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.