Reflections on our symposium

We had a great day on Friday. I'd like to thank all those who presented for their time and energy; there was a real buzz about the day. We had over 130 people register an interest and 110 attendees. It was telling that one of our external speakers asked whether there was a three-line-whip on attendance - the view was that without a stick why were so many people at the event. My view is that it reflects the commitment of our staff to enhancing the learning and teaching experiences that they provide, and that we have such strong and reinforcing networks of practice.

We have lots to celebrate in terms of innovation in the curriculum and the extension of our learning and teaching environments. When added to the broader work that our staff are engaging in, we have some sector-leading developments with technology-enhanced learning, and I am proud of our successes both within our Pathfinder project and beyond.

The presentations will be uploaded here and you can view Lawrie Phipp's exploration of informal learning already. However, if you attended a session please consider commenting on the outcomes of the sessions you attended, at: http://dmupathfinder.blogspot.com The blog postings are indexed/tagged with keywords, in the format Keynote1, Workshop1, Workshop2 etc., so you can find them in our list of tags/entries.

UPDATE: Highpoint Symposium Workshop 8: How would a weblog blog on a weblog blog if a weblog could blog blogs?

Thank you to those of you who attended our session. For the benefit of the delegates (those who attended and those who could not) we have made available the slides online for your perusal. The summary of the workshop can be found on a previous post by clicking here.

My slide show along with an audio narration can be found by clicking the image below or following this link.



Phil Adams has uploaded his presentation on to slideshare and can be viewed below:

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If you have any questions regarding the session that we delivered then do not hesitate to contact any of us via our university email.

Presentation: Highpoint Symposium Workshop 2: Social Bookmarking and Social Networking

Many thanks to all those that attended this workshop on Social Bookmarking and Social Networking. Here is a link to the workshop presentation for your convenience. All other attendees, please feel free to download and view. (click on full screen for best viewing, escape button to exit full screen mode)

For those of you who would like to gain an initial feel for working informally in a social 'learning' network then visit Web2learning : http://web2learning.ning.com and ask for an invite. Additionally both myself and Heather will be happy to help with any general queries in the domain of Social Bookmarking, Social Networking and Web 2.0 technology.

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Workshop 2 Recap

The application of Web 2.0 technologies for educational purposes is gaining ground in many academic quarters. In this workshop we will highlight the features of two popular web 2.0 technologies Social Bookmarking and Social Networking and explore ideas of how they can be used for teaching, learning and professional development.

In this workshop we will

• explore the meaning of social bookmarking/ Social Networking as part of the Web 2.0 environment
• demonstrate the use of social bookmarking and networking (including del.icio.us, Ning)
  ask participants to share their thoughts and ideas for using these tools
• share how we have tried to use these tools as part of the pathfinder
• explore ways in which they can be useful for both students and staff

Highpoint Symposium - Workshop 7: 7. Student engagement and motivation with Web 2.0 tools

"Harish Ravat, Mervyn Dobbin and Miles Weaver (BAL) will lead a discussion about the need for a change in our e-learning practice in HE, in light of student expectations and the rise of web-based tools like Facebook, del.ici.us and YouTube."

So this will be a student-chaired session on the interface between social and academic tools. Should make for interesting discussion around the fusion of formal and informal learning spaces and networks.

Highpoint Symposium - Workshop 6: Multi-media in the curriculum

"Jon Tyler and Richard Chipps (AAD) will demonstrate the development and embedding of streaming video and make recommendations for other practitioners."

You can tell that they have been very naughty and not done their homework - i.e. post their synopsis herewith. Anyway, they will cover:

• examples of video in action directly through our streaming server and Blackboard;
• examples of video in action directly through Articulate Presenter; and
• guidelines for practitioners.
  

Highpoint Symposium - Workshop 3 - Using wikis to enhance group tasks

The widening participation agenda in higher education has seen a growing problem with the issue of retention, the recognition of the importance of encouraging students into deep learning and also the need to improve their motivation by providing a rich learning environment. The role of group working has long been recognised as an important element in addressing these issues. This session is based on work undertaken by Jon Philpott and the use of wikis by teams in a non-teaching environment; and also on work undertaken as part of a Research Informed Teaching Award project by Mike Leigh and Lucy Mathers which looked at the use of wikis & blogs to facilitate group working and the development of on-line learning communities.

In this workshop Jon will discuss the motivators behind the decision to adopt the use of wikis by the Data Management section of the Registry. He will then explore some of the problems encountered and solutions implemented when integrating a wiki within their team to enable them build shared knowledge bases. Mike and Lucy will then highlight the impact of using Web2.0 technologies within Blackboard for a range of student group work.

There will also be some audience participation in the seeking of staff attitudes towards the use of such technologies within a teaching environment.

Mile Leigh

Highpoint Symposium Keynote 2: Games, Technology and Learning

Computer games offer a great potential for actively engaging students with learning, but the benefits of learning with games and the student experience of gaming technologies is often misunderstood. In this talk, student perceptions of learning with computer games will be discussed, drawing on issues such as motivation, accessibility and ways in which the student view of computer gaming environments can influence their design.

An inclusive definition of 'game-based learning' will be presented, and the pedagogic rationale for its use in Higher Education discussed. Examples of ways in which computer games can be used to enhance learning and teaching will be presented, looking particularly at the use of alternate reality games to support student induction. Finally, the challenges of computer game-based learning will be highlighted.


Nic Whitton, MMU

Highpoint Symposium Workshop 5: Mobile Technologies in the Classroom (and in the field)

Over the past year we have been involved with an HEA Pathfinder project entitled ‘Rapid Reaction and Response’ or R3. The key focus of the project has been to examine the effective use of in-class mobile technologies to support formative assessment and feedback. From the student perspective we examined the role of immediate feedback in the classroom to help students focus their learning on areas of weakness and reduce misunderstandings. From the staff perspective we felt that the immediate feedback would help staff understand student misconceptions and adapt their teaching practices.

We have used a range of technologies including Tablet PCs, Wireless Data projectors, Electronic Voting Systems, audio tools and in-bound text messaging.

During the workshop we will give a brief overview of the project and look at some of the staff and student feedback. We will also provide opportunities to try out some of the technologies and will include a short exercise to develop an Electronic Voting System activity. In addition to providing comments / feedback in advance of the workshop via the DMU pathfinder blog feel free to text us on 07624803109 using dmu as the first word of the text.

Tim Linsey and Andreas Panayiotidis

HighPoint Symposium Workshop 4: Building and engaging with personal learning environments

Having been involved in elearning in general and the implementation of a commercial Virtual Learning Environment together with the staff development activities associated with it, I can say with some confidence that this approach has problems as well as advantages. The most important things that I have learned in my years working with elearning and its tools are that:

1. Good educational design is important
2. The best ideas come from the practitioner not an elearning advisor
3. Once an initial idea for a design is established it can be very simple to implement
4. It doesn’t have to be difficult or overly technical

Because of the plethora of tools and technologies available to us and the power of the 'semantic' web to present and represent them to their publics we can now construct much more personalised resources quickly and easily. In this session I will illustrate how it is possible to simply construct a resource using these tools and technologies and in doing so will argue that these more flexible approaches will be more appropriate for the modern learner in the future. To do this we will look at the following:

1. Mapping a Learning/working environment –
1. Activity – mapping exercise
2. Choosing how to ‘e’ – identifying and selecting tools
1. Activity – which tools to use?
3. Constructing a presence that works – putting it together
   

At the conclusion of the session participants should have:-

A clearer picture of what they do and how to make learning more personalised.

Highpoint Symposium Workshop 2: Social Bookmarking and Social Networking

The application of Web 2.0 technologies for educational purposes is gaining ground in many academic quarters. In this workshop we will highlight the features of two popular web 2.0 technologies Social Bookmarking and Social Networking and explore ideas of how they can be used for teaching, learning and professional development.

In this workshop we will

• explore the meaning of social bookmarking/ Social Networking as part of the Web 2.0 environment
• demonstrate the use of social bookmarking and networking (including del.icio.us, Ning)
  ask participants to share their thoughts and ideas for using these tools
• share how we have tried to use these tools as part of the pathfinder
• explore ways in which they can be useful for both students and staff

Highpoint Symposium Workshop 8: How would a weblog blog on a weblog blog if a weblog could blog blogs?

What do you mean that the title doesn’t make sense! Mohamed Yaseen Kassam (Training & Development), and Alan Brine and Phil Adams (Library Services) will give tips on common-sense blogging for readers and writers in order to enhance the student experience. The session will be split in to 2 mini sessions; the first half concentrating on a writers’ aspects, and the second half dedicated to the readers’ aspects.

Although the session is aimed at novices, any budding talents and experts are welcome to join the session to contribute to discussions as the facilitators are still continuously learning new things everyday about this and other similar technologies.

Writing blogs:

In this part we will discuss:

• What weblogs are and how they are affecting us in HE and the world?
• How we can use blogs to further our professional/personal interests?
• What a blogger needs to know to keep the blog going and keeping the audience craving for more?
• Discuss different terms, words, or lingo that crop-up in the blogging arena.
• General tips of do’s and don’ts as writers.
• Guidance on further exploration around the subject.
  

Reading blogs:

In this part we will discuss:

• How do readers find blogs?
• Is reading a blog’ as simple as it sounds?
• Can tags help to manage interesting blog posts?
• Can feed readers help you to keep up to date?
• Can browsers be adapted to make reading blogs easier?
  

We look forward to be seeing you there - Phil, Alan, & Mohamed

Symposium Keynote 1: Learner-expectations, technology and formal/informal learning

Expectations are not always what they seem, and the answers we elicit from learners when we ask them about their expectations, at both undergraduate and post graduate level, need to be more critically examined. Technology plays a big part in all our daily lives, learners may expect one thing, need another and when asked the question may tell you what they think the right answer is! Furthermore, we need to understand how and when learning is occurring, and the part that technology is playing in the process.

Lawrie Phipps' keynote at our symposium on Friday will draw upon conversations with Dave Cormier and his ideas on rhizomatic learning, George Siemens’ theory, connectivism and recent work through the JISC Users and Innovation programme. The presentation will ask the delegates to consider the emergent technologies characterised by web 2.0 through two different perspectives.

• The technologies are disrupting to the students’ learning and staff time, they pick up information that we haven’t given them off the internet, and the technology is everywhere like an omnipresent technodeity
• The technologies are providing new ways of engaging in discourse between peers, offering new opportunities to find knowledge and exercise creativity and the sheer breadth of the technology creates something that most people can engage with at some level

HighPoint Symposium Workshop 1: Introducing podcasts into the curriculum and their reception by students

I would like to thank everyone who came and contributed to this workshop.
You can view my workshop PowerPoint presentation here.
Visit the DMU e-learning staff support site on Blackboard to watch/hear some examples of podcasts and email me if you would like to become a member of DMU's podcasting special interest group (no prior experience necessary).
Happy podcasting,
Malcolm Andrew.

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