OK - so following the activity day a few weeks ago - more assets have been populated and published to the Gateway which is good. I will review the text poll next week, which I have not had time to do because I am very busy at the moment with assessments, revision sessions and marking.
I sent an email to PUPPS participants last week, wanting to pencil in dates and times for inteviews and only two respondents have come back to me! So I will be chasing students via Facebook next week.
I am still waiting for M and M'sind map to be published to the Gateway. M has still not published anything to the Gatway but I have since discovered extenuating circumstances contributing to this ; he still wants to be involved, so I aim to be as flexible as possible.
Review of the mindmaps will be triangulated with the text poll and analysed to determine a few themes. Early discussions with participants indicate that PebblePad is great and the PDA is very useful, but can be problematic.
It is clear that in general participants use the technology with which they are most familar and this seems to be more important to them. Participants will create assets on these technologies and upload them to PebblePad on their laptop or PC. I will be exploring this in the interviews.
I have been creating my owned-portfolio which is nearly finished and I have to say that I found PebblePad to be intuitive. I have used multi-media outputs to create my portfolio and have to say that my husband was quite impressed with it, so I figure that it must be OK.
In terms of the project - The lovely BBB is going to investigate using a former student; Ben Cotton and a lady from industry to judge the webfolios. I am also going to invite Business Centurions and employers from the employer network to come along and showcase the webfolios to them and employers of the PUPPS participants - this is due to happen in May/June - so as usual I have to get my skates on!
Tuesday, 30 March 2010
Friday, 12 March 2010
PUPPS Activity Evening 9th March 2010
The evening went really, really well. We started off with a text poll in which students described their feelings about the project and whether they felt that they had experienced any value from participating. It is clear that all students agreed that PebblePad is great and has been a really useful tool for creating reflections etc - mixed views about the use of the PDA ranging from brilliant to frustrating.. It is clear that when the technology works it is an invaluable mediating tool, but it causes a lot of problems when not.
The students posted and published some mind maps from the session which are very interested and will be showcased in my webfolio of the project. Webfolio training went well and from the assets populated in PebblePad it is clear that there are going to be some really good webfolios.I intend to showcase the webfolios at the launch for the work based mobile module event, where I hope there will be some business centurions and local businesses who have expressed an interest in being involved in the module, so things are going well..I am still waiting to hear from Dr Jill Taylor about the PDAS but fingers crossed and wood touched that this is going to happen.
On a personal note, I have been invited to interview for a teaching fellow position so I am really made up - I have to prepare a 10 minute demonstration of my approach to supporting student learning so I am going to use my own webfolio, so I am starting that now! Will be good to experience what students will be experiencing!Which is what the project is all about biographical, lifelong learning!
The students posted and published some mind maps from the session which are very interested and will be showcased in my webfolio of the project. Webfolio training went well and from the assets populated in PebblePad it is clear that there are going to be some really good webfolios.I intend to showcase the webfolios at the launch for the work based mobile module event, where I hope there will be some business centurions and local businesses who have expressed an interest in being involved in the module, so things are going well..I am still waiting to hear from Dr Jill Taylor about the PDAS but fingers crossed and wood touched that this is going to happen.
On a personal note, I have been invited to interview for a teaching fellow position so I am really made up - I have to prepare a 10 minute demonstration of my approach to supporting student learning so I am going to use my own webfolio, so I am starting that now! Will be good to experience what students will be experiencing!Which is what the project is all about biographical, lifelong learning!
Sunday, 14 February 2010
PUPPS Project, FCCA and PGCHE update
So, I have been on the gateway and have been looking at content that has been populated which is very interesting - the content ranges in depth and breadth from participant to participant and I am sure that this is going to be reflected in the webfolios that are created.
My next challenge is to find a business contact who will be willing to judge the webfolio competition in June/July. I am going to use this showcasing event as a means to show the Level 2 students who choose the work based mobile learning module what e-portfolios created in PebblePad can look like.
The next event for the PUPPS participants will be on 9th March when I return from teaching in Hong Kong. For this reason, I have quite a lot to organise and make sure is in place on my return to ensure that there are few problems in the lead up to it as I come back on the evening of 4th March.
One of the remaining PUPPS participants is not engaged - there have been no blogs, no assets populated etc which is very surprising as he seemed very enthusiastic at the start of the project - it will be important to identify what these issues are as these will feed into framing the work based mobile learning project that I am piloting in September 2010.
The activity evening on 9th March will involve students creating assets using their PDAs and uploading them into a repository (the Gateway) for me to tag and use as research evidence. I aim to use their assets to recall memories of their progression in the project and to establish their views, change in skills etc in reflective practice and biographical learning. I aim to make it interactive and interesting and am looking into how to create a text poll to gather some data.
Lots to do as usual - I also need to crack on with my teacher fellowship application! Talking of fellowships... I was confirmed as a Fellow of ACCA this week which is a huge personal achievement for me and something that I am very proud of!I believe that recording evidence of learning is hugely important and is a requirement of fellowship of ACCA, as part of my CPD obligations, so pertinent given my objectives for this project.
Still dont know when I will hear about my PGCHE but can use my evidence for my teacher fellowship application and CMALT....so evidence of learning is good and useful!
Over and out.
My next challenge is to find a business contact who will be willing to judge the webfolio competition in June/July. I am going to use this showcasing event as a means to show the Level 2 students who choose the work based mobile learning module what e-portfolios created in PebblePad can look like.
The next event for the PUPPS participants will be on 9th March when I return from teaching in Hong Kong. For this reason, I have quite a lot to organise and make sure is in place on my return to ensure that there are few problems in the lead up to it as I come back on the evening of 4th March.
One of the remaining PUPPS participants is not engaged - there have been no blogs, no assets populated etc which is very surprising as he seemed very enthusiastic at the start of the project - it will be important to identify what these issues are as these will feed into framing the work based mobile learning project that I am piloting in September 2010.
The activity evening on 9th March will involve students creating assets using their PDAs and uploading them into a repository (the Gateway) for me to tag and use as research evidence. I aim to use their assets to recall memories of their progression in the project and to establish their views, change in skills etc in reflective practice and biographical learning. I aim to make it interactive and interesting and am looking into how to create a text poll to gather some data.
Lots to do as usual - I also need to crack on with my teacher fellowship application! Talking of fellowships... I was confirmed as a Fellow of ACCA this week which is a huge personal achievement for me and something that I am very proud of!I believe that recording evidence of learning is hugely important and is a requirement of fellowship of ACCA, as part of my CPD obligations, so pertinent given my objectives for this project.
Still dont know when I will hear about my PGCHE but can use my evidence for my teacher fellowship application and CMALT....so evidence of learning is good and useful!
Over and out.
Tuesday, 9 February 2010
The story so far
So I have submitted a paper to ALT-J on the use of mobile technologies for lifelong and life-wide learning and also a proposal for a poster to 2010 ALT conference relating to the PUPPS project - so watch this space
Last week I contacted all participants about the project and it seems that generally things are going well - Students have been populating content onto the Gateway which looks very interesting - there is a breadth of artefacts which are deeply reflective and interesting and I really believe that the scaffolding of PebblePad has contributed to this level of reflection..
However, I intended to use Interpretative Phenomological Analysis (IPA) to recall students experiences during the project using their portfolios as triggers for memories etc It will be interesting to determine whether the use of the PDA added any value and whether this was restricted to administrative/diary support only.
A discussion with one of the participants indicated that this wasnt the case as she said she always carried it around with her so that she could reflect on incidents straight away as she did not want to forget by the time she got home.
I am surprised that there are not more audio files and photos (there are some) and that students have used traditional artefacts of reflection - written reflections, with some written in word and uploaded into PebblePad.
The next stage is our activity day in March for webfolio training and informal interviews to discuss the project. I am also going to ask some of the participants to speak with Level 2 students who will be piloting my new work based mobile learning module.
I need to get busy with my e-portfolio as I am going to apply for a teacher fellowship - however, I really wanted to use my PGCHE portfolio to try and showcase some activities I have undertaken but that is not going to happen as I cannot receive any feedback..
I am also conscious that I need to submit my CMALT portfolio - this will have to go on the back burner for a little while as I need to crack on with Semester 2 assessments (I am module leader for 4 modules this Semester and on my own for 3 - so have lots of assessments to write and am off to HK in just over a week to teach) - busy as per but I love it!!!
Last week I contacted all participants about the project and it seems that generally things are going well - Students have been populating content onto the Gateway which looks very interesting - there is a breadth of artefacts which are deeply reflective and interesting and I really believe that the scaffolding of PebblePad has contributed to this level of reflection..
However, I intended to use Interpretative Phenomological Analysis (IPA) to recall students experiences during the project using their portfolios as triggers for memories etc It will be interesting to determine whether the use of the PDA added any value and whether this was restricted to administrative/diary support only.
A discussion with one of the participants indicated that this wasnt the case as she said she always carried it around with her so that she could reflect on incidents straight away as she did not want to forget by the time she got home.
I am surprised that there are not more audio files and photos (there are some) and that students have used traditional artefacts of reflection - written reflections, with some written in word and uploaded into PebblePad.
The next stage is our activity day in March for webfolio training and informal interviews to discuss the project. I am also going to ask some of the participants to speak with Level 2 students who will be piloting my new work based mobile learning module.
I need to get busy with my e-portfolio as I am going to apply for a teacher fellowship - however, I really wanted to use my PGCHE portfolio to try and showcase some activities I have undertaken but that is not going to happen as I cannot receive any feedback..
I am also conscious that I need to submit my CMALT portfolio - this will have to go on the back burner for a little while as I need to crack on with Semester 2 assessments (I am module leader for 4 modules this Semester and on my own for 3 - so have lots of assessments to write and am off to HK in just over a week to teach) - busy as per but I love it!!!
Tuesday, 2 February 2010
Contacting students
Tried to contact students via their PDAs yesterday - interestingly only x2 were switched on during office hours - will be following this up to see whether they are actually being used regularly
Have spoken with x3 of the participants who are starting to see real value in what they have been creating - PebblePad has been a really useful system of use, interestingly the units have been used more of a communication and diary device rather than to create artefacts of learning (in the main) - I anticipated more use of photos, video, audio - some participants have tried to video presentations which is good.
Operational issues with the PDA seem few and far between which is good to see.
I am going to host a webfolio training day in March with participants as I think it is time for participants to start organising artefacts.
The next thing to do is to organise the showcase event with a local employer to judge the webfolio competition.
Really pleased with some of the content populated on PebblePad - frustratingly some blogs have still not been created - let alone updated. However, a core set of about 4 students who are really engaged and doing everything that is asked of them.
Have spoken with x3 of the participants who are starting to see real value in what they have been creating - PebblePad has been a really useful system of use, interestingly the units have been used more of a communication and diary device rather than to create artefacts of learning (in the main) - I anticipated more use of photos, video, audio - some participants have tried to video presentations which is good.
Operational issues with the PDA seem few and far between which is good to see.
I am going to host a webfolio training day in March with participants as I think it is time for participants to start organising artefacts.
The next thing to do is to organise the showcase event with a local employer to judge the webfolio competition.
Really pleased with some of the content populated on PebblePad - frustratingly some blogs have still not been created - let alone updated. However, a core set of about 4 students who are really engaged and doing everything that is asked of them.
Tuesday, 12 January 2010
ESRC - Imagie timing the university of the future seminar
Today - I attended a CHEER seminar called "Who can Inhabit the New ACademic Identities of a Digital Age. It was very interesting and raised some key themes about the research project. It is clear that there is much debate about the motivations and drivers pushing the use of technology and the governments agenda and role of corporations. Despite these interplays- I think that my role is not to get caught up in the complexities of rhetoric of policy, but to take a microlevel approach and think about whether it adds value in terms of my practice and what I believe its use can enable me to do as a practioner.
There was some very interesting discussion about space and time compression, simultaneity of place, the transformative impact that technologies can have on spatial relations, visualisation of knowledge etc
The work of Professor Huw Morris outlining the vested interest of theorists of technology use in education such as Prensky, really opened my eyes to the clouding of pedagogical impact and value that technologies have in people's eyes because of the capitalist rewards associated with buyin. However, I firmly believe that the capabilities of technology can enhance learning and help students learn how they learn. They are without doubt in my mind effective mediating tools, when selected properly - issues of equity, access, participation etc are important in the wider context but in terms of informing my practice and this project - I will continue to evaluate things in relation to my context and the impact that the use of these technologies have on students on this project - this will be used to inform the design and delivery of the work based mobile learning module I have written
I was supposed to call students yesterday but absolutely snowed under - will make time tomorrow to call and see how everyone is doing.
I havent created any personal assets recently, so this is something to do - need to do a reflection on the work based mobile learning module.
I have submitted a short paper for our ALT journal - so will have to see how that goes, waiting to hear about my PGCHE files (we wouldnt get away with not providing feedack within 3 weeks let me tell you!) and submitted the revised version of my book chapter (dont think it will be accepted based on the revisions that I had to make, but a very worthwhile process to have gone through nonetheless)
OK -well off to bed and up early to wade through the mountain of marking!
There was some very interesting discussion about space and time compression, simultaneity of place, the transformative impact that technologies can have on spatial relations, visualisation of knowledge etc
The work of Professor Huw Morris outlining the vested interest of theorists of technology use in education such as Prensky, really opened my eyes to the clouding of pedagogical impact and value that technologies have in people's eyes because of the capitalist rewards associated with buyin. However, I firmly believe that the capabilities of technology can enhance learning and help students learn how they learn. They are without doubt in my mind effective mediating tools, when selected properly - issues of equity, access, participation etc are important in the wider context but in terms of informing my practice and this project - I will continue to evaluate things in relation to my context and the impact that the use of these technologies have on students on this project - this will be used to inform the design and delivery of the work based mobile learning module I have written
I was supposed to call students yesterday but absolutely snowed under - will make time tomorrow to call and see how everyone is doing.
I havent created any personal assets recently, so this is something to do - need to do a reflection on the work based mobile learning module.
I have submitted a short paper for our ALT journal - so will have to see how that goes, waiting to hear about my PGCHE files (we wouldnt get away with not providing feedack within 3 weeks let me tell you!) and submitted the revised version of my book chapter (dont think it will be accepted based on the revisions that I had to make, but a very worthwhile process to have gone through nonetheless)
OK -well off to bed and up early to wade through the mountain of marking!
Tuesday, 5 January 2010
Progress so far
Back from the festive period this week and some of the participants have responded to the emails that I circulated just before Christmas to ensure that everyone is OK...
Participants have promised to publish some of their assets onto the Gateway this week - I am going to contact participants via Skype which is installed on the PDAs.
Good news - the HEA synthesis bid was successful - this is a TEL project for employability and will consist of structured case studies to inform evidence based good practice across the sector. I think I will be quite involved given the work that I have been doing in relation to SCEPTrE and my proposal for my DProf..I will be submitting PUPPS as a case study for the HEA project.
Speaking of which, despite acceptance in principle from Leeds University of a PhD place, I have decided that I would like to do a DProf at Middlesex Uni- the main reason is that this doctorate is based on a work based issue/project but to Doctorate standard - the work based project will be based on the work based mobile learning module that I am developing over the next 9 months with a pilot start date of September 2010 - an immediate problem is that of funding - I need to purchase 40 or so PDAs and have yet to decide on the best mobile device to use given the pedagogic ALT goals associated with the module..
I received some advice from the qualitative analysis group on ELESIG (another network that I have joined!) on IPA - Intepretitative Phenomological Analysis which is a research method that I have been adopting in a piecemeal way in relation to PUPPS without being aware of the method. Consequently, I will be adopting a framework for my DProf research based on IPA and can use lessons learned from the methodology of PUPPS for this project. I will be using the e-portfolios as artefacts of stimulus to evoke memories of their experiences during their workplacement as part of the interview plus method...
Anyway, PUPPS has provided some sound evidence that PebblePad PDA is a really good e-portfolio system that can capture evidence of learning experiences in formal and informal learning settings, so I will definitely be using this for the pilot despite the current institutional e-portfolio system being campus pack fusion..
So - I will contact students at the end of the week - we have some training for webfolio construction next month and webfolios will be showcased at an employer event in June/July which will coincide with the launch event for employers in relation to the work based mobile learning module.
Participants have promised to publish some of their assets onto the Gateway this week - I am going to contact participants via Skype which is installed on the PDAs.
Good news - the HEA synthesis bid was successful - this is a TEL project for employability and will consist of structured case studies to inform evidence based good practice across the sector. I think I will be quite involved given the work that I have been doing in relation to SCEPTrE and my proposal for my DProf..I will be submitting PUPPS as a case study for the HEA project.
Speaking of which, despite acceptance in principle from Leeds University of a PhD place, I have decided that I would like to do a DProf at Middlesex Uni- the main reason is that this doctorate is based on a work based issue/project but to Doctorate standard - the work based project will be based on the work based mobile learning module that I am developing over the next 9 months with a pilot start date of September 2010 - an immediate problem is that of funding - I need to purchase 40 or so PDAs and have yet to decide on the best mobile device to use given the pedagogic ALT goals associated with the module..
I received some advice from the qualitative analysis group on ELESIG (another network that I have joined!) on IPA - Intepretitative Phenomological Analysis which is a research method that I have been adopting in a piecemeal way in relation to PUPPS without being aware of the method. Consequently, I will be adopting a framework for my DProf research based on IPA and can use lessons learned from the methodology of PUPPS for this project. I will be using the e-portfolios as artefacts of stimulus to evoke memories of their experiences during their workplacement as part of the interview plus method...
Anyway, PUPPS has provided some sound evidence that PebblePad PDA is a really good e-portfolio system that can capture evidence of learning experiences in formal and informal learning settings, so I will definitely be using this for the pilot despite the current institutional e-portfolio system being campus pack fusion..
So - I will contact students at the end of the week - we have some training for webfolio construction next month and webfolios will be showcased at an employer event in June/July which will coincide with the launch event for employers in relation to the work based mobile learning module.
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