Core activity 6.2: Case studies from the Carnegie Gallery of Teaching & Learning

November 16, 2009 at 1:05 pm · Filed under H808 elearning professional ·Tagged ,

One of the case studies to catch my attention was:
Transferring Knowledge and Experience in Innovative Educational Transformation
(http://cms.carnegiefoundation.org/gallery_of_tl/transferring_knowledge_and_experience_in_innovative_educational_transformation.html)
In this case study, a physics course was transformed from a lecture theatre experience to an active learning space. The author, Prof John Belcher makes two significant claims. That the course tranformation resulted in:

  • substantial increases in student conceptual understanding ,and
  • decreases in failure rates.

The developers measured the effects of their teaching designs on student learning through the use of multi-choice pre- and post learning questionnaires that allowed clear comparisons of the two teaching methods. They also refined the course based on student feedback.

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Core activity 6.1 The concepts of practice and competence

November 14, 2009 at 10:18 pm · Filed under H808 elearning professional ·Tagged ,

This is a bit of an unusual activity as it is essentially background reading for what is coming later in Unit 6.

First we are asked to look at: Hillier, Y. (2002) ‘The quest for competence, good practice and excellence’ (online), The Higher Education Academy. Available from: http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/resources/detail/id494_quest_for_competence.

This paper focuses on attempts to define excellence in teaching, pointing out that this is hard to do, since it is a value judgement. Also what a teacher might rate as teaching excellence does not necessarily match what students view as excellence.

We are then asked to look at a paper by Goodyear et al. In this paper lists of competencies are given for specific toles in online teaching, e.g. manager, designer, technology, researcher, adviser, assessor, content facilitator, process facilitator.

Finally we are asked to ‘browse through some of the sites in the supplementary resources section below, looking for examples of elearning practice that could be used to illustrate the roles and competencies that Goodyear et al. refer to.’ That sounds to me like it is going to require a comparison table. I will return to this at a later date.

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Adhoc post

November 14, 2009 at 11:13 am · Filed under H808 elearning professional ·Tagged

It’s the first Saturday I’ve had with nothing in the diary for a while. Horrah. However, I’m a bit miffed at the moment as I can’t get into the OU website. I was in earlier, but now it is timing out. Hopefully the OU techy people will sort the problem and all will be restored to elearning magnificance in a very short while.

I got my result back for TMA 01. I felt I was floundering around a bit with this, so on the one hand I’m pleased with the result, but on the other hand (the perfectionist side) is a bit miffed not to have scored higher, particularly on the reflective element. The essay question for TMA 02 looks more straightforward, and hopefully I won’t be dealing with any life-changing dramas in the next few weeks!

Unit 6 involves a lot of collaborative work. It will be interesting to see how this works out. I’m not a big fan of collaboration, but I’ll give this my best shot. I know too that some of my group are familiar with tools that I’m not so it might be a good opportunity to pick up some new collaborative learning skills.

Is it Christmas yet? I’m more than ready for a break from study, work and life in general ;-)

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Core activity 5.5: The CMALT and LSN certification schemes

November 9, 2009 at 9:25 pm · Filed under H808 elearning professional ·Tagged , ,

The CMALT core areas reflect my job as a media developer better than the core competencies of the LNS certification scheme. All four core areas are things that I would feel reasonably confident in providing evidence of compliance. For example item2: Teaching, learning and/or assessment processes includes ‘understanding your target learners’. This is a key part of the editorial side of my role – I need to know whether I’m editing material aimed at first level students or post-graduates. I need to know also what kind of previous knowledge or experience students are bringing on to a course. A big part of working at the OU is our commitment to providing accessible online learning materials, and so there is a lot of knowledge required for that in terms of understanding specialist needs.

For me, the LSN competences seemed to be painted with too broad a brush. I could certainly provide evidence that I know how to develop elearning materials and content, but the other competencies dont really reflect the skills and knowledge that surround that task.

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Core Activity 5.4: The profession of learning technologist – Part 2

November 9, 2009 at 8:48 pm · Filed under H808 elearning professional ·Tagged ,

Post a short message of about 300 words to your blog and/or tutor group forum. It should outline your general views on what learning technologists do and whether they can be considered an emergent profession. Read and comment on the messages and/or blog posts of your colleagues.

First an observation: 300 words is not very many to discuss this topic. However, I’ve had a go.

What do learning technologists do? In my opinion, the role of a learning technologist is to provide expert advice and practical skills relating to the use of online tools for learning. It is the job of a learning technologist to keep abreast of new technological developments, and also to be aware of the latest research and debates regarding their use. For example, there are a lot of myths regarding the ‘net generation’. I would argue that it is the learning technologist who is responsible for knowing the facts about what students are actually using in terms of Web 2.0 technologies and what knowledge and experience the student body really has.

Likewise, I would argue that the learning technologist should be the person who can advise on the best use of blogs, wikis and other Web 2.0 tools. All of this needs to be based on a strong foundation of learning theory.

Are learning technologists an emergent profession? Yes, I believe they are, but I think their emergence will be hampered by the tradition of paper-based publishing. Academics see editors and publishers as service providers, and are likely to see learning technologists as simply being the digital equivalent of the traditional publishing house. However, there is a vast difference between book production and quality elearning in terms of skills, knowledge and practice. I foresee a time when the balance of power will shift as learning technologists align themselves more and more with managerial roles, essentially becoming the ones who ‘buy in’ academic expertise to provide the content for courses, rather than being service providers to those creating the content. Indeed, I have already heard talk of this nature.

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Core Activity 5.4: The profession of learning technologist

November 8, 2009 at 7:51 pm · Filed under H808 elearning professional ·Tagged ,

This activity asks us to develop a provisional definition of what we think learning technologists are, and whether they differ from other groups of education professionals that are already recognised (for example, teachers, educational managers, bursars, etc.).

I would argue that a learning technologist is someone who looks at ways to encourage learning through the use of the most appropriate tool. Oliver (2002) includes a quote that suggests a learning technologist is the opposite of a ‘geek’ in that they aren’t totally involved in the hardware and software, but rather are interested in such things as being tools for a purpose.

A good learning technologist has, in my opinion, a good grasp of the many and varied learning theories. They also need to be good collaborators because their role is to facilitate learning through materials and ideas that is generated by others. (Although it is possible for an academic to also have learning technology skills, I would argue that another learning technologist will provide insights and creativity by coming fresh to the materials. An analogy is the editor role in publishing. A good editor will help to structure a book without necessarily being an expert in the subject. Likewise, a good learning technologist will help to structure learning materials.

I am somewhat bemused by the Liewseski and Joyce paper, which focuses on e-moderating to present a case of ligitimising the role of learning technologists. To me the role of an online moderator is not that of a learning technologist. This is possibly because of my OU background where moderator = tutor. I would not describe OU tutors as learning technologists. I need to read this paper again to try and make more sense of it. I have to confess to being bemused by the concept of reification when I met it on H800, and this paper is not doing anything to clarify things for me!

Oliver, M. (2002) ‘What do learning technologists do?’ (online), Innovations in Education and Teaching International, vol. 39, no. 4, pp. 245–52. Available from: http://libezproxy.open.ac.uk/login?url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13558000210161089 (accessed 8 November 2009).

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Core activity 5.2: Professions and professional values – Part B

November 3, 2009 at 1:22 pm · Filed under H808 elearning professional ·Tagged ,

The second part of this activity asked us to use Warrior’s thoughts on education as a profession to help us frame our own thoughts with regard to elearning, and to write preliminary and brief definitions of ‘profession’, ‘elearning’ and ‘elearning professional’.

As I commented earlier (Core activity 5.1) I like Sockett’s definition that:
“A profession is said to be an occupation with a crucial social function, requiring a high degree of skill and drawing on a systematic body of knowledge.”

I’m not sure I can improve on this. For an occupation to a profession I think it requires the ‘professional’ to have engaged in a lengthy period of education – whether that is academic in nature or of a practical apprenticeship type of learning.

I disagree with Perkin’s suggestion that ‘the word professional is used to
define a dignified occupation with an element of intellectual training or large mental expertise’. Having read Perkin’s paper (Core activity 5.2) he comes across as someone with a chip on his shoulder regarding class. The idea that one occupation is more dignified than another smacks of this class structure philosophy. I would argue that a professional is simply someone who engages in a profession that has required a lengthy period of education. How to define that period? That is quite tricky to answer. Clearly someone who is trained to operate a till in Tesco is entirely different to someone who has trained to be a brain surgeon, but are they any less of a professional? Perhaps the difference is that there is a finite amount of knowledge required to be a good till operator, whereas brain surgery is an field of expertise that is constantly changing and evolving in the light of research. Perhaps too the difference involves decision making – a professional brain surgeon may be required to make a judgement call based on different and possible conflicting pieces of evidence. Such a scenario does not apply to a check-out operator in Tesco.

I would therefore propose that a professional is someone who combines expert knowledge with high-quality practice in an occupation where that knowledge is complex and possibly incomplete.

What about an elearning professional? Based on the definition above, this is simply someone who combines knowledge about elearning with the practice of delivering elearning. This covers a host of different roles within the broad label of elearning professional.

What is elearning? This is a type of learning that is facilitated through the use of electronic media and technologies.

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Core activity 5.2: Professions and professional values

October 31, 2009 at 6:43 am · Filed under H808 elearning professional ·Tagged ,

We were asked to read a chapter of The Third Social Revolution by Harold Perkins and to comment on whether we think his views are justified.

Personally I think Perkins view of modern society is deeply flawed. He seems to be implying that there is a new ruling class ‘the professionals’ but he uses this term to embrace a vast cast of characters: politicians, corporate managers, educators, etc. I am unconvinced that he is observing a change in society but rather a change in terminology. He states that ‘most companies are now headed by professional managers rather than traditional capitalists’, but doesn’t really define the difference. Are they not one and the same?

I take issue with his suggestion that ‘meritocracy of some sort characterizes all professional societies’. I think Britain likes to think of itself as a society where people advance on merit, but in reality those who come from ‘privileged’ backgrounds are far more likely to advance to positions of influence. In theory everyone has access to education, but the quality of that education varies enormously – not due to any lack of dedication and skills from educators, but because of the social issues that get tied up with education. With the rise in higher education fees, university education is also beginning to move away from being available to all to being available to those who can afford it.

I much prefer the descriptions of the information or knowledge society to describe modern society. This captures the rise in professions involving what people know rather than what people do. More than that, the real movers and shakers are those who know where to find information and how to make connections. Today’s entrepreneurs are experts at connecting people. Take the BBC’s Dragon’s Den – people pitch their ideas on that show because they want to benefit from the Dragon’s network of contacts.

Overall, I find the language Perkin uses somewhat disturbing. He seems to be implying that there is some kind of conspiracy going on with professionals plotting and scheming to obtain and hold on to power. In the section of the role of women he comments that ‘Elites do not open themselves willingly to newcomers of any kind, by class’. This ‘them and us’ viewpoint seems to colour every argument, and I find it rather depressing and negative way to look at society.

Perkins sums up by saying ‘Professional society has enormous potential for enhancing human life and ensuring social justice, but it also presents the professional elites with egregious opportunities for exploitation.’ I would argue that he is simply dressing up the fundamental choice of human beings here. Don’t we all have the choice to live our lives in a way that enhances society or to live selfishly, exploiting others for our own gain? The issue here is not to do with professionalism. It is to do with the nature of the human heart.

Because this article seemed to me to say as much about the author as it does about society I googled Perkins and found his obituary in The Times:

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/obituaries/article402801.ece

I think the opening paragraph explains the ‘them and us’ philosophy that leaps out of his writing. I wonder if Perkins always felt an outsider in academia because of his background. It is interesting to note too that this book was written in 1996. Society has moved on a great deal in the past 13 years. I wonder what Perkins would make of the fact that religion is a hot topic in today’s society.

 

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Core activity 5.1: eLearning and professional development

October 29, 2009 at 5:56 am · Filed under H808 elearning professional ·Tagged , ,

The first part of this activity asks us to explore implicit and explicit definitions of elearning professionals, and specifications for education and training aimed at elearning professionals.

I like this definition, which is quoted by Warrior (2002): Sockett proposes that:
“A profession is said to be an occupation with a crucial social function, requiring a high degree of skill and drawing on a systematic body of knowledge.” (1985:27).

Although quite general, I think it applies well to the role of the elearning professional: the social function is that of elearning, an area that is becoming increasingly important in both education and business. That elearning professional draw on a body of knowledge is certainly true, although I am unsure how systematic that body of knowledge is. A high degree of skill is also a prerequisite – elearning is both quite technically challenging (wikis, blogs, VLEs, podcasts, etc.) and intellectually challenging (learning outcomes, pedagogy, etc.).

The European Institute for elearning has an interesting piece on the Certified e-Learning Professional (CeLP®) programme.
CeLP comprises some 300 learner hours of tutor-supported e-Learning and leads to five certified tracks; tutor, trainer, developer, manager and consultant. The press release is here: http://www.eife-l.org/news_events/releases/2005/en

This led me to a competency framework: http://e-learningzone.co.uk/resources/celp.pdf. This outlines competencise for managers, consultants, developers and tutors. I was interested to see that I indentified strongly with the developer competencies – being a media developer this is good!

The Elpco website (http://elpco.a2en.aoyama.ac.jp/EN/H01E-01.html) also lists five kinds of elearning professional: the instructional designer, the content specialist, instructor, mentor and learning system producer. I don’t identify so easily with these roles. Mentor = tutor, and at the OU the content specialist would be the authors, however, that role also overlaps with instructor. As a media developer I am partly an instructional designer, but again there is such collaboartion with the authors (course team) that I would be reluctant to label it so distinctly. I get the impression that instructional designers are seen very much as project leaders, whereas I tend to see the role as being much more team-orientated with a project manager leading the way.

Warrior, B. (2002) ‘Reflections of an educational professional’ (online), Journal of Hospitality, Leisure, Sport and Tourism Education, vol. 1, no. 2. Available from: http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/assets/hlst/documents/johlste/0030_warrior_vol1no2.pdf

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Adhoc reflection

October 14, 2009 at 8:58 pm · Filed under H808 elearning professional

I’ve been flitting around the blogs of some of my H808 student cohort, and have been impressed with the level of reflection taking place. I’m feeling the need to make some observations of my own, outside of a particular activity.

This past fortnight has been crazy. I applied for promotion at work, and on the same day was unexpectedly offered a job elsewhere. Deciding what to do with this out-of-the-blue offer knocked me for six. Trying to focus on H808 has been a tad difficult. On top of that, H808 is structured very differently to H800. I’m also missing the familiarity of my old tutor group – after six months together I’d become used to their presence in my life, albeit at a distance.

Unusually for me, I’ve found myself floundering a bit. I’ve arrived on forums to find conversations well developed – and quite often about topics that I feel I know very little about. There seem to be some experts out there amongst the student body. On the one hand this is great because I believe we can learn as much from each other as from the course materials. On the other hand, I feel a bit on the edge because I don’t feel I have that much to contribute. It is comforting to know that there are other students  who, like me, post that that they are brand new to ePortfolios.

This sense of being adrift isn’t helped by the supplementary activities, which are open to everyone, and so lots more names to become familiar with. One of the biggest benefits I found on H800 was discovering what people in my tutor group did out in the real world and how the course materials applied to their situations. I think perhaps this might happen a bit now with the PDP activity underway.

Anyway, on a more positive note, V. got in touch this week and has been very supportive. I’m also looking forward to a few quiet days in real life during which I’ll be able to focus more on the course, and particularly the forthcoming TMA. Looking back at the various files I’ve created, I have got quite a bit of material stashed away, and I have learnt quite a bit about ePortfolios already. After all, a couple of weeks ago I’d never heard of Mahara or Pebblepad, whereas now I can at least nod knowledgeably when others talk about them!

In case anyone is still reading – I accepted the out-of-the-blue job. This means I’m actually moving away from elearning and into an adminstrative role with a charity. I’m sure some of the skills I’ve picked up will still be useful. However, I am seriously considering trying to pick up some tutoring work as well. It all depends on how much free time I have. Ah well, life is never dull :-)

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