Activity 1
Write out your own definition of ‘learning’.
This should be your first thoughts; i.e. how you might respond without any research if asked: ‘What is learning?’ Take some time doing this and consider what wider implications your definition might have.
Gaining knowledge and understanding.
Being able to put that knowledge and understanding into practice.
Acquiring new skills.
Developing as a person.
Sharing opinions and ideas with others.
It's an ongoing process, it's lifelong.
Post your definition (no more than a single paragraph) to your tutor group forum. Allow about half an hour to write your definition and post it to the forum.
Now search for ‘definitions of learning’.
We suggest you use the Web initially and we would like you to record your impressions of the definitions you find. Begin with the definitions you find from simple searches and progress to making more systematic searches of the Web for sources you consider to be of a higher quality. For example, search using the OU library online.
Once you have done this, make use of any definitions you have to hand in books, journals or in other non-Web accessible sources.
Here are some questions that might help you frame your review of available definitions:
Are the definitions similar to your own? Yes. Although many include cognition and experience.
Do they carry any particular implications for what is thought of as learning?
Are the references you find on the Web skewed to any particular kind of definition? If so, how would you describe this bias? It appears they see learning in an educational context.
Write a short report (500 words maximum) of your search. Comment on:
The kinds of definition you find in the different sources. Are there variations according to where the definition was found?
The variations in the definitions and their similarity to or difference from your own.
Post your report to the tutor group forum and read the first definitions posted by other students in your tutor group and the reports they have posted. Allow about two hours to write your report and read other contributions.
Finally, we would like you to go back to your initial definition and to either revise it in the light of what you have read or to provide a brief account of why your definition stands up and is preferable to the found definitions.
Post your final definition to the tutor group forum and read the definitions posted by the other students in your tutor group.
Allow about an hour to revise your definition, post it to the forum and read other contributions
I'm well behind on keeping this blog updated...ahven't put my answers in to half the posts so will probably do it retrospectively when doing the TMA as usual!!
Elluminate discussion
As soon as possible after the session with your tutorial group has finished, reflect on and make notes about each of the issues outlined below:
- What were your experiences and feelings during the session? If you have impaired vision or hearing, how did this affect your participation? Hearing and vision fine. I'm not really sure if I like Elluminate. I haven't needed to use it up till now and have done just fine on all the other courses. I think its a tool that will suit some learners but not all. For me I found it a bit laborious and frustrating. There's a lot to keep an eye on...chat, whiteboard etc. At times I did find myself staring out the window. I'm also not given the same time as a forum discussion to sort out my replies and that makes me feel a bit vulnerable. I'm also concious of being 'made' to work with people at a level that perhaps I'm also not comfortable with....can't hide behind my written words so perhaps it hits my confidence.
- What did you learn about the Bayne chapter itself? Were some parts of the session more useful than others in this respect? Didn't really come away with anyhting other than we were just about all in agreement with each other. Not sure I needed the session as not much was gained. Also feel a bit miffed that I spent 2 hours on the session without gaining a great deal!
- Can you come to any (perhaps tentative) views about the pros and cons of Elluminate for the task you were set, in the context of a Masters course of this kind? Nothing more than I already have. At this point in time I feel pretty negative about it...maybe just tired. Perhaps later in the course I may feel more positive. Felt like this about the eportfolio and a year later I still feel the same!! Do you feel, for example, that this synchronous event carries more status when compared with online forums? (You’ll remember from
Week 3a that Goodyear (2006) argues that this is the case.) Right now absolutely not!
How far, if at all, would Elluminate or a similar tool be useful in your own context? not useful at all. Most of my students don't log in, have are offline and those who are online cannot find an hour free to commit to this type of session as they work full time, study and have families.
How would you design the activities? N/A
If you are already using a tool of this kind, how do the activities you run compare with the session you have just completed? N/A
Activity 8a
Make some notes about the two audio case studies, focusing on these questions:
- What was the rationale for using audio in each of the case studies?
- What educational purpose(s) was audio intended to serve? Did these change over time?
- What audiences were served by projects?
- Was the experience for learners synchronous or asynchronous? And was it individual or group-based?
- How would you characterise the roles of teachers and learners in the programmes described?
- What model(s) of learning was/were primarily involved?
- How active or passive were learners expected to be?
- How was the use of audio ‘interactive’? Did this change over time?
- What educational limitations of audio were identified?
- How did the projects described in the case studies relate to formal education provision within their respective countries?
Finally, summarise what you think were:
- the main advantages or benefits that audio offered for education in each of the case studies
- the main disadvantages or limitations (for learners and teachers) of using audio for education in each of the cases.
Activity 8b
1. Now that you have had the opportunity to consider the two case studies, what have you learned about why and how audio has been used for educational purposes?
2. Do you think that it is possible to generalise your findings to other educational developments or innovations involving the use of technologies?
3. To what extent were there similarities between the advantages or benefits that you noted for each case study?
4. To what extent were there similarities between the disadvantages or limitations that you noted for each case study?
5. What do you think were the primary reasons for using audio in the two cases?
6. What assumptions about (or models of) teaching and learning underpinned each of the cases?
- Note any implications for you as a teacher or as somebody who uses technologies to support learning (e.g. does it make you think differently about what you do?).
- Post your notes to your tutorial group forum and read the contributions of other students (this will spread over a few days). What can you learn from their experiences?
Blimey its been chaotic this week. There are so many flippin activities....are they sure they've got the study time right??!! This is the 4th MAODE course I've done but I keep running out of time. As usual OU has totally ignored half term....three kids plus a hubby at home does not equal good study time. Had to go to London for a couple of days then came back to chair activity two....forgot about the ton of marking winging it's way to me...oh well!!! Also seems every student of mine plus other tutors' students have decided to ask for additional support this week too and I had face to face tutorials Wed night which were a tad chaotic when the babysitter didn't show for 13 children belonging to 2 students! For the first time I've had to chase up students for TMA's and this has resulted in referring a number to learning support.
OK end of my whinge...feel better all ready!!!
Activity 10
First, post your reflections and responses to those three key questions to your tutor group forum so that you can share them with other members of your tutorial group.
As you read other postings think of your responses to the following questions:
- How do your experiences and any outcomes from your reflection compare with those of other members of your group?
- How might you account for any important variations you identify within your group? To what extent might these arise from factors such as:
– variations between subjects/disciplines or sectors within education and training
– curriculum design and accreditation procedures (at local, regional or national level)
– different levels of resource availability, support and infrastructure
– differences in cultural practices and norms?
You should discuss in your tutorial group what your experiences as learners and as supporters of learning suggest about the changes associated with technologies over your lifetimes and in different contexts
Activity 9
1. To what extent have the teaching practices you encountered and your own ways of behaving as a learner influenced the ways in which you now support the learning of others?
I'm more aware of individual learning differences.
2. How have your practices (as a learner and/or as a supporter of learning) changed over time, particularly in terms of your use of various digital technologies and resources?
I'm more confident in using technologies but only those relevant....I don't use technologies/resources just for the sake of them
3. Can you derive any useful lessons from your personal experiences about the impact of technologies upon teaching and learning practices?
Technologies don't always make the learning experience better, there are so many now but they need to be relevant to the learning. Don't assume that all students/tutors know how to use technologies.
Activity 5
Listen to the 23-minute interview with Gregor Kennedy, the project leader, noting down key points for your own context.
I agree with Kennedy that it cannot be assumed that students know how to use technologies and that it is more important to know your students. I have students from different cultural and language backgrounds which may affect which technologies are used. I also wonder if disability was accounted for and how within this research.
Clearly we cannot assume that being a member of the ‘Net Generation’ is synonymous with knowing how to employ technology-based tools strategically to optimise learning experiences in university settings.
(Kennedy et al., 2008, pp.117–18)
1. What are the authors’ reasons for saying this?
Students are likely to use one or two of the same technologies but not all of them
These skills may be basic and unsophisticated so do not lend themselves to other technologies so easily
All students are different
Need to know your students...do not assume what they are capable of.
2. How strong do you consider their evidence to be?
Fairly strong
Activity 6
Answer the following questions:
1. Which part(s) of the argument are most relevant to you as a reader and a student?
2. Which part(s) of the argument are most relevant to you as a teacher, trainer or other practitioner or potential practitioner?
3. What for you are the strengths and weaknesses of each form of presentation – reading from the report in Activity 4, and listening to a webcast lecture now? We will return to this issue in Week 5.
Activity 4
What follows is a quick exercise to focus your thinking about the Google Generation.
Below are four statements about that generation. Two statements have been described as myths by the authors of the study from which the graph is taken: please try to identify those two statements. And, in your view, how accurate are each of the other statements?
- ‘They [the Google Generation] need to feel constantly connected to the web’
- ‘They are the “cut-and-paste” generation’
- ‘They pick up computer skills by trial and error’
- ‘They are expert searchers’
These pages discuss/assess each of these statements and several others. Notice the star ratings the authors use to show their level of confidence in their assessments.
Which of Statements 1–4 above, if any, apply to you? The first 3.....not the last one!
Which method in the graph above do you depend on most? Searching GoogleScholar
Post a message in the Activity 4 forum, and compare your position with the positions of others in your group. Aim in your group to decide the following:
How does your group compare with the data in the graph?
How does your group compare with the statements on pages 18–20?
You are very welcome to read the messages in the other tutorial forums, for this or any other activity. But, by convention, students don’t actually send messages to the forums of other groups.
Now read pages 12–24, which make up the complete section about the Google Generation. What are the implications for your own work with learners? There wasn't really any surprises here. My learners are paper based and don't really need to do internet searching other than for curriculum guidance and this is provided for them. My kids do struggle with the wording in their searches...like the article stated they seem to assume the search engine knows what they're after. Not sure why they haven't been taught how to use a search engine correctly....perhaps they have but have forgotten!!
Interpret ‘learners’ as broadly as you like to make it relevant to your professional or personal context, including friends or members of your family if applicable.
Activity 3
This is just where I'll put notes on the activity but will also post to the tutor discussion forum....
Please read Naughton’s Thanks, Gutenberg – but we’re too pressed for time to read . As you read, think about the following questions so that you can share your ideas in the forum:
- What strikes you as interesting? that there is actually a recognised term 'horizontal information seeking' for what I though only I did....I skim the web pages as I would do a book but I also have numerous tabs open and skim many one after another. The size of the web compared to the length of its life so far (17 years)
- How clear do you find the argument about the First Law of Technology – for example, the point about overestimating? I think this is fairly clear....we have no idea really what the long term impacts of technology may be in particular the www. We appear to want to create as many technologies as possible in order to meet needs but are they accessible to all, are they really necessary, are they cost effective in the long run, who are they benefitting? So we may have overestimated.
The opening reference to the First Law of Technology certainly grabs the reader’s attention. Apart from printing, are there other examples – not mentioned in the article – that support this ‘law’, and others that contradict it? This may feel quite a tough question: pooling your ideas should be very useful.
Try to agree on the following in your group forum:
- of the examples you have suggested in your group, which is the single most significant supporting example apart from printing?
- which is the most significant counter example?
- Then, according to how much time you have, find out about ‘The Second Law of Technology’. Google or
Wikipedia may be helpful here.
Naughton refers to the ‘invention of printing in the 15th century’. Wasn’t it invented earlier? Again Google or Wikipedia may be helpful if you’re not sure. In your opinion, is the phrase too Eurocentric, or is it fair enough in such a short piece of writing?
Browse John Naughton’s online diary. You may want to set yourself a time limit! You could also bookmark it for future use: in Internet Explorer 7, for example, right click on the page and then select ‘Add to Favourites…’
Activities 1 and 2
Well the course doesn't officially start until this Saturday but it's actually open now. So far its been a bit like a social gathering meeting up with everyone from past courses...students and tutors alike!! I've tried not to do much reading yet as I want to enjoy the 2 weeks off catching up on housework, reading trash and reminding the kids who I am!!
I have however already done the first 2 activities....
- introducing myself
- saying something unusual about myself...almost drew a blank there!
- what technologies I use in work/out of work....blogging (for the MA it helps me to reflect, organise what I've studied and documents the journey)
- what I want to get out of H800.....for this one I prefer to wait and see what unfolds!
I wish I'd started this blog at the start of the MAODE as its become a bit of a security blanket or may be its just a habit but even though H800 doesn't require a blog I'll continue to maintain this one.
For anyone on H800 reading my blog for the first time...yes I love Canada..how did you guess? We visit there about once a year and have family and friends in and around Ontario. The photo of the road in the autumn was used because I started the MAODE in September as the trees were about to change colour. It reminds me that I've travelled quite a long way already towards gaining the MA!!
