A great presentation Emma. Professional to look at and your voice is excellent. A few little jumps in the editing but nothing which ruins the overall message.
Your explanation about the background to your idea and the way in which the CLCs are used is very clear, and I like the way you have mentioned how learning is facilitated. You mentioned that there were challenges with offering the Nat Cert in Computing all online but did not say what this was. It is a very good idea to integrate the best of the online and face-to-face into a blended model.
Your intention to use Camstudio to create videos of skills with which some people have difficulties e.g. mail merge is very good. To be able to watch the video and have step-by-step instructions and a range of resources which are interactive will be a good impetus for learning new skills.
You mention a good variety of reasons for the type of resources you are planning under the auspices of access & equity. For example, providing materials on CDROM in case they do not have Internet access. The one pager per topic will be very handy. I agree the issues around creating the resources could have an impact on your workload. One thing to check out before spending lots of time creating materials is to look on the Internet and in the catalogues and see if there is anything already which is suitable. Perhaps by prioritising and creating only material which people find particularly difficult to grasp such as mail merge, this will help with the sustainability issues. That way there wont be too much material to keep up-to-date. Have you thought about collaborating with others in the TANZ (Tertiary Accord of NZ)to create resources? This could be very easily organised and the work shared around. Additionally there may already be material which you could use.
Good to hear about the adult learners and considerations for them. And the generational gaps which could provide challenges. Your idea to provide just-in-time resources for when people need help straight away is very relevant for your target audience. I would be interested to hear more about how using something like Camstudio (an open source software) can assist with creating resources quickly & easily and cost-effectively "quick & dirty" but still be professional looking.
Also have you conducted a needs analysis in the centres to find out how the students would prefer to learn and what they believe could help them. This could include you developing a video and help sheet for mail merge and then observing students using it, and ask them what they thought. I can help you with this if you wish to take it further. This will save you money and time in the long run because you will be more likely to get it right before spending a lot of time and energy creating a lot of resources and then finding out people just do not like them or use them very much.
I am also interested to hear how you feel about creating resources for open education - freely available to anyone. Is this your intention? Will the resources have a Creative Commons by attribution licence on them as this is the Otago Polytechnic default copyright licence now? Also are there particular considerations for learners of different ethnicity, and Maori and Pacifika learners?
Thanks for your feedback Bronwyn, agree it was a little jumpy – I learnt the hard way that a video has to be less than 10 minutes so I needed to edit/cut any “ums”, “ahs” and pauses.
The challenges we face with our online model is based on the level we are offering. A level two student who is learning how to open and save documents is expected to be able to access the internet go to a website and login and this is all before they have started learning computers. A blended model is more realistic and I feel would prepare the learner for accessing the online content at home. This could be achieved by offering workshops targeted at our online learner where they can attend a centre with other online learners and share their experiences, ask questions and have access to facilitators.
I have established relationships with our TANZ partners EIT and CPIT, we have created a reciprocal relationship where we share developments and ensure that we are working on separate items. We have been implementing the EIT 2007 resources which include animated PowerPoint presentations which are more focused.
I think it is important to utilise existing resources online, and would include links to helpful websites and videos. Including a guide on how to search for items on the internet would also be beneficial as I think it is important for learners to be able to troubleshoot and take part in aiding their learning. I know I have used the internet to assist me with picking up different techniques to apply to computing.
I was surprised my self at the ease Camstudio allowed for recording short videos. I think is important to investigate open source software as this is something that is more freely available to learners and therefore we could start teaching learners how to use it themselves. Having open source software is breaking down even more barriers to learning, as there is no need to purchase additional software. Camstudio only records what you have prepared, if you are recorded something that you have not practised of course the end result will not be as professional than a video you have rehearsed and planned – I think preparation is the key, the time invested in recording the video is considerably less than that of preparing the video.
We haven’t conducted an official needs analysis in regard to students preferred learning, and feel that this would be productive especially if we are considering investing time to this project.
I have benefited from other creators sharing their resources online and feel that we could also contribute to open education. This could be via a Blog or Wiki page and would be readily available to the online community. Initially the videos will be included in our Moodle Courses, but there is no reason why these could also be included online. I feel it would be great marketing for Otago Polytechnic and away to reach new potential learners. In regard to considerations for learners of different ethnicity I feel the resources will benefit all, but would like to further target these audiences by either visiting them or inviting groups to a CLC to be introduced to this style of learning, and to show case what there is available to them.
A great response Emma. You have a comprehensive understanding of the issues surrounding access and equity,collaobration and open resources and have suggested some creative decisions. There is a lot of material available to help people become smarter with digital information. I will send the link to some of our work we have been doing on digital information literacy. For some reason it wont let me paste here.
An excellent response Emma which certainly demonstrates your understanding of the principles of flexible learning. It is a 'moving feast' is it not and you have demonstrated your thinking is open enough to accommodate the the changing environment. At the end of the day this is what is important! Your plan is very thorough and has addressed a real need for development and flexibility in your work.
I have created this blog as part of my GCTL&T course which is looking at Designing for Flexible Learning Practice and how we can incorporate flexible components of delivery into our current and new courses.
A great presentation Emma. Professional to look at and your voice is excellent. A few little jumps in the editing but nothing which ruins the overall message.
ReplyDeleteYour explanation about the background to your idea and the way in which the CLCs are used is very clear, and I like the way you have mentioned how learning is facilitated. You mentioned that there were challenges with offering the Nat Cert in Computing all online but did not say what this was. It is a very good idea to integrate the best of the online and face-to-face into a blended model.
Your intention to use Camstudio to create videos of skills with which some people have difficulties e.g. mail merge is very good. To be able to watch the video and have step-by-step instructions and a range of resources which are interactive will be a good impetus for learning new skills.
You mention a good variety of reasons for the type of resources you are planning under the auspices of access & equity. For example, providing materials on CDROM in case they do not have Internet access. The one pager per topic will be very handy. I agree the issues around creating the resources could have an impact on your workload. One thing to check out before spending lots of time creating materials is to look on the Internet and in the catalogues and see if there is anything already which is suitable. Perhaps by prioritising and creating only material which people find particularly difficult to grasp such as mail merge, this will help with the sustainability issues. That way there wont be too much material to keep up-to-date. Have you thought about collaborating with others in the TANZ (Tertiary Accord of NZ)to create resources? This could be very easily organised and the work shared around. Additionally there may already be material which you could use.
Good to hear about the adult learners and considerations for them. And the generational gaps which could provide challenges. Your idea to provide just-in-time resources for when people need help straight away is very relevant for your target audience. I would be interested to hear more about how using something like Camstudio (an open source software) can assist with creating resources quickly & easily and cost-effectively "quick & dirty" but still be professional looking.
Also have you conducted a needs analysis in the centres to find out how the students would prefer to learn and what they believe could help them. This could include you developing a video and help sheet for mail merge and then observing students using it, and ask them what they thought. I can help you with this if you wish to take it further. This will save you money and time in the long run because you will be more likely to get it right before spending a lot of time and energy creating a lot of resources and then finding out people just do not like them or use them very much.
I am also interested to hear how you feel about creating resources for open education - freely available to anyone. Is this your intention? Will the resources have a Creative Commons by attribution licence on them as this is the Otago Polytechnic default copyright licence now? Also are there particular considerations for learners of different ethnicity, and Maori and Pacifika learners?
Thanks for your feedback Bronwyn, agree it was a little jumpy – I learnt the hard way that a video has to be less than 10 minutes so I needed to edit/cut any “ums”, “ahs” and pauses.
ReplyDeleteThe challenges we face with our online model is based on the level we are offering. A level two student who is learning how to open and save documents is expected to be able to access the internet go to a website and login and this is all before they have started learning computers. A blended model is more realistic and I feel would prepare the learner for accessing the online content at home. This could be achieved by offering workshops targeted at our online learner where they can attend a centre with other online learners and share their experiences, ask questions and have access to facilitators.
I have established relationships with our TANZ partners EIT and CPIT, we have created a reciprocal relationship where we share developments and ensure that we are working on separate items. We have been implementing the EIT 2007 resources which include animated PowerPoint presentations which are more focused.
I think it is important to utilise existing resources online, and would include links to helpful websites and videos. Including a guide on how to search for items on the internet would also be beneficial as I think it is important for learners to be able to troubleshoot and take part in aiding their learning. I know I have used the internet to assist me with picking up different techniques to apply to computing.
I was surprised my self at the ease Camstudio allowed for recording short videos. I think is important to investigate open source software as this is something that is more freely available to learners and therefore we could start teaching learners how to use it themselves. Having open source software is breaking down even more barriers to learning, as there is no need to purchase additional software. Camstudio only records what you have prepared, if you are recorded something that you have not practised of course the end result will not be as professional than a video you have rehearsed and planned – I think preparation is the key, the time invested in recording the video is considerably less than that of preparing the video.
We haven’t conducted an official needs analysis in regard to students preferred learning, and feel that this would be productive especially if we are considering investing time to this project.
I have benefited from other creators sharing their resources online and feel that we could also contribute to open education. This could be via a Blog or Wiki page and would be readily available to the online community. Initially the videos will be included in our Moodle Courses, but there is no reason why these could also be included online. I feel it would be great marketing for Otago Polytechnic and away to reach new potential learners. In regard to considerations for learners of different ethnicity I feel the resources will benefit all, but would like to further target these audiences by either visiting them or inviting groups to a CLC to be introduced to this style of learning, and to show case what there is available to them.
Thanks, Emma
A great response Emma. You have a comprehensive understanding of the issues surrounding access and equity,collaobration and open resources and have suggested some creative decisions.
ReplyDeleteThere is a lot of material available to help people become smarter with digital information. I will send the link to some of our work we have been doing on digital information literacy. For some reason it wont let me paste here.
An excellent response Emma which certainly demonstrates your understanding of the principles of flexible learning. It is a 'moving feast' is it not and you have demonstrated your thinking is open enough to accommodate the the changing environment. At the end of the day this is what is important! Your plan is very thorough and has addressed a real need for development and flexibility in your work.
ReplyDelete