ISSUE 3 ; 14/10/08
ILT NEWS
EGG SUCKING
APPLYING FOR UNIVERSITY
JOHN PORTEOUS, Rosemary Hiron and MATT FINCH BATTLE IT OUT AT THE
TOP OF THE MOODLING LEAGUE. BUT WHO WILL CLAIM THE MOODLING PRIZE?
After half a term of frenzied Moodling John
Porteous, Rosemary Hiron and Matt Finch
have reached the top of the moodling
most active users board. Who will come
out on top; the ILT champion, the business
whizz, or the
learning coach?
They may do a lot
of moodling but
what is the result?
Each has a very
different style.
John Porteous
seems to favour
a no nonsense,
business like
approach with
neatly arranged
assignments and course documents.
He uses a lot of online assessment and
has opted for a calming mint coloured
background to his ND Sport and Exercise
Science Year Two Moodle. A quick look at
the student activity reports shows that his
students regularly access the resources
provided for them ... though this seems
to happen in specific sessions with many
students simultaneously accessing the
same material. Rosemary Hiron keeps her
Business Studies Moodle up to date with
fresh, relevant content by using RSS feeds
from The Guardian and BBC’s business
news. She has added several RSS blocks
Does your Moodle need
putting back together?
Why not come down to the Hive if
you can find a spare minute during
Staff Development Day and we
will give you a hand with a bit of
Moodle housekeeping.
to her pages. These RSS feeds must be
particularly useful in the current economic
climate.
Matt Finch is more informal in his approach.
His Moodles have a lot of forums and
activities with
music, video and
brightly coloured
graphics. The
ND2 Performing
Arts Moodle
is used as a
production area
to help students
organise their
rehearsals and
keep in contact
with their team
members. This Moodle is accessed at the
oddest times of day and night.
At the moment Matt is top of the league but
as a coach he also has a lot of Moodling to do
with the Teaching and Learning Space, which
may be giving him an advantage.
Also near the top of the league are Brian
Collins, using Moodle to track the assessment
of his Electrical Installation students out in
the workplace and newcomer, Alex Tristram,
who is getting himself set up with Moodles
for all of the Media courses he teaches on.
With one week left before the end of this first
half there is still a lot to play for but some
lucky Moodler will be winning one of our
coveted remote keyboard and mouse sets.
ILT TIP OF THE WEEK
We have had a few people
struggling with over-large copies
of the college logo when they have
been trying to produce materials
for the vle and so on. Rather than
give a complicated explanation
of print resolutions versus screen
resolution we have just added
a small copy of the file as an
attachment to this pdf.


RESOURCES ROUNDUP
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/3590
Fast Video Download plugin for Firefox
FVD will save embedded video files from a range of video sites
including; metacafe.com, vids.myspace.com, vidiac.com,
video.google.com and YOUTUBE!
One click opens a Save As dialogue box. Use it to download videos
for use in Moodle.
EGG SUCKING
APPLYING FOR UNIVERSITY
EGGHEAD
Academic and provocative
theories and debates on
the subject of ILT
New role for instructors -- eLearning Guide
Classroom trainers have always worn many hats. The
eLearning environment adds more. The on-line role
is more challenging but more flexible and varied. The
new job is to answer questions, to coach, to steer,
to encourage, to lead -- but not to instruct. There’s
less travel and more variety. Let’s call this new role
“eLearning Guide.”
The Guide’s role changes over time. At first, the Guide
spends time kicking things off, defining boundaries,
organizing the learning process, and explaining how
things work. The Guide sets expectations and monitors
participation. With the passage of time, more and more
responsibility for learning shifts from the instructor to
the learner. The Guide becomes more a mentor, coach,
advisor, and trouble-shooter.
As learners become more experienced and a group
culture takes hold, the Guide spends less face-to-face
time with learners, real or virtual. But as the group
matures, the Guide will need a greater depth of subject-
matter expertise (to noodle through the issues groups
of learners couldn’t figure out for themselves.)
“Sage on the stage” becomes “guide on the side”
Interaction among students, between facilitator and
learners, and between the learners and the learning
materials, (including the larger community on the WWW)
as managed by the instructor makes or breaks the class.
When a facilitator makes the transition from onground to
online, he/she does not retain the role of “distributor of
information” in a teacher-centered classroom. Rather an
instructor’s energy should be channeled to become the
medium whereby the discovery of learning is facilitated
in a student-centered environment. No longer a “sage
on the stage, “ the online instructor becomes a “guide on
the side,” helping others to discover and synthesize the
learning material. To this end, the facilitator must believe
in the effectiveness of the on the online paradigm and
the value of critical thinking. Hence, traditional teaching
methods simply do not succeed given the changes in
the learning environment. This brings new pressures on
instructors, both to deal with a different way of teaching,
interacting and managing a 24-hour-a-day classroom
populated by adults who demand relevance and may
require extra support due to their already busy lives.
A responsible on-line facilitator needs the ability to
create an atmosphere of collaborative teamwork.
Learners depend on one another for a large portion
of their learning. The facilitator needs to know how to
work as part of this team as well as help learners work
with each other.
Find a balance between leading the group and creating
ISSUE 3 ; 14/10/08
an environment where learners themselves
meet the learning objectives. The leadership
model becomes one of dynamic facilitation,
which is a shift away from an authoritarian
style toward a more democratic style. (Source:
Key Elements of an Online Programme)
Use interaction to motivate, engage, and
involve learners. Facilitating web-based
training is like being the host of a very lively
talk show. It is your job to keep your viewers
motivated, engaged and involved. Web-
based training programs are not passive
experiences! To be successful, make learners
part of the program by using the techniques
outlined below.
Engage learners by asking them to participate
verbally and intellectually. As a facilitator,
the easiest way to engage students is to
ask direct questions frequently. Ask learners
to comment on a presentation, share their
observations, or answer a direct question.
Turn the tables by encouraging students to
initiate questions to the instructor, as well
as to other learners. Intellectually engage
learners by asking them to think how the
course is related to their experience and to
consider other points-of-view.
Vary the interactions to keep learners
attention. Lessons can include lectures,
debates, role-plays, quizzes, question and
answer sessions, Web Safaris and breakout
groups.
Would you enjoy being an eLearning Guide?
Some stand-up instructors love being
eLearning Guides. They enjoy the challenge
of motivating a group they cannnot see. They
enjoy solving problems more than delivering
content. (And they may like the freedom of
leading a class while in their pyjamas.)
Other classroom instructors don’t enjoy the
Guide role. They are often people who are
energized by a live audience. They enjoy the
give and take of the classroom. They don’t
find eLearning at all cool.
My advice? If you know in your heart that
you’ll always be a live classroom person,
don’t shoehorn yourself into something you
don’t enjoy. You won’t be happy, nor will the
learners you work with. (Source: Tips for
Teaching Online - CENTRA)
The Internet Time Group, 2003, http://
internettime.com/itimegroup/people/
NEXT WEEK
what’s on teachertv, using movie-
maker and more good practice
casestudies