• Taking a telescope to my orbit…

    24Jul
    Author: Katherine Pisana Categories: Mind Amplifying Tools Comments: 4

    I’ve been working on reinterpreting my PLE in order to get a deeper understanding of its nature. My initial approach was to group both formal and informal learning together. This time I’m going into a bit more detail.

    I’ve derived three sub-PLEs from my core map. The base categorisation is dependent upon context: the three sub-PLEs represent maps of my MA ODE PLE, my Professional PLE, and my Blog PLE. Strictly speaking, I suppose one could argue that the first represents a formal learning context, while the other two are much more self-imposed learning scenarios. Here they are below:

    My MA ODE PLE

    My MA ODE PLE (Click on the image to view full size)

    My Professional PLE (Click on the image to view full size)

    My Professional PLE (Click on the image to view full size)

    My Blog PLE (Click on the image to view full size)

    My Blog PLE (Click on the image to view full size)

    I’ve found that reinterpreting my initial PLE has allowed me to identify components that I had originally missed. For example, I had forgotten that podcasts were made available within my course materials. I think I forgot to consider this technology in the initial map because, as an overall concept, podcasts were interesting to me a couple of years ago but I quickly became overwhelmed by the amount of information available and eventually unsubscribed from the feeds. I think that the fact that I don’t like listening to the radio also has something to do with my disengagement from the podcasting community. And finally, and probably the most important reason why I don’t listen to podcasts, is because I’m not an auditory learner. I process information better when I can read it. I think that’s probably the most important lesson that podcasting technology has taught me. Some other components I forgot to include the first time around are MS Word and Google Scholar, along with a number of creative tools that I’ve added to my Blog PLE.

    This PLE drill-down also gave me a clearer picture of my dominant learning tools, namely, Firefox, which in turn means the Internet which then leads me to my laptop. The nodes that are connected by a green line are the only ones that can be accessed without the Internet.

    I’m not sure whether the real value of this activity is going to be in comparing my own reinterpretations, or eventually comparing my analyses with others’ reinterpretations…

  • Profile of a Learning Technologist

    16Feb
    Author: Katherine Pisana Categories: Educational Technology Comments: 1

    I just read the Key Findings (pdf) of The ECAR Study of Undergraduate Students and Information Technology, 2007 and see some really big differences between my relationship with technology compared to that of these American undergraduates. I wanted to share some of my observations with you here.

    And yes, I am conscious that I’m comparing my behavior (as a current postgraduate student of online and distance education with a UK university while living in the US) with that of undergraduate students in the US, but I think that this is still a really useful reflective exercise to see how I am positioned within this group of students. After all, as a learning technologist, I am indirectly affecting their learning experience by working directly with their teachers in developing teaching aids that integrate information technology to varying degrees. Essentially, what I’m say is that I feel it’s important to know your audience. If my job is to work with the teachers who educate undergraduates, then one way to ensure that I’m doing the best job possible is to know how my ICT recommendations relate to the end user.

    So, now for some telling comparisons…

    tech-ownership

    The above comparison explains a bit of my aversion to m-learning: I’m not really that interested in cell phones, and perhaps this makes it more difficult to get excited about mobile learning. On the other hand, my heavy use of electronic music/video devices perhaps also helps explain why I’m an advocate of podcasts and audiobooks as learning tools.

    hrs-online

    How much do those closest to us influence the way we view and use technology? Is developing ICT skills more of a social activity then a solitary act? Do we participate because we want to keep up? …to remain relevant in conversations? …because we see that others’ lives have been enriched? …or does like attract like? Do innovators all ride the techie wave while the laggards collectively dip in one toe at a time? Can an innovator convert a laggard?

    tech-prefOnly 2.8 percent prefer courses that use technology exclusively?! I thought the majority would be in this grouping! I guess if I had to ask myself why I have this perception, it’s probably because I assume that since this generation grew up immersed in a technology-rich environment, they want that environment to extend naturally into their formal learning space.

    I am one of those students who will opt for the 100% technology-based course almost every time! The study notes that 60% of those asked prefer a ‘moderate’ integration of technology into their courses. What does moderate mean to an undergraduate these days? Moderate to me would mean a standard course wiki, student blogs, podcasts, the occasional webcast (not necessarily live) and the obvious course management system. Is that moderate to you?

    Perhaps a key to answering this last question reveals itself in the results from the open-ended questions where students indicated that IT becomes a barrier to learning when its proliferation creates a more complex learning environment. Could this mean that if they knew how to use the technology from the beginning of a course, it would no longer represent a barrier? Does this mean that secondary education isn’t preparing students enough for post-secondary learning? Or are students expected to learn about how to create a blog, contribute to a wiki and subscribe to a podcast in their own time?

    I have to wonder whether evaluating potential candidates for learning technologist / instructional designer jobs in this way would help institutions and private companies better align competencies and interests with job goals and broader organizational targets.

  • What is a Learning Object anyway?? – Part 2

    10Jan
    Author: Katherine Pisana Categories: Education, Educational Technology Comments: 5

    20090110 postAs part of the “What is a Learning Object anyway??” series (I’ve just decided we’re going to have a series!), I wanted to talk about the attributes of a learning object today. We started off considering the definition of learning objects because, as in any learning process, if we don’t understand the meaning of the words being use to describe a new concept, we won’t get very far in grasping the ideas. So, assuming that you understand the definition of an admittedly abstract term yet to be definitively defined by the industry (!), let’s move on to an RLOs (Reusable Learning Object’s) attributes.

    In essence, any learning tool can be a learning object – depending on how micro or macro your perspective. There is, of course, the issue of granularity, in which the more focused the material or content of the learning object, and the more independent is it (can it be used at various levels of study or within different contexts), (and certainly considering its accessibility), then, the more easily it can be slotted into a sequence of other learning objects to create a broader learning experience. That’s where the reference to ‘reusable’ becomes relevant. For example, if I wanted to create a lesson about French irregular verb conjugation,  I would want to break the concept down into digestible chunks (or modules, or blocks, or however you label ‘learning bits’). After all, if you’ve ever studied French as a foreign language, you’ll know that there seem to be more irregular verbs in the French language then regular ones! Besides the point though, I know…

    So, the following is a learning object about the attributes of learning objects. In addition to including numerous references on the topic (for those interested in further reading), you are also provided with a list of examples of the various types of content that can make up a learning object. (If you have more examples, please share what’s worked for you!)

    One could say that a blog also falls into the category of learning object although often spanning broader topic areas. I realize that we’re not broaching the concept of credibility of source, reliability of information, etc. with this example, but at this point, let’s just try to get our minds wrapped around the idea of what a learning object can be. With that, here’s the RLO I mention above:

    Get Adobe Flash player

    And, as a lighter addition, I also wanted to provide another example of a learning object – this time, one that talks about podcasts and how they can be used as time savers:

    Get Adobe Flash player

    Both of these learning bits were created using SproutBuilder – once again proving that you don’t have to be a Flash expert to create Flash content 🙂

    (If any of you have created Sprouts for educational use and you’d like to share them, feel free to send me information about them so that I can publish them here too! It would also be great to hear your experiences of how well (or not) they worked in achieving your teaching goals.)

    From: Virtually Scholastic