On a different scale

I got a taste of my own medicine yesterday when I did some work with a proper film crew for a new online learning channel. I found it totally intimidating, was a nervous wreck (both before and afterwards!) and was exhausted by the whole affair.

I'd imagined working with one man and a digital video camera but not a bit of it - a full film crew of five, together with all the equipment that goes with it. Even a camera on a track!! It put our small scale work into perspective as I experienced the time and patience which goes into producing the shortest of films. I was there six hours for six three-minute slots, working more or less all the time, with no break. But you know, I think our short films taken with our Sony are just as effective, equally fascinating and rather more approachable for not being anywhere near "perfect".

Not that mine will be anything near perfect either, believe me - unless they can make a silk purse out of a sow's ear!

You can read the full story here.

NIACE CaMel bid

CaMeL (Capital Motivating e-Learning)

We will be putting our newly trained SLCs to work supporting tutors across the county to get involved with e-learning. We recently heard that we have been successful in our CaMel bid and have been allocated £20,000 for new capital equipment. We consulted widely with our smaller providers earlier in the year and they let us know what equipment would have the most impact on the quality of their teaching and learning. This equipment will be held by the providers so that their tutors have easy access. We will be encouraging all tutors who will be using the new equipment to get involved in the blog.

WOA Update

Here is an update on how we're getting on with the WOA (Whole Organisational Approach) Project

Our original objectives were:

· To use SLC staff skills to develop CPD within SSAs to enable partner tutors to develop high quality e-learning resources for use with ACL learners.
· To populate the ACL VLE with quality resources for tutors working for the 24 different providers Adult Education across Gloucestershire.
· Use small teams of enthusiastic tutors to work collaboratively to cascade quality teaching practices across the organisation and to provide support to staff to enhance their teaching using technology. To widen participation for learners across the county.

The Subject Learning Coach (SLC) training has started and we will shortly have 16 trained SLCs working across the curriculum areas helping our tutors with their continuing professional development (CPD). This will mean we are able to support more tutors to use e-learning and create their own resources. Jane Griffiths is also undertaking facilitator training which means in future we can offer our own SLC training workshops. It is planned to open the SLC training up to Dream Team tutors in future.

Our E-Learning/VLE Development Officer, Jane Carter-Dunn, took up her new post on 14 July. Currently we are still negotiating with providers for the VLE (Virtual Learning Environment) but in the meantime Jane is meeting with tutors to find out what ILT resources would be of benefit to them and sourcing existing resources on the internet. If there is something in particular you need let her know.

The final objective needs no update here as anyone reading this blog can see the enthusiasm of our tutors and witness the way they are working together and supporting each other to use e-learning to enhance their teaching. We are keen to involve more tutors from September – see next post on CaMeL.

Mimio Training

As the previous date I set for this was not convenient to most people I postponed it until September. This training will now take place on Tuesday 9 September 1.30 - 4.00 at Quayside House. By the end of the session you will be able to a) set up the Mimio with confidence and b) state how you could use it to enhance one of your sessions. Please can you let me know if you plan to attend.

Foreign Languages

I've just come back from Spain, staying with old friends in the Pyrenees. I came back with hundreds of video clips and photographs. I'm keen to devise materials using Power Point and Movie Maker to use in class next academic year. Does anyone know how to create accents and inverted question and exclamation marks using the AdEd computer? I could look for them, I'm not being lazy, honestly! I thought it would be useful to share the information if anyone already knows.

Learner Feedback

This Powerpoint was created by Terry Aldred and shows feedback from her learners at Stroud Valleys. It will shortly be uploaded to the GCC website to give prospective learners a flavour of the class. We are keen to have presentations like this to market future courses and to let people know what we are doing, and what our learners think of their experience. We could of course add video and sound too! http://www.slideshare.net/secret/aRymjhkmoKoEZT

Bumper sticker

Last night's telly

I would love to know what others thought of last night's "Can't Read Can't Write" programme. Did you get as agitated as I did?

copyright

just felt I should explain why I would not be comfortable with another organisation having copyright on any vidoe footage I was 'on'. Editing can really alter meaning and I would have no control over how the video footage was edited. Interesting how we all have preferred learning styles. I would much rather read or listen when trying to absorb information than see the person speaking. But then, I havn't got a telly!
sara

trust and evidence

Wouldn't it be great if everyone was honest - we wouldn't need any keys! Wouldn't it be great if we could trust everyone - we wouldn't need to produce evidence and our environment would be in a far better state than it is now (at least IT evidence is a little kinder on the environment). So many really important issues are coming up and this blog is a great way to debate these ethical (and environmental) concerns. I would be up for a 'face to face' debate with a bottle of something. Anyone else interested? When I first started to use the technology I was most fascinated by the ways in which it could promote and enhance learning. It is only now that I am giving time to deeply consider the implications of what happens to 'evidence' once it leaves the learners' hands. Which is surprising really as I have always had concerns about how much is recorded and written about the people I have cared for in previous jobs. I think I was so totally absorbed in getting my brain around learning how to use the equipment.
Giving learners the opportunity to use technology to enhance their personal journals/work diaries has been nothing but a joy. I am eager for more debate on what happens next? 'Dare we trust the tutors?' could be a great starting point for a lively debate.
sara

Reflection

Some of us have been asked whether we'd mind being videoed while talking about how we've used technological equipment in the classroom when we meet at the Focus Meeting July 28th. My immediate reaction on being asked was, "How's this going to be used? Who's going to see it?" I can learn so much from this gut response I had, it really helps me to understand how learners often feel. It reminded me of Sara's recent Blogs, they seem so relevant.

Fun website

Much fun to be had at Wordle

This is the result of typing in this blog's url, but the more linguistically adventurous may well feel more creative. Anything is possible.

Exciting!

Having read good things about the PhotoStory program, I thought I should investigate so this morning I downloaded it and played about a bit. I created a sequel to the video we made way back in the early days of this blog and was keen to share it with you all. You may like to watch the video first, to remind yourself of the scenario and the relevance of the Raspberry Crunch.



The photos were all taken during the meeting when we introduced the Sony cameras. As you can tell, I enjoyed playing with mine! I uploaded a series of them into PhotoStory and added music and captions. I recorded a narrative too, but decided that was one step too far so deleted it.

The PhotoStory saves in .wmv format, which means they can be posted here on the blog easily. I think I'm going to have more fun with the program - just think what could be done with holiday photos, for example.

But bringing myself back to our AdEd focus, it would be a great way to put together evidence of a process - eg recording the making of an item in a craft class or the creation of a piece of artwork. I may well have to try that out for myself. Watch this space.

(BTW, who's going to be the first to spot the continuity error?)

Did it!

The movie I made would not be uploaded but the pictures were okay. Might be my PC it is a bit old and full to the brim! Still something better than nothing. Slowly getting there....

My blogs will go quiet now - good they say! - on hol for two weeks - so expect movies when I return!!

Apparently Italian Reds are friendly bees!!

One step at a time

The other small point I wish to make is for tutors reading the blog who may be new to most of the technology mentioned. Don't feel daunted by the variety of all the different possibilities. Finding out more IT possibilities can be a fascinating challenge for some people and overwhelming for others. As a non IT person (just a bit of work processing) I have grappled with the docucam, camera and projector to show and take photos and demonstrate techniques and show pictures and textiles with the docucam. No doubt, from time to time I will add to these skills, but this is plenty for enhancing learning in an ad ed course. My experience is to become relaxed and confident with a few technologies. Developing my textiles and ceramic skills will always be my priority. This may be verging on saying what I want to do rather that what has actually happened - as I have spent a lot of time getting to this point of confidence with 'the kit'.

By definition, what we don't know is a mystery and this can generate both curiosity, anxiety and fear. For example I havn't taken a simple video yet with the camera (probably because I am not comfortable with this medium) and as I havn't done it, it seems daunting. The fact that it is easy is not something I have discovered yet! I think reading the blog could sound rather daunting. Keep it simple to start with - until your curiosity gets the better of you. Maybe an evening to help tutors (new to it all) to select one technology that could be 'their cup of tea' would be one idea to explore. Each tutor could have a 'one to one' session with another tutor who can use that piece of equipment with confidence. Then they could maybe keep in e-mail contact until confidence is gained.

Technology - some thoughts

A variety of technologies are proving great ways to gather evidence of learning taking place. The RARPA forms have been used to recognise and record progress and achievement. However we all know that these work well for some learners and not so well for others. Paper based record keeping has been an important requirement and sent in at the end of each course. There are clear guidelines for paper requirements. Will this all be necessary as well as IT generated evidence? I would be interested in developing a dialogue on how we replace some of the paper based record keeping with the information we are gathering with our cameras etc. I am picking up that the future is to replace (often unpopular) paper based evidence with IT evidence. This does however raise lots of issues. Some learners are happy for photos to be taken to record progress and achievement - but prefer the photographic and video evidence to remain within the study group or made into a personal record to keep just for themselves. Some learners may feel under pressure to agree to the regular use of a camera. Some learners may wish to ask lots of questions about exactly where the photos will be seen and not feel confident to do this. Is it appropraite to take photos at the beginning of a course? Is there a policy to address all these issues? Heaven forbid - do we another consent form? Do we need to send in this IT evidence at the end of the course instead of/as well as RARPA forms or should we be adjusting the paper work to complement IT record keeping. We all have individual views and are comfortable/uncomfortable with different 'intrusions'. As a learner I personally never mind filling in a written account and keeping a personal journal, but would hate video recording of my discussions and movements. It would be a terrible distraction to my artistic flow. I wouldn't mind a formal 'interview' being recorded, but not video as I worked and discussed ideas. How are we to reconcile everyone's different views and feelings? There are also lots of practical issues to discuss. Do learners provide memory sticks/CD discs for recording work and how do we make all these choices clear. I think most of the dilemas arise around 'evidence' and 'intrusion' -technologies to encourage and inspire learning (like the docucam) do not pose so many challenging questions. Sorry this is a rather long - but hopefully it will prompt some interesting responses.

Focus Groups

Ad-Ed are holding a number of focus groups to get feedback from both tutors and learners on the impact the use of e-learning has had on teaching and learning. They will be as follows:

GL14 on Thursday 24 July 12.30 - learners, tutors and CST
GL14 on Monday 28 July 3.30 - tutors
Holloway House Gloucester on Thursday 24 July 3.30 - learners and tutors

You should all receive an email invitation to at least one of these events.

Achievement

Of course, I ought to have focused on my achievement, wouldn't you say?

Whilst not exactly achieving what I set out to do on Saturday - I still can't blog from my mobile phone - I learned to update my phone's software and had enough confidence to set to and download the latest version and complete the task yesterday. It's quite a nerve-wracking process when you are told right at the start that it's going to wipe everything off the phone in the meantime, and reminds you to back it all up first.

All was well, however, and I have now discovered another layer of this clever little beast. I'm beginning to understand the feeling which prompted one of the Nokia chaps to comment to his colleague on Saturday "Hey, I've never been so deep inside an N95 before, have you?"

I'm sure I've only scratched the surface!

Frustrations

Lizzie's post yesterday left me thinking about the process of conquering a bit of electronic paraphernalia - in this case, my mobile phone.

I've had my flashy Nokia N95 for about a year now having bought it to replace the ipod, camera, PDA and Nintendo I carried around. OK I'll admit it - I have the boredom threshold of a gnat and unless I have "stuff" to keep me entertained and amused, I can get pretty crabby. No, I don't suppose you have noticed...

The idea was that my bag would become lighter, thereby improving my posture and reducing the risk of back trouble, I'd have only one thing to charge and wouldn't need lots of different wires and cables, saving energy in the process. You see, that Nokia N95 was going to make a huge contribution to the global situation by sorting out everything but world peace. (I can justify the purchase of anything, given the chance)

Trouble is, one of the main features of the thing has remained a mystery. I have not been able to send a photo taken with the camera to my blog. Mobile blogging is not one of my skills - yet!

Nokia claim this is easy to do. Vodafone tell me that of course it can be done. Which is why I spent two hours with a handful of delightful young men in the Nokia store on Regent Street on Saturday morning, none of whom were able to resolve the issue completely. I've come several steps along the way however, and am not yet defeated. I am told that it's a Vodafone problem...

How is this relevant to AdEdInterest? Well, it reminded me of how we learn in small steps. I might acquire the essential skills pretty quickly (I could make a call from my phone from day one) but it takes a good deal longer to learn the more challenging aspects and some may remain unresolved for quite some time. I was reminded once again that we need to sit back for a while and consolidate before tackling a challenge again with different people, maybe a different approach. Sitting back for a while and letting the dust settle doesn't mean I've given up though - I'm still "working towards" blogging from my phone.

I learned a lot from those young Nokia tekkies - not only about my phone but about myself too. I'm more tenacious that I thought I was and am not prepared to give up yet - Vodafone, watch out! All credit to those patient young men who spent so long trying to do the impossible in such good humour, too.

Hello All
I know there seem to be a lot of Janes around in AdEd - this is Jane Griffiths.
Thanks to Gill for answering Diana's blog, and I can verify that the camers are very easy to use and have a short videoing facility, which is also easy. They have been used successfully in many areas across the curriculum. Please ask for one on loan from Jane C-D.
I think I need to mention the Whole Organisation Approach project which seems to be causing a lot of interest at the moment. The £35,000 is to be used in part for some development activities, but the money has been used for many other things too, and we had to write a detailed Action Plan and financial forecast which was agreed and is monitored by LSN, the funding body.
Karen Bilous is on leave until Monday (she who posted the infamous "We're in the money" Blog) On her return we will put together an informative interim report on activities so far and how we intend to continue with the excellent work carried out and sustain developing staff skills.....I hesitate to say - watch this space! However I will ensure that some info will be blogged your way in the next 2 weeks.

20 week blogger part II

Well that was fun, not - discussed the future of our class whipping up enthusiasm - using e-learning - films/ppts etc for interacting with masses only to find that the Library concerned doesn't have Windows Movie Maker on their PCs - so hold your horses!! I will contact the Library concerned but might have to be reduced to using a Laptop from ADED please for the students to use with memory sticks.

Anyone else disappointed and surprised at the lack of software at our libraries?

Experimental 20 weeker

I have been asked by Jane CD to start a blog with respect to my Gypsy/Travellers evening class. A short precis of the story so far.... we started with a 10 week course doing a different elements of the acredited CLAIT course (some more than others - at their own speed). One class of men and another class of women. The men did very well but unfortunately had to leave for work committments. The class of ladies continued and ran over into a new 20 week course, so that they could complete the CLAIT modules and start a more exciting project using other elements of IT and interactive learning. My ladies preferred gaining a qualification for future CV useage rather than doing a "project".

I now have a mixture of experience in the class now, one complete beginner, one enthusiastic first time claiter and one student who has completed the whole CLAIT qual.

For the rest of the term we are going to "have a go at...." MS-Publisher to enable the creation of advertising posters (always useful) leaflets, flyers and possibly a newsletter. We are also going to have a visit from a local Museum that has resources giving some gypsy local history and (yes there is going to be more!) have a go at making short videos via Movie Maker. So any tips out there very welcome! not having used movie maker before myself. I will keep you posted!!