LSIS – STEM (Northwest)

I’ve been invited to give a presentation & a short workshop on “Developing the use of Mobile Technology and Virtual Learning Environments for STEM subjects” for the LSIS North West Regional STEM meeting, tomorrow at Daresbury Labs.  Now, as I don’t yet know how many delegates will be there… I’m a little unsure as to how I’m going to tackle the workshop.

 

In action...

 

The presentation is not a problem – anyone who has witnessed my previous attempts will testify that I’m not one for over-rehearsing. In fact, I tend to run with a general theme of a few relevant (or sometimes irrelevant/irreverent) slides topped-off by a stream of verbal consciousness. And that’s largely it.  OK, I ramble on and probably repeat a few things over – but they’re usually points that I want to ensure people remember.   I’m not a pro-presenter and I hate sitting through boring slide shows – so I like to try and be informal and feel that I’m chatting with people rather than talking at them.  Maybe that’s why I like the Pecha Kucha style?

So, to the workshop… Eeek!

Well, I’m going to run through our VLE (Moodle), nothing too techie (that really DOES switch people off!) – if anyone wants technical info, I can always go over it afterward.  Really, I guess it’s a matter of demonstrating what a VLE can and can’t do for STEM subject areas…  I like to give a realistic and truthful demo – after all I’m not a salesman.  If something doesn’t quite function in a usable way – then I’ll offer up an alternative.   Personally, I think the Wiki feature in Moodle is awful – so why not use something like Wiki Educator?  The blogs are also naff, so why not use WordPress?  Whatever tools you choose, shouldn’t really matter, so long as they function and they are relevant.

As for the mobile learning – well that’s going to be an overview of our MoLeNET Project… ‘thin.clusion‘.  The Phase 3 MoLeNET dissemination will be available in December.

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I’m sure I’ll add another blog entry about the event tomorrow evening.

mobile learning: people and technology

Just an explanatory note about this blog entry:

I was working on this just before Easter and totally forgot to update it – I still have a lot more to write-up (but this can be a blog in progress).  Basically – I was reading from two books – which are listed at the foot as further reading… I’ve picked out a few areas that I want to expand on at some point… I thought I should really make this entry live, in order to embarrass myself into finishing it.  I think the problem was – I had no reason, other than my own idle curiosity, to write this up and subsequently it got forgotten about over the Easter break.

I’m working on the general premise that ‘people’ are the mobile element in Mobile Learning, not the technology.

A theory of mobile learning

…According to the National Research Council (1999), effective learning appears to follow a social-constructivist approach – learners in the active process of building knowledge and skills via practice within a community: (p.223)

• Learner-centred – Builds on skills & knowledge of students, allowing them to reason from their own experience.
• Knowledge-centred – Curriculum based on sound validated knowledge, taught efficiently with inventive use of concepts and methods.
• Assessment-centred – Assessment matched to the ability of the learner, offering guidance that builds success.
• Community-centred – Successful learners from a mutually promotive community, sharing knowledge and supporting less able students.

With convergence of education and the ubiquitous use of personal and shared technologies – …A theory of mobile learning could be tested against the following criteria: (p.225)

• Is it significantly different from current theories of classroom, workplace or lifelong learning?
• Does it account for the mobility of learners?
• Does it cover both formal and informal learning?
• Does it theorize learning as a constructive and social process?
• Does it analyze learning as a personal and situated activity mediated by technology?

The authors offer a tentative definition of learning within this context, “the process of coming to know through conversations across multiple contexts among people and personal interactive technologies” – here the focus is NOT on the learner, NOR their technology, but the communicative interaction between these to advance knowing.

Vavoula (2005) states that 52% of everyday learning episodes involve one or more pieces of electronic technology.

Extracts from:

1. Sharples, M., Taylor, J. and Vavoula, G. ‘A Theory of Learning for the Mobile Age’, in Andrews, R. and Haythornthwaite, C. (eds.) (2007). The SAGE Handbook of E-learning Research. Sage Publications Ltd.

Further reading:

1. Andrews, R. and Haythornthwaite, C. (eds.) (2007). The SAGE Handbook of E-learning Research. Sage Publications Ltd.
2. Conole, G. and Oliver, M. eds. (2007). Contemporary perspectives in e-learning research: themes, methods and impact on practice. The Open and Flexible Learning Series. London, UK: Routledge.
3. Laurillard (2002) Rethinking University Teaching: A Framework for the Effective use of Learning Technologies, (2nd Edn). Abingdon: RoutledgeFalmer.

in the still of the nite

During the past couple of weeks I’ve been drawn toward research work in the (still) relatively new field of mobile learning; looking at work by Laurillard (2002); Vavoula (2005); Sharples, Taylor and Vavoula, (2007); Conole and Oliver (2007).

I’m interested in the concept of mobile learning in terms of the ‘learner’ being the mobile element of learning, rather than the technology – where the focus is on the mobile capabilities of the device.  Recently, I’ve heard conference presentations and papers tending toward a far more learner centered education model – so where does this leave the educator and the technology within the realm of mobile learning?

I intend to look deeper into this in another blog entry which might take me a few more days to publish – however, in the mean time, I’m sure I’ll receive plenty of really interesting comments from people who have already worked through this.

National 'snowday'

National ‘snowday’

Originally uploaded by colhawksworth

Never mind the British obsession with the weather; us urbane international hipsters (or should it be erstwhile self-deluded village dwellers) take-up the challenge and crack-on with a bit of mobile working (didn’t it used to be called tele-working?)

What’s the problem? we’ve got Internet access, devices, information and learning systems to connect to, oh and that Web thing too. Do we actually have to ‘go’ to a place of work? Aren’t we already there – we can work ‘anywhere’. (BTW: the coffee is damn fine at home)

off to the seaside

Just about to drive up to Southport and pay a visit to KGV.  Meeting up with their technical team to discuss thin-client solutions for our thin.clusion MoLeNET3 project.  John Paul Szkudlapski is coming up with me so he can get a handle on the technical requirements and specification of the systems.  I think he’s also going to give them a bit more help with their Moodle installation…  some great collaboration going on here in the JISC RSC NorthWest region – we (BSFC) have many on-going collaborations with other FE providers, mainly Moodle, Shibboleth, Active Directory and WiFi.

Check out our thin.clusion project blog

thin.clusion

I’ve been a busy bee – setting up WordPress blog, Flickr, Ning, Twitter and YouTube sites for our MoLeNET thin.clusion project.

check us out at: thinclusion.wordpress.com

MoLeNET3 Project Managers' Meeting

I was down in London again on Friday for the MoLeNET3 Project Managers’ Meeting.  Up and out early on the 7am Liverpool-London express train.  It was a great event and for me, it got the project off to a positive start – a good opportunity to meet the other Project teams and the MoLeNET Mentors.

The one thing I did notice though, was the lack of mobile device use during the day.

This is my Twitter feed from the event… (obviously, the timeline is in reverse – most recent, first)

1. @xlearn demo of multi-port ePortfolio #molenet 2:42 PM Oct 16th from Echofon
2. this is a great day – feels like a good Community of Practice excellent support network #molenet 2:27 PM Oct 16th from Echofon
3. @jamesclay does @didaw have more tech than you??? #molenet 2:18 PM Oct 16th from Echofon
4. now in afternoon MoLeNET Mentors session – getting to know them all #molenet 2:10 PM Oct 16th from Echofon
5. looks like I’m going to be out quite a lot on Action Research days at the LSN #molenet 2:08 PM Oct 16th from Echofon
6. @jont he’s like Inspector Gadget pulling stuff out of his jacket!1:39 PM Oct 16th from Echofon in reply to jont
7. #molenet @jamesclay passing round tech from his bag of tricks – is he super-insured for walking round London with that lot?! 1:12 PM Oct 16th from Echofon
8. listening to what was technically successful in MoLeNET2 #molenet 1:03 PM Oct 16th from Echofon
9. @xlearn we’ve been working on identifying good devices already. I’ll look at our docs – I have a guy who could make it a page with ratings1:01 PM Oct 16th from Echofon in reply to xlearn
10. @RC_AJF nope – no sockets over here

1. @RC_AJF cheers : but my battery is getting zapped 12:46 PM Oct 16th from Echofon in reply to RC_AJF
2. ensure cross-college collaboration & dialog; then non MoLeNET college folks can buy-in to concept. #molenet 12:37 PM Oct 16th from Echofon
3. talking about logistics Re: insurance for offsite use, loan agreements etc. #molenet 12:33 PM Oct 16th from Echofon
4. our MoLeNET project sounds like it could be the most sustainable! building a core moble service. #molenet 12:22 PM Oct 16th from Echofon
5. @jamesclay not sure I have concerns I love innovation & challenges! #molenet 12:17 PM Oct 16th from Echofon
6. James Clay has entered the building! fresh from a BBC interview. We’re now in project breakout session. #molenet 12:15 PM Oct 16th from Echofon
7. @xlearn @MalBlack : yes, we could do a molenet database of tech devices. #molenet 11:50 AM Oct 16th from Echofon in reply to xlearn
8. @ravenevermore hahaha – let out a loud cough, I’ll know where u are 11:39 AM Oct 16th from Echofon in reply to ravenevermore
9. @MalBlack you forgot to mention that we’ve had WiFi since 1999 @BSFC – now rolling out to placement providers for thin.clusion #molenet 11:36 AM Oct 16th from Echofon in reply to malblack
10. are we all looking at running systems over WiFi and/or 3g ? not everyone has mentioned the ‘how’ – more talk about the ‘where’ #molenet 11:29 AM Oct 16th from Echofon
11. a few projects mentioning Twitter as part of their bid – but no one seems to be Tweeting here??? #molenet 11:15 AM Oct 16th from Echofon
12. @dsugden are you still in the UK – or stuck in Latvia? 11:12 AM Oct 16th from Echofon in reply to dsugden
13. people still using mLearning & eLearning terminology – is that good or bad? #molenet 11:08 AM Oct 16th from Echofon
14. @jont he’s not here yet; something far more important at the BBC first!11:05 AM Oct 16th from Echofon in reply to jont
15. interesting range of projects so far… all pretty unique in some aspect. #molenet 11:03 AM Oct 16th from Echofon
16. is no one else Tweeting here yet? #molenet 10:59 AM Oct 16th from Echofon
17. lots of MoLeNET 1&2 colleges here -plenty of experience to share #molenet 10:52 AM Oct 16th from Echofon
18. listening to overviews of MoLeNET 3 Projects #molenet 10:49 AM Oct 16th from Echofon
19. @xlearn At MoLeNET meeting are we hashtag #molenet ?10:46 AM Oct 16th from Echofon

There are a mixture of general MoLeNET related Tweets here; some direct conversations with colleagues both at the event and at other locations, etc.  One thing I made note of was the lack  of Twitter back-channel, at what was after all, a mobile learning project managers’ event.  A few colleagues made reference to the fact that Twitter would be used to facilitate dialogue as part of their projects – so why only a few of them Tweeters/Microbloggers?  Were some people using other microblogging applications?  I would guess, mostly they were not aware of the #molenet tag.

I’ve set-up a separate blog for our MoLeNET Project – called ‘thin.clusion’

half an hour in London…

of course, it was more than just half an hour in London. That was the e-climax. No, it all began a couple of years ago… in a land-far-far-away <cue swirly graphics and sound FX>

We (Computer Services @BSFC) were planning to migrate our core Novell Netware network over to Microsoft AD. Both a technical nightmare & an emotional break-up :’(

John Paul Szkudlapski, worked tirelessly – creating the AD off-line – enlisting the help of Kev Burke from Carmel College and Martyn Coleman from KGV College. These 3 guys have been collaborating on Moodle, AD, Shibboleth, WiFi, Exchange, Google Apps, etc – and we’ve all benefited from their technical expertise…  So we had a solid technical platform to build on .

We further collaborated with Carmel, as part of the BECTA Technology Exemplar Network Phase 1 – along with Priestley, Xavarian, John Leggott & BL Hairdressing in the 2008/09 academic year.

We were also privileged to enlist the services of John Sparrow, as our Applications Developer – so far, John has written a bespoke Student Information Management System, which integrates our core IS with other quality and reporting tools.

John Paul had recently been collaborating with Martyn, migrating our Linux-based email system to MS Exchange – John Paul has installed and configured Moodle at KGV.

This is where our MoLeNET3 Project idea came from…

Both colleges have classes of students working out on placements a few days every week. The students are currently taking notes, creating documents, uploading photos, etc. in a disjointed and impractical way. Students often do not complete tasks because they have had to spend extra time re-inputting data.  I’m not going to give too much away about our project – you’ll have to wait for that in another blog entry.   Keep a look out for one entitled “thin.clusion“

Telling Tales – Mimas #mimasmob09

I have to admit, I wasn’t too sure what I had been signed-up to… I say ‘signed-up to’ because I quite literally was!  We had an exhibition stand at the recent JISC RSC NW annual event – I had just been off watching a few cool Pecha Kucha shows [David Sugden, Kevin Hickey, Liz Bennett] and came back to our stand, to be told I had volunteered and been signed-up for Mimas: ‘Telling Tales’ conference.  OK, I was going to be down in London for the elearning@greenwich conference the day before, so that was cool.

Of course, I looked-up Mimas and realised what the event was – mobile learning, with the added bonus of a James Clay presentation on ‘the future’!

I arrived, grabbed a coffee and sat at a table, said hello, etc. looked at names on badges – then looked at the running order.  The people at my table were ‘big players’ in the mLearning world – I suddenly felt a little out of place.  But then thought, why should I feel out of place?  Everyone seemed to know each other and I knew a few people, so just go with it.

What a great bunch of innovative, radical thinkers!  The day was excellent.  It was interesting to talk to some new contacts about general ‘learning with tech’ [I'm trying not to box and label, James]   One thing that stuck out for me, apart from the wonderfully interesting presentations, was that there appears to be plenty of funding bodies, willing to fund research projects – but they don’t appear to follow them up or apply the findings.  I’ve been to many conferences now and there seems to be a few Universities and Colleges doing similar research work, funded by different bodies – is there no cohesion at ‘the top’??

One interesting point raised towards the end of the day, during a reflection session, was that the kind of technology we’re currently looking at and researching will be so out of date by the time it comes to being embedded into learning.  Are we wasting our time and resources on researching ‘the tech’ (which will develop anyway as part of the consumer culture) when we could be researching the pedagogy?

Mimas: Telling Tales

To quote a Tweet exchange during the conference:

RT @jamesclay: #mimasmob09 @colhawksworth maybe we should ignore content and concentrate on activity first?

Thoughts, anyone?

If you aint read this yet…

…you haven’t missed out on anything profound.

Just a little social experiment to see if I get any more readers, because of the titles of my blog entries.

Well, now you’re here, you might as well hang out a little while longer.  My blog seems to be taking shape now, after getting off the ground on WordPress about a month ago.  For those who don’t know, here’s the story so far…

Blog I – is a journal about my allotment, which I’ve been keeping for about 2 years now on Blogspot.  It needs a little updating – but I’ll get round to it – no rush.  Blog II & III were also hosted on Blogspot, they were for my MA work, but I found they were faltering on technical grounds and also I had sensed that Blogs written on WordPress look so much cleaner.  That’s what lead me here. So now I have consolidated my MA blogs (anything older than June 2009) and have begun some fresh blogging here on WordPress.

So, yes – it’s all taking shape nicely.  On reflection, I seem to be writing about educational technology/eLearning/mLeaning etc, weekdays and on weekends, I mix in anything and everything I’m doing – which has either an academic or a technological intererst.

Thanks for stopping by, have a nice day and check back soon.