Interactive Learning: HE in FE

Going anonymous

2009-02-02T18:25:00.002Z

I can't decide what to put in my profile.

Its a problem because I do want to contextualise what I write and yet by doing so I may need to be more conscious of the sensitivities of those readers for whom such contextualising might be uncomfortable. At least if the context is obscure this cannot happen - and I guess that's the main thing.

Reflection on reflections - a look in the mirror?

2009-01-22T08:24:00.002Z

From time to time something makes you stop and have a look at what you've been doing and makes you ask the usual questions beloved of systems analysts ... the where, why, who, how, which and when type questions; and that is where I find myself as I type and, ironically (or is it), concerning what I'm actually doing now.

At the moment one of the large questions looming is 'where'. Should a reflective journal of this nature, i.e. where I brain dump, be in the 'public domain'? To what extent is this blog public? Hmmm. I'm not hiding it from the 'public' but neither have I advertised its presence. Anyone who has visited in the past and finds some entertainment, empathy for or synergy with my thoughts may perhaps be a continuing reader ... but would anyone come looking for my views? Does this matter? Should this curtail my thoughts? Should I stop writing with a natural flow and edit my reflections?

How would the situation differ if my journal was of the Noodle variety? Would that be more or less public? I would feel that my writings were more public since Noodle areas are a focus for a learning community whereas I think it unlikely that the majority of learners would venture this way. I would feel self conscious and moderated and then the whole notion of reflexivity would be lost as I became a writer for a community view rather than a writer for my own development. So why not keep it all to myself? Simple ... I would't feel a responsibility to my self, the motivation would decrease ... and as I write I can't think why.

I've got a bit bogged down here and my five minutes of brain dump must have run out some time back. I've got a few meetings to attend/orchestrate/drink caffeine for and so I will come back to this train of thought later.

And I guess that tells myself that I haven't convinced myslef not to continue with this blog! Hummm!

Revisiting the Module Handbook and refining ideas

2009-01-02T12:37:00.002Z

Yesterday I started to put together some reflective thoughts on the kiwi activity, with much of the first section leading me to question whether or not the activity was an 'epistemic game'. I visited David Schaffer via Spotlight and watched the 'movie'. There was an emphasis on fun within learning and motivational design which, within the context of our kiwi activity, has somehow eluded me. A couple of us discussed this further courtesy of Facebook and concluded that the kiwi activity in itself did not fit with our understanding of the concept of 'epistemic games' therefore either we need to better said understanding or revisit the activity as planned by the course team.

This morning I revisited the Module handbook and found that the wording on page 7 opens the original design of the activity to include 'innovative technologies such as wiki'. There was such an emphasis on the use of the wiki from within our noodle community that the wording in the activity descriptor was lost. It might be interesting to revisit the community and try to establish where exactly we lost the emphasis ... I know I certainly did ... and this loss had an impact on instrinsic motivation potentially due to a percieved imbalance in symmetries of knowledge (Dillenbourg, 1999).

OK - so .... if we are looking at 'innovative technologies such as wiki', could the activity be described to engage participants in a way such that there was fun and some aspects of motivation. I guess the answer has to be partially. The focus on the wiki was a demotivator (for me) but I worked in a group whose core comprised two peers with whom I had enjoyed considerable interaction through social networking media and in whom I had (and have) considerable trust ... and I looked forward to engaging with them academically ...that aspect was motivating. We chose a topic which would benefit ourselves (motivating) but did not have adequate time to address the development of the topic fully (potentially demotivating), and had to request an extended availability of the kiwi so that we can continue to develop content (motivating). Skype was fun. We made progress and had a laugh. Sundays will never be quite the same (thank you John) ..lol!

We took roles ... Debbie was a very able Chair and kept us in order (and in a permanent state of surprise at the speed of her typing), Justin and Barry were brilliant resources and John a catalyst (making us think differently and more deeply). So what role did I play? Hmmm. That's a harder one and requires a little more thought perhaps....

A post Christmas update

2009-01-01T14:40:00.002Z

The meeting due to take place on 17th didn't happen ... and due to the very aspects cited in my last blog post, I suspect. There has now been a complete breakdown in communication through that channel and it will be necessary to work to develop alternative channels or to reconstruct the original. How to do the latter beats me almost entirely at this point in time ... and I guess, since it wasn't from our end that the cancellation of the meeting occurred, it must be supported by all parties - in principle at least.

Preparation for Christmas was hectic though enjoyable - made all the more so by doing the preparatory 'work' both co-operatively and collaboratively ... though there are always aspects to these things that have their tricky sociocultural aspects. Nuff said. Unfortunately exhaustion of a type hit soon after the last 'official' Xmas visit and laid me low for a few days. This has really been the first day that I've had any inclination to be reflective or even creative from an academic perspective. This too is likely to be hijacked as 'famerlee' matters take over from tomorrow for a couple of days. So I guess I need to make the most of today.

Am going to start on my report today. I was telling two of my colleagues about the potential structure of the report (as I have conceptualised it so far), one on FB and the other on Skype ... and the discourse helps, though I am having trouble with the 'so what' factor here - how exactly did it help; what was the nature of the help; how did it add value to my thought process? Maybe it didn't help. Maybe it just provided me with a platform to vocalise my intentions which in return made them more concrete and less conceptual. Hmmm. Food for thought.

Going now ... back later.

One post, many thoughts

2008-12-16T11:47:00.002Z

Today is the first day that I've been able to make time to update this blog ... so much seems to have happened. I just hope I can recapture the essence of some of the events, and my reflections on them, since last I blogged.

I've been involved in both annual moitoring discourse and self assessment validation meetings, all of which provide huge scope for reflective practice ... and yet again and again the 'so what' factor keeps coming through. The 'so what' factor' is, for me, an indication that the impact of an action or consideration had not been sufficiently clearly expressed.... and it occurs to me that when I come back to use my reflective blogs to write up a report on the kiwi activity that I need to be aware that not all my postings have had a 'so what factor'. I wonder why that might be ... is it because when writing for oneself you just record the feeling - or have I gone further than that? I don't know ... I haven't yet looked back - and deliberately so. In our report we are asked to reference relevant literature and I guess I will be looking at the 'so what factor' there too. And then of course I have to think of another mini-project. Wooooo, urgh!

Three of us have been working hard, with the help of other colleagues, to resolve a data anomaly that was of the appropriate potential severity to cause sleepless nights for at least two of us. The work started in a co-operative fashion, through data cleansing and updating and causal and comparative analyses ... and the situation seemed to improve. It was only, however, through collaboration that we solved the problem; we constructed sufficient knowledge to understand more clearly the underpinning issue, were able to benefit from the co-operative work and collaboratively find a solution to the problem. (And I slept on Friday night). I dont feel we have sufficiently problematized Action Research to be following that pattern in the kiwi to date; maybe this is because our initial knowledge base did not have sufficient grounding to anable more than co-operatiion in the first instance. This is where longevity of the activity will help - and I'm so pleased that we are to be allowed to continue our work on this area. As we start to consider personal/professional applications of Action Research we will be better able to problematize the construct and thus collaborate more effectively on 'solving the problem'.

Yesterday I ran two identical staff development sessions which at one point asked participants to consider 'risky' activity i.e development outside their comfort zone and with a knowledge that their own skills would be challenged. In both groups, despite their very different approaches to the activity, the notion of Action Research as a potential change agent came through. This is really exciting for me as we have hitherto supported only individual research projects. Encouraging innovation through participative and iterative research activity will be very exciting. I will need to be more aware of the critiques if we are to monitor progress in these areas. Wooo!

There's other stuff too ... but I can't write about it here. I'm not sure as yet how it has benefited me (from a reflective point of view). I do, however, have a very difficult meeting tomorrow morning with some of the two-legged sources of the problem. I am not sure how this will work as in theory we should be both co-operating and collaborating and yet the former has broken down completely. This leads me to consider the role of trust (as well as symmetries) in collaboration. Justin (I think) has mentioned this before and certainly our group has discussed getting to know peers and develping trust as being an important aspect of collaborative activity - but is it a pre-condition? Does co-operation allow a test of trust before collaboration? Hmmm - food for thought ...

Letting off steam

2008-12-05T18:34:00.002Z

Today I'm tired. No, let me correct that - I feel completely shattered. Juggling soap has been the order of the day (thanks Debbie - that expression has been sooooo useful) and the multiple identities of worker, mother, student and partner have become too fuzzy round the edges to retain any aspect of complementarity.

The activity on which we are working is not well timed; this is not to say that it is not timely but that the constraints on time for the activity are frustrating in the extreme and might only work effectively for a full time student cohort.

We have generated huge quantities of reading and I am struggling to get through anywhere near the amount I feel appropriate ... though these will provide a very useful resource for future reference. The saving grace is the determination amongst our group to maake the activity serve our own purpose - a decision made in the context of a lack of clarity of required outcome. But then that's part of the game.

We suspect that we may be part of some Action Research and we know that we have been asked to participate in research interviews in the latter part of this module; is this part of the same activity?

My group is great. We have had a couple of Skype sessions which have provided for both work and fun too. This is all part of the hidden agenda ....

Too tired now and this posting is probably full of errors - but hey - that's a free writing journal for you!

Group dynamics, symmetries, synchronicity et al

2008-12-03T19:21:00.002Z

The kiwi activity is making me think about group dynamics - a topic also in my thoughts at work - and the way in which the composition of a group can impact on learning and/or working. A balanced group, in terms of accessibility, motivation, knowledge, cognitive and transferable skills with mutually satisfactory levels of synchronicity can make collaborative (or co-operative) activity work well. Imbalances in any of these aspects can adversely affect the group dynamics and thus the effectiveness of any resultant activity.

I decided to have a look at the wiki changes for each of the group kiwis today and it showed an interesting tale. I wouldn't want to make any conclusive comments relating to the histories but suffice to say that the balance of each group differs not only from group to group (level of output, organisation of wiki et al) but within each group ... and I have to wonder whether perceived symmetries (Dillenbourg 1999) between group members has been one of the impacting forces.

I really mean it this time!

2008-12-01T18:00:00.002Z

Having had the intention to blog very regularly, I have found myself sufficiently deluged that said good intentions have flown by. That is not to say that there hasn't been considerable reflection on events. This has been ongoing. The trouble is that reflexivity is often temporary in its verbal or written expression even though it embeds itself into daily practice. So - have I missed the opportuity to make the subconscious or even the unconscious become part of a more conscious stream of learning. I don't believe so. Well, not completely anyway.

One of the key features of my learning experience over the past few months has been the variety of different types of engagement and therefore the development of a more varied multi-faceted learnspace. Some time ago I started to use Facebook and found that it opened up a very supportive, amusing and engaging dialogue with (initially one of) my peers in the learning community. This has grown and developed and has (hopefully) made me some friends for the long term. This friendship is grounding and motivating and will underpin a determination to boldly go (haha) further with this endeavour. More recently we have been working on a wiki (kiwi) and using Skype; both are new to me, both are proving interesting (kiwi) and energising (Skype). I have been forced out of my comfort zone and have learned from this experience.

Interestingly, I type in an environment physically and role-wise outside my comfort zone and am really beginning to appreciate the activity of a fellow staff member. I am on evening duty and we have been recently charged with spending the first two hours on Reception (as there are issues of 'lone working' for the staff should we not join them). This immediately took me from the 'expert' role to that of a 'novice' and a new type of learning activity. So here I am, an absentee mum, reflecting on my academic activity as an apprentice in a Ph.D community, working as a Director, but being part of the College Reception team. How can this experience ever be measured through positivism?

Back to the Blog

2008-11-12T12:55:00.002Z

November saw the start of the latest Module for our learning community and a plethora of readings that hardly leaves time for breathing ... or so it seems. I have found myself in a real dilemma and on two counts.

The first is with regard to the readings. Some have clarity, are readable (or have so much value that the struggle is worthwhile) and raise new learning points for consideration. Others fall outside this set of descriptors and have a lesser intrinsic worth, thus making them harder to pursue. When time is limited the tendency is to read the instrinsically worthwhile papers and yet would I develop my capabilities further by moving outside my comfort zone. The dilemma is not as yet resolved.

The second dilemma is my use of Facebook and Moodle. I have found myself putting some of my fairly unformed and more random academic thoughts into chat space on Facebook and getting similar feedback from my Friends. I am then less motivated to repeat said points in Moodle which is, arguably, the more appropriate space for them. So why does Moodle not give me that same feeling of feedback? Dillenbourg's (1999) notion of synchronicity holds one of they keys to this methinks. Would I be as keen to doodle in FB if my Friends were not as responsive ... probably not.

Work has been completely manic recently and I find myself in meetings most of the day with little time for the administrative part of my role never mind finding opportunity to reflect. This is my first attempt to discipline myself to keep a journal once more. It was useful to me before so watch this space! What is increasingly apparent is that my study is giving me a more influetial role with regard to TEL within the institution; not directly and explicitly but in terms of influence. This has to be a most satisfiying potential outcome and one I find very exciting.

Payback for research activity

2008-08-08T11:07:00.002Z

Today I had a chat with my boss detailing the findings of some of my research activity and requesting that my report be (with permission from my tutors) used for discussion at Senior Management level. I was encouraged by the degree to which the points raised were apparently inwardly digested and feel that it increases the real meaning of educational research to find such activity contributing actively to the direction my own workplace might take.

This really excites me and, as one of the potential barriers for lack of progress with TEL (from an institutional perspective) is lack of 'push' from leadership, can now see that some real progress might be possible. I will certainly take this forward and with some relish.

My other activity for today has to be clearing my desk of the huge piles of mostly unwanted and frankly unwarranted literature that comes my way. I'm taking some leave from Monday and cannot face the thought of piles of paper facing me when I return. We are working towards use of EDRM and that has to be an improvement ... says she who has printed out all the research papers needed for her report LoL!

I'm taking my report on holiday with me ... talk about beyond the call of duty and am terrified that I'll forget something. I've taken a data stick copy of my files and will take a box of paper and my laptop but am still feeling that the forgetting gremlins will get me somehow. I'm not sure how I can carry on writing this journal either. I will have a go ... honestly Gale .. but it will be difficult to sustain.

Policy and Strategic Planning

2008-08-04T10:20:00.002Z

Its a wild one when the subject of your study suddenly comes to life and in a very public way.

I volunteered, some time ago, to lead a workshop at a meeting of our Regional HE Forum; today I received an e-mail refining the activity .. and 'tis to be an interactive workshop on strategic development. Of course the first thing that comes to mind is the nature of the drivers for such development in the current socio-economic climate ... and hey presto we are smack bang back to my research activity. That's exciting - for me anyway. The interesting thing will be the reaction of the attendees to my use of policy to drive strategic direction as it would appear that there is generally a more learner-centred-and-incidentally-addressing-some-areas-of-policy type approach. This does not mean that I do not regard learner-centredness as being key; as a teacher from the heart, this is fundamental but I do not believe that learners always know the opportunities that exist and sometimes policy documents widen the brief. Note the 'sometimes'!!

The research activity in which I am involved is so important to my professional practice. I am finding it hard to believe that I have come this far without engaging in this type of activity. Maybe I wasn't ready? Maybe I had to learn the legs of the role before expanding the boundaries ... 'cos that's just what I feel is starting to happen; its like role enhancement that will in turn enrich what we do at the College, contribute to our organisational learning and give me more job satisfaction.

Organisation learning has been the topic of much discussion, particularly the cognitive vs cultural learning debate ... and/or their need for coexistence. This reflection I feel underlines the need for coexistence and the acknowledgement that the learning activity of an individual can affect climate which in turn will impact on culture. I'm feeling very excitable this morning as you may be able to tell from this post - and that just has to be a good thing ... doesn't it!

Back Again .......

2008-08-01T14:44:00.003Z

Today has been the first day, following our house move, that my head has been straight enough to start to write in any meaningful and/or reflective way concerning professional practice. The run up to moving was short and manic and - in both my working life and my professional role - I do not manage short notice situations as effectively as those for which planning has been a possibility. The knock on effect has been huge - at least in terms of my ability to concentrate on projects beyond the immediate scope of e-mail answering - and it has only been in the past couple of days that I have felt that I was gaining momentum in terms of waering my managers mantle properly once more.

There has been much discourse in our community about the strategic role of leadership in facilitation of ICT in the 'Academy'. This not only relates strongly to the project work I am doing for the doctoral programme but also to my professional direction within my College. The 'Academy' is seen as the elite research based University and I have to be careful not to bristle at that contextualisation, remembering that HE in FE is not common internationally, though the Australian model and American Community College models run parallel. There also seems to be a knocking of senior leadership to which I must respond, I guess.

I am in danger of moving into the direction of whinges and wittering now and so will stop, but I guess there needs to be consideration of the impact of government levels funding cuts (e.g. LSC numbers allocations), diversion of ASNs, the general change in economic status with rising costs of living et al when being critical of the way in which senior managers may need to prioritise their own budgetary allocations.

Nuance, Tone and Expectations

2008-07-17T20:29:00.002Z

Today seems to be one of those days where communications on all fronts go awry - and in this respect I am not just talking (or writing even) about myself.

The first meeting attended this morning benefited from a surprise visit by the boss and the associated playing up (my perception) of one of my colleagues at the expense of another (actual impact). This was not missed by others in the meeting who, it would seem, drew the same conclusion. The tone of the meeting was unhappily set by that initial interaction.

The second meeting suffered from the intention of the Chair to complete discussion within a set time period. The 'floor' had an expectation of open discussion; this was not on the agenda (!) and discussion moved with ungainly haste from point to point without the necessary depth and understanding and with too much activity being targetted to individuals outside the meeting.

The third meeting was cancelled at short notice and whilst this was of some importance and highly relevant to Meeting 2 outcomes it was, nonetheless a relief.

Meeting 4 was surprising and provided unexpected support for a potentially exciting development which had previously seemed unattainable. There is a real feel of the project being taken seriously and being afforded development space, a change of tone being experienced as the depth of the project was explained.

Meeting 5 was surprising but negatively so. The tone remained up beat in the face of some severe difficulties and action was agreed to try to provide a positive resolution.

So why write about all these meetings? Each meeting was facilitated by a different colleague, each having a different set of associated expectations, some of which were met, others not (with variable emotional response). Each meeting had its own tone, this impacting on the behaviours of those in the meeting and therefore to the eventual outcome.

It made me think of a seminar by Janice Picard at the Networked Learning Conference 2006. Her paper was looking at behaviours within on-line communities, considering 'relational dynamics' and 'how these features influence group dynamics'. I think we do not necessarily spend enough time as professionals considering how our own behavours might impact on the reactions of others. A lesson to be remembered methinks.

Maps and cunning plans

2008-07-15T18:02:00.002Z

Sometimes technology is just too frustrating. I was just in the middle of writing an inspired piece on the use of rich pictures to present a concept when the rotten internet connection was lost … and a s any good author ( and I am not one) knows, the moment is lost when the first draft is obliterated – and a new moment has to be created. So off I go again.

One of the guys in our learning community (I must ask them if I can use their names) found a great rich picture by Gilly Salmon and posted it to the community thus generating reflection on the professional routes taken

http://www.jiscinfonet.ac.uk/InfoKits/process-review/rich-pictures

I can’t look at this and see any one sensible route since many and various cunning plans and a few changes of role have put me in different corners of the map with varied trajectories both planned and unplanned. I have to say that I don’t think that there is a corner of this map I haven’t visited at some point but it’s the Temple of Pedagogy (and boy did she name that appropriately) to which I return again and again. Without learning and the learner what is it all for?

Yet, even as I write that, the day has been filled with management speak and administration – I guess the important thing is keeping that purpose at heart.

Paper Therapy

2008-07-14T18:04:00.002Z

Much of what i'm going to write here is about my personal life but bear with me for there is a twist in the tale ... (ha - do you remember Tales of the Unexpected? Now I'm showing my age - haha!).

Today has not felt good. From waking at 5a.m. and not really getting any proper sleep after that, my son squealing like a mini-pig due to a small (miniscule in fact) scrape on his big toe, a colleague letting me down big time, my computer playing up at work ... I go on a little but believe me the little annoyances went beyond the list .... right through to my buyer (house-wise) threatening to gazunder, it has been a bit (?) of a stressy day.

By about 4pm I was fit to throw some plates but having none easily to hand resorted to a mini-whinge at my poor long suffering admin support/PA/factotum. She grinned at me and asked whether I had ever seen her tearing up post-its at her desk - which I have. She said to write the name of the offender/ offensive item on a piece of paper and then tear it apart with venom. Not one to leave matters to chance, I ceased the nearest piece of paper, scrawled my buyer's name across the whole A4 sheet and then went into action with gusto. Oh boy does it work! I felt the stress reduce whilst tearing at his name with rather uncharacteristic levels of aggression ... woooo. The fight or flight syndrome was conquered. Ok so it was temporary, but it did make a difference.

I'm not a one for role snobbery and Flo (not her real name) is as valued a colleague (and friend too) as any of the others on the SMT. She has a fantastic capacity for empathy and calm and a whole raft of these tricks up her sleeve.

What am I trying to say. Well I guess its one of those sanctimonious sounding observations about human variety, skills sets and practices which work together to bring forward the functioning (or even blossoming) community. Flo is at the heart of a wider community and her participation, whilst being the only 'non-academic' is central to the effective functioning of the whole. She has a promotion opportunity next week .............

Professionalism, Practice and development

2008-07-13T20:39:00.002Z

On Friday I paid a theoretically confidential visit to the location of a potential development project with two of my team. I say theoretically confidential as we had to sign in at the venue (unexpected) and our presence was followed by a veritable buzz. When we had concluded the scoping exercise we retired to a local gallery and coffee shop to mull over the outcome.

My role has to be taking the 'corporate stance' and thus bringing to the fore all the issues which would be raised by the rest of the Senior Management Team and eventually the Corporation Board - and yet in taking this professional stance I was in danger of destablising the desire of my colleagues to take their programme development further and further into the industry and embracing the community within this development (an activity underpinned by the HE Strategy). With this is mind I needed to turn from a line manager to a coach and mentor, working the issues through with the team in order that they could understand my support for the concept and yet appreciate the need for an approach that dealt effecively with the varied constraints and obstacles (political and actual). I don't see a tension between the roles and yet the tone of the conversation needed to be different.

One of my team had worked with me on a similar but much smaller development poject, experiencing the joys of formal proposals and myriad iterations of legalese and had moved forward in his ability to appreciate the need for a raised awareness of politics (small p) and positioning of the argument; we were therefore, the three of us, at three different stages of relative expertise....

I doubt that this would make sense to the casual reader and indeed it isnt meant to ... being a reflective journal ... but it does make some sense to me. I can't give more details due to the sensitive nature of the activity and yet the elements that made this significant stand free of the activity itself.

Professional Practice and the Research Project

2008-07-10T18:32:00.002Z

Today has been highly interactive and indeed, until I walked into the hall and fell over my moving boxes, I have found myself working effectively.

The high point of the day was during a very dull (sorry personal view) electronic records management exhibition when I had the opportunity to talk at length to my line manager about the strengths and areas for development of our network infrastructure and the expenditure on 'e-learning'. As a direct result of this conversation I am searching for benchmarking figures for IT spend in Mixed Economy Colleges; JISC are helping me and I have found an older document on the BECTA site. This will I suspect link into my next research activity since finance is, I suspect, likely to be one of the barriers to implementation of Harnessing Technology.

Whilst searching for said benchmarks, I also found the newly published Harnessing Technology 2008-2014 which will be a really useful addition to my literature review. Wow - my own professional activity has been unseparable from my research theme today. Excellent!

Just to round the day off, one of my interviewees called me late this afternoon - and unexpectedly; this provided me with my third interview and has given me some food for thought. Its too soon to start looking at outcomes but there are certainly some interesting common factors starting to emerge.

ZPD and all that

2008-07-08T15:38:00.002Z

Discussion in our wiki has moved to include Vygotsky's Zone of Proximal development and this has been a theme which has run through today for me both in a professional and personal context.

My son is not a great one for social interaction with peers (and to a lesser extent) or teachers though this has improved over the past few years - and it is clear that his academic progress has suffered a little from this lack of willingness to communicate. He chats away at home with both myself and my partner and with his considerably older sisters. It worries me that he desires limited peer interaction and we are looking at strategies to encourage social activity with other children outside the school environment. He goes to Kids Club after school and now prefers this to the notion of being with a childminder or babysitter so there is progress; he was playing with children a year or so youger than him the other day and this seems to be an emerging pattern.

Social interaction also impacts, I believe, on the effectiveness of professional practice. On Monday I was office bound much of the day and finished my work stint feeling stale and lacking in my usual positivity. Today had involved considerable interaction and, despite having had a couple of less than constructive ( and fairly contentious) discussions and having sat through 5 hours of meetings, I am more alert and able to think in a more reflective and yet energetic fashion. Use of the ZPD has provided stimulation needed to take development forward - even if this is very much at the boudaries of my learning capability.

I think I will kee an eye on my behaviours in both types of context and consider this further.

Teamwork - the theme of the last two days

2008-07-04T21:01:00.002Z

The last two days have been all about teamwork but in two different contexts - and ironically that has been the subject of one of my postings to the Module 2 wiki ... but more of that later perhaps. Yesterday I met with a group of curriculum staff to discuss a potential JISC bid. We all had different roles across the college and differing levels of expertise but were drawn together by an enthusiasm for the development of a VLE accessible easily through the use of mobile technology and with a strong pedagogical background. The majority of participants will go on to work with me on the project (bid or no bid), experts and novices, each with their own perspectives and community artefacts and this may have the tiniest germ of a Community of Practice ...who knows?

Today we had the First Year Boards of Examiners. Participants included the Academic Partnerships team from the University, the HE Operations and Academic Standards teams and a series of different curriculum teams from the College. The activity demonstrated from start to finish a collaborative effort with recognition of the range of skill sets (from teaching and assessment to grid production to organisation of the pre-boards and analysis of results). The activity demonstrated engagement and shared meaning .. the co-operative effort of all concerned being fundamental to the activity in hand. At the end of the day's meetings the Quality Manager expressed her thanks to the HE Ops and Academic Standards teams and as she said this found herself expanding the recognition to include all the contributors. A good bit of teamwork.

In the wiki I reflected on the team teaching activity of my colleagues in a previous role. Its easy to underestimate the impact of a team and the way in which such a team can develop into a community with each member providing food for thought, support and energy for the others - regardless of context - but the climate has to be right for such cultural development, the principles being established and the ethos felt by all.

An interesting day .........

Apprenticeship ... another length of string

2008-07-02T14:26:00.003Z

I've spent some time reading a paper by Lave(1999) entitled Teaching as Learning in Practice and so am considering my practice in the context of learning through apprenticeship. That's certainly the mode I'm in when considering my interaction with my learning community. The community is in some senses a Community of Practice in that we all have a common goal (though with a variation in theme) and are involved with artefacts, protocols and a developing history; we have numerous opportunities to bring boundary objects into the CoP to enhance the developing core identitiy and that of each participant. But back to apprenticeship and to Lave and Wenger's (1999) original writings on Legitimate Peripheral Participation .... we are all apprentices, novices and masters to different degrees within differently situated roles/circumstances. I feel very much the apprentice within the context of my researcher role but am seen (I think) as more expert - everthing is relative - in the context of managing HE in FE. I guess my participation in both would be legitimate (with regard to various meanings of the word) but curiously the role in which I have least expertise (researcher) and therefore a higher degree of apprenticeship will help to validate the movement towards mastery of my more 'expert' role (manager). Hmmm does that make sense? If I'm playing by Gale's rules I should write first and then read afterwards without changing what I write - erk - this could be interesting!

I had an interesting experience earlier today which left me disgruntled at the time but which provides food for thought. Can you have a CoP where the goal is so broad that participants in working towards that goal can interact on different planes and yet be part of that CoP? Hmmm. The situation has been resolved satisfactorily for all concerned but through acknowledgement of diversity of roles within the Community. Thus there are shared macro goals but differing micro goals. CoP or not?

Next activity ........more to do .......

The start of a string ........

2008-07-01T18:24:00.002Z

This marks the start of what should be a whole string of daily outpourings on professional practice or should I say my professional practice as influenced by, contextualised by the readings and activities we are undertaking as a learning group. 'We' means my fellow e-researchers - all having different backgrounds and cultural influences and all with a different set of professional practices upon which to reflect. Our tutor says we can keep this to ourselves (nobody need ever see it) but I figure I will learn so much more by writing in the relative shade of the public domain. Does anyone visit my blog here anymore anyway? Its not exactly cutting edge and yet at one point I did start to feel part of a network of practice ... not a community of practice .. no shared goals. Hmm.

I guess if I am going to write every day for 5 to 10 minutes on professional practice I ought to have a think about what exactly consititutes my professional practice. Immediately it comes back to identity which is an irony because I've justed added a comment to our community wiki signposting the group to the Knowledgelab interview with Wenger. And I guess that's part of my professional practice too.

My working role sees me as a Senior Manager in HE in FE which has me simultaneously as strategist, educationalist, communicator, partnership worker and team worker. But are my teams CoPs? We do have a loose bound CoP developing I think - in the area of HE operations - where practitioners are coming together and developing artefacts and protocols together in support of a common goal and without being required so to do ..... or at least that's my perspective.

Oops wondered off the topic - that's what happens when you are asked to type for ages without editing. Haha!

I'm also a learner (is that professional practice) and a researcher (very novice - ooo er) and a social constructivist I think.

Enough. My fingers ache. More tomorrow.

FOSS

2008-05-13T20:29:00.002Z

My colleague, Paul, has just joined the ranks of the bloggers with a focus on FOSS in Education. There have been a number of issues concerning the use of Open Source software in my place of work ( and this is undoubtedly echoed in a number of FE Colleges); I shall be keen to follow Paul's exploration of the topic as he progresses his research activity and provides feedback on-line.

A feeling of community

2008-05-12T19:29:00.002Z

I have been a participant in an on-line community based programme since January - and am thoroughly enjoying myself. My fellow students are a really great bunch of individuals who have gelled into supportive and open community. The level of trust has developed so well that we are starting to be able to provide constructive criticism and/or advice about our research activity. We can disagree; we can challenge perceptions and provide counter arguments; we find resources ..... and jokes too!

The community has its own social networking environment and we have blogging facilities which seem to have drawn me moth-like to a comforting community glow. I shall continue to post to our blogs but must work to revive this far more public (though probably far less read) forum.

If I am to use this blog to get a wider perspective on my activity then I need to engage with colleagues across the globe with whom I share a common interest. I keep coming back to the Learning Ciruits Blog and, as usual, find myself intrigued by the range of responses to their Big Question. I really like Clarke Quinn's comment on multi-tasking! I shall explore some more ...

What would you like to do better as a Learning Professional?

2008-04-20T11:51:00.002Z

In response to the Learning Circuits Big Question for April :

As a Learning Professional I need to develop my own capacity for learning and to accept diversification in not only my own learning methods but in my interaction with others who enjoy differing preferences and perspectives. I'm engaging in this activity with peers at Lancaster but need to keep up the reflectivity to make sure I don't miss the learning opportunities.

I need to interact with wider spheres of learning professionals to extend my understanding across a wider range of concepts, to engage with differing cultures and communities.

I also need to be able to make the time to ensure that my research (note the small 'r' at present) impacts on practice. I need to be able to step away from my role as a manager and interact more freely with teaching staff. There is a huge issue of time here - as much for those practitioners as for me.

I need to ensure that I understand the evolving nature of the learners coming to the College in order to better understand their drivers and enablers.

Learning Communities

2008-02-11T19:29:00.000Z

The virtual communitity in which I find myself has started to look at the concept of Learning Communities, this leading to discussion of the autonomous learner and the role of the tutor (central varying to non-existent) within such communities. The Learning Circuits posting on Self Organising Groups relates to this discourse, referring to the Hole in the Wall paper as did one of my colleagues .........

Getting distracted

2008-02-02T16:35:00.000Z

I started my exploration of old haunts by visiting the Learning Circuits blog and promptly ground to a halt. I had forgotten just how rich a resource this is ...........

Back to the Blog

2008-01-25T23:23:00.000Z

I'm back to learning and back to blogging. Yay!

Having come back to my blogging of 2006 I have found so many links which will once more feed my interests .......... its like waking a small part of my consciousness. I will take a stroll through my past posts, follow the links I have used and start my new learning journey with enthusiasm.

Should all Learning Professionals be Blogging

2006-10-04T11:53:00.000Z

My thanks to Jim Belshaw for pointing me in the direction of the Learning Circuits' Big Question.

Having briefly visited the posting 'Should all Learning Professionals be Blogging?' I decided to post my own views here before paying a visit to the thirteen comments already provided ..........

A number of themes come to mind ...... firstly the concept of a learning professional. My original assumption was that the question refered to professionals within the learning industry. In the era of the 'knowledge society' and with the promotion of 'learning organisations' that assumption surley has to be short-sighted....... a can of worms for further debate since I would perceive the use of the expression 'professionals' to be potentially exclusive and elitist.

Assuming for a moment that my first thoughts were those implied by the question's originators there are further elements to be explored..... should all learning professionals be aware of the potential of blogging (I believe so); should all learning professionals have access to technology to support the learner experience (in an ideal world ..but..); should all learning professionals be participating in reflective practice and ongoing extension of their own knowledge base and global awareness (absolutely)!

I shall visit the comments on Learning Circuits later tonight and perhaps post some more. All meaningful feedback welcome.

Close to the wire

2006-09-25T20:21:00.000Z

As I finalise the commentary that is the examinable component for H806 and check that I have accessed all the evidence necessary to support my arguement, I suddenly remember all the reflections and interactions posted to my blog. Looking back over my postings, this medium has enabled me to collect my thoughts over a period of time and in such an easily accessible form..... why am I surprised?

What occurs to me is the very immediacy of the dialogue. The tone of writing reflects the way I felt about the topic at the time. The interaction of a range of topics and the linkage with my working environment is very helpful..............

Enough self-evident woffle and back to the grind!

Bloggers block ....... or just a pause in the dialogue?

2006-06-11T17:39:00.000Z

I was stunned to find that I hadn't inflicted my musings on the world for just over a month, particularly as I had found (and still find) the whole concept of blogging so addictive.

Should I see the gap as an indication of temparary inability to articulate my thoughts, academic or otherwise, into a form suitable for publication or just a symptom of a exceptionally busy working and learning period combined with the joys (and I do mean that) of family life?

Can the two be separated; do I want to separate them?

I don't thinkI can separate the learning and blogging activities despite the fact that the learning activity is supported by both intrinsic and goal oriented motivations; the blogging activity has given me the space to think through some of the issues relating to my programme of study and, indeed, link them to my world of work. In a way that's happening now. Just writing this posting is encouraging me to think through the way in which blogging is working for me as an educational tool.

I will reflect some more and devote some time to lurking before returning to the subject...

If any of my fellow H806ers are reading, I'd especially love to know your take on the whole dilemma!

M-learning and Foundation Degrees

2006-05-05T19:42:00.000Z

This is a question really ...

How would Foundation Degree students situated within their own working environment take to using their mobile phones to post to their learning community ? An excited learner could feedback to the group far more quickly than waiting for the group seminar a week later; a query could be answered by a community member.

The posts would go into the community software with responses appearing on-line but being returned by SMS to the phone of the originator? Possible? I would think so ...

A cluster of cynics?

2006-05-05T19:29:00.000Z

Having felt isolated by my m-learning related cynicism (particularly when it involves my phone), I find that the majority of my H806 tutor group peers have views which are not entirely dissimilar. More youthful contributions to the evaluation of an m-learning application were, however, of the enthusiastic variety plunging me back into the depths of 'fogeyism'.

Ernie commented to the effct that our daily and workbased utilisation of technology might impact upon our perspectives relating to the further use of that technology for learning. Reflecting on this comment led me to pause, fingers briefly stationary above the keyboard, until the obvious dawned. It isn't the technology but the motivation behind its use. The particular m-learning package we have been examining does not enthuse me; it provides neither goal oriented nor intrinsic motivation. Blogging, conversely, not only forms part of my study but the development of lenses have also provided me with a major resource; this in turn serving to feed my motivation.

Now, how would m-learning with its small screens and fiddly keypads facilitate this need to the same degree? Answers on a postcard to ....

Techological Cynicism

2006-05-01T15:39:00.000Z

As promised, I head for the home page of my mobile phone service provider to check out the means by which I can at least access e-mail (the most basic of interactive services). After all, I shouldn't need to hunt out the paperwork should I?

Apparently I should!

My phone is too old for the SP to display it (or its capabilities) on line and for the general public to see; too old at 2.

Should I know better?

M-learning and the missing link

2006-04-27T21:49:00.000Z

An attempt to study a learning object exploring m-learning has brought me up short. I have an aversion to the use of my mobile phone for all but talking and texting (oh and the odd picture of nearest and dearest ... and end of term outings!). There it's out in the open... I have confessed ... and yet I hadn't really considered this aversion at all until I started to read of the potential for learning through this medium.

When faced with an aversion of this type I generally force myself to explore further and thus the weekend will host (together with lawn-mowing, walking and study) a full exploration of the capabilities of my none-too-modern mobile and the set up requirements for on-line activity. Gulp!

To show I mean business, I have been exploring the blogs linked to my 'work based learning' lens and have found this m-learning posting to keep me going.

A Faster route to procrastination!

2006-04-23T17:12:00.000Z

Whilst studying a learning object entitled 'Learning in new styles of networked organisation', I encountered a reference to Gleick's 'Faster'. Always keen to take a stroll down related learning paths, I dutifully followed the link .... and what a link; a bonus for procrastinators everywhere!

If like me you can't resist following links you may, by now have a view on this ... otherwise I'll leave you wondering!

Back to Networked Learning - lest I forget

2006-04-19T22:54:00.000Z

I have been meaning to add to my postings on the NLC 2006 event but ramblings (both literal and metaphorical) and procrastination (actual) have been the flavour of the day(s). Choconancy has aided and abetted my procrastination with some really interesting postings on her blog, whilst my ability to multitask has been seriously challenged as I attempt to use instant messaging with my fellow H806ers whilst my daughters gleefully send me changes of background, emoticons and winks (well- returning the compliment is obligatory - isnt it)!

Still, I am no longer attached to my walking boots and waterproofs (I kid you not), have already visited Full Circle for my 'fix' and really must mention a particularly interesting presentation from the NLC 2006 by Janice Picard entitled 'Researching Social conflict in Collaborative Groups'.

The presentation considered the impact of the on-line context, in particular, in relation to social conflict within a group of learners. Issues such as the interpretation of on-line 'silence' rang particular bells with me, having found quite peturbing those periods where interaction was lacking within the on-line seminar room of a previously studied OU module. My take on this was a lack of participation on the part of a number of my peers and yet checking 'message history' there was evidence of passive participation (equally legitimate but not feeding my need). This leads to the consideration of the perceptions of all parties in an environment where there are no visual or aural clues; the ways in which words can be interpreted and behaviours imagined.

The role of conflict in the learning process is an important element and Picard later related this to Piaget's theories; all I can remember of Piaget (to my shame) is trees and hills and perpendicularity (or not) in relation to stages of child development. It looks as though I need to pay another visit!

I have been promised a copy of the presentation and, having done it very little justice here, will request permission to reproduce excerpts. There were, in particular, some interesting references ...

Watch this space!

From conference to conference

2006-04-16T18:49:00.000Z

Visiting Full Circle, I am invited (metaphorically) to explore the Blogher Conference and am less than happy to find that this will be one of those conferences I shall have to view through the eyes of others! Having said that, un petit sejour dans la belle France is not an opportunity to be missed (not for a francophile like myself anyway) - so I am sure that I will pass the time cheerfully enough!

This virtual journey did however lead me to a blog on the topic of Blogging & Social Media; worth a look, particularly for any H806 participants - who may also find the conference topic of interest .....

Networked Learning 2006 (continues)

2006-04-11T14:09:00.000Z

The narrative continues from yesterday .....

A session entitled 'Exploiting online networks and shared repositories to support the professional development of distance tutors' (Churchill, Hewling and Macdonald) held my attention this morning, linking the heuristic Communities of Practice with the reality of developing staff from a range of cognate areas and degrees of participation and within varied degrees of distance learning.

Interactive participation within and from the assembled audience added a helpful dimension to the dialogue both during and subsequent to presentations from Janet Macdonald and Tony Churchill; this served to reinforce the commonality of pedagogic issues in spite of contextual difference (FE/HE in FE/HE and oncampus/blended learning/distance learning) and the need to provide a forum for interaction and community development to support tutor learning.

Sustainability of use of portal/VLE (which and what and why) community environment was the subject of some discussion; a sense of common purpose would seems to be key to user participation ( a critical mass?), as indeed it would be in the development of a Community of Practice.

The symposium concluded with an introduction to the PROWE project (JISC, OU, University of Leicester) and the development of elgg.

This led to a discussion with a colleague from the University of Surrey on the merits and implementation of Sharepoint Portal Services, a learning space being used to some good effect at 'my' college; an unexpected bonus since educational developers of this software are not easily met.

It is sessions and subsequent encounters of this nature where theory and practice start to come together that make such events really worthwhile.

Networked Learning 2006

2006-04-10T17:18:00.000Z

I am blogging from the Networked Learning Conference at the University of Lancaster and with little time for reflection. The event kicked off with presentation from Peter Goodyear of University of Sydney; a great way to start a conference. Peter presented his studies on the impact of discussion on learning and the level at which that discussion was utilised within learning development; he invited the audience to consider, within this context, the relative objectivity of 'ideas', the impact of collaborative knowledge work and the power of epistemic fluency.

The concept of epistemic fluency is one that has attracted my attention; it would seem to have particular relevance to learning within organisations and thus would seem to also have relevance for consideration in the context of Communities of Practice.

If this is a valuable concept then why do we address it so poorly (or is it my imagination) during theoretically vocational degrees and foundation degree programmes?

Knowledge Management and Taylorism

2006-04-06T21:55:00.000Z

Further queries abound when I am asked to consider a parallel between Taylorism and the development of the knowledge economy. McGee's Musings have been helpful in clarifying Taylor's work and introducing Drucker's perspectives (1999) on productivity and the knowledge worker.

I am dipping my toe in the water here and any links or comments to help me explore this area would be appreciated ....

Work based learning and Knowledge Management

2006-04-06T21:31:00.000Z

Work based learning has been at the front of my mind of late, having celebrated the potential for development of HE in FE within this context articulated in the FE White Paper 2006. Reading an exerpt from Understandings of workplace learning (Boud & Garrick, 1999) made me realise just how far we have come in terms of acknowledgement that work place learning can be linked with academic credit and yet how far away we are from realising the image, presented by the authors, of an era where organisations uniformly realise the benefits of learning as a fundamental component of working.

The White Paper underlines the economic drive behind the development of an era of workplace and workbased learning activity, with its aims to increase skills in both vocational specialism and underpinning basic and generic transferable skills (as we referred to them back in the 1990s); Boud and Garrick provide the background of the earlier OECD reforms and an awareness of the way in which policy was, is and will continue to be driving the initiative.

And what of the employer perspective? The case studies which are available are (inevitably?) those of large organisations and while these are of considerable interest, the preponderance of SMEs (small to medium enterprises) within the East of England leaves me with concern that these organisations (often with circa 4 employees) may feel that they do not have the opportunity to become learning organisations; that the 'now' element has to come before that of future planning and that globalisation impacts on someone else.

Perhaps this is an area for research? Does anyone have any useful links?

Choconancy's mindmaps

2006-03-27T22:56:00.000Z

Have just come across Nancy White's mindmap on 'A blog conversation survival guide' Flickr enhanced and via the Full Circle Blog. This makes interesting reading and has some good advice for would be collaborative bloggers.

Life through a lens

2006-03-27T21:48:00.000Z

I promised my H806 tutor group that I would set up a lens when I had finished my assignment. I am also considering setting up another to bring together the various other sites I have started to visit regularly and which feed my interest in CoPs.

I am not convinced that a lens serves any purpose than that of collecting blogs for easy access; can anyone advise me to the contrary? I think a team blog is likely to be more effective. Hmmm.......

Life after assignments ...

2006-03-23T21:46:00.000Z

I've posted my TMA and life goes on .......

I am going to have a look at the learning object 'on-line constructivism' next; I have a happy feeling that this will link with the themes I've been devloping to date and CoPs in particular.

Blogging and Work based learning

2006-03-22T00:00:00.000Z

Decided that my final learning object (LO) would be on Work Based Learning (WBL); the Foundation Degree concept that was my original topic was insufficiently standalone to introduce in the size of LO required.

This has more 'me' and fewer reference points than the other two LOs; a different style. Will it be equally valid?

Had a real boost today. I had asked a friend and colleague to time-check my first two LOs and was given some great feedback today - not in terms of timeliness ( a few issues there methinks) but that the activities were interesting and informative. When you are in a 'classroom situation you get that buzz when students enjoy the learning experience - and I had that same sense of excitement that someone whose opinion I respect could find the planned activities positive.

Just goes to show the value of feedback ....

Some CoP links

2006-03-19T20:17:00.000Z

The Knowledge Lab site provides, through video streaming, both an interview with Etienne Wenger and access to his full conference speech (or parts thereof) and his accompanying and somewhat unconventional presentation.

This visual presentation summarises CoP concepts nicely.

Technology for Communities by Etienne Wenger, Nancy White, John D. Smith, and Kim Rowe (2005) is worth a visit. This provides a critique on the use of technology to support the development of virtually mediated CoPs and provides an insight into the use of blogs within this context.

...and on towards Communities of Practice ...

2006-03-18T19:59:00.000Z

I have just (yes, really) finished writing my learning object (LO) on Blogging and Culture and suspect it would take a serious student a good couple of hours to complete ... ... which means that I have but a couple of hours learner activity to use for my other two LOs.

My next piece of development will introduce the concept of CoPs and will consider the ways in which a collaborative blog could support or enhance community activity. I feel as though I spent more time considering culture than blogging activity in my first LO and want to reverse the trend this time.

I am also intending to provide information through a range of different media (visual and audio) inaddition to a little textual reference. I would like to make this into a collaborative activity. It would seem highly appropriate - an activity in context!

Considering culture ...

2006-03-18T12:34:00.000Z

I have spent the last few hours considering how I am going to put together a learning object (LO) on Blogging and Culture.

The first conclusion I have come to - and, to be honest, of which I have been increasingly aware over the past few weeks - is that the subject is far too big, enormous even, to have anything like justice done to it in a learning object externally constrained to take a maximum of 2 hours study. So, then, an overview it will need to be ...

I find that if I am asked to reflect, however briefly, upon my own experience the generated response is likely to then have more meaningful impact as I consider more objective stances. (Note: I deliberately use the term objective relatively since there I consider there being little chance of objectivity being complete within the context of educational theory).

A simple definition of culture - such as that posted by Queensland's Department of Education and Arts - supports initial thinking. Accessing said definition, together with that of cultural diversity, provides a starting point for such personal reflection.

If you have checked out this link, you might care to throw in your own perspectives .... any constructive responses posted may become part of a learning activity (please do not respond if this would concern you in any way).

Do you agree with the definition provided? How could you supplement the description given?

Which actors, social networks, artifacts or tools have influenced your cultural perspective? Have they altered your outlook and expectations?

A sense of continuity

2006-03-16T21:45:00.000Z

Themes of purpose and continuity juxtaposed against a need to compose three learning objects for my looming assessment have actually led me to consider using this blog as a (rather public) rough notepad for that assessment.

I have been mulling over the development of three learning objects on topics such as 'Blogging and Culture', 'Blogging and Communities of Practice' and 'Blogging and Foundation Degrees' all of which would address the 'Blogging as an Educational Tool' assignment choice. These choices are all highly relevant for me (well you've possibly seen my original posting and my profile) and I shall design them such that they could be incorporated into the CPD series we are developing for staff at the College.

But back to continuity ..........

The themes that have interested me throughout my posting have also related to these topics and, indeed, if I look at my last posting I can almost consider each question in the context of one or more of the titles of my LOs.

Culture:
What will motivate the author (intrinsic/goal oriented)?
How can the author retain an awareness of the way in which their own cultural approach may influence/bias their approach to their posting?
How does the development of the blog parallel development of the bloggers identity (N.B. I don't mean on line persona but core being when I refer to identity)
What difference would co-location make?
What would be the issues should the team be from a variety of cultures (ethnicity, locale, work practice, social/political orientation)

Communities of Practice
How would the postings and comments be moderated and (indeed) should they be moderated?
Should it be the process of blogging that receives attention or the content - or both?
How could a team blog work in support of a Community of Practice?

and separately ...
How could team blogs be used to support Foundation Degrees?

If I can clarify and/or refine these questions I shall also have defined the objectives of my LOs. I think .......

The rambling blog

2006-03-11T16:55:00.000Z

This is the type of posting you get when your heart and mind are up on Helvellyn and your body is trying to get you to concentrate on the looming assessment deadline!!

Nonetheless, I am following on from a point I started to consider in my last posting - so I guess there is some sort of signposting for my wanderings.

If a blog is being used for educational endeavour there is likely to be a need for at least temporary focus and cohesion within consecutive postings. There then follow a number of thoughts or questions for consideration .

For an individual blog:

What will motivate the author (intrinsic/goal oriented)?
How can the author retain an awareness of the way in which their own cultural approach may influence/bias their approach to their posting?
How does the development of the blog parallel development of the bloggers identity (N.B. I don't mean on line persona but core being when I refer to identity)
Who would assess the educational relevance of the materials and through what mechanism?
How would 'levelness' be appraised?

For a team blog:

How would the postings and comments be moderated and (indeed) should they be moderated?
Should it be the process of blogging that receives attention or the content - or both?
What difference would co-location make?
What would be the issues should the team be from a variety of cultures (ethnicity, locale, work practice, social/political orientation)
How could a team blog work in support of a Community of Practice?
How could team blogs be used to support Foundation Degrees?

Enough to keep me on track for a while perhaps ....

The blogging contagion ...

2006-03-09T21:10:00.000Z

An encounter with a colleague before this morning's curriculum meeting led organically to the discussion of blogging activity and to subjects spotted during our various interactions with the blogs of others. Peers were clearly curious and could easily be invited into the circle; we just want to get out team blog up and running before opening the metaphorical door on this one.

This made me think .....

Blogging is highly contagious but is it sustainable? Does it encourage rambling or reflection? How can the loop be closed on a thread - should it be closed?

I am wondering whether I am encouraged to develop my theories and/or interests beyond the superficial through the development of this blog - or am I gaining more through consideration and interaction with the blogs of others outside my normal working community.

Identity and learning

2006-03-07T21:28:00.000Z

Out of curiousity, I checked out Peter's blog on intercultural musings - where I found this posting:
http://icmusings.blogspot.com/2006/02/question-of-identity-in-learning-and.html

Whilst it doesn't follow quite the flow anticipated, it nonetheless provides some interesting food for thought. Peter's posting links strongly with Etienne Wenger's discourse on Identity within his text Communities of Practice - Learning, Meaning & Identity (1998). I would agree that identity is more than the image that an individual projects - that is is the core of the learner and that which develops as a result of learning taking place.

Attitude and identity

2006-03-07T21:05:00.000Z

I have been reading (and posting to) the Learning Circuits blog http://learningcircuits.blogspot.com/2006/03/blogs-as-knowledge-management.html and have, as a result, come to consider three aspects of learning.

Firstly the need to consider the impact of identity (and thus culture) on attitude or approach to participation in learning/blogging or other educational discourse; secondly the need to consider whether the worker thinks of themselves as a learner and the prejudices that abound if a worker also labels themselves a learner and thirdly the ways in which virtual communities of practice can support learning.

Etienne Wenger www.ewenger.com and David Boud www.davidboud.com provide good academic hooks for the latter two points.

But what of cultural influence?

Within the Learning Circuits blog Peter Isackson says :
'One thing I've always been aware of is the wide-ranging inequality of people - whatever their educational level - with regard to the written word. Having few inhibitions myself, I nevertheless fully understand those who are terrified or simply intimidated by the idea of competing with others who have developed a natural sense of written expression, irrespective of their mastery of style. This makes it very difficult to democratize blogs, especially here in Europe where there are more tacit social factors that prevent people from committing their ideas to writing. '

Any thoughts?

Plenty of attitude

2006-03-03T15:06:00.000Z

It is interesting to see the development of the blogs started by my peers last Wednesday (Do follow the links to Ian, Jayne, Ben and Barry's blogs .......), the type of initial postings and tones developing.

Ben's blog www.Praxis1.blogspot.com has really taken off now with much of the discourse on assessment and feedback, discussed prior to practical activity, developing organically through his postings and subsequent comments. It is particularly good to see that a tutor working outside the initial group has already 'got the bug'.

Comparison of the contents of the blogs (even at this early stage) brings to the fore the whole issue of 'authorial tone'. This is an area of considerable interest since adoption of a particular tone may imply selection, conscious or otherwise of the intended audience of (and contributors to) the discourse.

The tone of Jayne and Barry's blogs is light and the comments follow suit. Their postings are clearly part of initial experimentation. Ian's blog contains contrasting styles, his second posting starting to indicate particular academic interests and reflecting a rapidly developed comfort with the medium. For Ben, the medium has already become secondary to the content .... his tone encourages participation of academics and invites serious interaction.

Digital Attitude

2006-03-01T19:13:00.000Z

I spent a couple of hours this afternoon introducing the concept of blogging to a group of my peers. The group comprises teachers from Music, Art and Physiotherapy curriculum areas and a 'token tekkie' (sorry, Ian) in the form of our HE Operations Manager. We are aiming to establish a team blog on the subject of 'Assessment and Feedback', the link to which will be circulated to members of the college Learning and Teaching Unit, thus gradually inviting colleagues across the campus to feed the interaction.

It was important, to me, that the initial group should not be perceived to be particularly technically capable. The probability of others deciding to 'have a go' will be increased considerably if novice bloggers can be seen to use the medium to good effect.

So what attitudes have I been relying upon? I initially looked for an enthusiasm for learning and teaching, an open minded approach to new ideas, an enjoyment of cross college interaction and a certain (intangible) energy. None of the above relate directly to the use of technology; all of the above involve creativity, adaptability and interpersonal skills - a subset of the soft skills valuable in the connected society.

Have I come full circle?

E-learning and connectivity

2006-02-16T20:49:00.000Z

Ongoing reflection makes me increasingly certain that it is the development of 'soft' skills that will enable both effective working and beneficial engagement with the connected economy.

Discussion around the phrases 'digital natives' and 'digital immigrants' often leads to the conclusion that the generations growing up with connective technologies will have inherent ability when interacting with those technologies. I would propose that, in fact, whilst the digital native may be better equipped to navigate the connected resource, it is possible that the digital immigrant will have the advantage of accumulated life skills and academic maturity, thus being better able to deal with the potential knowledge base.

Of course, Dilemma Theory would propose that we look for the best of both worlds and thus as the age of the mature digital native approaches the arguement will cease to be of significant relevance - or will it?

Social vs technical : a dilemma?

2006-02-15T20:26:00.000Z

I'm still musing about the degree to which CMC enabled learning requires underpinning socio-cultural maturity .......

My thoughts have been further provoked by the learning object on Dilemma Theory which I have, this evening, encountered within the OU's H806 programme. Kangaslahti (2002) writes "If we speak of the two "horns" of the dilemma, it is important to understand that each horn always contains the other horn in the latent form." from which I should infer that part of our current socio-cultural development is our existence within the connected economy and that iterative socio-cultural development contributes to more effective engagement within that context.

Can "e-learning" suffice?

2006-02-14T08:36:00.000Z

Servage (2005), in her article "Strategizing for Workplace e-learning:some critical considerations"*, brings to the fore the organisational tendency towards "technical and economical determinism" with the associated assumption that enabling a learner to interact with technologically supported learning materials will result in learning being attained.

She makes clear her concerns that the social benefits of learning are both less easy to quantify and most frequently neglected despite indications that the internet is, indeed, "very much a social space".

I do have to ask whether any learning can truly take place merely through the interaction with CMC enabled materials. Can we dissociate this learning from accumulated experience, from cultural influence and 'local' perspectives? How do the skills developed from birth and onwards into 'maturity' underpin this learning process - and are these facets a prerequisite for effective e-learning?

* Published within the Journal of Workplace Learning Vol 17 No.5/6, pp304-317 (Accessed on-line 03/02/06) Available from www.emeraldinsight.com/1366-5626.htm

Drivers ......... and Enablers

2006-02-13T09:58:00.000Z

Various strategies and papers provide the government perspective on e-learning (e.g. DFES, HEFCE); the DFES document 'Harnessing Technology' was brought to life by Diana Laurillard at the HE Academy National Conference last summer. Her presentation can be found via the links section. Laurillard talks of both drivers and enablers within the context of improving the e-learning experience and directs the reader to a range of pedagogies which provide potential support for the development of e-learning methods.

My own enthusiasms are for the concepts of situated learning, this linked with problem-based and experiential learning and highly applicable to foundation degree design and delivery.

What and where?

2006-02-08T23:06:00.000Z

I am using the expression Interactive Learning to express my vision for the use of technologically enhanced, socially dynamic learning activity. The context for my exploration and reflection is that of HE in FE, with a particular focus on Foundation Degree activity and the way in which Interactive Learning can support the true characteristics of this potentially innovative educational vehicle.

I intend to explore the ways in which connectivity can support interactive learning and look forward to contributions from those with a similar interest and/or developmental experience in the field