Finals time...

 

The course reaches its end and it is time for me to reflect on the final exam: how on earth do I want to employ the different skills, methods and technologies that we have touched upon and experienced these days?

My initial thought for the assignment was a rethinking of a lecture on gerontological theories for our specialist nurses in gerontological nursing that is taught via distance learning to a large extent. I feel that the passed few days have given me more tools to elaborate this. To be able to think through and widen my knowledge about flipping the classroom as a educational practice has been beneficial to me. I am more and more convinced that this would be the correct way for me, this time, to try.

The plan I have is to add short snippets of lectures 5-10 mintutes to cover different conepts and theories in aging; disengagement theory, acitivity theory; biological, social and psychological aspects. In the different areas I will use the questionnaire or quizz component in PingPong to have them respond to questions while listening to the lectures.

Further I think I need to consider if I want them to discuss the results in PingPong or if this will be followed up in class. Previously they have had a final assignment to read a novel watch a movie etc and apply the gerontological theories. The most common movie to watch and analyze was Fried Green Tomatoes:

Would the flipped classroom mean a change in anyway for that final? Or is the issue really a matter of "merely" making a recorded lecture for a distance-learning class? Are there other aspects I should reconsider?

To use or not use blogs in education?

How and where could I use a blog for the students I have or in the classes I teach? What are the pros and cons?

Looking at the classes I participate in as a teacher, I particularly see periods where students are in their clinical training as an excellent place for them to journal their experiences; the successes, the challenges, the questions.

All students have instructors at the division either mentors or the lecturer responsible for that particular ward or clinic that could follow-up their posts. At the moment we merely meet the students at their mid-clinical assessment in an approximately one-hour conversation. Although we follow a standardized questionnaire for the assessment, I can sometimes miss the ability to see the students' developments during the clinical training. Journaling would also enable them to have access to stories or exemplars that easily slips one's mind when having the conversation.

Hm... Where are the students?! 
Today's effort has focused on finding open education resources. Some of these resources - like flickr and creative commons YouTube clips - were something that I am already using in my courses/lectures today. 


Primarily teaching theoretical topics (vs clinical or practical) the image resources were very valuable to me, with more available places to add my toolbox.  Maybe I won't need the anatomical imagery.


Screencast-o-matic was another interesting, new way to add narration to narrated powerpoints with some nice editing features (whne using the campus license). Thus far I have primarily used Keynote (on Mac) to achieve this and then make that a file readable/usable in our system Pingpong.

Wiki or Pingdoc?

Today we have been aquainted with two different tools for collaborative writing: KI Commons (a Wiki) and Ping docs (in Swedish) (a shared document in the Learning Management System Pingpong at KI). The two tools have their own pros and cons.

KI Commons is a tool that allows for for collaborative work, working on a shared document and share and develop information. The drawback is that the document cannot be collaborated on simultaneously by two or more participants.

Pingdoc is similar to the Google Docs/Drive service, i.e. a document that allows for simultaneous collaboration where one can see the other's/others' writing in real time. Its drawback is that the ability to edit the text and work.

How would I use this with students?
All depends on what the assignment or purpose would be - the basic question is: is simultaneous work needed? If yes, then possibly Ping docs, but I'd recommend Google drive. Otherwise the Wiki offers many nice features.

Reflection on reflections

It's common for my education to use the assignment for students to reflect on something they have read or experienced, or to reflect on a patient scenario. Too often the verb to reflect is in my mind a verb or learning activity that can be used without any prethought by me as an instructor. It is a hip word, but what do I really want from the student. And how does it differ from critical thinking?

 

We started today's assignment by watching Reflective practice in action at university and beyond from St George's, UK and took notes on http://www.videonot.es. The latter offered a nice way to combine a YouTube and note-taking, and have your notes saved on your Google drive.

Reflection, and the ability to relfect on what you learn and want to achieve, is an important skill when attending higher education. However, reflecting requires, in my mind, the ability and willingness to be frank and share both success stories as well as stories of less successful events. I can wonder how willing one is to share failures/less successful events. The requirement for that to happen is that there is a high level of comfort and trust within the group.

Starting a new endeavor...

I have been teaching online since 2004 but I have now signed up for a class on using IT in higher education. I hope to pick up new ideas, learn about new tools to use to improve my own skills. Too often the software we use feel like tools for interrogation of students' knowledge/skills... Hopefully I will be able to get new ideas to be more student activating in my own teaching.