edna.edu.au

Research Training for Teachers

RT4T

The Prospective Students' Office and the School of Education, The University of Adelaide are presenting a seminar series for South Australian teachers and school library staff which is intended to provide an update or booster shot of professional learning about doing research, as we start preparing students taking part in the new SACE Research Project.

Slides and video are available of Professor Tania Aspland and Meredith Coleman, School of Education who presented the first sessions.
(Presentations are not labelled as Creative Commons, but presenters stated that these could be re-used at school for further presentation to staff meetings).
I can recommend Stephanie Hester's enthusiastic pitch for humanities research when it becomes available. A couple of great messages from Stephanie:

To do HUMS research you need to be human or at least have access to a human

Qualitative research is all about you

Details of the remainder of the series at: http://www.adelaide.edu.au/schools/training

As well as being very useful and timely professional learning, here's hoping that some participants get inspired to get involved in some research themselves.

Tags: sa.edu.au university of adelaide research project research
Posted at 03:14PM Jun 20, 2010 by Pru Mitchell  |  Comments[0]

What is desktop research?

Having been involved in several projects recently that required a desktop scan, I was a little surprised when asked to define it, that finding an authoritative definition has consumed almost as much time as doing a desktop scan on the original topic. So perhaps if I write my own definition it will save others facing this problem in future.

'Desktop scan' seems to be synonymous with the term desktop research, described by Delaney Woods (2005) as 'secondary research' (ie using secondary sources) that involves "the accessing of information from published resources and non-published sources."

When is desktop research appropriate?

As a method of investigation that involves use of predominantly freely-available online sites and documentation, desktop research can be used to gain an overview of a current or topical issue. It may be used prior to conducting market research, or other quantitative or qualitative research, to identify key issues, inform research questions, or in some cases to select potential research subjects. Desktop research is particularly relevant in situations where:

• academic research literature on the topic is limited
• the most recent and relevant material is likely to be published by government or commercial organisations
• reference to trends in very rapidly moving fields of study is required, eg ICT, government policy or business analysis
  
• collation of publicly available but unstructured information is required and where it is held across diverse organisations
  

What are the advantages of desktop research over other forms of research?

• It can be less expensive and less time consuming than original research
• It takes advantage of documentation and research already undertaken, and should add to that body of knowledge on completion
  
• It ensures that key research subjects or government departments are not constantly being contacted for similar research questions
  
• It is particularly suitable to online publication as most of the sources will be website links which can be hyperlinked, but it can also be produced as a printed report

What format does a desktop scan report take?

In a desktop scan from the Delaney Woods research service you can expect to find the following sections:

• Executive summary
• Scope
• Sources searched
• Full report with the information referenced, categorised, summarised and evaluated
• References listed and documented 
  

 I would welcome any other questions or answers about desktop research, and perhaps some links to examples (that aren't under embargo)!

Tags: research projects writing
Posted at 11:07PM Jun 05, 2010 by Pru Mitchell  |  Comments[0]

Online Assessment

On Wednesday 21 April I attended a session on Assessing Online presented by Judi Barron and Tristram Lawson of the University of Adelaide Centre for Learning and Professional Development. It was an excellent overview of the types of assessment tools available to staff of the university, and provided an opportunity to consider the practicalities involved in implementing online assessment in formal courses.

Various disciplines were represented amongst the participants including Engineering, Library, Dentistry, English, Earth & Environmental Science, Paediatrics and Reproductive Health. Not surprisingly Blackboard tools featured strongly, as that is the platform used for Adelaide's MyUni.However several of the tools highlighted also interface with other Learning Management Systems, including Moodle.

Some of the useful links we received include:

• Using MyUni for Assessment: Test Manager (Quiz) - Assignment - Safe Assign - Self and Peer Review - Grade Center and MyGrades - Pools - Discussion Boards
  
• Using Respondus
• Using Publisher Test Banks, eg Pearson
  
• Using other software, eg Articulate Quizmaker  Adobe Presenter   Wimba Create
  
• Using Rubrics
• Using e-portfolios - Mahara
  Interested to learn about a Mahara trial with one course and availability of Mahara for staff through CLPD
• Transforming Assessment
  This is an amazingly rich Moodle-based site being used to support an Australian Learning and Teaching Council Fellowship looking at the use of e-assessment within online learning environments, particularly those using one or more Web 2.0 or virtual world technologies. There is an extensive Webinar series on offer during 2010.
  

Tags: e-assessment assessment and moderation
Posted at 04:39PM Apr 21, 2010 by Pru Mitchell  |  Comments[0]

Faceted search

The edna simple search project beta has been quietly alive since the beginning of 2010. It was interesting to view the statistics for visits over Term 1.
Read more about the project at http://www.edna.edu.au/edna/go/about/labs/searchlabs

 In this period frequently searched topics were:

1. adolescent health / sport young people / lifestyle youth (service=resources & sector=school)
2. chinese new year (service=resources & sector=school)
3. winter olympics
4. lesson plans
5. assessment (sector=higher education)
6. sustainable living
7. interactive resources (sector=preschool)
8. cooking (type=movie)
9. astronomy (userlevel=Year 5-6)
10. national+curriculum+and+vet

Tags: search projects
Posted at 04:14PM Apr 17, 2010 by Pru Mitchell  |  Comments[0]

e-assessment

I am currently working on a national project that involves collecting examples of assessment that uses ICT. First task is the literature review (or literature scan may be a better term).

This post contains a brainstorm of terminology. Hoping colleagues can suggest others that we have missed.

annotation

audience response systems

authentic assessment

automated assessment

computer assisted assessment

computer based assessment

diagnostic assessment

digital markup

dynamic assessment

e-assessment

e-marking

e-portfolios

electronic grading

electronic voting technology

formative assessment

learning objects

markup

moderation

online assessment

paperless submission

peer assessment

response tracker software

self-assessment

simulation

simulation games

WebQuests

Tags: assessment and moderation e-assessment rictat
Posted at 06:31PM Feb 23, 2010 by Pru Mitchell  |  Comments[0]

Australia series at LearnCentral

My 2010 professional learning started in a very exciting way this afternoon with the kick-off planning meeting Elluminate session from LearnCentral called the Australia series.

Thanks to Steve Hargadon and Carol McCullough, Jo Hart and Anne Mirtschin for organising this. The purpose of the Australia series is to schedule online sessions in Australia, New Zealand (and Asia) friendly timezones, to publicise existing presentations and to provide the opportunity to work across sectors and system boundaries.

As Andrew pointed out the changing of educational culture is a big challenge for us. This initiative can encourage new users - and new creators/presenters.One suggestion was to run an online drop-in centre on a regular basis which is facilitated across the day by people from different states so that it move across timezones

How do we guarantee participants for our presenters?
If we do this on a national basis, we have a larger potential audience we can target people in their specific learning area or sector, eg trade skills.

Barriers or issues raised included technical department policies. Chris suggested holding technical administrator presentations that show that web conferencing is NOT a threat, that education is a legitimate use of work PCs and laptops.

• Creating a slide of member/participant avatars helps build recognition of members
  
• Using the pointer to show where on the world map you are at present gets participants involved
  
• Getting members to introduce themselves on microphone in alphabetic order can be smoother than moderator picking on people
  
• Need to remind people of the different toggling behaviour of audio etc when they work in  different packages, eg in Elluminate click the audio once to toggle on, (DimDim - hold down the audio button while speaking)
• Kristie reminder about the massive Victoria DEECD Online Professional Learning Program for Teachers conference which is happening next week.

Thanks everyone. Looking forward to being part of this programme for 2010.
The recording of the session should be available soon

Tags: web conferencing elluminate
Posted at 03:00PM Jan 22, 2010 by Pru Mitchell  |  Comments[2]

e-learning excursion

Resources and support for e-learning

News

Education Network Australia (edna) VET and ACE e-news
http://www.edna.edu.au/edna/go/vet/vet_news/vet_enews
Read an issue of the newsletter
Subscribe to receive fortnightly email:
http://www.lists.edna.edu.au/lists/lists/listabout?list=vetenews

Knowledge Tree
http://kt.flexiblelearning.net.au
What is the message of the latest issue of this e-journal?
To subscribe to receive via email: http://kt.flexiblelearning.net.au/subscribe

Flex e-news
http://flexenews.flexiblelearning.net.au

Events
search edna's calendar for library related events [or for technology events]. Filter by location or find online events.
http://www.edna.edu.au/edna/go/events/eventsearch/

People
Find your local e-learning co-ordinator http://pre2009.flexiblelearning.net.au/flx/go/home/States_and_Territories

Find digital learning resources
Search the LORN Learning Object Repository Network: http://lorn.edu.au

Find e-learning tools, research and ideas
Browse Education Network Australia Topics: ICT http://www.edna.edu.au/edna/go/ict

Digital footprints
Check out this research paper and issues identified by Fox, Madden, Smith & Vitak, 2007
http://www.pewinternet.org/Reports/2007/Digital-Footprints.aspx
Use the search engine of your choice to check your own digital footprint "Firstname Surname" site:au

21st century Copyright

• Smartcopying: http://www.smartcopying.edu.au
  MCEETYA Copyright Advisory Group (CAG) provides copyright information sheets and resources for TAFE on Web 2.0
• Creative Commons: http://creativecommons.org
  Creative Commons (cc) licensing allows greater freedom of use for online materials. Search for Creative Commons licensed material http://search.creativecommons.org
• flickrCC  http://flickrcc.bluemountains.net has built in editing options and attribution for Creative Commons licensed images
• Wikimedia projects use Creative Commons licences: http://wikimedia.org - check out a project you haven't used before.

Social bookmarking and communities
Click on MyBookmarks to save and share links to resources at: http://me.edu.au
If you use other social bookmarking services, eg Delicious www.delicious.com or Diigo www.diigo.com find the RSS feed for your bookmarks, copy the RSS link, and add it to your me.edu.au profile so we can all find them: My View - Edit profile - Feeds.

21st century learning resources
Upload and share images using Flickr  www.flickr.com
Search for photos on flickr that are released under the Creative Commons license.
Search, upload and share presentations using Slideshare www.slideshare.net
Search, upload and share videos using TeacherTube www.teachertube.com

Personal Learning Networks
Check out Twitter http://twitter.com: a microblogging service and Personal Learning Network
Edmodo www.edmodo.com provides a private microblogging platform for education

21st century Learning Environments
VET Teacher E-learning toolkit:
required functionality to support e-learning in Australian vocational education and training
Moodle: 2 minute moodles videos from Tomaz Lasic, WA http://www.vimeo.com/channels/44004
Get your own Moodle environment at edna Groups: http://www.groups.edna.edu.au/mod/resource/forumapplication.php

21st century learners
Vision of students today: http://youtube.com/watch?v=_A-ZVCjfWf8
Video project created to inspire teachers to use technology in engaging ways to help students develop higher level thinking skills.

21st century teachers blogging as lifelong learners
Create a reflective blog post about what it means to be a 21st century learner. Click <Create blog> in me.edu.au or use an existing blog.

Tags: libraries alia vet
Posted at 08:02AM Oct 23, 2009 by Pru Mitchell  |  Comments[0]

Future libraries

Libby's blog post
What you said in terms of traditional library suppliers that 'all ordering can move online as far as I'm concerned' is what many people say about libraries.
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The social stuff of libraries
Janet's quote about libraries as collectors of social / organisational / agent records and of linking people.

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Discussions with SA educators and teacher librarians [via email/phone]

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ALIA Library Technician's conference workshop:
You can take the technician out of the library but you can't take the library out of the technician: what difference can technology make?

This workshop provides an overview of trends and possible futures for 21^st century library spaces, digital collection management and service delivery. You will work in teams to develop scenarios that look at the possible future role of the library technician in a technology-rich library environment.

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Joyce Valenza and Doug Johnson's post 1.10.2009 What keeps us up at night

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Tags: libraries trends
Posted at 11:48PM Oct 05, 2009 by Pru Mitchell  |  Comments[0]

Twitter mosaic

Get your twitter mosaic here.

Tags: twitter pln
Posted at 04:39PM Sep 15, 2009 by Pru Mitchell  |  Comments[2]

Livescribe 2

An update to my initial review of the Livescribe Pulse Smartpen.

1. My colleague John now has a Livescribe Smartpen and is using it during meetings and consultation interviews for a project we are working on. I am looking to his review of the pen. He says he only reviews things after a month of use - perhaps I should learn from that advice!

2. Kerrie is also keen to trial the Livescribe pen to make the task of Board meeting minutes less stressful. It is not possible to capture everything on laptop during the meeting, and the possibility of replaying sections to check when preparing minutes is appealing. So I re-packed everything in its box and handed it over.

3. When I was reading the help documentation to work out how to delete files and pages before handover, I discovered a link to MyScript for Livescribe. This provides exactly the functionality I was missing from the Livescribe set up as I had experienced it.
MyScript 30 day free trial once installed, connected directly with the Livescribe desktop and added a [Convert to text] button. Now my handwritten notes which I was too embarrassed to give to anyone, turn quickly into text which I can format, correct and circulate. There are quite a few underlined inaccuracies in the conversion, but no worse than usual OCR from a scanned typed source, and many times better than what I happily correct in the Australian Newspapers project.

Lessons learned

• Writing a review doesn't necessarily spread the word to colleagues most effectively. I should have done a demonstration, organised a brainstorm session - people with other potential uses provide a broader perspective
• Read the instructions! Not just at the beginning, but when you are starting to identify possible limitations.
• Uninstalling/decommissioning a tool should be done before writing a review. This was another whole topic.
  

Tags: writing livescribe reviews tools
Posted at 11:58AM Sep 06, 2009 by Pru Mitchell  |  Comments[0]