#ocTEL Week 1 Activity 1.1: My Practice

ocTEL Activity 1.1 asked us to think about a learning activity and set it into a quadrant of a graph. The four comparative points of the graph given are:

• individual (north)
• social (south)
• directed (east)
• autonomous (west),

thereby effectively creating quadrants of (clockwise from top right):

• individual-directed activity
• social-directed activity
• social-autonomous activity
• individual-autonomous activity.

I chose an activity for students to engage with a lecture, and demonstrate understanding of the lecture content, or in other words:

                     Interpret the lecture content activity.

We were asked to try to consider shifting the activity into other quadrant/s.

My activity placement across the quadrants was thus:

Individual

Watch lecture video, and either: ·       create online journal of interpretations of the content (very individual) ·       create Blog atefact/article creation (single author, peer commenting enabled – capacity for sharing so less individual) Autonomous	Watch lecture video recording, answer set questions in online quiz Directed
Watch lecture video, and either: ·       collaborative Wiki atefact/article creation  (multiple authors plus, peer commenting enabled) ·       collaborative (small-medium group) lecture video annotation, with ability to anchor discussion threads at any student selected point in video, to make personal and shared meaning of components of the content	Attend lecture, 2-4-ALL QandA / discussion points each 10-20 minutes, supported by personal response system (clickers)

Social

Next:

We were asked to think about what shifting the activity into another quadrant would affect in the way of resources and practices.

My activity resource and practice implications (in summary) added to the quadrants was thus:

Individual

Watch lecture video, and either: ·       create online journal of interpretations of the content (very individual) RESOURCES: Teacher equipped and trained to capture lecture, with 1:1 (not 1:many) feel, e.g. Echo 360 desktop capture, Camptasia, etc; LMS or other online software to share video streaming and private student journal space (albeit teacher access also); Internet allowance for students on-campus for those without adequate video streaming Internet capability at home. ·       create Blog atefact/article creation (single author, peer commenting enabled – capacity for sharing so less individual) RESOURCES: As above, except individual student Blog space (albeit teacher and student access also). Autonomous

Watch lecture video recording, answer set questions in online quiz RESOURCES: Teacher equipped and trained to capture lecture, with 1:1 (not 1:many) feel, e.g. Echo 360 desktop capture, Camptasia, etc; LMS or other online software to share video streaming and quiz question set-up with auto feedback; Internet allowance for students on-campus for those without adequate video streaming Internet capability at home. Directed

Watch lecture video, and either: ·       collaborative Wiki atefact/article creation  (multiple authors plus, peer commenting enabled) RESOURCES: Teacher equipped and trained to capture lecture, and Internet allowance (as for others), plus group Wiki space (student team members access plus teacher). ·       collaborative (small-medium group) lecture video annotation, with ability to anchor discussion threads at any student selected point in video, to make personal and shared meaning of components of the content RESOURCES: As above, plus video annotation tool software, to upload video to, and train both teacher and students in the use of, and give clear purpose for using tool, but then leave determination of meaning making/discussions to the students.

RESOURCES: Lecture theatres equipped with collaborative spaces (e.g. every second row of chairs can turn around to face row behind) and PRS euipped or BYO mobile devise polling system established with effective WiFi Internet. Attend lecture, 2-4-ALL QandA / discussion points each 10-20 minutes, supported by personal response system (clickers)

Social

The aim of this ocTEL activity was "to open ourselves to doing things differently, and understand the components and dimensions of learning and teaching practice. It is when we lay the learning process out like this that we can see where technology can best expedite parts of the process or where a change of dimension could improve outcomes".

The activity ended with 7 reflection questions:

Some Learning Design factors to consider for myself:

1. How you could achieve your learning outcomes if the activity were conducted differently?
2. Whether this would be an improvement? If not, why not?
3. What technology you would require if you did things differently?

I believe that these three questions are best reflected on collectively, as they have some dependancies. For example, while achievement of the learning outcomes should be the prime focus, the reasons to choose particular activities and technology may be dependant on the learners' situation (e.g. rural with poor internet access; cultural contexts; etc.). Learner needs analysis and technological capacities may dictate an otherwise idealogical position of best practice to achieve the outcomes. Sometimes there is simply need to congratulate achievement of outcomes in limiting/inhibiting circumstances, compared to other times when we can celebrate new, innovative, improved ways of achieving outcomes with amazing technological supports.

Some Learning Design factors to consider for my learners:

1. At what points of your course are there opportunities to express opinions and instincts?
2. At what point do you have to absorb information and how?
3. At what points do you work with fellow learners?
4. What percentage of the course is assessed individually or as a group?

These are important points that all need to be considered across the breadth of the learning design of a entire learning program (qualification), and within each of the courses (subjects) within a program. I would generally factor the points in questions 1 to 3 in each course, but spread individual and team assessment opportunities across the most appropriate courses. The best courses to place team assessment tasks are where there are genuine, authentic collaborative inputs required to arrive at purposeful outcome/s, such as case- project- or problem-based learning styled courses, and hopefully at least one in each year to scaffold up these team abilities from a novice to expert level across the program years.