At the time of attending some of the workshops during the EDGCT5008 Ballarat Forum I had a hard time being able to see the link between the information provided and the classroom I would stand in front in a few weeks’ time. I can remember writing down: “unsure of the reason why this is discussed” and “not sure what I need to do with this information”. It was working on my Negotiated Task which made the link and relationship between workshops obvious. As the diagram on the side shows - Dr Xiaoli Jiang discussed the Flow Therapy, which has four important parts:
1. Incremental learning through clarity of outcomes
2. Innovative practices to get students into the flow experience
3. Authentic assessment, which means appropriate assessment for skill level
4. Peer learning – the latter was put into practice when we had to research what Flow Therapy was all about and present that to the rest of the group. Although I fully support an activity like this, doing it almost first off (early on it the process), sitting at a table with people you don’t really know, is hard. Most on my table buried their head in their tablet which made verbal communication non-existent. However, we got there in the end.
However, the reflection was about the links between the workshops and even the modules already started such as “Learning & teaching online”. It occurred to me when I looked for the most interesting workshop to choose on the Thursday that both “Creating videos from PowerPoint for Moodle and Mahara” as well as “Great balls of social media” were innovative practices which could assist in keeping learners engaged (in flow). Although interesting to listen to either one I came away with the following:
# Voice-over powerpoint seemed like a great tool and didn’t seem that difficult to do but I still did not know how to do it except for that Photo Story 3 needs to be used (which our table concluded was already out of date after we googled Photo Story to find out more about it).
# When uploading your video on YouTube you need to choose ‘unlisted’. Having never uploaded anything to YouTube this was one thing that stood out (however, Christine Nicholas forgot to inform us that without some other programs, uploading to YouTube can take a few hours)
# Technology has a mind of its own and will let you down when you need it most. I know this too well living in the country without cable and being dependent on the whims of mobile internet.
# Social media as innovative practice with its easy access and accessing information through a range of visuals, text and opinions on a given subject will only work if you have someone who facilitates it and provides instant feedback. We discovered this ourselves when using Facebook as an App for the Padagogy Wheel. Besides needing a facilitator we discovered that strict guidelines, including the appropriate target group, and well formulated questions were also important. Instead of using yet another medium I may utilise a blog on Moodle. According to Justin Ferriman platforms such as Facebook can “create a better learning environment for students” but may also “result in more distractions”. I just need to ensure that I keep in mind the points mentioned above.
References
Learning through Social Media - The Pros and Cons! Retrieved February 09, 2014, from
http://www.commlabindia.com/elearning-articles/learning-through-social-media.php
Ferriman, J. (-). Growing Use of Social Media in Education (Online forum comment on Learning and Collaboration Blog). Retrieved February 09, 2014, from http://www.learndash.com/blog/
1. Incremental learning through clarity of outcomes
2. Innovative practices to get students into the flow experience
3. Authentic assessment, which means appropriate assessment for skill level
4. Peer learning – the latter was put into practice when we had to research what Flow Therapy was all about and present that to the rest of the group. Although I fully support an activity like this, doing it almost first off (early on it the process), sitting at a table with people you don’t really know, is hard. Most on my table buried their head in their tablet which made verbal communication non-existent. However, we got there in the end.
However, the reflection was about the links between the workshops and even the modules already started such as “Learning & teaching online”. It occurred to me when I looked for the most interesting workshop to choose on the Thursday that both “Creating videos from PowerPoint for Moodle and Mahara” as well as “Great balls of social media” were innovative practices which could assist in keeping learners engaged (in flow). Although interesting to listen to either one I came away with the following:
# Voice-over powerpoint seemed like a great tool and didn’t seem that difficult to do but I still did not know how to do it except for that Photo Story 3 needs to be used (which our table concluded was already out of date after we googled Photo Story to find out more about it).
# When uploading your video on YouTube you need to choose ‘unlisted’. Having never uploaded anything to YouTube this was one thing that stood out (however, Christine Nicholas forgot to inform us that without some other programs, uploading to YouTube can take a few hours)
# Technology has a mind of its own and will let you down when you need it most. I know this too well living in the country without cable and being dependent on the whims of mobile internet.
# Social media as innovative practice with its easy access and accessing information through a range of visuals, text and opinions on a given subject will only work if you have someone who facilitates it and provides instant feedback. We discovered this ourselves when using Facebook as an App for the Padagogy Wheel. Besides needing a facilitator we discovered that strict guidelines, including the appropriate target group, and well formulated questions were also important. Instead of using yet another medium I may utilise a blog on Moodle. According to Justin Ferriman platforms such as Facebook can “create a better learning environment for students” but may also “result in more distractions”. I just need to ensure that I keep in mind the points mentioned above.
References
Learning through Social Media - The Pros and Cons! Retrieved February 09, 2014, from
http://www.commlabindia.com/elearning-articles/learning-through-social-media.php
Ferriman, J. (-). Growing Use of Social Media in Education (Online forum comment on Learning and Collaboration Blog). Retrieved February 09, 2014, from http://www.learndash.com/blog/
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PowerPoint Voice-Over Beside is the adjusted powerpoint that was originally made by our table during the Flow Theory workshop. I added new information to it, especially the relationship of Flow Theory to the classroom, and did a voice over with the use of Windows Movie Maker. Then I uploaded it to YouTube. Things I would have never done if it wasn't for this course and the stimulus to give it a try. |