Angela Phillips H800 TMA04

PART A

Albion et al.’s ‘Preparedness for flexible access to learning materials: how ready are university students and staff?’

Some implications of Table 7

From Albion et al.’s (2010) for both on campus and external/online student accessing all types of materials and university services using more traditional technology was more popular than accessing the information via mobile phones. An example of this is access to university services via the web.

On campus students

More traditional methods - moderately (10.4%) and very (85.2%) useful by 95.6% of students.

Mobile phone - moderately (25.7%) and very (32.2%) useful by 57.9% of students.

The percentages clearly show that more students prefer traditional methods of accessing web-based services.

Online/external students

More traditional methods - moderately (6.4%) and very (90.9%) useful by 97.3% of students.

Mobile phone - moderately (29.3%) and very (29.1%) useful by 58.4% of students.

The data shows that more traditional methods of accessing the web-based services are preferred by both groups of students.

The data show similar characteristics when comparing students’ preference to accessing course materials on mobile phones and access using traditional technology.

It is worth noting that although the response for using mobile phones for web-based activities is not as popular as traditional methods, over ⅔ of students would find receiving SMS messages for both marks/grades and administrative information useful. SMS appears to be a more effective route for using mobile phones than web-based applications. For example:

SMS for receiving administrative information

On campus – 66.7% of students said this would be useful.

Online/external – 72.2% of students said this would be useful.

SMS for receiving grades/marks

On campus - 66.1% of students said this would be useful.

Online/external - 71.1% of students said this would be useful.

Encouraging mobile-enabled learning

From Albion et al.’s (2010);

95.2% of students have access to a mobile phone, exclusively or shared with others

69.2% have good access to a mobile phone with a MP3 player

56.2% have access to a mobile phone that can receive/play videos.

The data above highlights the potential pitfalls in producing videos specifically to be viewed on mobile devises, as over ⅓ of students could not access them. I would suggest that audio

Angela Phillips H800 TMA04

files would have a better access rate, due to the higher proportion of students with access to mobile devises that can access this type of content.

It is important to note that the students and staff included in the research were less likely to download podcasts, than listen to music using their technology. This raises the issue of how audio files should be shared. If the objective is to reach the highest number of students, it may be advisable to share MP3 files that can be downloaded, with simple instructions if necessary. From my experience working in a secondary school, students do not seem to have issue with downloading audio files, but have limited experience in both subscribing to and downloading podcasts.

As stated above students were more inclined to use SMS than access the web on mobile phones. SMS could assist in delivering important course information. SMS is well used in many UK schools to send information to parents/carers and has been well received.

512 words

Angela Phillips H800 TMA04

Thorpe’s ‘Effective online interaction: mapping course design to bridge from research to practice’

Some of the main implications for practitioners

Thorpe (2008) states that interaction between learners, tutors and the material is important for successful online learning, this has been shown by the success of the ‘Environmental Web’. However, it has been found that unless certain elements of the course are mandatory students will not always participate fully. I have found this to be the case with H800, during block 1/2 most of my peers contributed and completed the majority of activities. Forum participation accounted for 10% of TMA1/2. However, during block 3/4 which did not have any ‘participation’ assessment built in, the forums were not used as frequently.

The design of the activities was mapped visually, using compendium, and a clear native was written to assist delivery to students. The clear design shows different forms of participation expected from students. Thorpe (2008) states, that the project includes “...a sequence of tasks requiring diverse forms of interaction effectively combined individual and group work online, to ensure high participation and online argumentation.”

In conclusion, it is important for practitioners to make participation a mandatory element of the course. As well as building in a range of diverse activities that both encourages and enthuse students to participate in both group and individual work.

Application to H800

I would change week 4, as follows:

Activity 1, shorten time frame to 1½hours and change the activity to initial definitions, researching definitions, reading others and modifying original definition.

Activity 5 to become compulsory.

Activity 3 to moved to the end of the week, to allow time for 1/2/4/5 to be completed. Students then discuss Brown et al (1989) and Engeström (2001). This activity would be run with groups of students discussing the questions as per H800 material, before moving on to discuss the ideas raised in activity 5. This would require an extra time allocation of ¾hour.

A new activity 7 – Students to write a wiki to cover the outcomes of the discussion from activity 3/5. This activity could be given some time allocation in both week 5 and 6, in preparation for TMA01.

TMA01 criteria should then be changed so that students write 500 words regarding two chosen activities. Added into the criteria should be 500 words on the student’s reflection on their participation in activity 3 and 7 (above) and how this has enabled them to engage with the questions raised in activity 5. The marks for this section should be altered as follows;

Demonstration to your tutor of how the two activities enable you to understand the use of technology for learning in the contexts you have written about (12 marks).

Proposals for creative and convincing alternative designs and tasks for the two activities (8 marks).

The extent and quality of your contributions to discussion and collective knowledge-building in the tutor group wiki (10 marks).

The learning objectives covered in this section include:

‘...articulate your ideas, proposals and arguments for differing audiences and contexts – for example, through scholarly writing and by contributing to learning communities or networks’ (H800 materials, 2012)

498 words

Total words for Part A 1000

Angela Phillips H800 TMA04

PART B

‘Learners now have ownership of technology-enhanced learning.’

The first issue to address is how I have interpreted ‘ownership’ of learning. Rainer & Matthews (2002) suggest that ownership of learning falls into four key elements as follows: “[One, "Willingly taking responsibility for what you learn." Two, "Having your voice heard and listened to." Three, "Taking control of something in your life." And, four, "Standing by your beliefs even when others might not agree with you."]” In my role as a secondary school teacher I strive for students to take ownership of their learning and feel that if the four key elements above are met the learners would truly be the owners of their learning. As part of H800 I have been using a variety of different technologies. I have participated in the H800 forum on a regular basis and feel that I have met all the above key elements relating to ownership of learning. I have had decided on what I would like to learn, shared my thoughts with my peers, chosen the method of delivery and explained and defended my point of view. The screen shot below shows my choice of representation when displaying my Personal Learning Environment (PLE) with my peers on H800. This demonstrates that I have owned my learning, as my chosen method was not given as an option in the H800 course materials.

Figure 1 – my PLE as shared with my H800 tutor group I have also started writing a blog as part of my H800 studies, when I first wrote a blog it was because it was part of H800 course requirements. However, since then I have continued to post to my blog on a regular basis. I have taken ownership of my blog for reflecting on my learning journey, both within H800 and outside the course.

Angela Phillips H800 TMA04

I have also been using social networking such as twitter to inform my learning. I have ‘followed’ several of my peers from the H800 course. Some of my peers and I often share tips or resources that we have found that may be useful for the H800 course and our wide learning.

Figure 2 – A tweet from another H800 student sharing resources (15/07/2012)

Figure 3 – My tweet sharing recourses (15/07/2012) Above are examples of twitter messages that have been posted by students on H800. This is an example of the use of web 2.0 technology within education. The messages posted are external to the learning on H800. They demonstrate how the H800 students own their learning and are developing independent strategies using technology outside the remits of the course.

Angela Phillips H800 TMA04

In support of the claim

If students are to own their learning they need to be able to make decisions about how they learn. Sclater (2008) suggests that students are more likely to use web 2.0 technologies than institutions Learning Management Systems (LMS). Educational institutions will find it very difficult to compete with external technologies that are being developed and students often find the institutions systems inferior to technologies freely available on the web. As much of the technology is available free of charge it will mean that the educational establishments do not have to limit the use of these technologies on a cost basis. The range of web 2.0 technologies emerging with educational benefits is increasing rapidly, as demonstrated by Byrne (2012) who shares educational technology information through his blog. With new technology emerging, educators can trap into the new and engaging resources. Badge et al (2012) suggest that by introducing social media technologies into learning students can become more engaged in their studies. Students who are engaged will start to become owners of their own learning journey. Badge et al (2012) research “ suggests that social network mediated academic activity has considerable untapped educational potential.” I have seen firsthand the range social media that is used by many students. Many of my students at secondary school have twitter, facebook and myspace accounts, there are more than eight hundred million registered facebook users around the world and facebook is the most visited website on the internet (Pring, 2012). Many students are already confidently engaging in web 2.0 technology socially, so it seems like a logical next step to use this type of technology in learning. There are a range of educational ‘social media’ technologies available, such as www.twiducate.com, which I have personally seen used every effectively in engaging students in peer discussions about their learning. As already demonstrated above, twitter can be used for sharing educational resources and ideas. The internet has created an open platform for people not only to post text and pictures, but audio and video files. Youtube has a mass following with around four hundred and ninety million unique visitors per month (Pring, 2012). The availability of different types of media gives learners more choice in the way in which they learn. I have experienced this during the course of H800, we have been given the choice of listening to an interview or reading the transcript. The ability to make choices about how I learn has given me ownership of the materials and activities. Pettit and Kukulska-Hulme (2011), suggest that students are using mobile devises for a range of different activities, such as searching for information on the internet, writing assignments and communicating with other students. There is also data to suggest that owning a mobile telephone is more common than owning a toothbrush (Pring, 2012). If XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Conole (2011) suggests that if students build their own PLE they will own their own learning. As the name suggests a PLE is completely personal to the learner, where the learner can build in all the technologies that are relevant to their individual choice. I have demonstrated this concept with my own personal PLE, see figure 1 above, my PLE clearly shows all the technologies that I use as part of my learning journey. Most of the technologies that I have chosen as part of my PLE are web 2.0 technologies. Which Conole (2011) states will become more common. In conclusion, for support of the claim, Conole (2011) states, “The central message is that Web 2.0 technologies are beginning to have an increasingly important influence in education, and this trend is likely to continue.” It is important for educators to know what

Angela Phillips H800 TMA04

engages their students, as in my experience, students that are engaged in their learning are more likely to take ownership of it.

Angela Phillips H800 TMA04

Against it

Some students are less technologically savvy and “Students are concerned about the ICT competency of lecturers and academic staff” (National Union of Students, 2010) (Borovik, 2011) “I sincerely hope that IT solutions that do not work in mathematics teaching can be happily used, say, in the humanities or in the social sciences – but please do not force on us solutions unsuitable for, and unworkable in, mathematics learning and teaching.” “Many learners and teachers lack the necessary new digital literacy skills to maximize their potential— for students, in terms of utilizing new technologies to support their learning; for teachers, in terms of designing educational activities using new technologies.” (Conole, 2011) “...there are a number of potential side effects of the increased use of Web 2.0 that we need to be aware of, particularly in relation to vulnerable communities. Negative social practices like cyberbullying and online grooming are already beginning to emerge.... There are also issues in terms of equity of access, as well as the digital literacy skills needed to make sense of these new digital spaces and use them effectively for academic and learning purposes.” (Conole, 2011) “Currently, the majority of teachers lack any personal direct experience of Web 2.0-based social software, and there are no institutional incentives for them to try out and experiment with these tools. At the institutional level, there is little evidence of a corporate understanding of these tools as well, coupled with a lack of vision for how social computing can be used. Policies on the use of Web 2.0 technologies are generally inadequate, and there is a paucity of appropriate training and support to promote greater usage of these tools.”

I do feel however that there may be other issues surrounding the use of mobile phones to access university services. For example, as discussed in H800 tutor group week 19, Activity 2, the screen of a mobile phone is small and not easy to view (Street, 2012). In order to view text clearly on a mobile phone you need to zoom in and out regularly. In my experience with an iphone this can become very frustrating. Tablets are better but much more expensive.

My position in relation to the claim

Web 2.0 technologies have become massive in everyday life, facebook and twitter a good example, but this has not translated into the use of these technologies within education (Conole, 2008). [Networked learning is] learning in which information and communication technology … is used to promote connections: between one learner and other learners, between learners and tutors; between a learning community and its learning resources.

(Goodyear et al., 2004, p.1)

“The contrast between students’ engagement with public social network services and online education tools is stark.” (Badge et al, 2012)

Angela Phillips H800 TMA04

(Conole, 2008)

Angela Phillips H800 TMA04

Principal implications, for practitioners in technology-enhanced learning

Any learning activity that makes learning more engaging/accessible must be beneficial.

The technology is there to enhance learning, not to replace successful methods already in place.

The technology needs to be accessible for all, if the use of technology should not put any students at a disadvantage based on race, gender, financial situation.

Rolfe (2012) found that 74% of staff shared resources with colleagues in their institution and 76% borrowed resources from colleagues, from and half questioned from borrowed from the internet. However only 12% shared resources online “A culture of borrowing and sharing of resources exists between close colleagues, but not further a field, and whilst staff would obtain resources from the Internet, they were reticent to place materials there.” (Rolfe, 2012)

“No one individual can be an expert in all the tools and the potential ways in which they can be used. The approach needs to shift to harnessing the networked aspects of new technologies, so that individuals foster their own set of meaningful connections to support their practice, whether this be teachers seeking connections to support them in developing and delivering their teaching, or learners in search of connections to support and evidence their learning.” (Conole, 2011) “No one individual can be an expert in all the tools and the potential ways in which they can be used. The approach needs to shift to harnessing the networked aspects of new technologies, so that individuals foster their own set of meaningful connections to support their practice, whether this be teachers seeking connections to support them in developing and delivering their teaching, or learners in search of connections to support and evidence their learning.” (Conole, 2011) Web 2.0 technologies have become massive in everyday life, facebook and twitter a good example, but this has not translated into the use of these technologies within education (Conole, 2008).

Angela Phillips H800 TMA04

In conclusion, for learners to really have ownership of technology-enhanced learning, learning need to be undertaken using the learners own PLE. The learner must have control of how, when and where they learn.

Total words for Part B 3000

Total word count 4000

Angela Phillips H800 TMA04

Please read ‘Important notes on TMA04, Part B’ below, before you start writing, and make sure you have understood the assessment criteria.

‘Learners now have ownership of technology-enhanced learning.’

Consider the statement above. Then write a 3,000-word essay – illustrated if you wish with screenshots, diagrams, other images – to explain to your tutor:

1. what you consider to be the most powerful arguments and evidence in support of this claim

2. what you consider to be the most powerful arguments and evidence against it

3. your own position in relation to the claim

4. some of the principal implications, for practitioners in technology-enhanced learning, of the points you have made so far in Part B.

Important notes on TMA04, Part B

Your answer needs to explain the way(s) in which you interpret ‘ownership’ in its broadest sense (beyond mere ownership of devices).

Your answer also needs to explore the arguments and evidence both for and against the claim. Having considered these, you are of course welcome to adopt a definite position or to sit on the fence. Whichever position you adopt, please explain your reasons.

You may interpret ‘learners’ and ‘learning’ to include formal, informal and non-formal learning, and ‘teachers’ and ‘teaching’ to include formal education, training or any other aspect of supporting others in their learning.

In explaining the implications for practitioners, you may write about your own practice or context, and/or about one or more other contexts that you know or have read about.

In your answer, draw selectively on material from Block 3 (Web 2.0 and 3.0, Mobile 2.0 and learning with handheld devices, Education 2.0, practices with technology and so on) and optionally on material from Blocks 1 and/or 2.

Include evidence to illustrate how far learners (including yourself) have ‘ownership’ in at least one of the following:

a. H800 forums and/or Elluminate sessions

b. blogs

c. social networking communication – whether inside or outside H800.

Give brief examples and quotations (duly acknowledged) to illustrate your points. In your essay you are welcome to use screenshots, diagrams and other images, provided these do not make your TMA04 file bigger than 20Mb in total. There is a ‘fair dealing’ provision in the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 for ‘Things done for purposes of instruction or examination’, so – for an OU assignment – you may use third party copyright content such as other people’s screenshots, diagrams, etc. provided you acknowledge the source/rights-holder. Please don’t crop an image so as to undermine the creator’s original intention, nor remove a copyright symbol watermark from an image.

When you quote a fellow student’s forum post(s) in your H800 assignment, you do not need his or her permission. However, you would need permission if you proposed to quote it elsewhere – for example, outside the H800 website, or in your blog, or in any external source (for example, a report or journal paper). In such cases, you would normally quote it anonymously and would omit any text that might identify the poster (such as the name of their employer).

Images do not count against your word limit. Tables do.

Angela Phillips H800 TMA04

As evidence that you can ‘seek out ideas and insights from the leading edge of practice and research’ (one of H800’s learning outcomes), draw on two or three relevant resources that are not on the H800 website, and that have been published this year or last. You may have shared these with other students, or found them through your own searching (as practised in Week 10a, Week 18 and at other times). These resources can include digital assets such as videos (for example, on YouTube); as usual you will need to state their source.

As with all the assignments, fully acknowledge all material that you draw on or quote from, whether from inside or outside H800: follow the Assignment Guide on avoiding plagiarism, and on referencing.

Brief quotations from your sources (all acknowledged in inverted commas, of course, even if you also indent the quotation because it is lengthy) can help your tutor to see the points you are making. In total across your essay for Part B, quote no more than about 300 words.

Don’t use the two main papers from Part A, though you may include any additional H800 material that you briefly referred to in Part A.

Make sure you have re-read your tutor’s PT3/Assessment Summary and in-text comments on your previous assignment(s) before you start writing. If you can’t get the in-text comments to print out, ask your group – someone may have met/solved the same problem by choosing different print options (for example, in Word 2003, print ‘Document showing markup’).

To help you with locating references while you are writing your assignment, we have brought together the references from Blocks 1–3 into one list [Tip: hold Ctrl and click a link to open it in a new tab. (Hide tip)] . While we don’t guarantee that it contains every reference from Blocks 1, 2 and 3, you should find it pretty comprehensive.

Please don’t exceed the word limits; your tutor will deduct marks for overrun and may stop reading/grading once s/he has read to the word limit.

How to structure TMA04, Part B

You could follow the four-part structure of the question – with, in addition, an introduction and a conclusion. But an essay of this kind can be set out in various ways, and you are welcome to use any structure that you think will be clear to your tutor, using headings as you think best.

End your TMA04 with a single list combining references for Parts A and B, set out as directed in the Assignment Guide. As with other H800 assignments, this does not count towards the word allowance.

References

Street, M (2012) 15th June 2012 12:19 Week 19 Activity 2 http://learn2.open.ac.uk/mod/forumng/discuss.php?d=89615

Thorpe, M. (2008) ‘Effective online interaction: mapping course design to bridge from research to practice’, Australasian Journal of Educational Technology, vol.24, no.1, pp.57–72.

Situated Cognition and the Culture of Learning John Seely Brown, Allan Collins and Paul Duguid (1989) http://www.jstor.org.libezproxy.open.ac.uk/stable/1176008

Engeström’s (2001) Expansive Learning at Work: toward an activity theoretical reconceptualization.

Angela Phillips H800 TMA04

Stepping over the edge Conole, 2011 http://www.igi-global.com.libezproxy.open.ac.uk/gateway/chapter/full-text-pdf/45034

Grainne Conole. "New Schemas for Mapping Pedagogies and Technologies". July 2008, Ariadne Issue 56 http://www.ariadne.ac.uk/issue56/conole/

Research in Learning Technology Vol. 20, 2012 Open educational resources: staff attitudes and awareness Vivien Rolfe http://www.researchinlearningtechnology.net/index.php/rlt/article/view/14395 2012 J.L. Badge et al. Research in Learning Technology is the journal of the Association for Learning Technology(ALT) Beyond marks: new tools to visualise student engagement via social networks Joanne L. Badge, Neil F.W. Saunders and Alan J. Cann Research in Learning Technology Vol. 20, 2012 http://www.researchinlearningtechnology.net/index.php/rlt/article/view/16283/pdf_1 http://www.researchinlearningtechnology.net/index.php/rlt/article/view/17106/19118 Research in Learning Technology Vol. 19, No. 1, March 2011, 73–85 Information technology in university-level mathematics teaching and learning: a mathematician’s point of view Alexandre Borovik http://www.hefce.ac.uk/media/hefce/content/pubs/2010/rd1810/rd18_10.pdf National Union of Students. 2010. Student perspectives on technology – demand, perceptions and training needs. Report to HEFCE by NUS. Julie D. Rainer & Mona W. Matthews (2002): Ownership of Learning in Teacher Education, Actionin Teacher Education, 24:1, 22-30 http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01626620.2002.10463264 Web 2.0, Personal Learning Environments, and the Future of Learning Management Systems’ N Sclater (2008) http://learn2.open.ac.uk/pluginfile.php/164568/mod_resource/content/1/Week21-22_Sclater_Web_2.pdf Educause Centre of Applied Research Research Bulletin Volume 2008 Issue 13 June 24, 2008

http://www.freetech4teachers.com/2012/07/four-good-resources-for-learning-to.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+freetech4teachers%2FcGEY+%28Free+Technology+for+Teachers%29 Byrne R (2012) Free Technology for Teachers BLOG??? http://thesocialskinny.com/100-social-media-statistics-for-2012/ Pring C (2012) The Social Skinny. Get the inside scoop on all things social media

Pettit and Kukulska-Hulme (2011),Mobile 2.0: Crossing the Border into Formal Learning? http://www.igi-global.com.libezproxy.open.ac.uk/gateway/chapter/45023?accesstype=infosci