Tools in future

When I started this course, I had little Web 2.0 tool use. LinkedIn for professional contacts and Facebook for personal contacts were my primary tools and even there I was often just a lurker. 

Exploring the tools this semester has opened up a world of new tools and ideas. Below is a list of a few tools I plan to continue using. 

I have really enjoyed the suggestions for resources and events that I have found on Twitter. I plan to continue to engage here and I am working on setting up new connections on a true account with my name.

The infographics and visual suggestions on Pinterest provide me useful summaries and examples for topic and format ideas.  

The recipe and accessibilty tip sharing communities on subreddits have peaked my interest and I plan to continue to follow.

I have been loading my Diigo library with links and articles that I had saved in my email.  I haven't found many public Diigo Groups but I may check this out more in the future.

I will continue to use Marco Polo with my family and friends who appreciate the video share.  Used it this weekend to share animal pictures from the NC Zoo, worth a trip if you like Zoos.

I hope to use Padlet/Jamboard, Google maps, and Hypothes.is in my future teaching. 

Which tools will you continue to use?  

Why I (might) start a blog

While taking this course, I have been offering workshops to faculty at my work instution on different design topics. Our senior instructional designer joins me and chimes in to support if needed.  Overall the workshops have gone well.  The topics I have covered so far are course to module mapping, SLO drafting, Using BB Ally. Coming up are two more on principles of motivation and pairing assessments to SLOs. 

This had made me wonder how I could share the examples I have gained and my reflection thoughts with others at my university. In the spring I facilitated a faculty staff learning community focused on universal design for learning. As part of this project we created a Canvas site with resources and examples.  However, adding new faculty into the site creates a little extra work. 

So it seems that a more open space may be helpful.  I tried a Google site before but that was rarely used. Our university is switching to teams so that may be an option. I considered a Padlet board but I am not sure faculty will participate comfortably.  I also wondered about Diigo but I think a little more narrative would be nice. I could share the slides on Slideshare but I want to share more than the slides. 

So maybe a blog where I can connect to different resources and allow others to comment with their experiences?  

What do you think, what are new ways outside of an institutional LMS that you would share a variety of instructional design ideas?  

Overcoming the fear of posting

I started this course with a real anxiety around posting. I am not sure what started this fear, maybe of saying something others thought was stupid or sharing something that was obvious to everyone else.  Not sure. But I know that I would type everything out very quickly and post before I could think about it.

This is a signifcant take away from this course for me. I have much less anxiety over posting.  A little anxiety is probably good so that I don't get too crazy :). 

I have formed or dusted off my personal accounts and have began to build connections there under my name.  I still have a way to go with producing and sharing my own content but I am doing much better than I would have thought.  

I appreciate that this course pushed me, which is why I signed up. I am also glad that I had this experience as a student so that I can support my own students if needed in the future.

I hope you didn't have fear in the first place, but if you did, I hope you are more relaxed as well. Cheers!

Games, Produsage, Authentic, Oh Yeah

 Talking to my daughter tonight, I had a bit of an aha moment. I have been playing the Design Home game for about 2 years. My daughter just started playing on her own a few months ago.The game involves using furniture to design rooms in different homes. It also has a component where you can design your own home from the drywall up.  It also encourages voting on designs and lists the top designs each week for everyone to review.

She was describing her experience with the game to me.  What level she is on, how she is scoring, and what she is spending her time on. 

What we discovered is that while we are both playing the game, we are engaging with it in completely different ways.  She really enjoys the build your own home component which includes picking a city and an exterior of the home.  I hardly use this part of the game at all and have never chagned the city or exterior of the home.  Instead, I really enjoy the challenges and seeing how my designs score against others. She isn't all that intersted in how she score or compares.

What we do agree on is that we both love that it is based on real furniture and an approximate actual price.  It is authentic enough that we actually go to furniture stores and see the products. We happen to currently be living in one of the furniture capitals of the US so there are huge warehouses and display centers that we can visit. 

This just really made me think about how using a Web 2.0 tool can allow different learners to engage in the way that connects for them but may be completely different than others. Nothing different that we have discussed in class, but hit me in a new way tonight.  So excited to share this produsage experience with my daughter and excited about the possibilities for my students.

WCAG global?

 Web content accessibilty guidelines (WCAG) offers guidelines for making web content accessible. These guidelines were developed through by the Web Accessibility Initiative via the W3C process with participation from around the world. They have become the international standard.

In the spirit of this weeks topic, there is variation on how accessibility is handled in different countries. This resource lays out laws and policies by country. It is a litlte out of date although a revision is thought to be in progress.

I noticed that the US has 5 different laws for accessibility whereas most others have 1 or 2. So while countries figure out what laws, policies, evaluations processes need to be in place. As a designer I hope that I can continue to select accessible tools and design with accessibility in mind.  

Pehaps that is the first step, to recognize that nationallity doesn't change one's experience with disability.  Perhaps we each can work a little harder to make a more inclusive world. 

Living Syllabus?

Yesterday we were having a discussion about course syllabi. Specifically, is it a course contract between the instructor and the student or is it more of an operating manual? Is their an agreed upon definition or do we just assume everyone knows?

Much of the discussion evolved around whether students do or should have input into a syllabus.  If it is a contract one would assume both have read and agree? Do both parties need to sign?  

So this made me wonder, is their a role for produsage in syllabus development?  Should syllabi be a collaborative effort between faculty and students? If so, should this be at the beginning of the semester? That seems like it might be difficult to get the semester started. 

If not at the beginning, should the student role be throught the semester? Another topic came up as to whether it is truly appropriate for a syllabus to be a living document?  If it is, does that allow for students to have a role throught the semester?

If you teach have you ever made changes from your syllabus? Did you engage students?  As a student, did you experience a syllabus change? How did that make you feel?

What do you think?

Connected students = Connected alumni

I have been thinking about the debate about social media in higher education. I appreciate the concerns about individual versus group assessment.  But I wondered about something else. 

Alumni Development

Does participating in professional communities of practice while a student lead to improve alumni connections, networking, and relations?

I could see this benefitting the university and its members in a few ways. 

1) Students can connect to alumni and practitioners on a regular basis for authentic learning. Also they can continue those connections in a separate space if agreed upon. 

2) Students see how they can remain connected to the university, or find their way back.

3) Stronger connections may lead to improved job placement.

4) Practitioners can be connected with some of the latest resources or research.

5) Alumni who are connected may be more likely to make financial contributions to the university. 

I am thinking about the possibility of this type of activity for my produsage assignment.  Stay tuned. 

Evaluating and Creating Blooms levels

 I have been facilitating some workshops this summer with other faculty.  One of the topics that has come up is what types of assessments match different Blooms taxonomy levels.

The 2 levels of the revised Blooms Taxonomy that has come into question the most is evaluate and create.  It has been a bit challenging to explain why evaluate and create are not able to be assessed on a multiple choice examination.

In an article by Williams (2017), there is a discussion about the alternative assessment. The article suggests that assessment be used for learning rather than an asssessment of learning.  

I reallly like this idea and I had already been thinking about how the rapid fire tests currently being offered may not get to the level of learning desired for health care providers.  Of course the challenge is that most health professional licensure examinations are multiple choice.

This made me think about how produsage may fit with Blooms and in health professional preparation. Which comes first?  Should students complete produsage "for" learning before they are assessed with a multiple choice test for assessment "of" learning. Or should students complete produsage after a multiple choice test to improve higher order cognitive skills.

Consider a health care provider learning about diabetes?  Should they first be tested on the diagnostic criteria and treatments? Or should they first evaluate a patient case and respond with a course of action?

Williams, P. (2017). Assessing collaborative learning: Big data, analytics and university futuresLinks to an external site.. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 42(6), 978-989. doi:10.1080/02602938.2016.1216084

Is digital citizenship an implied positive?

 I appreciated reading the Digital Citizenship Education Hanbook (Richardson, 2019).  This handbook from the Council of Europe's Digigital Citizenship Education Expert Group provides an introduction and guide with three sections.  The three sections are being online, well-being online, and rights online. 

This resource defines a digitial citizen as "someone who, through the development of a broad range of competencies, is able to actively, positively and responsibly engage in both on- and offline communities..."

I immediately paused when I read this.  To me it seems this statement assumes a positive connotation that a digitial citizen is automatically positive, thoughtful, and responsible. 

Is there no such thing as a good or a bad digital citizen? 

What do you call a person who is online or digital but not these things? 

It also made me think about country or community citizenship.  Especially after some circumstances in my neighborhood, it seems clear to me that not all citizens in my community are positive, thoughtful and responsible. 

The article discusses the 20 competencies for democratic culture which includes items such as valuing cultural diversity, civic-mindedness, conflist-resolution skills, knowledge and critical understanding of the self."  

The article ties these compentencies to 10 digital domains.These domains are:

Access and inclusion, learning and creativity, media and information literacy, ethics and empahty, health and well-being, e-presence and communications, active participate, rights and responsibilities, privacy and security and consumer awarenss.

Reading through each of these, I agree they are all very important when learning about digital citiizenship.  What do you think? What is the likelihood that all online produsers are digital citizens? How do we refer to those produsers that aren't so we can support them?

Richardson, J., & Milovidov, E. (2019). Digital citizenship education handbook: Being online, well-being online, and rights online. Council of Europe. Available at: https://rm.coe.int/16809382f9

Larger scope for the PLN assignment?

 I had been planning to use the topic of digital accessibilty for my PLN assignment, if you noticed, this is what I picked for the knowledge sharing and tracking assignment. However, the more I get into these communities, the less I feel a part of them.  

I really love the detailed information I have been gaining, but unfortunately it is too detailed.  Much of the conversation is around detailed HTML editing and technical savvy that I, unfortunately, don't have. Learning HTML is on my list but not something I can likely add on in the next few months. 

So I am thinking about how I can scope out.  What topic might I choose for the PLN project that is connected, at least tangental but less detail focused. This way I can feel more a part of the community. 

I considered universal design for learning which incorporates accessibility but more at the level of design than technology.  However, I am not sure about different communities.  CAST, that I have previously shared on twitter, is the primary group.  There are also lots of resources at individual universities but it appears the community is for those teaching at that university. 

This makes me think that perhaps the topic I am interested in is inclusive online learning in higher education. I wonder if this topic is too big or too populare a teram right now. But I suppose this is what I can learn from the assignment. 

What do you think? What ideas do you have?

Transferring my collection Draft email to Diigo

This past week I started doing some cleaning both of my physical and digital spaces. I realized I had 165 draft emails in my work email account.  Why?

Because I use my draft email to collect resources.  If I see an article, I want to go back and read, I attach it to a draft email. If I find a link I might want to visit later, I add it to a draft email.  

No bookmarks, no repository, just draft emails. 

So I am making a change!

Yesterday I added 13 new items to my Diigo library with tags. I still wish the free Diigo was a bit more visually appealing to me. I think I miss having a file based approach. But I am getting better as using tags. 

And I am thinking about upgrading to premium for unlimited storage, reading and RSS feeds. 

What do you think, are you using Diigo or something else to collect your resources?

Legitimate peripheral participation

I have appreciate the opportunities to consider communities of practice in a Web2.0 environment this semester. In an effort to organize my materials, I went back through previous class files and found information on communities of practice.

Today I am thinking about legitimate peripheral participation.  Is this the same as a lurker?

This wiki suggests the definition of legitimate peripheral participation (LPP) as the way a new individual would interact with a community.  It suggests that this is an important step in becoming an experienced member of the community. LPP suggest activities that are low stakes and simple. 

This makes sense to me when considering an apprenticeship. An individual will start with providing small, supportive tasks and work up to being more involved. However, what are low stakes and simple tasks for an online community. 

For individuals who are joining an new online community what tasks are low stakes and simple?  I believe this relates both to the participation in the discussion and the topic.

For example, in a vegetarian online community.  LPP might be considered responding to others posts about recipes.  Perhaps, they start by commenting on what looks good. The next level may mean to comment on what they liked after they make the recipe. Moving up to posting one's own recipes and futher on to critique and offer detailed feedback on recipes. 

This also seems different than lurking. Lurking suggests there is no participation or that the participation is not legitimate such as maybe an occasional like or follow.

What do you think, what is legitimate peripheral participation in an online community? Do experienced members play a role in defining and supporting legitimate peripheral participation?

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CE versus CPD versus CPL?

A bit more than 15 years ago, I was involved in a national project to look at the use of continuing education (CE) versus continuing professional development (CPD) for US pharmacists. For this discussion the difference was that continuing education was directed by others and continuing professional development was directed by the learner.  Also, instead of tracking hours attended, learners maintained a portfolio that included both formal and information learning. Here is an image of continuing professional development by the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE, 2014).

Today I checked back on the association that oversees continuing education for pharmacists. There is a new set of resources listed, dated March 2, 2021. This list provides information about CPD use outside of the US.  This blog about pharmacists in Ontario reports the results of a study by Austin et. al. (2003),  "the results show 86% of pharmacists were able to self-direct their learning versus 14% requiring guidance." 

As someone who served as a continuing education director for many years and who had to enforce time in the seat at continuing education events, a butt in a seat has little value. To me formal learning - through participation in a synchronous event, doesn't seem necessary. While we can make someone attend a synchronous program to get credit and maintain their license. We can't make them pay attention.  

Through our readings we have read about the self-directed nature of professional learning. This made me consider the title of professional development versus professional learning.  Perhaps the movement should not be from cotinuing education to continuing professional development. It should be to continuing professional learning.

A quick literature search focused on CPD suggests development is the dominate word.  This makes me think that CPL would likely have a long journey of its own. 

What do you think, do you want health care providers to completed continuing education, continuing professional development, or continuing professsional learning?

Austin Z, Croteau D, Marini A, Violato C. Continuous Professional Development: The Ontario Experience in Professional Self-Regulation through Quality Assurance and Peer Review. Amer J Phar Educ (2003); 67 (2): Article 56. http://ajpe.org/aj6702/aj670256/aj670256.pdf