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: HelloAnd we are all teachers with different teaching contexts in different parts of the world:
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
mus_musculus1: I work in an English curriculum Primary school in the UAE.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:
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 CHSchontalmoore: Hi, I'm Schontal. I am Jamaican and teach English for Academic Purposes at the University of the West Indies.
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:-)".
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.
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 ;-)
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.