/students/course.aspx?c=H808_2009I a second example being http://www.mathalino.com/ which provides solutions to mathematical problems.

Teaching and Personal Development: 

Every day true teachers make positive differences in the lives of other learners through their words and actions. http://www.learningandteaching.info/ is a site that contains several blogs and is a huge resource of teaching information. An additional selection is

http://successfulteaching.blogspot.com/  which shows promise. By sharing ideas and reflective practice all teachers can improve their best practice and enrich the learning environment for the student.

An additional reference that I found useful as a resource for links is

http://www.blogged.com/directory/education/