Learning Technologies

Reframing Assessment #2

What is a deadline?

Considering the notion of deadlines in the context of the purpose of assessment almost seems an ironic contradiction... but let's just look at what a deadline is - or isn't:

What a deadline is not:

• it is NOT when you start your submission
• is NOT to be ignored
• you do NOT wait until after it's passed to request an extension
• you will NOT die if you do not submit on time (you may get penalised - but it's not fatal - probably!)

Who are deadlines for? A couple of perspectives:
Students:

• deadlines provide milestones to manage progress through subject matter,
• feedback to encourage,
• guidance for further development
• must be adhered to for your marks to be processed and submitted to the greater administrative systems

Lecturers:

• deadlines allow us to manage our time allocations / workloads (that's when assignments are submitted on time)
• provide the lecturer/educator some feedback on how students are grasping the content being studied
• is a compulsory part of the adminstration tasks

So - why do students not submit assignments on time?

• too busy? (doing.. something more interesting?)
• conflict between workloads - work versus studies
• lazy?
• not motivated?
• fear of failure? Or not achieving?
• don't understand the task clearly enough?
• not engaged with the content of the subject?
• don't care?

When was the last time you, as an educator, heard a student say how much they enjoyed an exam?
Although - I have had some students admit to really enjoy some of their projects that are assessable at the end of semester...
But - the final answer to the original question is clearly more complex than some of the tongue in cheek comments I've observed here! ;-)

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Reframing Assessment #1.1

Yet another provocation on assessment methods currently employed:

Learning Technologies 2008 - Call for papers

It's that time of year again....!
Time to submit a case study for the annual Learning Technologies conference in Mooloolaba, Queensland: 6 & 7 November, 2008.

This year's theme is Connections:

Technology has had an effect on how we live, how we communicate, and how we learn. The plethora of tools such as blogs, wikis, podcasts, social bookmarking, streaming, YouTube, Skype, Twitter, Facebook and many more.... form the basis of new approaches to, and means of, interacting with learners, each other, and information.

The Internet is not a network of computers it is a network of people! The new technologies are increasingly focused on connecting people. It's important for learners to create connections and develop their own networks - with other learners, with content, with teachers/mentors. It's also important for educators to create connections and develop their own networks.

We now recognise that learners want to be active participants and require a connection on a personal level. The development and provision of collaborative learning communities, communities of practice, meaningful learning opportunities and supportive learning environments engage learners and support their learning goals. Learners do not learn from technology, technology is a tool that enables knowledge construction, collaborations, cooperation and connections across the boundaries of space and time.

Full details on the call for papers .
Due - 10th June.

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Reframing Assessment #1

I'm doing some writing on/about assessment practices at the moment and relating it to some of my findings from my PhD research...
So rather than a 15k word essay I'm going to use the Tiny URL approach and condense the key issues into a series a posts.

To start the series, it feels appropriate to position my thoughts, in an attempt to outline where these posts may lead...
For those readers of this blog that also follow my social networking status (Facebook, Twitter etc) - you're already aware that I've been recently drowning in mounds of assignments and marking, marking, marking. How has this impacted on approach to assessment? Well... that's exactly why I'm compelled to start writing this series!

To get the ball rolling... this excerpt from David Boud and Nancy Falchikov (2007, p.3) provides a useful starting point:

"Assessment frames students' views of higher education. It is also a major concern and burden for those teaching them...
[ABB: yep - that's me!]

Assessment, rather than teaching, has a major influence on students' learning. It directs attention to what is important. It acts as an incentive for study.
[ABB: how many times do you hear the question: is this in the exam? Is this part of the assignment?]
Assessment also communicates to them what they can and cannot succeed in doing. For some it builds confidence for their future work; for others, it shows how inadequate they are as learners and undermines their confidence...

Assessment would be less of a problem if we could be assured that what occurs under the guise of assessment appropriately influenced student learning. However, when we look at the content and approaches used in the dominant assessment practices in higher education, we find that they are often focussed on students demonstrating current knowledge, generating material for grading and getting (often inadequate) feedback from teachers.... "

So, that's the starting point - my next posts will look at the What (is assessment)?, What is a deadline?, Why (assess)?, How (to re-frame our assessment practices)?, Designing assessment... and perhaps a few more in-between!
Any thoughts or feedback would be welcomed!

Boud, D. & Falchikov, N. 2007, Rethinking Assessment in Higher Education: Learning for the longer term, Routledge, London.

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Emerging Technologies for Learning - Vol 3

Becta - the UK Government's lead agency for ICT in education - has released their latest edition in the Emerging Technologies for Learning series (Volume 3).

Not surprisingly, they have again selected a diverse range of authors and issues. (If you haven't read Vol 1 or 2 - make sure you do!)

In the Foreword - Stephen Crowne, Chief Executive comments:

"... the adoption of technology in society is genuinely influencing expectations about where and how learning takes place. Educators will increasingly need to understand what these trends really mean and how to respond to related demand from learners. It will become increasingly important to understand how new technologies can enable rich, social, personalised and contextually-based interactions to support learning."

Yes indeed! And that's sooner than later....!

Diana Oblinger's (current President of Educause) opening chapter: "Growing up with Google - What it means to education", extends on her earlier works on the NetGeneration.
A few key points and implications from the chapter:

• students' consumer perspective of education as a commodity to be consumed, acquired, and accumulated
• the high value place on technology as a convenience
• students expect academic success without little academic effort
• more oriented to visual media - prefer to learn by doing rather than telling or reading
• identity online is a flexible concept - pseudonyms and avatars expand their identity
• the web is a medium for commenting, collaborating and creating
• they show no fear of technology - but digital comfort does not mean technology proficiency
• nor does it imply an appreciation of IP, privacy or security!

Wow - any of these issues ringing any alarm bells?
No - not yet? Then the implications for education outlined by Oblinger may:

"educational institutions have an obligation to help students cultivate those skills that learners have the most difficulty attaining on their own:

• judgement - the ability to distinguish the reliable from unreliable information
• synthesis - the capacity to follow the longer argument across multiple modalities
• research
• practice - the opportunity to learn by doing within authentic disciplinary communities
• negotiation - flexibility to work across disciplinary and cultural boundaries to generate innovative, alternative solutions"

The challenges presented by these implications will have a fundamental effect on our practice as educators - how we design our courses, learning activities, and assessment tasks, even through to the philosophical approaches to education!
Coincidentally, for me, these implications relate directly to research and writings I'm doing on assessment. I'll be posting more about this shortly...

In the meantime - I'm going to let you ponder your own educational context and these comments from Oblinger - what does the future of education look like, in your context, through this framework of implications?

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PowerPoint - again...

I've said it before  - Ditch PowerPoint -  and I will keep saying it.. but this time, I'm going to let someone else say it for me: How NOT to use PowerPoint!

Thanks to Mal for locating this and brightening my weekend of marking assignments!

Social Media - edition 3

Trevor Cook & Lee Hopkins have just released their 3rd Social Media: or "how we stopped worrying and learnt to love communication".
This is a really valuable introduction to social media in the organisational context - with an Australian perspective.
I have used the previous editions with small/micro business owners - they love it - it manages to provide enough, but not too much, information that allows them to consider the application of social media within their business strategies.

Now - if you're an organisational learning & development practitioner - pay attention!
This is NOT written for you... but...  I'd recommend you read this! If you are considering introducing social software into your learning environments, you need to understand how the business is framing their strategies. If you are going to get successful sponsorship from within the management team, then you need to view or re-frame your dialogue to present your business case in language that the business understands - so here it is... ! Read it - and learn!

Hey Trevor - perhaps next time we can include a learning landscape perspective too?? Some of us educators are doing rather amazing things that aren't being recognised by the social media tribes!

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Upcoming Sydney events

Apologies up front - but this is a rather Sydney focused post!
There are some great events over the next couple of months in Sydney... so  - here they are:

BarCamp Sydney 3
Date: Sat 5 & Sun 6 April 2008
Where: Roundhouse at UNSW on Anzac Pde, Kensington
BarCamp Sydney is only up to it's 3rd event - but if this one is anything like the other 2 - should be a cracker! And it's extended to 2 days - plus a few intermittent social events. Definitely worth participating - oh, that's a warning - it's a spectator free zone!

AITD: Gen Y - How to engage, develop and keep the graduates of today
Date: Wed 9 April
Time: 5.45pm - 8.15pm
Where: Cliftons - 190 George St, Sydney
The promo blurb says: " It is often said that Gen Ys are always wanting more, are hard to satisfy and even harder to retain. Various reports have suggested that learning and development opportunities are highly sought after by today’s graduates, and this can often make the difference between graduates staying with or leaving their respective employers."
I wonder if this is exclusively a Gen Y behaviour.. hmmmm...

AITD National Conference: Learning Alive!
Date: Tue 22 & Wed 23 April, 2008
Where: Australian Technology Park, Redfern
Huge range of workshop sessions, keynote speakers, expo, dinner, awards - the whole whizz bang!

Walkley Foundation: Social media and public relations - are you ready for the audience to join in?
Date: Tue 6 & Wed 7 May, 2008
Where: NSW Teachers Federation, 37 Reservoir St, Surry Hills.
This conference is focusing on the online communications strategies for Public Affairs Professionals and engaging the media in the evolving multi-user environment. Great line up of speakers and panels - looks like some hot topics being debated!

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Lights out today - 29 March 8pm - worldwide!

It's Earth Hour today - please remember to turn your lights, and in fact all your electrical appliances - that's your computers too - OFF - at 8pm - wherever in the world you are..!
Join 28 global cities and switch off!

Aalborg -  Aarhus - Adelaide - Atlanta - Bangkok - Bogota - Brisbane - Canberra - Chicago - Christchurch - Copenhagen - Darwin - Dublin - Hobart - Manila - Melbourne - Montreal - Odense - Ottawa - Perth - Phoenix - San Francisco - Santa Cruz - Suva and Lautoka - Sydney - Tel Aviv - Toronto - Vancouver

Last year, 2007, over 2.2 million Sydney residents and over 2,100 businesses switched off, leading to a 10.2% energy reduction across the city...
Now - I just want to know why there is a humngous concert (35,000 people expected) happening in Centennial Park (Sydney) tonight...how much power will that suck up while the rest of us enjoy an evening in candlelight? hmmm?

Anyway - a quiet evening of marking assignments by candelight and on battery power on the laptop!
Let's see if we can make a difference tonight - wherever you are!

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PS. A cosmic coincidence

According to the Arthur C. Clarke Foundation site a cosmic coincidence was reported on March 19, 2008.
Swift, one of the NASA satellites, recorded 4 separate Gamma Ray Bursts - each one of these massive explosions indicates a star at the end of its life.
4 such explosions have never been recorded before...

"..overhead, without any fuss, the stars were going out. "          
from “The Nine Billion Names of God”.