Sunday 10 June 2012

Activity Nine; Technologies

Technologies for learning and teaching are in a constant state of flux. Therefore, it is important for teachers to stay informed about the trends, and be confident about trying new approaches. ( Flexible Learning Guidebook).  I attended Dr. Thom Cochrane's workshop  and felt slightly overwhelmed by the speed of which these technologies are moving and the slowness of which I am picking them up!

Yes I agree with the first statement and so I decided to try to develop a 'model' activity that could be inserted into the Wiki course content for the Certificate in Travel and Tourism programme. 

The idea is to have short video clips modelling activities, incorporated throughout the wiki which would have a twofold intention of providing a step by step example to follow and would model literacy and numeracy exemplars for the students to access repeatedly and in their own time, if necessary. 

My first attempts at this have been foiled somewhat by the breakdown in the particular piece of technology I wanted to use.  The' Visualizer' enables you to demonstrate an activity with voice over,  record it and embed into Moodle or a Wiki, but the sound was not working on it. 

The Travel and Tourism students have to write formal emails within their course and the idea of this example was to model an email highlighting all the sections that needed to be filled out.  My second attempt was recorded through adobe connect with the assistance of a colleague.  Follow the link to find a draft demonstration, it needs alot of work!!  But gives you the idea.  Be patient! the screen will say 'nothing being shared'  it took me a while to warm up!!!!

https://adobeconnect.op.ac.nz/p8cy18424fg/


On reflection - How it could be improved.

  • The email example is too grainy and cannot be seen clearly
  • The explanation is too long
  • The screen has too many other icons which can be distracting
  • The adobe connect process was time consuming and hard to navigate around as a novice
Attempt number 2;



On reflection;
  • The example is clearer to read
  • I need to work on my methodology behind the explanation
  • Still too long
The Horizon Report was very interesting reading, particularly in the new apps that are being developed almost every second.  This paragragh caught my eye firstly in helping students to choose which University to go to and in helping to orientate them in the first few months.

At the most basic  level, many universities and colleges have developed map and directory apps for current students to navigate campuses and for prospective students to take virtual tours or to enhance physical tours.....check their grades....or (view) breaking campus news.  (The Horizon Report).

References;

The Horizon report 2012


2 comments:

  1. Yes Helen I too think the adobe connect version is easier to see than the one done on the visualizer. As you say it needs to be shorter and to the point. Sometimes preparing a script beforehand can help you to be more precise - though you wont want to read from it. Your voice sounds good and your presentation style professional.

    You could lift your voice a bit more and add more emphasis to help the listener spot the important points to remember. I found it a little confusing that the email was being sent to the same person who had a signature at the bottom of the email. You may also like to try out Camtasia - OP has a licence, or Camstudio which is a free download for creating screen captures.

    I am interested to hear more about how a : "'model' activity ... could be inserted into the Wiki course content for the Certificate in Travel and Tourism programme". What might this consist of?

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  2. A part of the certificate, the students have to prepare and send many emails, and understand the different styles. This 'model' would be inserted into the wiki, so that the students could view it to reinforce their learning or use it to help them with the activity of they have missed the class.

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