eLearning - Reflective Blog

This blog will reflect on the VLE that I have constructed for Sports Science students, which can be found at https://sites.google.com/site/sportsscienceanatomy/home. I will look at the different processes that were undertaken to design the VLE, alongside my reasoning as to why I have made the decisions that I have.

To begin, I had to decide on how to structure my course content. Using Bubbl.us, I created a mindmap allowing me to streamline my ideas into a more structured design. I decided upon three key learning objectives, with each objective being split into two sections. This left me me with six lessons that I had to cover, which I felt was enough to showcase a variety of different tools and techniques.

Following on from this, it was time to decide on the layout of my VLE. Firstly I chose a relatively neutral theme, with the majority of the VLE consisting of black text on a white background. I played around with a few different themes, but felt that keeping it basic was best as some of my pages were going to be text heavy and I didn't want anything too outlandish to detract from the information.

I set up my VLE pages in a logical way; I started with my homepage, created six pages for the each of my lessons, and finished by designing a scheme of work. The home page was an introductory area, giving a brief overview of the site along with the benefits of undertaking the course. I didn't want to overload this page with information, as I didn't want it to seem overawing even before any of the course content was taught. The scheme of work was constructed using the table widget, sharing key details and deadlines. As this VLE would be used solely for remote learning, I felt it important to list the key characteristics of the course with the students, as to make them feel involved.



Once this had been completed, I needed to create the pages where my learning and assessments would take place. As each lesson was a standalone topic, I felt that some form of assessment would be needed for each lesson, as opposed to a single formative assessment at the end of the course. This would ensure continual involvement for the students, which would be likely to stimulate motivation. I was very aware that this would all be taught remotely, so I wanted to make sure that students were not allowed to cruise through the course without doing any work. This process made me realise the need to continually assess learners to gain an understanding of their progress, but not to make these assessments overawing. Some of the assessments were structured so they wouldn't feel challenging to the learner, that they could have some form of enjoyment whilst completing them.


I utilised applications such as Pinterest and Kahoot, to add an element of fun to the assessments. I was very aware the a distance course needs to be engaging, as there is no physical presence to influence the learner. These fun activities would not only show progress, but keep the learner interested on the course. Likewise, I embedded a YouTube video into one of my lessons, to make a change from the learner reading all of the content. I used Hot Potatoes to create a missing words quiz, which allowed me to gain an understanding of how the students were finding the complicated terminology of the course. As it is anatomy based, some of the words can be very similar but have very different meanings, so I wanted to give the students a chance to be able to differentiate between them.


The construction of a scheme of work was something I thought was key to the VLE. I wanted to make sure that the learners felt part of a community, not just a lone person working behind a computer screen. The scheme of work was designed to make the learning feel more formal, with deadlines having to be adhered to. This not only allowed me to organise when things needed to be done, but students could work around their life yet know exactly what was expected of them.


Before the construction of the VLE, I was sceptical as to how it would work in a distance learning setting. I've used VLE's before, and have always only used them to submit assignments and look out for announcements. However, through considered construction of this VLE, I can see how learners who cannot physically attend a classroom can still have a fulfilling educational experience. Google sites was easy to use and adapt to what I wanted to design, with many functions allowing for a varied learning experience. I look forward to constructing more VLE's in the future, whether it be for private lessons or in an educational institution.

Social Media in Teaching - The good, the bad, and the boring

In every lesson I teach, I'm faced with the same evil; and evil which doesn't exist in body, but in the mind of nearly everyone in the Western world. Social Media. Not a lecture goes by where I don't catch someone Tweeting, or taking SnapChat of their mate doing a funny pose. However, is there a place for social media in teaching?

In my PCET course, we have shared Facebook page which helps me in every aspect of the course. From explaining how to tackle an assignment, to sharing helpful journals, it's definitely something which is a vital part of my learning. As a teacher, I encourage the students to talk about their work, and to help each other in their quest for success. Some of my classes have Whatsapp groups designed specifically to talk about college work, which can only aid their learning.

However, social media obviously isn’t just used to aid learning. In my class, due to a lack of resources the students sometimes have to do research on their mobile phones. As I walk around the class, at least 90% are checking Facebook, and quickly changing to another tab when I get near them. It’s frustrating to try and teach a vital part of an upcoming assignment, when the students are more interested in the latest funny cats video (which I admit, is usually hilarious).

The question is though, is social media much more interesting than my teaching? Once you’ve been on Facebook for two minutes you’ve seen it all, I often find myself aimlessly scrolling through my timeline for no reason. Would the students not find it more interesting (and definitely beneficial) to concentrate on me teaching them things that will help them succeed academically?...

...Probably not. Those videos are really funny I suppose.

Wordle - All talk but no action...

Wordle is an online program, allowing for the generation of word clouds to be designed. The size of each word in the cloud correlates with the amount of times the word appears in the text you've chosen, with the bigger words appearing more in the text.

A Wordle based on an article about tennis player Novak Djokovic

Whilst looking nice, I can't imagine that this is something I'd use too much in my teaching. I don't think my students would see the value of it, as they are mostly information driven. This program's only output is highlighting the frequency of words, albeit in the pretty fashion. In the PCET sector, I can't imagine many subjects that a Wordle would really advance learning. Perhaps in some form of Graphics degree, where the creativity would be useful. Apart from that, I don't see it as an appropriate learning tool,

Furthermore, it can't be used in Google Chrome. My personal laptop uses Google Chrome, and it also the preferred browser in the college I lecture in. This would mean that creating a Wordle would probably be more effort than it's worth.

All in all, it's a nice application to waste some time on, but not much more than that (in a teaching sense)

Most Appropriate Applications - What is best?

This course has been informative, working through a number of different pieces of software and working out which would be best to use in my teaching. This post will focus on a few applications which I have decided to use in my teaching, why I've used them, and how they've helped me create an effective learning environment.

Nearpod is an application which I feel is very useful to my teaching. It allows for presentations to be shown to students individually, rather than them all looking at one screen. Throughout a Nearpod presentation interactive questions can be added, to allow for student engagement.  I prefer this to asking students to put their hands up and answer, as that allows for some students to take a back seat and not get involved. Barkley (2010) notes that promoting student engagement can have a positive impact on exam results, which is why it's important to focus on. With Nearpod, every student must provide an answer before you proceed, promoting inclusion of all students in the learning process. Personally, Nearpod works really well for me in certain situations. Every Tuesday morning, I have to teach Psychology in a computer suite. Initially I wasn't happy about this, as my planned lessons didn't involve computers. I found that as I was teaching, some students would log onto the computers and look at social media, as they couldn't resist the lure of the computer in front of them. Since I've started to use Nearpod, I can make the most of the fact that ever student is in front of a computer. I go through the slides I've prepared, and set the students brief quizzes and questions as we work through the lesson. Ingle and Duckworth (2010) comment on the use of Nearpod, stating that if used effectively it can be a good way to interact with those students who wouldn't normally want to get involved. It wouldn't be an understatement to say that Nearpod couldn't be more appropriate for this lesson I have to teach.

Secondly, Hot Potatoes is an application which has worked well in my teaching. The majority of my lectures start at 9:30am, a time when most of my students do not want to do anything which is too labour intensive. Galloway, Rogers, Armstrong and Leo (1997) note that to increase a students motivation, the work should be made more interesting to increase their want to complete it.  Some of the modules that I teach are very heavy with content, eg Human Anatomy. I find that going straight into a difficult lesson immediately disengages the learners, and I've lost them for the whole lesson. Hot Potatoes has allowed me to find way in which to ease my students into the lesson, whilst also making it relevant to the content being taught. I like to start each lesson with a round up of key themes from a previous lesson, which I now do via Hot Potatoes. Using JQuiz, I often create small quizzes relating to previous work, which students have a few minutes to complete at the start of a lesson. I sometimes use JCloze to create a blank filling task, where students needed to remember key words and themes from a previous lesson to complete the sentence. I have found that tasks like these allow for the students to engage in a way which doesn't seem like work to them, and get into a working mindset for the content which is about to be taught. After initially being sceptical about Hot Potatoes, I'm pleasantly surprised that I've found a way to make it work for me and my teaching.

References

Barkley, E (2010). Student Engagement Techniques: A Handbook for College Faculty. USA: Jossey-Bass. 

Galloway, D., Rogers, C., Armstrong D., Leo, E (1997). Motivating the Difficult to Teach. UK: Longman.

Ingle, S., Duckworth, V (2013). Enhancing Learning Through Technology in Lifelong Learning. London: McGraw-Hill Education. 

Barriers to Effective Use of Technology - Are there any?

As stated in previous blogs, the use of technology in teaching has extended the way in which teaching and learning has progressed, However, is technology accessible for everyone? Should technology be replied upon as a primary teaching aid, when there are barriers to usage? This blog post will explore a few barriers to effective technology use, and the impact it can have on learning.

Even though technology has been around for a number of years, it can still be viewed as a needless distraction by some teachers, for a number of reasons. Ertmer (1999) noted that teachers can experience barriers two fold. Firstly, the understanding of how to effectively use technology is a barrier to usage. Teachers who grew up without the use of computers and tablets are often less confident in their ability to utilise technology, which results in minimal integration of technology into their teaching. This is known as an internal barrier, a barrier which comes from within the teacher. Teachers also experience external barriers, such as a lack of equipment. In my teaching, I have taught in classrooms with a single computer (which didn't work), making it difficult to effectively integrate technology. Butler and Sellbom (2002) comment that without adequate facilities teachers can't be expected to become proficient with technology, meaning the students experience of technological learning will suffer.

From the learners point of view, cost can be an issue. Tablets and laptops cost hundreds of pounds, making them a luxury that not all can afford. Keengwe, Onchwari and Wachira (2008) report that cost is the most important factor when looking at technology in the classroom, with it being the biggest reason for students not using it. Despite this, work from Christensen (2002) noted that as technology has advanced, the perceived need of technology from students and teachers has also increased. Nearly all lectures nowadays are put onto Moodle, with the expectancy that students will look over this at home. However, as I have found, not all students can afford a home electronic device, making it difficult for students to fully embrace the every growing world of technological learning.

To conclude, there are numerous barriers for effective use of technology. In my opinion, there are two stand out barriers. If technology cannot be afforded, then the influence of it in the classroom will be minimal. As more teaching moves online, students cannot be expected to learn in this way if they cannot afford access to the work. Secondly, if teachers do not feel confident using technology, how can they expected to teach their content using technology? Without adequate training and information, it would be better for a teacher to stick to their natural teaching techniques, so they do not run the risk of confusing themselves and their students.

References

Butler, D., Sellbom, M. (2002). Ertmer P. (1999). Addressing first- and second-order barriers to change: Strategies for technology integration. Educational Technology Research and Development. 47 (4), p. 47-61..Educause Quarterly. 1 (1), p. 22-28.

Christensen, R. (2002). Effects of Technology Integration Education on the Attitudes of Teachers and Students. Journal of Research on Technology in Education. 34 (4), p. 411-433.

Ertmer P. (1999). Addressing first- and second-order barriers to change: Strategies for technology integration. Educational Technology Research and Development. 47 (4), p. 47-61.

Keengwe, J., Onchwari, G., Wachira, P. (2008). Computer Technology Integration and Student Learning: Barriers and Promise. Journal of Science Education and Technology. 17 (6), p. 560-565.

How Technology Has Changed The Way We Learn - What did we do before computers?

No one can question that since the growing world of technology has emerged, the ways in which we learn has changed. However, what can be questioned is whether this change is for better or for worse. Anderson (2004) suggests that using technology can be timely way of imparting information, if used well. However, Clark (1983) disagrees, stating the the use of  technology is nothing but a way in which to present the information, that it doesn't give anything to the learning process.

The way that we access information has changed dramatically. When I first started Secondary School, it was very much textbook based, with lessons consisting of a brief period of teaching followed by copying a few paragraphs out of a book. This sufficed at the time, as it was one of the only way of getting students to have the knowledge that they needed. Now, things are very different. Textbooks and journals are stored online, available to find at any time of the day. Students can access information almost immediately, rendering note taking not as important as it used to be.

So what's the point of attending an institution to learn? All of my lectures end up on Moodle, in PowerPoint form. When I was in University my lecturers often recorded the lectures, allow for remote viewing of any important lectures that were missed. Ally (2009) comments that although remote learning was initially designed to allow students who lived far away to learn aswell, it has now been adopted by those who simply don't value attending lectures.

Universities charge extortionate prices for courses, the content of which could be put onto a Moodle/Blackboard page for students who don't make it to lessons. However, learning is more than just reading words on a screen. Learning is making sense of something you're not sure of, which is far easier to do with some help from a teacher.

To conclude, technology has definitely changed the way in which we learn, and for the better in the most part. It's made information a lot more accessible for individuals who maybe wouldn't have had the opportunity 20 years ago. However, technology will never have that personal aspect, one which people all crave on a certain level.

References

Ally, M (2009). Mobile Learning: Transforming the Delivery of Education and Training. Canada: AU Press.

Anderson, T (2004). The Theory and Practice of Online Learning. 2nd ed. London: London.

Clark, R. (1983). Reconsidering Research on Learning from Media.Review of Educational Research,. 53 (4), p. 445-459.

The Value of Mobile Technology in Teaching and Learning - Is there any? (*SPOILER*...Yes)

Whether you like it or not, as a teacher in 2016 you cannot escape from technology. In nearly every classroom is an interactive whiteboard, the majority of students have access to computers and tablets, and no lesson is complete without the obligatory PowerPoint presentation. However, is there any value in using technology? Or is it just a tool that is being used to replace teachers?.

Ivers (2003) notes that using technology in the classroom can be an effective aid to teaching, if used appropriately. I agree with this statement, as a number of teachers nowadays seem to be too reliant on using so many pieces of technological software, as opposed to cocentrating on actually teaching their students. I use technology in nearly every lesson, as an aid to my teaching. I feel proficient in the use of technology, which allows me to pick and choose the correct platforms to enhance my teaching, rather than replace it.

I feel that they way in which technology has been dumped on teachers says a lot for how it is used. Reeves (1998) states that technology is used most effectively in the classroom when the teachers are allowed to implement it in their own ways rather than use prescribed pieces of software, which can cause confusion in the way students are taught. Personally, I have to mark all of my students assignments through Moodle, which I find a very time consuming process. I do not have access to a tablet, where the marking is apparently "so easy like" (said in a rich Swansea dialect). Instead, I have to spend hours struggling through one assignment on a laptop, only to find that the session has "timed out" and I have to do it all again. Frustrating to say the least.

Despite my criticisms, I'm all for using technology in teaching and learning. Bull (199&) comments how technology can allow for a bank of information to be collated online, which can aid students in revision. I always put content on Moodle for my students, which they can refer back to when writing assignments. Online journal banks are extremely useful for University students, allowing for easy access to detailed work to supplement assignments. In my teaching, every student having their own smartphone can make up for the lack of computers available. I can set a short research task, and each student can find the relevant information within seconds.

To conclude, I'm a big advocate of technology in the classroom, if used effectively. As someone who has grown up with technology, I feel confident in using differing types of technology to aid my teaching. But fear not, the age of the pen and paper is not over just yet. Those who don't feel comfortable with technology need not worry just yet, but I'd start taking beginner courses in Microsfot Office if I were you.

References

Bull, G. (1997). Technology in Schools. Emphasizing Parallel Programming Techniques. 45 (7), p. 321-356.

Ivers, K (2003). A Teacher's Guide to Using Technology in the Classroom. London: Greenwood.

Reeves, T, C. (1998). The Impact of Media and Technology in Schools. Bertelsmann Foudation Report. 1 (1), p. 1-43.