Final Reflections on the course

For my final task this week and for the course I have to write a final reflection. Keeping this small is going to be hard so lets keep it simple and pick out some words and phrases I have used throughout the blog.

• Initial enthusiasm moving to despair back to enthusiasm and passion
• Concern over ability to contribute due to voice
• Keen and constant user of the VLE
• Delight at quizzes
• Technological despair and vocal inability despair
• Isolation before group inclusion
• Disengagement due to 'off the cuff' remarks
• Enjoyable and rewarding group work
• Frustration in feedback and disillusionment for critique of working too much on projects 
• Rewarding reflective thinking and learning 
• Self development immeasurable
• Enlightenment and delight at what can be done
• Finding a virtual voice and self
• Creating future tasks outside the course

Convergence of best practice ideas

After having reflected on this weeks task as to drawing up a best practice guide, the tutor has complied a list of seven (I had 8 in mine) areas of best practice which the group chose as being important. These are:

– ensuring all participants have all of the technical requirements available to allow them to participate fully
– explicitness, especially expectations of online behaviours
– induction, especially overcoming technological hurdles and helping people feel safe, and icebreakers, giving the environment a human face, establishing connections between people
– opportunities and incentives for collaborative working
– timely and relevant feedback to students and clarity over what they can expect in this regard
– flexibility in the design of asynchronous tasks so learners have some control over the pace at which they work, combined with
– structure, especially clarity over timelines and expected outputs of activities, including assessment criteria where relevant
– developing learners' online skills, such as using discussion threads effectively, addressing each other by name, customising the learning environment, conducting online research, etc, etc
– clarity over where and how to get help
– allowing enough time for students to do the activities


I think I shall assimilate those above which are missing in mine, into my own guide to best practice. I have also been thinking today of what other guides would be useful to those new to on-line learning?

• How to convert traditional work into work which is effective for on-line delivery
• Ten principles of good practice for assessments and feedback
• How to create good discussion posts 
• Guide to creating an effective ice breaker
• The use of wiki's and portfolios for students
• A guide to using blackboard as a software platform

I am sure I will come up with more as I go through the process of conversion and will outline them here once I have a brain wave or two on these.

Nearing the end and carrying on

During my four week course I have learnt a lot experienced a whole spectrum of emotions but generally speaking I have enjoyed every minute of the course. E-learning was a means for me of getting back into what I love doing, teaching. And now I can use the skills that I have acquired during my time on the course to assimilate that in my own teaching.
Next week I start to plan my commercial law course and my banking and finance masters module on line. I am going to take away what I have learnt from the tasks on-line and use the experiences I have had with them and devise courses which will best represent the needs of my students and also ones which will prevent the students experiencing the bad side of e-learning (which I experienced first hand). The experience of being a student during this time has been invaluable to learn how to design a course effectively (I hope). I think perhaps all teachers/lecturers should remind themselves of what it is like to be a student through continuing professional development so that their teaching reflects what is good about learning in an effective manner.
I am going to carry on with this blog even after the course has finished so that you and I can see how I go about designing a on-line course for a law degree. Here's hoping it is successful. :-)

Inventory for best practice for on-line tutoring

Inventory of good practice in on-line tutoring

1. Keep the atmosphere bright and friendly – monitor the posts of students by lurking and drip feed information into the discussions so that the students are discovering information for themselves. Ensure good icebreakers are present.

2. Outline the guidelines and the parameters up front – ensure all students know what is expected of you and them throughout the course. Create these alongside students contributions, if they create their rules they will be more likely to follow them.

3. Be Clear – ensure all tasks are clearly outlined. The tasks should themselves be clear as to what you expect, how to undertake the task and when it should be due. Be clear on ILO’s.

4. Keep it simple – do not overcomplicated what you expect from the student or yourself. Keep materials simple.

5. Be concise – keep posts short and visually attractive.

6. Do not give too many tasks – ensure that what you expect the students to do is reasonable given their other learning commitments.

7. Be fair – ensure there is a level playing field among all students. When replying to a post, do not make ‘off the cuff’ comments which could cause offence. Do not side with one student over an other student. Comment offline if there is inappropriate posting.

8. Always do what you say you will do – if you are going to be online at a certain time be there, similarly inform students of your availability. Be flexible in the delivery of learning and teaching on both sides.

Angry little devil

Yesterday I wasn't able to get onto the VLE and contribute to the task or see the feedback that the red group gave us for our team task as I was busy at work. However I logged in the morning and I must say I a rather angry little devil. First of all out group task this week is incredible onerous and has to be posted today. Having been out yesterday I was expecting on having to catch up. But no one has posted again. I was actually relishing the opportunity to be late at submitting. Alas tis not meant to be. But I may not actually post anything for I am angry. After last weeks comment by a fellow group member that he felt out of the work as he could not log on till Friday when the work was meant to be completed I was pretty miffed but today pure anger. As the green group we provided informative and important (albeit overally positive) feedback to the red group, even though they did not deserve it. The feedback they gave us was purely negative and criticised the areas which we toned down for them.  I am disappointed that a group who  presented inadequate work, and we went easy on them, could criticise in such a robust manner. I am totally disheartened and at the moment do not want to spend my time of the tasks and will concentrate on other work matters first. Honestly some people do amaze me, and not in a good way!

Jeremy Bentham's panopticon

In our discussion on whether tutor lurking i.e. viewing student posts without commenting (can also be applied to student lurking) it was mooted whether the tutor should be allowed to see the post made on discussion boards. f2f teaching has tutor involvement.  On-line teaching also has tutor involvement at all times. It as suggested that it can be compared to Jeremy Bentham's panopticon, a prison where every prisoner could be seen without knowing at any time whether they are actually being watched.. The discussion went on to say that a VLE should have a tutor free space. I was quite perturbed by this notion. Yes students should be free to discuss their ideas and to have the freedom of speech and communication, but to take the VLE seriously I think it needs tutor participation. The VLE is the classroom, and you wouldn't let your students run a classroom without supervision. Without teacher involvement especially on-line, students could be picked on, excluded etc... cyber bullying is all too common and although the students are meant to be adult, we have all seen the more timid or different students being excluded from the group. If you have a tutor free zone I personally think you are asking for trouble, not just for the students but for the university and the legality and validity of the vle.
I think I am more perplexed though by the comparison of the vle being like a glass prison where every action can be seen and evaluated. Learning is not like this and should never be like this. Rather the tutors job is to guide the student through the veil of ignorance through to enlightenment. Students are not prisoners and if we are created a vle which resembles one then we are not doing something right. VLE should be a place for uninhibited learning, but the tutor must play an important role in this.

Quickly loosing steam

This week appears to be different in terms of group dynamics and cohesive work. People are very busy with other tasks, perhaps the novelty of the on-line course is wearing off but the tasks are getting slower at being completed and people are commenting less on posts. I wonder if this is always the case. I am still as eager as ever at doing the course and learning more. But that could just be me.
I held of yesterday to see if anyone else would take the lead in the feedback task. On the Tuesday I provided a word document which outlined and covered all the points for the feedback. Nothing was done yesterday and so, as I don't want to work over the weekend, I took the bait and amended the document in relation to others comments and have now posted it back onto the VLE. The leader of the group welcomed this and has now set some more deadlines and tasks. One of which is to write paragraph on those reflective points I outlined yesterday. Now this is where I am struggling, do I be honest that I feel the groups are not pulling their weight or play the political game of assuming everyone is busy and just the daily grind gets us down. I know I am really busy but I committed to undertaking the course and thus I find the time. This is going to be a tricky reflective task. Or am I being too harsh and expecting too much? Does this mean I expect too higher standards from my students? And is this a bad thing? I know I have always told them failure is not an option.... Am I an ogre and a task master.....

Group task of reflecting

Well in the space of 24 hours a lot has happened. I am getting more and more confused over the length and depth of the posts on the discussion board and because there are often so many posts it is hard to read them and really think about them when you have other work to be getting on with. Similarly we still have to decide on our collective feedback for the red group. It appears my template of feedback is going to be used and built upon by the others in the group. I am really pleased by this but cautious as to having to shoulder the responsibility if it is wrong. One member of the group has commented on that the red group was much better and collecting all their ideas together and putting it on one page. I thought this was one of the major criticisms. It just shows how subjective feedback and assessment is.
Today I am going to keep an eye on the posts but to take a more back seat approach as I have a PhD viva examination I am preparing to examine on Monday which will take up most of my day!
However I have been asked to reflect upon 2 things.


Our collective reflections this week can explore:
- an ability to work collaboratively and inclusively online
- knowledge and understanding of the different roles and responsibilities required by individual team members
- commitment to meeting the task deadline

Reflecting on assessing the red groups work

The task this week is to reflect upon and write an assessment / feedback for the red groups work on 'should on-line learning be compulsory'. We have to take several aspects into account.

1. Clarify what good performance is 
2. Facilitate self-assessment 
3. Deliver high quality feedback information‘’
4. Encourage teacher and peer dialogue
5. Encourage positive motivation and self-esteem
6. Provide opportunity to close the gap
7. Use feedback to improve teaching

(Nicol, D and Macfarlane-Dick, D (2005) Formative assessment and self-regulated learning: a model and seven principles of good feedback practice. Studies in Higher Education, Volume 31, Issue 2 April 2006, pages 199 - 218.)

I am finding providing feedback really difficult. Firstly because I am not the tutor in this instance and it is peer related assessment. This comes with many issues: I don't want to offend if I put my tutor hat on: How much do I comment on it as if it were law I could provide a long feedback assessment. Here with teaching I am in the unknown. Also if I provide criticism and feedback first, how will my group perceive me? Am I being too critical or am I being too goodie goodie? It is in my nature to work fast and get the work done, so this waiting is like a battle game for me. I am waiting to see who makes the first move and then I shall assess what they have written as feedback and alter mine to suit. Or am I selling myself out? My opinion counts. Arg.... so complicated. When you are a tutor you have the power to make the comments you need to. Perhaps that is it. I need to make the comments therefore I should. I shall ponder away some more and see what happens over the day. The deadline is tomorrow.

A thought before bed

Is blogging/ social media and on-line learning an invasion into privacy or a freedom of openness?

My thoughts on on-line assessments

Plenary on assessment Green Group - Clare Chambers

7 February 2011

• If your contribution here was being assessed, what assessment criteria would you use?

I think assessing contributions on-line is a really difficult thing to do as there are many social dynamics that are in affect. Firstly, some people post more than others, yet the number of posts is no reflection to the quality of the post. Other may feel that if a point has been made they have no need to post it again. Therefore there posting and contribution is lost and their idea does not get any credit. Similarly, group may form on-line and within those groups, mini groups may form creating a sense of some people being on the outside where the other members of the group are doing all the work.

I think I would use the criteria outlined below. Having individual marks for each part of the assessment task plus making it compulsory for people to make at least two posting on the subject matter. It is not quantity over quality.

• Would you look for quality or quantity of postings?

I think it should be quality and not quantity as iterated above some people are more verbose than others and this may not produce as quality answers than a succinct couple of lines. I think the tutor has to make value judgements here. However for student quality assessment you should always make it clear as to what the guidelines are that they are being assessed on. Perhaps it should read all students should post at least 2 posting which contributes to their overall grade.

• How would you assess contributions to a collaborative online task?

I think if you are doing on-line group work then you have to grade this work for the whole group on its content but also on the reflective log provided by the group as to how the group worked together. In addition to this I think you have to have another form of assessment that individual need to complete. Therefore it needs to be all compulsory. There could be three elements then, the group work, the reflective log and then the individual assessment. If it were out of 100% then it could be divided into on-line group work 45%, individual assessment 45% and 10% for the reflective log. Care has to be taken though over the reflective log to determine whether the information provided is factual. We have all had group work student who have said ‘she is not working, he hasn’t turned up’, but you cannot take this on face value. You as a tutor have to decide on a policy for group work.  

• Are there any specific issues related to the assessment of online work that do not apply in more traditional assessment of students' work?

In law we do not have any reflective logs or reflective assessments which are assessed or even talked about. This form of learning is not seen as part of the core elements of the law degree. In some legal skills modules in some universities it is sometimes used, but as you can see from my language it is really not something that is widely used. During my MA Academic Practice course we did a lot of reflective learning logs and I found it very useful as a learning tool for myself. I had never used them before in my studies and I think on-line it would give me the opportunity and space to provide this activity for my students. I may not be able to get it through as part of the assessment criteria but I could use as a learning tool. 

Week 4: Assessements

Last weeks task was group work and we managed to finish off the task over the weekend and have now published it for the red group to see our work. We were the green group. I think the task this week is to assess each others work. But before I do that I just wanted to reflect upon the group work task.


Initially I found it an awful experience, as I could not  communicate on-line with the others, but after we got around that and other members of the team were so helpful and supportive, it because really enjoyable. Indeed addictive. There were three in particular (plus me) who contributed lots up front and I think another couple behind the scenes but given there were about 7-8 in a group (yes I am not sure how many) it was hard to see what everyone was doing unless you were very outward in your contributions on line. I think this could have problems for student group work. You may get natural leaders working away on the tasks, quickly and loudly and others working just as well but quietly. It is very hard to assess who is doing what unless you make it overtly clear in the discussions forums. I am not sure then this is an adequate way of assessing, unless perhaps you do it in smaller groups?


Today we have been asked to consider these four questions:
In deciding how you will contribute to this plenary activity, you might like to consider some of the following questions:
• If your contribution here was being assessed, what assessment criteria would you use?
• Would you look for quality or quantity of postings?
• How would you assess contributions to a collaborative online task?
• Are there any specific issues related to the assessment of online work that do not apply in more traditional assessment of students' work?


I think we have some other tasks to do - as there is a bubble in the assessment box on line but I am not sure. I think this could be better organised as for this week the tasks are unclear and I have written on the sheet of paper in-front of me NO Structure.... and I am not good with no structure.


So I am going to consider the questions above, make a post and see where I go from there.

Reflections on group work

I made a suggestion that everyone's reflections on the group work task be anonymous and be presented in bubbles as if the group were thinking. Therefore here is my small reflection on the group work.

''Initially I was concerned about how on-line group work would work in practice and after the first day I was really unsure of how I felt about it. However after members of the group reassured me as to what we were doing I found the rest of the time really enjoyable and this reassurance was vital to my participation. By having time to reflect on others work on-line allows you to think more deeply and rationally about the topic. Overall I think I have gone on a learning curve through the task and have come out realising much more about me and about how I work with others''.

Mae and the Voice of Reason today reminded me that it is best to think first and act second. So before I responded to my group on aspects of our work, I decided to take a second and see what I really thought on the subject. It is all so easy working on-line for a tutor or an assessor to comment on something and for their words or meaning to be taken out of context. By reflecting on those thoughts, even for a nano second, you can have a better decision on what you are wanting as an outcome.
Another issue I am having with the group work is I am constantly having to tame down my tutor-ness within me. I am constantly thinking about what I could do should I be the tutor or the leader of the group. Don't get me wrong I didn't want to be the leader but when a tutor goes back to being a student the tutor inside them suddenly rears it head!
One of the things that concerns me with transposing my work into on-line teaching is that I will be be to 'full on' in the discussion. I need to ensure and remind myself to take a back seat in the discussions. I know I will want to help the students and to encourage them but you have to draw the line and allow them the freedom to discover for themselves. So today I suppose I am going to back off the group work a bit, I have made some comments that could be used in the wiki design but I am not going to make any more. Not because I don't want to but I think I should take a back seat and see how it feels. As I say think first act second, or as the Voice of Reason says, Measure twice cut once...

I used colour in a project!!!! What a novelty

I used colour in my group presentation part. I had some useful feedback that given restraints on space I should limit my benefits to just those specifically associated with disabled learning. So I thought I would give a bit of colour a go and look what happened:  :-)
Compulsory on-line learning and Disability

The use of Virtual Learning Environments (VLEs) can be adapted and extended to allow a more inclusive learning and teaching experience for all students and provide particular support for disabled students. For students with disabilities learning can be an isolating experience but the use of compulsory on-line learning can facilitate integration and a more rounded learning experience for all students regardless of ability. 

Benefits

• Pedagogical: extended access to tutors which disabled students may not be able to access due to physical barriers.

·         Students can feel comfortable and on an equal playing field with others to exchange ideas through on-line mediums.

·         Burgstahler points out that “the removal of social cues and social distinctions like disability, race, and facial expression through text-only communication can make even shy people feel more confident about communicating with others,” (Burgstahler, 1997).

·         On-line tutoring can become and important part of disabled students learning. It is something they miss out on in normal learning activities because of the social set up of the classroom and their peers. (Burgstahler, 1997).

·         Online learning can promote social friendship and peer related learning between student groups without making the disability apparent and act as a social barrier. (Burgstahler, 1997).

·         Asynchronous discussion allow for all students to participate at their own pace and time which is important to disabled students. It can extend upon discussion that would reach beyond the classroom and allow for greater reflection on learning.

·         Discussion boards can promote a sense of belonging to a community for those who may be housebound (Debenham, 2001). Equality can emerge from this as students know that they have the same access to the discussion boards as any other student.

Four principles that provide the foundation for Web accessibility: 

Principle 1: Perceivable - Information and user interface components must be presentable to users in ways they can perceive.

Principle 2: Operable - User interface components and navigation must be operable.

Principle 3: Understandable - Information and the operation of user interface must be understandable.

Principle 4: Robust - Content must be robust enough that it can be interpreted reliably by a wide variety of user agents, including assistive technologies.

Submitting course work and ironing out the IT issues

I had a productive evening last night, well the other half did, (or otherwise known as the voice of reason) who is a lot more technically sound than I am. We managed to get the web cam and the microphone working so I can now undertake on-line tutorials with my classmates and students and they can see me if not hear me! Sign language would be useful right now... But that is another story for another time.

I seem to be the first person to always post messages and submit things on line but that is just the way I am and I do worry that my classmates will think I am rather geeky. The voice of reason though says this is not a bad thing and I should just do it as its the way I work, so I am listening to him. I will just have to wait and see what the outcome is.
Overall I found the experience to be, in the end, not so bad. Initially I was worried about how to do group work on-line and the first days experience of not being able to hear or see what the group was saying was pretty traumatic. However having a leader of the group who was thinking along the same lines as myself re structure timings and organisation helped me a lot. Being a bit of control freak I needed that structure and sense of organisation and I was really pleased with that. I also felt the other members of the group were friendly and helpful which was a great help in getting started on the work. You always have a sense, when working outside your field of speciality, that you are never going to make sense or you will end up sounding silly, but the group was really reassuring. We now have to collate the work and I am confident in the groups ability to do this and so I can back off a little with my controlling nature. I am looking forward to seeing the collated wiki, but I am thinking we need to ensure that the movement between each other pieces is smooth so I may add a comment on the vle about it.
Right I best get back to the day job and finish reading the journals for the next chapter :-)
Just a little picture of Mae and I walking in the woods (Mae is on heel training if you were wondering!)

Group work draft - disabled students and e-learning

The group work task - to discuss 'on'line learning should be compulsory' I have looked at it from the disabled students point of view. As I have discussed previously I am now affected my many of these issues because of the lack of voice and the obstacles that are in my way to pursue my career in the way I used to. Even participating in the course has proved difficult because of the lack of voice in places but in others it has made me feel integrated and able to participate, - more like my old self. I am not going to post the whole presentation but I will post the benefits of on-line for disabled students. If you can think of any more please let me know.

Benefits

• Pedagogical: extended access to tutors. Use of discussion boards can be instrumental in clarifying misunderstood concepts, developing ideas and themes and synthesising ideas between student and tutor, and student and student.  

·         Students can feel comfortable and on an equal playing field with others to exchange ideas through on-line mediums.

·         Students feel that they are not asking inappropriate questions at inappropriate times because the medium is providing a leveling experience for all students.

·         Burgstahler points out that “the removal of social cues and social distinctions like disability, race, and facial expression through text-only communication can make even shy people feel more confident about communicating with others,” (Burgstahler, 1997).

·         ‘Lurkers’ can gain valuable experience by looking and listening to others on-line and this can lead to an increase in confidence for the student. (Salmon, 2000).

·         Archiving of asynchronous discussions within the VLE is a valuable tool for optimising the use for the purpose of reflection or revision.

·         Online learning and discussion can generate an autonomous learning community manifested through formal and informal exchanges among students and between tutor and students. 

·         On-line tutoring can become and important part of disabled students learning. It is something they miss out on in normal learning activities because of the social set up of the classroom and their peers. (Burgstahler, 1997).

·         Online learning can promote social friendship and peer related learning between student groups without making the disability apparent and act as a social barrier. (Burgstahler, 1997).

·         Asynchronous discussion allow for all students to participate at their own pace and time which is important to disabled students. It can extend upon discussion that would reach beyond the classroom and allow for greater reflection on learning.

·         Discussion boards can promote a sense of belonging to a community for those who may be housebound (Debenham, 2001). Equality can emerge from this as students know that they have the same access to the discussion boards as any other student.

View from my window today in the upstairs office: cold bleak grey and miserable. But the atmosphere in the house is thriving. List of things to do today is participate in the banking and corporate governance conference in the Ukraine. So although I may be in Hereford my brain is working away in the Ukraine. The benefits of on-line learning is plentiful!

My group work presentation

For my task this week: on-line learning should be compulsory i have now negotiated that I am going to consider the following:
a) blended learning and
b) disabled students involvement

My view this morning just for a change of scenery:

Week 2 - learning curve

Yesterday was an epic failure not only on the part of the technology but also on behalf of myself. As it was pointed out to me on a long walk yesterday evening, I should be thinking that experiencing all of these issues was not a bad thing but a good thing as I am the one who is learning what it is like to a) be a student learning on-line and b) what it is like to be a disabled student learning on-line.
It was a horrible experience yesterday but after I had calmed down I decided I would contact the leader of the group and ask what things I had to do. Being a person who always like to contribute and not take a back seat it was important for me to do this as soon as possible. I also had a reply from the tutor of the course offering assistance. I am not sure it was exactly what I was looking for but that is another issue. I shall persevere and go through the group work task as best I can and take from it those experiences which will help me never to put a student in the position I was in yesterday. Several issues I have taken away are:

1. If I am using video and calling technology the students must all have the equipment too, if they do not or it is not working then the group does not use it. One student should not be left out in any circumstances
2. If a student is unable because of disability use any of the technology then we do not use it, or we mediate with the student how best to make it work for them. We do not leave them struggling feeling isolated and exposed.
3. Any group work on-line must be decided by all the members of the group and not just some.
4. No student should be made to feel on the outside of the group at any time. This is a really important issue and one that should be considered in more depth with each cohort of students.
5. Direct access should be made for the tutor and student to solve issues immediately.
6. Group work on-line should not be longer than half an hour. 
7. Consider disability and on-line learning. Is it a level playing field - what about dyslexia, deaf students, blind students, how can you make on-line learning an equal platform.