Helen Beetham on ePedagogy

This post is a re-publication of an email that Helen Beetham sent to the LDHEN jiscmail, May 2012 On ePedagogy

From: Helen Beetham helen.beetham@googlemail.com
To: www.jiscmail.ac.uk/ldhen

"If by pedagogy you mean theory of learning, I can recommend a review of e-learning theories and models, carried out in 2004 by Terry mayes and Sara de Freitas, which though it sounds rather old now is in fact relatively timeless. Their conclusion: that the basic tenets of associative/instructive, constructive and situative learning are stable theoretical positions, but that they are expressed in different educational activities and interventions when different tools are available:
http://www.elearning.ac.uk/resources/modelsdeskreview/view

My own take on this is on page 11 of this publication: http://www..jisc.ac.uk/media/documents/publications/effectivepracticedigitalage.pdf

I think there are probably two candidates for 'new theories of learning' in response specifically to the availability of digital tools and networks in education. They are networked learning, strongly associated in the UK with Lancaster university e.g. http://www.networkedlearningconference.org.uk/ and Connectivism, strongly associated with George Siemens in the UK: http://www.elearnspace.org/Articles/connectivism.htm

They are essentially both versions of the same idea, that being ubiquitously connected with other people and with information represents a step change in learning potential. Some versions of this theory go so far as to argue that learning takes place 'in the network'.

If by 'pedagogy' you mean 'approach to teaching', well there are hundreds of those which have been influenced by the technologies and literature of e-learning. One recent meta-review from the University of Minnesota - looking solely across the kind of positivist, experimentally-inclined work that takes place in the US - drew some interesting conclusions: instructor led approaches lead to significantly better learning outcomes if they have an online component (blended learning in a 'transmission' type scenario). Collaborative approaches are scarcely any better with an online component, and self directed approaches are not better at all. In other words, the kinds of learning that have traditionally been espoused by e-learning officianados (I have been counted as one) is not actually making the best use of the technology advantage, such as it is. http://www.oit.umn.edu/prod/groups/oit/@pub/@oit/@web/@evaluationresearch/documents/article/oit_article _336064.pdf

My own view, as I have argued since at least 2004, is that we don't need a new theory of learning or a special approach to teaching. We need to understand what it means to learn in an environment where information and communication is ubiquitously available. There is no part of learning that is not touched by the digital: even if a teacher and student choose to isolate themselves from digital opportunity, the meaning of that isolation is changed by virtue of the fact that they have had to make those special arrangements.

Helen Beetham
Consultant in e-Learning
helen.beetham@googlemail.com
twitter helenbeetham
skype helenb33 "
 
ENDS

Digital Literacy needs Visual Literacy and powerful learning spaces

I’ve just  been to the ALDinHE Conference: "Learning Development in a digital age: emerging literacies and learning spaces". (See on Twitter at #aldcon and #loveld.)

My Poster Presentation (http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10150648708378240&set=a.10150648708338240.387367.506793239&type=1&theater) tackled different visual aspects of Digital Literacy – reflecting my concern that these are being sidelined, especially as directed by government policy,  for the more technological aspects (viz. ‘Harnessing Technology’). 

Coming from a Literature, Film and Television Studies background, my focus is on the constructed nature of all representational systems, including the digital – and that all media are constructed in and through power discourses. If our students cannot ‘read’ and de-code the power inherent in digital messages, then they will never be digitally literate – no matter how many blogs they write or twitter posts they make.

In a practical pedagogical sense, I am interested in harnessing multimodality in teaching and learning – and particularly in supplementing the traditional essay with IBL and PBL assignments designed to promote engagement and creativity through real research projects that don’t ‘waste students’ work’.

One part of this research interest involves exploring how students can express their ideas on studying, learning and knowledge via designing their own animations and producing their own teaching and learning resources.

We have developed a prototype resource, ‘The AniMet Challenge’, that anyone can use to challenge their students to explore aspects of studying - and then to produce animations or resources around what they discover.

If you are interested in joining in our project – please go to our AniMet Challenge: http://learning.londonmet.ac.uk/epacks/animation/index.html

I am also involved in exploring how students inhabit Second Life and other 3D spaces. I want to discover how they represent themselves in these learning spaces – and how powerful they feel in these spaces. My hypothesis is that these places are less inhibiting for learners – especially non-traditional learners – than the typical University – and that therefore, there is the potential for students to be more creative there than in the University per se – and that these spaces are definitely more empowering than the traditional MLE or VLE.

See http://slonthebeach.blogspot.co.uk/ for resources we’ve developed to help other educationalists join in these explorations in teaching in 3D worlds – and for more information on ALDinHE – and to access the latest edition of our Journal – please go to: http://www.aldinhe.ac.uk/

I predict an education riot

I have told my students about this seminar on the Summer 2011 riots:

I Predict A Riot

Professor Ken Worpole, Cities Institute, LMBS, will be presenting at a seminar on what the riots mean for our city. He will talk on 'Public Space, Public Health and Urban Connectivity' and how the quality of the spaces where people live reflect the lives of the communities they serve.

The seminar followed by a panel discussion will be held on Thursday 8 December from 5pm to 6.30pm at: Unit 4 Union Wharf, 23 Wenlock Road, London N1 7SB.  RSVP joy.burgess@fha.co.uk

My view is that the riots were also about the learning spaces that we inhabit and that - especially in London - these were the great EDUCATION riots of 2011. 

Research from the child poverty action group in the 1980s indicated that if you wanted more families from non-privileged backgrounds to stay on at school, maintenance grants were necessary and lo in the twinkling of a couple of decades EMA were born. By 2011 you could pass an inner city secondary school and over hear the students talking about university: and not just as an abstract concept - but in terms of which university and what course they were considering. It seems that the very millisecond that this sort of thinking occurred, EMA was scrapped, fees shot up to £9K per year... and riots broke out.

Freire, 'favela', slum clearance and the demonising of the white w/class

This week one of my Educational responses to refugees students delivered a wonderful interactive workshop on second language acquisition drawing on the work of Paolo Freire (http://prezi.com/p5zxcpterqx-/second-language-acquisition-according-to-paulo-freire/?auth_key=dbbdcbb5ab595178c27481b128336260549bbc0b)  

She illustrated his method by exploring the word FAVELA (slum) - and since then I have watched Unsung Town Re-visited - Gareth Malone going back to South Okhey... There was such a powerful connection in my mind with the work of Freire and Malone - and attitudes towards refugees and the (white) working class.

So - make time to watch this ‘educational response to refugees’ (before Monday 5^th December 2011 or find it on the web) http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b017yxhd/The_Choir_Unsung_Town_Revisited/ 

South Okhey is what you make when you have slum clearance without consultation with and not ‘for’ the people you clear. After the war people from the East End of London were moved to this hidden estate – and rendered silent and invisible in the process. Subsequent re-demonising of the white working class have made people like this the only ‘legitimate’ targets of middle class contempt and derision – which is why I have called these people refugees and this an educational response. 

If the original Choir - Unsung Town is out there - watch that too!

Some creative things to explore – and to use in your workshops

Here are some more creative ideas that my students are using

Challenging activities/tasks that can be adapted & built into your workshop – or any teaching:
http://www.slideshare.net/adm111/challenge-toolkit

This has lots of ideas from the Creative Teaching & Learning Toolkit – again – have a look to see what you could adapt for your own session:
http://www.slideshare.net/adm111/the-plenary-producer-9521503

This slideshow could be viewed as a visual essay:
http://youreport.newstalk.ie/story/404

Stephen Fry animation – on self pity. Useful for seeding a talk on some of the emotional aspects of studying:
http://youreport.newstalk.ie/story/404

Challenge toolkit

www.slideshare.net

The Challenge Toolkit provides 50 different activities to stretch and extend students' thinking. They can be used for all ages and subjects. From Guardian Teach

 ·  ·  · Share · 18 November at 22:04

Authentic assignments, student engagement and all that

This is such a strange time for HE. Everybody is talking about student engagement – without actually speaking with or listening to what students want. There is a huge push for e- or blended learning – but surely it can be more than online submission or yet another online quiz? These are some useful vidcasts, sites and examples that I am sharing with my students to seed debate.

TEDxOttawa - Jim Davies - Don't Waste Student Work

www.youtube.com

Shot by: http://www.gpixstudios.com/ Jim Davies "Don't Waste Student Work" In this TEDxOttawa talk, Dr. Jim Davies describes how to make student assignments m...

Authentic assignment potential: Real interviews animated by our students: Why I had an FGC (w/subtitles)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=122u4zolKQk&feature=share via@youtube

Uploaded student's Z-A of University - produced as part of our Tell us the secret of your success project

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7mnZ1vfzgMI&feature=share via@youtube

Student engagement? Not if they don't... 'Listen to the heart'

http://bit.ly/s0YeKX via @timeshighered

6 Ways To Make Online Education More Inviting | Edudemic

http://edudemic.com/2011/11/online-engagement/ via @edudemic

E-Library for Performing Arts - wants feedback

"From: ART-TECHNOLOGY@jiscmail.ac.uk


Dear all,
ECLAP - the e-library for performing arts - is a European project and
Best Practice Network that is bringing together the most relevant
performing arts content (videos, photographs, texts, essays, etc.)
from cultural institutions across Europe, that were never before
accessible via the Internet. They are now available on www.eclap.eu.

We would like to find out what you think of the current version of the
ECLAP portal, so we can further improve it to suit your needs. Two of
our partners (namely the Netherlands Institute of Sound and Vision and
the University of Amsterdam) have therefore prepared two surveys. If
you haven't visited the portal before, please go to www.eclap.eu and
go through it before returning to the survey. If you do not have time
to do so and if you are involved in performing arts education as a
teacher, researcher or student, you can also opt to fill out the ECLAP
educational survey. This is specifically aimed at identifying needs,
interests and use of digital heritage in Performing Arts education and
for which prior knowledge of the ECLAP portal is not required.

• A general survey aimed at all target users of ECLAP with the
aim of evaluating the current version of the portal and to collect new
requirements from all types of users =>
https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/ECLAP_general_survey
• A specific survey aimed at the educational and research target
users with the aim of making an inventory of performing arts
educational practices and which role online resources and tool are
used for these practices =>
https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/ECLAP_education

We will randomly give away three Amazon €50 gift vouchers to those
that complete one or both of the ECLAP surveys! You can leave your
contact details at the end of the survey if you are interested if you
want to participate in the prize draw.

For questions about this survey or other remarks, please contact Lotte
Belice Baltussen (lbbaltussen@beeldengeluid.nl).
Many thanks for filling these surveys and see you soon on the ECLAP portal!

Best regards,
Célyne van Corven
La Bellone, House of Performing arts in Brussels
ECLAP dissemination activities coordinator"