Tag: e-learning

MSC TECHNOLOGY AND LEARNING: The only way is Ethics

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* After a year of professional development in e-learning, I recently submitted my final project, a 5,000-word thesis on blended learning for the delivery of journalism ethics.

Here’s an extract from my paper. Please add your comments or ideas below. This project has been provisionally marked as a first – do you agree?

“No printed word, nor spoken plea can teach young minds what they should be. Not all the books on all the shelves – but what the teachers are themselves.” – Rudyard Kipling

THE BIG CONCEPT

To conceptualise a blended-learning module to deliver deep learning for a new course in journalism ethics, incorporating ideas of immersive technology.

The use of real-life scenarios aims to challenge cub reporters intellectually, encouraging them to start thinking and acting as ethical journalists.

INTRODUCTORY THOUGHTS

This independent project sets out to explore the options for a new way to teach journalism ethics in response to the ongoing change within the media industry. This move is in response to changes to press regulation and the way the journalism profession is responding to them.

During this project, I will set out my professional context, assess lessons from previous e-learning trials, reflect on the challenges I face in this task, the alternative solutions and the resources I can call upon to construct an outline for a new module.

Furthermore, I will recommend my preferred means of delivery for this course, while considering how I may need support to deliver the course.

This remains a course outline, not a complete module handbook, and assumes changes and refinements prior to implementation given feedback from my colleagues and learners.

It is, essentially, a proof concept, an overview and not yet complete, yet designed to reflect the potential of new ideas concept to deliver learning of an evolving subject.

It is based on the concept of e-learning as defined by Kirschner and Paas (2001) as “… learning (and thus the creation of learning and learning arrangements) where the Internet plays an important role in the delivery, support, administration and assessment of learning.”

SECTION ONE: WHY

Lord Justice Leveson filed his report into journalism ethics in November 2012.

As the Guardian (2012) reported, “Lord Justice Leveson’s inquiry into the culture, practices and ethics of the press heard from 184 witnesses and accepted 42 written submissions in more than six months of hearings.”

It was, at times, quite bewildering.

In response, the National Council for the Training of Journalists (NCTJ, 2103) introduced a series of changes to the national Reporting Exam in September 2013. This also reflects the movement within the media industry to give greater importance to ethics in journalism and forms a crucial part of learning for young student journalists.

The introduction, however, has not gone smoothly and learners have found this new element of the course confusing.

The key challenge, therefore, remains to find a way to deliver this new course material in a format that makes a somewhat amorphous and rather dry topic more accessible to learners. After all, while the PCC Editors’ Code of Practice (PCC, 2014) is a worthy read, it hardly makes for a thrilling page-turner.

But what if we could test the theories via case studies and watch the consequences unfold in live scenarios, albeit ones in a safe environment with controlled conditions?

Within this context, my ideas for this course also reflect a wider move to embrace new, technology-led ways of delivery learning and promote greater collaborations between the skill sets of different departments.

Furthermore, it reflects a wider trend in the higher education sector overall to integrate more technology-based learning techniques into the classroom environment. It is widely suggested that such e-learning techniques, while relatively new, offer tangible benefits for educators.

As Garrison and Anderson (2003) note: “Education is about ideas not facts. The current passive-information-transfer approaches of higher education are contrasted with the interactive and constructive potential of e-learning.”

CONCLUDING THOUGHTS

Overall, this project may appear to be an ambitious idea, a bold approach to learning.

But, in many ways, I am not calling for an educational revolution to storm the barricades – far from it.

I see this project as a natural progression and reflection of the times, taking new ideas and incorporating them into an existing classroom-based module to simply update the course for changing times.

It does, however, set out to ride the crest of the new wave of e-learning as the sector matures.

“The belief that online education will replace on-campus studies is a long standing and unrealised prediction,” writes Cochrane (2014).

“But in the last 24 months there has been a new wave of debate and speculation … a third phase revival. The difference is marked by the expectation that being at university will be engaging, personally challenging, and transformative of careers and lives.”

Crucially, while I propose to embed both e-learning and immersive technology into my modules in the future, I am consciously not talking myself out of a job.

My role may evolve, my input may be refined and my interaction with learners may change – but I expect to remain a very big part of the process.

As Garrison & Anderson (2003) note: “There is always a need for a teacher to structure, shape and assess the learning experience if it is to be more than fortuitous learning.”

In terms of good practice in this respect, it remains often schools, rather than universities, that are making the best of the running.

The BBC Education website recently highlighted a case study with the Stephen Perse Foundation School in Cambridge, whereby teachers are making their own online library of interactive resources for GCSE, A-levels and International Baccalaureates.

But the school’s approach is not simplistic plug-and-play education. Tricia Kelleher, Stephen Perse Foundation principal, emphasises that such online courses depend on the quality and the skill of the teacher.

“The credibility of online learning depends on the teachers who have made the materials,” she says.

“Education should be a mixed economy, there should be technology, but it is only there to support what a living, breathing teacher is doing.”

FURTHER READING

Akanegbu, A. (2014), 50 Striking Statistics About Distance Learning in Higher Education. Available at http://www.edtechmagazine.com/higher/article/2012/07/50-striking-statistics-about-distance-learning-higher-education

Atkinson, D. (2014), A Few thoughts about E-learning. Available via www.atkinsondavid.com/msc-technology-and-learning-a-few-thoughts-about-e-learning/

Clark, A. (2014), Ten reasons we should ditch university lectures via Guardian Higher Education Network. Available at http://www.theguardian.com/higher-education-network/blog/2014/may/15/ten-reasons-we-should-ditch-university-lectures

Cochrane, T. (2014), To lecture or not to lecture: is technology reinventing the campus? Available via The Conversation at http://theconversation.com/are-lectures-a-good-way-to-learn-26905

Coughlan, S. (2014) Textbooks replaced by iTunes U downloads. Available via BBC News, Education at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-26249041

Dawson, P. (2014), Are lectures a good way to learn? Available via The Conversation at http://theconversation.com/are-lectures-a-good-way-to-learn-26905

Errington, E. P. (2010) Preparing graduates for the professions using scenario-based learning. 1st ed. Post Pressed

Forster, S. (2013), Journalism students learn ethics through online case study. Available at http://www.news.wisc.edu/21481

Garrison, D. R. & Anderson, T. (2003), E-learning in the 21st century. 1st ed. RoutledgeFalmer

Heppell, S. (2009), Empowering Young Learners. Video available at YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V-Cbum-xaAg#t=27)

Horton, W. (2012), E-Learning by Design 2nd ed. Pfeiffer

JISC Digital Media Guides (2007), Effective Practice with e-Assessment. Available at www.jisc.ac.uk/assessment.html

Jochems, W. et al (2004), Integrated e-learning. 1st ed. RoutledgeFalmer

Lodge, J. (2014), The campus is dead: long live the campus? Available via The Conversation at http://theconversation.com/the-campus-is-dead-long-live-the-campus-21372

Media Guardian (2014), Leveson inquiry. Available at www.theguardian.com/media/leveson-inquiry

NCTJ (2014), Reporting. Available at www.nctj.com/journalism-qualifications/diploma-in-journalism/Reporting

Press Complaints Commission (PCC, 2014) Editors’ Code of Practice. Available at www.pcc.org.uk/cop/practice.html

Roberts, D. & Greene, L. (2011) The theatre of high-fidelity simulation education, Nurse Education Today, Vol 31, pp.694-698

Rose, D. (2004), The potential of role-model education via The Encyclopedia of Informal Education. Available from http://infed.org/mobi/the-potential-of-role-model-education/

Rowntree, D. (1994), Preparing materials for Open, Distance and Flexible Learning, Kogan Page, London

Salmon, G. (2000), E-moderating. The key to teaching and learning online. Available from http://www.atimod.com/e-tivities/intro.shtml

Siemens , G. (2005) Connectivism: A Learning Theory for the Digital Age. Available from http://www.elearnspace.org/Articles/connectivism.htm

Siemens, G. (2009) Connectivism and connective knowledge. Available via YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a5-Wk2cwb68&feature=youtu.be

Thomas, K. (2014), Is flexible study the future for universities? Available via Guardian Higher Education Network at http://www.theguardian.com/higher-education-network/blog/2014/jun/10/flexible-study-future-for-universities

 

MSC TECHNOLOGY AND LEARNING: Build your brand online

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You go for a job interview.

After the initial small talk, the interviewer produces an iPad with a selection of images you posted to Facebook some five or six years ago.

The interviewer asks you to talk them through the images and offer an explanation for them.

This uncomfortable scenario is, I learned today, increasingly common.

We eulogise the use of Web 2.0 to expand and enrich learning but we also need to be aware of how we use these technologies personally as well as professionally.

Social Media Police eTreble9, offered thoughts on how they can advise and manage your social media profile to highlight the positives.

It was a thought-provoking morning and you can check out the Prezi: Your brand online.

Take a moment to think. And then delete your Facebook accounts – learners and tutors alike.

The social media Big Brother is watching.

Your view? Post below.

MSC TECHNOLOGY AND LEARNING: A few thoughts about e-learning

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Glyndwr University hosted its fourth Technology-Enhanced Learning symposium today.

The event included a keynote address from Mark Stiles, Emeritus Professor of Technology Supported Learning at Staffordshire University, plus a series of shorter, mainly on-topic presentations from both Glyndwr staffers and external speakers.

On a grey Wednesday in Wrexham, it got the grey matter working again – just in time to start delving into the next section of the MSc Learning and Technology.

Stiles, in particular, was scathing about the way universities fail to make innovation work.

“Decision-making processes in universities are almost universally dreadful,” he said.

He also criticised Vice Chancellors who want to have a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) “just because their neighbour has one” – without understanding it.

Henry Platten of online security firm eTreble9, welcomed the use of picture-sharing media, such as Instagram, to promote the use of infographics in learning, but warned of the nefarious dangers of social media.

“Although you may think you’re not on a given social network, actually you may be,” he said.

So, from social-media learning to the way the biggest barriers to change in universities are the universities themsleves, here are seven things I learnt today:

  • Social media in e-learning is a fast-moving trend [source NMC Horizon Report 2014] but we haven’t got our heads round it yet
  • “Making online learning natural will, frankly, happen” [Prof Stiles]
  • Moodle is often deemed unpopular with students; some HE colleges now use an e-portfolio and Google hangouts
  • Serious games as a sector now makes more money than the film industry
  • “Instant messenger platforms are the next step in social media” [Henry Platten]
  • The university is being unbundled [source IPPR]
  • “Dull stuff [governance] is very important” [Prof Stiles] to make innovation “stick and spread”

Further reading

NMC Horizon Report 2014

An Avalanche is Coming

Mark Stiles on Twitter

Social Media Police blog