This was a bit of a odd experience, like online learning to is great to get "do" the conference in my own time and space I feel like I missed the whole experience of a conference eg travel and chit chat. But I didn't get a chance to get to any of the realtime sessions. I did wonder what is the difference with this between just having a website and the real difference was being able to asked question of the presenter/writer which I did a few times, and I got a quite a bit these dialogues.
What I learnt/actions
Keynote: Educhaos: Facilitating the Unpredictable! by Marie Jasinski
Educhaos=The spot where organisations are more flexibly, adaptive and innovative.
They are are on the edge of chaos and order. Finding your own sweet spot
Speed dating/Speed Coaching/Speed Crits/Speed Feedback
Roleplays how there works.
Release of different scenarios to different people
Thiagi's six phase of debriefing model (often face 2 face)
Design Jamming - how it can be improved
I got a lot out of this, I like the idea of educhoas, It reminded me of that key message from march of in learning of chaos. I can really see how this could work for my students in developing better client communication skills and online team work skills.
Follow up on The ZEN of "MOD" in online Role Play Simulations, and trail the idea of speed group review sessions.
Keynote: Can you get there from here? Facilitating learning online! by Rik Hall APPLYING THE SEVEN PRINCIPLES FOR GOOD PRACTICE IN UNDERGRADUATE EDUCATION
From a book written by Arthur W. Chickering and Zelda F. Gamson
http://www.msu.edu/user/coddejos/seven.htm
Rik's Summary of that
Has student expectations been made clear to them.
Adding Adaptivity to Your Study Materials by Tim Neumann
This is first presentation I read. (It was on my first one on the list). In has some great references to the importance of adaptive learning media and the fact that this maybe what is really important about e-learning. It's interesting that it's in area that is close to what I work, eg audio engineering. What the final system does is point "virtual fingers" towards the resources that the learner needs to access. Based on a small sample group this techniques works better with linear sequences.
Technically this was done via some php scripting that I think I understood.
Future features looks likes look "the addition of a learner-controllable feature, the color reset function"
http://ahs.commonline.org/bpel/index.php
Interactive web-based audio and video in a "Flash": The use of the Flash Communication Server to provide educational video for instruction and feedback purposes by Ellen Whybrow, Ismael Rumzan & Jim Boyes
Built with RoboPresenter
Voice over PowerPoint style presentation
Skills = video, and feedback via video
Some of the challenges and problems are what I've personally been seeing recently
and part of what they see as the solutions is flash communication server.
The example is a piano practice sessions (eg making the online environment visual and skills based)
One of the nice features they have built into the system is where the students can record and upload video in one action, and then the teacher and other students can access the video.
This presentation is a really interesting example of what video online can be and why it's important for a skills based areas. I really like the idea of using flash communication server to record and upload video.
What Task Design Facilitates Learning in an Online Course? by Deb LaPointe
I like the idea of "Scaffolding by Task Design." Which in the article refer to groups tasks. I should followup on Rose, M. A. and Flower, J. (2003). Assigning learning roles to promote critical discussions during problem-based learning. 19th Annual Conference on Distance Teaching and Learning. Madison, WI: The Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System.
Graphic Tablets and Tablet PCs: Alternatives to Marking by Keyboard and Mouse by William Bernhardt, Mark Lewental and Peter Miller
Basically the idea is to use a tablet to able to mark essay's and assessment in a more graphical way. This could work really well for all a lot of the type of feedback I need to give students, especially for work in progress. It was done simply with a Wacom tablet, Acrobat was one of the software solutions the other one was Meander’s Annotator. This is one of those ideas I wish I had of thought of !!!!!.
Online Project-Based Learning: Designing 60-Second Interactive Audios and Videos for Classroom Assessment by Ralph Olliges & Sebastian Mahfood
This presentation started more questions for me than what it answer. What they are doing is building a database of 60 sec videos that support students in project based work. The students access the information when they need in the context of the project. To quote them
"In short, adult learning is highly self-directed, experiential, needs-based, and situationally-contexted"
One way they are storing the video is in a webCT image database. What seems really powerful about this idea that students are able to access just the information they need.
http://www.sebsteph.com/calgary2004/
Just-in-Time Teaching (JiTT) provides a method for increasing student preparation for classes and promotes active discussion by Todd C. Nickle
The model put forward was in the context of teaching science, eg lots of jargon and highly technical and most lectures are normally a form of shock therapy. The course is structured around a text book and before each lecture students have to do a short web based assignment based on the chapter of that is currently being looked at, then f2f lecture is changed to solve the problems in understanding that might have appear in the assignments. This means the students have done the reading before the lecture !!!!!! It's a nice idea I'm not sure how it would work in my context.
http://wwwacad.mtroyal.ab.ca/biology/JiTT/
Introducing Peer Coaching through an Asynchronous Online Course by Matt Huston
Some resource that could be interesting in following up are
Costa, A.L., & Garmstn, R.J. (2002). Cognitive coaching: A foundation for renaissance schools (2 nd ed.). Norwood ,MA : Christopher-Gordon Publishers, Inc.
An example of using metaphor in e-learning design - The Research Observatory by Liz Falconer, Manuel Frutos-Perez & Yvonne Aburrow
"Learning works best when learner "pulls" knowledge, eg it's not pushed at them. But this is not easy to teach in a normal classroom situation."
Metaphors as a away to organise learner pathways thru resources, eg maps,
rollover maps. There might be a set of resources that different learners have
different "map/metaphors". I know there is a need for better ways
to organise learners pathways thru info but I'm not sure if metaphors are the
right way.
Most of the presentation went on to talk about XML and content management
systems. Which reminded me that I need to start doing some version control.