After a week of increasingly intermittent engagements with Twitter I stumbled back into the Twitterverse this afternoon and one of the first things I see is this post from @marksmithers. It is Mark's response to the call for help from @courosa for his keynote at the Melbourne PLE conference next week. Alec's question is...more...
The following basically tells the rationale and approach used to create a (audio) podcast of the presentations from the Personal Learning Environments & Personal Learning Networks Online symposium on learning-centric technology....more...
The initial design and use of the Blog Aggregation Management (BAM) system was, in part, designed to try out approaches that leverage the protean nature of information technology. A major part of this is a move to something different, and hopefully better, than the current, broken e-learning orthodoxy within universities that is stuck on the idea of course management systems (CMS - aka learning management systems) as the only possible solution....more...
When you talk to anyone in an "organisational" position (e.g IT or perhaps some leadership positions) within a university about using external "Web 2.0" tools to support student learning one of the first complaints raised is...more...
In a recent post I started my collection of quotes on this blog. I also talked about the "mere exposure effect" and suggested it's one reason behind the horseless carriage approach to using new technology. It's also one reason why people resist new technology - especially e-learning/computer technology....more...
In a post yesterday I talked about how most applications of e-learning within universities seems to actively prevent students and staff leveraging the protean nature of information technology. That is the nature of computer software to be flexible, malleable and customisable....more...
Scott has a post discussing the potential benefits of using VoiceThread as a mechanism for providing feedback to students - both by staff and students. Based on some experience, I agree there is some potential, but I also think there are some issues to be looked at. Details follow....more...
Jocene and I are having a bit of a chat about PLEs and she raises a number of questions or perspectives in her last comment in that discussion that are worth of thought. So, I'm starting a new blog post here, rather than making a comment (the inequity in power and ease of use between the editing tools/interface used to create a post and those used to make a comment - very limited - make an interesting comment about the assumptions and affordances of a blog)....more...
Jocene reflects a bit upon a slidecast (titled "Personal Learning Environments: The future of education?") by Graham Atwell....more...
!!! warning "Broken image link"...more...
One of the major tools used (and mis-used) in most university-based e-learning is the discussion forum, or mailing list, or some other form of software for managing/creating multi-person dialogue. The PLEs@CQUni project is attempting to figure out and experiment with social media tools as a way to improve existing practice. An obvious need is to identify if, how and with what limitations these tools can be used to manage/create multi-person dialogues of the sort most academic staff associate with discussion forums....more...
A previous post has gotten a comment which I want to follow up on. The interface for writing a post gives more opportunity to be creative than that provided to add comments....more...
The following quote is from (Hirschheim, 1992) and is questioning the practice of research/the scientific method...more...
This is a continuation of my attempt to develop a list of the assumptions underpinning existing practice around learning and teaching at universities which the concepts surrounding the Personal Learning Environments (PLE) term bring into question. The list started with this post and is continuing (all the posts should be linked from the bottom of the original post)....more...
In a serious of blog posts (starting with this one) I've been trying to develop a list of fundamental assumptions about learning and teaching at Universities which the various concepts associated with personal learning environments (PLEs) bring into question....more...
Yesterday I gave a presentation on the PLEs@CQUni project. It was a 30 minute presentation designed to give a quick overview of the origins of the project, why it is being run the way it is and what some of the outcomes have been so far. At a very brief, higher level. There are numerous talks in various aspects of this presentation....more...
Last night the PLEs@CQUni project helped support a public session titled "Psychology and Public Health Infotainment". The purpose was to show the relevant local community practitioners research posters prepared by students in CQUni course - PSYCH13021, Special Topic in Psychology....more...
In a previous post I started developing some ideas about the current assumptions associated with university learning and teaching which the concepts surrounding the nebulous term of PLEs bring into question. This post struggles with suggesting another one - consistency....more...
Friday I am supposed to be giving a 30 minute overview of the PLEs@CQUni project. The tentative title is "PLEs@CQUni: Origins, Rationale, Outcomes and Future?". As part of the origins section I was going to talk about some of the fundamental assumptions of university learning and teaching which PLEs, learning 2.0 and associated concepts, memes and propaganda are undermining, or at least questioning. The following is an attempt to outline some of those and hopefully a plea for the perspective of others....more...
For some time I have thought that one of the major barriers to improving/innovation in learning and teaching has been the consistency of practice and mindset held by discipline based groups. Now I've got some suggestion of a research basis for this view. This post attempts to explain my view, outline the research basis and draw implications for the practice of learning and teaching at Universities....more...
The Ps Framework is a taxonomy/framework that has arisen out of my attempts to understand the literature around e-learning within universities. It's main aim is to serve as the structure for chapter 2 of my thesis. This blog post seeks to summarise some of the origins and potential futures of the Ps framework and also to explain why I think it might be useful....more...
I suggest that many of the problems organisations face can be traced back to a few observations...more...
The following is step 2 in getting organised for a trial of VoiceThread as part of the PLEs@CQUni project. The background was given in a previous post....more...
The PLEs@CQUni project is attempting to figure out how/if social software, web 2.0 etc can be effectively used at CQUni to improve learning and teaching. I'm part of a group attempting to figure out how we can do this, figure out what works, what doesn't and get these technologies/ideas used effectively....more...
A week or so ago I attended an ACODE workshop in Wellington. On the night before it started Desire2Learn hosted a round table looking at the question of where free social software fits with the institutional practice of e-learning within universities....more...
It is official. The advertising has gone out/up for two positions for the CQU PLE project. The initial proposal for the project provides some ideas of the origins of the project which seeks to build on some of the baby steps we've already taken down this route....more...
As I've mentioned before Myers-Briggs puts me into the INTP box, a Kiersey Archiect-Rational. Which amongst many other things I have an interest in figuring out the structure of things....more...
Nothing all that new in this post, at least not that others haven't talked about previously. But writing this helps me think about a few things....more...
BJ Fogg looks like an interesting sort of guy, particularly with the work CDDU may be doing over coming years with e-learning, PLEs etc. From his home page, he is a psychologist who investigates how people use technology....more...
Niall Sclater is the Director of the Open University's (UK) VLE (UK acronym for LMS) Programme which is implementing Moodle (some FAQs). Over the last few days he has made a couple of interesting posts:...more...
Murray Jennex, an information systems academic from San Diego State University, made some points about the adoption of "social media" type tools by experts by drawing on findings from the knowledge management literature (he's the editor-in-chief of the International Journal of Knowledge Management). The points are discussed further in a forthcoming paper by him in the Journal of Organisational and End-User Computing (Jan-Mar, 2008: 50-63)....more...
The unit I work with received some good news on Friday. We were told that the proposal for looking at how CQU could adopt and adapt Personal Learning Environments had been successful. We'll be receiving a significant influx of funds so that over the next two years we can take some significant steps to making the use of PLEs an almost regular experience for CQU staff and students....more...
Over the next couple of years CQU is going to be looking into how it should enable students to make use of Personal Learning Environments....more...
There's an increasing rhetoric raising in the ranks of university-based education folk about the importance of Personal Learning Environments (PLEs). There are any number of good resources on the web that mention PLEs....more...