Name:

Course teaching / specialisation

Department / area

·     Hazel Owen

·     Academic Advisor (ICT enhanced learning consultant)

·     Centre for Teaching and Learning Innovation, Unitec NZ

Which theory exemplifies my beliefs about the nature of knowledge and learning?

·     Sociocultural theory

What are key aspects of that theory?

·     Recognition of the existence of the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD)

·     Scaffolding provides models, examples, & support for development of thinking skills/guided discovery

·     Context and cognition are inseparable

·     Learners construct knowledge through active engagement with learning activities that are part of real or simulated situations including problems, scenarios

·     More advanced peers/teacher provide guidance & initially structure interaction to achieve understanding

·     Learners’ prior knowledge underpins & structures learning, which is cumulative, self-regulated & goal-focussed

·     Awareness is raised of tools / interactions involved in authentic activities

·     As learners move toward greater competence they direct their own learning more

(Vygotsky, 1986)

What key problems are learners facing?

·     Students at Dubai Men’s College (DMC) face problems with their writing (accuracy, appropriacy, originality) and are not achieving Learning Outcomes / not graduating from the programme

·     Students have identified three areas they find particularly problematic: ideas, structuring a piece of writing, accuracy

What issue(s) is / are there with the programme / unit / activity / learning object(s)?

·     A lot of paper-based, text rich support (doesn’t cover a range of learning preferences / styles)

·     Little authentic production (essays written – often by hand - for the teacher)

·     Topics not of interest to the students

·     Meta skills often not ‘noticed’ / understood

·     Peer critique often superficial / not valued by learners

·     Few models / examples

·     Rubrics impenetrable to learners

·     Vocabulary often learned as a relatively context less list

·     Feedback often delayed

Can ICT enhance the learning process? How?

·     Yes / No (underline one)

·     Potential for providing support through multimedia (easier to provide models and examples that suit a variety of learning styles / preferences)

·     Synchronous communication can speed up feedback

·     Asynchronous forums can increase the opportunities for reflection (meta skills / peer critique)

·     Easier to share / review / edit publish (production for reason and wide, possibly global audience)

·     Simple to preserve versions (focus on process and progression)

·     Easy to brainstorm ideas in a synchronous format & preserve discussions (can be collated and redistributed)

·    Which ICT tool(s) fits with your pedagogical philosophy / approach?

·    What activities do you want learners to participate in?

·    What pedagogical strategies (support) do you want to include?

·    What pedagogical approaches (e.g. collaborative) do you want to use?

1)    IM (MSN chat) to collaboratively brainstorm ideas for writing – share / build meaning from previous authentic experiences; produce target vocab for authentic purpose. Requires model / discussion of chat etiquette & raising awareness of meta skills / purpose. Also, IM enables immediate feedback & support from peers / teacher.

2)    Smartboard activities / online dictionaries / self-check, non-assessed quizzes to introduce target vocabulary – learner individually / in groups assesses progress over time.

3)    “How to” examples / models produced as audio & videos in Camtasia and made available as podcasts/vodcasts in WebCT. Used to scaffold tasks & enhance ZPD.

4)    LMS course (WebCT) to be accessed individually / in groups & used to host support (examples/models/rubrics/instructions), discussion forums, collated IM, hyperlinks, quizzes, feedback, calendar. Empowers learners by giving an overview of the programme / tools / Learning Outcomes + enables learners to access / share feedback & learning experiences & builds a sense of a learning community.

5)    Blogs used to provide a personal profile (builds community / inter-subjectivity) & to reflect on / analyse learning experiences & changes over time / reflect on meta skills. Requires peer examples / discussion of possible approach to blog postings

6)    Discussion forum (in WebCT) to host collaborative essays & peer review of other learners’ essays. Provides peer modelling / scaffolding within ZPD; encourages reflection / analysis. Requires models / examples / scaffolded interpretation / discussion of rubrics & giving feedback.

What existing resources do you want to adapt?

·     PowerPoint presentations adapted to video format using Camtasia

·     Word documents reproduced as multimedia (with images, audio, video)

·     Rubrics interpreted & linked to peer examples of writing

·     Vocabulary lists / activities

How do you want to measure the achievement of LOs?

·     Participation in blogs / discussion forums

·     Engagement with reflection / analysis tasks

·     Short term / long term gains in awareness of structure / vocab / ideas / accuracy

·     Number of learners graduating from the programme

·  What is the estimated time / effort required?

·  What are key deadlines?

·  What support / training is required?

·     One person – two weeks of full-time effort

·     Four sessions to be run mid-semester two (starting March 2^nd 2007)

·     Training required on Camtasia & creating/hosting podcasts/vodcasts