Information exchange: Stage three of the five stage model

If learners have successfully passed through stages 1 and 2, then at stage 3 they are building on these and beginning to share more information, interacting with each other, and developing strategies to engage with the course content.

On the Intro to Pos Psych distance learning module this has been happening. Students are engaging well with the discussion boards, and have been spontaneously building discussions, responding to each other. Some of these I have tried to stimulate and play a part in to encourage others to post comments. In retrospect, and now being more familiar with this model of e-learning and the thinking behind e-tivities, I could have been even more mindful of this. That is, rather than encouraging or inviting students to post thoughts to the discussion board, I could have made this a 'required' e-tivity, by having students post at least one comment for each discussion thread and commenting on at least one other's post. I might have also asked a different student each week to be a 'facilitator' for the discussion that week and have them take responsibility for beginning the discussion.

UPDATE (2 Feb 2015): I related these ideas to one of the summative assignments for the Intro to Pos Psych distance learning course. This is a poster presentation that students submit via turnitin for assessement. In the attendance version of this module, students give either an oral presentation or a poster presentation to the group as part of the final teaching weekend. They are then encouraged to look at other students' posters and to ask questions to the person whose poster it is. The idea is that this feels like a poster session that you would get at an academic conference, and it gives the students some experience of disseminating and discussing their work in this way.

To replicate this online, I asked students to post their posters on the discussion board and then to look at others' posters and to post questions for at least 2 other students. This built some good in-depth discussion between students that needed little input from me (I did make sure I asked at least one question to each student). The depth of the discussion was in some ways greater than the discussions that we sometimes see at the attendance weekends. Added to this, we have the record of the discussions automatically archived in the discussion board, which may be useful for the external examiner. Result! [I will attempt to copy this discussion across to my PGCert Bb organisation, but if this i snot possible I will aim to add the PGCert T-eL Course Team to the PS726 module shell.]

The magic of Skype!

This evening was a nice lesson in how we (or at least I) have become increasingly comfortable with
what technology allows us to do! Over this past semester I have been a visiting lecturer at Regent's University London (RUL) and whilst there today I was due to have a tutorial over Skype with a student on the distance learning Intro to Pos Psych course (the course delivered through here at Bucks) who happens to be based in Vancouver on the West Coast of Canada. As it turned out the internet connection at RUL was down so we couldn't do the tutorial.

However, as I had Skype on my phone I was at least able to IM the student via 3G. So the lack of a wifi or cabled link to the web didn't stop us and eventually as I was walking down Baker Street towards the tube, I was able to have a real-time 'tutorial' via the Skype IM facility with a student in Vancouver! I was able to give concise answers to specific questions she had regarding her assignment which allowed her to move forward. I am still utterly amazed at what communications technology now allows us to do. A great example of this supporting learning and teaching in a subtle yet helpful way. :-)

This is just the latest example in how Skype (and related communication tools) are becoming increasingly integrated as tools that allow us to support students in different ways. For example, I am increasingly holding one-to-one tutorials with students over Skype, even those who could visit the University campus relatively easily. This is because it is reliable, convenient and time-effective for both students and myself. Also, as I work in a shared office environment, it is often not practical to hold tutorials in my office space if one is not wanting to disturb others as well as feeling less constrained to talk freely. Using Skype in this way also makes it possible to have tutorials with MAPP students outside of the monthly teaching weekends (as these weekends are often very full as it is!) especially with students who live some distance away.

This year we have also attempted to support MAPP students via the use of Skype when they have been unable to attend a scheduled teaching session in person. For example, as we have students who travel internationally to attend the teaching weekends, we have allowed students on a small number of occasions to 'Skype in' so they could follow and be part of the sessions. Whilst this was appreciated by the student Skyping in (one was based in Qatar; another, on a different occasion, was based in Austria), it did create an extra challenge for the tutor and also created a small disruption for some of the students when trying to engage with the 'Skyped in' student in small-group discussion.

I am now looking back over these experiences and seeing how they relate to Salmon's (2000) model. It is hard to place them at any one stage of the model... perhaps there are elements here for stages 1 to 3 here, from online socialisation, through information exchange, to knowledge construction?

Reference
Salmon, G. (2000). E-moderating: the key to teaching and learning online. London: Kogan Page.#

Online socialisation: Stage two of the five stage model

Stage two is when students are beginning to engage with the materials, the tutor (or are we to refer to the tutor as the e-moderator?), and with other students.

One of my first attempts to begin bringing students 'into' the course on the Intro to Positive Psychology distance learning module has been to direct students to the discussion forum on Bb and write a post to 'say hello!' to show they made it there, knew how to post a comment, and to say a little about themselves and what brought them to this course. I feel now this was a little one-dimensional and could have been just one of some more in-depth attempts to begin interactivity between students. The attendance version of this module has students introduce themselves to the group and this can be quite an uplifting exercise as students begin to quickly share information about themselves. This is harder to support and encourage online when students feel more distant (literally and figuratively) from each other.

However, mindful of Salmon's (2000) five stage model, I will consider ways in which I can give greater emphasis to this important element of online socialisation for students. For example, I can encourage students to say more about their background, their interest in positive psychology, what has brought them to the course, and what they hope to gain from the course. The next time this module runs it will likely form part of a fully 'distance' MAPP and so the module will be part of a longer programme. That said, there will still be some students who are on the module as a stand-alone short course.

Reference
Salmon, G. (2000). E-moderating: the key to teaching and learning online. London: Kogan Page. 

Access and motivation: Stage one of the five stage model

Salmon (2000) outlined a five stage model for e-learning that has become an established model
around which online courses are developed. This model is a central theme throughout the Certificate Stage of the MSc t-eL. The intention is that this will be the first of five blog posts to relate to each of the five stages of Salmon's model.

Stage one relates to access and motivation, and emphasises that learners at this early stage will be focused on the practical tasks of accessing materials, getting online, negotiating usernames and passwords, and so on. At this early stage they are likely to be motivated though this motivation may be fragile if technology, course structure, and tutor support do not make then entry to the course as welcoming, easy, and stress-free as possible!

The distance learning module I am running this semester is now 4-5 weeks in, and this is probably something I may have taken somewhat for granted! I did try to consider the likely issues facing learners such as usernames, IT induction, access to Blackboard, and so on. I realise now this is especially important and something I want to pay even more attention to the next time we run the module (by which time it may be part of a fully distance MAPP programme!).

Reference
Salmon, G. (2000). E-moderating: the key to teaching and learning online. London: Kogan Page.

CO711: (week 1 notes) Designing Effective Resources in t-eL

Beginning of the second module (!)

Demo of j2e.com. A fairly new VLE that is mainly aimed at schools. Not something I am likely to use, though it did illustrate the fact that there are new VLE platforms being developed and made available all the time and much cheaper than many of the existing mainstream platforms. For example, I now realise how much we as a University pay for the use of Blackboard (Bb) when there may be cheaper, more suitable, alternatives.

The context

Still finding it a challenge to make the time needed to read and write as much as I feel is needed for the course. That is not to say that reflection is not taking place!

The context for my taking this MSc is that I have just begun (since early October 2014) delivering for the first time a fully distance learning module, Introduction to Positive Psychology, that forms part of the MSc Applied Positive Psychology (MAPP) at Bucks New University. The module runs from October - January, and has recruited 7 students. Not many, though this was without any advertising. I am pleased we have at least some students on the course, and it is a small group to begin with as we find our feet with it! The module is also offered as a stand alone short course, and is part of our attempt to develop a distance learning delivery for the full MAPP. This would be alongside the existing delivery in which students attend one weekend per month. 

As we have a number of students travelling internationally each month, and more enquiring about the possibility of distance learning we feel that there is a need to have this form of delivery. Further development of online materials and support via Blackboard will also further support our existing students. Over the next year, we will seek to validate a distance learning MAPP in time for September 2015. 

Thus the plan is to develop my understanding of t-eL and I see the MSc t-eL as a way of supporting my work on the Intro to PP now as well as the planning for the distance learning MAPP.

UPDATE 1: A later blog-post including reflections on the Intro to PP distance module can be found here!

UPDATE 2 [12 May 2015]: The MAPP 'distance', or MAPP-FDL as it became... is validated!

Learning to learn: E-tivities

I asked the question 'how will I learn?' in a previous blog post and this may well become a theme to explore, as it helps me to reflect on ways others may learn especially when much of the learning activity is online.

The idea of 'e-tivities' relates to this. The term was apparently coined by Salmon (2002), and refers to online tasks for learners to engage in. These would typically be discrete tasks that a student might be asked to complete such as posting on a discussion form, commenting on another student's post, etc. One might say this blog is effectively an extended e-tivity for this course?

Pettenati and Cigognini (2009) present a helpful discussion of how one might design effective e-tivities to promote students' abilities to learn, or learning competencies. In fact they make reference to the term 'Personal Knowledge Management' or PKM that cover seven main competencies:

"retrieving information, evaluating information, organizing information, analyzing information, presenting information, securing information, collaborating around information" (Pettenati & Cigognini, 2009, p. 2-3).

I can see these are all key transferable skills that are inherent in any form of academic learning, and especially so in the learning context I am applying this to at present and in the foreseeable future. They go on to unpack these PKM stills a little further by distinguishing between 'personal knowledge and learning' and 'management of learning' and also between 'basic' PKM skills and 'higher order' PKM skills. The 'basic' skills reflect more relatively straightforward 'know-how' skills (p. 3), whereas the 'higher order' skills reflect a more sophisticated set of reflective and experiential skills that they refer to as 'know to be'. Whilst the basic skills are of course important and needed, it is the higher-order skills that are ones we are keen to develop and support on the MAPP and the MAPP-DL.


References
Pettenati, M. C., & Cigognini, M. E. (2009). Designing e-tivities to increase learning-to-learn abilities. eLearning Papers, No. 12. www.elearningpapers.eu

Salmon, G. (2002). E-tivities: The key to active only learning. Sterling, VA: Stylus Publishing.

How will I learn?

There's no stopping me now! I am going to try and get in the habit of using this space to also keep notes from the teaching sessions themselves. I have hand-written notes from the first session. I will transpose them on to this blog in due course. Last night was the second attended session (I believe the second of three this semester?), and I will type notes from that session straight to the blog.

Blogging itself is at least something I have a little experience of, as I have blogged in the past (if you're really interested, feel free to have a browse). In the early days I would blog regularly and with enthusiasm. More recently it has been infrequent and a task I see more as something I 'should' do. And you will see the last entry on my personal blog is from seven months' ago! So the challenge is to keep the enthusiasm and interest going.

At least the attended sessions for this course are three hours of timetabled time that I have ring-fenced for the course, so I am going to do my best to make every minute of those sessions count! I anticipate one of the main challenges I am going to face with this course is the extent to which I can devote the time it needs. If nothing else, the course is beginning to help me empathise with my own students (those on the MAPP - MSc Applied Positive Psychology) as these are typically in full-time employment and they are undertaking the course part-time. How will I find the time to do this? Or to be more precise, how will I make the time, and prioritise the learning I need to do?

Getting things rolling...

OK, let's get this blog moving. The course is now 3 weeks in and I am very aware of the challenge it presents in terms of prioritising my own reading and reflection in relation to the course.

Richard made the comment in week 1 that we as lecturers tend to put others first and I think I am guilty of that in this context. I need to find ways of ring fencing time to devote to the programme.

I have been able to listen to presentations and I have only dipped into the readings. So far I am sensitive that the work of Biggs (1999) and Salmon (2000) are key in these early stages of exploring frameworks of learning around which we can build our learning programmes (I was going to write courses there, but then felt learning programmes may be a better phrase?).

Biggs' notion of constructive alignment at first glance seems obvious to me. Though perhaps I am being a little naive? In listening to the presentation from Aarhus University and the epilogue from Biggs at the end, I was taken with the phrase 'intended learning outcome' as a more suitable phrase for referring to our intentions for the learner as opposed to a 'learning objective'. I think this phrase is now embedded in our practice and is the term used on module descriptors at BNU?

References

Biggs, J. B. (1999). What the student does: Teaching for enhanced learning. Higher Education Research & Development, 18, 57-75. DOI: 10.1080/0729436990180105

Salmon, G. (2000). E-moderating: the key to teaching and learning online. London: Kogan Page.

CO710: (week 3 notes) Developing an approach to t-eL - Access andMotivation

Focusing on Salmon's (2000) model (developed in 2006?)

The five stage model... First stage is access and motivation.

5 stage model. V important in assisting us as we develop our e-learning programmes and supporting students. Acts as a scaffolding.  Helps students to stand on their own. Online learning must be a pleasurable and successful experience with participants supported throughout.

Is it circular?

Focus on access and motivation.

Dealing with frustration

Issues to do with faith in technology - There is no such things as fail-safe

Relationship between access ability and motivation to be online is complex

Salmon: emotional and social capacity to learn with others online. 

Discussion also about netiquette... need to consider this for Intro to Pos Psych

CO710 (week 1 notes) Developing an approach to t-eL

'Putting people in a safe place to learn'. A key aspect of learning in general and applied here in the context of e-learning where uncertainties and anxieties may be higher than normal. The phrase also resonates with comments made by Piers (Piers Worth, colleague, mentor, friend, and Psychology Head of Department) where he discusses good teaching in the context of attachment theory and the important of allowing students to explore by giving them a secure and safe base from which to explore.

Is there a 'precise' definition of blended learning?

Thinking about domains of learning... e.g., affective, psychomotor, cognitive (in relation to what I teach?)

How people learn - joint, social activity.

People often see a course as an opportunity to be assessed rather than an opportunity to learn. Big challenge for distance learning?

Learning styles. Constructive alignment (Biggs, 1999). Learning activities and assessment aligned to learning outcomes.

Salmon (2000) (updated 2006?). Five stage framework. Online learning, needs to be a pleasurable and successful experience.

(Testing) CO710: Developing Methodologies in t-eL

This is an initial test blog? Just trying to get in the role if being a student again... Been a long time, and already helps me empathise with my own MSc students! 

Editing this now at a later date (10 Dec)... Aim is to update and check through these blog posts and also re-check the dates of entries so that they reflect when they were initially posted.

Will use these blog posts initially to store and collate notes from the teaching sessions and eventually organise for use for the reflective journal for CO710 (and maybe CO711 and CO712).

As the assignment for CO710 is formative then need to work on developing this.