G’day
Here we are almost half way through a year and still heavily influenced by Covid. Life seems to be getting back to normal (whatever that might mean) and education in general is rising to the challenge of the online dimension of learning and teaching. Students are having to deal with new ways of managing their learning experiences. More and more helpful ‘guides’ on how to create effective and efficient online learning are appearing on the web and in publications; most seem to be in agreement with the fundamental principles that make learning online successful. It’s good to see that there is more focus on time management and using feedback effectively. It is imperative that to contribute to students having successful learning outcomes, teachers/ tutors need to continually ask for and accept feedback from students AND more importantly, RESPOND in a timely and constructive way.
Nought much on the garden this time around. Autumn is upon us and apart from potato and Silverbeet/Spinach , there’s not much else poking its head up! Have to start tilling the sod and plant a few winter veggies.The Golden Retriever would prefer we spent more time on the beach, can’t argue with that:-)
In this posting there are links to Leaders and Legends, assessment and feedback, strategies for teaching online, A Guide to Quality in Online Learning, A favourite revisited, Mltiple choice questions (MCQ’s), Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge Framework, Online Learning Framework, student behaviour contracts, some useful resources, fact checking writing,conferences, publications and the odd one out.
Keep up the good work and get out in the fresh air 🙂
1. JISC Guide: Principles of good assessment and feedback. Not to be left out of your portfolio of important and must have guides to good practice. JISC are very good at keeping up to date with trends in education. With it’s finger on the button , this guide is a must read even if it reinforces what you may already be doing.
https://www.jisc.ac.uk/guides/principles-of-good-assessment-and-feedback
2. Leaders & Legends of Online Learning. An innovative approach bringing together some of the pioneers of online/e-learning around the world. This podcast from Tony Bates is well worth listening to. Bookmark the site for more interesting and useful podcasts
HE in a post-Covid world: Bonus interview with Professor Tony Bates
3. Strategies for Teaching Online: The Ultimate Guide for Educators. Plenty of advice and guidance online for teaching online. This is a comprehensive guide which has some useful material with could be used to supplement or enhance your own approach; always something new to explore.
Strategies for Teaching Online: The Ultimate Guide for Educators
4.TPACK: Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge Framework. Although presented a few years ago, this article is highly relevant in the learning environment today. If you can get used to be asked questions about innovating Australian Universities (us Kiwis would consider that an oxymoron :-)… just kidding) read on and digest some very useful comment and information. Might give you food for thought with regard to how you use education technology and wether or not it provides the teaching sand learning support you desire.
TPACK: Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge Framework
5. It’s always a good idea to visit the odd favourite website from time to time. Julian Stodd’s is one of mine.; always something different and always accompanied by excellent drawings and pictures. Explore for yourself. There are lots of very useful articles focussed on learning.
‘Building Culture’ is an interesting read for a start.
https://julianstodd.wordpress.com
6.Mick Healey resources. Mick is well known in the international education community; he is a prolific communicator and seems to have his head around all that’s going on in the world of education! His website of invaluable resources is well worth perusing and bookmarking.
https://www.healeyheconsultants.co.uk/resources
7.Developing Multiple Choice Questions. MCQ’s are used extensively for assessment of learning, on and offline. Creating those that are meaningful, match learning outcomes and actually help the student to learn, can be a challenge. The information on this web site might help you improve or refine your own approaches.
As an aside, years ago, I use to get small groups of students to write MCQ’s and have them peer reviewed by the classmates. All those deemed acceptable by them and me were transferred to a database for future assessment events. Having to write plausible MCQ on specific subjects (in this case Human anatomy and Physiology) meant the students had to check the facts carefully and in the process indulged in meaningful learning experiences, thus vastly improving their knowledge of the subject. Always worth a practical session!plus the benefit of an ever expanding MCQ database 🙂
8. DEVELOPING A STUDENT BEHAVIOUR AGREEMENT. This is a very comprehensive and useful document. Although it indicates it’s for younger students, I don’t se why the same principles and practice can’t be applied to all levels of education.
Expectations of students of tutors and vice versa should always be clearly articulated at the beginning of any course of study and be accepted as fair and reasonable by all parties. Consequences associated with breaking such agreements need to be understood and actioned as and when necessary to ensure there is a level and fair playing field.
Read the article and decide for yourself the best approach.
You might like to compare some of the above article with:
“I’ll Be There”: Improving Online Class Attendance with a Commitment Nudge during COVID-19
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/01973533.2021.2023534
9.Online Learning Framework:Guidance for the development of online learning solutions at the United Nations. As it says in the title the document provides a lot of guidance e, suggestions and resources to help you either set up, review or improve your current approach to the presentation of materials for online learners.
https://hr.un.org/sites/hr.un.org/files/OLF_2020_v1.2_0.pdf
10. A Guide to Quality in Online Learning. A comprehensive document with provides some useful information, comment and resources for supporting and improving the quality of online learning.
https://sirjohnca.files.wordpress.com/2020/04/5bafb-guide-final.pdf
11. Fact-Checking Your Writing: Tips & Helpful Websites.
I have to say , I’m not a strong advocate for getting someone else to write student assignments for them. Albeit, if the approach is one of guidance, help and support throughout the process undertaken by the student, then I would be in favour. In my mind , the only way you learn is by doing it yourself and developing your own style and approach to assignment tasks.
Having said that, the Website below provides a rich source of information and guides for students who may need some help with writing assignments and I think it is worth pointing students to it, even if only for the guides:-)
https://custom-writing.org/blog/fact-checking-your-writing
Conferences
1. HETL Conference in Istanbul
The conference theme on innovations in basic and higher education will give educators a wonderful opportunity to learn more about the latest innovations and cutting-edge research in basic and higher education as well as share best practices in teaching and learning, leadership and administration, and research partnerships.
2. 19th International Conference on Cognition and Exploratory Learning in Digital Age (CELDA 2022)
November 8 – 10 2022, Lisbon, Portugal
Publications
1. 11th Issue of the International Journal for Students as Partners (IJSaP) is now available It includes a Special Section on ‘Partnership in Fostering Socially-Just Pedagogies
https://mulpress.mcmaster.ca/ijsap/issue/current
Odd one out: Quiet Leadership. This book by Julian Stodd is a valuable resource. It is currently available as a free ebook and is well worth downloading. You might also want to join a world wide group exploring issues around quiet leadership. The programme runs over four weeks, exploring ‘Humility’, ‘Kindness’, ‘Fairness’, and ‘Grace’. Enrolment can be accessed through the site.
A note About Quiet Leadership from Julian
My work on Quiet Leadership considers how we lead through the smallest of actions, in every day. It’s a research based programme, that looks at both the ideas, and practical action, we can explore over time.
https://seasaltlearning.com/quiet-leadership/
That’s it for a while
Take care, say safe
Richard
Richard Elliott
The Eternal Macademic
Auckland
New Zealand