Changing the landscape or is it the view?

I sit here today in very much the same place that I did when I started this blog. So much has happened since then and yet in some ways things have stayed the same. I am now seeing the Mphil HSE e-learning module from a very different space being on the module team and I ask myself whether or not the landscape (T & L environment) has changed or is it just my experience that I have had since I was a student on this module. I almost want to answer myself and say that it's both. I have changed in my way of thinking about and of blending learning in general but at the same time things seem to be so much more easier to access now than they did 3 years ago. Is it just me or did I just jump from Conscious competence to Conscious incompetence in the cycle of learning.....

I'm BAAAAAAAACK!

Hey, what do you know, I needed a space to voice my ideas for a classroom activity and this is the first place I thought of coming to :)

I have a 1st yr subject that I teach (Applied Anatomy) in which students are taught to identify specific bony and soft tissue structures on each other as well as on x-rays. After 9 sessions, I have now started preparing for the final revision session of this particular subject. The thing is, I've tried different methods of engaging with the students, but it gets kind of difficult to help 56 people in the few hours we have for each lecture. It even went so far, that I had a revision session in which I divided up the class into three groups and ended up spending 6 hours straight teaching!

Now my mind tells me that I should do something totally different, if only to ensure that the revision session makes the work stick in their minds.
My idea is to do one of two things:
1. Surface anatomy charades/30-seconds (students have 30 seconds in which to describe a structure, the name of which they will draw out of a box/hat, and by identifying the structure on their team members in the 30 seconds provided, they will move forward on the game board. I will then confirm that they are correct at the end of the game by going back to the class slides.

OR

2. Write the names of different structures onto post-it strips. Stick these strips onto each students head. Students then try to identify what structure they have stuck to their head by asking a fellow classmate to identify the structure on their body.

I've got a few days left before the class, so hopefully I'll figure it out SOON!

Happy Learning!

Annie

Continuing the journey....

Not sure who of my fellow MPhil enthusiasts are still following this, but hey, gonna say something anyway!

I'm busy finishing my BIG research assignment for the MPhil program and have to share the fact that the e-learning module inspired me to add some e-learning aspects into the recommendation paragraphs in my conclusion.
I'm going to see what the possiblity is going to be of getting some funding for a project for next year to investigate the educationa benefit of the official application of e-learning in one of our modules. Looking for one or two of my fellow academics to join in the party!

Give me a shout!
Li

Our deepest fear

I've come across an excerpt a few years ago that Nelson Mandela used in his inaugaural speech and use it as my desktop and pasted on my wall above my PC at work. I've found that at times when I'm either starting something new, or finishing something off, I think of it or read it. Through the process of all the assignments and now with the last part of the thesis to be completed, I'm reading it a few times every day. I'd like to share it with you, fellow e-learners, because I believe that in some way, no matter what the situation is that we're in, it can apply to us.
So now, as we end of this module, try to remember the fear you felt (and yes, I think we all had some fears at the start of the MPhil last year) and those that still linger. However, think of it in the light of what we've acomplished here, we've created a place for 'our intellectual light to shine'


Our Deepest Fear by Marianne Williamson from A Return To Love: Reflections on the Principles of A Course in Miracles

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”


Annie signing off on this chapter.....or maybe it's a prologue to the next one! L

Bittersweet ending....

I'm done with my assignment....a true bittersweet ending to this process. Sweet because it is the last one for the MPhil modules (apart from theBIG one of course) but bitter/sad because I am feeling that not being able to implement this project is a bit of an anti-climax. On the plus side, a lot of the planning is done for actually implementation while in a negative light, I will miss the community we've built here.

What are the chances of continuing this blog for the purpose of building this community of academics venturing out into the world of e-learning?

I'm sure I'll come back and post my final 'module blog post' on Tuesday, but I thought it'd be a good time to finally show my hand.

Here's a link http://challenge.massey.ac.nz/to the Challenge Workbook (previously known as Challenge FRAP). It's free to download and has a very nice help section that takes you through the entire process. It's a really a nice, easy tool to use and I can't wait to use it with my students.

Annie signing off.....

Frustration and success

In attempting to finalize the assignment I have met with a lot of frustration which at times made me wonder whether or not I was on the right track. Simple formatting issues almost drove me insane in using the tool I've chosen for implementation into our curriculum. After successfully firguring out what it is that I was doing wrong, I had one of thos 'eurka moments' and realised that acutally using the tool I'm expecting students to use is a way of executing the evaluation of it. Let me clarify that, finding problems within the fairly simple tool has highlighted areas that I need to bring to the attention of students and staff during the design and development phase. This once again illustrates the inter-connectivity of the ADDIE model and also shows how important it is for staff to become 'well-versed' as it were with the product they're punting.

Another issue I have been faced with is realising how never-ending the evaluation process and subsequent cycle of the ADDIE process can become. At what stage do we stop the process, if any? When have we evaluated something to death?????????

Therefore, though frustrating, I think I've succeeded in harnessing my frustration and converting into learning points, which is what I hope the students will do as well!

Investing in the implementation

Ok, so it's been a while. Admittedly, I've been postponing blogging about this particular step. It feels a bit hollow for me as I'm not actually able to implement the module with our students due to time constraints. At the same time, I've had a very interesting e-learning experience of my own in the past two weeks. First I attended a demo of a very interesting software package that will hopefully be available at our University soon (got me so excited, I've already half promised to do some research into it's educational value :0). Second, I participated in a blog linked to an academic article on e-learning in SA physiotherapy education as a peer review process. Finally, though not really an e-learning experience, per se, I was part of a presentation on PBL on main campus, where I discovered that the tool I've selected for this assignment is actually something that many other faculties could benefit from!

These experiences have brought me to a point where I'm motivated to complete the implementation (theoretically) and put an evaluation plan into action. I really need to do a lot more reading into e-learning, as I honestly think this module has allowed us to just start getting our toes wet in the sea of knowledge available on e-learning. If I have even a remote chance of real implementation, it will require investment of my time and mental resources to ensure its academic scrutiny.