Week 25

My focus this week has been less on course work and more on TMA 04. This was helped greatly by an elluminate session at the beginning of the week which consisted of just a few of us students. It worked really well, very relaxed and thoughts and ideas easily explored. It's nice to hear that others are thinking along the same lines or can clarify areas that are sometimes grey. I've decided that this will be the focus of my ECA.....l had already considered that for my students elluminate could provide them with a better, synchronised forum in which to support each other...almost like a chat room facility. I feel my students would use this and benefit greatly from it. I'd still consider its for tutorials especially for my students who are based in Europe and cannot attend f2f.
So I'm now looking at Kennedy (formal/ informal learning) and Thorpe (not just the tool that needs to be taken into account when researching.....need to account for environment, type of course etc)....well I think that's what they're about!! Then its on to ownership of learning....is there really such a thing....I'm not convinced. We discussed this in the elluminate session and agreed that we were all dubious at this point in time as to whether students could actually gain ownership of their learning. But now I'm rambling......

Week 24

Activity 7
Well this week didn't fair much better. Very slow start so decided to jump in and attend the Tuesday night Elluminate.....well I didn't really have much choice as I wasn't available for this mornings! We discussed Thorpe (2009) ‘It is through practices with technology, rather than the direct effect of the tools themselves, that we create learning contexts.’ exploring what it means and the implications for practitioners. There were only 3 students and the tutor but the session seemed to go pretty well though sometimes I'm not sure what the objective of the session is or what outcome if any has been achieved by the end of it.
So after bouncing to activity 7 I'm now having to work through the rest of week 24. It all seems rushed at the moment because TMA04 and the ECA are looming and I can't seem to grasp the point of the last couple of weeks in relation to the two assessments...fells like I'm meant to be swimming Olympic style but all I can muster is the doggy paddle:( Think I'm lacking the adrenaline buzz..too lethargic!!

Weeks 21/22/23

I take one week off from study in the last 2 years and its a disaster!! Took me ages to get back into the swing of studying again, not helped by having the kids at home all day. Weeks 21 and 22 were combined over a 2 week period but that was no help to me. So after reading and looking at all 3 weeks I don't feel very far forward.
Weller and Sclater don't seem to see eye to eye...its as if Weller is the son that wants all the new top of the range toys to play with and Sclater is his dad who reckons they're far to expensive and by the time Weller gets round to playing with them a whole batch of new ones will be in the shops. Also Sclater feels that some of the toys Weller wants will alienate his friends as they won't know how to play with them as they're too advanced. I agree with Sclater...not because I'm a mum but because I can see that if a Uni implements lots of new technologies then apart from the expense there is the likelihood of alienating some learners and tutors due to their lack of confidence in technologies.
Activity 1 in Week 23 required collaboration in the wiki. Problem was when I work within a wiki I need a purpose...I couldn't fathom out what we were trying to achieve. There was no chair person, no time limit, no stated outcome.
The rest of week 23 looked at metaphors......research papers discussed birdwatching and fungus what??? Still have no idea what it was all about. Tried posting to the forum but there's no one about not even the tutor.....perhaps they're all on holiday?! I know from Twitter that many couldn't fathom out Week 23 and so moved on to start on TMA 04. My concern is if they are all using preferred technologies such as Twitter or blogs to communicate by how will I find the time to track them all down and if I can't then the tutor probably can't either. Whilst ownership of learning is a great thing surely there also needs to be some facilitating of that learning? For me personally I need peers and a tutor to succeed.

Catch up time!!!!

Have just got back from a fantastic week in Spain where I will admit to doing no study at all!!! First time since September 2007. In fact I wrote a TMA on the last family holiday so I reckoned I deserved the break!

So I'm now home and there is no pool, no stunning view, no 30+C heat :-(

Instead there is Week 21/ 22 to catch up on and everyone will now have started Week 23...aaargh!! Doesn't help that the house is full of kids with no school or college to go to. However this happened last year and I coped!!

Got TMA03 back which was fine...now know where I need to focus so not too bad.

New contract

Travelled through horrendous rain to get to Gateshead and OU in the North this afternoon. Had an interview for a new course which is E100 in Early Years. My previous two courses have reached the end of the line (ah bless!) and my contract has now ceased. Lucky for me it looks like I'm getting a new contract this October for a large group or two....yeah me!!!!!!! The new course is now 4 eTMA's and an ECA with all new updated course material...very exciting!
Lesley at OU is going to send an email out to the AL's in the north to see who would be interested in some Elluminate practice sessions with me. Looking to start end of July when I get back from a much needed week long break in Spain....villa, pool, bottle of cava with a straw in it!!!!!

TMA 03

Finally decided on use of Blogs and Elluminate for the ECA. The design will be looking at how Elluminate could be used as a substitution for f2f tutorials for my European students.
Going to have to get a wriggle on with the next week of course work as I'm off to Spain for a week and want to have some quality time with the family....so no study allowed!!!!! I haven't taken a break since starting on H808 in September 2007!!
I'm enjoying twitter just for the info updates and the sites they've suggested for blogs and elluminate. Not sure I'll continue with it was I've completed the MAODE though.
Beginning to dread the end of September and ECA submission day....not because I'm unduly worried about the ECA (which of course I am!!) but because the studying will stop and then what the heck do I do with my time?!!

Twitter

Oh blimey...yet another technology to take up my time!!! Well I've tried to avoid it but as part of H800 I have to get myself an account which I have dutifully done. I've decided not to use my phone but just stick to using it on the web.
I was surprised that there were people I could follow who were linked to Elluminate, blogs, elearning etc and that some of them decided to follow me. I'm being quite picky about who I allow to follow me...had to block a couple of very dubious people already!!!! Not sure what, if any, value I'm going to get from this in the long run but for the moment its given me a couple of links to some helpful websites.
With regard TMA03/ECA I seem to have fathomed something out thanks to my tutor...designing an intro to Elluminate for European students...well something along those lines!!