First Steps into Learning & Teaching in Higher Education [#fslt13]

Posted on by

I have just enrolled in the MOOC: First Steps into Learning & Teaching in Higher Education (#fslt13). This post serves as my introduction and outlines the reasons why I have signed up.

I am currently completing a dissertation for a Masters in Education, seeking to answer the following:

“To what extent can virtual courses support the development of independent learning beyond ‘real time’ curriculum delivery?”

To explore this I have recently completed the data collection process, which involved running a MOOC titled: Critical Skills 101. The course sought to  develop in(ter)dependent learning skills in 14-18 year-olds. I am currently analysing and evaluating the collected data and will be submitting my dissertation in August.

Taking the M.Ed has not only continued to fuel my interests in Independent Learning and Online Learning but has also made me question what it is I want to do next with my career. I had often felt that it would follow a path that would take me into senior management within Secondary Education. However, I am not at all convinced that I wish to pursue such a career.

As such participating in #fslt13 is going to serve several purposes:

I wish to explore another MOOC. As well as running the aforementioned MOOC: #crit101, I participated in #moocmooc  (A MOOC about MOOCs) during August 2012. While that MOOC explored open online courses themselves, I wish to participate in a course that is teaching a less-meta topic.

Moreover, having just completed  the delivery of #crit101, I hope #fslt13 will provide some useful reference points in terms of pedagogy, participation and assessment, as I continue to analyse and evaluate my course. In addition to this, I want to see how open badges are put into use in #fslt13 having implemented them in #crit101.

Finally, I am beginning to feel that studying towards a PHD and/or teaching within HE may be a career path that I wish to pursue. I hope that participating in this course will give me some further insight into that as well.

—

Posts relating to my participation in #fslt13 will appear here. Being in the middle of my dissertation poses a significant challenge to my time but I hope to be able to keep up with the course reading and get involved in some useful discussions around learning and teaching.

Reflection – Teach the Web – Week 1 – Making as Learning

Posted on by

Week one was an exciting success. I purposefully made something this week and received tremendous feedback from the #teachtheweb community.

We were asked to “make” as our homework for week one. Making can be intimidating, especially if you are intending to publish what you are making. Thankfully, the Teach the Web group built in specific constraints, a clear purpose, and powerful tools for the work.

We were tasked with building an introduction of ourselves that could be published or shared. We were then directed to the possible tools to use and some outstanding models.

I used Ankit Gadgil’s profile, built on the Mozilla Thimble platform, as my model. It thankfully became clear to me what my project could become and how to accomplish my goal. I started with the profile template and plugged away manipulating the “html” and “css.” I made some design choices to best present the information that I wanted to display. I “hacked” the code dropping in <br />, margins, padding, even attempting (and failing) <float>. I added classes and attributes through the page. Just as I felt I was getting my mind around <div>, I pinged the Div Master badge.

image of Div Master badge

Spending those couple of hours coding was not my preferred activity for a Friday night, but I had to finish my homework before a weekend of play. Finishing the work was productive and rewarding.

The incredible bonus to the delight of making were the responses received from “mentors” on Teach the Web. Chad Sansing, Paul Oh and Doug Belshaw, mentors of mine, linked to and commented on my work. The inspiration of this is akin to the feeling I received from James Michie through his comments on my work during the Crit101 course.

I am awed by the care that these educators share in open courses. I am stunned by the value in content aggregation, assignment building, and feedback openly available in open courses like Teach the Web.

Week one was a success. I am excited for what is in store for the rest of this course.

Tags: 

Week 6 – Reflection #crit101

Posted on by

I have enjoyed the course of developing my interdependent skills, because firstly it was unlike anything I have taken part in before. I have learnt that the world of online courses is one that I should explore further, and that the badges are a good acknowledgement of your achievements. I found my first experience of a online course good and I am therefore keen to try others. 

I believe my progress as an independent learner has progress some what, because I was encouraged to go away and conduct research and blog posts by my own with self motivation. I think this was a good achievement because only a number of the participants managed to complete the course this far. 

As for my interdependence, especially working with those that I don’t know, has improved greatly. Due to the weekly time constraints I was encouraged to take control and allocate positions within the group. This skill is not something I perhaps would have previously always done in the past. I have definitely learnt that greater efficiency within a project is division of labour and working online at the same time.

Clearly I have gained the new skills taught in each of the weeks themes, which are already helping me with school work, such as evaluations. But I have also acquired greater leadership skills within a group and time management skills. These will be especially important to me in higher education. 

Thank you very much James Michie for creating #crit101, I definitely found it beneficial! 

My Next Great Adventure in MOOCs – Teach the Web

Posted on by

I have just signed up for a new MOOC (Massively Open Online Course): Teach the Web. After the incredible experience with CRIT101, I am very excited. This course offering is very serendipitous for me because I have some time availible for continued learning and I have a direct purpose to which to apply my learning.

In the fall, I get to take advantage of a new teaching opportunity that has been long in the making. I am going to teach two sections of a course titled “Information, Literacy, and Technology.” This will be the first elective from the English Department offered at Corning Union High School. It is very exciting.

Over my teaching career, I have followed and developed my interests in literacy, technology, coding, development, and publishing. I have applied learning in these fields to my craft. Teach the Web will help me connect to others who have the same interests and goals. It will help me develop compelling curriculum. It will help me clarify objectives for my students and myself.

Tags: 

Week 6- Due Sunday 21st April 2013

Posted on by

What challenges did you face and how did you respond to them?

One challenge I faced throughout the course was uploading and sending my video (week 5) to my other group members. I found this difficult as editing and uploading videos is a totally new skill. I responded to this difficulty by asking my teacher for help and then googled the advice they gave me. I then watched a you tube clip on how to convert videos. This helped me as I was then able to upload my video clip and I learnt a skill for the future. 

What obstacles got in your way and how did you get around them?

An obstacle I faced was I was away for one week and it was difficult to still participate in the activity whilst being away. I overcame this difficulty by managing my time and prioritising the task. I completed the task by doing little bits at a time. 

How much effort did you put into the course and what did you get out of it?

I put a lot of effort into the course and tried to make every weeks assignment the best i could make it. From this I have learnt lots of new vocabulary and learnt to read much more complex material. I have also learnt to be adaptable to every task I come across

What feedback (criticism) did you receive and how did you take it?

I received criticism that in week two we didn’t have any secondary knowledge. We lacked secondary knowledge as we lacked teamwork. Overall, I did most of the asssignment and I though that another team member would have added to my work. Instead, one member of the team just put my primary evidence into a table. I found that week 2 in particular I did majority of the work. I responded, to this criticism by reading articles on triangulation and the best ways to find and attach secondary evidence. 

What success did other participants have and how did that make you feel?

In week 5 Nadia edited our groups video extremely well and to a very high standard. As I was so impressed with the final video i sent her a message on the group document saying how good I thought it was and telling her how well she had done.

Your progress as an in(ter)dependent learner?

Overall my progress as an independent learner has been good as i have had to manage my own schedule and complete all of the tasks to my own accord. Although, the first few weeks i found the in(ter)dependent aspect difficult as I wasn’t very confident in starting the discussions. Instead, I would just wait for other team members to start it. Although, in week 5 I made a great effort to get involved in discussions as give some ideas. I found this really helped my confidence and my input into the group task. 

What you believe you gained out of completing the course (skills, attributes…?)

I think I have gain a sense of self motivation and my confidence levels have improved in teamwork situations where I do not know anybody else. I have also developed my reading skills, as I have read different genres of writing. As well as that, I have expanded my vocabulary as majority of the articles were more sophisticated then ones I would normally read. 

What you will take away with you and how/where you think you will use it?

I will take away with me the self motivation and determination to find my own answers. I think I will use these skills in A levels or work life where independent learning is key. Also, I have learnt how to work in teams with strangers and be confident to voice my own views. I think I will use this is later life when applying for a job or when I am in a working environment. 


Synthesis and Evaluation

Posted on by

This week’s project involved working in a group of three to complete a collaborative video under the title of: Chicken or Egg?
The assignment was quite unusual and challenging as it involved the 3 of us creating different parts of a video and then merging them together. As neither of us had ever had any experience making videos before, it was certainly interesting!
Firstly, we had a discussion to decide what each of us would contribute to the video, and decided on 3 main subjects: Theology, Science and the Cyclical View of Time. 
I took on Theology and the different ideas religion has about whether the chicken came first or the egg. For example, from a creationist’s point of view, (religions such as Christianity) God create all animals in one day. This would include the chicken. Therefore, the chicken came before the egg.

Unfortunately, I had some technical difficulties when attempting to share my video and therefore my part has not been added to the final project. However, making my part of the video itself was useful in helping me become a more interdependent learner as collaborating with strangers and learning to use tools outside of what I would normally refer to has given me the opportunity to explore all areas of learning. 

The final video link is:

 http://bit.ly/crit101-chickens

Week Five – synthesis & evaluation reflection

Posted on by

This weeks project was very different to anything I have done before for a project. It was a fun project to research and learn about, and once again this week I found that I was learning new technological skills. I learnt how to create a voiced video that films my screen, which will be a very useful skill for other presentations I will make later on in life.

As for the collaboration with the other participants, we discussed our ideas effectively, and together split the work evenly between us. Myself and Lou created our videos and they were pieced together, unfortunately Sana has been very busy, and we have not yet been able to include hers.

Furthermore, this weeks video collaboration helped strengthen my interdependent learning skills, as collaborating with others I have never met before, encouraged me to voice my opinions and engage in research to contribute to the project.

Below is the link to our video: https://www.dropbox.com/s/ttus5b2ystz53ky/Chicken%20or%20Egg.mp4

Week 6 Reflection

Posted on by

When I initially started the course, I had a few basic understanding of some of the skills and ideas involved in being an in(ter)depenent learner, but never really had a chance to try and practise and improve these skills. I had previously worked in group projects at school and such but never really to a level that was as challenging as to make me really use skills that I for instance have acquired during this course, such as synthesis and evaluation. This course has given me a much deeper understanding through each weeks assignments, which each week built from the last, and took me through different stages and skills that were involved in independent learning. It has helped me gain a new insight into the traits of being a good in(ter)dependent learner and also how hard it can be to master these skills.
I think that the course has helped me show for starters that I can be committed to finishing things! Many of the tasks were time consuming and did require me to manage my time well to fit them into the week and complete the tasks. It required a great level of extra reading and research and it has helped me build on drawing from other accessible resources to help aid my task. It has further helped me realise that everything can be critically analysed and that I should be careful to assess the extent that I can trust a source by inquiring it’s reliability and validity.
I will finish the course coming away with many new skills that will most certainly add to value to my future work. I hope to study pyschology at university in a few years and these skills especially critiquing and analysing research and sources will hopefully greatly help me in this subject as much research is involved. Generally I feel that the course will help equip me better for further education as I can now identify how I feel I work best and also my strengths and weaknesses. So for example I feel I am good at assessing validity and reliability but I am not so good at drawing overall conclusions. All in all I am glad I took part in this course as I know that the skills that I take away will be very beneficial and I believe I now have a head start compared to others in tackling university and further education.


Reflection on the Crit101 Course

Posted on by

At the conclusion of the Crit101 course in which I have been engaged, I feel proud to have participated and completed the work. I took the course because I was interested in trying out a MOOC (Massively Open Online Course). I am glad that I chose Crit101 in which to participate because it was so professional and challenging.

The designer, teacher, and facilitator of the course, James Michie, did a fantastic job with this course. He provided a tremendous amount of structure and guidance. He also provided a tremendous amount of resources which included lectures, articles, videos, assignments, feedback, and awards (badges). It is shocking to me that this course was free. It has me very interested in the implications for open education.

The participants in the course had high expectations to work up to. The assignments were deep and challenging. The resources were complex, relevant, compelling, and challenging. I felt challenged by the course. It was difficult to invest the time and energy to do good work in this course. I would not have wanted it any other way. I feel that I earned it and am proud of what I accomplished over the past six weeks.

I learned quite a bit in the course. I am used to reading and writing analytically. I had not done very much work in research and evaluation of sources. This course filled in for me some of what I think was missed in my undergraduate experience. That is saying a lot. This was a real learning experience with as much value as any college class and more value than some. Participating in the course allowed me to flex some mental muscles that I haven’t used for a while. It was nostalgic to feel the stress of meeting a deadline for assignments. It helped me become more empathetic to my own students.

The course demanded that we collaborate in group work and provide peer-to-peer feedback. I felt comfortable in this type of work because I participate in so many professional development projects with the Northern California Writing Project in which the basic structure of all work is collaborative. I was interested to observe how the younger participants developed as collaborators. I think the course guided the discovery that critical reading and writing is not the same a criticism. Even though we all became more critical, judging from the lack of critical comments from others on the blog posts, I think that most are still a little shy.

Winning badges was a terrific part of the course. I have been hip to badges for a while and have wanted the opportunity to earn more badges. The badges offered by this course are smart, lovely, and legitimate. I will proudly display these badges. They are proof of my significant accomplishments:

. . .

I have created impressive content for myself in these blog posts. I like to develop my online portfolio. Having this guided instruction created a real purpose for professional writing. I am proud of my posts and I will promote my work to my friends, colleagues, and students.

Tags: 

Week 5- Due Sunday 14th April 2013

Posted on by

The process of creating and editing the video?

I found the process of creating a video fun as it was a creative and collaborative way to learn. I found that thinking of what section I would do in the video as I wanted it to be appropriate and worthwhile (for me and my group.) However, I found creating the video clip good fun as it was creative and gave me independence as I could do what I wanted within my section. Although, I found sending my video clip to my partner hard as I was unsure how to export the click. Despite, a slight delay I asked my teacher and he helped me. Then I emailed my section to our group editor (Nadia.) Nadia was very good at editing the clips and I believe that our final outcome was really good.

How this activity has contributed to your development as an in(ter)dependent learner?

This task has helped me to become independent as I got to design my section myself and I had complete creative freedom. This task has been the first so far that I have developed my in(ter)dependent learner skills as I made an effort to contributed to the team discussion and give key points and ideas. So far this task has helped me the most with confidence and team building. Although, I did have to rely on my teacher for an uploading query as I tried to find the answer but I couldn’t find it.

The link to the finished video clip:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TgbeVeUOF9I&feature=youtu.be