reflections on week 4

Reflecting on the online tutoring programme, I have experienced ups & downs throughout the duration of the course: initally being very open-minded to a new way of thinking (ie the VLE as opposed to my familiar F2F scenarios) and finding the excitment of doing new things (such as blogging!); a period of frustration and disillusionment during the middle of the course for reasons given in previous entries; feeling able to engage more effectively (?) in the group work in week 3...the final week has been, perhaps, the most trying in relation to my motivation...

I came to the course with an open mind to explore the potential for the online medium in my current teaching practice. In many ways, I can see the advantages of a blended approach especially in supporting the development of understanding of key issues in a given topic. We have recently gone through a process of 'kite-marking' the courses we offer (part of which includes a summative assessment) and I do feel that there is scope for an element of online tutoring to support those who sign-up to do the assignment.

From my experiences on the Oxford-Brookes course, I feel that the inventory I drafted earlier this week would be an effective means of managing this as I presented them (- hopefully this is not too presumptuous?!) My concern is that a significant (and increasing) number of students signing up to courses in the past do not have English as a first language and I wonder how this will impact on the F2F aspects, let alone a VLE...I feel there are more thoughts/discussions to be had in my workplace...

Thinking about the Oxford-Brookes course itself in relation to my inventory, I do feel that the outline did follow the 'rules' of constructive alignment. I felt there were clearly defined learning outcomes; active learning was encouraged with the social constructivist paradgim being the foundation of the programme; there was a balance between quantity & quality of contact time between student-tutor and student-student (responsibility for this being with the individual); there was a degree of flexiblity/range of learning opportunities and there was clear feedback throughout both from the tutors and from other students.

Where things were not so clear was 1) in the pre-determined goals of the course which reduced the ability of the group (in weeks 2 & 3) to set their own agenda to meet specific learning needs (although this may my lack of awareness of the freedoms rather than a fault of the course) and 2) that there seemed to be a lack of explicit ground rules (although, again, this may be something I missed!)

However, having said all that, I do feel I have learned much from the course in relation to course design and the role of the tutor that is, I think, transferable between the VLE and F2F environments. Most particularly, I liked the 'presage - process - product' model from Brook and Oliver (2003) which I am keen to explore further in terms of its application to teaching and learning, whatever the setting.

So, 'onwards and upwards...'

an inventory for online tutoring

As I understand the key readings for this week, an inventory of good practice/guidelines for effective online tutoring arise out of constructive alignment (see Brown, 2001). When considering what it is for me that enables learning in the VLE, the key points are:

• effective tutoring (and therefore effective learning) can only occur if there are clearly defined and measurable learning outcomes (Maharg, 2005)
• any goals are developed in collaboration with the group to ensure specific learning needs are identified (Brookfield, 2001)
• the tutor (and the programme) encourages active learning (Graham et al, 2001)
• ground rules are negotiated to ensure participation and safety of group members (Brookfield, 2001)
• a balance needs to be struck in respect of the quantity and quality of contact time between student-student and student-tutor (Graham et al, 2001)
• perhaps, most fundamentally, the tutor respects the diversity of the student group and thus needs to ensure a flexible and dynamic range of learning opportunities whilst maintaining student-centred, constructive feedback that facilitates achievement of the identified goals and outcomes (Brookfield, 2001; Graham et al, 2001; Maharg, 2005)

It would seem to me that the last point is the one that completes the cycle of learning through constructive alignment as it draws together all the required elements - if the tutor is competent in taking a flexible approach to planning and development of an online curriculum, including the assessment processes (formatively, at least), then the programme can be tailored to the group and the learning potential maximized.

If I was being especially brave, I'd base my inventory on Brook and Oliver (2003) as I feel their model - 'presage; process; product' - provides a useful (if somewhat detailed) breakdown of the key aspects in designing a curriculum that is constructively aligned. However, with a suggested limit of 30 lines to present the inventory here, I don't feel I can do this line of argument justice - suffice it to say that I feel the elements I have identified above are addressed in the Brook and Oliver model, just a little more fully! (Further reading and reflection required on my part...)

assessing my contribution

This week I have been feeling more engaged with programme (as I commnented on in my last entry). I certainly feel I have been able to input more directly and positively, learning how to use a wiki in the process - another first for me!

Part of this has been, for me, the more apparent feedback from the group as we have proceded through the week - a more direct dialogue has been helpful in boosting my confidence, but perhaps my increased confidence with the system has helped too - I have felt more able to post comments (and more promtly) and proactively edit the group work, rather than simply offer comments. (I know I added 2 slides to last weeks group work which were in the final draft, but on reflection, I would have to say that was a relatively passive experience).

I guess there is an issue of cause and effect here that reminds me of 'the chicken and the egg' scenario, but I have no wish to get bogged down into which came first. Although usually I am more interested in the process, on this occasion, the result as discussed above, is much more important. In short, I feel much happier with things at this point - hopefully, week 4 will continue in this vein...

turnaround time...

Thinking about this week, I feel that things have turned around quite considerably - I have been feeling more positive and therefore have engaged with the task more readily (helped by good interactions with the group!)

I am also feeling more confident and competent in the VLE (although I still find the system a bit clunky and hard to follow).

On reflection, I get the impression that alot of my experiences recently have been related to differing parts of a whole that I did not grasp, ie competence using the 'blackboard' system and extensions to this such as blogs and wikis; familiarity with the subject (although there are comparisons with F2F environments, they are different); my ability to develop realtionships with others I cannot 'see'; perceived level of support from tutors; and so on.

What I have learned is that, once I have broken down the whole into its constituent parts, I need to find a way of drawing them together in a meaningful way to make sense of how I can best contribute to a task.

I guess the next question is 'How effective is my contribution to the group task'? Well, only time will tell, so, until later...

contributing to online collaboration

I'm currently reflecting on the task for week 2 and considering my contribution. If I was to assess my input here I would be saying that it was somewhat limited, although my contribution did form part of the final submission. For reasons identified previously, I wonder whether this was something about my unpreparedness for the time element involved? I am very aware in face-2-face teaching that however long you think it will take, it will take longer and perhaps I did not fully appreciate the similarity in the online setting.

However, the issue that arises from this is one of quantity versus quality. If we are to assess contributions to a collaborative task, this is clearly a dilemma. For me, the quality of an interaction has to be fundamentally more important than the quantity - for example, one student may make several postings during the task that may bear no relation to the task itself.

If we base an assessment only on the amount of contributions (irrespective of what they contribute to the overall task), the individual who 'posts the most' may receive a higher mark than feels appropriate. In contrast the student that only posts once, but has a considered and well-structured piece, may lose out if we concentrate of quantity, even though they may have established the foundation of group's ultimate success.

Conversely, if assessment is based purely on the quality of the posting, this may not account for the attempts of the stuggling student who cannot make sense of the task and asks more questions rather than adding to the end result. I guess this follows on from the discussion on 'lurkers'. Consequently, it would seem that it is difficult to pinpoint exactly what the 'norm' should be if, indeed, there is one and any system of assessment must find a balance to both ends of this spectrum (ie the quantity AND quality of contributions).

In many ways, this does seem to reflect the difficulties when assessing work in the classroom setting. Some students are clearly more voluble than others, but does this mean that 'he who shouts the loudest deserves the higher grade'? Where it perhaps differs between the envrionments is in the nature of the medium itself in facilitating assessment - whilst we can (seemingly) monitor the amout of time spent online, there is a limit to which we can engage with someone who chooses not to reciprocate - an e-mail can be easily ignored, as can an invitation to 'chat'. Although this disengagement also occurs F2F, there seems to be (to me at least) something about the visible, non-verbal cues in face-to-face contact that allow a different interpretation of what's going on to ensure appropriate support. I wonder if, in my unfamiliarity with the VLE, I'm missing a trick in how to manage this most effectively online (without the bonus of visual clues)...

quick off the blocks...

Wow - I have read the relevant bits as decided within the Green group, been able to consider them in relation to this week's task on feedback and write/post my thoughts! Not sure how much sense my waffle will make (or if I've got the point), but I feel pleased to have at least got in quick and have something on 'paper'. I'm looking foward to how the rest of the discussions pan out.

week three begins...

I'm sitting contemplating my thoughts on last week and I find myself feeling more positive (and here is me some years ago giving a round of applause!!!) My feeling is that week 2 provided a huge learning curve as discussed previously, and I am in a different place of engagement. Whilst I'm still struggling with the work-life-study balance, I have taken time reading through the resources and feel I'm on familiar territory! (Does make a difference with confidence!)

I am hoping to make a more positive contribution to the group discussion this week and we'll see how I've done when I reflect on Sunday. So, back to apply the theory to feeding back on other group presentations...

further thoughts on group collaboration...

I guess this week has provided me with a number of frustrations on several levels in relation to the group task for the online tutoring programme, but having reflected on the process I think I can identify some positives to 'move things on...'

An obvious point for me is one of time management. When I signed up to the course, I was fairly clear that it would need a commitment of 6 hours per week (give-or-take). What has become abundantly clear over the past week is that I need to find at least 6 hours for the 'active' online element, with extra time bolted on for any reading. It may be I am slow in reading and constructing my responses, or simply that I am not familiar with the technology. Either way, I do need to plan ahead more effectively so I am able to provide a clearer structure that enables me to be increasingly effective in my study/work and meet deadlines with less sense of rush, if not panic!

Another apsect of the task I have found enlightening was that of defining group roles. Towards the start of the week, much of the discussion revolved around differing models of a group (eg Tuckman, Belbin amongst others) and I will admit that I became frustrated at the amount of time spent on this when, to me, it seemed that we should be getting on with the task. As the week progressed (and I found myself floundering) I wished we had made that part of the process more explicit - whilst one of the group clearly took a lead and others were contributing to the discussions on a very regular basis (unlilke myself, for reason stated previously) my perception was almost that the actual presentation appeared to unfold as if through osmosis as there was no clear agreement about who would do what. (Having said that, the final submssion looks great and does take account of all the input from the group members to provide a coherant response to the statement 'Online participation should be compulsory').

The lesson for me is one of not cutting corners at the outset - if we spend the time (whether as a student or a tutor) doing the initial groundwork - clearly defining roles and dividing up a task appropriately - the rest of the process should be more straightfoward as each group member will be clear about the expectations placed on them specifically in realtion to the whole group, whatever the extent of their apparent engagement.

So, all-in-all, this has been a difficult week in terms of my journey through the world of online tutoring, but valuable lessons have been learned that I hope to put to good effect in the next couple of weeks and beyond...

a surprise!

Well, I have logged on this evening (feeling a little low with both my input into this week's task and the seeming lack of response) to find that my additions to the group work have been included in the possibly 'final draft' of the presentation! Talk about boosting one's ego - having been contemplating the course over night and during today, I am still convinced of the validity of Gulati's (2006) findings re: the acknowledgement, whether positive or negative, of input influencing an individual's participation (and in my case leaving me feeling very 'out of it' as identified in my last post...)

However, on relfection, it is not all bad. The more I wonder about my own reaction (and where I am now), the more it seems to me that we must account for not only individual learning styles and so on in the online environment, but also the differing personalities amongst students and the effect this has on their interpretation of events. For example, if one is generally a glass-half-empty type of individual, any lack of acknowledgement may well be seen as a negative, 'your input is not important' kind of response, whereas the suggestion offered may well be of value.

In terms of online tutoring, I wonder whether a key role in relation to 'lurkers' (if that's what they really are) is acutally one of establishing what effect different levels of response from others in the group may have to ensure we can support students most effectively in finding the ability/skill to participate rather than getting into labelling...

...hopefully more thoughts on this tomorrow night when I get back online...

invisible?!

I have been reading through a paper by Shalni Gulati (2006) on 'Knowledge construction in online learning' this evening and find some of the discussion fascinating at it seems to relate to me this week.

She talks about issues of personal control and emotional engagement with the online environment in the sense that, the more positive these two aspects are, the greater the participation in a learning activity. Conversely, if these two areas are negative, there would logically follow a sense of disengagement with the process.

Currently, I am feeling the latter - other members of the group I am working with seem to be more 'at home' in the VLE and have demonstrated a very swift presence which I feel has grown stonger during the week. As I am, perhaps, less confident, and have certainly had a series of other pressure on my time (not trying to make lame excuses here!) I have not been as active in the dialgoue. Consequently, I am feeling somewhat left behind and to some extent excluded from developments - not sure whether this is just my paranoia, or whether it ties in with Gulati's ideas about a lack of acknowledgement leading to a more peripheral role within a group. I certainly feel less inclination to contribute as I'm feeling somewhat invisible to other members.

It seems rather ironic as we are supposed to be working on a collaborative project to develop our skills as online tutors. Wow - it all seems a bit gloomy now I come to write it down. Perhaps I'm just in a weird place (head-wise) at the momentm, but I think I'm in danger over over-analysing, so I'd better stop there for now...

sinking?

Hmmm...it's certainly not getting any better at the moment - I feel rather overwhlemed with the group task today and seem to be lost! I have had some time this evening to check things thorugh and start to engage a little, but feel I'm letting the side down with my (to me) lack of consistently and issues keeping up. I can't decide yet if this is the fault of the course and blackboard set up (too many posts/threads to follow) or if it's my lack of organisation??

Hey ho! Life goes on, so we'll see what tomorrow brings...

aarrgghhhh

I've logged on the blackboard and I feel my head is going to explode!!! There is so much to catch up with, and I've only missed one day's messages. I really think by now, I should be more organised and have a clearer strategy to manage the workload, but alas, it feels like it's all gone to pot!

I could argue that the problem here is my workload in my job, but wonder if this is making excuses (although I have taught for 8 hours solid today plus the add-ons to the programme that we have to do once the students have left!!!) And I've got two toddlers who are proving to be a bit of a challange at home at the moment.............

Well, now I've got that off my chest, it's time to pick up the logical thought which say that, just when you thought you were on top of things, something comes along to derail you. Hopefully, this is just a temporary blip...

busy times...

...I have been considering my progress in the online tutoring course over the weekend. I am becoming more confident using the blackboard system (although not necessarily more proficient!) and am beginning to see how the VLE could be used in respect of my current teaching. I am however, finding it hard to keep up with all the postings so far - there seems to be a deluge very time I log on.

Having said that, the group work aspect of the programme this week does feel more civilized and managable. This has come at a busy time (as does everything, I guess) as I'm running an intentsive communication skills course in the classroom for the rest of the week which is very time consuming (not to mention emotionally draining) owing to the nature of the content.

I'll certainly be reflecting on how the virtual learning environment might be used to effect in respect of face-to-face communication skills training which involves professional actors and role play - I feel the inexorable march towards a blended approach continues...

reflections so far...

It's the end of the first week of the online tutoring course and I feel rather 'mind-blown' by everything that's going on with it. There are several aspects that have both impressed and terrified me (although it's fair to say that 'terrified' might be a bit strong!)

As I said on my first venture into blogging, although I am OK with some e-technology, my experiences led me to think that it has the potential to be rather time-consuming in respect of education. I think my feelings on this have not altered too much over the first week, although, as I sit here blogging again, I think that this may become less of an issue as I use the medium more frequently. I imagine that, as with most things, the more familiar you become with it, the easier it is to manage...

Another thought is about the mass of information/communication/messaging and so on that seems to occur in the online environment. It has certainly been confusing having so much going on at once. I do like the way in which I can take some time to ponder other peoples' views and consider my responses in terms of asynchronus discussions, especially as I am not the quickest at replying (although I wouldn't go so far as to say I 'lurk'). However, I am finding it difficult to keep up with the multitude of threads in the online discussion. I wonder if this is about my familiarity with the system? Perhaps I need to learn how to be more discriminating in what I look at.

Having said all that, I can see the benefits of the online medium for supporting learning and am already considering how it could be applied in my current F2F programmes.

I am looking forward to the rest of the course and developing my understanding of how to develop a VLE that is both useful and useable by students to enrich their experience and promote effective learning.

a colour change!

It's just occured to me that my blog title is pink! Unfortunately, I'm definitely not a pink boy, so have just being playing with the layout features and discovered I can review the colour scheme - sadly, I feel quite impressed with myself, especially as this is only my second venture into blogging. I really must try to do it more often...

online tutor - that's me?

It's the first week of February and it's snowing rather heavily! I'm wondering how I'll get home, what to give the kids for tea, my prep for courses I'm teaching over the next few weeks and how to facilitate online learning!

Whilst I do feel comfortable at the computer and can navigate my way around various applications, I do feel somewhat daunted by the notion of online learning - putting together a powerpoint presentation or playing a game is all well and good, but trying to teach in virtual space?

Perhaps I'm a bit slow on the uptake here. Although many of my colleagues think I'm IT savvy, this is my first experince of blogging and, until recently, I had no idea what a blog was. If, as I understand, it can be used as a journal for thoughts, feelings and experiences, it shouldn't be too difficult. At least I've crossed the first hurdle and can edit my blog before posting it (only a few attempts to get it feeling okay).

Hopefully this 'beginner's luck' will continue and I'll soon be a veteran blogger (if that's the correct term).