At the end of last semester most students shut their Edublog sites down as we were only required to have them for our e-Learning subject assignments. However I have decided to keep mine alive and continue posting to chart my progress through this my last semester of the Bachelor of Adult Education course. I have not done any study since the end of semester last November and have thoroughly enjoyed the summer break. Had a quiet Christmas period as I had to work through the January holiday season. At this stage I will not be able to have a break from work until the Uni two week break in April. This semester I am studying Program Design, Assessing Learning, Individual Differences and Adult Education Policy in Context and the classes run from 0930 hrs till 1900 hours each Wednesday. We are only into week 2 so am still trying to get a feel for each of the subjects. At this stage I would say Assessing Learning will be the most interesting closely followed by Program Design with the other two a distant equal last. Will keep posting as the semester progresses and may through in the occasional random thought such as this one:- Have you ever looked up at the night sky and considered that cavemen, oops!! sorry cavepersons, and all mankind, sorry personkind, since then would have also gazed up at the very same moon and stars that you are now looking at? Sort of gives a sensation of direct connectedness right back to the stoneages (and no I HAVE NOT been drinking, inhaling, snorting or injecting anything LOL)

Reached halfway point – 2 hours. The lessons continue in same vein. Finding it easier to phonetically identify the greek letters. Still need to revisit each lesson several times. The discussion forums and chat room are a definite plus.

Just recently I discovered a Google feature that has proved to very useful. Its called Web Alerts. The programme allows you to enter topics of interest and on a regular basis you will get a web alert e-mail as soon as anything is posted on the web regarding those topics. Over the past 2 months I have been getting daily e-mails with newly posted articles on e-learning, elearning and online learning. It has proved to be very worthwhile for this course as one of the issues we have with internet articles is they usually do not have a posted date so you do not know how recent or indeed relevant the article is. With this feature you get articles ‘hot off the press’. There are other interesting  features to be found on their Google Labs Page which are still being developed but you can try them out and evaluate them, in other words become a Google Lab rat. You will also find programmes such as Web Alert which have graduated from the Lab on this page, google Notebook is another interesting program.

Well that’s it for now, I plan to have a few weeks break away from the computer. I am planning to have a go at building my own gaming computer to while away the hours till next semester.

p.s. Roman, I hope you like this layout (5th attempt), you will also notice I have dropped the green font just for you : )

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I had an interesting revelation recently. I am a member of the Australian Institute of Training & Development and we had a guest speaker (an exceptionally good one I must say -thanks again Anne) talking about Web 2.0. Early in the talk we were asked by show of hands who, has a blog,  uses Flickr, uses Delicious, use a wiki, subscribe to podcasts, use an aggregator, mashes-up and who can describe what RSS does (in plain English).

In a group of around 40 people I found myself one of a small number who could raise their hand for each of these questions. Then came the revelation. 10 weeks ago I would not have been able to raise my hand for one of them!!!!! I had become an e-Learner!!!!!

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The reading for this week  is Preparing E-Learners for Online Success by Ryan Watkins.

Watkins focusses on the demands placed on new e-learners with regard to study skills. He discusses some of the differences between traditional teaching and e-learning particularly the absence of the instructor when the learner may be struggling with a problem. He mentions that the learner needs to become more reliant on peer support.

We are told that the learner needs to be able to adapt existing study skills and habits learned from traditional study and develop and apply new e-learning study skills and habits.

He suggests that e-learners conduct a self-assessment survey to identify their strengths and weaknesses with regards to e-learning study skills. However he counters that suggestion with a comment that perhaps most potential e-learners would have limited exposure to the technology and study skills required for e-learning and hence would have difficulty carrying out a self-assessment on their capabilities.

The reading finishes with six tips that instructors might use to assist new e-learners. These are : 1) Include online activities as ice-breakers for learners. 2) Become familiar with the technologies used in current e-learning courses as well as other technologies that e-learners may ask about during the course. 3) Provide e-learners with the necessary information for getting in touch with technical support. 4) Offer learners opportunities to assess and improve their technology skills and e-learning study skills. 5) Supply learners with links that can prepare them with the specific skills for accomplishing the learning objectives. 6) Encourage learners to interact and communicate with other learners.

Reference

Watkins, R. 2005, Preparing e-learners for Online Success, Learning Circuits, ASTD, Virginia

http://www.learningcircuits.org/2005/sep2005/watkins.htm

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I thought it would be worthwhile to reflect on our e-Learning Experience class. What a steep learning curve it has been, it really has been an e-Learning experience. I have learnt so much over these weeks. The social bookmarking is fantastic and I have introduced it to fellow workers. One of the admin girls is in a Quilting club and she has set up a site for her fellow club members to share. Netvibes is such a versatile program with seemingly endless possibilites and then there is the wiki which we haven’t had much to do with so far. 

As I mentioned in a previous blog, When I commenced this class I knew nothing about all this stuff and now I am boring people senseless talking about it. I am sure its not just my imagination but I’m certain I hear the word ‘geek’ as they run away from me!! Oh well back to my e-Zine…

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In her excellent report, ‘E-learning 101′, Janet Clarey provides a very much needed resource for newcomers to the world of e-learning. The language used and the layout of this document makes it very easy to read and understand and includes a 16 page glossary.

By way of introduction Janet provides a brief history of e-learning and in that introduction we are told “Although e-learning has only been around since the 1960s, distance learning – which e-learning can be categorised as – has evolved over the past 100-150 years when study was offered via ‘post’.” (Clarey 2007, p.9)

This statement caused me to reflect on my own experiences and it got me thinking of life before computers, dvds, compact discs, videos and even television. (Yes I am that old !!!!!!). I am not the sort of person who can readily recall my very early years however whilst reflecting a random memory turned up.

I was lying in the lounge room as a preschooler (mid 1950s) listening to a radio program which consisted of New Australian women (that was the terminology in those days ‘Ethnic’ and ‘Multicultural’ were yet to be invented)  engaging in normal day to day conversations. I think they were run along the lines of modern day soap operas.

I believe the program was called ‘English for New Australians’ and it was aimed at the predominately Italian and Greek housewives to help them learn to speak English. I have contacted the ABC archives section to get more information but so far no replies. The Australian Sound and Film Archive centre does have a listing for one episode of this program which went to air on the 7th July 1951.

 My next memory of “e-learning” would have been in the late fifties early sixties in primary school. We used to have ABC songbooks and at certain times the radio would be brought into the classroom and across Australia thousands of schoolchildren would be ’singing’ their heads off learning great Australian songs.

Television has obviously played a major role in preschoolers education. I wonder how many kids learned to count from The Count from Sesame Street.

Another form of early e-learning was provided by records. Some years ago I was given a collection of ‘Learn to Speak French’ 78rpm records which date from the late 1940s.

So it can be seen that e-Learning has been part of the evolutionary process of ‘distance learning’. And as e-learning is evolving it is branching out into what may be termed the ‘traditional’ learning world. 

It is importat that as teachers/instructors we need to be part of this evolutionary process and wherever possible we should be seen as leaders, not followers.

References

Clarey, J. 2007, E-Learning 101: An Introduction to E-Learning, Learning Tools and Technologies, Brendon Hall Research, New York

The reading for Week 9 was from Palloff & Pratt, 2001 Lessons From Cyberspace  chapter 7 ‘Working with the Virtual Student’.

One of the key points in this article related to the need for the learner to be aware of, and prepared for, the differences between traditional learning and online learning. One case is mentioned where the learning organisation actually ran a course to teach the learners how to learn online.

The often repeated comment is how the learner must take responsibility for their own learning and that online training relies heavily on collaboration between the learners and less reliance on the teacher. As a matter of fact the teacher is more a facilitator and guide. The article also notes that not all learners are suited to online learning and that research has found the most successful learners are self-disciplined, self-motivated, generally older and have voluntarily sought further education.

The article finishes with a number of tips for successfully working with Virtual Students. These are: 1) Do not assume students will automatically know how to learn online. 2) Provide some form of orientation to students as they embark on an online experience. 3) Construct a course that is varied and addresses different learning styles. 4) Encourage and empower students to take charge of the learning process. 5) Pay attention to changes in participation levels and address them promptly. 6) Stay present and be responsive to students needs and concerns.

Reference

Palloff, Rena & Pratt, Keith, 2001, Working with the Virtual Student in Lessons from Cyberspace, Jossey-Bass.

http://drr.lib.uts.edu.au/file/17282/013966_palloffworking.pdf

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I have noticed over recent weeks that we have a number of i-learnists in our midst. These people have identified themselves by their fairly negative comments about the use of e-Learning. So I thought it would be worth looking at the differences between e-Learnists and i-Learnists

Perhaps I should clarify what an i-Learnist is. We all know about e-Learning but i-Learning is all about (i)nstructor-based training. Hence i-Learnists follow the traditional ‘chalk & talk’ learning philosophy.

The Fundamentalist i-Learnists do not use any form of electronic training resources. They strictly adhere to the black/whitebaord, flip charts and hand written or typewritten notes.

The Reformist i-Learnists have made small concessions to the electronic world in that they use overhead projectors (with hand drawn slides) and have a video player to show their 1970s and 1980s training videos..

On the other hand the Fundamentalist e-Learnists see a classroom filled with computers. Classrooms with individual booths where each student has a computer with multiple monitors so they can be sending e-mails, joining chat rooms, blogging, checking out Myspace and Facebook and visiting Netvibes for the latest RSS feeds. The students communicate using e-mails, blogs, chat as well as sms to their fellow students in the booths next to them.

The Reformist e-Learnist has conceded that there is a need for personal contact so has added webcams and headsets so the students can see who they are talking to.

Somewhere in between are the Progressives. These see a world where both philosophies are embraced and the good points of each one are used as required.

So where do you stand??

Just when we seemed to be getting on top of e-learning more and more articles are making reference to m-learning!!! 

So what is m-learning? Well, as the name implies it has to do with an ‘m’ word and that word is ‘mobile’. There are a number of sites which provide background information on m-learning and some of these sites are listed at the end of this blog. Whilst we could readily make the assumption that the mobile in m(obile)-learning refers to mobile phones there are other mobile devices that are included in this category. These are mp3 players and PDAs. The technology of these devices is quickly approaching that of a computer. My own mp3 player (Creative: Zen Vision M) has 60 Gigabytes of memory and plays videos as well as audio and slideshows. My 4 year old home pc by comparison has only 80 Gigabytes of memory!!

My PDA has Word, Excel, Powerpoint, Internet Explorer, e-mail, Windows Media Player as well as Bluetooth and WiFi capability. As far as mobile phones are concerned one only has to peruse the seemingly endless stream of advertising for mobile phones to note their growth as a truly multi-function communication device. Rajesh Rastogi in his article Aspects of M-Learning states that the “kind of infitration that mobile phones have reached is astonishing, no other device can come closer, not even computers. Mobiles have a global reach not only in developed countries but also in the third world, they can be found in every village.” (Rastogi, R. 2007) 

The following sites provide more detail on this phenomenom with examples of how m-learning is being used:

http://www.m-learning.org/index.htm

http://www.palm.com/us/education/studies/

http://www.k12handhelds.com/101list.php

This site is particularly good http://www.pjb.co.uk/m-learning/articles.htm

Reference

Rastogi, R. 2007, Aspects of M-Learning, PR_GB.com…News from origin, viewed 6 Ocober 2007, http://pr-gb.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=26791&Itemid=9

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Since the beginning of this semester I have read a lot of articles and books on e-learning. One of the observations made along the way is the internalising going on amongst the e-learning advocates as to what e-learning is and what it can do. I believe that this has not been helpful in establishing e-learning amongst the more traditional learning community. After all if the e-learning community can’t agree on these points then who can?

Another observation is that the “Get Rich Quick”  brigade have had a profound and possibly lasting damaging impact on the reputation of e-learning.

And finally, the lack of management understanding of the importance of needs assessments and program evaluations has also had disasterous consequences.

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One of my procrastination tools whilst doing uni assignments is to follow links on sites I have accessed and I am often amazed at where I end up. Usually in all sort of unrelated areas and so it was whilst following one of these unrelated links I came across mention of Professor Randy Pausch and his “Last Lecture”.

A number of  universities in America conduct “Last Lecture Series,” in which top professors are asked to think deeply about what matters to them and to give hypothetical final talks. The Carnegie Mellon University had one of their top professors Randy Pausch who teaches in the Virtual Reality field to give a talk. In Randy Pausch’s case it is indeed his last lecture.

At 47 he is about to die from Pancreatic cancer. The theme of his lecture was about chasing his childhood dreams, things he has learnt along the way and lessons he would like to pass on to his students but most of all to his three children all under 5 years of age.

The lecture was recorded and is linked here (after it starts, if you ‘right click’ in the video you can choose full screen size) - Prof. Randy Pausch’s Last lecture - It runs for 2 hours but once I started watching it I was glued to the screen. I defy anyone to watch this and not have to reach for the tissues. Professor Pausch is a truly inspirational person and he is what I imagined all university professors would be like.

The Wall Street Journal called the lecture “the lecture of a lifetime” and those who have seen it have more than agreed just do a search on Randy Pausch and see for yourself.

During his talk Randy refers to running into obstacles along life’s journey especially when trying to achieve something. He refers to these obstacles as ‘brick walls’ and his attitude to these were,  “Brick walls are there for a reason. The brick walls aren’t there to keep us out. The brick walls are there to show us how badly we want things.”. He followed on to say that if you did  want that thing bad enough you would find ways to get around that brick wall, that if you let the brick wall stop you then perhaps it wasn’t so important after all.

There are also included in this talk many examples of great teaching strategies. I particularly liked his reference to ‘head fakes’. You will have to watch it to see what I am refering to.

I can heartily recommend that you spend the time to watch this video and would be interested in your comments.

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I have often wondered what drives a person to want to have their own webpage on sites such as MySpace, Facebook etc and to bare their souls for all the world to see. My theory is that there are three categories of individuals that have their own page.

1. Egotists who love to see their photos and personal info ‘on the web’.

2. Opinionated persons who now have a worlwide forum to impose their views.

and 3. Persons with poor social skills who have problems talking to people face to face.

And then there are the blogging sites such as this. I am doing this because it is an assignment for uni. We are required to establish our own pages and then post on a weekly basis until the end of the semester. This is my first experience at this so not sure where it will lead to and which of the above categories I will end up falling into, perhaps all three!!! 

It is interesting to note that quite a few fellow students are not very computer lit. I am not all that up on the latest technology but have managed to get this site set up and running but many others struggling. I was surprised to hear someone admit that they did not have a computer at home, I found this quite surprising. Its amazing how you take some things for granted.