Report regarding OER funding

Research required before identifying suitable OER to adopt for future training and learning needs.

Accessibility

Can relate to many different apects:

•  Physical accessibility - there are clearly problems in accessing certain sites via Apple devices or devices that no longer use ‘flash’.

• The ease of access for people with additional needs, some OER sites will be better prepared for differing physical needs than others.

• The academic pre-requisites for joining the courses and the level that the course is pitched. Will courses be within Vygotsky’s zone of proximal development or will learners find them too easy or too difficult?

Quality

•   The amount of thought invested in the Pedagogy and Learning Design, do they meet this organisation’s needs and reflect the organisation’s values and ethics?

•  How motivating is the courseware, what are the attrition rates for this type of learning event. What quality assessments are conducted to ensure continuous improvement.

• Who are the authors and the supporting institution for the courses, are they acknowledged experts in their field and known for delivering high-end quality materials.

•   What are their standards for delivery?

•  How viable is the OER provider, does it have a strong pedigree or is it a fragile ‘fly by night’ organisation?

• What back up and support does the provider offer - both technical and academic?

• What ‘scaffold’ will be in place to support the learner whilst undertaking the learning

Cost

If the resources are free to access,  hidden costs might include:

• Amount of time the course requires for completion

•  Amount of time expected to be spent online and offline completing intersessional tasks

•  Additional time spent on forums, teleconferencing etc.

Openness in Education

A short video outlining the concept:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=clnZNAnrmcA&feature=youtu.be

Enjoy!

Open Education - experiences

Open education is wide ranging and all encompassing: from informal Ted lectures and Youtube type videos through to Open University, Coursera, MIT and Harvard open courses. My own experience of formal open education (other than the OU) was on a Coursera programme. It consisted of several video lectures utilising open source software programmes (Music) to demonstrate examples and for individual intersessional tasks.

Advantages: Flexibility - can access the videos at any time

                      Clarity - the information followed a coherent sequence, tasks were relevant and      
                                   challenging but within Vygotsky's zone of proximal development

                     Scaffold - the online forum allowed for programme's learning community's support

Disadvantages:
                   
                     Pedagogy - only Behaviourist through instructional videos

                     Production - presentation can be rather dull and 
                                                               unimaginative
                     Accreditation - no recognised accreditation for completing the course, no pass or fail.

                     

                    
                                                             

                                                         

Three technologies to future proof the organisation

Game based learning

Research has shown that game-based learning enhances the learner's “problem-solving skills, knowledge acquisition, motivation and engagement.” (Perotta et al. 2013, pii). It ican ncorporate many features pertinent to current learning theories – badges/levels for behaviourism, problem solving skills for improved cognition, collaborative activities that create new solutions and infinite connections to peer networks to share learning. 'World of Warcraft' has millions of knowledge pages created by the players – far more than those on Wikipedia. (MacGonagle, 2010) Minecraft has over 14million players busy creating, collaborating and sharing ideas. ((Costello, 2014)

Games of today are not the equivalent of Pac man of 'yester-century' , their sophistication can develop the skills of the learner more effectively, efficiently and creatively. Above all for many, (but not all) game-based learning by being motivational could embed learning more effectively.

Telepresence

To be clear: teleconferencing is the equivalent of the HD surround-a-sound TV. It is video conferencing with bells and whistles. (Wikipedia, 2014) The idea, however, of taking video conferencing to the next level is very appealing, particularly with the potential to go beyond 3D and enter the world of holograms.

This would create a life like representation of the training room and its participants. The ability to talk as though f2f with participants from across the globe could result in a highly interactive engagement that might enhance motivation and deepen learning. NB: Telepresence is fine with smaller numbers but available bandwidth, appropriate resources or large groups could hinder its overall advantages.

Collective Intelligence

In a typical year, my organisation must work with over 10 thousand clients on public courses and in-house programmes. The knowledge, skills and experience that these people bring with them is unimaginable and unquantifiable, yet if we could harness even a quarter of this, we could create a business knowledge base that could be an enormous help to past and future customers. Organisations sharing pitfalls and advantages of processes/procedures. Specific hints and tips in dealing with a huge range of typical organisational issues: case studies in change management, leadership assessments, project management, procurement and contracts and so forth.

The obvious difficulty here would be the additional costs of establishment and maintenance. Alternatively, the benefits could be unimaginable.

Refs:

Costello, J., (2014). Don't worry mum you'll learn. Guardian Family Supplement, 08 March. p3

Mcgonagle, J. (2010). Gaming can make a better world. Available from: http://www.ted.com/talks/jane_mcgonigal_gaming_can_make_a_better_world (Accessed Sept 2013).

Wikipedia (2014). Telepresence. [Online] Available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telepresence. (Accessed 07 March 14}. 

Perrotta, C., et al. (2013) Game -based Learning: Latest Evidence and Future Directions (NFER Research Programme: Innovation in Education). Slough: NFER Available from:

http://www.nfer.ac.uk/nfer/publications/GAME01/GAME01.pdf (Accessed 8th March, 2014)

Uses of Innovative Technology.

Being self employed, I freelance for various training companies as well as working directly with organisations as a facilitator, trainer or mediator. In this example, I have drawn on one training company that I work for although it is clear that they are still on the starting block when in it comes to exploiting new technologies.

	How long used for educational purposes
	by my customer		by me for personal use
Cloud computing	No		9 Months – as a result of starting OU course and wanting to work on it from various locations.
Mobile/cell phone	No		5 years. More frequently in last year having changed to smart phone. Previously blackberry was slow to access internet. Use it for OU as well as personal learning interests
Open content	No		6-7 years. Great fan of open source software for developing music, writing etc. as well as 'training' literature.
Tablet computing	6 months		6 months – used for variety of learning applications
Game-based learning	No		4 years: have used various apps to help with language learning, problem solving skills etc.
Learning analytics	Internally, data gleaned from customers and trainers evaluation forms inform future programmes for delivery		No
New scholarship	No		2 yrs: Online reviewer for Emerald publishing, so guess I am part of the peer to peer assessments.
Semantic applications	No		1 yr. Not so much for educational purposes more for leisure.
Augmented reality	No		No. (I have toyed with idea of giving training sessions in Second Life, not sure about this though.)
Collective intelligence	Not really other than own private portal/intranet.		5 yrs if forums like LinkedIn could be counted or other informal 'non-scientific' collaborative forums
Smart objects	No		No
Telepresence	3 yrs in basic form. Often used for catch ups when delegates have missed programmes. Not a specific option for learning.		No

Innovations in learning - my take on Poll Everywhere

I didn't have time to collaborate with the group about Poll Everywhere, so I have conducted my own quick resume reagrding this tool.

Loosely based on Price and Kirkwood.....

Criteria	Poll Everywhere
Increasing flexibility/access/reach	Certainly this reaches out to students across the globe, particularly if I were running a synchronous webinar. Language capability is useful and accessible through different devices too. Within my own context during f2f sessions, given that my numbers are usually no more than 12 participants I could see this possibly being more trouble than beneficial.
Increasing engagement	Again it raises the participation bar, particularly when large groups are involved. Does require use of ppt in presentations. Given that in my context participants can’t really hide and it is obvious if they are not participating poll anywhere would not be of much value.
Improving feedback	Not sure this would be much more valuable than ‘happy sheets’ feedback…although obviously for larger numbers it gives contemporaneous feedback which is often hard to gauge during a webinar or lecture. A useful tool for meta planning at the beginning of the session to identify personal goals. Would it add to a good teacher’s toolbox in an average sized classroom I would not necessarily concur.
Developing skills	Skills to take part in polls would be advanced. Perhaps skills in analysing data.
Reinforcement or revision	Yes, as far as multiple choice allow. When running a two day+ programme, it would be a good way to remind participants about previous days learning, or at end of the day a similar reinforcement.
Improving assessment and feedback	Being so narrow in terms of opportunities to offer information I am not sure that this tool would enhance feedback. The ‘closed’ feedback would be based upon the teacher/lecturer’s point of view. If ‘open feedback’ is enabled, not sure about its practical use in a time limited session. Perhaps would help facilitator/trainer if running a programme over a period of time. Much of my training focuses on skills development – Poll Everywhere seems to be more aligned with knowledge absorption (knowledge as a commodity) rather than a learning process. Poll Everywhere would probably inject a fun element to the learning and must be treated with a light touch in terms of depth of feedback and opportunities for assessment.
Personal development	Guess this would be down to the types of questions. Perhaps learning about group dynamics
Interaction/collaboration	Interaction is high, but potentially at a very low skill level. Presumably there is an assumption here about literacy levels. Participants with dyslexia, vision or mobility issues might not fare so well with this tool.
Cost/value for money	Obviously for less than 40 participants it is of high value – being free. If using company devices then there would be no cost to participants. Private phones, tablets etc would cost according to personal call plans.
Technology effectiveness	It is effective in providing an opportunity to gain an overview of participants’ responses
Are improvements necessary?	This is really dependent upon learning goals, facilitators’ needs and learners’ needs.
Advantages	Fast, quick hit, easy to implement, easy to share,
Disadvantages	Might not add a great deal to overall learning. Feels a little gimmicky. May not be available in onsite in-house training programmes due to rules regarding external websites and bringing in mobile phones (Defence sites, aeronautics and industries that are sensitive about potential industrial espionage). Most of the research available focuses on mandatory and HE learners, no convincing information re: work-based training.

References:
Price, Linda and Kirkwood, Adrian (2011). Enhancing professional learning and teaching through technology:
a synthesis of evidence-based practice among teachers in higher education. Higher Education
Academy, York, UK.

Fifty blips of learning, reflections thus far....

I am not sure whether online learning increases the vulnerabilty of the learner to the vagaries of demotivation than its f2f learning companion. My own experience online relates specifically to my perception of relevance: to my needs and expectations. Suffice it to say, as has recently happened, when the demands of paid-work conflicts substantially with the demands of online learning my energies to reach resolution have been tested and resulted in a drop in my motivation.

This is not about disinterest in the subject matter, which I am enjoying profusely, but a slight irritation around the continual focus on mainstream academic learning.  This was a grievance that I experienced in the OUs' H800 module and I find myself still enduring literature reviews that have, only high level relevance to my current situation. Generic learning about technologies and innovations is great....but the detail of how it impacts on OU and schools does, for me, wear thin at times.

My second gripe is concerned with how tricky it is to manage relationships between contributors in the forums and within collaborative work. It is common practice in f2f training to establish ground rules about how we manager our communications. I realise now that this ought to be the case in OU forums and around collaborative work. The question is, who might suggest the ground rules - the group's facilitator or members of the group itself. Who is responsible for group dynamics and how is dissent or disagreement managed if it becomes personal? Simply because we are 'adults' does not determine our ability to resolve conflict effectively. Yet without some sort of management, people are less likely to be honest about their learning and the potential of the forums becomes undermined.

Thirdly, I have also been aware of how we manage work that has arrived at a different conclusion to the intended outcomes of an OU activity. How does the group facilitator or group members point out any confusion without undermining individuals efforts, demotivating or humiliating them. Forums and collaborative activities are very much in the public arena, as are the comments relating to them. Ethically, is it acceptable to allow mistakes to go unchallenged?

I have no answers, but I think my cogitations do highlight to me some of  the real challenges in managing online learning.