Tuesday, 2 March 2010
Are there any concerns or issues I have about E-Learning?
Yes. Firstly time. It is really difficult t find the time a a busy teacher to create, upload and monitor / deliver resources specifically for E-Learning systems. Secondly, resources. Even when all the hard work has been done, IT resources are limited and not available all the time so some classes may miss out. Also some pupils, although admitedly no many, will not have access to the internet at home and with the best will in the world they will not be willing to go to the library or stay after school and use those resources.
Monday, 1 March 2010
Developing E-Learning Communities
I have been doing quite a bit of reading around this topic this week.
The first piece I found was really interesting as it was viewing E-Learning from a completely different angle to what I had done previously. It it a white paper from Adobe, creators of the PDF format, outlining their intentions to infiltrate the E-Learning market. That part wasn't so interesting but they had done some great, straight to the point research (as commercial companies tend to do). Well worth a read for general research on how E-Learning communities function and how they tend to share information.
The second was an article I have read before from the TES. Dating back to the year 2000 it outlines a bold view of a future in which people would be able to complete courses on-line, without ever actually meeting. I can't see that happening, can you?!?!?! I found it sooo relevant to this topic area as we can see how E-Learning has developed since then.
I have also been reading McDonnell (2006), E-Learning Groups and Communities. If anyone has chance to read this, his views of learning, as determined by the E-Learning software is of interest (page 10). He splits them into 'linear', 'deterministic', 'closed' and 'negative in their feedback'. He also outlines several advantages of colaberative work (over traditional competitive individual educational settings) on page 12-13. In conclusion, McDonnell basically splits E-Learing communities into 3 models (pages 18-19), 'transmission/dissemination', 'transmission with discussion' and 'learning community'. Also the section on successful on-line debates (page 16) has some great ground rules there which may make any on-line 'chat' sessions more successful!.
That is my thinking so far
The first piece I found was really interesting as it was viewing E-Learning from a completely different angle to what I had done previously. It it a white paper from Adobe, creators of the PDF format, outlining their intentions to infiltrate the E-Learning market. That part wasn't so interesting but they had done some great, straight to the point research (as commercial companies tend to do). Well worth a read for general research on how E-Learning communities function and how they tend to share information.
The second was an article I have read before from the TES. Dating back to the year 2000 it outlines a bold view of a future in which people would be able to complete courses on-line, without ever actually meeting. I can't see that happening, can you?!?!?! I found it sooo relevant to this topic area as we can see how E-Learning has developed since then.
I have also been reading McDonnell (2006), E-Learning Groups and Communities. If anyone has chance to read this, his views of learning, as determined by the E-Learning software is of interest (page 10). He splits them into 'linear', 'deterministic', 'closed' and 'negative in their feedback'. He also outlines several advantages of colaberative work (over traditional competitive individual educational settings) on page 12-13. In conclusion, McDonnell basically splits E-Learing communities into 3 models (pages 18-19), 'transmission/dissemination', 'transmission with discussion' and 'learning community'. Also the section on successful on-line debates (page 16) has some great ground rules there which may make any on-line 'chat' sessions more successful!.
That is my thinking so far
Wednesday, 17 February 2010
How is e-learning presented /considered or thought about within your own context?
If you have read my profile you will realise I teach Physics to pupils aged 11-16 at a state secondary school. In terms of e-learning, there really isn't much I already know, hence why I signed up for this module.
As a school we use Moodle as our VLN. However it i only currently used effectively by the IT department and training for other staff has been minimal. As a result, pupils see e-learning as a very isolated tool used only in IT lessons and not as the cross curricular tool it should be.
A few adventurous staff (including myself) have attempted to use e-learning within our respective subjects. Whilst this has proved successful for the areas / topics we used it for, it still remains isolated as a seldom used tool, often only used to tick a few professional development boxes.
With this in mind I have set myself the target of having one topic available via e-leaning by May half term, so Y11 pupils can access it from home and use it to aid their revision during the Easter break.
Wish me luck!
As a school we use Moodle as our VLN. However it i only currently used effectively by the IT department and training for other staff has been minimal. As a result, pupils see e-learning as a very isolated tool used only in IT lessons and not as the cross curricular tool it should be.
A few adventurous staff (including myself) have attempted to use e-learning within our respective subjects. Whilst this has proved successful for the areas / topics we used it for, it still remains isolated as a seldom used tool, often only used to tick a few professional development boxes.
With this in mind I have set myself the target of having one topic available via e-leaning by May half term, so Y11 pupils can access it from home and use it to aid their revision during the Easter break.
Wish me luck!
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