David Sugden
After many false starts with 'organised' web logs like Blogger - I gave
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Day 2 - Web cast -
http://www.voiceprompt.co.uk/niace/- That's me in the middle of the
picture collage! Last gig yesterday I facilitated Nigel Davies' session on Using
effective feedback in e-learning. Nigel started with a short card
game where the delegates had to list activities under three headings.
Might be used with changes – Are you kidding & Good idea.
Two other headings were not used at this stage – Extrinsic and
Intrinsic.
His stated Objectives were to: *Understand value of effective feedback *Consider appropriate use of feedback styles *Explore one approach for effective feedback.
There was a brief discussion of Gibbs reflective cycle – of
feedback (can be motivational) and then Intrinsic feedback and Extrinsic
feedback.
Later there was a dinner in the main hall, which (all in all) was very
nice. The after dinner speaker was
Russell Prue who was great
entertainment. I spoke to quite a few people afterwards who had mixed
feeling about Russell's presentation. It was good but perhaps a little
overblown for the audience. His message however is sound and similar to
what I say in all my Web 2.0 presentations: There's a Tsunami of
young people coming our way with skills and perceptions that we are just
not prepared for! Alan Clarke opened day 2 in the main auditorium - he talked about
the incongruity of government funding (where they say there is no proof
that 'e' works) versus all the findings that suggest it is effective -
including Harnessing Technology.
Then I was on again. Another good session seemingly well received. The
session was attended by
Margaret Bennet,
Director of Communications and Partnerships at QIA. She had some nice
things to say about the session but was also concerned that I was
concerned about ACLearn and
FERL being subsumed into the
Excellence Gateway (coming soon!!). She assured me, like Chris Kelland
last week, that the two sites will remain as they are for the
foreseeable future. They are making every effort, she told me, to make
sure that everything that practitioners have deemed essential and good
will survive the coming change.
Then I'm facilitating John Dalziel and eXe again. Possibly more later.
14.30pm It's the panel - plenary session now: On
the panel are: [my view]
Dr. Peter Lavender - NIACE (Host)
Alistair McNaught - TechDis
Margaret Bennet - QIA
Andy Wistreich - JISC
Geoff Foot - LSN
Dr. Alan Clarke - NIACE
Priscilla Kendall - CEL http://www.voiceprompt.co.uk/niace/
- First question - where's the funding for ACL sector (section 97
funding - see DfES web site). AC - agreed about issues. Mentioned
Sheffield College losing money on their online courses because of
funding methodologies. [No real answer!]
But he goes on to say that this year (coming) is unusual that there is
little support for staff dev [not sure I'm 100%
behind that one]. PL went on to talk about the general
state of ACL and the "unintentional"(?) cuts.
- Second question - how can we keep up to date with ever changing
technology versus cost.AW - more or less said forget 'kit'
in\ the sense we've always understood it and "get online" - used Web 2.0
as the example. AM said - "don't" just use what works.
- Next question - What is the future of the e-Guide programme?
AC - will run until summer. From summer onwards there looks like
there is a solution but it's still under negotiation. From March onwards
there is a need to get together with partners.
- Next question - Is good e-Learning practice universal across all
curriculum areas or do we need to develop subject specific
e-pedagogies? GF - general discussion about different types of
'e'. "all areas can be covered by e-Learning ... " MB -
agrees with GF. Wants everyone to use Excellence Gateway.
- Next question - What evidence is available to prove e-Learning used
in blended learning sessions can raise standards (abbrev). MB
- none in ACL but some in other sectors. Some work needs doing to prove
the concept (my word summarising hers!). AC - NIACE have
undertaken raft of evaluative studies ..." but not especially
about achievement. Suggested NRDC report. Went on to discuss other
research which suggests it has value. GF - "does it work" isn't
the right question " but "where does it work" is.
- Next question - How should managers deal with reluctance of staff.
PK - appreciate people's fears. Have you, the manager,
articulated what you mean by use - what are your expectations. What is
the environment (re. fear of failure). Action learning, peer learning,
within subject, co-coaching all work. Lead by example! Finally - manage
performance, is it crucial that 'e' is part of good practice, if so make
it so! AW - agrees but teaching staff want learners to learn and
may not therefore we interested in use of technology for technology's
sake. AM - TechDis Manager Briefings papers. Then a look at
accessibility benefits of e-Learning.
- Next question - Which tools would you prioritise. AM -
creation tools. For learners. Whichever works for learners. AC -
adult teachers and their learners developing podcasts - so Audacity!
AW - JISC RSC will tell you what each tool can do! Contact them.
- Next question - my RSC advisor is helpful but time is limited can can
we get the best from her? AW - RSC forums are good for this.
- Next question - Personalisation of Learning? PK - It's what
good organisation should be ding. You decide in your own context! MB
- It won't go away and QIA will endeavour to embed it [but
what is it?]
- Next question - ESOL cuts - PL - national forum has been set up
and Bill Rammel has made concessions.
Then me! I asked about funding for staff development. I'd hoped to get
comments agreeing with the need but they weren't forthcoming (expect I
think from Alan) MB - aware of problem. Will be embedded! Not an add-on. AW -
people can learn where they are and we should take the learning to
them. GF - we have an obligation to CPD and LSN have worked on
this. PK - all responsible for won development. AM -
cultural change. AC - Agreed with (me I think). [no
real answer then]
It's the e-Guide
National event day and tomorrow at the East Midlands Conference
Centre. As I write this, I'm sat in the auditorium listening to Marcos
Tiris. Tony Burgess of the national LSC spoke first. and spoke about the
limited funding that will become available next year. He
also reflected upon the short sighted comment in TES (see yesterday) and
pretty much supported the excellent work Geoff has been doing because of
the way it has been positively evaluated. Marcos is speaking
about the Excellence Gateway and is showing us 'stuff' about the QIA. He
has mentioned the
NTLCP (national teaching and learning change programme) –
and told us that it was once the Standards Unit. Soon, the back
catalogue of SU 'stuff' will be available online soon. I then facilitated John Dalziel’s sessions about
eXe. John told us about eXe
being ‘open source’ and developed in New Zealand. He showed us around
the files which are available on download and the various folders. He
then told us how it can be used from a memory stick. He then showed us
the interface and how various activities can be collated to make a
learning object. He gave us examples of how it is also used as an
e-Portfolio, in fact he pushed this sort of use. After lunch it was my turn on the block. I was facilitated by
Theresa Beatie of
Yorkshire and Humber RSC. My
workshop was on Web 2.0 technologies and how they can be utilised. It
was an enjoyable session and although I gave them 20 minutes to 'play'
at the end, they still wanted to talk and ask questions. Great. I'm
facilitating Nigel Davies next and might not get a chance to update
before tomorrow. More later
I'm a bit late with it this week, but I've just
read FE Focus (Friday 23rd edition). I'd supply a link to the
edition online but they only seem to publish one story from the week's
publication (unless I'm stupid, which is entirely possible). There's a
nice report on page 3, of Geoff Elliott's use of mobile technologies,
down there in Wales at Coleg Sir Benfro -
Pembrokeshire College. Geoff has been working on the use of mobile
technologies with
neetsand has been successful in many of his aims.
Martin Whittaker's report reflects this. However, the editorial
'Comment' on page 4 ridicules the spending of £36,000 of European money
in this way. I don't agree in any way with the 'Comment' The theme of the 'Comment' is that this money could have
been spent on education "..for those who want it". Which would be
nice in another, different world to that in which we live. Many
youngsters come through the school-age mill dissatisfied and disengaged
with learning. For many, the schooling given has failed them; they have
been unable to cope with Victorian style teaching methods and a national
curriculum in which they have little interest. They are suspicious of
'Education'. All this project is trying to do is re-engage them using
tools (The
Medium is the Message?) with which they are familiar and which are
ubiquitous in the whole of teenage society. And increasingly more
ubiquitous in society as a whole. Furthermore, the
fefocus lead article (front page) discusses the need to train more
and more stay at home mum's because of an impending skills shortage. All
Geoff is doing in Wales (by default) is attacking this shortage in a
different way. Spending money on research is never wasted money. Geoff's
findings will inform the rest of Education (those who are prepared to
listen and learn) of the pitfalls found. The money which 'Comment' attacks is peanuts compared to the
£millions being spent on
EMAs. It's no good speaking in an FE based editorial about those who
want education, we're not funded for those who WANT education and
training - those days have gone. We're funded for those who NEED
education and training (some of them at least - those who the Government
see fit to support: There are many others who NEED it, but are not
funded. £36,000 of European money will not change this) Mobile learning can help to motivate,
enthuse and engage young learners - but teachers and trainers need to
understand how and why, not how much and why
them!
25th March 2007
Di's book
(swf works in Firefox! - and now IE thanks to Ron Mitchell - cheers
mate!)
It's been a strange week work wise. The JISC
Innovative Practice workshop on Wednesday seemed to go down alright,
everyone seemed happy and the Leicester Uni input was received very
well. It's always nice to meet people you know, as well as meeting new
people. On Tuesday night at the hotel we also ran into Alistair McNaught
of Techdis - and it's always
great to meet Alistair. He was down for a meeting at
NIACE. We seem to have the balance
right now for these workshops and the ability to adjust inputs to suit
the guests has also been possible. After last week's visit to Leicester,
when I drove (and lost the will to live of the way home - so much
traffic on the M1!), I decided to use the train. All of the trains I
caught were on time and comfortable - but because they are routed
through Sheffield, there's much waiting around on the way home.
Nevertheless, I have to congratulate Midland Mainline for their good
service. I've still got a day to complete for LSN; the portfolio work for
Clare Killen. I'm working with Carolyn, who I'd first met on March 8th.
She has now sent me all the files she want to use, but there are so many
versions now that I'm stuck until I can contact her - probably on
Monday. It's a job that just seems to keep dragging on The NIACE e-Guides national event is being held this Wednesday
and Thursday in Nottingham. I'm presenting two inputs on Web2 and how it
can be used to provide learning opportunities outside of the institution
(and inside, if not banned!). I'll report on those later in the week. After the few dates I have booked in April, there's very little
on. I thought that I had a big problem until I asked around and realised
that many of my consultant colleagues are in the same boat. It's
still a big problem (I still do need to work) but at least it's not just
me. The national organisations don't seem to know where their own
finding is coming from just now - so perhaps now that the budget has
been delivered, they will have a better idea. I've a couple of leads
which may or may not come to anything, but if nothing comes in, I'll
have to start looking for odd jobs. I went over to Otley on Thursday, to meet
eInstruction, the people
who make Optivote - the classroom
response system. The new software is great, much better than the earlier
version (CPS). I spent some time later in the day playing with it and
hope now to be in a position to sell a few units. Commission plus
training - that's my bag! As soon as I can get an Optivote button
working (it's a long time since I did anything with Flash), I'll put it
on the blog.
We're delivering our second (third, if you count the pilot) JISC
Innovative Practice workshop today at Leicester University's Oadby site.
Gilly Salmon's team are currently talking about he various aspects of
their Impala podcasting project (www.impala.ac.uk)
There are some nice ideas and examples for how to use sound in the
provision of teaching and learning. It was nice to meet
David Foord again and to
catch up with
Di Dawson about the RSS feed.
(Seems to be working!) We also heard from Kim Whittlestone - see: (www.rvc.ac.uk/review)
I've been a bit sceptical about the use of Podcasting. I've always
thought that 'recorded sound' has been a forgotten (misused?) technology
that never caught on. How many of us (of a certain age) remember teacher
playing BBC Radio broadcasts of Peter and the Wolf (and such stories) -
I was fascinated as a junior school learner. But 40 years on it's now
groovy!! But why?? Just because the kit is groovy?? I think so (thought
so!) But some of the examples seen today have begun to sway me. I still
don't think that the paradigm has fully evolved, but it's well on it's
way.
Mobile (SMS) comment
A small video clip on how the elderly are being taught how to use mobile
phones [this gets more important the more elderly
I get!]
http://tinyurl.com/2dgnao [thanks to Hannah Dovey of
RSC Wales for pointing out the
BBC Scotland clip).
Well, last week buzzed by fairly quickly. I got to
London about half past six and (being a 'careful' [tight]
Yorkshireman) bought a single ticket to Covent Garden thinking ('careful'
remember) that it would be less than half of the £5.10 they charge for a
day ticket. As if! It cost me £4.00 which wouldn't have been a problem
if first of all the ticket machine hadn't stolen it as I exited the
station (I cannot claim it back therefore!!!) and secondly, if Danny and
Colin weren't in Russell Square (which I didn't know until I got to my
hotel - the Strand Palace. So I had to buy anther ticket - imagine my
chagrin! First of all - the hotel. This is a dump. Why a hotel so close
the the centre of London is quite so grotty I've no idea. To be fair my
room wasn't too bad - it was tiny (the WC door wouldn't fully open
because the toilet
prevented it from doing so!) and faced inwards (therefore no noise from
The Strand), but I suspect that as the weather warms up it will be an
oven (I was warm and there was no a/c). Meg and Linda both had bad rooms
- Linda didn't sleep at all because of the noise from The Strand and to
cap all that, they both had unpleasant experiences with the food
on Tuesday evening. This matched my experience of the food at breakfast
time. The dining room for breakfast is split into three rooms and the
chef's seem incapable of making sure the food looks good or is warm. I
tried a slice of bacon (cold) and left it, I tried the fruit (tinned)
and left it, I tried the cereals - not much choice. For £130 per night
it was terrible! I won't go into Danny's experience too closely because
it is entirely second hand, suffice to say he told the manager he
wouldn't be paying and that the LSN wouldn't' use the hotel again!
So, my dinner was a great deal better - if a tad expensive. The cost
wasn't too bad until they added the £15 (ish) for bread! I couldn't
believe that a continental restaurant (we thought it was Italian, but it
might have been Portuguese) would charge for bread. Unbelievable. But
the food was nice. I'd tell you which it was if they'd given free bread!
We had a few beers first in a pub just opposite the Bloomsbury Holiday
Inn. The pub sold lots and lots of different European beers on draft -
so you can imagine! Danny and I walked Colin to his hotel (he and Steve
were in the Thistle Piccadilly) and then back to our own - which is when
Danny's problems started. The day's gig seemed to go ok, it was the
first time that LRC and SS staff had outnumbered teachers - so that was
good. We were at the Savoy Place, overlooking Waterloo Bridge and the
Thames. The sun was shining
and we got some good shots of Westminster from the balcony. We also got
some good shots of Neil Kinnock greeting some dignitary or other at the
door. Unfortunately they were of his (and her) heads - we were four
floors up! I got back home and managed to do a little work on Thursday
before setting off again, this time for Leicester, where the e-Guides
trainers were meeting to review the programme. We met at the Ibis in
Leicester before being taken by Angela Wood and Mary Moss to an Italian
Restaurant. The food was ok - but I couldn't comment further because I
only had pizza and salad. Quite a flashy restaurant though. We spent Saturday morning looking for
bedroom furniture before popping over to York to clear out our caravan,
ready for sale. It's nothing much but @ £500 a snip for someone who just
wants a quiet place to visit and relax. I'd normally ask £750 and
be bargained down, but I really don't have the time to go over there and
give it the good coat of looking at which it needs - hence the lower
price. See pics: http://tinyurl.com/25f8j7 http://tinyurl.com/28eo9v
18th March 2007
Today I picked up some information from
Di Dawson about RSS feeds. So,
that's what I've been playing with. I'm not sure it's working properly
or as I want it to - but for now, it seems ok. Any comments? I'd met Di at the e-Guides review meeting on Friday in Leicester.
More later -
I'm just preparing my stuff ready to set off for London again,
this time to work with Colin Rossiney, Danny Atwere, Meg Gain, Steve
Smith and Linda Richardson on what will be our final LSN ITQ gig. We're
at the Savoy Place tomorrow and staying at the Strand Palace tonight. I
get back on Wednesday evening quite late and then have the moring at
home on Thursday before visiting the doctor (about a sore throat) and
then setting off for Leicester, for the final review of the WBL e-Guides
pilot on Friday. It's possible that I'll see Vic Dejean tonight - as
well as on Friday at the meeting in Leicester. Yesterday, I went to York to see Rob Arntsen at
MyKnowledgeMap (MKM). There
were lots of things to discuss and I'm happy to report that they look to
be doing some exciting things. Their
Custom Suite of products
first mentioned by
me last year has evolved now. The master tool - a re-aggregation tool -
is now called [compendle
professional] and two other tools, popular whenever I've shown them
[storywriter
toolkit] and [hotspot
toolkit] have both been updated and are now complete. I hope that we
can find a way to work together in the future.
The BBC plan to hold
a national Safety [online] week from March 26th -
click here
to view. I've put links to various 'safety'
advice down the left hand side bar
b.t.w. Are you one of the 16+ million to have viewed this
brilliant clip on YouTube?
8th March 2007
Another good week - lots of old friends met and new friends made.
I'm on my way back home now, from London. (13.10pm GNER to Leeds).
I set off on Tuesday morning and met John Whalley at the Thistle Hotel,
Euston, where we were staying overnight. Both John and I were working
with John Traxler on Wednesday to present our first of four JISC
sponsored workshops on Innovative Practice. John T was flying back from
Kenya and wouldn't arrive until the early hours of Wednesday, so JW and
I went up to London Met, where
the workshop was to take place. Having checked out the venue, we
returned to Euston and began a walk around the area. We got as far as
the
British Museum and had a stroll around there before taking the tube
from Holborn to Islington - where we had dinner in a Cuban Tapas bar (average). Wednesday, we were all up at the venue by 8.30am and ready to go
by the time delegates had arrived and sat ready to begin. We were looked
after admirably all day by John Cook and his team and saw some really
cracking stuff from them. They are developing and using re-usable
learning objects (RLOs) with Nokia N91s. See
www.rlo-cetl.ac.uk. They hope to
have (I think they said) 300 RLO's available for general free
consumption later this year (not just for mobile phones). Some of the
problems they have faced include; How to employ navigation on a matchbox
sized screen; How to make the resources interactive on such a small
screen; Whether text if more useful/powerful than sound (and visa
versa). They are developing for FlashLite on the mobiles. After initial
use hey asked learners what they thought and 73% of them thought that it
was important to learn in any place and at any time and 74% were
positive about the institution contacting them though the mobile phone.
Responding to the use of Weekly SMS learning hints they said (e.g.):
“It started to bug me but was
useful”
“I got them and I liked the phones during
Easter break, which gave suggestions about the report”
“You can go home on the tube or the bus and
just read it”
“It’s cool”
On Wednesday evening I met Vic Dejean, one of
the other WBL e-Guides and he took me on a tour of London. We ate in a
very expensive but average Thai restaurant in Waterloo. I'd never seen
the view from Waterloo Bridge at night time before and it was wonderful.
There's a point halfway across where the London Eye is all lit up red
behind you (to the left) whilst the whole of the City is lit up in front
of you to the right - way past St Paul's and onto Canary Wharf. Quite
brilliant.
Click Here to see the hazy picture I took of the wheel!
This morning, I met a colleague from CEL to discuss a small piece of
work for LSN. And I have to say that it was nice to meet someone for the
first time who was so easy to get on with and who is like minded. There's quite a bit of discussion of the new NLN site on the
Champs list which I'm keeping to summarise for the new site owners. They
have made some really useful changes already and it's beginning to look
much better now. Thanks lads.
I have had a response to my
e-Learning comment on
the new NLN material site.
I'd
just arrived at the Station to travel up to Newcastle for my Day 3 WBL
e-Guides workshop and (because there never seems to be a trolley service
on the northward bound service) I had a 'medio' latte (with an extra
'shot') in my hand, my suitcase in the other and the rucksack on my back
when the phone rang. Rod Paley, MD of Xtensis Ltd was ringing to say he'd read my
blog! I think his exact words were "we are suitably chastened"
He'd also spoken to Karen earlier that day, following my comment
that she was 'livid'. Their issue was quickly resolved and both Karen
and I are immensely impressed by the speed with which they acted upon
her worries about missing files and support. I am personally impressed
that the MD can take such a personal interest and to react to comment so
quickly. He and I discussed the colours used on the site and the
positioning of the NLN material 'access' links and he promised to sort
these out as soon as he can. Of course, the colour changes will take a
little time as the colours used are the LSC's own and they are paying.
However, my point remains that if the LSC colour palette is
inappropriate - ditch it. The people over there at the LSC 'e' section
are sensible people - I'm certain it won't be a problem, surely their
logo somewhere prominent will suffice? As far as the link to access NLN
materials go - I believe that they should be clear and prominent - after
all, most users accessing the site want to access the materials. If they
are searching for something else then they will be prepared to exercise
a few more clicks or scrolls to reach their destination. I'm fairly certain that Rod didn't make a habit of reading my
blog prior to this comment, so I am indebted to whichever reader it was
who showed him the posting. It just shows what blogs can do (even if you
also have to dredge your way through
Murder Mystery events to find the e-Learning stuff). Thank you.
The workshop in Newcastle went ok - that's my last for now. I
hope that the LSC can now see their way to funding
ALP again now that the pilot is over and that I can secure another
contract because I've thoroughly enjoyed doing the work. I know that
this will depend on
NIACE's report on the pilot phase but hopefully that will be ok. We
all meet on the 16th to review the 3 day event and there's much to
report. One of the really interesting things about the deliveries we've
made since November is the interest in Web 2 things. I gave a short
presentation yesterday (a cut down version of that which I will deliver
at the NIACE e-Guides event in Nottingham on 28th and 29th March) and
many of the delegates had stories to tell and other techniques and sites
to show. Others were away with the fairies later, checking out the links
we'd given.
It's well worth the time to sit and read it if you get the chance. It
tends to echo what lies at the heart of everything I do. Just looking
beyond the titled subject matter for a minute - the document discusses
young people and their ability (or capability, indeed social NEED) to
change the world. Our problem currently, is that teachers and lecturers
have not yet faced this need and have not therefore adapted their style
of teaching as necessary. The publication suggests that it is the
'system' that prevents these necessary changes - and I wholeheartedly
agree but the system can be changed from within if enough teachers take
up the mantle and adapt to suit their charges. Unfortunately, there are no answers given or discussed to the
knee-jerk reaction of most schools and colleges to 'inappropriate' use
of 'the system'. Basically, kids using
YouTube or MySpace
scare adults and teacher who don't understand what's going on. Sadly, it seems that re-training and re-skilling is not high on
the agenda of many college (or school) managements. Where it is, it is
due to some external pressure. There is still a massive need for
e-Learning staff development in this country and until the powers that
be recognise this we'll get nowhere. I've heard all the glib answers,
but coming from politicians so far removed from the classroom (or the
social net-space!) they mean very little. When I can still go into a
roomful of teachers, show them what CAN be done and simple ways of DOING
it and come away leaving them enthused and motivated - it proves
there is still a need. What those teachers then need is TIME to
practice, to evaluate and to synthesise their learning.
Also see Blogger Blog
27th February 2007
I've had a little down time this week and have been concentrating
on how I might bring in a little more work for after Easter. This has
meant composing and researching some materials for Staff Development
officers to look at and as part of that process, I've been uploading a
lot of stuff onto e-Snips ready for
them to access. I've decided to use e-Snips as my (sort of) VLE! During upload times, I've been looking around
Google videos and
YouTube to see what's out there -
and of some use. Here are some useful Catering clips:
jhttp://www.epicurious.com/features/cia/episodes
Very American and very up themselves - but it does show what can be done
with a bit of thought and a bit of talent. Think how many catering
students you could attract with a video like any one of these - inc the
student blogs!
This one runs for half an hour so sit back and learn how to sell your
course to students
Finally:
I was back at Bishop Burton on
Friday. This time I was delivering 3 x 2 hour sessions to "advanced"
e-Learning tutors. The real thing I had to ask myself was "what does 'advanced'
mean?" If they were technologically advanced - were they using their
skills in a pedagogical way? What tools and techniques did they or
(probably) their managers think constituted 'advanced'? And, were
they all 'advanced' to the same degree? All this worried me for
the weeks leading up to the sessions. The previous two week's twilight
sessions for 'intermediate' tutors had gone ok but what would the
big guns want! The first lecturer I spoke with said that she was
in no way 'advanced' - she said that she was confident with
computers and not afraid to use them where they added value to the
lesson, and for me that set the tone. I told her that in my opinion, her
statement (slightly longer than I can remember to repeat here) was what
categorised 'advanced' for me, and I tried to base my day around
that. I'd prepared a couple of presentations: one to be the
vehicle from which I would leap to other resources and which included my
Aims and Objectives and another which used an old FPP PPT as its basis
and which labours the point about learning styles. A
handout I gave them
supported this presentation.
My intention was to highlight the fact that no one person carries one
single learning style with them at all times. Often, they think that
they do - but in reality their learning styles change. There is also
evidence to prove that we can all receive learning in formats
other than our 'preferred'. The overall outcome was to be that
e-Learning can help to address problems of learning preference and needs
(a significant portion of the presentation deals with accessibility). I only managed to deliver the second presentation once, to my
second group! The first group were fine with the bits and bats I'd assembled on
my main presentation and although we discussed the pedagogy of
e-Learning, they were on top of it. They immediately saw the point of
Photo Story 3 and Cam Studio.
The next group were attentive and most (I hope) got something from the
session (including presentation on L-Styles), even though the tutor who
had been less than enthralled last week had come again to this session!
The third session was with I.T. staff. I
failed miserably with them. What
they didn't know about e-Learning could have been written on the back of
a postage stamp. They went on and on about --- well, that'd be
unprofessional, so I'll leave it at that.
All
three groups also discussed the use of social networking sites and
(apart from group 3 who couldn't have cared less what I said) we all
agreed that unless we prepare ourselves for the onslaught of young
teenagers who are using diverse means to communicate and share - our
jobs will become much harder. We need to change the way we view learning
and how it can be enhanced- yet - we are still worrying about whether or
not our colleagues are using the VLE to store course materials (which
they used to store in pigeon holes in their office.
We had a murder mystery
evening last night - see me in 60's gear alongside! And the YouTube
(Photo Story 3) video when they let me have the code!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jlbs2hhfUis
22nd February 2007
Yesterday went ok. The conference food at Novotel Leeds is fabulous.
There were bacon sandwiches, smoked salmon bagels and sundry breakfast
pastries there for the delegates on arrival and profiteroles and buns
(muffins for those of you that have forgotten what a bun is) in the
afternoon. Lunch was a wide choice of salads (starters - but I had a
huge one for mains) and mains. Well done Novotel. But not so well done
for the evening meal. Frankly it was poor - must try harder!!
The links to YouTube I promised are ready now - I'll embed them here:
Be warned - these might not be accessible from
within your institution. See
I've used the same technique to embed the videos here! I just pasted
into the html code.
20th February 2007
I'm off to Leeds this afternoon to meet Danny Atwere and Colin
Rossiney (and possibly Meg Gain) before our LSN gig there tomorrow.
Steve Smith will join us tomorrow and Linda Richardson (maybe she'll pop
down tonight?). There's just one more after this one, in London on the
14th March - what will I do then? I'm just wrapping up some work I've been preparing for the
NIACE e-Guide Conference on 28th and 29th. They want my presentation
with them by this weekend, so that they can put it onto a CD-Rom -
rather than print everything. I've done a few 'How To' video clips but
one needs the sound altering (turning up) so it's touch and go whether
they get them on time or not! As soon as they are ready I'll put
them on YouTube and link to them
from here. I may even put the entire PPT onto
e-Snips to see if the links still
work! That'll be groovy.
Has anyone seen the new NLN Materials web site? It's at the old address -
http://www.nln.ac.uk/materials
but has been taken over by another company (I believe that the same
company that provides the ACL NLN access - Xtensis - won the new LSC
contract). Much of the old content seems to have gone. Some things
needed to go but others were essential to the way in which practitioners
pick and run with new stuff like the NLN materials. I spoke to Karen
this morning and she's livid.
I'm more scared by the look and feel of the new site - take a look -
tell me (better still, tell others) what you think! It's probably passed
all the web accessibility guidelines (all the text is bunched together
beneath the source coding, so it's probably much easier to read with a
screen reader) but as far as usability goes - it's truly awful!
Where once, navigation was tiresome but easy to follow it now takes the
patience of a saint to find the materials themselves: So to help: Go to
www.nln.ac.uk/materials and
hover your mouse pointer over Access and Use (easy to find on top
left) then move it over Distribution and then decide which
'sector' you belong to (ACL, F.E., Offender or WBL) then
depending on what you click - you will arrive at the appropriate
material deliverer. Access is also
available from the first pageif you
know to scroll down to the foot of the page! And the colour
scheme is appalling too. Whoever it is that teaches design students to
put black text on blue backgrounds (or even worse - which we once had at
my previous employment - light blue text on dark blue) needs shooting.
These materials are well used and well liked - why hide them?
18th February 2007
It's been a really nice weekend again. I walked into town yesterday with
Betony and her friend Rose - who had stayed over the night before. Today
Sharon and I spring cleaned the house. Well - Sharon fettled the living
room and conservatory while I cleaned the kitchen. It took us all
morning and into mid-afternoon, when we decided to make the most of such
a nice day to walk into Slaithwaite for an ice cream. Another girl,
Nicola, had stayed over on Saturday (as well as Rose) and they had all
gone off to Greenhead Park roller board and skating. We met them again
as they got off the train in Slaithwaite.
We have a 60's Murder
Mystery this coming weekend (hence the cleaning) and I'm just
downloading LOADS of 60's pictures to show on the digital picture
viewer. I have already put together a list of 160 60's music tracks on
myMP3 player. Sadly (I'm a chef remember), I can't choose a menu. I just
can't make my mind up what to cook!
Once again, Kirklees LA are out of
step with their neighbours. Tomorrow is half term, but Leeds, Sheffield
and Calderdale (Halifax) had theirs last week. So I have people in the
house while I'm working this week which will be both n ice and unusual!
16th February 2007
It's been a really strange week. I think that the email I received last
Monday really threw me. I was a right miserable sod most of the week!
Monday to Wednesday was slack time and I had the chance to catch up on a
few things - tidying the office especially! However, I think that I was
cross with myself for not having arranged to visit my friends during
this period - something I had been saying I'd do for weeks. I therefore
resolved to go this coming Sunday and stay until Tuesday - when I have
to get back to be in Leeds (for another LSN gig on Wednesday) that
evening. But, I couldn't find any B & B vacancy near enough at this
short notice. Carol has also taken a turn for the worse so I agreed that
I'd just be under the feet and will not now go this week. I'll try to go
at Easter.
Work-wise - things are still busy, but nothing new is
coming in for after Easter. I have work and things to do right through
March and then a couple of JISC gigs in April (plus one for Christine
McAllister at Blackpool on 26th) but nothing else yet. This week, I have
to prepare my workshop for the
NIACE e-Guide Conference on 28th and 29th March because they hope to
put all presentations on a CD instead of printing them out. So, they
want all of our 'stuff' by next Friday 23rd!
I did another twilight gig at Bishop Burton last night - again to
intermediate e-Learners! This week there were well over a dozen and this
led to a variety of discussions. Generally, there is still a need to
show advanced (well 'more advanced than basic') PowerPoint skills and
some work was done on this at the end of the session. However, I think a
special 'Advanced PPT' event is now a requirement here. They also liked
the Photo Story 3 and Cam Studio software and immediately saw the point.
Another good session, spoiled just a little by some negativity by one
person. It seemed that no matter what was laid out in front of her (in
this case the mention of Hot Potatoes and the use of photographs - "no
good for someone who is colour blind!") she had something negative to
say. Hey ho.
A cherished friend of mine, of over
30 years standing, is dying slowly with Motor Neuron Disease (MND). Her
husband (an old college friend of mine – of even longer standing) and
her daughters are distraught. An email this morning reminded me of
just how lucky many of us are – not to have this, or one of the many
other debilitating and life-shortening illnesses.
The email said
“Suggs, No response required, no phone call. Good vibes or prayers to
your God if you have one would be appreciated, I’m sure it helps …”
and went on in more personal detail. I can only try and give good vibes
and by posting this – hope that even more good vibes are created on this
family’s behalf. I think of them constantly and wish there was more I
could do.
Another cracking gig yesterday - that's two in a week.
I'm feeling much more confident about the growing use of e-Learning now.
I was at Bishop Burton College, close to Beverley in East
Yorkshire and my brief had been to deliver a session that addressed the
needs of those lecturers who were already using e-Learning to some
level. Most of 2006 had seen me addressing those who were not using it
at all.
I wasn't sure how I would arrive at a consensus amongst this group and
thought long and hard about what I would do. My initial confidence was
shaken therefore when the first teacher to arrive told me she was "not
great with computers" and had "no idea what e-Learning was"! So I spent
a few minutes telling her what 'e' wasn't and she consequently bounded
out of the door with joy - to fetch her laptop (which, just like
students, she'd purposely left behind so she didn't have to do anything
she felt unable to do!!!). Her enthusiasm then seemed to filter down to
all the others who joined us.
Basically, I asked them what 'e' they were doing and that they were
proud of - to do this I passed around the
Gyro keyboard and had them type into an interactive box on the PPT.
This was something they immediately saw the benefit of. Most had used a
Smart board before but in this room (which has a huge barrier
between the class and the teacher - a lecture bench!) the keyboard was
seen as useful.
We then discussed some of the other things they were doing and moved
onto what their students were doing on the social networking sites. We
looked at sites and examples before taking a closer look at Photo Story
3, Cam Studio and Hot Potatoes. The group remained engaged and attentive
throughout. By the end they were asking all the right questions and this
left me feeling good - for the second time in a week.
There was some debate however about the inappropriate
use of social networking sites by students. This has come up quite often
recently and I really can't agree with the draconian banning of such
sites. I had to sign a document at Bishop Burton (their acceptable use
policy) which specifically said I shouldn't use the College's facilities
in an inappropriate manner. This is standard procedure and all learners
sign something like this when they enrol (most colleges will have this
sort of procedure). THIS should be invoked for the small minority of
learners who want to abuse the system and the majority (especially
teachers who may be able to engage more learners by using the sites)
should NOT be punished in their stead!
Mobile (SMS) comment
A total of 214 million text messages
were sent on New Year's Day 2007 - [source
www.text.it January 2007]
6th February 2007
e-Learning comment
I love my job.
I've just got
back from Bury College, where I was working with the WBL team - who
after many years out in the cold are now seen as part of the fold. The
teachers and assessors involved have had little or no contact with
e-Learning and I was asked to go in and give them a motivational
presentation about what 'e' can do. Both sessions were undertaken with
the backdrop of a college WBL inspection going on! There was much talk
of wall painting and equipment renewing (as always) but nevertheless
total commitment to the subject in hand - e-Learning. The feedback
sheets brilliantly told us just how 'ready' this team (from across many
subject areas) are now for support and development. Their team leaders
and college management seem to be onboard too - so things look good for
'e' at Bury. I'd love them to invite me back (but to the Woodbury site)
so that I can cross over to the famous Bury market and but some real
Bury Black Pudding - yummy!
Web site worry.
Those of you that watch government too-ings and fro-ings
(shenanigans) will know that they plan to get rid of 551 web sites [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/6247703.stm]
- which impacts on what we try to do with the development and spread of
e-Learning (and good teaching practice).
I wholeheartedly disagree with the editorial at
http://www.techworld.com/midsizedbusiness/news/index.cfm?newsID=7745&pagtype=samechan
which states: "...
the government has
built at least 1,412 separate web sites, half or more of which have been
useless. " and "... Public money has been
wasted..." Many of these sites were built with the best of
intentions at a time when there was little or no confidence in the web
and whilst I agree that there should be some rationalisation, it should
be 'considered' judiciously and with thought. I suspect this cull has
not been subject to much thought by subject specialists - just civil
servants. Two of the many sites to go (we were told yesterday by
Chris Kelland at Becta) are FERL [http://ferl.becta.org.uk]
and ACLEARN [http://www.aclearn.net]
both of which have been developed over the years by caring and sharing
practitioners (both in and out of national and local institutions). They
are to be buried somewhere in the depths of the QIA [http://www.qia.org.uk/]
web site - but no more information is given. Many other
Becta sponsored sites will also
fall by the wayside. This fills me with deep dread. Both FERL and ACLEARN have become unwieldy over the years - I'm
the first to admit that, but their motives were always clear - to
support the practitioner in the delivery of their new 'e' role. They
supported this motive by allowing those same practitioners access to
up-to-the-minute 'e' news and to post their materials for others to use.
ACLEARN even has a bank of copyright free images for community tutors to
use in the development of their e-skills. My real fear is that the 'quality' police will sanitise the new
site (if it ever comes to light) in such a way that the materials and
advice to be found will have no meaning to many new e-Learners. Some
materials accepted in the early days were quite raw and from many years
of going around the country talking to teachers I know that this
rawness, was seen as an honesty and provided confidence to those just
beginning their 'e' journey. Let's not forget - there are still plenty
of our colleagues who have yet to begin that same journey.
I'm just sitting down to watch this afternoon's rugby on TV. It's
been a cracking day. Very cold this morning but bright and sunny all
day. I managed to have a really productive day in the garden and have
managed to cut back all the trees I wanted to. It's looking much better
now. Sharon is still out there - but the 6 Nations comes first!
We were not successful with the bid. As I said earlier, although our bid
was short listed, I couldn't go to interview and defend it because I was
presenting the JISC Innovations pilot in Telford. Sharon
volunteered, despite not having the same depth of experience as me - at
least our chances were increased from 0% to 1 in 3 (there were two other
candidates). Apparently the interview didn't go too well and questions
were asked that she couldn't confidently answer. I have an opportunity
to ask for feedback and will pursue it on Monday. At least that should
help future bids.
The pilot went ok I think. I'd been really worked up about it because I
am project leader but the real content had come from others. It was only
when we met on Tuesday afternoon that I could actually get my head
around what we were doing. I think that we've decided that the content
and the order of delivery are ok - we just need to work on length of
session. The delegate feedback was supportive and confirmed our own
feelings. Helen, Paul (Bailey of JISC) and
Sara de Freitas all sent their
comments in writing and Eddie Gulc and John Whalley discussed it with me
on the day. I expect to speak with John Traxler again next week. All in
all, it went well and it was great to meet a lot of old friends.
I've
also finished a short piece of work for the LSN today. It all seemed a
bit unfocussed but we'll see what happens.
28th January 2007
I've not been anywhere to stay over this week, so eating out hadn't been
on the agenda. Until last night that is. Betony came back for her
shopping foray and asked if she could go to Rose's for the evening
(overnight). Having ascertained that there would be no sex or drugs and
that the rock 'n' roll couldn't be heard by us - we said "yes". Which
left us with a free evening. We thought we'd risk phoning Endogans - our
favourite local restaurant . We got in - so we had a great impromptu
night out. See
MySpace blog for more.
I was
in Sheffield on Friday for the Offender Learning work I'm doing for
NIACE. It was the fourth and final visit I have to make - so I just have
to write it up and it's done. They are trying to introduce webcam video
support for Information, Advice and Guidance (IAG) in 'Employability'
but it seems to be hard going. They have already created a website and a
CD to back this up, but the web cam work was to be 'added value'.
Anyway, it is a good idea.
25th January 2007
See
MySpace blog
for today's posting of an interesting organic food
rant.
Another two early mornings have gone by - but the bid is almost ready to
go now, Sharon is just giving it one last going over. It's an
interesting exercise, writing bids. You have to feel that you're in with
a chance to spend the time doing it. I've spent at least a day, probably
more, making sure that the aims and objectives of our bid fir the
outcomes and outputs of the partnership we're bidding to. If we get it,
the work will involve researching the e-Learning usage in this
particular district of North Yorkshire.
We (I'm involving Sharon in
this because it's a huge task for just one person - not impossible, but
other work might have to be set aside which is not a good thing) are
proposing that we survey the partners (about thirty) regarding their use
of e-Learning tools and techniques. We will make no attempt to address
staff skills at this point - perhaps in a second stage (possible). As
part of the brief is to encourage collaboration and sharing of good
practice, we are also proposing an e-Newsletter. Fingers crossed?
I've just got back from Bradford, where I have delivered a workshop
about resources. The feedback is great - so as always, that's a boost.
23rd January 2007
This is the second day I've been up at 6.00am to begin office work.
I have some work for the LSN, helping to build an e-Learning page for
a much bigger site that they are developing. I have to finish before the
end of next week so need to use what spare days I have for it. But, I
have also been short listed for some work in North Yorkshire - as a
result of a bid I put in just after Christmas. I now have to flesh out
the bid and send it by the end of the week - ready for an interview next
week. Unfortunately, I can't pitch the bid because the interview is on
the same day as the JISC Innovations pilot on 31st. So, Sharon is going
over to pitch it. So, I have to take extra care with the methodology -
so that it is understandable by both of us. Which shouldn't be a problem
because if we get the work, it will probably be best if she project
manages it (the initial bid suggested this might happen). And, on top of
that the Clare Killen LSN work has just kicked back in (just a couple of
days) and I have to prepare for my gig in Bradford on Thursday.
Hence the early hour. :-)
20th January 2007
I'm writing this in Chirk. Sharon and I are staying with Karen and Dave
for the weekend. For those of you who don't know, Chirk is in Wales
(just) and on what was the old A5 - Watling Street. They actually live
just outside Chirk, at Chirk Bank, which is just inside England!
Apparently, the local pub, just down the road, used to be right on the
border and one side of it could open for business on Sundays while the
other couldn't! But of course Sunday closing in Wales in now a thing of
the past.
I went to Prison on Monday last. It was a very interesting
experience. I was shown around the ICT facilities and the thing that
struck me the most was probably what strikes most newcomers to prison
the most - the amount of doors! It took us twice as long to get from A
to B as it would 'outside' because of all the doors that had to be
opened with a key, closed behind us and re-locked. Doors to buildings
tended to be double - you unlocked an outer door to reveal another
locked inner door, both of which needed locking behind you. As I say - a
very interesting experience. Their main project is to develop and
intranet that is as close to real-life internet as possible and they
seem to be making good progress.
I went to Bristol on Tuesday afternoon, to be there for the LSN
presentation on Wednesday. We stayed at the Novotel, where the
conference was to take place. The place was really nice - see
MySpace blog for food rant
details. I was lucky with trains too, on the way there there was plenty
of seats to choose from (when I got on) and I managed to do quite a bit
of desk work en route (which passes the time nicely). On the way back I
shared the journey with Colin Rossiney and Steve Smith as far as
Birmingham (where Colin changed to the west coast route) and Derby where
Steve got off en route to Nottingham. Even so, it's a long journey to
Bristol!
On Saturday we all went shopping at Cheshire Oaks. Now a shopping trip
wouldn't normally make my headlines, but I set off with a purpose - new
shirts, new shirts and more new shirts! I don't shop much, just picking
up the odd bit of what I want from time t time but my shirts all seem to
have become threadbare (or the collars are 'going') all at once. So,
Sharon - who has never seen me shop - was quite surprised at the vigour
with which I attacked the day. We also managed to do some second hand
shops in Wrexham on the way back, in preparation for the 60's weekend
coming up in February.
12th January 2007
currently
reading: From a Buick 8
Stephen King The Social Life of Information
John Seely Brown and Paul Duguid Greetings in Jesus Name
Mike Berry
I was over in Grimsby on Monday as part of my
duties for NIACE and their
Offender Learning initiative. I am carrying out an evaluation
exercise on four projects and this was the first one I had to visit. It
was such a shock being back on the road, especially as the cold I had
picked up over New Year had thickened and become worse over the weekend.
Luckily, I didn't have to be there until 10.30am so I took a relaxed
route through Dewsbury to the M1 and then across to Lincolnshire via the
eastern M62 and M18. The Huddersfield to Leeds bit of the motorway would
have been horrendous. I survived the day and the journey back but didn't
feel that much better as I boarded the train on Tuesday afternoon to
travel to Newcastle. I eventually ate at an Iranian restaurant not too
far from the hotel. this was both reasonably priced AND tasty! [see
review
http://blog.myspace.com/dsugden]
The WBL e-Guides training was quite a small affair with only five people
turning up for the two day event. Each session has a potential for
twelve delegates and we had had seven booked on. However, I suppose that
coming as soon after New Year as it did, put some off. It was a great
two days and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I enjoyed the journey back much
more that I'd anticipated too - both trains were waiting for me and
there was very little hanging about on the VERY windy platforms.
And today, I'm just catching up. The cold is slightly better but still
not properly gone. now Sharon has it, so I will lose all the sympathy
and understanding I'd imagined getting beforehand ;-)
Next week, I'm off to the prison in Wetherby and to Bristol for the LSN
- as well as meeting someone from the Welsh Assembly in Rossett on
Friday (we're staying with Karen and Dave Friday night and Saturday!)
Well I'm back in harness
fully tomorrow. I'd hoped to do three half days last week, but ended up
doing three full days although Friday was a bit of a wash out because my
cold (now full-on) was beginning in earnest. There's quite a bit of too-ing
and fro-ing with the JISC project and I have a few little bits to do
this week, but it's mainly in the box now, ready for the pilot delivery
on 31st January. Tomorrow, I drive to Grimsby to undertake the first of
my offender education visits (another next Monday too - to a real
prison). This will need writing up on Tuesday morning before I set off
for Newcastle, where the next WBL e-Guides gig will take place on
Wednesday and Thursday. I spent some time going back though the course
yesterday and feel really on top of it now. I'm really looking forward
to it - even though it is in Newcastle (and the restaurants look so
expensive!). Friday is a catch-up day but as I said, I'm back on the
road next Monday to do a prison visit. Next Tuesday (16th) I travel to
Bristol, to deliver a LSN gig on the Wednesday and then have a few days
doing desk and research work for a different part of LSN. This latter
work just came out of the blue last week - sounds interesting. It's not
much (five days) but the more five days I get the happier I'd be.
I've asked Sharon to take a look at some market
research for me, looking at how I might set up and produce some
workshops for people to attend. I was thinking of £75 per head; 12-20
delegates, a variety of subjects - to be decided, in colleges up and
down the north. Any comment?
Ok, back to the Sunday papers. Happy New Year
everyone.
1st January 2007
Happy New Year to everyone.
My apologies to those of you who might regularly follow this drivel -
I've just started a new page! I THINK that all the links still
work - certainly those on this page do - hopefully the links on the old
file (now renamed blog_1.htm) will too. You
will see that I have copied the permanent links down the right hand side
- I hope this helps. The whole page was getting too long and the page
wasn't resizing like I'd set it up to do. This one is doing - so
'fingers crossed?
Do please take the time to click on the podomatic
link down the sidebar - it will take you to Alan Carr's podcast site.
Listen to some of the wonderful music Alan puts together. I really like
it. A nice way to spend half an hour every week.
Karen and Dave,
Tony and Gill and Betony all joined us for dinner last night. We had a
warm salad very similar to that we had on Christmas Eve, followed by
Beef Bourguignon (which had taken hours to cook - days, if you include
the stock I've been making over the winter period!) with braised leeks
and Sharon's bomb!
28th December 2006
"If you can raise the meter
for 10% of children in a school you can do it for the other 90% as
well."
I took the above quote from
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/6214407.stm which was titled ['E-Credits'
for top 10% of pupils] -today's date. The e-credits system, with
initial funding of £65m, is to be run by the not-for-profit CfBT
Education Trust from next September.
It's not clear who made the quote above - but I have
to ask myself the same question! If our government can invest enough
confidence in 'E' to support the needs of a high-flying 10%, then it
should also be able to find cash for the other 90%. And, what about
those young people already out of the school system - and adults? Don't
their educational institutions (whatever or wherever they might be)
deserve access to a similar level of support?
It's not that I begrudge the opportunities given to
the top 10%, it's more that I bemoan the dwindling support for all
those others, not in school or university. What
do you think?
This 'new' page was started on January 1st 2007. It was copied over from
the original file - which was re-named blog_1.htm. Clicker was on 995
prevented it from doing so!) and faced inwards (therefore no noise from
The Strand), but I suspect that as the weather warms up it will be an
oven (I was warm and there was no a/c). Meg and Linda both had bad rooms
- Linda didn't sleep at all because of the noise from The Strand and to
cap all that, they both had unpleasant experiences with the food
on Tuesday evening. This matched my experience of the food at breakfast
time. The dining room for breakfast is split into three rooms and the
chef's seem incapable of making sure the food looks good or is warm. I
tried a slice of bacon (cold) and left it, I tried the fruit (tinned)
and left it, I tried the cereals - not much choice. For £130 per night
it was terrible! I won't go into Danny's experience too closely because
it is entirely second hand, suffice to say he told the manager he
wouldn't be paying and that the LSN wouldn't' use the hotel again!
and we got some good shots of Westminster from the balcony. We also got
some good shots of Neil Kinnock greeting some dignitary or other at the
door. Unfortunately they were of his (and her) heads - we were four
floors up! 
I'd
just arrived at the Station to travel up to Newcastle for my Day 3 WBL
e-Guides workshop and (because there never seems to be a trolley service
on the northward bound service) I had a 'medio' latte (with an extra
'shot') in my hand, my suitcase in the other and the rucksack on my back
when the phone rang.
