A venture into open learning

I've been thinking about my ongoing education recently, and in particular searching the web for learning specific to pedagogical application of ICTs. It has disappointed me that such courses are rare in Australia. I have fortunately stumbled across 2 open courses being offered by generous individuals. The first of these is Facilitating Online Communities conducted by Leigh Blackall of Otago Polytechnic. This has spiked my interest as it is based within WikiEducator which promises free e-learning content. At this point there seems to be about 70 people enrolled which will no doubt encourage wide ranging discussion. I am concerned about keeping up with the input from so many people, but I will develop a system.

The second open course I've found is the Connectivism and Connective Knowledge course offered by George Siemens and others. There are currently 1200 people signed up to participate in this course. How it progresses will be interesting.

So I've set myself new challenges. I hope my work life will permit these to occur.

Enhancing my Portable Office

I've blogged before about my "portable office" which began as a 4GB USB flash drive with some handy portable applications installed. For that blog refer to here. Since that post less than a month ago, I've made some changes for the better (I believe anyway). The most significant change is the use of a 4GB SD card in my EeePC which will hold portable apps I only need on this machine. I use the EeePC much like a PDA, it stores my calendar, contacts and tasks. However it offers the the extensability to function as laptop.

I removed Lightning (the Thunderbird calendar and task manager extension) from the USB drive. I've discovered, and thus far like Task Coach (portable) which handles my task management. I've installed Rainlendar as my calendar. I used rainlendar previously and find it very useful. Using GCALDaemon, I can sync Rainlendar with my Google Calendar. This has forced me to update my google calendar, which is a good thing. I've then installed my phone software on the EeePC which allows synchronisation to my phone. This suits my need for task and calendar management.

I also discovered a great little "how to" for reducing the Windows footprint on a HDD. This is particularly important for the EeePC as it only has 4GB onboard storage. Following instructions at "I am not a geek" I've been able to reduce windows storage to 2GB without any issues. In the future I may even delve further.

As many tech savvy people would experience, I get called on a lot to fix computer problems. This has encouraged me to research tools and tips on the web. I've downloaded quite a few free tools that seem to work so far. I'll explain these further in a future post. However the best advice I can give for this is to subscribe to the Podnutz podcast. Steve Cherubino is a laptop technician, but offers a range of free and useful advice for a variety of problems. Podnutz has taught me more about computer care, maintenance and repair than I've been able to gain through reading web posts.

Ramblings

What I've thought.

Why is it so difficult to get wireless connection at my school?
How can I voice record my lessons effectively?
I am such a nerd.
Its time to incorporate something similar to "Cool Cat Teacher" and highlight useful web tools I've used.

What I've done.

Established a professional development schedule for ICT accreditation in my school.
Conducted an information session on blogs, podcasts and wikis for teachers.
Promoted my team's first regional ICT workshop.
Reduced the Windows footprint on my Asus EeePC to a respectable size.
Installed, tested and quickly deleted Madotate (desktop bling)
PASSED the ICT Pedagogical License Advanced!!!!!

The beauty of social bookmarking.

I've blogged briefly before about using del.icio.us to store my bookmarks, and there are other just as useful sites. I've recently set up an account on diigo.com, where I am connecting with similar minded groups and being notified of what they are tagging -a great way to discover new resources.

However I'm still a big fan of del.icio.us, and use it to tag sites that would be useful reference material for my students. This makes it very easy for them to navigate to an approved list versus open searching. Most recently I'm tagging websites that discuss road safety campaigns that address the social injustices we have discussed in class, much easier for me to find initially and then allow them to explore through the provided links and extended networks.

If bandwidth is a problem, you can achieve a similar outcome by creating a text file (notepad or similar) and storing hyperlinks under headings within. Not as functional, but a suitable alternative.

Ironically, I need to take my own advice!

Feedback form the moderators of my advanced license portfolio requests more details to support my claims of learning enhancement. When I reflect on this comment, it seems they are requesting evidence to demonstrate the students are digitally literate, not tech savvy. Timely feedback considering my recent post.

So its off to the portfolio for some modification.

To stress or not to stress?

D-day approaches. I have submitted a portfolio for my ICT Pedagogical License Advanced and was advised I would know the results by the end of our first week back (which is tomorrow). Now I know that these deadlines are regularly missed, it must be a logistical nightmare to coordinate the number of moderators this requires. However, one can't help but wonder - if I don't hear anything does this mean bad news.

Stress?

Technically proficient or digitally literate?

There has been a lot of discussion around the concept of "digital literacy" in recent times. Whilst the terms may be relatively fresh, the underpinning principles have been present in explorations or educational possibilities throughout time. It is however a very important and relevant conversation.

I took the time to attend to a presentation by Grainne Conole from Open Univerisity UK regarding the pedagogical use of web 2.0 technologies. The presentation is available here - http://ithinked.com/archives/2008/07/disruptive-technologies-or-new-pedagogical-possibilities/

Grainne explores the idea that the advent of web 2.0 technologies present a significant challenge to educators and administrators. These technologies, which are appearing at a very quick pace, contain a range of great potential uses that can enhance pedagogy if we as educators pay particular attention to plannning their inclusion in learning experiences. She states that these new technologies can be so exciting that many of us can be driven by what the technologies can do, neglecting the pedagogical potential. This is a fear I have expressed in portfolios I have developed for accreditation within my employing organisation. If you are interested in how I see this, navigate to this site and use the log on details below. This is a portfolio I submitted for accreditation with the ICT Pedagogical License Advanced as part of the Smart Classrooms Professional Development Framework.

username - shanerobe001

password - password08

In my Belief Statement I express the fear that ICTs can often be relied on as entertainment within classrooms, which can have a valid place in education with specific planning and linking to pedagogy. Any teacher can get a student to blog, but it takes work to use blogging as an educational tool with specific pedagogical outcomes. After completing my portfolio for the ICT Pedagogical License Advanced I can now appreciate that this is something my employing organisation is attempting to address. The professional development framework requires teachers to use ICTs with pedagogical function.

I agree with Grainne's statement that effective learning does require some dedicated time for reflection that is not catered for in the fast-paced web 2.0 existence. Does this mean we need to have some time "unplugged" or do we use the tools in a manner that serves this purpose?

The main benefit of the presentation to me is the demonstration of tools to map use of ICTs to pedagogical principles. This forces us to ask what we deliver, how we deliver it and how we assess it. This assessment of web 2.0 application is something I am doing a lot of thinking about lately. Within my educational system we are constrained by set syllabus criteria for assessment and application of achievement ratings. These criteria do not necessarily provide opportunity to assess the skills of collaboration and knowledge creation. Within my pet subject of Health Education I am aiming to develop a method to include these in assessment. This will need to satisfy external review that happens for year 11 and year 12 work within our system. I'll let you know how I go. This fits with the concept of digitaly literate as it will require the use of web 2.0 technologies specifically integrated with pedagogical principles.

I have recently been provided the opportunity to work with other ICT innovative educators within my region to provide professional training to teachers in pedagogical use of ICTs. This has shown me the tension between "technically proficient" and "digitally literate" exists at the heart many teachers. Many teachers believe they need to be technically proficient before they can develop digital literacy. Is this so? My thoughts on this are still not clear enough to share here. What do you think?

Ultimately, we need to move from a concept of "technically proficient" to "digitally literate" to enable the inclusion of web 2.0 tools and skills in evidence and assessment. This may begin with training of teachers but also requires education of students. They may be technically proficient with a lot of web 2.0 tools, but we can still teach them how to apply these for their own development.

Weekly Wrap

What I've thought?

• Do I really need a flash looking 3d dektop manager?
• What applications are necessary on my EeePC?
• Would a digital voice recorder be useful? Can I get one with a microphone input?
• How can I ensure my blogs and podcasts for teaching teachers are useful?
• Why is my desktop making that noise?

What I've done?

• Developed a plan with my Regional Faciitators team for our first full day workshop.
• Deleted Xandros, installed Windows XP on EeePC - this won't be where I stop.
  

Creating a toolkit for teaching, learning and management.

I've spent a lot of time researching and testing a range of software and web technologies in an effort to develop a functional suite of tools for my varied work life. I recently purchased an Asus EeePC (7") as my portable computing device. I already utilise my Nokia 6210 also, so connection between the Nokia and the Asus will be implemented.

However, the Asus is not my main work computer and not my preference for working when at home. Therefore consistency across devices is important, as is synchronisation of data. The lack of onboard storage on the Asus predetermines the need for removable memory. So ultimately what I have done is develop a set of offline tools and a set of online tools. What they are and the purpose they serve are outlined below.

Offline:

I have two (2) usb flash drives that I have set up with all the software I require. One is a 1GB drive set for media consumption and creation. The other is a 4GB drive with all other software needed and all my working data. Having experienced flash drive destruction previously, I have two (2) backups for each stick. Both drives have the Portable Apps auto-menu and a range of portable applications on board.

The Media Stick - applications include Audacity - for recording podcasts and other voice material, GIMP - for image manipulation, and VLC player - for playing video and audio files. The only problem I've had is that VLC player can't play movies built in Windows MovieMaker. However all windows computers have Windows Media Player installed that can handle this.

The Work Stick - applications are many, so I will provide info in a list to enable greater understanding of why I have chosen them.

Mozilla Thunderbird - email client. This allows me to email on any computer with a live internet connection whilst providing ability to work within emails when offline.

Lightning extension (for Mozilla Thunderbird) - calendar.

Mozilla Firefox - web browser. I've used this for a while so am more comfortable in this program than Internet Explorer.

Add-ons for Mozilla Firefox - Evernote web clipper, Fireshot, Shareaholic

7zip - compression and archiving of files.

Foxit Reader - PDF reader (smaller alternative to adobe reader)

KeePass - password management program

SyncToy - synchronisation software

Evernote - information management software. Allows you to store anything, I use it to keep notes on active projects and teaching ideas.

OpenOffice - a free alternative to Microsoft Office.

Online:

I am a heavy user of del.icio.us for storage of bookmarks. My collection is here. I direct my students to use my existing web research to assist theirs.

In combination, these tools are all I require on a regular basis. There are a range of other programs I use less regularly that I choose not to occupy space on these two important drives.

If you want to know anything further about the technologies mentioned, click on the links or email me here.