Where have my ruminations on elearning got to 18 months later

I have just completed a survey form for someone doing a Masters research project on what leadning educators say about trends in the use of eportfolios in teacher education. This has lead to me revisiting what had written here in 2007 and I realise how remiss I have been in keeping this blog up-to-date.

I have noted increased knowledge and use of digital technology amongst the staff and a determination to consider how we can use digital technologies to enhance our programme and more importantly student learning. I think getting out heads around the possibilities does require us to individually become familiar and excited about it. So the use of Facebook is the most notable evidence of me and my colleagues trying out new digital places - Facebook certainly seems to fulfill its function as a social networking site. I personally have found several old friends I had not had dontact with for many many years and the site enables you to view their photo albums etc. It also provides a very workable medium for brief messages and photo posts that increase our socialising and therefore sense of connectedness.

However I don't think Facebook is the write digital environment for education, but certainly a similar type of environment, many which do exist I am sure but I have not yet had time to explore them. So let me know if you find a digital environment that would work really well for student teacher s

Ruminating on impact of technology on my students and myself as lecturer

Well where does this ruminating leave me - one the one hand wanting to log off and spend time in what I still find the most satisfying of occupations - in the classroom face to face with my students or in my garden interacting with the plants etc. I guess first I will share my thoughts.

Listening to George Siemens talk I felt the questions he is pursuing in research highly relevant. (1) How do these digital tools impact on students in a practical sense? and (2) How does digital world relate to our pedagogical beliefs?

His blog site http://www.elearnspace.org/about.htm

George's reflection on how the structure of formal education was at odds with how he had been learning is really interesting and he concludes with the comment that: Most importantly, I've realized that certain learning challenges, by their nature, require formal, structured processes, while others require more fluid, informal approaches. The nature of each intended learning experience should drive the selection of tools and processes. Rather than outright dismissing theories and techniques which have served the learning field well for centuries, we need to retain their value for appropriate tasks. No one concept or theory is universal in its application.

As I am a strong believer in opening the doors for students to consider multiple perspectives /theories I agree that the world today is certainly a much more equitable space for learners, at least for those who have access to internet and who have the learning dispositon of curiosity and perseverance. There is a shift away from the gurus but in my field of early childhood it is happening very slowly - the percieved giants like Piaget, Dewey and Vygotsky are still usually understood from a minimum of a third hand interpretation. This has lead, for a very long time, to a simplification and lack of depth of understanding of the ideas, questions, theories held by these 'gurus'. George sees a move away from the 'gurus' especially as a result of digital technology and that this is where the role of being 'curator' , a guide on the side' rather than sage on the stage, the one from whom all information comes or is monitored. However there are many constraints, some we can deal with and others are outside of our jurisdiction. It does require creative thinking and being prepared to take some risks and try new things.

For example when reviewing our programme we can ask "do our assignments encourage students to seek multiple perspectives, to go to the source of some of the theories, to seek out opinions from around the world?" We have noticed as we have built in this to assessments and given students the tools to be more research savey using the internet that the depth of discussion and analytical thinking increases for many students. However there remains the issue of access. This can be for our students who are mainly women with families from across the region that access includes: time, ability to access broadband both financially and physically, lack of internet discernment when googling. This is where our role as instuitions and as lecturers come in but you can still only do so much - I guess like George says about not letting our students wander around in cyber space getting lost.

What is so exciting is when students discover how through the internet their understanding on a topic is vastly increased and their views challenged, resulting in news ways of thinking or affirming current beleifs.

In an ideal educational world when the gatekeepers and institutions who confer qualifications are committed to taking some risks , trusting that you can achieve 'centralised outcomes from decentralised means' then there would be more opportunity for the teacher to be the curator. Curator defined by George as one who sets up the structure in appealing way, developing and providing access to excellent resources and 'lay them at the feet' to pick up run with. My team of lecturers endeavour to do this through physical reading and other resources and class work as well as through digital means. Diversity of opinion is not seen as a threat and we try to inspire and encourage students to read widely (either on line of printed word). I can see we have some work to do on setting up better arrangements and structures.

Part of our current problem is that we can only offer blended delivery so our 'online 'component is deemed mainly as support and the hours allocated to staff for this 'online guidance' is minimal so they we may want to do much more we have to be realistic about the time spent ' in the digital world' both for us and the students. So this links into what I quoted from George earlier.

My journey continues as I have learnt how to set up RSS and a wikispace.
However one of the downsides of the internet is having to remember your username and passwords - and for my wikispace that is what has happened.
In our virtual classroom this week we had as a guest lecturer Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach who is an amazing example of how internet opened up her world and enabled her to realise her potential after her childhood years. She sets up online communitiers all over the world , her wikispace is http://21stcenturylearning.wikispaces.com/
This lecture raised several things to ponder on. First the belief held by many that professional learning environments more and more will be built around virtual community. Sheryl linked this to the trend that social and intellectual captial are the new economic values in the world Therefore as educators we have a responsibility to keep abreast with the virtual world developments. Second point was that by using technology especially participatory media educators will help students shape tomorrows world.

Sheryl expounded the positives of a world where isolation becomes a thing of the past and that virtual worlds increases our understanding of diversity. This may well be true for those who have internet broadband access, but there are many billions in the world for whom that is not the case. She argued that the digital divide is not about access but about those who can collaborate and those who can't. I personally think that today access is still one of the digital divides and one that may never go away.

The removal of isolation is interesting and I certainly am drawn to the idea of teachers from around the world networking via virtual communities. My students especially once they have graduated ( no longer in class) do become much more isolated from the wider early childhood community with its wonderful diversity and an online community would overcome that isolation. The question is how much of ensuring students have the skills and knowledge to access and collaborate on line is our responsibility as teacher educators? I think we do have some responsiblity and therefore offering blended delivery of our courses ( face to face and online) is important. Hence me doing this course.

Environments

My passion and research is on optimal outdoor environments for young children and as I listened to Konrad using a model for great public places - I made many connections to my own research. In the process of publishing a booklet on Optimal Outdoor Environements for young children in early childhood settings and the heading used in the bookelt are written from a young child's perspective but are applicable to an online education environment (red italics just making the application clearer). They are:
· Time to play
· A variety of spaces and areas
· To be physically active (involved)
· Risk taking opportunities yet to feel secure
· To have contact with nature and the natural world (explore wider internet world and others views)
· Rich sensory experiences (the visual and auditory scenery of the online environment)
· Opportunity to create, rearrange and transport
· Adults that value the outdoors and will engage with me (my teachers value the online environment and participate)

Thought on comments and todays lecture

Leigh and Sue you both agree that students need a reason to keep a blog - I see that as in this course if tied to an assessment then that may provide the initial motivation and then if engaged with subject content and they get comments their interest will be held.

After hearing Konrad Glogowski's lecturer today I can see how vital it is to take the time to set the online environment and ensure you have all four aspects covered: socialibility, access and linkages, activites and uses and comfort and image. His points on the teacher's roles for each of these I sum up as: environmental planner and maintainance person, encourager, extender, freedom giver, and participant. He also talked about the need to be a learner.

This weeks thoughts on facilitating elearning communties

While fighting the flu I have taken time to spend time to listen to and read various experts in the art of facilitating on line learning. For example the 10 minute lecture by James Farmer and I found his analysis of using a forum like Blackboard compared to blogging highly interesting and I totally agree. His main points were that discussion forums like in Blackboard :

• are very restrictive
• can be timewasting
• hard to manage
• impersonal
• can lack depth in the content
• impossible to create a sense of identity
• no sense of ownership
• tend to be about content management and therefore not a very successful way to use the internet

Whereas according to Farmer blogs can overcome many of these issues. For example:

• the potential for ownership by the writer
• you can create your identity
• allows for strong coherent teaching
• provides an online archive
• much more depth to discussion

I found his identification of the three 'presences' a community of learners needs: - social, cognitive, teaching, useful when thinking about how I might frame an online course.

In my previous blog I raised the question about how you as teacher can put ' the essence of who you are as a teacher' into an online learning course. James stated that you can project yourself as a real person over time. I guess that would certainly be enhanced through video streaming.

However the down side is that the possibly eteaching could be a way to wear another mask. For me the genuiness of a teacher is essential to good teaching.
Now I become myself.
Its taken time, many years and places.
I have been dissolved and shaken,
Worn other peoples faces….
Mary Sarton
The passion and interest one has a teacher propels the subject into the centre of learning - so for me finding ways to do this online is crucial.

The other person I listened to was Stephen Downes and I also read his paper on Educational Blogging

http://www.educause.edu/pub/er/erm04/erm0450.asp?bhcp=1

Stephen refers to Mireille Guay, an instructor at St-Joseph, notes: "The conversation possible on the weblog is also an amazing tool to develop our community of learners. The students get to know each other better by visiting and reading blogs from other students. They discover, in a non-threatening way, their similarities and differences. The student who usually talks very loud in the classroom and the student who is very timid have the same writing space to voice their opinion. It puts students in a situation of equity."17

I think this comment addresses other issues I raised in my previous blog re equity. Perhaps the slight distacne that online creates could work to some students advantage; especially if they have poor English speaking skills or a very shy.
Stephen also puts forward 5 ways teachers use the internet as an educational tool.

First, teachers use blogs to replace the standard class Web page
Second, and often accompanying the first, instructors begin to link to Internet items that relate to their course
Third, blogs are used to organize in-class discussions
Fourth, some instructors are using blogs to organize class seminars and to provide summaries of readings
Finally, fifth, students may be asked to write their own blogs as part of their course grade

With my our student teachers being able to critically analyse and reflect is an embedded value in our programme and with using a forum like Blackboard I have struggled to see how online work could reach the level of depth in writing that we expect. Stephen Downes reference to Richardson (quote below) made me see that yes it is possible.

" blogging as a genre of writing may have "great value in terms of developing all sorts of critical thinking skills, writing skills and information literacy among other things. We teach exposition and research and some other types of analytical writing already, I know. Blogging, however, offers students a chance to a) reflect on what they are writing and thinking as they write and think it, b) carry on writing about a topic over a sustained period of time, maybe a lifetime, and c) engage readers and audience in a sustained conversation that then leads to further writing and thinking."36

Another comment Downes made also linked to concern I had re students not reading academic literature as widely as they should and my uncertainty whether online learning would further limit this. However Downes states that "despite obvious appearances, blogging isn’t really about writing at all; that’s just the end point of the process, the outcome that occurs more or less naturally if everything else has been done right. Blogging is about, first, reading. But more important, it is about reading what is of interest to you: your culture, your community, your ideas. And it is about engaging with the content and with the authors of what you have read—reflecting, criticizing, questioning, reacting. If a student has nothing to blog about, it is not because he or she has nothing to write about or has a boring life. It is because the student has not yet stretched out to the larger world, has not yet learned to meaningfully engage in a community. For blogging in education to be a success, this first must be embraced and encouraged".

Overall I found Downes to be very positive and visionary in regards to internet use as an educational tool and forum. I was very taken with his comment that 9/11 triggered a change in internet use - from information giver to an interactive dynamic - a sharing of ideas with input form entire world. Tio me this is an highly exciting aspect that I have as yet to really discover for myself. Downes refers to Mireille Guay who says that students discover in a non-threatening way their similarities and differences.

My thoughts on participating in an elearning communtiy

As I start this 'facilitating elearning communties course" with some fear of the unknown the following quote feels very real.
"Technological change is the only constant in our work today"
Unattrib

In considering how we may faciliate learning in the future, I wonder if we have the foresight and ability to think outside of what we currently know, as Plato did

"Someday, in the distant future, our grandchildren's grandchildren will develop a new equivalent of our classrooms. They will spend many hours in front of boxes with fires glowing within. May they have the wisdom to know the difference between light and knowledge."

Do we get glimpses of what will be????? It is hard to think about twenty years from now given the current rate of technological change.



Beginning this course (and I am now in week 3 ) I have read quite a few articles and contributed to blackboard discussions( common practice for me), visited several blogs, virtual education communities and participated in a virtual classroom( albeit through written wordtexting) discussion( first time in my life) and - I am realising that many others are far ahead in the consideration and use of virtual classrooms and their limitations and strengths.



I have used Blackboard for five years now to support my face to face teaching and have used it to have off campus realtime discussions with students . However from just being on this course three weeks I can see how constrained and limited and unexciting blackboard is, especially for our many of our younger students who are very computer virtual world savy.



Yet in my classes we have many mature students and some of them are still getting to grips with basic computer speak and skills. One reading in this course highlights this consideration when thinking about facilitating on line:

Effective Online Facilitation article
http://pre2005.flexiblelearning.net.au/guides/facilitation.html
states "It should not be assumed that teachers (or students for that matter) automatically know how to communicate or behave online (Coghlan 2001). Many do not and require professional development or mentoring in the skills and techniques of facilitating... Online engagement to a degree has to be engineered. That is, it needs to be part of an intended design. For example you cannot expect students to engage in meaningful discussion on a particular topic if each are at different stages in the learning program."



Participating in the virutal classroom 'eluminiate' was fun and much better than phone conferencing - though this weeks hour of get together via telephone was helpful for me in clarifying some questions I had.



I am particularly intersted in the cultural aspects of elearning and await with interest some discussion on this. On blackboard I made the following comments:


The students in our classes come from very diverse ethnic, cultural, religious, social and economic backgrounds. To me this adds richness to the learning that occurs within the face to face classroom. Several aspects help the learning and teaching in this setting for example:
1.Our students stay in cohort group for the three years, so they build strong collegial and personal friendhshps with other class members.
2. We spend time helping students to get to know each other and building a positive atmosphere in the class ( and yes this includes using icebreakers, but appropriate ones for the diversity)
3. With having no more than 35 in a class we can do lots of small group work and during class time endeavour to present content and engage students in mutliple ways. In other words no class is ever just a straight lecture.
Fo me the bottom line is "relationships" - being respectful of differing view points and I always pay full attention when a stduent is speaking and expect the rest of the class to do the same. From my experience it is often when a student for whom English if not their first language starts to share, that a few other class members will see this as a time to side chat and whisper. I have found this time and time again. So I always hope that my genuine interest in what teach person is saying and my attending , is noted and modeled. However at times I resort to a "sh", and sometimes a "please don't talk" as to me when students who are reluctant to contribute finally do so they need all the encourgement and support I can give.
Has anyone else found this a problem????????? Is this a positive side for elarning where race and spojken english is not being judged so quickly?????

As quoted"Online you get to know your students' [classmates]minds not just their faces."
Harasim, L., Hiltz, S.R., Teles, L., and Turoff, M. in Learning Networks: A Field Guide to Teaching and Learning Online. "The 'e' in e-learning stands for experience."

I also have questions about how ones teaching integrity and passion, that are far more easily evident face to face, is transmitted via elearning. I guess I am a bit sceptical of education via internet based on the level of dishonesty and fantasy that exists in other internet worlds. Back to Plato - will we have the wisdom to know the difference between light and knowledge?


Anyhow that is enough from me until next time.