Activity 5
Read the paper from which the quote above was taken. It is ‘Characterising the different blogging behaviours of students on an online distance learning course’. Allow up to an hour to study it and to make notes in response to the following questions, before moving on to the second part of the activity.
1. What if anything surprises you about the findings from Kerawalla and her colleagues? Have to say that there were no real surprises as I have studied on the course in question and feel that the findings were as expected. I found the OU blog difficult to use and personalise. I now use Blogger as I can make it more personal in the same way a diary would be. I also have ownership of my blog! Half the fun of blogging has been creating and enhancing the blog!
2. Of the purposes for blogging identified in the paper, which purpose is most likely to encourage you to blog if you don’t already?
And, if you already blog, which of those purposes is most important to you? Or do you do it for some other reason? I mainly fit into the category of 'self sufficient' blogger. I do follow other bloggers though not many. I use the blog to carry out activities as this was compulsory on course H810 and still suits me. I'm not necessarily looking for comments nor do I really need an audience. I also use the blog to help with reflection.
3. If you work with learners who blog, how do their motivations compare (as far as you can tell) with those of the students in this paper? None of my students blog. It has been considered but where would I find the time to check 40+ blogs!
4. Based on the recommendations in the paper, or your own experience of blogging, how would you design activities to encourage learners to blog and to read and comment on each other’s blogs? As the paper stated students have different reasons for blogging...they can't be made to blog successfully, for some blogging is a very personal experience, you can't make students share either. I'll need to think some more on this question.
When you’re considering this, you may like to think back to the papers from Kennedy et al. that you read – one in Week 1, and one in Weeks 13–14. You may recall that in their research of first-year students at three Australian universities, the authors found that relatively few kept a blog, even though there are claims that this generation has an appetite for blogging. The authors argue that:
there is a real danger that such commentary will create a vague but pervasive feeling among tertiary educators that every student who enters the higher education system is a blogger.
(Kennedy et al., 2007, p.522)
Activity 2
This activity asks you to find out the following by doing some online searching via Google, GoogleScholar, Wikipedia, Citizendium or other tools:
- What do their different editorial policies imply about differing approaches to authority and to the role of the ‘expert’? Comparing Wikipedia with Citizendium.....Wikipedia is open to anyone to post and they do this anonymously. There is vanadlism and a trend that posters post for their own personal gain. Moderators are not always experts. Citizendium uses posters (authors) actual names and has actual experts who moderate. It appears to be an enhancement of Wikipedia, it has built upon the idea of Wikipedia but does not claim to be better then it.
- What are the most important differences between Citizendium and Wikipedia in terms of their editorial policies? As stated earlier......unlike Wikipedia Citizendium uses actual names of people posting, they must agree to a set of terms, there is policing of bad behaviour and it encourages respectability.
- How far is Citizendium meeting its goals, as far as you can tell from recent reports?
These reports may come from Citizendium (what it says about itself) and from commentators.
Activity 1
Please read Baker’s How I fell in love with Wikipedia. As you do so, consider the following:
- Is there anything new for you in the article? There was nothinbg that I didn't already know but I liked the way the article shared thew experiences of using Wikipedia how obsessive a person can become when contibuting to it.
- Does it make you more or less likely to consult Wikipedia, or does it make no difference? I'll continue as I did before. I've always taken what is in the Wikipedia as being an 'open to discussion' forum, even being based on hearsay so I don't rely heavily on it even though I know its moderated. I don't usually reference from the Wikipedia.
- If you have used Wikipedia in the past few weeks – whether for H800 or for other reasons – review your use of it. Its given interesting info which I take with a pinch of salt!
- Where have you found it most and least valuable? I've found it more valuable when searching for general info that would be found in the public domain as its quick and concise and can lead me to more detailed info. I find it least valuable as a reliable tool for academic research.
- Are there certain types of topic that you feel happy looking up in Wikipedia? For example, do you consult it for factual information such as names and dates, and/or explanations of technologies, and/or insights into broad topics such as ‘learning’? Tend to use it for personal use rather than for work or study.
- Why is a Wikipedia entry not generally regarded as acceptable as a reference in an academic journal? For one view on this, you could search on ‘citing Wikipedia’ within Wikipedia itself! Although moderated it unlikely the moderator is an expert in that field.
- And if you are involved in supporting learners in some capacity – interpreting ‘support’ very broadly to include professional and personal contexts – what advice would you give them about how they could use Wikipedia? It gives a good overview but it may be based on hearsay or personal opinion rather than on fact or research. No harm in using it but keep an open mind.
- How does your use of Wikipedia compare with, say, your use of Google or GoogleScholar? You may like to think back to your tutor group discussion of the graph in Week 1a Activity 4.
And if you haven’t used Wikipedia recently, think about why that is. Are you using other online sources, or books, or…? I use it far less than google or books etc. This may just be because of habit or I'm more comfortable in the way I research at the minute.
Well the first TMA is done and dusted and has passed...phew! Knowing that this is the last course seems to be knocking my confidence a bit...bizarre! Not that I ever been overly confident...I remember talking to another AL a while back and we both felt that someone would rumble us at some point and reveal us as to be unworthy of the title...well I'm feeling a bit like that at the moment.
As I was behind I decided to work through the activities but just couldn't grasp what the aim was. I couldn't get past the fact that to me this was simply about creating lesson plans. Decided to post to the tutor site for help and a fellow student came to my rescue.... you're a star Philip!!. He gave me a great paper by Conol to read that managed to cover just about all the activities but most importantly i understood it!!!
I now get the different purposes for social networks......You tube=sharing videos, Facebook=finding similarities in profiles, Cloudworks and Phoebe= sharing educational design. It's way more than just creating lesson plans and sharing them. The sites can become a repository for those in education to share or to find ideas/plans/designs/tools/resources that do not necessarily have to be confined to a particular institution but could be shared globally.
The last week or two has been hell...gastric flu then laryngitis...I never get ill but this floored me. My boss was great and gave me an extension on my marking...even offered to send it out to another marker but that didn't seem fair on my students plus I like to follow their journey through the course. So today is the first time I've had a chance to see where I am with H800....way behind by the looks of things!!!!!
Now up to week 6 and that means TMA 01. So need to sort out my plan....luckily I'd looked at the TMA a while back and has decided on which activities to focus on. Still have to go through forum discussions...it's although a lengthy TMA.
One good thing this week....I passed H810!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I was convinced the ECA would need resubmitting after the hand in drama but it passed with a fairly respectable mark! I now have a Post Grad Diploma so feel pretty smug!
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
