Aggregator Test

I've just started teaching myself to use an RSS feed aggregator (called Akregator) on my Linux Desktopia. So I just want to check how new posts are fed to the aggregator.

Bye for now!!
Martin.

Reflections on Salmon's Framework

1. Using your diary entries, emails, forum contributions, try to identify entries that indicate your own progress through the course unit. Are you aware of the stages of Salmon's pyramid in your own progression through md363?

Diary Extract:

Throughout the course my diary entries make numerous references to online communication. Here is an example:

A couple of weeks ago...I had a one-to-one synchronous chat with one of my coursemates about one of our MEd projects. We had a very informative and interesting chat and I really saw the potential value of synchronous chat technology as a tool for shared learning experiences. This was a relatively unplanned ad-hoc use of the technology. Rather different from the pre-arranged group chats we've had with Diane and Alex for example, or in the MUD, which normally have pre-requisite reading set in advance on a given topic.

This, as I see it, shows elements of several stages of Salmon's model: we were exchanging information (Stage 3) and we had 'personalised' the software for our own ends; we were also chatroom conferencing (stage 4) to share ideas and aid knowledge construction, this learning process was facilitated privately by ourselves.

Chat Data:

The chat that stays most in my mind is that between Diane, Alex and the group I was a member of. The chat itself seemed to combine, on a micro-level, most of the elements described in Salmon's model. For exampleDiane set up some mutually available times and told us which software we'd be using. This clearly corresponds to Step 1 (setting up the system and accessing). Once we were in the system Diane welcomed us and Alex and we all started sending and receiving messages. At first these were very definitely of a 'social' (Stage 2) nature:

martinbarge: Hello
dianeslaouti2003: hi Martin - welcome
pieterperrett: Hello all
schontalmoore: Hi Diane and everyone else
mus_musculus1: Hi, this is Maryam
dianeslaouti2003: Hi Pieter, Schontal, Maryam
martinbarge: Hi Diane, Pieter, Schontal, Maryam

And we are all teachers with different teaching contexts in different parts of the world:

mus_musculus1: I work in an English curriculum Primary school in the UAE.
pieterperrett: Hi all, Hi, I'm Pieter. I work in Switzerland for a University of Applied Sciences teaching English in the german speaking part of CH

Schontalmoore: Hi, I'm Schontal. I am Jamaican and teach English for Academic Purposes at the University of the West Indies.

Clearly, then, this event, set up by Diane, provided bridges between cultural, social and learning environments (Step 2 of the model). At the risk of being too atomistic in my approach to this analysis, this interjection by Diane seems to have a 'Facilitating process' (Step 4) function:

dianeslaouti2003: Can I just come in with a reminder that if you want to keep going with any points, use the ... to signal that and we can try to minimise cross questioning - to help you cope too Alex.

Forum Contributions:

The link below takes you to a copy of the forum thread for Topic 1 of this unit:

http://les1.man.ac.uk/forum/education/Forum37/HTML/000027.html

The thread shows all of the course participants staying well-focussed on the topic and sharing ideas on autonomy. This fits into the 'information exchange' and 'knowledge construction' stages of Salmon's model. Diane's 'e-moderating' role here shows several elements of Salmon's model: she facilitates the task (stage 3); and she responds to our input and supports our efforts: "Thanks for kicking us off Mike"; "Thanks Pieter and Martin. Hope to get a couple more:-)"; "never too late Maryam and I am pretty sure the concordancing hasn't been exhausted:-)".

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2. Identify tasks, activities, tutor strategies that facilitated your personal progression through the stages of Salmon's pyramid.

In the very first thread of the forum (which Diane had set up) our tutor (Diane) welcomed us all (Stage 1) and invited us all to post some information about ourselves:

"Hi everyone. As we get going with the course unit, it's good to find out a little about each of you...can you check in here and introduce yourself briefly so that you all know where everyone is?"

http://les1.man.ac.uk/forum/education/Forum37/HTML/000002.html

This clearly invited us to engage in online socialisation and to send and receive messages which would 'familiarise and provide bridges between cultural, social and learning environments' (Stage 2).

A Stage 3 task that springs to mind was when we set up group Blogs. This seemed to put the ball in our court in terms of Salmon's framework. We had to set up the system and access it; we also had to welcome each other to the environment and encourage each other's efforts (Stage 1). We had to send and recieve messages and facilitate and support each other in the use of the learning materials (the blog).

As already outlined previously, the chat meetings we had seem to correspond closely with stage 4, and we were given specific topics to discuss in order to lead to greater understanding of an issue (autonomy). In addition to this Diane sets up forum threads for us to share ideas and reflections on issues raised in the input materials or based around specific articles. For instance:

"Explore the readings I've pointed you towards and there are various reflective tasks that you're invited to explore together within this forum".

This instruction from Diane for clearly illustrates the facilitative role of the e-moderator as she invites us to construct new knowledge through reading and exploring tasks together (collaborative learning).
[view thread: http://les1.man.ac.uk/forum/education/Forum37/HTML/000017.html]

Finally, Stage 5 is achieved by the provision of links to external articles, accessible via the WWW or through the John Rylands Library.

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3. Identify critical moments that indicate challenges to your personal progression through the stages of Salmon's pyramid.

At present the only critical moments I can identify are those when communication between myself and my coursemates seemed to break down. On one occasion I noted in my diary that I felt disappointed that hardly anyone had commented on my Blog; on another occasion only one coursemate responded to one of my forum postings. Even to this day no-one has responded to my posting on the WebCT MD363 bulletin board. At such moments I began to wonder if studying in this way could really lead to effective collaborative learning, information exchange and knowledge construction. Yet I'm also conscious that online distance learning is a fairly solitary process and I know there are many postings that I haven't responded too either. Maybe that's just the nature of online learning ;-)

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4. What does an analysis of your data reveal about the challenges and opportunities of online study?

Online study poses technical and, at times, motivational challenges. Managing to achieve co-operative shared learning in such a dispersed networked environment is particularly demanding and logistically difficult. In view of the fact that we are all studying in different ways, at different paces and in different places, it's miraculous that we are able to communicate and share our ideas so effectively.

Online study enables me to get to know so many fellow teachers living and working all over the world. Being able to get together, bridging such vast distances, in order to share our experiences and knowledge must be an unprecedented opportunity in the history of education. It's certainly an opportunity not to be missed. The fact that I am able to access the saved records of our computer-mediated exchanges and use them for this reflective task is also testament to the potential of CMC in the learning process.

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Topic 2, Task 3

This is a copy of a posting I made to the distance learning forums last year.

I've just read Taylor's (1995) discussion of the 4 generations of distance education technology:

• the Correspondence Model;


• the Multimedia Model;


• the Telelearning Model;


• the Flexible Learning Model.

These clearly relate closely to Williams et al's distance learning continuum (outlined in Topic 2), moving from Level 1 (akin to the 'Correspondence Model'), in which the learner has a passive role in relation to course materials, through to Level 3 (akin to the 'Flexible Learning Model'). According to Taylor (ibid) the 'Flexible Learning Model',

promises to combine the benefits of high quality CD ROM based interactive multimedia (IMM), with the enhanced interactivity and access to an increasingly extensive range of teaching-learning resources offered by connection to the Internet.

Task 3 Considering the materials and tasks I've been given during this MEd, these are my comments related to Williams et al's continuum:

Level 3:

• Multimedia CD-ROM/CBT: we were given ToolBook tutorials, using worked examples to train us to create CALL materials.


• Internet: this plays a key role in course delivery and autonomous learning; includes on-line videos of lectures.


• Virtual classrooms: we use WebCT, a Virtual Learning Environment, akin to a classroom, for course content and communication purposes.

Level 2:

• The bulletin board system: we use forums for posting personal comments and findings based on input material and tasks set by course tutors.


• email: we use this for communication between students & tutors and it can be either one-to-one or one-to-many.

Level 1:

• Passive: to some extent, yes, but the materials contain tasks to encourage learner interaction with the material.


• Correspondence: Print handbooks and articles sent to us for some courses.
  

In addition to this, although I enjoy studying at a distance and working in a self-directed way, I have occasionally felt isolated and wished for more face-to-face contact. So I was very intrigued to read Bates' argument that

for both conventional and distance education students, by far the largest part of their studying is done alone, interacting with textbooks and other learning media
(Bates, 1991, p6, cited by Taylor:ibid).

It seems, then, that studying in a conventional face-to-face format can be equally isolating at times.

I also like this observation of Taylor's (ibid) about flexible learning:

"flexible access" technologies (Taylor, 1992) allow the student to turn the teacher on, or off, at will as lifestyle permits.

I enjoy watching, from the comfort of home, university lectures delivered via on-line video; to be able to pause for a cup of tea, to be able to rewind and watch again. But the drawback, I guess, is that it isn't possible to get immediate (synchronous) answers to questions in lectures delivered this way. However, when I was an undergraduate I don't recall any opportunities to ask questions during or after lectures. Questions were reserved for tutorials.

Finally, Taylor(ibid), citing Clark (1983), reminds us that the essence of successful instructional design is not the characteristics of the medium, but the quality of the "instructional message". I feel that the materials delivered on this course are of high quality content and well-structured. The online videos, WebCT, web-delivered materials,links to other resources, the JRULM e-journals, paper-based materials and CD-ROMS are all excellent. And I enjoy being able to communicate in this way and reading my classmates' postings.

Topic 2 Task 1 - IT Initiatives UK

Technological initiatives in UK schools. Some findings and reflections.

1. The involvement of business

Tesco’s has been running a ‘computers for schools’ initiative for the last 13 years. I have experienced this first-hand – that is, when shopping at Tesco’s I’ve been offered ‘Computers for Schools’ vouchers, which I then passed on to a friend who has kids at school. See here for a review of the Tesco’s project:

http://www.webuser.co.uk/sites/site_review.php?rev_id=1851

Here is a link to another business initiative to bring computers to schools: http://www.tfs.org.uk/

2. Government initiatives

I’ve just been scanning through some weblinks and found a summary report on initiatives to make portable ICT devices widely available to teachers in UK schools. Some of the benefits of providing teachers with portable ICT devices includes:

• general learning gains via increases in enthusiasm, motivation, confidence and a sense of ownership
• greater integration into classroom use and across the curriculum compared to other forms of ICT, with the minimum of disruption to existing practices, as a result of the portability, size and ease of use that these devices afford
• encouragement of independent and self-initiated learning, and the extension of learning beyond the classroom, school and formal educational context.
  

Teachers maximise the impact of portable technology by:

• being confident in its use and undergoing training, especially as a result of having their own machine and becoming familiar with its potential
• recognising and exploiting the advantages of portability
• utilising portable ICT in an integrated way in teaching and learning, alongside clear pedagogical approaches and learning goals.
  
  Here is a link to the original article.

http://www.becta.org.uk/research/research.cfm?section=1&id=541

In addition to these initiatives to bring ICT into the classroom, interactive whiteboards are also being gradually introduced into U.K. state-run educational institutions:

"The Secretary of State announced £25 million for the purchase of interactive whiteboards at the BETT Show on 7 January 2004. This is in addition to the £25 million that was announced by Stephen Twigg in September 2003.

The £50 million is being split equally between the primary and secondary sectors. At primary level, £10 million was allocated in the 2003-04 financial year and £15 million will be allocated in 2004-05. At secondary level, £15 million was allocated in 2003-04 to all London LEAs as part of London Challenge. The remaining £10 million will be allocated to LEAs in the 2004-05 financial year”.

Click here for the full report.

http://www.dfes.gov.uk/ictinschools/ict_active/subject.cfm?articleid=509

3. The Home Computer Initiative (HCI)

This is a system whereby employers can buy computers which employees then 'rent' for a fixed period (eg 2 years) at the end of which the employee buys the computer at its market value. This is a tax free deal. Our school is investigating it as an option at the moment.
Check this link: http://www.ukhomecomputing.co.uk/

4. Anecdotes

1) This morning on the bus I heard a secondary school girl saying to her friends, “Wednesdays are evil. I’ve got prayer, followed by double IT and then Latin.” I wonder which subject she finds particularly ‘evil’? What struck me most about her comment, though, was that in the space of a morning she would be studying (or learning to use) a modern tool (IT) and also learning about an ancient civilisation and language – you couldn’t really get much further apart historically speaking than IT and Latin. 28 years ago I was the first boy at my Grammar school to get a Sinclair pocket calculator – and what a novelty that was!

2) Since I’ve been teaching English as a foreign language, I’ve noticed increasing numbers of my learners bringing laptops to school. Many use them simply for pleasure during breaktimes, to watch movies, listen to music or send e-mails. But several students also use them in class, for word-processing their notes as the lesson proceeds, or for dictionary work.

5. Conclusion

So what does the future hold? Increasingly compact and portable ICT devices? All learners and teachers equipped with multimedia equipment? More and more distance education? Ever increasing access to information? Ever increasing scope for people to communicate over ever wider distances? Growing needs for people to learn increasingly complex computer skills?

Consequently, in what ways does (and will) new technology change the nature of education?

Article about Blogs

In a short article titled 'Introducing your students to blogs' (IATEFL ISSUES April-May 2004) Graham Stanley describes how to set up a blog using Blogger . He suggests visiting http://searchenglish.britishcouncil.org for hints on exploiting blogs. On the BC page there is a link Understanding WebLogs to an article by Elmine Wijnia on the communicative potential of blogs.

Hope you find it interesting.

Bye for now ;-)

Spring 2004

At work last year. 

Introduction

Hi, this is my first blog posting. It's now Sunday, I've just been perusing the input materials for MD363 in WebCT and that's why I've started up this blog. It seems like a fun way to keep a diary. Would love to hear from my fellow MD363ers. Until next time....

Here's a link back to MD363 Blog