Cloudworks: Gr�inne Conole

Talk: Theory and reflection in pedagogy planner tools to support learning design

Tue, 07 Jul 2009 12:39:30 +0000

The problem space – theories the why and the wherefore, review of previous work?

Work as part of the LDSE project
Eliciting practitioners’ perspectives on theory and reflection
Implication for design of the LDSE

The value of theory

Lawes, 2004: 199 Framework of understanding that improve the quality of practice and leads to the transformation of subjective experience
Conole 2008: Ensure that pedagogy drives the use of digital technology and not vice versa
Mayes and De Freitas: Ensure good pedagogical design

A meta-taxonomy – theory covers a multitude of things
4 useful categories

Theories as a way of understanding and predicting something – explanatory (Cook 2002)
Model an abstract representation that helps us understand something we cant see or experience directly (Conole, Oliver, et al. 2007)
Framework structure and vocabulary that support the explication of concepts and issues (Conole and Oliver 2002)
Taxonomy – an ordering classification (Merriam-Webster 1993)

JISC Planner tools

London Pedagogy Planner: Used Conversational Framework as the underpinning to take users through design decisions
Phoebe: Form filling to create designs, but had concept sensitive help

Perspectives on theory from these projects

Theory is a cornerstone of professional practice… and an antidote to technological determinism
Bt do teachers consciously espouse formal theories or are they driven by prior experience and reflective practice
Combine knowledge of theory with skills to make decisions
LDSE – funded under TLRP TEL programme
Theory informed but room for individual interpretation
Embed appropriate theories into tools and support what it? Modeling of learning designs
Uses knowledge engineering to build an ontology of learning designs – concepts and their relationships and educational theories
Practitioners use of theory – research questions
What is the value of educational theories in learning design?
What theories etc are they aware of and do they use?

Working with 10 informant practitioners – who can see the vision and potential
Value of theories

Part of a “world view” of learning design: “constructivism is a big part of what I do”
For structuring students’ learning: I always try and map everything I do onto CF
A yardstick for measuring change: I’m trying to effect change and they are useful markers
For critiquing and challenging: I regard theories as ways of critiquing something
Balance between theory and pragmatic considerations
I linked things up, I want them to get this out of a session, informed decisions – time, number of students, etc, how to motivate them

Were asked about a range of learning theories:Inquiry learning, problem based learning, Kolb, Bruner’s spiral curriculum, Ausubel’s advanced organizer, communities of practice etc
Multiple interweaving influences – tend to use a mix of theories
Some evidence of sloppiness
Different between theories of teaching (pedagogic theories) vs theories of learning
Pedagogic theories – take the form of models, frameworks for constructing a learning experience
Theories of learning – explain how students learn, explanations of how people come to know
Approach through practice – priority is to give them the tools they need to teach right now informed by their understanding of the theories that you are filtering

10 online learning tool for students

Sun, 27 Sep 2009 15:05:43 +0000

via @eDCSD on Twitter

Ten really nice sites to support learning across different disciplines. Although aimed at school kids I can see that some of them, like livemocha - social networking for language learners - are equally valuable for adults. I am certainly going to take a closer look at VerbaLearn with my daughter.

100 best blogs on the future of learning

Fri, 09 Oct 2009 08:50:29 +0000

Via Twitter @RobinGood Future of Learning: The Best 100 Articles

100 serious twitter tips for academics

Fri, 11 Sep 2009 12:11:11 +0000

via @digitalfprint on twitter

Excellent blog post with links to a range of useful additional resources on using twitter in education.

5 alternatives to Google Docs

Thu, 24 Sep 2009 14:55:10 +0000

via @nancydevineRT @web20classroom on Twitter

50 things that are being killed by the internet

Sun, 06 Sep 2009 12:57:40 +0000

Lists 50 things that are disappearing as a result of the impact of the internet and associated tools, includes letter writing, watches and telephone directories. Would be interesting to do an equivalent list for changes in an educational context.

A consideration of learning activity: towards an activity-based approach

Mon, 11 May 2009 16:34:36 +0000

�� What�s good about e-learning? � don�t know the answer and don�t think the research is very clear about it
�� About articulating our learning designs and implicit practice
�� Dominance of the acquisition metaphor, content- driven perspective
�� Confusion of the role of technology and digital tools play in learning: spectrum from enthusiasts in terms of using technologies and those who are phobic about it, don�t want to use the technologies. At both ends of the spectrum we need a more reflective approach
What is activity theory?
�� Engestr�m�s work Recording at CSALT 2002 video summarising CHAT. Explains what it is and how it is useful for understanding learning and in particular how it can be used wrt new technologies. A movement to have a more socially mediated cultural perspective of learning. Learning distributed between individuals, tools, resources and community. Expanding the unit of analysis for learning. Shift from some of the cognitive science perspectives of learning � information processing to socio-cultural perspective
�� Card, Moran, and Newell (1983) The psychology of human-computer interaction, Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum GOMS lab-based work shift to an AT framework
�� Nardi and others argued that we needed alternative theories to take account about the social dimensions of learning.
�� Third generation AT: when 2 or more activity systems come into contract there may be contradictions and tensions. Can look at micro, meso and macro levels, Gay and Hembrooke, 2004 Activity-centre design an ecological approach to design smart tools
�� Roth (2004) AT and education an introduction � mind, culture and activity 11(1), 1-8
Case study 1 � using a VLE in large class teaching
�� 1st year U/G in Business, large groups of students, used AT to analyse the introduction of online activities and multimedia tutorials in the VLE within particular modules
�� How do the technologies mediating the students in terms of achieving their objectives, used focus groups, think-aloud, contextual interviews, surveys, diary studies and observation
�� VLE played a small part in their overall activities
�� Nuances of students� appropriation of the VLE and conceptualise this practice
�� Online space � new shared object for students and teachers
�� Identification of influential variables � time online, alignment of assessment, peer group, interactive tutorials integrated with course design VLE as one-to-many medium
�� Tension emerged with new workload and assessment methods but student received more feedback than previously and lecturer could make course milestones more visible
Case study � blogs for learning
�� One to many relationship of the VLE, web 2.0 practice, was there a change did it help facilitate the students in a different way
�� 2nd yr u/g occupational therapy students on clinical placement, fieldwork activities with professional therapists in a range of setting, use of blog
�� Interested in roles and division of labour, tutor led, but want students to critically reflect on their practice, blogs allowed a new dimension of social support
�� Changes in role of students � participative mediated through the use of blogs, Visibility of activities of members, tensions emerged compulsory nature of the task
Value of adopting an AT approach
�� AT useful for design, implementation and evaluation of technology, provides a basis for dialogue of context and role awareness, provides a roadmap detailing opportunities to integrate research findings on a theoretical empirical and practical level, recognised the multi-dependent variables at play at multiple levels
�� Challenges: not explicit in how to investigate the mediating role of technologies (methods and interpretation of data), difficult to generalise findings� across contexts
�� Roth 2004 AT as a dynamic system � transformational potential, agency of AT, a means of changing the current systems and processes, expose the current status quo to a critical gauze, there is potential for change
�� The shared challenge: understanding the mediating potential or application of new technology can be challenging; we aren�t walking up the hill alone, lets help each other up the hill.

A step in the dark

Mon, 18 May 2009 13:10:06 +0000

A step in the dark �evaluating the Open University home computing project

A reflective talklooking at the OU�s early moves into providing more IT provision

Home computing policy1988

Provided computingfacilities as early as early 1970s

Many more courses wanted to include student use of a computer

Desktop computers justentered mass market

HCP (Home Computing Policy)students now required to arrange own access to PC

Home computer � "an MS Dosmachine with 512K disk storage mouse and capable of supporting graphics"

Initial courses � M205Fundamentals of computing; DT200 An introduction to IT, M353 ComputationalMathematics

Evaluation team �interested in the longer-term educational and social issues associated with theintroduction of home computing

What are the implications of home computing for course design?
Different ways in which computers could enhance learning, teaching and support?
Computer-mediated communication
Access and equal opportunities � gender and age implications
The social and physical context
Institutional change

A widget for mapping student tasks over time

Wed, 09 Sep 2009 13:00:30 +0000

As part of our OULDI (http://ould.open.ac.uk) and Corse Buisness Models work at the Open University we are trying to produce a set of representations to capture courses at the curriculum level. One of the views is what we call a Pedagogy Profile view. We have a flash-based widget which enables the user to enter the amount of time students are expected to spend on six different types of pedagogy, plus the amount of time they will spend on assessment tasks. The user can choose the granularity of time (week, month, semester, etc) and the scaling (hours, ratios, percentages). In the example below I have used weeks and time divided into hours. The profile is automatically generated from the user-inputted data.

We think this has a number of uses

As a means of teachers/designers getting a quick feel for the spread of task-types students are undertaking; typically there is an overload of 'assimilative' and 'assessment' tasks.
As a means of teachers/designers deconstructing a course to find its profile
As a means of comparing profiles across a deptment or faculty
For students to assess their own learning patterns and mix of task types.

Thoughts welcome on the value of this!

Pedagogy Widget

Active worlds

Thu, 08 Oct 2009 10:59:19 +0000

Via twitter @eDCSD

From the website

The Educational Universe is an entire Active Worlds Universe dedicated to exploring the educational applications of the Active Worlds Technology.

It is our hope that by making the Active Worlds Technology available to educational institutions, teachers, students, and individual programs at lower costs; educators will be able to explore new concepts, learning theories, creative curriculum design, and discover new paradigms in social learning.