Final week of CHECET

We are nearly done! What a journey...

This week you still have to complete your final reflection on the formative evaluation exercise you had to implement with colleauges or students. See http://checet.blogspot.com/2012/06/reflection-4-formative-evaluation.html 

And then its time for our last face to face meeting!
In this meeting you will have time to present your prototype and receive final feedback from the course facilitators and your colleagues. We will soon put up a presentation schedule for this workshop.

Looking very much forward to your presentations!

The CHECET team

Reflection 4 ...formative evaluation

How useful did you find the formative evaluation exercise with your colleagues or students that you had to implement last week? What did you learn? What changes could you make to your prototype in the light of the feedback received from peers, your class participants and facilitators? This will feed into your prototype presentation.

Show the activity and explain what informed your design decisions, by answering the following questions:

• How did I go about exploring what I needed to do?
• How did I design and develop my learning activity?
• How did I formatively evaluate my prototype learning activity?

Theoretical framework

Participants seem to be a bit confused around the theoretical framework that they should use in their final presentation.

A theoretical framework will help you guide you in the design of your prototype, by linking your prototype to a larger body of research, refering back to previous studies done on similar projects.

For example Kristian is trying to encourage reflection on pre-course readings using blogs, so his theoretical framework will link to the importance of reflection in students and maybe level of reflections.

An interesting article for him could be (for example):

Strampel, K., & Oliver, R. (2008). We ’ ve thrown away the pens , but are they learning ? Using blogs in higher education. Ascilite2008 Melbourne (pp. 991-1001). http://www.ascilite.org.au/conferences/melbourne08/procs/strampel.pdf

Aatika is looking at peer instruction, so a starting point for her research would be: 

Crouch, C. H., & Mazur, E. (2001). Peer instruction: ten years of experience and results. American Journal of Physics, 69, 970-977.

Mazur, E. (1997). Peer instruction: a user’s manual. N.J.: Prentice Hall.

If you are interested in peer review, such as Phadlie have a look at: 

Walker, R., & Barwell, G. (2009). Click or clique? Using educational technology to address students’ anxieties about peer evaluation. International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, 3(1). Retrieved from http://www.georgiasouthern.edu/ijsotl

From a different angle, this Andersen article  will help you frame at what stage of the elarning process your interaction is situated. And just give you a way to talk about it in relation to the rest of the teaching you are doing. http://cde.athabascau.ca/online_book/ch2.html

Two of the theoretical frameworks that have become quite popular around the use of emerging technologies is Connectivism and Authentic Learning

Siemens, G. (2004). Connectivism - A learning theory for the digital age. http://www.elearnspace.org/Articles/connectivism.htm

Lombardi, M. M., & Oblinger, D. G. (2007). Authentic Learning for the 21st Century : An Overview. EducauseLearningInitiative. http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ELI3009.pdf

If you have some interesting resources that you would like to share, post a comment!

Week 5 of course

Dear all,

We are nearly done! 2 more weeks to go...

This week you will be continuing to work on your prototypes, planning formative feedback and hopefully engaging a bit more with theoretical frameworks and other important details for your presentation :)

This week's reflection (reflection 3) focuses on the feedback your received on your prototype and how it impacted on the design of your prototype, either during last week's online session, as a comment by the facilitators on your reflections or any other formative feedback that you have set up from colleagues or your students. You will present this during the online session. If you havent done so, please book your online session on the doodle http://www.doodle.com/hpbvgg67774bp5w6

We can also address any other open questions that you might have concerning your prototype.

Good luck!

The CHECET team

Reflection 3: formative feedback

This reflection will focus on the feedback you received during the last Adobe Connect session on your initial thoughts of the prototype you want to develop. Was it useful? Any changes, improvements you are going to implement based on the feedback?

Furthermore you will need to start organizing some form of formative feedback on your prototype from colleagues or your students. How will you go about it?

Deadline:  30th of May 2012. You will present on this during the online session.

Week 4...

Half of the course gone, time is passing by quickly! And the most exciting part of the course is starting: the development of your own prototype. We hope you got lot of good ideas from the show and tell sessions last week and are busy designing your own teaching intervention.

Activities for this week include

- Reflection 2, which is due on Wednesday, the 23rd of May. In this reflection you have started to design your own prototype answering initital questions: what pedagogical problem would you like to address? what technology have you selected? why?

-  You can present your initial ideas to get feedback in the online session on the 23rd of May. Please put down your name on our doodle to book your time slot! Link to doodle: http://www.doodle.com/hpbvgg67774bp5w6

If you are still experiencing problems posting on the blog, please create your own blog. Welcome to the world of blogging Kristian, Najwa, Juliana, Simone! JP posted a very nice introductory tutorial on blogger in our Facebook group. Alternatively you could post your reflections into the Facebook group, to get feedback.

You will receive feedback on your reflection 1 by Wednesday, either as a comment on your own blog entry, a reply to your comments on the CHECET blog or in the Facebook group, for those whose comments were not posted on the blog. You will be marked on your written reflections, not on your presentations in the Adobe Connect sessions. You can find the rubrics we are using for marking in the course outline.

Good luck!

The CHECET team

Reflection 2

Dear all, It's time for our next reflection. Task 2 and reflection 2: Initial proof of concept

Prepare a preliminary piece on the intervention that you intend to present in your final session. Post this initial proof of concept on the blog.

What learning problem have you decided to address? What activity have you decided to develop? What tool have you selected and why? What are the affordances of this tool? How well do the affordances of this tool match your learning needs and the learning needs of your students.

In your final presentation on June 6th you will need to include the following:

Theoretical departure points of the research or teaching approach, Contexts in which it has been applied, Description of the context and modules in which you may apply the pedagogic intervention, How you may apply it in your own modules, What do you think the challenges may be in applying this approach in your own module?

So you could start reflecting on these topic ....

You will present your initial ideas on your prototype on 23 May 2012 in the online session using Adobe Connect. To select the slot you want to present in, please add your name to the doodle: http://www.doodle.com/hpbvgg67774bp5w6

You can post your reflection by repyling to this post or start your own blog, as some you have already done! Ther is a short video posted on the Facebook group on how to create a blogger blog.

2nd Face to face workshop...

This day was filled with show and tells by lecturers from all the four Western Cape Higher Education institutions... so many different technologies, different disciplines...fascinating stuff!

The backchannel for this can be found at #checet on Twitter.

We will update this blog entry as we get PowerPoints and recordings of the presentations.

Programme of the day

Mobile learning

• Vodcasting with social work students - Neil Henderson, UWC
• The use of mobile clickers at SU - JP Bosman

Social media / PLEs

• Setting up your own PLE - Michael Rowe, UWC
• Blogging about fishes - Richard Knight, UWC
• Students create an Anatomy wiki - Roisin Kelly-Laubscher, UCT

Use of MultiMedia

• Creating C-maps - Gavin Maneveldt & Judy Jurgens, UWC
• Digital storytelling in Industrial Design - Veronica Barnes, CPUT
• Students' reflections and ePortfolios on blogs - Jolanda Morkel, CPUT 

Podcasts of the sessions

 Presentations and screencasts

1. JP's screencast on mobile clickers at Stellenbosch






2. Michael Rowe's presentation on PLEs

Michael's blog: http://mrowe.co.za/blog
Twitter: @michael_rowe

Personal learning environments

View more PowerPoint from Michael Rowe

3. Roisin Kelly-Laubscher's presentation

Anatomy wiki

View more PowerPoint from Roisin Kelly Laubscher

4. Concept Maping Judy Jurgens

View more PowerPoint from Cherybrown

 

5. Veronica Barnes presentation on Digital Industrial Design stories

View more PowerPoint from Daniela Gachago

6. Jolanda Morkel's presentation on ePortfolios

Course blog and links to students' individual blogs: http://2ndyearclassof2011.blogspot.com/

Week 3...

Week 3 of our course has started!

After a week of busy online communication and collaboration we are meeting again face to face!

• 2nd Face to Face meeting: Wednesday, the 16th of May 2012, 8.30-13.30, CPUT IT Centre, Bellville

Before the meeting, please complete your first online reflection on your own teaching and learning context. You can either do this by replying to the post below or set up your own blog !

One of the technologies we are going to explore during the face to face workshop, is Twitter. It would be great if you could create a Twitter account before the workshop and - if you have a smartphone - install Twitter on your phone. If you encounter any problems, we can sort those out on Wednesday.

In case you are looking for people to follow, have a look at our blog team page to find some of our own twitter names. LSE has published a very useful Twitter guide on "Using Twitter in university research, teaching and impact activities".

See you soon!

The CHECET course team

Emerging Technologies to improve Teaching and Learning in Higher Education: Reflection 1: teaching and learning context

Emerging Technologies to improve Teaching and Learning in Higher Education: Reflection 1: teaching and learning context:

Wow! Great video in response to that of Michael Wesch - what lecturers are saying to their students.

Reflection 1: teaching and learning context

It's time for your first reflection!

This reflection will focus on your teaching and learning context. The two areas we would like you to reflect on, are:

• What are your initial ideas about your learners’ and your own needs? How could you address these needs using technology?
• What don’t you know about your learners as yet, that you would need to know to design your intervention / prototype? What do you intend to do, to establish what your learners needs are?

Please post your reflections by replying to this post. Each reflection should not exceed 500 words. Deadline: 16^th of May 2012.


Good luck!

And if you need some inspiration, have a look at this video :)

Start of week 2

Week 2 of our the CHECET course is about to begin!

Activities for this week include

1. Completing the wiki assignment on Emerging Technologies
2. Presenting this assignment during an online session on Adobe Connect on Wednesday the 9th of May between 13.00 and 17.00. Please dont forget to book your slot on http://www.doodle.com/i4uytxhhympntiax
3. And writing your first reflective blog post! We will start an new post for this reflection.

In case you havent joined the google group yet, please do! Google groups are very helpful in facilitating group communication. We will use the group’s “mailing list” function to communicate, as well as the discussion forum function for debate and sharing. 

Do this by: going to web address http://groups.google.com/group/checet-practitioners?lnk=gcimh and joining the group (make sure you are signed in with your Google account). To send an email to all your course colleagues use the following email address: checet-practitioners@googlegroups.com

Have a wonderful Sunday!

The CHECET team

Day 1 (face to face)

The first day of the "CHEC Emerging Technologies to improve Teaching and Learning in HE" is here!

And what a packed programme...

After a round of introduction, JP Bosman and Sonja Strydom From Stellenbosch started with an ice breaker exercise called "ParticiPlan", which went straight to the core of this course: "How can Emerging Technologies be used to enhance teaching and learning?"

JP explaining the participlan

Viv Bozalek from UWC continued with an introduction to the course.

    
  Introduction to checet 2012 course

View more PowerPoint from Vivienne Bozalek

Daniela Gachago from CPUT presented a brief analysis of the pre-course survey

2012 CHECET Pre course survey

View more PowerPoint from Daniela Gachago

And then it was time for tea ;)

 Cheryl Brown from UCT started with the vision of students today

     CHECET students today

View more PowerPoint from cheryb

And then Dick Ng'ambi (also from UCT) took over to discuss
visions of lecturers today.

    Visions of lecturers today

View more PowerPoint from Ng'ambi Mobile Learning

Eunice Ivala from CPUT concluded this session with an overview of applying an Instructional Design model to design your teaching intervention.

  Instructional design model

View more PowerPoint from Daniela Gachago

2012 pre-course communication and tasks

Emerging Technologies to improve Teaching and Learning in Higher Education  (CHECET) 2012

Dear CHECET 2012 participant

It is our pleasure to welcome you to this year’s CHEC short course on using Emerging Technologies (ET) to improve teaching and learning in Higher Education.

As preparation for the course, that starts next week Wednesday 2 May 08:30 for 09:00 at the CPUT Bellville campus, IT Centre, we would like you to do the following 6 short tasks:

Task 1: Pre-course survey (deadline: Monday 30 May 2012, 12:00)

Do this by: going to web address http://bit.ly/checetsurvey and completing the survey (It is very important for us that you complete this survey, since it will help us to better prepare for your specific needs as participants. Outcomes of the survey will be shared during the first face to face workshop. The survey will only take you 10 mins to complete).

Task 2: Create a Google account/ e-mail address

Having a Google account is crucial for you as a participant, to comment on Google blogs, join the Google course discussion group, and add blogs to Google reader. The easiest way to get a Google account (if you do have one already – please make sure it is active!) is to create a Gmail address.

Do this by: going to http://accounts.google.com and click on the Sign up button in the right-hand corner of the page.

Task 3: Comment on the course blog

The course will use a blog as a central repository of information, resources and interesting links. We would like you to share your thoughts and ideas by commenting on all the different posts and pages found on the blog. It is quite easy, but we would like you to practice a bit before hand.

Do this by: going to the following web adress http://checet.blogspot.com and comment on the welcoming post on the home page/ or on this copy of the e-mail sent to your personal e-mail address. One comments on a post by looking for the “comments” link just underneath the post, clicking on it, entering your comments, post selecting profile “Google account” and then clicking on the publish button. If your comment appears: Success!

Task 4: Join the course Facebook group

We also use social media as part of the the course so you can experience first hand how one could use this type of emerging technology to teach and learn. We created a Facebook group that we want all participants to join. This is a closed group, which will be only accessible to group members. One of the main benefits of using Facebook groups is that you can interact with group members without having to befriend them.

Do this by: going to www.facebook.com and logging in with your Facebook account (please create one if you do not have one yet). Then search for the group CHECET 2012 (or just paste the web address http://www.facebook.com/groups/checet2012 in your browser) and Request to join the group to add it to your own Facebook profile.

** Once joined to the group, please write a first post on the Group wall, telling us a bit more about yourself:

●        Where do you lecture?

●        What do you lecture?

●        What are your key teaching challenges?

●        Tell the participants something unusual about yourself?

●        If you did not teach at your university - what would you do?

●        Also - if you can, please take a picture of what you see looking out of your office/ home (where you are now) and share it on the group

Task 5: Join the Google discussion group

Google groups are very helpful in facilitating group communication.  We will use the group’s “mailing list” function to communicate, as well as the discussion forum function for debate and sharing.

Do this by: going to web address http://groups.google.com/group/checet-practitioners and joining the group (make sure you are signed in with your Google account). To send an email to all your course colleagues use the following email address: checet-practitioners@googlegroups.com

Task 6: Create a Twitter account (optional)

There will be some activities using Twitter throughout the course and it may be beneficial for you to have a Twitter account (and know how to use it).

Do this by: going to www.twitter.com and then click on the Sign up for Twitter button.

Some last words

Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions or problems with any of these tasks.

This message is now also here on the central course blog (http://checet.blogspot.com)

Looking forward to seeing all of you in person!

The CHECET 2012Facilitators

Welcome to the Emerging Technologies to improve T&L in Higher Education blog!

This blog will serve as a communication, collaboration and information platform for the 2012 CHEC course: Emerging Technologies in Higher Education. Since this year the course title changed from ICTs to Emerging Technologies, we decided to make use of the wide range of applications Google offers and are going to run this course using a Blogger blog, Google docs, Google + and Google forms...and some more Web2.0 applications such as Twitter, soundcloud, Wordle to name a few...

The course blog will be used to post weekly course information, resources and participants' weekly reflections.

We are looking forward to this year's group!

The course team

(Vivienne, JP, Eunice, Juliet, Dick, Cheryl, Sonja and Daniela)