2. Plan of activities
09:30 – 09:45 Welcome and introductions
09:45 – 10:30 ALT Module
• Presentation of the Module
• Overview of the Assessment
• Allocation of Action Learning Sets
10:30 – 11:15 Introduction to the weekly theme (and activity)
11:15 – 11:30 Coffee break
11:30 – 12.30 Group work on the weekly theme
15. A critical presentation of your project
Photo by Flickr ID doctorow (CC BY-SA 2.0) http://www.flickr.com/photos/doctorow/20322100/
16. The three generic assessment criteria:
1
Competence and engagement within an area(s) of relevance to the module and,
as appropriate, to the
UK Professional Standards Framework
20. Peer Feedback & Assessment
Peer assessment
http://www.flickr.com/photos/thomashawk/161547780/
Buddy System
21. Assessment Deadlines
Deadline What When
1 First Version of your Learning Week 3
Contract 8th October 2012
2 Project Showcase Presentation Week 10
29th November 2012
3 Submission of all Assessed Work 21st December 2012
4 Peer Assessment 8th January 2013
24. Your Module Tutor
Pete Whitton Cristina Costa
Andrew Kay Carena Eaton
Craig Despard David Roberts
Gemma Lace- Costigan Eleftheria Kosmidou
Jon Radcliffe Frederick Murphy
Marian Foley Jason Vickers
Rebecca Jackson John McMahon
Rosie Miller Sarah Kennedy
Frances Arnall Yao Jialiang
25. Your Personal Tutor
Chrissi Nerantzi Martyn Clark
Andrew Kay Carena Eaton
Craig Despard Gemma Lace- Costigan
David Roberts John McMahon
Jon Radcliffe Marian Foley
Eleftheria Kosmidou Rebecca Jackson
Jason Vickers Rosie Miller
Frederick Murphy Yao Jialiang
Sarah Kennedy Frances Arnall
Welcome to the ALT Module. Your tutors on this module are Pete Whitton and Cristina Costa I think we should say a little bit about ourselves and our backgrounds here – and maybe how we ended up teaching on the ALT module! The ALT Module is one of the optional Modules in the PGCAP programme and is designed to give you an overview of the how technology impacts on teaching and learning in the modern HE environment and some of the benefits and challenges associated with working in a rapidly changing area. More importantly the ALT module gives you time to develop a learning technology project which is applicable to your teaching practice. We will talk about this in much more detail over the course of this morning…
This is our plan for this morning. The first half will be spent outlining what the ALT Module is all about, making sure that everyone understands what is required of them – especially around the assessed components of the module, and sort you into the Action Learning sets that you will be working in for the next 10 weeks We will have a break at 11.15 for Coffee The second half of the morning will be spent working on activities around our weekly theme
Okay Cristina and have introduced ourselves and told you a little bit (maybe too much) about ourselves. Now its your turn, I know that most of you will know each other already from the PGCAP Core module perhaps if you let everyone know who you are where you work and what you hope to get out of the ALT module (other than completion of the PGCAP!)
The ALT module aims to provide you with an opportunity to develop, implement and evaluate a specific learning technology/learning technologies of your choice within your own learning and teaching practice through a small-scale independent negotiated TEL (technology-enhanced learning) project. The module aims to enhance your knowledge and critical understanding of the issues involved in the embedding of technologies for learning and teaching, and to provide a framework to encourage innovative and creative practice within your own curricula. You will critically reflect upon your chosen TEL project, and evaluate its specific application, reviewing the relevant literature and using this to inform your practice and own continuing professional development needs. The module runs over 10 weeks, and if you look in the Module Handbook there is a weekly thematic plan. Tasks designed to help your planning during the course of the module and to help keep your study on track are also listed. We strongly encourage you to continuously reflect on your learning and complete tasks in a timely manner. Please remember that you are required to attend all face-to-face sessions and engage fully in the online resources and activities. Resources for each face-to-face session and for some of the online activities will be made available in advance. The ALT module will introduce you to a range of technologies over the 10 weeks (more of this later), but it uses Blackboard as its hub all key messages, information and communications will originate from Bb9. I just want to spend a couple of minutes talking you through where the ALT resources are on the VLE, so you are able to find things. Especially as we have recently moved over to BB 9 From Bb 8 and have had a bit of a spring clean, so resources may have shifted around a bit since you used the site on the Core module.
Most of the action on Blackboard as far as ALT is concerned will take place in PGCAP Modules Learning Materials >> ALT folder. I should also draw your attention to Programme Information please read the ALT module handbook and make sure that you keep up to date with the week by week plan. We may have to amend this plan as we find out more about our room bookings and guest speakers – but we will keep you up to date via Blackboard email.
Please refer to the reading list for this module – most weeks we have a key reading and we will be basing our online discussion activities on these texts and also making reference to them in our weekly sessions so please try and keep up with the reading and activities. Work that you do in the discussion activities on Blackboard can be re-used and cut and pasted into your portfolios as part of your reflections.
One of the aims of the ALT module is to expose you to a range of technologies that can be used in a learning context. One of the concepts that we are keen to explore is the idea of personal learning networks and how by using a range of tools to communicate and collaborate (especially open resources and technologies – more about these later) the modern teacher in HE can open up more/greater possibilities for more engaging teaching and learning experiences … becoming what Alex Couros calls a networked educator/teacher. So the ALT module is going to practice what it preaches
Over the course of the module we will be connecting with each other, with resources and with the wider world using a range of technologies, some of with you will be familiar with some you may not have heard of. One of the key tools that we will be using is Twitter with the hashtag #ALTSep12, we would like all of you to create a Twitter account and use it for the duration of the module
We will be using Twitter extensively on the ALT module and many of you have already joined us as part of the pre-induction activities. I would urge you all to create a Twitter account and start contributing to the conversation. Talk about creating routines and establishing rhythms
Your Wordpress eportfolio is where you should collect your reflections, most of you will already have created a blog as part of your work on the Core module. Could anyone that still needs to set up one please refer to the step by step information on Blackboard, and if you still need some advice please contact Pete or Cristina as soon as possible. We would like to encourage everyone this year to make their blogs open, to allow the maximum opportunity In the module hand book we describe the type of entries you may want to make to your folio. Your folio is your opportunity to tell us and your peers about: Your project’s progress Critical reflections on academic and technical literature and the implications for your project Your folio is also the place where you should gather formative feedback on your project – from peers, colleagues, the wider world … perhaps even your students.
Has anyone already gone through the assessment? What did you think? What do you think the assessment for this module is?
It can be a project that you will be able to implement and evaluate Or an idea for a project in which you will try to create all the different components from rationale to evaluation. All projects should be based on a Teaching and Learning problem rather than choosing a technology and trying to construct a project rationale that way. Projects that start with the technology often end badly and seem a bit insubstantial. Your project is negotiated (based on a template) with your tutor, and form the basis of your Learning Contract, and will only be signed off once your tutor is convinced that what you are proposing is achievable within the tight timescale. Regardless whether your project is applied or in a few cases theoretical it should contain the same elements.
Which ones? Reflective portfolio and a Presentation
3000 words or equivalent. This is your Wordpress Blog, does everyone have a blog that you created for the Core module. For those that don’t there are resources on the Blackboard site at: xxxx about how to create one, If you get stuck Cristina or I will show you how to get started. Your Wordpress blog is the place were you write, store and share your critical reflections with others. We would encourage you to blog as much as possible the word count is there as a guide only – I have never penalised anyone for going over this limit provided post are kept to the point. I have been asked in the past but what can I write/reflect upon? Some things you should consider: Worth 60% of your overall grade
In Week 10 we are having an assessed presentation event – the project showcase will consist of a 15 minute presentation/activity about your ALT project followed by 10 minutes for audience questions. There will be several parallel sessions and we hope to have an invited audience of former ALT students, University TEL-Champions and other invited guests from around the University and elsewhere. This is your chance to really promote your project to your peers. This will for 40% of your overall grade for the module, (2000 words or equivalent)
The ALT module is assessed against its learning outcomes and three generic criteria from the UKPSF. Those of you who have already completed the LTHE Core module will be very familiar with the UKPSF. I will just go through the three criteria briefly and pick out a few of the key characteristics that are particularly relevant to the ALT Module. Areas of Activity undertaken by teachers and supporters of learning within HE Activity A2: Teach and/or support learning - awareness of different approaches to and methods of teaching and supporting learning as well as a growing ability to choose the most appropriate approach Activity A4: Develop effective learning environments and approaches to student support and guidance Activity A5: How might an individual demonstrate that they have become a better teacher through engaging in continuing professional developments in subjects/disciplines and their pedagogy, incorporating research, scholarship and the evaluation of professional practices Core Knowledge that is needed to carry out those activities at the appropriate level Knowledge K1: The subject material understanding of the nature of the subject is used to inform the design and planning of learning activities and programmes of study Knowledge K2:This is concerned with pedagogic approaches that are distinctive and/or characteristic of the subject, or what makes the teaching or supporting of the learning in the subject different to the teaching of another one. Knowledge K 3: How students learn, both generally and within their subject/discipline area? Knowledge K 4: The use and value of appropriate learning technologies ? Knowledge K 5: Methods for evaluating the effectiveness of teaching Knowledge K 6: The implications of quality assurance and quality enhancement for academic and professional practice with a particular focus on teaching Professional Values that someone performing these activities should embrace and exemplify Value P 3: Use evidence informed approaches and the outcomes from research, scholarship and continuing professional development Value P 4: Acknowledges the wider context in which higher education operates recognising the implications for professional practice. DDA, WP, Employability, retention, engagement Descriptor 2: A Fellow of the Academy (FHEA)
This is the single most problematic area for most ALT students, markers and external examiners. It the area that the EE mentions at every exam board - usually along the lines of “this module is at Masters level students should be showing greater engagement with suitable literature and demonstrating that what they have read feeds back into the design of their projects and their working practices”. You should refer to TEL and pedagogic literature to back up your design decisions and to influence the direction of your projects. You should refer to both generic TEL literature and also literature that is more specific to the area of your project. So to spell it out if your project was about the use of Clicker devices in large chemistry lectures as a way of increasing student engagement. You should consult literature on engagement, large lectures, use of clickers (innovative and best practice) – and try and find some domain specific literature if possible – so in this example how clicker devices have been used in Chemistry. Remember also that you do not have to agree with everything you read … !
Finally your portfolio should demonstrate that you are a reflective practitioner. This is the same process that those of you who have completed the Core Module have already gone through. What does being a reflective practitioner actually mean? Does anyone remember Graham Gibbs’ Reflective Learning Cycle?
Where most come unstuck is between the making sense of the situation and the action plan stage (aka the difficult bits) – but this is where the real power of reflection happens. Many of the blogs that I have read from previous years are rich in the descriptive but are thin in the action planning parts of the reflective process.
Lollypops to determine buddy pairs. Pick a lolly out of the hat and pair up with the person who has the same colour!
The ALT module uses Action Learning Sets. We have split the cohort into three groups (we will show you who is in which group in a second). Your ALS is your peer-support mechanism – please use your ALS to Test ideas Get them to question the work that you are doing Use them as a resource to read over your blog entries By sharing experiences and by identifying what you don’t know you will have a better idea about where your project requires more input. In previous runnings of the ALT modules we have let Action Learning Sets just muddle along – some have been very successful other have not been used. This year we are setting each ALT a mini project where you have to research an area based on our weekly themes and then present what you have found out to the class – we are also asking each of you to produce a digital artefact that we can link to in Blackboard. The bad news for Action Learning Set 1 is that you will have to do this - on Week 3; 11th October 2012 About Action Learning Sets Professor Reginald Revans is the originator of action learning. Revans formative influences included his experience training as a physicist at the University of Cambridge. In his encounters with this talented group of scientists - several went on to win Nobel-prizes - he noted the importance of each scientist describing their own ignorance, sharing experiences, and communally reflecting to learn. He used these experiences to further develop the method in the 1940s while working for the Coal Board in United Kingdom. Here, he encouraged managers to meet together in small groups, to share their experiences and ask each other questions about what they saw and heard. The approach increased productivity by over 30%
You have been divided into the following Action Learning Sets. So ALS 1 will be doing a 30 min with 10mins for questions – design a presentation or learning activity and creating an artefact on an aspect of “ Learning in Communities and Networks” on Week 3: 11th October 2012 ALS 2 will be doing their presentation/learning activity on “Learning Design” on Week 5: 25 th October ALS 3 will be doing their presentation/learning activity on “Digital Literacies” on Week 8: 15 th November
