All posts by James Clay

alt

15%

2 Comments

So could your institution replace 15% of their curriculum with online study packs?

At the ALT Large Scale Curriculum Redesign, Peter Kilcoyne of Worcester College of Technology explained in his presentation how his college did just that.

Every course had to replace 15% of the students guided learning hours (or contact time) from classroom delivery to online study packs. These study packs, called PALs (Personally Accountable Learning) were designed to be delivered by the VLE (Moodle) and accessed remotely and independently by learners.

This was, according to Peter, a real challenge, with lots of issues and problems. As well as the inevitable, “I don’t have the time” and the usual sceptical resistance from staff, there were also lots of other real issues such as curriculum planning, technical training, course and activity design. All this taking place in a time of transition and concerns about jobs and pay. There was also some resistance from learners.

Curriculum areas were given a degree of freedom about how they would use their 15%. Some courses for example made 15% of every module delivered in this way. Whilst other courses found some individual modules were more attuned to this method of delivery and therefore most modules were delivered as before with a couple of modules delivered in their entirety through the packs.

Overall the main reason for this approach was to reduce costs. This was achieved by reducing staffing costs for courses by reducing teaching time by 15%. To ensure that the independent learning that took place in the 15% gap was covered by staff using OER (Open Educational Resources), YouTube, NLN Materials and other resources to create study packs.

There was an interesting “discussion” at the end of Peter’s presentation about was this really about saving money, the increase in workload that this approach would bring. I think there was some confusion between what we would call e-teaching and e-learning. What I understood from the presentation was that 15% of “guided delivery” by teachers would be replaced by “independent learning” through the internet. In terms of marking assessment, this is never part of the guided learning hours so replacing 15% of the learners’ classroom time with remote learning wouldn’t have an impact on the time taken to mark assessments, as marking wouldn’t happen within classroom time anyway.

This approach may appear to be controversial to some (and certainly some members of the audience weren’t too keen on it) but if your institution is facing a difficult economic climate it might be a solution to cut costs.

On a more positive note though, I can see this also as a great solution for small class sizes. Can’t fill a group, well use study packs so that the class can proceed, as I am sure learners may prefer to attend a course then have it not run at all!

Where this could really start to save time and money too, is if institutions start to share their packs. How that could happen and work is a bigger different kind of problem.

alt

Large Scale Curriculum Redesign

Leave a comment

First Great Western HST

On my way to Birmingham to attend the ALT event on large scale curriculum redesign.

The aim of the event is to provide participants with practical ideas and strategies for technology-supported curriculum redesign which will have an impact on large numbers of learners.

I am interested to hear from the many different (and in some cases controversial) speakers about what they have done in their institutions, and how they have used technology to make change happen.

Where this event, hopefully will be different, is that the approach many of the speakers have used in their institutions has been holistic and large scale and involved all curriculum areas. This must have been a real challenge, but is really the only way forward to make change happen within an institution. I am hoping to hear about some of the barriers they faced and how they overcame them.

Often in education we focus on the small scale pilot and project to look at the impact of technology on learning, and then before we embed it across the institution, we move onto the next shiny thing!

altc2009, stuff

What do you mean, someone made them up…

3 Comments

Anyone who has attended one of my keynote or conference presentations recently will know I have made use of a series of quotes that I first encountered at an ALT-C Keynote by Martin Bean in 2009.

I have used the quotes to remind the audience that scepticism and concerns about the introduction of new technologies or new ways of thinking are not new and that it is “normal” to be concerned about change.

Now I’ve always had my doubts on the validity or authenticity of the quotes as my brief internet research showed that lots of people used the quotes, but there was very little real “evidence” on their authenticity. However in terms of the message I was getting across the essence of the message was much more important than the content of the message. Audiences related to the essence of the message and the scepticism that they had encountered. In more recent messages I have used actual quotes and newspaper headlines about the “dangers” of technology to reinforce the essence of the message.

Recently I used the quotes in a presentation at an ebooks event at UWE. I posted the slides online and I’ve had a couple of comments plus a really useful link that once and for all casts doubts on the quotes and pretty much says that someone in the 1970s made them up!

This set of statements was printed in the Fall 1978 issue of “The MATYC Journal”, a publication that focused on mathematics education. The quotes were assigned the dates: 1703, 1815, 1907, 1929, 1941, and 1950. But they may actually have been created in 1978. Copies of these quotes have been widely distributed and posted on many websites. They also have been published in multiple books and periodicals.

Ah well…. I knew it was too good to be true.

Though of course if you have listened to my presentations you will realise that the quotes were a theatrical device to make the audience to stop and think about change and people’s reactions to change. This is still valid, the quotes merely add a bit of dramatic licence!

So willI use the quotes again?

Probably not, but then I could do and point out that they were “made up” and use that point to make people think.

conference

Mobile Technologies in the Library

1 Comment

These are the slides from the keynote presentation I gave at the Mobile Technologies Information Sharing Event in Birmingham.

The aim of the keynote was to remind those attending where we had come from, where we are and where we might be going. It was important to ask the question with all the mobile technologies that are currently available, why aren’t they already embedded into the provision of library services?

100 ways, vle

100 ways to use a VLE – #45 Adding an URL or a web link

Leave a comment

I have often thought of the VLE as a portal for learners to discover new things, undertake activities, assess their learning, communication, interact, create, understand, apply analyse and evaluate.

The web, of which the VLE generally is part of and connected to has a wealth of knowledge, information and content waiting to be discovered and used.

In terms of discovery adding an URL or web link to a course on your VLE, will allow learners to make that journey to support their learning.

However one of the very advantages of the web, putting in a link, is also one of the key disadvantages. A link placed on its own lacks context and direction.

Now in some cases this may be sufficient, think of a reading list of useful websites.

However even then providing guidance to learners about not only why they should be browsing to those links but also what they should do on those web pages is important if the learners are going to get some value from them.

We sometimes think providing a reading list of books is useful for learners, but unless they have the necessary study skills to make use of those books they may find they either don’t find them useful, spend too much wasteful time looking through the books or not making the most of what could be a real valuable resource.

Likewise with a series of web links, without the digital literacy skills to deal with the content on those web pages then learners will not get the real value from those pages that they could and should.

Similarly just pasting a link into your course on the VLE without context or guidance may result in the learners not using the link or if they do browse to the web page not understand what they should do there or how to use that web page. Of course there are exceptions and sometimes it will be very self-explanatory, but generally it won’t be.

For some links, rather than adding them as they are to the VLE, it would make more sense to add them to a “page” with extra content, or maybe even more logical to put the link into a forum post with the context and suggested activity. A forum would then allow learners to ask questions about the link, or post their reflective thoughts about the link.

The VLE can be a fantastic repository of content and learning activities, sometimes though using the wealth of stuff on the web means adding links. Adding context to links is an important part to ensure that those links enhance and enrich learning and don’t just confuse the learners.

vle

Moodle Audit

Leave a comment

I recently gave a presentation and had a discussion on auditing your VLE installation at the RSC SW VLE Forum.

Gloucestershire College has recently undertaken an external audit of both their current VLE setup and their recent procurement process with outsourcing the VLE to ULCC. The audit process is a useful way of looking at the systems and processes an institution has in place for such a mission critical system like the VLE. This session will go through the key aspects within an external audit and delegates will discuss with colleagues how they would “fare” if they were to undergo an external audit. This may also be an opportunity to think about peer assessment and auditing.  

app of the week, ipad

Skitch – iPad App of the Week

Leave a comment

Skitch – iPad App of the Week

This is a regular feature of the blog looking at various Apps available. Some of the apps will be useful for those involved in learning technologies, others will be useful in improving the way in which you work, whilst a few will be just plain fun! Some will be free, others will cost a little and one or two will be what some will think is quite expensive.

This week’s App is Skitch for iPad.

Express yourself with fewer words, emails and meetings…with Skitch for iPad!

Use shapes, arrows, sketches and text annotation to get your point across fast. Mark up photos, screenshots, maps, and webpages then share them with anyone you like.

Free

In my line of work I often have to make screenshots and sometimes annotate them. In the past I would take a screenshot using the built in function in the OS and then paste into Fireworks before using that to add annotations. I would then need to either e-mail the image or upload it somewhere.

For a while I used TinyGrab, mainly as it automatically uploaded the screenshot to the web and copied the resulting URL to the clipboard so it could be pasted into an e-mail or as I was doing more frequently then into Twitter. However TinyGrab wouldn’t let you annotate (so sometimes I would resort back to Fireworks) and then there was the premature launch of TinyGrab 2.0 following the hacking of TinyGrab. It was at this point I decided to look for another app and fell upon Skitch for the Mac. This was (at the time) a paid app, but it worked really well and I still use it on a regular basis.

So when Skitch for iPad was announced I downloaded it for my iPad.

Having started Skitch for iPad, the first thing is to get a screenshot or an image into the app. You can use an image or photo from your photo library, use the camera in the iPad, take a screenshot (using that built in function in iOS to take screenshots). You can use the built-in browser in the app to snap webpages. The app also allows you to browse Google maps and then snap a map before you annotate it.

Finally you can also start with a blank canvas (think whiteboard). The app adds previous snaps to the apps main screen so if you need to go back to a previous working image you can find it pretty easily.

Once you have an image in Skitch you can annotate it to emphasise or add information.

So you can create arrows, shapes and add text. Though there are limitations in the options you have for the different annotations, I can live with that. If I really really really need to do something really really really complex then I won’t be using Skitch. Skitch is for quick screenshots with quick, rough annotations.

You can edit your annotations once places, however editing is quite limited in the same sense of adding them. However you can reposition them, recolour them or remove them!

The sharing options built in are “limited”, you can send to Twitter, e-mail or save to your photo library.

Of course once in your photo library then you can “push” them out to where you need them. Now that Evernote own Skitch you can also send your annotated snaps to Evernote.

For those that want to “show” their snaps, you can use Airplay and an Apple TV connected to a projector or TV. Another option is to use the VGA or HDMI cable.

There are lots of uses for an app such as Skitch.

  • Point out details in a photograph or a screenshot.
  • Show someone how to use a particular app or website.
  • Where to find stuff on a map.

Overall I really like Skitch for the iPad. Though I don’t use it as much as I do the Mac version, it is still a key app for my iPad. If you ever need to annotate screenshots on your iPad then do have a look at Skitch.

Get Skitch for iPad in the iTunes App Store.

conference, e-book, podcast

e-Learning Stuff Podcast #086: Do you like books, or do you like reading?

Leave a comment

#ebooksuwe2012 #366photos

I delivered the keynote at e-Books: Experiences and Future Directions, A Joint Higher Education and NHS Event for Library Staff held at UWE in Bristol.

What are the challenges and issues when it comes to the embedding and use of ebooks in libraries?

With James Clay.

This is the 86th e-Learning Stuff Podcast, Do you like books, or do you like reading?

Download the podcast in mp3 format: Do you like books, or do you like reading?

Subscribe to the podcast in iTunes