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.
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!!
I've had to jump ahead slightly as I'm falling behind a tad.....if that makes any sense!!
I have already gone through the guidelines for Week 9 though!!
Activity 2.1
14 hours
Create an accessible online learning resource that can be shared with your tutor group.
The resource can be in any format but you must be able to make it visible online to other students. This could be through:
a link to another web page
your blog (if it allows you to include images)
the tutor group wiki
a file uploaded to the Week 10 Resource area . If you have linked resources, make sure that you include all the files and that the whole thing can be recreated on another computer. The limit for any one uploaded file is 20Mb.
Discuss this with your tutor if you are not sure how to proceed, but please don’t send attachments to your tutor group forum as this has very little storage space for files. Well after a heck of a struggle due to my lack of techological know how and the fact that this blog doesn't like my files I remebered the eportfolio and uploaded the resource to that.....never thought I would ever be grateful to MyStuff!!!!
Reflection.doc MyStuff failed again so have stuck a link in here too and it's also in the Week 10 Resource area!!!!
The learning resource can be on any topic and does not need be academic in nature, but it should be a self-contained activity. My resource is about reflection. The learners are expected to reflect within their TMA's and their ECA as well as refecting within their practice. I've included links to the OU study skills site and provided a table to help with developing their reflection. I also created the document using Rich Text Format. I based the format on the guidelines from Week 9 as word and RTF seemed to suit my learners better. I could have used a power point presentation but as there are some without computer access they could then feel alienated
It should be intended for use by all students, not a special resource for disabled students. It can include components that may be inaccessible, if an appropriate alternative resource is also provided. It can reflect practice such as imagining human support as a last resort. There are 42 learners in total on two courses that this resource is aimed at. Many have experience using computers but not all. There are no identified disabilities at this present time. Seven learners are Orthodox Jewish who do not have computer access. For them I would print off the resource and print out the OU links and post these to them. It' s aim is to provide learners with further information as and when they need it, to be accessed as and when needed.
It can be as long or as short as necessary, but remember that other students will need to be able to read it to make comparisons in TMA02. We suggest that you aim for a resource that would take a student 30–45 minutes to complete.
The content should include:
- learning outcomes, key skills or a similar indication of what students are expected to be able to do or learn In the actual resource I have not as yet included the learning outcomes. I would expect the learner to gain knowledge and understanding of what is meant by the term reflection, to be able to apply reflection to their practice and within their assignments.
- structure for navigation Here I have tried to keep it as simple as possible so as not to overwhelm my learners. Control/click on the icon will take them to the OU website.
- at least one image that requires a description This is where I did have a problem as I couldn't find an image that was relevant
- links to at least three related resources Have linked to 3 parts of the OU website
- at least one table.Have created a table for learners to use to aid their reflection
You can include other elements such as audio and video if you wish. This will be useful for other students in the evaluation activity in TMA02.
If you have a disability that makes elements of the activity difficult, please discuss alternatives with your tutor.
Bear in mind that the estimated time for this activity is 14 hours. The activity itself will not be assessed so the resource does not have to be polished or even complete, provided that there is sufficient content to demonstrate its accessibility features. Just as well!!
