Managing e-learning. Task synopsis.

Approaching e-learning I was apprehensively, inquisitive to say the least, I find I really want to become savvy with forms of technology offered, both in my professional, and day to day life, but feel frustrated obtaining knowledge toward them . Working through Moodle , in conjunction with the Managing e-Learning course has been very engaging and creating my blog was an easy step. From that point on, deciphering the learning tools requested was my new mission.

"It is fair to say that there are very few elearning experts and this is due to the continually, rapidly changing nature of technology’s and the new pedagogical approaches towards them being pursued across the world "(Aldred, 2009).

This quote humbled me as I read throughout the initial required fields of the Managing e-Learning course, as did the term “Digital immigrant”, having a background of a hands on professional (Chef), I desired to be, but felt very far from, a “Digital native”. Working through the task has broadened my ideas towards digital learning considerably. In fact, it’s a case of wanting to run before I can walk. Learning to use these tools to incorporate them with other strategies, to process, extend and refine knowledge will only promote greater learning outcomes and environments for me and students. The challenge is for educators to be able to implement these types of skills in real time, engaging them in team working, cognitive development, and critical thinking.

The use of ICT tools can encourage, assist, and move learning for students past the classroom walls, to connect with their peers around the world, as well as with experts in the fields they are studying. Access to these tools gives students an opportunity to experience learning in multiple ways, develop a public voice, and compare their own ideas with those of their peers (Stansbury, 2009). They cater to a wide learning style range and can encourage participation through engagement and interaction, knowledge and chance. Prensky (2005) explains in his article, “Engage Me or Enrage Me”, that’s student interactions with technology is extremely engaging outside of school, Students certainly don’t have short attention spans for their games, movies, music, or Internet surfing. More and more, they just don’t tolerate the old ways. There is no where to hide from this progress and at any rate it seems, one will never be on top of learning these technologies, rather it is better to keep up to date with their learning possibilities.

Siemens (2005) states "Learning (defined as actionable knowledge) can reside outside of ourselves (within an organization or a database), is focused on connecting specialized information sets, and the connections that enable us to learn more are more important than our current state of knowing."

Working through the list of tools, I kept in mind which ones were being used or were available in my current learning environment. Apart from video, and access to the web for wikipedia and downloads, none of the technologies are being embraced. It seems technology may have jumped a generation (partly) in its rapid progression. Siemens (2005), states in his article on connectivism, that the “shrinking half life of knowledge” is causing such an influx of new knowledge that previous skills, or tools of knowledge, may be obsolete for today’s learners. One of the largest hurdles i can see, is integrating these applications into the learning environment, more often then not, department heads or seasoned professionals, haven’t any formal ICT training to begin with. Being a first year placement student learning these new instructional designs, I had to ask myself, where does all of this fit in?

Choosing tools that I could integrate into my learning plans became a challenge to me, especially with the limited on hand resources. Through the course, I have set up a blog with students, used as a reflective point for their practical classes. Siemens (2005) believes “the starting point of connectivism is the individual”. Using this tool I can incorporate, podcast's in line with the topic for examples of recipes and methods as well as video, using youtube to show other demonstrations for examples. I have imbedded powerpoint's on the blog with my own audio to talk through task topics with pictures to provide reference and encourage cognitive thinking with related quizzes. The theory of Constructivism implies that, learners create knowledge as they attempt to understand their experiences (Driscoll, 2000).

These are basic steps, but still more then was being incorporated into their previous learning environment. Having the knowledge to use these tools will enable me to create an environment where learners are intrigued to learn, using anything from simple web-based tools for individual tasks, collaborative learning environments, and social-networking for partaking in virtual worlds.

In conclusion, the time that I spent engaging information on some of these tools really reflected my knowledge towards e-learning. Perhaps in future if there were fewer tasks with more emphasis on pertinent knowledge within learning environments, students would be able to engage more of these tools in hands on situations, for greater learning possibilities. In saying that, I have taken a lot away from engaging in task one, I learnt a lot through my peers and their approach to topics, and applaud the scaffolding structure that is collaborative reflective blogging. In the future l endeavor to place myself in an environment that supports ICT learning. I will continue to use this blog for referencing these tools, but also to share ideas and possibilities in conjunction with elearning.

Karen Stephenson states: “Experience has long been considered the best teacher of knowledge. Since we cannot experience everything, other people’s experiences, and hence other people, become the surrogate for knowledge. ‘I store my knowledge in my friends’ is an axiom for collecting knowledge through collecting people” (Siemens, 2005).

Thanks for reading,

Shaun Morris


References:

Aldred, S. (2009) Course Introduction and Overview, Managing eLearning, Viewed at, http://moodle.cqu.edu.au/mod/resource/view.php?id=579, Retrieved, on 18th August, 2009.

Driscoll, M. (2000). Psychology of Learning for Instruction. Needham Heights, MA, Allyn & Bacon, Retrieved, August 4th, 2009, from, http://www.elearnspace.org/Articles/connectivism.htm.
Managing e-Learning course, Viewed at, http://moodle.cqu.edu.au/course/view.php?id=134, on 10th August, 2009.

Moodle, Viewed at, http://docs.moodle.org/en/About_Moodle, on 10th August, 2009.

Podcast, Viewed at, http://podcast.com/, on 10th August, 2009.

Prensky, M. (2005). Engage Me or Enrage Me - What today's learners demand. Retrieved 2nd August 2009, from, http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/erm0553.pdf

Siemens, G. (2005), A Learning theory for the Digital Age. Retrieved August 3rd, 2009, from, http://www.elearnspace.org/Articles/connectivism.htm.

Stansbury, M., (2009), as sighted at, http://www.eschoolnews.com/news/top-news/index.cfm?i=57910&page=1 , Retrieved on, 10th August, 2009.

Stevens, K., as sighted In, Siemens, G. (2005), A Learning theory for the Digital Age. Retrieved August 3rd, 2009, from, http://www.elearnspace.org/Articles/connectivism.htm.

Wikipedia, Viewed at, http://www.wikipedia.org/, on 10th August, 2009.

Youtube, Viewed at, http://www.youtube.com/edu, on 10th August, 2009.

Slideshare/Slideboom

Yr9cookerycustardfinal

View more presentations or Upload your own.

This presentation is off a blog i have created for my year 9 students, although time consuming, it is my lack of knowledge towards these technologies that is slowing me down. Slideshare is a great tool for portraying information. Presentation's engage students, by using with examples of their own work they are intrigued to see how it turned out who's looked the best or if they even made the cut for the end presentation. Slideboom gave me the option to transfer my powerpoint effortlessly, the experience creating the powerpoint was simple, but i found Slideboom more user friendly compared to Slideshare.

I had problems with the audio when transferring my link to Slideshare, even using links like Format Factory i could not seem to work it out. I googled other Slideshare sites and worked my way into Slideboom, it offers 100 free presentations for trial use. This is great as you can trial new ideas, upload to the net for collaborative reflections of the presentation, and share it through blogs and social network sites. Although putting all the steps in place is a bit time consuming, clearly the end result is worth it. Thanks for reading,

shaun Morris.

Voicethreads.

Good day all,

Voice thread is a collaborative multimedia slide show, used to create digital storyboards. These are a engaging and interacting tool for learners to share and display information that can then be showcased and used as a discussion board around the world (Voicethread,2009). Teachers can upload files images, audio and video to the site to create customised learning experiences, perhaps tailored to specific need students.

Using Voicethread in conjunction with a class in another country, students could feel as though they are in a actual collaborative environment. Learners can incorporate their discussions towards the task and then onto social pages, for a wider scope again on topic discussion. For example, if delivering a practical cooking class i could record the lesson live using a web cam, a class in another state who were studding the theory of the method involved, could collaboratively comment on our progress. This creates cognitive learning through visual examples while providing engaged feedback for the prac students. This is key to affective instruction, for establishing positive perceptions for learning outcomes (Marzano, Pickering, 2006).

To find out more on Voicethreed follow this link, http://voicethread.com/share/409/.


Thanks for reading,

Shaun Morris


Marzano, R, J., Pickering, D, J. (2006). Dimensions of learning: Teacher’s manual, Vic, Australia: Hawker Brownlow Education.

Voicethread, http://voicethread.com/share/409/">http://voicethread.com/share/409/, Retrieved, 12 August, 2009.

Using music on the web.

Hi all,

Turn your sound off while sifting through the animation web sites or watch a video clip in the same situation, you will only get half the point if any at all.

Using music with basically anything adds stimulation, in teaching, music can add stimulation towards a task or environment. Incorporated with other teaching skills or presentations (e.g slide share, video, web pages or even, cooking), music can set a mood, create motivation, but above all, it can create interest. Music off the web may be subject to copyright laws and infringements, these laws and regulation are put in place to protect the rights of artists and their written material.

Years ago i jumped out of a perfectly good plane for a birthday, being recorded the whole time. Music was added to the footage and the finished product today still sends shivers down my spine, but, if i watch it without the sound on, it seems to be less exhilarating. We naturally associate music with feelings, today's learners walk around with earphones hanging out of their shirts, music is part of their everyday story board. Art Costa (2001) explains through the habit of mind, Gathering data through all senses, that, learners whose sensory pathways are open, alert, and acute absorb more information from the environment then those whose pathways are immune and oblivious to sensory stimuli.

Music could be used to stimulate and engage learning in vision impaired students, practical classes, through stimulus and response. By repeatedly pairing certain music (e.g classical) with a certain learning environment, students associate the music with the class's learning and behavioral expectation's (Mclnerney, Mclnerney, 2006).

To view copyright and infringement laws, follow this link, http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/cth/consol_act/ca1968133/

Thanks for reading,

Shaun Morris.


Costa, L.,Kallick, B.(2001), Describing 16 Habits Of Mind, Retrieved, 10th August, 2009, From, http://www.habits-of-mind.net/whatare.htm


Mclnerney, D. M, & Mclnerney, V. (2006). Educational psychology constructing learning. Frenchs Forest, NSW, Australia: Pearsons Education Australia

Animations and Simulations

Hello blogger,

I'm going to focus on BrainPOP, as i found it very easy to use and quite diverse.

BrainPOP creates animated, curriculum-based content that supports educators and engages students. Uniquely suited for 21st-century learning, all products are fully compatible with interactive whiteboards, learner response systems, projectors, Macs, and PCs. There is no downloading, installation, or special hardware required to use the applications (BrainPOP, 2009).
As in video games, animations and simulations encourage engagement with visual stimulation towards tasks. I watched a free link on BrainPOP on William Shakespeare, it outlined his story with prompted answers at points where the creators assumed students might be getting bored. This is a great way of redirecting to the learning, as they recapped what had been said by associating new information with what student might find relevant. BraiPoP gives examples of, and for, different learning styles through interactive learning tools e.g information on ADHD. The way the content is set out is engaging and the drawings are quite simple, but to the point. Activity's may be outlined first, by two characters "Tim and Moby", this will help learners engage, active learners retain understanding through engagement (index of learning style, 2009).

Thanks for reading,

Shaun Morris

BrainPOP(2009), Viewed at,http://www.brainpop.com/, On the, 9th August, 2009.

Felder,R.,M.,Soloman,B.,A., Index of Learning Styles, Accessed, 28th July,2009 at
http://www4.ncsu.edu/unity/lockers/users/f/felder/public/ILSdir/styles.htm

File Storage ie; MediaFire.

Hello there,

MediaFire is a free tool to organise and store files. It can be acccesed anywhere via the net or you can import to embed files to a wide varity of network sites.

This tool allows you to store or access, information relating to topic tasks and associated materials. Media fire is 100% free and can support simultanious up and down loading( podfeed, 2007). Used as basically a hard drive where files can be managed externally, this tool lets you store, manage and access your information anywhere anytime. It is a secure system with options of privacy towards a wide variet of storage uses, photo, literature, PowerPoint's and videos.

Marc Siemens(2004) states that many of the processes previously handled by learning theories (especially in cognitive information processing) can now be off-loaded to, or supported by, technology. Know-how and know-what is being supplemented with know-where (the understanding of where to find knowledge needed).

Thanks for reading,

Shaun Morris

Podfeed, Mediafire.com, retrieved 20th August, 2009, from, http://www.podfeed.net/episode/QuickTips+016+-+MediaFire.com/794285

Siemens, G. (2004), A Learning theory for the Digital Age. Retrieved, August 8th, 2009, from
http://www.elearnspace.org/Articles/connectivism.htm.

WikiPedia

Hello out there,

A great tool to get a wide amount of information, though in abundance, information can not be seen as fact as anyone can apply information towards topics.

I explored the Secondary Education portal and linked through to Professional and Vocational studies, hoping to find portals for Home Economics or perhaps Catering and Hospitality. I must admit, i had to search through many links but i came across a WikiPedia school for hospitality related management, http://en.wikiversity.org/wiki/School:Hospitality_Management. The o-line school is a large organizational structure which can contain various departments and divisions, it does not contain any learning resources, but can contain projects for developing learning resources.

With so much chance for information on many levels, this tool can be used as a platform for students to store relevant information. Learners have to source the information, then find the facts within that information. Once this has been accomplished students can then comment on their findings in relation to the task. This scaffolding affect encourages learners towards greater understanding of the topics related and factual content. This development applies to Sternberg's theory of Triarchic Intelligences (Mclnerney, Mclnerney, 2006), to create a wider collaborative learning environment through optimising opportunities.

Thanks,

Shaun Morris

Mclnerney,D.,M., Mclnerney,V.(2006), Educational Psychology, Constructing Learning, Frenchs Forest, Nsw, Pearson Education Australia.

The School of Hospitality Management, Viewed at, http://en.wikiversity.org/wiki/School:Hospitality_Management, 8th August, 2009, from http://en.wikiversity.org/wiki/Wikiversity:Main_Page.