Trigger

Trigger for PLA module

 
 
 
 

Reflection on Task 4

Toni, Rina and I have worked very hard on Task 4, we actually started this when we were in Bergen anticipating that we would be very busy when we got home. We did not realise how time consuming this task would be. We met quite often on chat and this was a good experience except for the first time when I couldn't get through to Toni and Rina. Google docs is a good way to cowrite the paper but there were times when we were all editing and the document was jumping around a bit.
I am still terribly behind with my work and the many hours spent on this task has not helped me in any way to catch up.
I still think about what we learnt in Bergen and think that we benefitted a great deal. Having missed some sessions due to recording I still feel that I didn't manage to catch up on this although Klas-Goran kindly showed me the next day what I had missed.
We are starting on our next task now which I hope will not be as onerous as Task 4.

Task 4

Here is the link to the elearning paper (Task 4) of Vivienne, Antonia and Rina:

http://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=dgfx8qth_73jtsx2gfb&hl=en

reflections when home

I have found it very difficult to cope with the huge amount of work when I got home, perhaps that is because I have about three different jobs, my new one and then a great deal of tasks from my old job too. I had so much marking to catch up on and now there is more, staff matters to deal with and then to start setting up this new job, finding a place to stay etc. i have also been giving papers at two conferences already.
I can see how students struggle to find the time and space to engage in e-learning modules when they are working. One feels torn in so many directions.
I have been working collaboratively with Rina and Antonia which has been good, but I did not manage to chat with them as I couldn't download msn at university.
We did manage to meet eventually but missed the general group chat on Task 4 which was a pity as we were under the impression that our paper was going well until we heard from Anne Karin that we had to look much more carefully at our own module. That made us panic a bit as not much time is left before we hand it in.

Reflection on Thursday 8 May and final thoughts

Today was a less structured day in which we could make a start on the work that we have to do both individually and collaboratively. The day started as usual with a presentation from group members of their journals. Rina and Jochem presented their reflections. I was struck by the detail and thoughtfulness in Jochem's presentation. One could tell that he had spent a great deal of time working on this reflection, and it was very useful. He was one of the few people who also brought in theory to the journal. Rina's was shorter but also raised different issues. I was interested in her comment that the journals the previous day had concentrated on feelings and we are supposed to use it as a learning tool rather. I would like to discuss this further as I also think that feelings are an important part of learning, and that learning cannot happen without emotional engagement.
After the reflections, we were given some idea by Anne Karin of what would be expected of us in future. I was a bit daunted when I saw the tasks, especially in relation to my workload at home and decided that the best thing to do was to get started immediately. I perused articles that I had written in relation to the pros and cons of elearning and pasted relevant sections on our googledocs document. I had been placed in a group with Elke and Andres who I had very much enjoyed working with, but the suggestion was that I should change to work with Rina and Antonia, as we were looking at similar issues. We had a fruitful session discussing our future course and decided to link our modules together so that they form one large course but could still stand separately. This is going to be more work but it is always informative to work collaboratively with people whose expertise you can tap into and share.
I felt frustrated as I didn't get as far was I would like to have got and was very conscious that I would be leaving the next morning and not be able to engage further with these tasks.
This leads me to a more general reflection of the course:
We met one week ago but it seems like we have spent more than a week together as we have got to know each other quite well through staying and working together. The first weekend was a wonderful and relaxing introduction which created a good atmosphere and space from which to launch the course. The combination of the beautiful surroundings with the well organised programme resulted in creative energy and sharing. I think it was a very good idea to get everyone to present something to each other. It was also a starting point for people's work on the course.
The week was very full with new information and application, but there was not enough time to digest this. It is always a dilemma of whether to present a smorgasbord of interesting applications or to let learners get fully acquainted with some of them. I am glad however that I was given the opportunity to have more rather than less as if I have time (and that is a constant worry) I will be able to follow up more on this.
I am rushed for time now but I also appreciated going up the mountain and liked very much the walk down where I got to chat to Grete Oline who is very inspiring and enthusiastic about everything.
A highlight was the visit to the Social Work School in Bergen, what a beautiful setting with glorious views from both sides. Imagine sitting in that library!
Grete and Anne Karin had worked very hard to make us a traditional meal, and the evening was a lovely ending to a memorable learning experience.
Thanks very much to the course participants and to the teachers! As participants I think there is a huge amount of knowledge and potential. I hope we don't lose contact.

my reflective journal Thursday 8 May 2008

I am very tired now and feel that there has been an overload of information today. I really valued everything that was done today but there was too much and it was just a taste of everything. I would really like to consolidate my knowledge as I know when I get back to Cape Town I will be so busy that I will never be able to find out about this or to follow up.
The morning started with three of us giving our presentations. It was disappointing that there were not many responses to these presentations from other participants in the course.
The vitero session was interesting but required a lot of concentration and then I was aware that I had an obligation to do a recording at lunch time so this probably made me tense and tired. I did not find that I was engaged today as I was yesterday and I didn't feel the freedom to participate that I had felt the day before.
I ate lunch quickly because I was mentally preparing myself for this presentation. I started to feel a bit sick and nervous. I was also anxious about others viewing my video - that it would be very boring for them.
The presentation about myself went reasonably smoothly with a few mistakes, but it doesn't seem as though these matter.
Again I arrived late into the class and this was off-putting as it sets you on the wrong foot. Again I was very aware of how missing classes must set students back a great deal and perhaps sometimes they never manage to catch up. This must be similar to following a course in a second language and one has to be very patient with students in this respect.
I am wondering how all these insights can be implemented not only in my own practice but in my own institution.
The fire alarm was highly irritating as we lost concentration in a section where already I had difficulty following. Again I learnt that you need to have empathy with your learner and the importance of establishing prior knowledge before one begins one's teaching, or else it one can really pitch things at the wrong level. As a teacher you also need to be aware of the different levels of competence that you are dealing with held by the learners and to accommodate these different levels. This of course takes a good deal of competence and sensitivity towards others' needs but is essential if learning is to occur.
I wonder whether more use could not have been made of the digital natives in the class so it is not a 1-1 interaction, but that the more knowledgable peers are giving knowledge to those in need of more personal assistance.
I would really like to try all this out again. I know the frustration of choosing quantity over quality - this is another lesson for teaching and learning but I think I will end there because I am getting tired in this stuffy atmosphere and want to escape outside as it is a beautiful day.

some pics and videos

Reflection on Wednesday 7 May 2008

Today I felt that I learnt a lot and I also enjoyed the experience. I liked the session on transparency as I believe that it is very important in learning. I felt more at ease about my foot which had improved somewhat due to the attentive care that Grete had given and the others in our various delegations! My foot also got special attention today having its own private chair and asserting its needs in the various venues.
I liked the transparencies and was interested in the skills and value taxonomy as it was new to me and I look forward to seeing the translation of the one slide.
I liked the more interactive mode of today as I thought that we were tapping more into our situated knowledges and being able to benefit from this from each other. I also liked engaging with the tasks and thought that it was a useful way of looking at feedback. There is so much that one could discuss in relation to feedback and learning and its a pity that we only have a limited time to do so.
What struck me about my own teaching is that we often try to rush students in demanding too many tasks of them at once. I felt a bit rushed today with the feedback but i realise that i may try to do too much. This is another realisation which perhaps I should act upon in future.
I also enjoyed the session on msn session and enjoy using these other tools. I am interested to see how I can integrate them with my current online teaching.
What was most enjoyable was the joking on msn and the immediacy of this medium which allows one to engage in an affective and intellectual mode at the same time. I also greatly enjoyed the chat session that I had with David and Klas-Goran which was much more serious than I thought it would be but I thought that we engaged well with each other and were able to have a fruitful conversation about an important part of our teaching practice.
The day was long but because I was more of an active and engaged participant, it seemed to go more quickly than the previous two days. I am a person who needs social engagement and to feel engaged in the learning process, so today was a positive experience for me, although always at the back of my mind is the pile of work that is awaiting me on my return to South Africa and even on my return to my hotel room tonight. I think I must learn to relax more

Reflective journal Tuesday 6 May 2008

Today I also began the course tired as I had worked til late the previous evening. I thought that it must be quite difficult to teach this particular group as there are so many skills here. Perhaps it would be good to hear what each person's expertise is so that the lectures could be geared to the prior learning and the needs of the students. It was more interactive today but I still feel that more could be drawn on from the actual participants especially since they are experts in this particular field.
I enjoyed working in the small group with Elke and Andres as I find them democratic, attentive and responsive to ideas.
The afternoon went much better for me than yesterday where I had missed half the class and thereafter felt very lost and bewildered. I realised how it must be for students who join a course late. I also know how irritating it is as a lecturer to have to repeat yourself a number of times for students who join the class late.
In terms of the it's learning system, there are some parts which I think are simpler and easier to use (i.e. more user-friendly) than the learning management system I use, but I was surprised that there are not tools for rubrics, making assessment criteria transparent to both the students (learners) and teacher/facilitators/assessors upfront which is a form of democratisation of education and a way of making assessment more valid.

my reflective journal

I am a little confused about this afternoon as I missed the first part of this session and I feel that I have missed a lot.
This morning was interesting and confirmed some of my ideas about e-learning. I thought that I wanted to interject at points but it did not seem an appropriate time to do so. I made notes about my thoughts and comments but it seemed that time was of the essence so there was no time for comments or questions.
I was rather nervous about the presentation that I had to do about community, self and identity but it went relatively smoothly. I anticipated having to start again many times but this did not happen.
I am hoping that KlasGoren will assist me with the pieces of information that I missed.
This is teaching me a lot because I now see how frustrating it is for students when they get left behind or when the instructor goes too quickly. I feel fortunate that we get one-to-one assistance at UWC but as director of teaching and learning in the institution and as a person who has a lot to do with the e-learning team, I realise that this is an unrealistic scenario at the institutional level unless many more resources are devoted to e-learning.
I am still feeling very shaky with these new technological tools like blogger but I am excited at the potential of these tools and their ability to give me access to relevant sources and information in the future.

innovative pedagogical practice through elearning

Hi
I am interested in any books or sites which deal with innovative pedagogical practice, particularly with reference to social forms of learning, to relationality, social justice and poststructural theory and the insights that it has for teaching and learning.
I would also be interested in hearing about the teaching and learning strategies of higher education institutions around the world as I have been tasked to draw up one for my institution.