INAP conference - Day 2 - 2nd September 2015

Day day begins with announcements for best conference paper awards and short presentation from AVETRA to garner more members. Four awards: best paper English speaking author and best paper non-English author, plus highly commended for each category as well. Best paper English to team of four (Kira Clarke, Malgorzata Klatt, Nicky Dulfer and Emlyn Cruikshank) from University of Melbourne on school based apprenticeships and traineeships for young Australians. I win the  award for highly commended English speaking authors' paper!! Best paper non English speaking to Ursel Hauschildt (University of Bremen) on governance and financing in the dual systems and highly commended to Magnus Fjellstrom and Per Kristmansson on learning as an apprentice.

Professor Stephen Billett provides the day's keynote on 'reconciling two distinct conceptions of apprenticeship: guidance and learning'. Need to remember the learning aspect of apprenticeship, not just as a system of education. Individual's learning the main key to human development. When we learn, we remake and transform practice. Learning arises through experiences but education is the provision of experiences. Overview of how apprenticeship became a model of education through importance in preparing young people for occupations. Listed current models and characteristics of apprenticeship as educational model. Dual in Germany, Austria; 3rd space in Switzerland; school based in Sweden etc; work based in Australia, NZ;  2 + 2 in Norway and ad hoc in UK and USA. However first model is across human history, with only a very small time in human history when learning is schooled. Learning occurred through mimesis, including imitative processes and active engagement. Root of apprenticeship is 'apprehending knowledge' and learning is 'stolen' (see Downey). used China as an example of long period of innovation whereby production moved from craft to mass production without formal learning for occupations. Much not capable of being captured through declarative knowledge. Learning is embodied, need to be attuned to haptic qualities and dispositional influences etc. apprenticeships models include curriculum where apprenticeship is a way of life, deliberate access to /structuring and ordering of experiences. Curriculum models include foe learning, pathways, parallel practice and as work conditions allow. Pedagogic practices include story telling, verbalisation, pedagogically rich activities, guided learning/proximal guidance, direct instruction, indirect / distal guidance, heuristics and mnemonics, partially worked examples etc. pedagogically rich activities examples include nurses' handover, doctors' on mortality and morbidity. Personal epistemological are important, how they view themselves and how to act in their own context. Finished with reconciliations and implications for school based and work based models. Important to view apprenticeship as primarily learning supported by educational processes. 

First concurrent session with Professor Bonnie Watt from University of Alberta with 'skilled trade worker to a teacher of high school youth: a little bit of luck and a lot of courage'. Provided overview of context. Each year people with trades qualifications embark on BEd to become school teachers in area of careers and technology Studies (CTS). Used Bourdeiu's habitus as grounding concept to understand the persistence, resilience and optimism required to complete.  Social, vocational (not the same as occupational) and occupational identities involved. Need for people from non-academic backgrounds to negotiate classed occupational and educational structures. 

After morning tea, at presentation by Nicholas Wyman and Joanne George from Skilling Australia Foundation on 'associations between adaptation of German style vocational education models and impact on apprenticeship pathways in regional American labour markets'. See book Jobs U for more details - need for apprenticeships in USA. Innovative apprenticeship.org a resource on apprenticeship from Dr. Bob Lerman. Currently a prime time to revive apprenticeships in USA. Compared the capabilities which are outcomes of German vocational education system and how USA needs to ramp up quality and spread of apprenticeships to stay competitive in high technical level manufacturing e.g. Cars, machinery etc. companies have had to work with schools and communities to train to the skill levels required. 

Another presentation on informal apprenticeship with Ansa Liebenberg from MerSETA presenting on 'a quest for social justice: exploring the possibility of expanding the South African apprenticeship system to allow for informal apprentices'. South African constitution and Bill of Rights 1996 set up values for transforming society to achieve social justice and social inclusion. 20 years hence still work in progress. Challenges include high unemployment (25%), poverty, rural migration, shrinking mining and manufacturing etc. the informal sector recognised as a job creator and represents opportunity but also difficulties in corralling. To bring things together, people, policy, planet ( sustainability), profit need to work towards sustainable social justice. Need to contextualise national systems to ensure social justice goals are reached.

After lunch, a plenary session on World Skills with apprenticeship ambassadors. The panel included Troy Bennett, Jyothi Forman, Ashlee Hodson and Patrick Janes facilitated by Mark Callaghan. The theme was 'beyond the classroom: promoting apprenticeships as viable career pathways to industry and society. All panellist were members of Australian Worldskills representatives ( the skillaroos) and Australian apprenticeship ambassadors. Each presented on their pathway into work, apprenticeship / traineeship experiences and future aspirations. Great to hear viewpoints from a personable group passionate about their work and keen to promote the advantages of apprenticeship. Worldskills standards now regarded as goals to aspire to for increasing standards world wide. 

Then two papers centred around COMET (see book) with presenters from MerSETA. First up, Patricia Jacobs on 'creating pathways to enhance college to work transition using COMET.' Linked needs for 21st century conceptual age work requirements with a way of assessing the competencies. cOMET allow a range of outcomes to be recorded on spider diagrams, allowing tracking of progress as outcomes are reached. A dynamic tracing is therefore possible providing trainers and learners with information on aspects to be worked on. Conceptual age workplaces require design not just function, stories, symphony, empathy, play and meaning (Pink, 2005). Offered a rework of the traditional COMET diagram to layer on the conceptual age approaches. 

Next, Helen Brown with 'competence measurement in South Africa : teachers reactions to feedback on COMET results'. Objective to assist TVET teachers to understand their status in moving from educational to vocational pedagogy. Focus groups with 14 teachers of over 800 students, across 5 occupations. Teachers also took the test. Teachers' and students' radar graphs were compared in each occupation revealing similarities between teachers and students. Themes were teachers could not identify their best student problem solvers, there was teaching to the test, practical mastery was diluted I favour of theory and vocational identity of VET teaching was identified. Teachers recommended teacher cooperation, sustained work integrated linkages, qualification with learning design, bridging programmes, practical mastery prioritised, professional development for teachers. 

Conference closes with plenary where there are brief report backs from topic rapporteurs providing overviews and themes emerging from of presentations. Dr. Mike Brown, Professor Thomas Dissinger, Dr. Annette Foley, Dr. Bob Lerman and professor Bonnie Watt present on their highlights and learning through the conference. 

INAP conference day 1 - 1st September 2015

Last week, was at Ballarat for the bi-annual innovative apprenticeship (INAP) 2015 conference. link to conference page. Some introductory activities on the Monday afternoon with opportunity to look through the trades facilities based at the Federation University SME campus. Several brand new facilities with modern equipment. Apprentices from almost to south Australia border and east to Gippsland supported with day release, block courses and some pre trade training. In the evening a welcome session with drinks, finger food and welcome speeches from University, city leaders and region's political representatives. 

Tuesday Morning (1st September) of the first day conference dawns fine and frosty as we are bussed out to the mount Helen campus where the rest of the conference is situated. Day begins with conference opening  and a poignant welcome to country introducing the Worrarong perspectives of sustainability and the need to take care of the land for our descendants.  Professor Phillip Gonon provides background of INAP and its role. professor Erica Smith who is conference chair starts off with general introduction to facilities and programme. 

First keynote is from Senator Simon Birmingham, assistant minister of education. Spoke of revival worldwide of support for apprenticeship systems and role required into the future. Apprenticeship completions, quality of outcomes, status of apprenticeship compared to higher education and support systems to be funded for mentoring. An apprenticeship reform panel to be formed to strengthen apprenticeship systems to maximise apprentice numbers and completions (sitting at 50% for many years). Area to explore include 'incentives' to apprentices and employers, pre-apprenticeship prospects - how can they be successful? and alternative models including greater flexibility for provision and support. 

The mornings second keynote is with Paul Comyn from the international labour organising (ILO) based in Geneva. The topic is 'can traditional apprenticeships in the informal economy of least developed countries be integrated as legitimate pathways in formal skills development systems?' Or 'quality apprenticeships: can the informal become formal? Covered global apprenticeship trends, quality apprenticeship design, informal apprentices and formalising apprenticeships with examples from South Asia. Recommends need to understand how the informal system functions and progressively link the informal and informal.

After morning tea, concurrent presentations begin. First up, select a session with Phil Loveder from NCVER Australia on 'why apprentices drop out in Australia and policy implications'. Presented on importance of continuing work on trying to understand the ongoing challenge of completions. Australian completions still static 52.4% with many completers also not working in the trade on completion. Lower level quals even lower! Main reasons were personal, redundancy, job mismatch, relationship issues at work and unhappy with training. Employers contributions still important. Most apprentices leave in first Year to second year. Recommends investigation of alternative models including RPL, split on job and off job half for each, accelerate time, reduce costs to employer, early sign off allowed etc. 

Second session with  group from  University of Melbourne with Dr. Gosia Klatt and others on 'working their way to school completion, school based apprenticeships and traineeships for young Australians'. Provided overview with 20,000 young people engaged and little longitudinal evidence to gauge effectiveness. Especially no evidence school based track effective in leading to employment for dis-advantaged kids. Challenges include usual suspects - low completions, school capabilities, student readiness, objectives unclear and lack of support system. Overview of research approach and findings presented. Strong correlation between low SES and low quality levels, segregation of gender and high uptake if supported by state incentivisation. 

After lunch, I present on some of the findings from out project surface tablets. 'Improving dynamics of feedback through deploying mobile technology enhanced learning during pre-apprenticeship'. Go through rationale, projects, findings and recommendations. Emphasis on use of videos and peer feedback and role in assisting accelerated learning, feedback loop and learning of judgment to provide peer feedback. Stressed need to have confidence in staff by supporting digital literacy attainment with staff. Students also need preparation with feed back skills and digital literacy. 

Stay in the same room to attend James Canaan's from Manukau Institute of Technology presentation on 'pre-apprenticeships towards apprenticeships using practice focused learning'. 

Overview of part of PhD study, focused on understate pedagogy of practice based learning principles and styles. Investigates benefits of practice focused learning for students, employers and industry. Predominantly to look at practice based learning before and during work and in work of practice focussed learning in institutions. Automotive and electrical students form ample and Initial findings presented. 

Then paper by Professors Thomas Deissinger and Phillip Gonon on 'stakeholders in the German and Swiss systems role in innovating apprenticeship'. Applies the 'justification' approach to VET to address various issues including revitalisation of VET. Begin with description of Swiss and German VET. Employers' and trade unions' roles as key stakeholders listed and discussed e.g. The conflicts and consensus between the two. Therefore compromise required for VET policy including hybridisation of qualifications. 

Afternoon tea followed with session with Magnus Fjellstrom and Per Kristmansson from Umea University in Sweden on 'learning as an apprentice,  comparative study on affordances for vocational learning in school and work life apprentice education'. Compares employed construction apprentices (12) with business admin students (15) in upper secondary school who spent part of time at work. Based on concepts of workplace curriculum (Billett, 2001). Similarities and differences identified. Apprentices could not identify curriculum goals as they related completion of time sheets as main goal. Students were able to as they were being assessed to goals in course syllabi.  

Day closes with keynote with Raymond Patel from MerSETA, South Africa. The presentation focused on 'developing T-shaped people to comply with needs of a 21st century education, training and workplace demands'. MerSETA is the sector education and training authority for manufacturing, engineering and related services. Discussed differences between skill and  skilfulness. Presented future challenges skills development will need to meet. Global warming and impacts on social structure brought about by water shortages, social inequalities etc. Means VET has to train for a 'greener' future. Skilfulness implies nimbleness and dexterity with the ability to apply knowledge across various contexts in a lively manner. Uses Worldskills as an approach with TVET whereby international curriculum can be developed to address challenges in a holistic manner. 

Conference dinner follows back in town, closing a longish but informative day. Good to meet up with familiar international friends and meet and discuss shared interests with other apprenticeship researchers. 

coaches' eye - use in improving vocational education

We have been using coaches eye successfully (the Ipad App) for several years with hospitality students. Mainly for the improvement of skills and dispositional learning as students learn how to check in and check out guests.

This semester, we are trying coaches' eye app on surface pro tablets, with nursing students and office systems students. Nursing students to learn how to communicate with patients and other health staff using 'health' discipline protocols and office systems students learning how to chair meetings.

We have found coaches' eye to be better for skills learning rather than to improve communication skills requiring ongoing conversation.

Coaches' eye works best when there is not too much talking, and feedback is mainly on 'action'. In hospitality, the check-in / check-out process includes 'in-built' pauses in the conversational flow between receptionist and guests, allowing for aural feedback to be provided between students' activity. However, when there is a constant stream of conversation, it is much more difficult to provide oral feedback, as the oral feedback voices over the conversation between student and role play conversationalist. The pause button can be used to stop the video and offer feedback. However, there is a break in continuity in the learners' conversation and this lowers impact. Additionally, the role plays in nursing and office systems are quite long. Again, it becomes difficult to sustain attention when there are too many pauses in the feedback on a role play.

We are now working on focusing on key aspects of the role play. i e. what is the skill being practiced for each role play. Tutors then hone in on the key aspects and offer feedback only on key aspects. Meanwhile, I return to evaluating other possible video annotation tools, starting by a refreshment of work from several years back from two blogs in 2009, one on video analysis vs video annotation, the other on video analysis for multimodal discourse analysis.

The teenage brain

 Attended a short presentation with Nathan Mikaere-Wallis who is an educator with a trust, Brainwave Trust Aotearoa, set up to disseminate neuroscience research on brain development from birth to adulthood to NZ organisations.

Most of the trust’s work is focused on supporting better outcomes for young children as the bulk of brain development occurs in the first 1000 days, the first three years of life. Our brain grows by a third during the first 1000 days and the various networks in the frontal context and our efficacy to learning etc. are set up at this crucial life stage. For summary, see wiki by Nathan and podcast on National Radio on what 3 to 7 year olds should learn.

Much of the framework supporting early brain development is based on the Perry neurosequential model. More also from the childtrauma academy.

In short, our brains have evolved over millions of years. We have a brain stem(brain 1) which takes care of our physical needs to keep us alive. Then there is the brain 2 which ensures we move as it controls motion etc. Brain 3 is the limbic brain which provides us with our emotions / feelings / motivations etc. and brain 4 the neocortex, allows us to learn complex cognitive tasks like reading and writing.

Babies need dyadic attachment relationships to ensure brain development progresses well during the crucial 1000 days. We are primed to learn how to read and write at 7. During adolescence, there is a period of reconsolidation and reconstruction in the neocortex at average age of 27. Girls generally mature beyond adolescences between 18 and 24, boys between 22 and 32. The adolescence phase is theorised to exist as that is the time we have evolved to be sexually active and begin procreation. However, contemporary society is not in synch, with child birth in women now pushed well into the 30s.

Having a dyadic relationship during adolescence may assist in helping young men engage with learning. Perhaps why apprenticeship work as young men are ‘primed’ to be receptive to building a relationship with a mentor at this stage in life development.

Will need to do some reading around this area to see if there is synergy in bringing some of the concepts into my area of interest - occupational identity formation especially at the beginning of apprenticeship.

Kaleidoscope - CPIT research week

This week, we hold the annual CPIT research dissemination event. A week of presentations from staff and students with a much anticipated 'Great Debate' on Wednesday around the topic - 'Google does more for sustainability than Greenpeace'.

Today at lunch time, Kay Giles, CPIT CE opened the first session, a series of short 6 minute presentations on a range of topics from the departments.

The format actually works quite well as it provides an overview of what our research colleagues have been up to. We had presentations from Architecture (Dr. Rory Green on various projects to help make NZ homes drier and warmer); Performing Arts (Tony McCaffrey on his latest theorising of performance by people percieved to have intellectual disabilities); Design (Michael Reed on a print portfolio project and Bruce Russell on the social utility of improvised sound work); Science (Dr. Jerry Sherman on a 'survey' used to find out what works best to tailor cardiac rehabilitation and Dr. Barbara Dolamore on using gene modelling to identify camphylobactor types); Business (Dr. Juan Pellegrino on SMEs learning to move into international markets); Computing (Amit Sarkar on resilience of information systems in crisis - Chch. earthquakes); and Midwifery (Dr. Mary Kensington on the findings from the midwifery first year of practice support programme (it works); Dr. Rea Dallenbach on evaluation of OB3 - a platform for co-creative learning; Dr. Lorna Davis on resiliance).

Tomorrow, another series of  a dozen of so presentations from tutors. Students 'pitch a project' on Thursday and Friday - providing summaries of their own projects.

Always a good opportunity to celebrate the diversity at CPIT through the many perspectives brought in through the various disciplinary areas.

Learning in the landscapes of practice - concept summary

Had time over the weekend (wet and snowy) to catch up on various accumulated links, readings and notes. One thread I followed through was on Wenger-Trayner's re-conceptualisation of the 'communities of practice' towards 'landscapes of practices'.

The newer conceptualisation of practice as landscape extends on the original premises of the socio-cultural foundation of learning. Communities of practices are linked, interconnected (loosely or tightly bound). Individuals traverse the landscape of practices as they enter and become part of specific communities of practices, often boundary crossing various communities due to the multi-disciplinary and multi-organisational nature of globalised organisations.

The book  summarising all the arguments represents a good first port of call to review one's own understanding of how communities of practices have shifted. Parts of the book is on Google books. Book overview can be obtained at this blog by David Rubeli and book review summary with s Nordic slant.

Since publication, Dr. Wenger has delivered several conference addresses summarising the approaches of landscapes of practice. This powerpoint is similar to the one used at a presentation given in 2013 at the University of Manchester.  Although about an hour long, worth a watch as the salient points are discussed.

In short, the concept of landscapes provides a refreshed view in light of the complexities now inherent in work organisation and the mobility of workers across discipline areas as their careers develop. Workers / learners have to continually negotiate / re-negotiate new perspectives as they are jostled from within their established Communities of Practice into being peripheral to others or their existing communities morph due to socio-political pressures. The journey is one across a landscape which is familiar but also includes gullies, unexpected turns and bluffs. Learning to walk through the landscape is now also as important as becoming part of the landscape.

Using Miracast

The new learning spaces at CPIT have screens with Miracast, which is where we are able to project the image from a tablet on to a large flat screen. There are pros and cons, discussed here and there is always a need to assist tutors in 'thinking outside the box'. Many teachers plan to use Miracast to enhance their use of powerpoint - some tips here for powerpoint on surface tablets.

However, Miracast is also a powerful tool if used to share 'learning moments' in the form of examples of students' own work, videos of stduents' practice or role plays etc. Our work has shown students take ownership and are more likely to re-watch learning resources, if students' work is incorporated into the teaching resource. A power point up loaded on to Moodle, means much more if examples of students' work from a class session, form part of the resource.

The opportunity to use students' work as 'learning conversation starters' is also a focus of our use of Miracast. Students' progressive work can be shared via Miracast on tutors' tablets if the work is transferred on to a shared class folder (say on OneDrive or Moodle or Dropbox) or transferred physically using a memory stick. We are using Surface RT tablets which have a usb, making physical transfer in a BYOD environment workable during tutorials. Five wired PCs around the room provide students without a device with digital hardware.

The rooms also have glass 'whiteboards' allowing for the use of 'office lens'. Office lens provides the facility to take images off surfaces with a bit of glare or crop pieces of work taken off note books etc. Office lens is linked to One Note, allowing for ease of transferability within the Windows OS.

I will undertake a series of class observations this semester to improve the deployment of Miracast though supporting tutors. In particular, to assist the building of a trusting learning culture within our classrooms to allow for co-construction of students' work as their learning progresses and to maximise opportunities for peer and tutor feedback.

update on eportfolios

Working with several teaching teams this semester. The objective being to use some form of 'eportfolio' in 2017 to provide formative feedback to students and then collate evidence collected in to some form of 'showcase' for summative assessment.

So updating my links etc. and understanding of the eportfolio landscape, first blogged on way back in 2005 at the start of my blogging journey.

The spread of tools available for eportfolio type activities has increased. The link to epac provides an evolving list of eportfolio tools and technologies. There are now many 'customised' tools whereas in the beginning, we tended to use wikis and blogs. Although there is still the use of blogging platforms as eportfolios as evidenced through emergedtech's  example of using tumblr in the classroom.

A good overview is found at learning eportfolios providing history of development, types of eportfolios etc. A critique and ideas forward is provided by geoffcain who advocates the connectivist approach to eportfolios.

So overall, lots of choices. We need to establish the fit of learning outcomes / objectives to our standard eportfolio tool - Mahara - as blogged previously and if the fit is precarious, explore alternatives.

Mahara for eportfolios - summary and update

Working with a team of tutors to establish eportfolios. CPIT has had Mahara available for some years. However, as with other portfolio tools / platforms, Mahara comes with a requirement to learn how to use the platform along with support for the students (and staff) on how to construct eportfolios which are founded on reflective practice.

Currently, Mahara is on version 15.04, manual, ebook, guide to using the journal on Mahara, overview of induction session for students and useful info and instructions are available.  Also this link provides guides from versions 1.2 through to 1.9. Flash tutorials and examples - traditional and another one here also good resources.

Pros and cons are discussed along here and  a comparison of mahara with wordpress / google apps provided here.

Overall, a need to establish if we need to go to full blown eportfolio capability or scaffold from paper eportfolio to digital story on powerpoint before moving to Mahara.

Getting to grips with one note and notebook creator

Much has taken place since my initial exploration of the capabilities of onenote and earlier update. In particular, usability has improved and the advent of notebook creator makes onenote a good option for educators to share notes, collaborate with students and provide formative feedback to students as they progress through their work on onenote.

Various recent offerings provide good overviews of the hows, whys and whats of onenote. These include information from pcworld - a good introduction, onthehub, blogs.office - introducing the office lens to take photos of whiteboards etc. and a concise but comprehensive overview of capabilities from thomasmaurer.

For teachers, there is a guide here along with an office mix presentation - detailing how to go about using notebook creator and how to use audio recording, linked notes (e.g. to word document), how to share using outlook (email) or exporting as pdf, word doc etc., translate notes to selected language. Whole notebooks can also be exported or shared via Onedrive or Sharepoint.

A review from teacher's perspective is found here and student's point of view of how to use onenote for 'web research' is found in this video. Recommended 'next steps' to extend use of note book creator are found here.

In all, a good range of resources to guide us as we pilot onenote with notebook creator with engineering students.

Rethinking pedagogy for a digital age – designing for 21st century learning (2nd ed.) – overview

Edited by H. Beetham and R. Sharpe (2013)

Completely reworked edition. The first edition which was a seminal and ‘must-read’ for any educational developer, has been completely updated with brand new chapters. A few chapters are ‘updates’ but they contain new ideas, more pertinent to the present educational context. As with the previous edition, the authors are mainly based in Australia or the UK.

After forewords (to the second and first editions) by Diana Laurillard and the introduction, the chapters in the book are organised into two parts with part three offering resources in the appendices.

Introduction

The editors lay out the overall premises of the book with regards to defining pedagogy, the influences of the ‘digital age’ on teaching and learning and a rationale for the importance of undertaking effective design for learning. The chapters in the book are very briefly overviewed.

Part 1 – principles and practices of designing

1)      Technology-enhanced learning (TEL): the role of theory (T. Mayes & S. de Freitas)

The rationale for requiring ‘theory’ is put forward. Then the three main contemporary perspectives on learning are summarised. These are the associationist, cognitivist and situative (Community of practice / group levels) perspectives and how they may be applied into TEL are discussed. Appendix 1 summarises the perspectives.

2)      Designing for active learning in technology-rich contexts (H. Beetham)

The different theories applying to learning are reviewed in the context of TEL. These different approaches to understanding how people learn include: authenticity of activity, structure of learning, the application of learning towards retention/reproduction or reflection/internalization, roles and significance of others and the locus of control. Learning activities are defined as the nexus between learning environment, learning objectives, the learner and others. The need to design learning to meet learning outcomes and learners’ contexts and needs are summarised. The role of TEL in helping to provide learning activities that may assist learning with others, discovery learning, developing and sharing ideas, collecting, gathering, recording or editing (content, learning) and solving problems and developing techniques.

3)      The analysis of complex learning environments (P. Goodyear & L. Carvalho)

Important not to put focus on devices but the ‘ecologies and networks’ where learning will take place. Suggest Actor Network Theory as one approach to understand complex learning environments. Recommends importance of designing learning which is based around the design of good learning tasks which are cognisant of the social and physical settings the learning task is to be undertaken in and that the learning needs to work fluently across macro, meso and micro levels of learnin

4)      The challenge of teachers’ design practice (L. Masterman)

This chapter recommends the importance of ensuring teachers, and especially the study of teachers’ design practice, are part of the design process. One reason is to ensure learning design is applicable. The other is to inform the development of digital tools, heuristics or computer assisted process, for the purposes of learning design.

5)      Tools and resources to guide practice (G. Conole)

I have attended a few presentations on the some of the tools proposed in this chapter. The ‘tools’ are however, quite complex and do require a ‘learning by doing’ approach before the potentialities can become useful. The main attribute of these tools, is that they allow the visualisation of courses / programmes which may be complex, opening up options for better understanding the underlying structures of the learning design and their corresponding influences on students’ learning. As with all tools, it is important to understand conceptualisations. Otherwise, it is just a tool that produces lots of pretty flowcharts! This chapter provides overviews on each the most used tools along with discussion on pros and cons.

6)      Describing ICT-based learning designs that promote quality learning outcomes (R. Oliver, B. Harper, S. Wills, S. Agostino & J.G. Hedberg)

Provides a series of examples of to allow learning designs to be visualised and shared. Especially useful when learning designers work with subject-matter experts collaboratively on laying out the framework for the learning design of a programme. 4 types of design are discussed, rule based, incident based, strategy based and role based learning design with examples provided.

7)      Learning designs as a stimulus and support for teachers’ design practices (S. Agostino, S. Bennett, L. Lockyer, J. Jones and B. Harper)

Follows on from the previous chapter of ‘what could happen next’ with the various learning designs developed. Proposes learning designs evolution can be supported by shared understandings from initial work and collaborative work to clarify and innovative beyond the initial design foundations.

8)      Representing practitioner experiences through learning designs and patterns (P. McAndrew & P. Goodyear)

Offers alternative to the learning designs and ideas presented in previous two chapters. A short chapter discussing challenges – how to better describe learning tools, how to circumvent difficulties in creating designs etc. Proposes the use of ‘learning patterns’ as a means.

9)      The influence of open resources on design practice (C. Pegler)

Defines OER – open educational resources – and their contribution to learning design. Provides details on the 6 Creative Commons open licences for OER and examples of courses developed with OER resources.

Part 2 – designing for learning in context – provides 8 chapters to provides examples of how to apply the principles in Part 1.

Part 3 – there are 9 appendices.

Overall, the book is pitched at learning designers, rather than teachers. Core understanding of learning design principles before reading the book will produce dividends. The book is also an example of how quickly the TEL field moves. Although underpinned by current understandings of learning, the discussions on TEL in the book show how there are many different ways to approach TEL. Contextualisation is one key to ensuring TEL meets learning needs of students and discipline specific needs of teachers. Using learning design templates provides for a means to not have to continually 'reinvent the wheel'. 

Update on blogging platforms

Have been blogging on Blogger for about a decade, so comfortable with what it offers. Compared to newer blogging platforms like WordPress and Tumblr, the layout and format of Blogger, looks staid and conservative.

A couple of our programmes are now exploring eportfolios, with blogging platforms at the top of the 'try out' list. So a quick update on blogging platforms, their pros and cons required.

thenextweb provides an overview of blogging platforms with this list of 'what has been available' and then a list of what is now available. Beebom also lists the 5 best blogging platforms showing the rise of tumblr.

With some of our programmes, where the visual is important, tumblr may be one way to go. Emergingedtech provides some http://www.emergingedtech.com/2013/01/how-teachers-are-using-tumblr-in-the-classroom/uses of tumblr in education as does avemaria press. So no shortage of ideas and 'how to dos' on the web.

Will explore possibilities this week with one our our tutors and see what fits along with a re-evaluatin of Mahara, the institutional portfolio platform.

Readings for reflective teaching in further, adult and vocational education - book overview

Readings for reflective teaching in further, adult and vocational education
Edited by M. Gregson, L. Nixon, A. Pollard and T. Spedding (2015) published by Bloomsberry

Website supporting textbook (in its fourth edition) and this book (first edition) along with a similar series through the educational sector – early childhood teaching through to higher education. The theoretical framework draws from the work undertaken in the UK in the early 2000s through their teaching and learning research programme (TLRP)

A collection of pertinent and some seminal readings relevant to vocational education. Five parts further divided into 17 sections covering a range of issues, topics and information in one book.

Part one – becoming a reflective practitioner has parts on 'identity' (defining who we are and what we stand for); overview of ‘learning’; summary of the concepts of reflection; and provides ‘principles’ of effective teaching and learning.

Part two – creating conditions of learning covers a definition, relationships, engagement and ‘spaces’ which includes the physical and the virtual.

Part three is on ‘teaching for learning’ with readings on curriculum, planning, pedagogy, communication and assessment.

Part four covers reflecting on consequences with sections on outcomes (monitoring student learning) and inclusion.

Part five – deepening understanding has sections on vocational educators own development of expertise and professionalism.

Generally a UK slant with most readings from UK researchers / educators although there is a sprinkling of authors from other countries. The book is recommended as an accompaniment to a textbook for vocational educator programmes in the UK, so contexts etc. pitched to that audience. Readings are generally short (2 – 3 pages) and are summaries or collations (a couple are of books) rather than the whole article. Reference is provided to the main source for follow up if required. Most still retain their academic style of writing. To provide focus there is a list of suggested questions at the beginning of each reading. 

Overall, the book is pitched at vocational educator / further education tutor course work within the UK context. The book is a one-stop shop for those interested in a general background on vocational education, including the latest thinking on curriculum design and pedagogy. A good reference book.

Proust and the Squid: the story and the science of the reading brain - overview

Came across this book by Maryanne Wolf (2007) published by Icon Books, at the local public library

Positive reviews from the guardian and a recent one from hastac encouraged me to work my way through the book over several evenings.

The book reads well, Wolf intersperses her own challenges with a dyslexic son, with the latest interpretations through neuroscientific research, of how the brain learns how to read. The book uses metaphors from the recent media and the western literature corpus, to bring light to concepts on learning, neuroscience and philosophy. An audience, unexposed to the delights of classical books like Charlotte’s Web, the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, Dr. Seuss etc. may have a bit of work to do to unravel some of the explanations.

However, of importance is the explanation of how reading evolved in different cultures. How writing is organised, whether logographic (Egyptian hieroglyphics, Chinese, Japanese Kanji) or alphabetical / phonetic (Germanic languages), affects how people learn how to read. Different parts of the brain are activated when language is presented in different ways.

Three parts:

Part 1 presents book overview and two chapters of how the first writing systems evolved and the development of the alphabet. Socrates argument of writing replacing the rigours of the oral tradition is also presented and discussed.

Part 2 reviews neuroscience studies on how the brain learns including how children learn to read (or not). Much of relevance here in understanding how parts of the brain are used for different aspects of reading.

Part 3 presents latest perspectives on why some people find it difficult to learn how to read, including discussions on the causes of dyslexia and how the present move to ‘screen reading’ and the ‘google’ generation may lead to changes in which reading develops. This section is on the weak side but the points discussed are important.

Writing journal articles

Early in April, I was presented with a ‘journal article of the year award’ by the Australian Vocational Education and Training Research Association (AVETRA). I was considerably honoured to attain the award, especially as the award had previously been presented to many other illustrious VET researchers.

Returning to work a few days later, I set to working on the revisions to a recently submitted article. The feedback list to work through was long and the process, as always, challenging. So why all the effort put into writing an article, in particular when scholarly articles are deemed to have a small readership. For instance, this timely article surely brings any academic author down from any form of inflated sense of importance.

Therefore, some ruminations on: Why write journal articles?

Here is a list, in no particular order:

• I enjoy the intellectual challenge – I once described the process to a colleague as like ‘solving a puzzle’. You set out an argument and write the rationale, present your case and the evidence to back it and sometimes, provide some recommendations.
• It’s continual learning. Every time I write and submit an article, I learn new things through engaging with a wide collection of ‘readings’; new processes to approach the structuring of the article; and new techniques to write more cogently.
• My readings become more directed as I have always enjoyed reading. I now read with a purpose rather than meander.
• I have started to enjoy the peer review process! It is a source of much learning, sort of a form of 'assessment for learning'.
• I can now appreciate more fully, the labour that goes into producing good articles. Some articles just 'speak' to your scholarly self J

My learnings? 

• Since the academic audience is small, there is a need to work at modifying the concepts expressed through journal articles to the target audience. I have made a start with the 'learning a trade' project in the form of a video for the 'appprentice' and a poster for trainers/ coaches. However, still much work to be done in this arena.
• Therefore, a need to ake time to disseminate research in a form accessible to the audience who are able to contribute to making a difference. In the case of my work, to tutors, workplace trainers, ITO managers, ITP managers etc. to help improve learning approaches for VET learners
• Work at fine tuning the ways in which academic work can be disseminated.
• Work with the people who can help make a difference – in my case, with Ako Aotearoa, NZs National Centre for Tertiary Teaching Excellence.
• Persist with finding other ways to fund your research – for instance – employers.
• Find ways to meet PBRF (NZ performance based research funding) requirements but also still disseminate to target audience in a meaningful way.

Alternatives to Coaches Eye - video analysis app

We have been using Coaches’ Eye for a range of ‘skills improvement using videos’ projects. However, coaches’ eye apps struggles to run on the surface RT. Video annotation and playback is 'jerky' due to the surface RT's low spec processor.

Appcrawler offers a range of alternatives to coaches' eye. A comparative analysis of 3 apps - ubersense (ios and android), coaches' eye and dartfish - reveals coaches' eye as the only app available on Windows devices. There are more alternatives with regards to PC apps.Some of the examples looked at in previous post could be used, but apps rather than full blown PC software would be less memory hungry. MotionPro is a newer example, but at $100 plus, a bit expensive and we will also need Surface Pros to run the app.

So will still need to keep an eye for a suitable alternative. 

Onenote - resources for getting started

After Travis Smith's presentation, we field a few staff keen to get started on onenote as a learning tool. The current onenote has improved in terms of usability and its main advantage is the ability to use it on various devices.

I have archived here some guides / resources to using onenote:

A good way for our tutors to learn about how to use onenote and its possibilities is to actually use it for their own work first. So, first up, a guide to using onenote for beginners vis PC world and another one via lifehack on using onenote in a work.

Then some 'non-conventional' ways to use onenote via blogs.office com and makeuseof.com 

The best way to deploy onenote in an educational setting is to leverage off notebook creator. Unfortunately, we need to await the installation of Office 365 on to our network before we can use notebook creator. The official guide to notebook creator is offered via office support.

A youtube video offers good step by step guide (10 minutes). Pros and Cons and discussed by broadeneducation.com. I hope to start a pilot with one or our engineering tutors to find out possibilities and test usability next semester. This will then feed into any work we do with other tutors when Office 365 is installed sometime next year.

Preparing for a digital university - report and new learning management system alternatives

This came up a couple of weeks ago and I have been dipping into the report off and on to glean items relevant to my various projects.

A review of the history and current state of distance, blended, and online learning

2015 edited by Siemens, G., Gasevic, D. and Dawson, S.

Publication supported by the the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation

Overviews the history and state of distance education, blended learning, online learning, credentialing and assessment (with discussion on badges), massive open online courses (MOOCs) and a final, wrap up chapter, on future technology infrastructures for learning.

Background to the report is provided on Siemen's blog along with a reply to critique from Stephen Downes. There is also review and overview of the above discussion here from Geoff Cain.

As usual, there is no definitive way to approach the review, but as brought up by Downes, there are some omissions in the chapters on distance learning / blended learning which should have been part of the report. However, the report does provide some updates on alternatives to learning management systems, worth further exploration.

The last chapter – indicates some movement towards assisting learners to form their own personal learning environments. Tools / apps / platforms profiled include:

prosolo – has a support framework towards assisting learners to become self-directed – self direction and competency.

Others include Knewton, SmartSparrow, 

OLI - Domain of one’s own/reclaim, open learning initiative

 

LoudCloud - provides measured control, ownership between learner and institution, integration as loosely coupled or enterprise level and structure as decentralised or centralised

TEx - from the University of Texas to bring competency based education into the mix

Unizin  and Apereo

Research projects exploring the PLE landscape include Athabasca University's The Landing, federated wiki, gRSShopper, Learning and perfomance support system (LPSS) with  Canadian example, and Known - an open source social publishing site.

So there is movement across various countries at PLEs. something to keep an eye on.

  

Travis Smith - Microsoft specialist - notes of presentation

Notes from presentation with Travis Smith - microsoft specialist -education - held morning of 7th May 2015 at CPIT.

Mark Marshall CPIT ICT manager and Ann Taylor from Microsoft introduced Travis.

Mixed audience of schools and tertiary educators, administrators and IT.

A focus on using technology to achieve good learning outcomes for learners.

Went through 'high impact gradualism' - why education moves so slowly in the adoption of technology and things to prioritise to maximise impact of TEL.

Issuing hardware has not changed pedagogy - still content focused rather than learning focused. Deploying technology should lead to 'better' learning not replicate learning activities already common.

Need to have evidenced informed strategy, shift to collaboration platform, choice of device is actually critical, be deliberate in developing skills you think you are developing in students ( 21st collaborative learning design - 21CLD) and used data (learning analytics) better (see new line school use of customer relationship management CRM).

Need for institutions to align innovation to strategy and prioritise TEL that works (as per research informed) in the context. What are we trying to improve by using technology??

Need to establish pedagogical framework - and innovative teaching and learning is more likely to occur when there is a shared understanding of what it looks like ....

BYOD is NOT an approach to learning or pedagogy ... it's just how kids get device. Difficulty for pedagogy to be fully utilised if devices are to varied. Learning so often messy, multimodal and subject specific.

Used notetaking as an example - Mueller, P.A. & Oppenheimer D.M. (2014) the pen is mightier than the keyboard: advantages of longhand over laptop note taking. Psychological Science.

Choice of notetaking method and device, has impact on learning factual or conceptual facets.

Used OneNote as an example of annotating diagram to take notes. including embedding audio notes. and tracking of 'making thinking visible' through maths problem. Also uses onenote as his presentation tool. - see possibilities of onenote

Mangen, 2008, Mangen & Velaym 2010, Oviatt, 2006 - annotation on digital texts leads to depth of processing, reflection on meaning, ability to integrate and critique knowledge.

version one learning implies the cogitative process and version 2 is the 'final version' encapsulating concepts.   2 is high fidelity, version 1 is low fidelity. Onenote provides capability to bring both together.

The design of educational interfaces - Sharon Oviatt - thinking tools require stylus.

Paper is not going away, just getting smarter - how do we use to help learning?? embed animation? making concepts visual assist with supporting abstract thinking. = using fluid math app

Provided example of Adobe's latest application to make editing of images intuitive and 'instant'. see creative cloud

Monash University intervention by asking lecturers to include 40%  ppt slide which require annotation. Use ctrl P to bring pen into ppt. Add / sketch in - on the fly, allowing for better narrative of how thinking occurs. Provide the version 1 not just the version 2 as a completed ppt slide.

Need to remember, digital collaborative problem solving is a specialised skill. Collaborative problem-solving over distance using real world tools a developing field. Use white board feature on Lync.

Future possibilities being build with surface table, allowing sharing of artefacts across distance or augmented reality through hololens.

Preparation for working in a digital environment requiring collaboration at a distance now a 'must have' skill. Demonstrated real time authoring / collaboration on word online.

Discussed capabilities of office 365 for education. Provides access to 5 iterations of the software for students. Provided example of how to set up onenote to share folder with students. office 365 has a onenote class notebook creator. Demonstrated how to set up a 'course' onenote folder, allowing teacher to see all students' work. Teacher can provide feedback and students will see latest version of their work - with feedback.  opens possibility of using onenote as a form of LMS.

Finished with demo of office mix. (see my first attempt - from learning a trade project)

two other presentations from Travis - on collaboration and onenote for schools.

Motor skills learning – key factors

Another more recent article by Wulf:

Wulf, G., Shea, C., & Lewthwaite, R. (2010). Motor skilllearning and performance: A review of influential factors. Medical Education, 44, 75-84.

This is a shorter article than the one on last weeks’ blog. The article discusses motor skills learning as contextualized to the learning of medical / surgery skills. Observational practice, focus of attention, feedback and self-controlled practice are all summarized.

A very useful article providing the salient findings from the large volume of work on motor skills learning. As much research on motor skills learning in based on laboratory studies, this article, providing examples / applications warrants study. The article from last week’s blog provides greater detail and much more in-depth discussion for those who are interested in pursuing the topic further.

To summarise:

Observational practice, especially if combined with physical practice, is an important component of mimetic practice. Observational practice not only important as a visual introduction to the motor movements, but also of the goals of movement, the subtle and coordinative actions that are part of complex task completion.  Observation provides time for the learner to undertake some reflection on the tasks, before actual trial / performance.

Recommends the use of dyad practice – i.e. practice in pairs as it generates opportunities for both to observe and to practice while observed. So learner not only tries motor action, but has someone to provide timely feedback on performance.

Focus of attentions should be ‘external’ on the goal / task rather than ‘internal’ on placement, movement itself. So, for baking example, when piping out cream rosettes, focus on producing the rosettes to requirements (size, shape, each rosette the same, etc.) rather than amount of pressure exerted from hand holding the piping bag.

Positive feedback much more effective than negative. So learners’ goals become focused on good practice rather than trying to correct ‘mistakes’.

Self-controlled practice refers to learners setting their own goals, rather than trying to meet instructor-set goals. Learner choice as to how to practice and what to practice, leads to better attainment of motor skills in the long term.