Hello and welcome.
Today your trainer will have assigned you to explore one of four course scenarios on the workshop. At the bottom of this page please post your comments and thoughts on the questions that were posed to you.
The blog will give you the opportunity to view each others comments today and after todays workshop has finished.
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April 19, 2007 at 11:09 am
Benefits will include more effective student engagement at their own time and pace. Increased collaboration that will also improve the inclusion of those students who may not be able to attend for whatever reason. Prospective students will be able to read comments/case studies of the experiences of previous students. This should increase the appeal therefore increasing the potential growth in student numbers.
There may be a cost for staff development for the new technologies and software that could be used. There also needs to be a consideration for the time that will be involved in supporting the students when out of standard learning time. How will this be funded in the lecturer’s contract? Consideration needs to be given to the system and software requirements to host the technologies suggested.
In my opinion cost saving should not be a consideration when making the learning experience more effective and appealing. There could be initial costs incurred for software and equipment for those students who may not have access. If there is to be any cost saving it is likely to be in staff tutorial time and time during lectures going over old ground.
The benefits will be that the students will have access at anytime and be more motivated. The communication between the student group should also be improved. The use of wikis and blogs where included will also improve the communication process.
April 19, 2007 at 11:17 am
A VLE or a Personal Learning Environment, along the lines of a customised installation of Elgg, could provide a wide range of applications and resources in a learning landscape where students and staff could meet as a community.
A mobile device could act as a portal to this common learning environment and save students having to maintain applications and resources on their own machines or remembering to carry things around on memory sticks.
Blogs, wikis, messaging, file storage (any format) etc within Elgg could support collaborative and personalised learning between both current students and staff, possibly with contributions from course alumni as well.
Cost implications would be employing a developer to set up Elgg, providing training for students and also suitable wireless mobile devices for those who might need to borrow something more suitable than the kit they already own.
April 19, 2007 at 11:19 am
Course Scenario 1 -Smorgesboard
1)CSE Course implementation via M-Learning.
Use of the existing VLE could allow all of the material to be hosted on it. Lectures could be videoed and uploaded for download via PDA, iPod or Tablet PC, any PowerPoint files could be converted to run as .mov and be downloaded to such devices.
On a personal level, students could have access to .mp3 of tutorials for reflection and improvement.
Whilst this wouldn’t place a large burden upon lecturers it would require monitoring of the VLE for storage of materials and reliable server set-ups.
2) Additonal Benefits
Mobile Devices could provide an opportunity for reflection that paper-based materials may not. For example tutorials. There would need to be authentication issues resolved to ensure that students did not have access to each others more private elements. Lecturers should also be discouraged from simply uploading .doc of work as hard copy reading is preferable.
3) Current Issues
If the lectures are poorly attended, having an option to read/listen/view more information on the VLE/mobile device may provide increased communication for the student body and the lecturers. It may also lead to increased retention of students by the Institution.
As mentioned prior, lecturers should avoid placing large word or pdf files on the VLE as it is harder to read and digest information from a screen. It may be necessary to provide short pieces as .mp3 for the students to listen to prior to lectures to give them any information they may require, such as reading lists etc.
4) Exclusion Issues
At a basic level mobile devices may not allow software such as screen readers to run; however by the use of .mov/.mp3 elements users would have the information in an audio format, and they would be able to refer to the source material in a larger format on the PC. The student without a mobile device is also not excluded as they have the same access to the VLE as everyone else via the PC’s provided. Until the use of mobile devices became mandatory the Institution would not be excuding any students who didn’t own such a device.
April 19, 2007 at 11:24 am
Possible solutions to Course Scenario 2:
-Recording lectures (video/audio) and making them available for download, helping students who miss lectures. This is an additional cost but an attractive feature for future students. Potential problems include large file sizes (could be solved by providing bite-sized pieces of video or an audio-only option) and a certain amount of regular maintenance to put the two weekly lectures on the site.
- Providing students with a web space on which to put their group project. This will assist groups where it is difficult for members to meet face-to-face and would allow them to post documents, images, and other files for group use. The majority of the group report could be completed in this space and a secure area could be provided for the personal diary response. This has technical costs associated with it but would be attractive to busy students.
- An addition to the web site could be a forum or message board where students can post and comment on topics of discussion. This would be accessible from many mobile devices and would prevent those who cannot make lectures from missing out on discussion and interaction. Again, this would require an investment of development time but would not be a significant cost. It may also reduce students’ reliance on academic staff (saving time and money) as the forum may address questions students would otherwise direct towards the instructor.
April 19, 2007 at 11:24 am
*Dates/times (logistical/administrative info)could be published via Smorgesboard plug in to students mobile devices (plus any logistical changes e.g. lecture location/times being amended). Personally wouldn’t like to see contact (i.e. tutorial) elements of course migrated to mLearning technologies as transmission of knowledge/experience through direct contact is pedagogically a more appropriate conduit.
*Precis of key discussions/questions being debated on the discussion lists could possibly be posted via SMS etc to stimulate debate and involvement.
*Equally, owing to security issues the migration of examination components to e/mobile technologies is not advisable. Possibly these technolgies could be used to explore potential formative elements prior to summative exams (e.g. muliple choice questions via PDA/Mobile phones, open questions via PC’s).
*Do students have VLE acces via Intranet at home/off campus? This was not clear from the brief-If they don’t, these prospective developments neccessitate such access.
*Many of the IT departments security related concerns will be entirely legitimate, and need to be addressed.
*We need to assess the current level of technology owned by the cohort to ensure that some are but being excluded from full participation in “virtual” aspects of the course.
*The college also needs to ensure a base-line parity of technical provision for students, and consider purchasing/subsidising suitable equipment for those who require it.
*Accessibility issues relating to Mobile devices.
*Student facing institutional web based resources need to be WAP enabled in some instances.
*m/E Learning conduits provide an excellent opportunity for practicioners to analyse and cater for different learning styles and deliver appropriately calibrated resources (e.g. video files/audio files etc). These resources may be useful in reiterating learning from tutorials within a different delivery mode.
*Does the Smorgesboard Plug in currently support Bulk SMS delivery? The brief mentions access to the VLE (presumably via direct synchronisation) via BackBerry, iPod and iPaq, but not its capacity for SMS transmission.
*There are alos data loss issued related to transmission to/from the VLE from mobile devices (and will this be mediated through wireless upload or desktop syncing/memory cards etc?)
*Students and Staff may require additonal training and familiarisation in using mobile devices for these purposes.
*The multiplicity of platforms means that constancy of format etc in data transmitted to mobile devices needs to be assesed.
*Will students be allowed to use mobile devices during lectures/presentations? This has implications for student attention, and attendance (e.g. if lectures are posted online, will this remove any impetus to attend?). Also has implications for lecturers (e.g. students have instant access to the web and can rapidly check the veractiy on any quotes/URL’s given by the practicioner).
April 19, 2007 at 11:25 am
Until all students have or own a mobile device then the course cannot implement m-learning. Doing so would disadvantage those who did not have one.
If all students had a mobile device then dates & times of group tutorials could be txt’d to the students. Reminders could be sent to the students too. However, this is possible now as all students have an internet account & email on campus (although only two-thirds have access at home). Whether they use it is another matter.
I think the main issue here is that ALL students have to have access before m-learning can be introduced and implemented.
Benefits – reflection and interaction 24/7. Plugin has been purchased and can interact with a number of devices, however, the department should find a way to work with the IT dept to sort out the security issues. M-learning depends on departments working together (Institution/IT /Security/Academic dept/training/Support).
As the discussion board is the most active part of Smorgesboard then this needs to be encouraged. Introducing mobile technology can complement the more traditional methods of using a discussion board and allow more people to connect via different methods.
Current methods – still need the face-to-face tuition. Dealing with personal issues is unsuitable via mobile technology. Emotions & body language cannot be detected via a pda. Mobile technology can be used to arrange tutorials, to give certain advice/feedback, but on the whole this needs to be carried out in the traditional face-to-face method and cannot be resolved using a mobile device.
Exclusion – not all students would be able to afford an up-to-date mobile device so the Institution would have to provide each student with one if it is to become a requirement of the course. All students would have to be proficient in the use of mobile technology, but as the course is ‘Computing Science and Economics’ the very nature of the course would probably mean that the students should already be interested and able to use the technology.
Summary: the Plug-in is the way forward, but only if the IT dept is onboard and the security issues sorted. Plus, ALL students need a mobile device for it to be fair and inclusive.