Meeting #3 - Face 2 Face Minutes
E-Learning
Sunday 22nd May, 2011
@ 12:00pm Broadway Shopping Centre
Meeting #2 - Face 2 Face Minutes
E-Learning
Saturday 30th April, 2011
@ 10:00am Eastgardens
Group members: Heather and Christine.
We need to add some notes to our previous ideas:- The focus of our blog is on 'me' as the driver of learning. (We need to get some research to back this up - Nicollete can you do this?)
- The aim of our Me-learning community is to help people gain ICT skills particularly in the use of Web 2.0 tools. It is designed to be a platform that ICT integrators use to bring their teachers together to learn tools that are relevant to each user. The ICT integrator will be the moderator for that group. There will also be support for the moderator from the hosts of the site.
- The Me-learning community is designed to be used at a school level. That is, for each module, teachers from the same school work together through the module. This aims to solve problems of: timings as it is accessible at the users chosen times/differentiation/reduce training costs/building richer learning communities particularly as the communities can be developed from real face-to-face communities.
- There will be networking and discussion forums that will be open to all users of the site. This can encourage schools to work collaboratively on projects or modules too.
- Once a year there will be a Me 2 Conference. This can be delivered face-to-face or via a webinar.
- We need to build into the site a strong purpose as to why people are members. The key aim of the site is to acquire new skills through various modules. This helps keep people engaged and can help reduce the feelings of being isolated.
- Storyboarded ideas for the e-learning community. Heather to scan and upload to here.
For the group presentation - we are still going to drive everything through our blog and live-binder.
We have split up the topics so that each of us can polish a section of the presentation and submit this on the live binder (a folder has been set up for you). If you cannot access this for some reason please EMAIL all of us with the information and Heather will upload it to the live binder. We are aiming to do this to the standard required for the group task which is due on Friday 27th May.
To be ready for our group presentation on Sat 14 May:
Christine to do
- A brief outline of the key features of the e-learning community (integrate the model we are using) - 30/4/11 - done and uploaded into both livebinder (as a pdf) and blogger.com.
- A justification for considering the proposed e-learing community as a collective learning opportunity
- Summarise the collaborative prcess we have used. 30/4/11 - done but needs to be updated as the process continues.
- Type up minutes and upload to blog 30/4/11 - done.
- Email everyone what they are doing. 30/4/11 - done.
- A storyboard or diagram that represents the e-Learning community design, 1/5/11 I have uploaded a draft storyboard idea into our Live Binder. If you guys have a chance, can you please give me feedback. At this stage, I do not have the descriptive text as I will do that once eveyone is ok with what it looks like. The buttons at the top are hyperlinked and are working, as is the module button for Blogs. accompanied by a descriptive text, which includes sufficient detail that the structure and functions are clearly apparent.
- Change the heading on live-binder between Christine and myself, this has now been done. (see notes from meeting)
- Keep blog current
- Get well soon
- Educational rationale for the design elements, informed by our experiences in communities and readings in the subject. Note: the model we are using has been posted to the blog - click here to go to it
- Please upload to blog and or Live Binder so that all resources are at all of our fingertips.
Christopher to do
- A summary/synthesis of 6 readings/research in this subject on learning in technology-mediated communities. Please link these readings to how they are useful for us in developing our own me-learning community.
- If you are unable to upload to the blog and or Live Binder, please send to Heather for uploading.
Can we aim to have all of this done by Wednesday 11th May by 6pm. This will give Heather and Christine time to ensure the live-binder is all ready to go for our presentations.
E-Learning
Friday 15th April, 2011
@ 10:30am Broadway
Group members: Heather, Nicolette and Christine.
Ideas for a e-learning community:
Ideas for a e-learning community:
· E-learning community for teachers as students.
· Assumption that the members will not know each other. We really want to try to develop a more authentic relationship. Photos/sounds etc to make people feel connected.
** to tell us the site that can foster chats/social networking. Facebook type approach. Elgg is the tool that we would use to do this.
· Online modules aimed at teachers – short courses containing videos; instruction and then they have to come up with a product. They can use a forum to discuss and share ideas.
· SHORT MODULES – to be done in their own time and is manageable in a short period of time but to engage as a part of a community. Over a year there will be for example 10 modules, but each one is designed to be completed within a few hours. For example: blogging, e-binder, wikis, chats. Once the modules are done – participants can put reviews and hints.
· Moderator presence – direct people to other resources or comments made by others. Discussions to be ordered by newest/most recent.
· RSS feed of new events or a twitter stream. Subscribe to forums etc so people can keep up with the news/discussions.
· Home page – being current and linking to new parts of the site.
· Face to face opportunities: Skype/conferencing and face-to-face in real time. Can you trust the information without knowing a person?? Embed this in our community. It is not the bulk of the community but a feature which is offered to help develop community. To help those who need the help on a particular module. Network and sharing of informal learning. The interaction is the key to the learning.
· Community is the fundamental feature of our ‘experience’ and this will drive the learning which is supported by the technology. Elgg will help get social networking to happen – link people like in facebook through a ‘friend’ feature.
· Every user will have a blog – they will learn how to create one first and then for every module they will update their blogs to show their new learning.
Features of the e-learning community:
· Embed multimedia e.g Video clips – instructional (screencaptures) and also written instructions.
· Discussion board – this will be moderated. When there is no response from the community the moderator/facilitator will need to provide some feedback/help.
**Nicolette to find research suggest ‘fluid’ ‘organic’ experience – we disagree with this theory. Organic can lead to static and disenfranchised – especially keeping in mind that the audience is teachers.
Justification for the e-learning community:
· A place for teachers designed by teachers with an understanding of the time constraints and needs to the users.
· BOS mandates ICT is integrated into the curriculum – and soon the National Curriculum.
· NSW Teacher accreditation and New Scheme teachers need to do a certain number of courses to be accredited as teachers.
· Teaching people new skills that they will put into practice.
· Individual blogs can be used as part of the teacher accreditation process for the NSW Teachers Institute.
· Need in the market. Go beyond training – develop new knowledge and practice. Based on a model of the reflective teacher – the blog will drive this. Blogs will be published for all to view.
Educational Rationale:
Negatives:
· Feeling of being overwhelmed by what is out there.
· Alienated – cut off from the learning. It can be a lonely experience. (Facebook approach to combat this) – resulted in high turnover and completion rates – focus on community to drive learning. The moderator/facilitator needs to be more involved. There to encourage and support. Keep the comments personal and relevant. Acknowledge people’s contributions and guide to the next level (offer extension). Help people to gain an identity and acknowledge their contributions.
· Needs to have greater presence ‘meddler in the middle’ – need a facilitator. They help develop trust and direction. The role of the teacher is very important. Not in determining what or how things are learnt but to guide individuals to meet their goals. Always bringing back the learner. No hierarchy or power should be implied in the term facilitator – they are there to ensure learners meet their educational needs. The facilitator can be a learner at the same time.
· Risk that the site can be shut down ??
· Takes a lot of time - face to face is more efficient.
Positive:
· Informal learning opportunities
· Allows users to engage across boarders and time
· Variety of things to learn
· Share your skills particularly useful for practitioners who work in isolation daily.
· Opportunity to meet like-minded people
· Positive experiences and general support for learning and the learners. There was not any negative experiences where people disrespected other people’s ideas. People can discuss and disagree with each other but it is done with a level of respect generally. (there are cases however where people can be rude – text type can mix messages that otherwise face-to-face can avoid).
Where to from here???
Leave things until next week till the task Part II is due. Then catch up again Saturday the 30th – 10:30am @ Broadway.
Chris to get an agenda for next meeting.
Still go on to the blog.
For the presentation: 14th May
Three areas:
1. Introduction: how we met, came to our decisions, our process involved in designing a e-learning community; logistics etc
2. Rationale: The tools we chose and why
3. The -/+ as informing our choices – based on theory and experience.
4. Conclusion:
Hand-in component:
Live binder – tabs to collaborate
Put this in the blog.
