What does Whole Organisation Approach to eCPD look like?

What does Whole Organisation Approach to eCPD look like?

Originally uploaded by Dave Foord

Last week I was involved with the LSIS eCPD programme event in Birmingham, and one of the activities was asking the delegates about Whole Organisation Approaches, and what would it look like if they were successful in creating a whole organisation approach to eCPD.

We put the answers on post-it notes and then stuck them onto a flipchart, a photo of which I have uploaded to Flickr, and then used the ‘notes’ feature within Flickr to label the notes. (You will need to click on the image to see this effect).

As much as anything I want to show here how I have made use of simple technologies to create a learning object. I have used post-it notes, pens and a flipchart (which won’t scare any anti-technology teachers) – I have then photographed the output using a basic compact camera (again a anti-technology teacher could get a learner to do this if necessary), and finally I have uploaded it to Flickr and added the notes – which is quite easy and free to do.

The output can then embedded into a blog (like here) or a VLE area, it can start a discussion, be used for reflection etc.

More training on plagiarism deterrence

Tomorrow I am off to Gloucestershire College to run training for them on plagiarism deterrence, one of my ‘pet’ topics. We will be using the excellent TurnItIn software which can be integrated into Moodle to create a very powerful tool, that doesn’t only check the submitted work for matches to the Internet, but also matches to other work submitted to other UK based institutions.

And as well as this, it has a very sophisticated online marking system, which reduces the need to download students work, then mark it, then re-upload it, which when you have lots of assignment to deal with, becomes a chore in itself.

High School to allow mobile phones

Last week I was in Sheffield running a training session on ‘m-learning – it doesn’t have to be expensive to be good’ a session in which I look at the cheaper end of m-learning and in particular what we can do with equipment the learning may be owning and carrying – mainly the mobile phone.  Most of the audience were FE based, but there were 2 from schools in Sheffield, who were serioulsy thinking about changing their stance on mobile phones (and lifting the ban), and they were very open about the ideas that I was presenting, and realised that the benefits outweighed the problems.

I finished the training afternoon with a session on ‘m-learning – the great accessibility enabler’ looking at how mobile learning is in the main great for people with accessibility needs, and how if we look at the issues sensibly we can make a huge difference to many of our learners.

So it pleases me that today an article appears in the Telegraph about a High School in Sheffield allowing mobile phones I wonder how many others will follow and how long it will take for this to be the norm not the exception.

Mobile phone on laptop

Sending online learners chocolate muffins

Chocolate Muffin

Originally uploaded by vivido

I am currently working on the eCPD programme and am supporting/facilitating 11 people around the country through predominantly distance support means (phone, email, Skype, Discussion forum etc)

Using an idea borrowed from Lilian Soon of xlearn is when someone has completed a task is to send them a chocolate muffin or similar as a reward – now because these things don’t post very well, we have to do this virtually – e.g. send them a picture of a muffin. This is very easy to do nowadays, you could go and buy a really nice muffin, photograph it and then eat it, or (if like me) you treat your body like a temple (yeah right!) then there are thousands of images on Flickr (like the one that I have used here).

When using Flickr, I always do an advanced search and select to only choose ones that are released under ‘creative commons’ – this means that I can use the images within copyright law. I can then send the image to a blog (e.g. here) – and then by going into the edit mode within my blog, I can find and copy the html code that Flickr has put there and then paste this into something like a discussion thread with a VLE.

Although this may seem a lot of effort for some people, when you are supporting people (staff or learners) via online techniques, these little techniques can make a huge difference and overcome the isolating nature that you often find in this area of work.

Oh how I do miss teaching!

I miss teaching, in fact I miss it a lot.

Now this may seem odd to some people that have taught and then moved on, but I genuinely love teaching and learning, and the last few weeks I have spent a few days in different colleges in different projects, and just seeing the still new intake of students hanging around in the corridors reminds me of how much I enjoyed this area of work, and I do wish if circumstances were different that I could still do a bit of teaching, but alas it isn’t financially worth while (it would mess up my tax no end)

A few weeks ago I met a fellow ex-teacher, now consultant, and she told me that no amount of money would ever get her back in the classroom, which I thought was sad, and I hope that I never get to that stage, as if I do, I don’t think I could be effective doing what I do, which is trying to inspire and excite those that still are directly involved.

Using a digital camera with a 3 year old (and older learners)

A lot of people in education are using the various forms of cheap, easy to use cameras – with the arguement that the fact that they are so easy to use (just press big red button to record/stop) is one less barrier to technology. But I personally haven’t got on with them, their inability to zoom, the low quality of the output, the poor sound etc I think outweighs their ease of use, and I am of the opinion that buying a standard compact camera that does photographs and video is a viable option. Some will argue that as these don’t have the built in USB connector you have to mess around with cables – but the simple solution to that is to permanently attach the cable to the camera, using a cable tie and adhesive cable tie mount.

We have purchased one such camera (£40) for our kids (aged 5,3,and 1) and the oldest 2 have worked out how to turn the camera on, how to take photos, how to zoom, how to view what they have done, and how to switch the camera off – so if a 3 year old can manage these things, then I think even the most technophobic adults could manage this.

Last night I was helping my 5 year old son with his homework, and they were doing 2D and 3D shapes. I had been asked to go around the home with him seeing how many shapes he could find, name and then draw. We tried this at first but he wasn’t very excited by this, so I suggested that he went round with the camera and photographed different shapes. This was much more exciting – he knows where the camera is kept, so fetched it himself, set it up, and took the photos without any input from me. I then uploaded them into PowerPoint, resized and printed to stick into his book (where he could then name and draw). Below is the output of this exercise.

Using a camera with a 5 year old

There are so many examples in education of how we can quickly use cameras for an exercise, and with most learners in FE and HE owning phones with cameras built in, we don’t even need to provide them with the cameras.

Access Apps – CommonCraft style

Access Apps appeared on the scene about a year ago, and I hav used it in may training sessions since then, and think it is a superb tool. The people that developed this (The 2 Scottish RSCs) have put togther a video in the style of CommonCraft videos, explaining the principles of this software.

The suite of software has now been expanded to include LearnerApps (for mainstream learners), TeachApps for teaching and support staff and an option to create your own package called MyApps. These different suites are now packaged as Eduapps

The Polaroid PoGo Printer

The Polaroid PoGo Printer

Originally uploaded by Dave Foord

I have recently purchased (from eBay) a Polaroid PoGo printer for less than £20. For those that haven’t seen them, these are small portable battery powered printers (about the size of a £10 note or a pack of cards) that you can connect to a computer, directly to a camera or via Bluetooth and will print an image that is 3” X 2” in colour onto Polaroid paper that is a self adhesive sticker.

OK so the picture isn’t very big, and the quality is good but not what you get from normal processing means, but this still could have various uses within education – especially when out and about and carrying a bigger printer isn’t practical (especially outside where electricity isn’t available).

Ideas for use

1. NVQ assessing – An assessor going into a work place to assess a learner, can carry this in their pocket – if they see something that is worth capturing – take a photo, print it out there and then and the learner can stick it straight into a portfolio of evidence. The assessor still has the image on their camera or phone for their records, or to be printed in higher quality later – but the instantness of this process will help the learner to reflect on the image there and then.
2. Field trips – You have taken a group of students on a field trip, most of them have phones which take photos – so set them a task to photo something relevant to the study (e.g. example of acid erosion on a limestone pavement, example of a health and safety hazard etc…) then at lunch time the learners pass the printer around to print their images ready for further discussion.
3. Reflective practice from presentations – A learner has delivered a presentation as part of a course – during the presentation you take a series of photos, showing their position in relation to the group etc. You then print out the ‘best’ photo and ask the learner to critically evaluate what they are doing at that point in time (which could be having their backs to people, having hands in pockets, slouching etc.)
4. Creating ‘activity cards’ in an unknown environment – When I taught I often created packs of cards with keywords or images on them that were then used in various ways to teach a topic – but these were always done in advance and relied on me knowing what the activity was going to be. If I was on a class visit somewhere that I wasn’t familiar with, then on arrival I could photograph a series of images (e.g. health and safety equipment around the site, examples of were adaptions had been made for disabled users, examples of marketing etc) then print these out, and I have an activity that I can use later in the day at the site.

I am sure that there are other examples and ideas, and hopefully as the technology improves the cost of the paper will come down (at the moment it is about 20p per print) – and equipment like this can be of great educational value.

What has happened to pride in the workplace?

In the last 3 weeks I have spent numerous days being trained for different projects in different hotels in London (all hotels being part of large well known chains) and one thing that has struck me over the last few weeks is bar 1, the quality of the food has been appallingly bad.

Someone in each of these hotels is responsible for putting this food out on the serving counter – so the question I ask myself is what pride have they got in what they do. I have had no catering of chef training, and consider myself to be a reasonable cook, but nothing special, yet I could have prepared and served better food than what we received – why? Because I take pride in my work, and it doesn’t matter what I do in my work I will always be proud of my outputs.

Sometimes people find my pride annoying as this in turn leads into an attention for detail and a pursuit of very high standards, but that is what drives me and motivates me. So why don’t other people have this characteristic? Has it been driven out of them by the education system? Has the desire to increase bottom line profits pushed pride and quality out of the working culture? Or is it purely something that is genetic (my dad and both sisters have exactly the same traits even though we work(ed) in completely different areas).

I don’t know the answers to the previous 3 questions, I just wish that more people shared my passion, and that changes in the education system over the coming years will help bring pride back into peoples working lives.

Using a Short Throw projector with a SmartBoard

Short Throw projector on SmartBoard

Originally uploaded by Dave Foord

Yesterday I was up at my old employer – The University of Derby, running 2 sessions on Mind Genius for students that will be starting at the University in a few weeks time.

When I arrived at the room I was pleased to see that they had improved the facilities from the previous year including a SmartBoard with a short throw projector and the whole thing on wheels. This was the first time that I had used this particular arrangement – and it worked really well.

Firstly the board was perfectly calibrated – often with SmartBoards that are fixed with a seperate projector – they are slightly out, and even doing the usual re-calibration, I find that in the corners of the boards you still have a slight problem. But with this set up the calibration was spot on, making it so much easier to use.

Secondly – I could move the board to different positions – in my first session I had a small group, who naturally filled up from the back – but thanks to the presence of a wireless mouse and keyboard, and a reasonable length of cable connecting the board to the computer  I could pull the board about 2m into the room bringing me closer to the group and saving me having to shout. Then part way through the sun came out, and blanched the screen – (a problem that room always had) – but fear not, turn the board slightly and I had removed the problem. In my second session I had a bigger group and 2 deaf students with 2 interpreters – I was then able to position the board completely differently to make it as easy as possible for the deaf students to see the board and their computers and their interpreters – something that I couldn’t have done with a wall mounted system.

The only thing that could have been done to improve the system, was the ability to alter the height of the board (which some systems allow) so that people who are shorter than me, can drop the board slightly so that they can reach the top of it, but apart from that it was a real pleasure to use, and I hope that other users apply the same thoughts that I did and are prepared to move the board into the room, twist it slightly, think about their audience etc, as this is where having it on wheels really gives an extra option.