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This podcast, from the awesome TED Radio Hour (NPR), has a lot to think about - especially if you are working in a place where collaboration is king, and anything else is seen as second best. The description from the site advises that "In this hour, TED speakers unravel ideas behind the mystery of mass collaborations that build a better world"; just a small goal :)

To help illustrate a variety of points of view and experiences the podcast presenter interviews TED presenters and weaves together their comments with their TED presentation. The compare and contrast format helps juxtapose some gnarly questions and ideas. Well worth listening to.

I have included from the TED Radio Hour site a selection of the sub 'chapters' in the episode, but you might just like to listen to the full show on Why we collaborate.

Jimmy Wales: Why Does Wikipedia Work?

Listen 12:29

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Luis Von Ahn: Can You Crowdsource Without Even Knowing It?

Listen 8:32

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Clay Shirky: What Motivates Us To Collaborate?

Listen 9:50

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Jason Fried: Is Too Much Collaboration a Bad Thing?

Listen7:31

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Jennifer Pahlka: Can You Code A Better Government?

Listen10:51

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Wikipedia blacked out to protest

Michael Winter shared the announcement that Wikipedia has been "blacked out for 24 hours to protest against proposed legislation that threatens freedom of expression on the Internet.To find out more try accessing Wikipedia as normal or go to: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:SOPA_initiative/Learn_more". Michael also indicated that he thinks it "seems like a good way to get support for a worthwhile protest".

Nick Ford added the comment "For me a locked down/user pays manifestation of the Internet rather than the Internet the world is currently blessed with is something to be vigilant against. For more information visit Stanford Centre for Internet and Society (CiS) and read 'STOP SOPA'. Lawrence Lessig is the founder of CiS and Creative Commons".

Image via CrunchBase

I wholeheartedly agree that the Internet needs to remain as open and accessible, and that the whole notion of copyright is an outmoded, artificial construct that has been placed on creativity and innovation by folk who see a direct cause and effect between the creation of something, and making a buck. The reason I feel it's artificial is that invention and art (to name but two) have always been a constant collaborative effort, where one thing builds on another - often extending it. The lightbulb could not, for example, have been invented if a whole heap of work had not been done around electricity, resistance, and the materials required to make the physical object. How can you copyright / patent that?

Image by Octavio Rojas via Flickr

The whole notion also raises interesting wider questions around what we believe to be freedom of expression, and where, if anywhere, the line has to be drawn. There is some content that pretty much unanimously human being are likely to agree has no place in society in general, and on the Internet in particular, and some forms of predatory behaviour that are also not acceptable. However, where subjects of morality, bias, and belief are 

expressed, what do we feel is 'acceptable' and why? When I find something objectionable should that mean it is removed? If the Internet is there for anyone to share their own world view, what if it seen as inciting violence by some, but as a way of promoting peace by another? And who makes the final decision? Would be great to hear what you think

New Zealand's proposed Network for Learning

At the end of 2011 Rachel Roberts reported on an important meeting that she attended in connection with the New Zealand Network for Learning initiative, which will "progressively from 2013, ...provide schools with affordable, safe, ultra-fast internet access as well as a range of online content and centrally-procured services".

The VLN Community met with Marg McLeod, Acting Group Manager, Curriculum Teaching and Learning, and Eddie Reisch from the MOE. The image below illustrates some of the fundamental underpinnings of the Network that Marg indicated will include changing patterns of educational provision and more informed parents, communities, and then general public. The Network will be the channel for education content and service delivery and this will have major implications for the way the Ministry and other agencies deliver content and services to schools.

 

Some of the expected benefits are:

• more equitable access to online learning opportunities
• more effective sharing of resources and knowledge
• reduced ICT complexity and cost
• increased operational efficiencies
• improved connection and collaboration between learners, teachers, school leaders and school communities.
• opportunity to move to more modern learning environments that support 21st Century education delivery
• lift in student achievement through greater engagement driven by innovative approaches to teaching and learning

Related articles

• Promoting school collaboration through eLearning (ictenhancedlearningandteaching.wordpress.com)

Fostering an online professional community: What can you do?

This is a presentation that provides some suggestions around things that you can do to help foster an online community of practice.
Fostering an online professional community: What can you do?

Digital Citizenship and Online Safety (a session facilitated by Nancy Groh)

Image by hazelowendmc via Flickr

Today was the first session of the Paepae Hot Seat session, Digital Citizenship and Online Safety, kindly facilitated by Nancy Groh from Netsafe. Netsafe are the developers of the Learn, Guide, Protect site, where educators and the wider community can share resources around digital citizenship and online safety. The idea is that educators develop "an online repository of material schools can use and adapt to promote a student-centred approach to digital citizenship and cyber safety" (Nancy Groh).

Nancy opened by asking everyone to introduce themselves and where they currently are, in the chat box - a nice way to see who is doing what as well. She then moved on to a short re-cap of using computers and cybersafety since 1998. It was amazing to see that no-one in the group were using computers in classrooms in 1998, and no one had cell phones. The phenomenal changes since then were then described, and ICT was seen as the norm, and those that don't have Internet access are now marginalised. Her own son came across the situation where 4 out of 5 universities had no other way to apply to them except online.

Image by whurleyvision via Flickr

Mobiles and consoles are now seen as 'the net', and provide 'Google in the pocket'. Nancy then went on to say that it's not just in the pocket, but also in the kitchen, bedroom...and bathroom!!!
Nancy covered the four 'truths' of cybersafety. The message is that if something worries a person that is online, that they should tell a significant adult about it. The problem is that many people speak to peers rather than approaching 'authority' figures.
In a short survey conducted with the audience when showed an image of a girl at a school crossing, about 42% felt the child was safe, for a range of reasons such as visibility, and adult supervision. If the adults are taken out of the picture, 42% also agreed that she was safe...but with the caveat that it depended on her prior experience and training. The discussion was then tied to the three elements of learn, guide, protect, and then Nancy introduced  another picture with two young students in front of a laptop with no clues around external context, and asked "how safe are these girls?". It was interesting the discussion in the backchannel around this point including "depend on many other surrounding factors", and "Very few kids know the problems...just think they do".

Image via Wikipedia

From the NZ Curriculum key competencies Nancy showed nine points about what makes a digital citizen. On the list 'ethical behaviours' and 'critical thinking' were highlighted in a different colour. Research Nancy has conducted suggests that the ICT words should be taken out of the list of digital citizen descriptors, and that the behaviours described should be across the board, not purely online. A diagram was used to illustrate some of the key aspects of cybersafety conceptually. The combination of key competencies and digital capability are shown as all parts of the same conversation.

In further research Netsafe has conducted, the percentage of educators who believed that their students understand ICT use agreements, about 30% disagreed or were not sure that students understood the ICT use agreement that they had signed. The real challenge around the concept of digital citizenship has to bring in the context in which you are working. Nancy shared two images, one of a nude male and one of a sculpture and asked participants to think about their reaction if they saw a 7 year old student looking at the images if they were studying photography or classics, and in a situation where they weren't. Would we react any differently? If someone else who was unaware of the context in which they were being used saw the 7 year old student viewing, how might they react? A really interesting point!

Bullying was discussed, and it was suggested that there is often a small, identifiable group that is often the main source of bullying within a school. As such, targeted education around bullying has been found to be effective. Surveys were also identified as a good first step to outlining a school culture - and the surveys can be (and have) be conducted and presented by the students themselves. Other strategies are more senior students working with younger students to help them with cybersafety and provide peer support.

Image via Wikipedia

Involving parents was seen as an interesting challenge. Willowbank School in Auckland was talked about as an example where the school is using Facebook to communicate with parents. It's a primary school, so there was a lot of discussion with the students as why this is happening. The parents have responded very positively around the enhancement to the communication. Bring your own device was mentioned as another challenge (as well as the incredible benefits) - but again, it was seen as incredibly important to involve parents.
The session was tied up with a discussion around some of the key points that had been raised, including the issue of support within schools for teachers who become enthusiastic about innovations, only to not receive the support and become dispirited.
A very informative, thought-provoking session with a very lively backchannel! If you are interested in finding out more about what happened during the session, please access the recording at:

Digital Citizenship and Online Safety (a session facilitated by Nancy Groh)

Image by hazelowendmc via Flickr

Today was the first session of the Paepae Hot Seat session, Digital Citizenship and Online Safety, kindly facilitated by Nancy Groh from Netsafe. Netsafe are the developers of the Learn, Guide, Protect site, where educators and the wider community can share resources around digital citizenship and online safety. The idea is that educators develop "an online repository of material schools can use and adapt to promote a student-centred approach to digital citizenship and cyber safety" (Nancy Groh).

Nancy opened by asking everyone to introduce themselves and where they currently are, in the chat box - a nice way to see who is doing what as well. She then moved on to a short re-cap of using computers and cybersafety since 1998. It was amazing to see that no-one in the group were using computers in classrooms in 1998, and no one had cell phones. The phenomenal changes since then were then described, and ICT was seen as the norm, and those that don't have Internet access are now marginalised. Her own son came across the situation where 4 out of 5 universities had no other way to apply to them except online.

Image by whurleyvision via Flickr

Mobiles and consoles are now seen as 'the net', and provide 'Google in the pocket'. Nancy then went on to say that it's not just in the pocket, but also in the kitchen, bedroom...and bathroom!!!
Nancy covered the four 'truths' of cybersafety. The message is that if something worries a person that is online, that they should tell a significant adult about it. The problem is that many people speak to peers rather than approaching 'authority' figures.
In a short survey conducted with the audience when showed an image of a girl at a school crossing, about 42% felt the child was safe, for a range of reasons such as visibility, and adult supervision. If the adults are taken out of the picture, 42% also agreed that she was safe...but with the caveat that it depended on her prior experience and training. The discussion was then tied to the three elements of learn, guide, protect, and then Nancy introduced  another picture with two young students in front of a laptop with no clues around external context, and asked "how safe are these girls?". It was interesting the discussion in the backchannel around this point including "depend on many other surrounding factors", and "Very few kids know the problems...just think they do".

Image via Wikipedia

From the NZ Curriculum key competencies Nancy showed nine points about what makes a digital citizen. On the list 'ethical behaviours' and 'critical thinking' were highlighted in a different colour. Research Nancy has conducted suggests that the ICT words should be taken out of the list of digital citizen descriptors, and that the behaviours described should be across the board, not purely online. A diagram was used to illustrate some of the key aspects of cybersafety conceptually. The combination of key competencies and digital capability are shown as all parts of the same conversation.

In further research Netsafe has conducted, the percentage of educators who believed that their students understand ICT use agreements, about 30% disagreed or were not sure that students understood the ICT use agreement that they had signed. The real challenge around the concept of digital citizenship has to bring in the context in which you are working. Nancy shared two images, one of a nude male and one of a sculpture and asked participants to think about their reaction if they saw a 7 year old student looking at the images if they were studying photography or classics, and in a situation where they weren't. Would we react any differently? If someone else who was unaware of the context in which they were being used saw the 7 year old student viewing, how might they react? A really interesting point!

Bullying was discussed, and it was suggested that there is often a small, identifiable group that is often the main source of bullying within a school. As such, targeted education around bullying has been found to be effective. Surveys were also identified as a good first step to outlining a school culture - and the surveys can be (and have) be conducted and presented by the students themselves. Other strategies are more senior students working with younger students to help them with cybersafety and provide peer support.

Image via Wikipedia

Involving parents was seen as an interesting challenge. Willowbank School in Auckland was talked about as an example where the school is using Facebook to communicate with parents. It's a primary school, so there was a lot of discussion with the students as why this is happening. The parents have responded very positively around the enhancement to the communication. Bring your own device was mentioned as another challenge (as well as the incredible benefits) - but again, it was seen as incredibly important to involve parents.
The session was tied up with a discussion around some of the key points that had been raised, including the issue of support within schools for teachers who become enthusiastic about innovations, only to not receive the support and become dispirited.
A very informative, thought-provoking session with a very lively backchannel! If you are interested in finding out more about what happened during the session, please access the recording by clicking HERE.

What to do when things don't go quite as you expect in a learning activity :-)

Image via WikipediaIf you are involved in education, training, or facilitation of pretty much any session, there are sure to be times when things don't go quite as you expect. This video shows what this teacher did, and by choosing the strategy she decided to, increased the value of the learning experience.

Although the example you see here is with 4th grade students, it's a model and set of principles that could be applied across pretty much any age range.

The description from the site reads: "See how Web 2.0 tools and 21st century literacies are woven into a project-based Language Arts unit. In this video you will learn about the learning activities that led up to the culminating product, The Top 10 Wiki. The Top 10 unit is aligned to standards, big ideas and essential questions, and integrates a variety of instructional strategies both off line and on line."

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Seeds to Success with Skype

Image via CrunchBase


If you are looking for some ideas around how to encourage students to incrementally become more self-directed, while also learning skills such as asking relevant questions and listening actively to the answers - this is a video to watch. Although it is age-specific, many of the skills and points made could easily be generalised to any learning situation.

Watch the video at: Blip m4v direct link (video file)

The description from the site reads: "Paula and Jan, 4th grade teachers from Louisiana and Kansas, share their lessons learned, experiences, and celebrations as Skype buddies. Included are ways to find other classes to connect with and how to find projects to get started".

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Understanding the Digital Generation

A lively, entertaining presentation from uLearn by Lee Crocket - a man after my own heart who believes in really visual presentations :-)!! Well worth watching if you are wondering if learners of today are "wired differently".

The description from the EdTalks site reads: "Lee Crockett is an award winning designer, marketing consultant, speaker, and co-author of Understanding the Digital Generation. Lee's keynote presentation at ULearn10 is an intelligent and humorous look at the differences between digital learners and those that are educating them. Lee believes that we need to provide students with a fundamentally different set of skills; "We don’t need four year degrees any more, we need 40 years of learning and relearning."

Conservation Week NZ

It's nearly conservation week, and a great time to think about what we can all do to help the environment in general, and in New Zealand in particular. So "show New Zealand you love it by taking part in Conservation Week events in your area".

You can visit the official site and choose your region on an interactive map to find out what’s happening.

You can also share your photos by following the instructions on THIS PAGE.

Click HERE to download a .pdf flier (mainly for schools).

Sharing effective practice between education institutions: Why and how?

One noticeable shift that has been underway for the last few years in education institutions in New Zealand and globally is the increasing awareness of the benefits of sharing effective practice, hand-in-hand with a growing willingness to share. The following are examples of this trend toward sharing, and both cite benefits, but are there any drawbacks, and what could this sharing 'look like' in the future?

To be part of this conversation, first watch  the video and then read Darren Sudlow's blog post "Why Communities of schools?". Next, post your thoughts around what you see as the benefits and barriers to sharing between education institutions.

The description from the site reads: At the First Federation in Devon, four primary schools have formed a hard federation in order to improve standards across the board. This allows them to share good practice by arranging senior leadership meetings, joint staff meetings and even video conferencing to allow schools to link up and increase dialogue. Staff are able to change schools within the federation, which means that their knowledge can be shared further. Meanwhile, at Bishop Stopford School in Kettering, they have joined the Leading Edge Partnership Programme started by the SSAT. They work closely with four schools in their local area to share ideas and make a coherent strategy both at management level and for teaching and learning. The partnership also allows them to team up with local businesses,share lesson starters and brainstorm ideas to improve lessons and make them relevant for the world of work.

What is the difference between blogs, wikis, and discussion forums?

Image via Wikipedia

I was recently asked what the difference was between discussion forums, blogs and wikis. The following is a brief answer to that question. It is really worth looking at the examples of the wikis and blogs in education, and also watching the video about discussion forums as they might give you some ideas of how a learning experience could be extended or enhanced. Please also feel free to share your ideas in the comment box at the end of this post.

• Blogs - this is a good video to watch about blogs - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NN2I1pWXjXI. A blog is an online diary or reflective journal where a person can post and publish their thoughts about what they have experienced or learned, and/or text and pictures describing their life, interests and work experiences. The posts tend to be relatively short, but have enough information and interest to engage other readers. Other readers (classmates and teachers) can usually leave comments about the post. You can see some examples of blogs being used in education by following the links on this page: http://my-ecoach.com/online/webresourcelist.php?rlid=4992#2.
  
  
• Wikis - This is a great video to watch about wikis - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dnL00TdmLY. A wiki is a web page that can be edited by many people - in other words wikis can be co-created web pages. You could, for example, set up a wiki in Moodle and ask a group of your students to create a Web page about Japanese food and traditions around food (including images, text, videos, and sound). Other students will be able to see the information and edit it if they feel it is wrong or needs clarification. A wiki is open and collaborative. (A good example of a wiki is Wikipedia). You can see some examples of wikis being used in education by following the links on this page: http://educationalwikis.wikispaces.com/Examples+of+educational+wikis.

• Discussion forums - This video features a teacher talking about how she uses discussion forums with her students - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h7wFrITZ0FA. A discussion forum is a place where, for instance, you can ask your students a question. The students can make separate posts in answer to your question - they cannot edit or add to each other's words, but they can 'reply' to the answers. The other thing you can do is set up a forum, and in it give students a task (like watch a Japanese video) and come up with a summary of the video in text, and also ask one or two questions themselves. Students then go and answer each other's questions.

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Contrasting experiences of blended learning (Kehrwald, Simpson and Rawlins)

Image by hazelowendmc via Flickr

Benjamin Kehrwald, Mary Simpson, and Peter Rawlins used a symposium approach to look at a practical examples of blended learning.

They used the Simpson and Anderson (2009, p. 99) definition of blended learning. The study itself was based around an ambitious project that sought to redesign the 4 year BEd programme and to use a single common online learning environment that catered from Palmerston North, Hawkes Bay, and other campus students in an area where they accessed all of their papers, communicated with each other and with academic staff etc.

Data was collected using a questionnaire, followed by an interview for students, and a similar approach for teachers. The aim was to drill down past the quantitative data that had been collected.

Some interested things that arose from the data were questions around what blended actually is, and what we collectively believe to be blended learning, and who the 'we' is. An example of a staff answer" I think there are shared understandings developing in pockets but I think within courses people develop an modify and evolve shared understandings". Definitions of blended learning from staff was "...different philosophies applied by each of the eLearning facilitators"; and "...when people come from different subjects, discipline areas the task is much more difficult because it demands understand of each other's disciplinary approached and the constraints of time are very tight..."

Student views included "the use of [online] enrollment was as a secondary where you could do some extra homework there, if you didn't touch it a all it didn't make much difference to how you went through the class until the second semester" where a blended approach was expected. There were emerging expectations, and the notion of being confronted with alternative expectations, especially where there was a conflict between what was considered face-to-face and extramural, and whether one should 'look' like the other. In part this demonstrates a limited understanding amongst students around what blended learning is, but, surely, it also points up the necessity for programmes to be up front around what is going to happen, how students are going to interact, and not make assumptions around understanding of academic vocabulary?

Mary Simpson considered aspects such as consistency of the vision, which would in turn build a shared understanding of what blended learning comprises.  The shared vision included team-based, collegial writing which would be a huge challenge in the university environment. The findings showed that faculty were willing to face the task, but that they found it exhausting, gruelling, and logistically frustrating, while also be enlightening, enriching, and enhanced practice in unexpected ways.

Peter Rawlins gave an overview of how he worked with the data from the study. In every paper there was an expectation that there will be some online aspect. Three-quarters of the students said that they went online more than once a day, and these students were equally spread between internal and extramural students. There was a significant number of students agreed that the online learning helped them succeed, although the distance students were more convinced. In addition, there was strong support that the material and the discussions were useful, but there was approximately 29% who disagreed that this was the case. The students value the face-to-face time, but they do also see the value of the online environment. It is a complex, interconnected picture rather than a simple case of face-to-face or online is 'better', and the students are very aware of this, especially when asked if the environment(s) enriched their learning.

It appears that there is a still a lot to learn around blended learning and offering blended learning programmes. Perhaps we need to engage students a lot more in the development of programmes and programme design from the outset rather than designing courses 'for' them, erring toward a 'one size fits all'? Possibly the group work and collaboration that was trialled within this study could also include either current students or graduates from the programme? If students were brought on board to provide a student voice, to advise and create within a programme at a meta level, in a meaningful way, perhaps retention, success, and a whole raft of affective factors would be enhanced.

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Integrating Second Life into midwifery education (Sarah Stewart, DEANZ 2010)

Image via Wikipedia

A real interesting presentation, Sarah Stewart gave a great overview of how Second Life can be used in a way to enhance learning that was not possible without a virtual world. The midwifery project/normal birth scenario was part of a larger project using Second Life in NZ education project.

Sarah started by checking who had been into Second Life before, and then very briefly described some of the basics of Second Life, creating an avatar and getting around. She used a lot of screen shots to help create a sense of the environment and the participants who collaborated in the design of the project itself.

The underlying design behind the birth unit in Second Life were shown. Sarah advised that they wanted students to be able to contextualise what they were learning, while also being able to apply their existing knowledge. Research shows that the birthing environment affects the outcomes of the birth - a sterile, cold, clinical environment can result in anxiety, and ultimately in interventions such as c-sections, with knock-on impact on the ability to breast-feed, for instance.

Pictures of nurturing things and colours have been chosen to create a sense of warmth and safety. Machines and instruments are kept in cupboards. Information and references wre kept in Wiki Educator as well as a back up if students were having problems with Internet connections etc. Also, there was investment into the notion of ensuring that everything was open and freely accessible to educators around the wold. A closed Facebook group was used to house some of the activities, such as reflective activities. They made the conscious decision not to use Moodle, partly for issues of ownership/openness, and partly because students were already familiar with Facebeook and did not require upskilling.

Sarah's presentation was full of great images and ideas which gave a great introduction to a scenrio and set of skills that would have been extremely difficult to have experienced in a real-world situation. The focus on sharing with peers, reflection, and the ability to trial things as many times as was required by each learner illustrated some of the benefits of learning in a virtual world. The idea of a safe, 'sandpit' environment for taking risks (without endangering anyone) in a social, fun environment is key. It won't replace the actual clinical environment, but it works effectively hand-in-hand with a virtual world.

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Exploring wiki technology in teaching and learning (Michael Verhaart, DEANZ 2010)

Image via Wikipedia

Michael Verhaart (EIT, Hawkes Bay) demonstrated his the wiki site that he uses with his students. He was able to show that wiki technology was suitable for delivering content for blended learning, deliver a wide range of media, allows students to extend content, and is inclusive of new technologies.

The presentation that Michael gave was based in his wiki. He used a plugin tool to zoom into the wiki page so that the text was visible. He emphasised that he believes students have as much to contribute as he does, and uses the technologies to empower them and encourage learners to contribute as much as possible.

It was refreshing to see someone walking the walk as part of their presentation, and to have the nerve to trust the technology not to let him down during his presentation. (I didn't have the guts!!). Also, Michael's enthusiasm was infectious, but what he was saying was obviously based on sound theory, research, practice...and heaps of experience.

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Connected Kids (Andrew Kirk, DEANZ 2010)

Image via Wikipedia

Andrew Kirk's presentation explored how a pilot project ("Connected Kids") helped introduce 10 Te Kura (years 7 to 10) learners to new learning opportunities. All the students were provided with reconditioned students at home, as well as an Internet connection. All the students had been identified as disengaged, and would otherwise have limited or no access to the Internet. Teachers worked with the learners to help design and develop personalised learning opportunities with the aim of engaging both the students and their supervisors. All participants were to keep the computer (solid, entry-level and would do the job, but not all whistles and bells) after the study, and the 'pay back' was that they had to study, submit work and participate in new ways of learning.

Previously the programme had to be paper-based, and was then shifted to Blackboard. Blackboard was used as the main portal, as well as using Open Office suite, Google Earth, Pivot Animation, PowerPoint and Skype.

Students were most active and engaged when parents and immediate community was involved in learning. This led to improved reading ability, higher return rate of work, developing social skills, and improving ICT skills. Students' feedback emphasised the connections and that they were able to contact each other more easily. They enjoyed talking to other students, easier writing/editing, talking to the teacher on Skype about what they need or would like to share/show, using online interactive activities, searching and researching, and creating learning relationships.

The lessons from the pilot were multifarious. There were real positive results such as increase in achievement, but the scalability and sustainability are still under discussion. It was stressed that there needs to be full buy-in from the school.

Quality connections: No 8 wire, wool and 'sure to rise': New Zealand icons and distance education pioneers (Liz Burge, DEANZ 2010)

Image via Wikipedia

Liz Burge explored NZ icons, and then highlighted parallels between these icons and the distance education pioneers. The distance educators, she argued required N. 8 wire thinking that used intelligent solutions to tough challenges. They followed guiding principles of flexibility and openness, as well as recognising the diversity of students. Values, lessons, and opinions about technology were central for the success of distance education.

There were four underpinning guiding principles that kept distance education pioneers buoyed up and focussed - equitable access, respect and responsiveness to learner, deliberately engaging materials for learners, and collegiality.

Roger Mills, Gail Crawford, Gary Miller, and Tom Prebble were some of the pioneers of distance learning that were mentioned. Liz Burge quoted many of their words, and brought forward lessons of the past, highlighting connections between things that have changed, and others that haven't. Much of what hasn't changed is the culture of education, resistance to educational change, the necessity of allies at the highest levels of an institution (politics), and the momentum for flexible rather than inflexible education.

Liz linked critical thinking to technology, and the ideas of the pioneers around the concepts referred to. Critical thinking included being cautious about hype - for example the hype of how television was going to change education...the same language is being used about eLearning. Draw limits around early adopters, and wait for something that is clearly not opinion, but rather is sound research. The question was posed around critical theory around access that moves from managerial to wider aspects of social justice.

The audience was cautioned against using students as fodder for research because researchers needed publications.  A suggestion was made that learners need to be brought into the process, to co-author, and to receive acknowledgment. The priority is around getting research funds, and as many publications as possible.

The messages were interesting, and some of the quotes were inspirational. However, I felt it was telling that Liz Burge sat at the front reading quotes and asking several rhetorical questions - for example, there were no images, no visuals for the visual learners amongst the audience. It seemed out of tune with the 'messages' and ideals that were the foundation of her presentation. She then moved off to one side to allow the audience to have a conversation around the key ideas she raised in her presentation. However, again, the 'conversation' was a roaming microphone that was passed around the audience who spoke to the quotes...there appeared to be little empowerment of the audience, very little opportunity for everyone to have a voice. Just sitting in the first keynote...which was a depressing contradiction of what was being said, and what was being done...however, Liz Burge did ask if the silence that followed the first audience speaker was because we were so used to the transmission model. I would ask, can you use the transmission model, and throw something open to the audience and expect vigorous discussion!? Is it time for a new model for conferences? :-)

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Association for Authentic, Experiential and Evidence-based Learning

Not only are the conversations on the Association for Authentic, Experiential and Evidence-based Learning (AAEEBL) site lively, but there are some great resources being shared that members have developed. For example, this list of resources around reflection for learning compiled by Helen Barrett. The particular focus is ePortfolios, and it is a good place to start if you are looking for ideas and would like to join in the conversation.

www.aaeebl.org

Building communities in Te Hononga: Unitec Department of Architecture Maori Studio

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A sunny day and a pleasant stroll across campus set the scene for the Ning session Ed and I facilitated today with students and academic faculty from Te Hononga: Unitec Department of Architecture Maori Studio. Already keen Moodle users, students and faculty were looking for ways that students could be empowered to create their own space, add their own multimedia, try out ideas and designs in a safe space, receive feedback, work in groups on projects, and keep online journals. In response, Rau Hoskins and I set up a Ning site and today's session was to explore and discuss some of the potential uses of the site, and answer questions.

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Rather than have a 'how to...' session students have been encouraged to access Anthony Armstrong's great online resource...a step-by-step Ning tutorial (with accompanying .pdf should you wish to download key points).

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A decision was made to keep the Moodle site as the showcase for work and projects everyone is collaborating, and to use the Ning site a test and prototype area, as well as somewhere to get to know each other better. The Ning site is already buzzing with student activity, which is great. It will be fascinating to see the momentum build.

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Management, Marketing and Ning-ing

Today, on the auspicious day of 9th September 2009 (09.09.09) Vickel Narayan and I facilitated a workshop with the Department of Management and Marketing as a requested follow up session to a more generic Web 2.0 session, which Vickel had previously run with the group. Prior to the workshop we worked with the department to identify outcomes that they would require from two Ning sessions (number 2 in October) - this helped ensure that participants voices were 'heard' beforehand, and also that we didn't run the session that we thought they wanted, as opposed to the session that they actually wanted :-)

Session 1, today's, was a hands-on session that focussed on utilising a Ning space for their Department which could be used as a way to build more of a community, communicate and share. There was also conversation around negotiated guidelines, which they would later need to discuss. The agreed guidelines would be used to shape interactions they all felt comfortable with within the online forums, the 'identity' they shared with colleagues, and the content that was considered appropriate.

By the end of the session all participants had joined the Ning, added a profile and photo, posted to a forum, written and posted a blog reflection, and searched for, embedded and shared a video.

Session 2 will focus on using Ning with learners.

After a start where there was some trepidation, the room was filled with laughter and talking. One participant commented in their blog at the end that they were really happy that everyone was involved and having a bit of fun! A further participant came up and said she had been really anxious before attending the session as she felt she would not be able to do or accomplish anything. In fact, she had achieved a lot and was really over the moon.

Watch this space for the next installment.