Activity 8.2 Reflection

During this course I have learnt the importance of digital learning in the technological age we live in. I was also surprised that their are people who have PhD’s in digital learning and are experts in the field. I also gained a conscious knowledge of what digital learning is.Previously I would have learned digitally without realise, now I am conscious of it. The huge array of digital learning technology also opened my eyes. I think this will become a larger part of main stream education as time goes on.

Things I liked during the course were:

-Getting a good knowledge of using wordpress

-Learning and trying different kinds of DLT

I also liked realising the massive personal learning network I have and how they all link back to eachother and how I learn online.

I think however the wiki could do with some updating and be a little more user friendly.

Activity 8.1

Here is a video outlining the process of cooking a steak. It has easy step – by step audio instructions that are simple to follow. The video itself is of a high quality and shows the right shots at the right time (in line with the audio). Targeting anyone who wants to learn how to cook a steak is a very wide audience and therefore the video is simple and easy to follow.

I would disable comments on this video to stop trolls.

6.0

An ePortfolio is an electronic collection of someones work, research, projects and anything else that could be used to show of their skills.

It can be useful in an eLearning environment as it can provide a repository of related work from one teacher or a fellow student to enhance the subjects learning.

Here is a link to my Google Sites Page

https://sites.google.com/site/corysbasiccv/

Here is my Linkedin Profile

https://www.linkedin.com/in/corycasbolt

5.1

The lecture with Joyce was interesting. I really opened my eyes to how inefficient my Personal learning network is. I feel I often will have information bloat and can struggle to deal with it. I am going to be very mindful now of filtering all my information am receiving from my Personal Learning Network.

I use the following tools in my PLN with the following degree of personal (p)/institutional (i).

Gmail 80%p/20%i – Resident

Google Plus 100%p – Visitor

Google Drive 50%p/50%i – Resident

Twitter 70%p/30%i – Visitor

Youtube 50%p/50%i – Resident

Skype 100%p – Resident

Facebook 80%p/20%i  – Resident

EIT Online 100%i – Resident

Activities 4.1, 4.2, 4.3, 4.4

 

These are now finished. I did Facebook messenger as my 4.1 topic. http://wikieducator.org/VirtualMV/Digital_Learning_Technologies/Social/Instant_Messaging

Also here is a link to my Wiki page

http://wikieducator.org/User:Crcasbolt

 

Activity 3.3

With the advent of Digital Learning Technologies, teachers have had to add another ‘string to their bow’ in keeping up to date and being able to use the latest DLT’s.

Below is a list of Basic, Intermediate and Advanced skills teachers need to deliver effective eLearning.

Basic Skills

-Writing to a pre existing blog/wiki

-Using VC to lecture to a distance class

-Using technology for time keeping

-Using social pages to link information and keep students up to date

-Using digital technology to detect plagiarism

-Understanding copyright and piracy issues

-Finding reliable and current online material

-Using note taking apps

Intermediate Skills

Create/Edit digital audio

Setting up a new blog

Using polling software to create polls and questionnaires

Provide students with time management tools

Curate web content for learning

Curate screen capture tutorials

Advanced Skills

Creating a logical, easy to use Wiki

Making and editing video content

References

Kharbach, M. (2012). The 33 Digital skills every 21st Century Teacher should have. Retrieved from http://www.educatorstechnology.com/2012/06/33-digital-skills-every-21st-century.html

Activity 3.2

Activity 3.1

Otago University offer a wide range of Digital learning technologies. These are broken down into the following categories

Many-Many. This is for large groups such as a class or a focus group. Many students sharing many ideas to the group. A good example of this is a forum on Moodle. It can be used for discussion and idea sharing throughout a large class.

1-Many. This type of learning occurs when one person, usually the lecturer delivers eLearning to a group. An example of this is video conferencing. Otago University uses this in a bleneded learning environment. Whilst there is traditional learning occurring in the way of a lecture with students physically attending, the lecture is being broadcast live via the internet so that students can watch and interact remotely. The session is also recorded for students to watch at a later date.

1-1. This is learning between one lecturer and one student. Otago University use a system called Otago Connect in which lecturers hold meetings in ‘online meeting rooms’ with a student. Here a student can ask any questions via text, audio or visual channels.

References

IT Helpdesk (2014). Otago Connect Upgrade & Meeting Administrator Changes (December 2014). [ONLINE] Available at: https://help.otago.ac.nz/connect/. [Last Accessed 9 March 2015].

IT Services (No Date). Teaching in Digital Spaces: Tools to Use. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.otago.ac.nz/its/services/teaching/otago029748.html. [Last Accessed 9 March 2015].

IT Services (No Date). Otago Connect. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.otago.ac.nz/its/services/teaching/otago023671.html. [Last Accessed 9 March 2015].

Activity 2.3

Here I will describe what I think are the biggest barriers to individualized and ubiquitous learning using an eLearning model.

Distance – Although one of the main points of the eLearning model is that you distance is not a barrier, I feel in some cases it can still be one. Having users engaging is much easier when sitting in a room with them. This barrier must be overcome by having rich, engaging content that users gravitate towards.

Technology – Broken links, bad internet connectivity, slow hardware, lack of and user awareness are all massive barriers to eLearning. Frustration can occur from the learner (and teachers) perspective when technology is notperforming as required.

In summary I feel the biggest benefits individualized and ubiquitous digital learning technology, Technology and the Ability to learn from anywhere can also be its biggest challenges. This is an interesting point and I feel with time, experience and better technology we will overcome these challenges in D.L.T.

Activity 2.2

In the previous activity I talked about how I did, or could have integrated eLearning into examples. Here I will explain my most memorable eLearning example.

I find that using an inquiry-based approach to learning is the most effective for me. If I am being proactive in my learning and actually seeking an answer in the way of inquiring then I find I am completely engaged and open to learning. I find the process of typing a question into the Google search engine is a good way of finding the answer I need. However when using this approach you must err on the side of caution. As anyone can post on the Internet, quite often answers will conflict. This is why I suggest using a proper eLearning environment from the page of results Google gives you. Video Tutorials, Interactive eBooks I find are a good way of getting what you need from Google.

I have found technology can also be a barrier to learning in the way of information overload. If a user is bombarded with content (in this case millions of Google hits) then we can easily become overwhelmed and not learning effectively, or at all.