Change of Emphasis!

I have been exploring how students can study a course without attending. I have two students who are unable to attend a course and are studying away from the class. I am uploading all the learning content we use in the session as well as a video recording of the session.

If they do succeed I am wondering what effect this will have on any future session I teach. I am wondering if I should provide the learning material and then use forums for the students to discuss the topic and any questions posed. The class time can then be spent exploring what the students have learned from the material and discuss the issues it raises.

This turns my normal sessions on it's head. I normally provide homework/questions on the subject explained in class for the student to consider at home. The distance learning model I am using appears to require the student to learn the topic away from the class and bring questions and issues to the session. This can be used as a discussion opportunity for all.

I am in deep thought... is this the natural way courses should be delivered whether the student can attend the session or learn at distance.

I am reconsidering my learning and teaching methodology. Time for more reading on the subject.

Blogging helps me solve problems.

At the end of a busy day at college I find it important to reflect on the main issues (positive and negative) that had happened during the day. This always happens to me whether I like it or not.
I suspect the majority of teachers and other professionals do the same.

For me the act of blogging even if no one reads it, is like making a line in the sand which basically says... I have thought about it and my conclusions are... and I think I will change this or that upon my experiences.

Since I have resumed blogging I realize it is really satisfying and allows me to "put the day to rest". I now think I have a little more understanding of why people spend time entering their thoughts for the day in a diary. Yet again, technology has helped me on a humanistic level as I would have never thought of using a paper diary, but quite happy (increasingly so) writing this blog.


A large part of the day was spent experiencing the on-line conference

Innovating e-Learning 2010 Online Conference

Bringing innovation to life: From adversity comes opportunity

http://www.jisc.ac.uk/elpconference10

This was a new experience for me and right from the first presentation I was really enjoying the high quality of the presentations and the massive amount of interaction between all the attendees. I started to consider how I could use our college interactive video conferencing system to produce a similar experience for our tutors. However the more I thought about it during the day the more barriers I saw. In fact I may have become a little depressed because I am so aware of the challenge this would present. However, I have been a Change Agent for many years and finding ways around problems is second nature to me. The way around this problem has come to me while I was writing this blog. Read on...

I just remembered that a part-time engineering lecturer came up to me tonight and said, please will you video my session on Thursday as you are right... the video you took of me last week is very useful for my students. As I went straight into teaching after that conversation I had not thought about it until I started reflecting while writing this blog. A little positive comment like that managed to immediately re-ignite my enthusiasm and I now know that I must organize an on-line conference in the New Year. The way to reduce the barriers is to involve as many PDAs and tutors as possible in the presentations. It would be fantastic if I can encourage the part-time engineering lecturer to present a short session on the use of recording sessions for students to view via Moodle.

It is all about enhancing the fledgling Community of Practice - TEL. I would consider the on-line conference a success even if only one tutor uses the system after participating. That one tutor could be a case study which can be used to share good practice. I now believe that blogging is another tool for me to use to identify possible ways around barriers.

Last thought: small steps are much better than none at all.

Reminder to self... show the part-time engineering lecturer how to video his own sessions to release him from needing me.

Engineers Exploring Technology Enhance Learning

I have been pleasantly surprised with the amount of support I have received from other tutors on the new HNC Engineering course. I am focusing on moving the programme of study to a more blended/distance learning approach. The first stage of embedding the use of Moodle in their delivery was actively embraced. Now we have moved on from just myself recording sections of their sessions for upload to Moodle/YouTube to one of the tutors' using a FLIP camera to record the session without my assistance.

This is incredible progress in such a short period of time. The next challenge is to show them how to "top and tail" their recordings and upload to Moodle and/or YouTube without the need for my support at all.

Time to start sharing this good practice with other curriculum areas!

Slow accident?

One of my students made a very interesting comment while we were discussing quality management... "I don't think many people recognise the importance of the slow accident". He went on to describe that he perceives that many companies appear to be focused on health and safety for physical accidents (quick accidents) but not for the excessive stress that can be experienced at work". The comparison he made was... "there is little difference to the company if the employee has six months off for two broken legs or depression caused by excessive stress at work.

Food for thought?