WP1: PG Cert HE session - part 2

Okay, it's day two and we are really focused upon wikis and blogs, and the key issues raised in-class follow...

• How can we use wikis for formative assessment. Simon got his students to answer issues in Health Care Management in week 15 - he took them through how to use them, and over the next week in groups, in-class they engaged with the questions more deeply, and provided feedback to each other. Some embraced the task by creating new pages, others by posting comments on a single page. Time in-class and (student) self-management (setting up rules) were critical.
• How do we separate out group and individual elements in the assessment process?
• How do we validate "perfectly scripted" answers? Here the technology/presentation vehicle is irrelevant.
• How do we ensure a good conceptual grasp at levels 1, 2, 3?
• Blogs are great for reflective logs, with shared/peer/mentor critique.
• Can we use assessment in these tools to engage students in the learning process, through self-management/peer assessment?
• How do we build tasks that stimulate critical literacy?
  
  
  Developing rubrics for peer-assessment is critical.

WP1: PGCertHE

Steve Mac and Heather are currently running a session with 10 students about e-assessment. Some interesting issues from the students about:

1. why should their students work with e-tools? Are we having to cajole too much;
2. what rules of engagement do we have for on-line work?
3. ensure a mix of technologies - face-to-face, mobile and on-line, to engage all learners;
4. how do we engage learners as a group to own tasks?
5. what are the differences between group and individual feedback/assessment?
6. can we use wikis or blogs as a record of achievement?
7. can we use wikis or blogs to engage nervous learners?

Pam T rightly noted that e-assessment is part of a holistic approach to curriculum design, focused around a rationale.

The students should be action-planning after the session about...

• In what ways, if any, do you use online assessment methods with your students? These might be diagnostic, formative or summative, and may include approaches to plagiarism management, feedback or assessment of learning. What are the pros and cons here?
• Have you received any comments/other feedback from students (or team members) on assessment methods on a particular module or programme? If so, what form did this take and how might it help you plan for the future? If not, how might you best get some feedback to inform future planning?
• In what ways do you plan to use online assessment methods in the future? What would be facilitators/barriers to doing this?
• What one online assessment development would you be willing to share with others in the group? Or ideas for a development?
• Develop a brief on-line assessment rationale for one of your modules. Think about the specific tasks that you ask your students to do and the on-line assessment methods that might support them.
• Post your rationale on the Programme wiki on Blackboard, and critique that which has been posted by your partner for this task.

Update on Work-package 1

The team for Workpackage 1 met on 25th January 2008 to reflect on current developments and to reinforce ideas for future planning.

To recap, the aim for this is to work with staff on the PGCertHE programme with a view to buile enhanced knowledge of both Web 2.0 technologies and development strategies that support and enhance engagement in and with teaching and learning.

What has been done so far?

• Involvement of 2 PGCertHE participants online synchronous discussions
on use of Web 2.0.
• Some take up of individual Web 2.0 development sessions
• Pulling together of key themes from Action Plans on PGCertHE wikis
in relation to wider pedagogical implications.
• Online evaluation questionnaire was sent to PGCert participants
re use of Web 2.0 in teaching and learning and taking up
staff-development on such (17 respondents)
• Group wiki has been set up for use by Learning Sets for the Assessment
and Evaluation module

Outputs and outcomes

• Blog and wikis set up and in use to reflect ongoing planning discussions
• Data for further evaluation has arisen from interim questionnaire (see
above); earlier survey on participants’ baseline regarding Web 2.0
knowledge and use; comments on blog and wiki regarding perceptions about Web
2.0 and action-planning for future practice; directed PGCertHE
sessions with focus on Web 2.0 and the curriculum (e.g for assessment
purposes) . Video and written data from these

Future planning

• Compilation of data from above sources and evaluation of such for
final report.
• Possible use of focus groups in final evaluation.
• Presentation of findings at E-Learning Symposium in May.
• Using findings as basis for other conference papers.

Commentary

Our initial impressions from the information gained from the questionnaires and our perceptions generally from our involvement with this group of staff is that there has been for many, a considerable shifting from their base-line positions in both knowledge and understanding of Web 2.0 technologies and in their willingness to undergo further development and to engage with these for pedagogical purposes with their learners. We feel that this has been a small-scale but significant study about some of the barriers/facilitators for academic staff using new technologies in their teaching and what might further help or hinder them in doing so.

Conference

I've recently been to an interesting e-learning conference at the University of Ulster. I will be posting something here and a fuller report on the Blackboard Pathfinder site.

http://www.ulster.ac.uk/staffdev/e-conference.phtml

Mdels and taxonomies

Hello..

the last post was really meant for the PGCertHE blog but you'll see how I'm trying to set short tasks pre face-to-face sessions whereby they are using the blog to access some prior reading and, hopefully, reflecting and commenting on it.

Models and Taxonomies:How useful are they?

See this post from the PgCertHE blog about models and taxonomies for new staff:

http://reflectionsweb20.blogspot.com/2007/09/models-and-taxonomies.html

Work-package 1: update

In work-package 1 we are working with new lectures on the PGCertHE programme in order to investigate their current knowledge and usage of Web 2.0 technologies with an aim to promote developmental strategies to support them in using Web 2.0 technologies for teaching and learning packages.

In June, we met with half of the cohort as part of the first part of the module of the PGCertHE, Planning to Teach and Study. New staff were encouraged to participate on a separate blog, Reflections: Web 2.0 in learning and teaching.

Here we have posted a selection of video-clips as stimulus for initial discussion about Web 2.0.

A three-hour e-learning session, designed to build on and progress from these initial discussions and to furnish means of building enhanced institutional knowledge of Web 2.0 and development strategies, is programmed into the activities of Day 2 of this module. Feedback has been very positive.

A product from this is the setting-up of a group wiki in which participants can set up a pedagogical e-learning action plan and, in true collaborative sense, comment on those of others!

Next week, the same occurs with the second half of the cohort, and the above process will be repeated.

Watch this space!

Work-package one-beginnings.

This is Henry Jenkins on digital media and learning. This could be usefully used along with other clips posted here(or similar) in our beginning discussions for work-package one: that is, with staff on the Post-Graduate Certificate in Education. The notion of students becoming 'de-skilled' inside the classroom is an interesting one as is the metaphor of shining a light into a dark cave to discover the contours of a new landscape.

We met today to explore how we might take work-package one further.

We have an early opportunity to engage with some of these staff (an e-learning session on June 27th (day 2 of a 3-day block) as part of the first module on the PGCertHE. We've decided that some kind of investigation into usage of and perceptions about Web 2.0 technologies prior to the session would be useful so will ask a few questions via e-mail and also ask them to engage with at least one of the technologies E.g. by accessing blogging software to write a short blog (or blogs) on a given topic.

The Jenkins clip(or similar) will be shown on Day 1 of the module with a view to promoting discussion about facilitating learning 'outside' the seminar room or lecture theatre.

Other topics we touched on..how far we are able to link project developments with an assessment on the PGCertHE; wider current institutional requirements about e-learning and the place for Web 2.0; follow-ups..how to sustain continued engagement outside designated e-learning development sessions.