SCORE 2.0

As i come towards the end of my period of study, I have a clear model of how I believe online learning can be successfully delivered to adult distance learners. Having worked successfully through this model with a group of eight lecturers here at my university and around twenty students in separate online courses, i hope to continue to work on the model and its application to further enhance the lot of the adult distance learner and those engaged in professional development.

There are many influences on the model. As a starting point the model embraces the “seven principles of good practice in undergraduate education” as outlined by Chickering and Gamson (1987)¹ At the heart of this teaching model is the use of an online synchronous classroom using web conferencing software, supported by a community orientated learning ethos that utilizes Web 2.0 technology. The underlying theory that drives the model is what can be described as constructo-connectivism, where formal learning activities are driven by a constructivist approach to teaching and learning, whilst a connectivist approach is taken in utilizing web 2.0 technology to facilitate the informal learning that occurs in the learning network and the acquisition of personal knowledge management skills which are invaluable in the digital era of the twenty first century.

To reflect the nature of this teaching model it has subsequently been named as the Synchronous Community Orientated Reflective and Experiential 2.0 model (SCORE 2.0). Conceptually the model is aligned with Race's 'ripples' model of learning² . The online synchronous classroom is at the core and is the catalyst to drive the learning. This is where the motivation (the want) is created and reinforced. From here learners participate in intersession tasks (the doing) and then go on to consider what they have learnt through further discussion in a learning network and through posting entries to a reflective blog (the digesting). Throughout the whole process due to the nature of web 2.0 technologies there is opportunity for teacher-student interaction and student-student interaction (the feedback). Note also that the online synchronous class itself is a microcosm of this model of learning. Guiding and shaping the teaching and learning strategy is the community of inquiry model by Garrison and Anderson (2003)³ with the important emphasis on teaching presence, social presence and cognitive presence.

This model of online learning has been developed for the individual lecturer or ideally a programme team that enjoys building rapport with students and values dialogue with students. There are two very simple aims 1) to invigorate the process of online distance learning, making it an enjoyable, engaging and motivating experience and ii) to maximize the learning. Developed with adult distance learners in mind, the model has the potential to be used effectively for staff development purposes both on and off line.

1. Chickering, Arthur and Stephen C. Ehrmann (1996) Implementing the Seven Principles: Technology as Lever AAHE Bulletin, October, pp. 3-6.

http://honolulu.hawaii.edu/intranet/committees/FacDevCom/guidebk/teachtip/7princip.htm

2. Race, P. (2001) The lecturer's toolkit - A practical guide to learning, teaching and assessment (Second edition) London: Kogan Page.

http://www2.rgu.ac.uk/celt/pgcerttlt/how/how4d.htm

3. Garrison, D. R. and Anderson, Terry (2003) E-Learning in the 21st Century: a framework for research and practice London: RoutledgeFalmer.

Higher Education, Work based learning and Web 2.0

After reading David Gray’s (2001)[i] “A Briefing on Work Based Learning” this document picks up on the main points that characterize work based learning (WBL) and briefly explores their relationship with higher education and web 2.0 technology.

Work based learning and its value

Three common understandings of the term work based learning are:

• Learning for work e.g. work placements on a sandwich degree programme (may be referred to as work placed learning)
• Learning at Work e.g. in house training or personal development programme
• Learning through work with formal accreditation

Understanding 1 (even though it as a long history at higher education level) and understanding 2 are not usually assessed or accredited. For higher education (in consultation with employer organizations and the employee) the newer understanding 3 brings with it the role of providing academic rigor by way of i) defining appropriate learning outcomes, ii) effective teaching and learning strategies and iii) valid and reliable assessment.

If these three elements are met then the work based learner will more likely be in a position to reap the satisfying rewards of self fulfillment and self development which will be important in motivating them during the period of a course. For work based learning to be of value to an employer organization, then at the end of the learning process, amongst other things they may like to see that the learner has i) acquired specific skills ii) demonstrated general problem solving skills iii) demonstrated ability to be creative in generating ideas, in addition to iv) a mechanism to identify what level of skills and ability an individual has achieved. With the advent of e-learning in general and web 2.0 technology in particular, Higher education is in a position to take advantage of the ease of use and flexibility of 21^st century learning tools to i) improve communication between all three parties ii) provide opportunities for learners to present and externalize their knowledge iii) engender a dialogic framework that can easily elicit feedback from tutors, employers and the wider world and iv) foster the development of a learners own personal learning environment and personal knowledge management skills to enhance their development as a lifelong learner.

This last point may have additional resonance with employer organizations that have a mindset of a learning organization, as they will be looking to go beyond isolated programmes of learning and look to embed systems which encourage learning and will benefit the whole organization as an ongoing way of being. This sort of organization will ideally have structures in place that encourage individual participation, create opportunities for interaction and create mechanisms to share ideas so that a culture of learning from each other ensues.

Differences between WBL and classroom learning

David Gray refers to Raelin (2000) who argues that work based learning is different to classroom learning in a number of important ways:

1. Work based learning is centered around reflection on work practices
2. Work based learning views learning as arising from action and problem solving within a working environment.
3. Work based learning requires not only the acquisition of knowledge but the acquisition of meta-competence – learning to learn.

For these reasons and the fact that the adult learner is perceived to be self-directed, has personal experience and motivation to bring to the table of learning assessment methods for work based learning need to be reflected in a student-centered, problem-based approach rather than formal examinations that characterize traditional assessment methods. With this in mind assessment methods could include:

• Self and peer assessment
• Assignments and projects
• Portfolio building
• Presentations
• Practical assessment of professional competence in the workplace
  

In addition it’s important to note that “the link between a learner’s objectives and the outputs of learning can be bridged through the use of learning contracts”. Gray (2001)1

With employers having an investment in the learning of work based learners and the benefits that this will offer in the future this further “underlines the need for developing the higher level skills of analysis, evaluation and synthesis as well as the ability to be an independent learner”. Gray (2001)1

WBL and Web 2.0

Web 2.0 technology sits nicely within a student centered, problem based approach learning and the socio-constructivist approach that this implies. There are many web 2.0 technologies that can become home for student developed resources; The staple web 2.0 tools will be Blogs for reflection, wikis for collaboration and resource management and e-portfolios for presentation of knowledge, ideas and the products of the learning process. Also in this connectivist age in addition to their own Personal Learning Networks, there should also be a role for an institution or employer initiated web 2.0 based learning network which can help to facilitate the informal and incidental learning that can be so useful.

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[1] Gray, D (2001) A Briefing on Work Based Learning LTSN generic centre Learning and Teaching Support Network

It’s a Mash-up 2: Capturing the Learning

Lesson: PgCert Teacher Training: Online Assessment and Evaluation – Thursday 31st Jan – Groups 2 and 3

Background

Following on from the Wednesday lesson with group 1, on Thursday I again teamed up with Heather Conboy to deliver the PgCert online assessment and evaluation lesson to Groups 2 and 3 of the PgCert teacher training course. We had the interesting situation this time around of having participants with a bit more experience of using online assessments in their current practice.

Participants have a lot to contribute

What was useful to remember is that there is a wealth of insights to be gained from participants on a course and that encouraging participants to share there experiences is very valuable for other participants. We saw this in two ways I) a verbal explanation of how one participant was using wikis formatively in his lessons and ii) with two other lecturers demonstrating and presenting their ideas to the others. The explanations and examples from peers has a much more captivating effect on the rest of the participants rather than the 'detached' overview of how these technologies can work for them from the lecturer in transmission mode.

Socratic Questioning

Although the transmission mode is required and can still be effective in small doses, participant involvement adds greatly to the lesson, both for online synchronous and classroom based lessons. In this situation in my role as a facilitator, it was important to listen to what was being said, follow the discussion and at the appropriate time summarize and highlight the main points that were addressed, add new topics or angles that are relevant but have not been discussed and to perhaps prompt the participants with some supplementary questions to further stimulate debate and discussion. I think I did this reasonably well, but this is something I am keen to improve on as I believe the skills of the Socratic questioning approach are valuable in teasing opinions and insights out of participants and therefore making them think a little deeper about issues.

The group wiki is still great :-)

The practical group wiki exercise once again contributed to the social and active learning approach, but in the sessions with groups 2 and 3, the discussion and debate seemed to be the dominant medium through which participant learning occurred. This was confirmed in participant feedback, where discussion with colleagues was the dominant theme of what was the best aspect of the course.

Teaching and Learning: Online Versus Classroom

Having spent a lot of time facilitating sessions online recently (very enjoyably) in a synchronous web based classroom, I forgot how good it is to get into a classroom and do face to face teaching. I actually believe that my research and practice in developing a suitable online strategy for teaching and learning has had direct benefits that have flowed over into my classroom based teaching. From my research I have developed a model of online learning that I believe takes advantage of theories based on social and active learning to promote the idea of facilitating learning ultimately in a community of practice. The model is geared to adult distance learners and early signs indicate that this model of online learning is effective in improving learning and is effective in engaging and motivating students to want to learn. Setting aside any financial, staffing or political issues the approach of an online synchronous web based classroom linked to the ease of use and usefulness of web 2.0 based technologies for asynchronous out of class tasks is more than a match for the traditional asynchronous only or blended solutions that do not
rely on a synchronous web based classroom to pull together a community of learners.

In the absence of the option of face to face teaching, this type of learning is tailor made for adult distance learners and also has many benefits for busy professionals in pursuit of professional development qualifications. In the UK as the IT policies (and infrastructure) of many government led organisations and some private companies is slow to react to changing developments in IT and the fact that these organisations are struggling with how to regulate the use of web 2.o technologies in the workplace it would seem that the home user is best placed to take advantage of the model of online learning that I propose. With a bit of planning many organisations in the workplace could quite easily adopt this model of online learning to good effect.

There is no denying the warmth and intimacy that can be achieved by connecting face to face with students is a powerful factor in making face to face teaching enjoyable and the ability to delve deeper into problems on a one on one basis is also an attractive feature for both teacher and learner a like. That said learning in the online synchronous web based classroom can offer many advantages, which include:

• 1. Individuals can be more focused as they are physically isolated from other participants and have to focus on what is going on in the lesson to communicate effectively with other participants and the teacher.
• 2. Responses to questions are much more easily collated simultaneously from everyone in the lesson ensuring that it is easier for all participants to be heard in the classroom (whether that be via audio or text)
• 3. The ability for all participants as well as the teacher to quickly and easily become a presenter. This could be via the sharing of a web browser or the sharing of presentations or documents.
• 4. The sheer easily accessible variety of ways to implement learning activities, thus having a better chance to cater for a diverse range of learning styles.
• 5. The ability to capture the learning. with the capability to record all the verbal, whiteboard and text chat interactions none of the learning is lost and can always be available for latter review, not only for the participants themselves, but for participants that have to miss a class. In addition the teacher is in a great position to review their own work.

The capturing of the learning is such a useful feature it has got me wondering whether the principles of my model of online learning can be applied to face to face teaching. One thing that is without doubt is that the use of web2.0 technologies such as blogs, wikis, social bookmarking and educational networking, both in class and for out of class work is a no brainer. These tools give the teacher much more scope to offer interesting and varied in class tasks and are great at encouraging small group work activity (within class). On the face of it the use of the online synchronous web based class may not be workable or required but I am starting to think if the physical environment was set up correctly and everyone was logged into a computer with access to the web based synchronous classroom there are some possibilities. i.e. I) we could still grab everyone's ideas via whiteboard and text chat tools, ii) if everyone had hands free phone with the ability to move around the class, perhaps we could also capture the verbal discussions without chaining participants or the teacher to the desk.

Conclusion

There are undoubtedly some issues to address, aside from the technicalities but in actual fact in a few years time I don't think it will be a problem. With students having lightweight portable computer tablets and wireless mobile phone, hands free headsets we will much better placed to capture the learning

It's a Mash Up: Online Learning meets Classroom Teaching

Lesson: PgCert Teacher Training: Online Assessment and Evaluation – Wednesday 30th Jan – Group 1

Background

This was the first group of three, to be taught on this lesson. I was drafted in to help deliver this classroom based 90 minute session on online assessment and evaluation with colleague Heather Conboy. It was an interesting and rewarding experience. Rewarding in that I did feel that the session went well, which was by and large confirmed in feedback from the 10 strong group of PgCert group of tutors.

Leading up to the class there was a little apprehension. Reasons for this: I) I was dual presenting, so delivering and writing a lesson plan for two was a new experience 2) The subject matter I had not delivered a lesson on before and the style of lesson was different in that it was a one-off session for me although for the students it did feed into an ongoing series of lessons. Heather and I agreed a lesson plan, which I am acutely aware of is a great anchor to support you through a lesson. The lesson plan gave us confidence that we had a clear strategy (to deviate from :-), I’ll explain more later).

Preparation

Delivering this lesson emphasised the fact that preparation and a flexible approach are vital to try and make any lesson achieve the intended learning outcomes, ensure the lesson goes smoothly and that the students benefit from the lesson. So in addition to the lesson plan, a series of examples to demonstrate were identified by myself and Heather, as well as additional resources that we could direct the students towards. The approach in actual fact is very similar to the recent online synchronous lessons that I have run which is characterised by a very detailed lesson plan, (which has some flexibility built in for the teacher to deliver in their own style), emphasis on participant activity, discussions and demonstrations. All of which are an important part of teaching in both arenas.

Social and Active Learning

From my reading and practical experience I am ware of the benefits of social and active learning and therefore hoped to take advantage of this by using a wiki in class to promote discussion in small groups, thus enhancing the enjoyment of the session(by adding a social element to the learning), laying the foundations to learn from each other and then using the attributes of the wiki to capture and store the thoughts of the small groups as a record for themselves to return to and reflect on and for myself and heather to also be able to reflect on the participants activities and offer constructive written feedback at an appropriate time outside of the class.

Feedback from the participants seemed to vindicate this approach as when asked about the best part of the session many replied with comments relating to this active and social approach saying for example “using the wiki”, “playing with the computer”, “Community as a group”, “practical hands-on”. Other participants commented that the best parts were general discussion and demonstrations. So the feedback was good to me in that the variety of strategies helped to cater for the needs and enjoyment of a broad spectrum of the audience.

Adapting and being flexible

The initial part of the class was planned around the fact that the participants were to have completed a number of pre session tasks, one of which was identifying any online assessments that they currently used in their practice. It was quickly apparent that the participants had no or minimal experience in using online assessment and the initial task planned for; a small group wiki based task was not going to happen. Recognising this fact, it was obvious that the session needed moving along to give the students an appreciation of what opportunities there were to use online assessment and evaluation in their work, so we preceded to demonstrating examples of various technologies to show what could be achieved. Heather led this part of the lesson and I contributed to the discussion as and when appropriate. In retrospect the time initially allocated to demonstration and discussion was probably too short and that for future lessons and bearing in mind the time constraints, a brief discussion to garner the use of online assessments amongst the participants maybe sufficient, rather than a hands on task. However I am aware that there may be a new batch of tutors with different levels of experience and it may be that a wiki based task early on might be the way to go. So being flexible and prepared to adapt I would say is quite a necessary attitude/ skill to possess.

Participant Perceptions

I believe we actually achieved a lot in the lesson. This group of students came with little knowledge and I sensed a little reluctance to be bothered with online assessment and evaluation. There was an obvious lack of knowledge about what is possible and a questioning of whether there was any value in online assessment in comparison with the traditional ways of doing things. After discussions and demonstrations, myself and heather were able to highlight advantages and possibilities of how online assessment could be useful and emphasised the point that there is not a set prescribed method for using the tools mentioned, but once they have an appreciation of what the tools can do they may recognize opportunities for using them. Also it was pointed out that online assessments don’t necessarily need to replace current practices but are there to aid and assist current learning and assessment strategies.

Off the back of the demonstrations and the discussions, students engaged in a small group wiki based task. With one of the group acting as a scribe they devised an online assessment and recorded this on a wiki page. This further shifted perceptions as to the potential uses of online tools for formative, summative or diagnostic assessment. You could sense that by the end of the lesson with increased knowledge, that participants were overall feeling more favourable towards the use of online assessment and this was reflected in participant feedback where seven of the students indicated that would probably or very probably change some aspect of their practice as a result of the workshop, one would change a little, one was unlikely due to work constraints and the other did not respond.

Conclusions

I think a predominantly social and active learning approach is correct in both online and face to face teaching and learning. The use of the wiki as a tool in the classroom is a good medium to pull together small group discussions, where participants can be benefit from face to face interaction and thereafter ongoing discussion, debate, collaboration and decision making online and out of class if necessary and desirable.

The example demonstrations were most definitely useful in laying the foundations of knowledge to comprehend the possibilities and engage in subsequent discussions, where participants benefited not only from teacher input, but also from fellow participants.

This session was very much an introductory and awareness raising session and with links provided participants have some initial signposts from where to gather deeper knowledge. With a more knowledgeable group, discussions may focus on the success or failure of online assessment approaches and this will emphasise the need to be flexible and adaptable in this type of session.

Web 2.0 is Connectivity

"Web 2.0 is connectivity - through self expression and technological simplicity."

That was my response to a recent challenge to come up with a snappy one liner to explain what web 2.0 is. In terms of an explanation of web 2.0 it probably does not explain what it is and maybe it is not possible in a snappy one-liner. What it does do i believe is go to the heart and the ethos of web 2.0 technology.

Connectivity is a theme that is figuring strongly in relation to learning, lately for me. In a recent essay i drew attention to the socio-constructivist principles of Vygotsky (1962; 1978) and the view that the higher mental functioning in an individual would not be possible without social interaction (connections) and this social interaction is compatible with brain science theories such as Gee (1992) who suggests that “our capacity for learning can be explained in terms of the brain engaging in this sort of ongoing interaction with the world”.

This was reinforced by the very interesting Stephen Downes half hour blog where he talked about many things including associative learning and how "The result in the brain is strengthening or weakening of a set of neural connections, a relatively slow process." His point is that it's not about content transfer, it's about repeated exposure (preferably where it is highly salient, as this impacts the strength of the neural connection).

He goes on to say that transfer of information via a presentation would not result in knowledge transfer to audiences but it is the "repetition of instances required in order to create a weight of experience on a certain subject." , that will result of an individual acquiring their own knowledge.

The thrust of his blog is that people have to create their own knowledge from their own experiences and that the knowledge becomes stronger through the more connections an individual has exposure to related subject matter. It is the connecting of new experiences/ information which consolidates knowledge acquisition.

George Siemens draws together the ideas of Vygotsky, Gee, web 2.0 technology and the ideas of Downes in his theory of connectivism

What are the implications for teaching?
Teaching staff not conversant with the new technology may well ask, why should i bother with it. Well these web 2.0 technology tools can be used to promote interaction and collaboration amongst students in their own group as a starting point. Connections can be made if desired outside the group to other students and subject experts. Both staff and students can use the new technology to connect easily to resources and contacts to help organize and administer teaching and learning more efficiently. This will improve the opportunity to acquire knowledge.

HE Institutional Strategies for E-learning

Well just as higher education embraces the notion of e-learning and start investing heavily financially, strategically and emotionally in commercially driven e-learning VLE’s such as Blackboard along comes those damn pesky web 2.0 technologies. After all the staff and student training that has gone into learning how to make that cumbersome beast (my view) Blackboard be a useful catalyst to promote and develop a sustainable and consistent e-learning strategy it is hard to contemplate that their may be a better way forward other than via Blackboard or similar VLE’s.

Now I am not saying exactly for sure what they way forward is, as I am not privy to the costs involved or the administrative, security and control issues, that said a strategy involving web 2.0 technologies should be piloted and I feel eventually adopted if not totally, but in a dual approach over the next few years because of the simple benefits that web 2.0 technologies can offer both students, but just as importantly to staff.

When one thinks of e-learning, the first thought quite naturally is of learning and probably most people conjure up an image of a wed page or maybe an interactive multimedia application. The crucial thing is from an institutional point of view is that apart from the learning, other very important issues are
• Communication between academic staff-students, administrative staff-students and students to student communication.
• Staff training and development
• Staff enthusiasm for the e-learning technology.

In light of the three points highlighted above it is worth considering what web 2.0 technologies can offer. I shall constrain myself to the use of just one web 2.0 technology which is worth exploring as a significant complimentary or maybe alternative approach to the Blackboard VLE approach and that is a wiki.

For staff they are relatively easy to use and learn how to use, they are for group collaboration either via editable web pages or discussion boards. All group members can send messages to each other within the wiki. All group members can choose to be notified of any changes to pages or replies to discussion board posts straight to their email accounts. Pages can be tagged for easy reference, wiki sites can be very easily backed up in html or wiki text format.

Wiki’s can be used for learning activities, project management, project collaboration or as a course management tool. Wiki’s can allow staff to collaborate on projects and developing module material together. The technology is and it has the potential to be useful, it will be up to individuals and groups how they make best use of it.

To give a comparison example, it would be far easier and save so much time in posting an announcement and associated document in a wiki, rather than in the equivalent announcement function in blackboard, especially if the author has to re-edit the announcement or change the associated document.

Another important consideration is that web 2.0 technologies such as wiki’s and blog’s are now becoming commonplace out there in every day life. They are important life skills that students and staff should develop as these transferable skills will be of great benefit to them personally and to future organizations that they work for.

Although there are many web 2.o services freely available on the internet, possible concerns from an institutional point of view may be security and privacy and delivery of service. As an example if we take wiki services on the web these can be made private and secure, as well as having minimal downtime. If institutions are not satisfied with the offerings of companies that do offer wiki servers they can always use ‘MediaWiki’ software which is wiki server software and can be controlled by the institution on their own servers.

To conclude I believe that over the next year or two HE institutions should most definitely design a web 2.0 delivery strategy and adopt and promote it in parallel with any existing Blackboard VLE setup so that they are in position to take the correct fork in the road if required. Personally with a well thought out implementation and staff training plan I believe that the uptake of web 2.0 technologies will spread quicker than an Aussie bush fire and it might have to be if higher education institutions do not want to lose competitive advantage.

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Embrace web 2.0 technology or die - that's an order!

It seems a no brainer to me that higher educational establishments offering distance learning courses should embrace web 2.0 technologies quickly otherwise their credibility is an institute of repute will quite frankly be tarnished. Relying on subject expertise will not be enough, the online delivery and communication techniques used will sort out the winners from the losers

It would seem that a lot of higher education institutions may think that by providing a VLE such as Blackboard they have done their bit for distance and e-learning and that is the end of the matter. Many institutions even at this stage may not even be aware of the growing influence of web 2.0 technologies and will bumble along quite merrily, as their customer (student) base dwindles away.

If I can make some sort of an analogy between institutions (and it may not be the best, but hopefully you will get the point) that embrace web 2.0 technologies and those that don’t, it would be like comparing an institution that currently asks for all essays to be handwritten instead of an institution that accepts word processed essays. Most students would find this unacceptable, irritating and a sign of an organization not up with the times. This will probably be the case with web 2.0 technologies and the benefits they offer in communication, community building, learning and teaching 5 years from now.

The only conceivable argument I can see for not embracing web 2.0 technologies are considerations of privacy and security of data. If there are good educational and learning reasons for using web 2.0 technology then a way needs to be found to overcome privacy and security of data issues, which I am sure, can easily be found if the desire is there.

Quite bold statements from a mere novice in the field, however after reading various advocates testimony, briefly reviewing some web 2.o technologies the vibe just feels right. My proviso being that web 2.0 technologies give you the platform to do some very interesting things, but you’ve got to know your technology and use it well.

web 2.0 Adventures

My recent adventures into web 2.0 land that have ignited my fire are the web application ‘basecamp’, which uses wiki technology (only it just does not tell you) for the purpose of project management and it makes it feel so damn easy. I am sure higher education can learn a lot from the ease of use of this product and it seems ideal for use as a course management system. I shall investigate further.

The second vitally important element of the whole web 2.0 phenomenon is the XML feed technology e.g. RSS or Atom and the ability to subscribe to blogs. I’m afraid I’m a busy man, hey maybe I’m a bit lazy – I want the action to come to me. I cannot always remember where all the action is or will be so I want notification by the killer internet application email or I want all the action sucked into my central website base.

So this leads to the beauty of subscription where your favourite blogs can be emailed directly to you, using a subscription service such as feedblitz or alternatively, use a service such as bloglines where all your favourite blogs are brought together at a central website.

Wake up there could be a revolution going on.