More statistics anyone?

I have blogged more about the digital skills survey results here:
 http://thevirtualleader.blogspot.co.uk/2013/12/all-i-want-for-xmas-is-more-statistics.html

More statistics about that Marmite....

I ran an online survey about the module at the end of Term 1. Here are the results so far (50 students responded).

Students do seem to dislike the delivery of the seminars in the Scale Up environment. 58% feel that the classes are NOT well organised although 74% say they get good tutor support in class and 82% feel they get equally good support outside of class. 56% say they enjoy the group based activities but 96% think the class size is too big. (The room is intended to be for 108 students seated at 12 tables each holding 9 students).

"..l have a bit of problem with the research and professional practise module.It goes very fast and the group is too big.At times l get lost whilst carrying out a task.lt takes long to get back on track."

is a fairly typical comment.

I have to agree that the size of the class is absolutely overwhelming and the much vaunted advantages of Scale Up seem not to be being realised (e.g improved attendance). It is interesting that since these problems started to emerge I have found some information on line about the well known problems of this style of teaching. These were not discussed when the pilot was mooted and volunteers sought!

From my survey and other discussions with students I would say that noise levels, the use of the microphone and cramped seating conditions are the most frequent complaints about the physical environment.

Half of the students say they have not experienced too many difficulties with the Macs (56% say they are easy to use) but that leaves 44% who have struggled and again, anecdotally, the students complain about the need to adjust to the Mac operating environment for this one class - it has slowed down their productivity and made them feel stressed and lagging behind.

Generally though the session specific satisfaction ratings are fairly positive:

60% found the sessions on digital identity to be useful
88% rated the sessions on Harvard referencing very positively :)
92% found the plagiarism and Turnitin session useful :D
82% were very satisfied with the session on search techniques using the library catalogue, databases and Google Scholar
60% also say they have learned new ITC skills in the classes.
There was quite a lot of support for sessions we ran on Evernote, Diigo and Google Drive (60% satisfaction for each), but the verdict was 60% against the use of Twitter - some enjoyed it but  the majority found it irrelevant or an intrusion on their private spaces.

A couple of positive comments were:
"its amazing what we can find for ourselves with a pc or a laptop"
 ".. it is more interesting to learn about new techniques and how you go about it,and that can boost my confidence up and be able to do a lot on the internet through my studies"
".. It is very interactive ... and I enjoy the different tasks eg. the collaborative task."

Generally I think there is something about the readiness of the class to work independently and smaller class sizes may be helpful at this point to be able to give more support to students in carrying out the group tasks. There is also an argument for putting some of this teaching into drop in workshops or integrating the skills into other tasks - even into other modules?

We have already adjusted the timetable so that the next two terms will be taught in 2 smaller groups, but still in Scale Up. The project continues....

The marmite experience

I've now finished my teaching for this module (apart from the assessment session around Easter), and gathered some written feedback from the students at the end of my last session. There's a ranking scale of 1-4, with 1 being poor, and 4 being excellent. Normally I receive 3s and 4s, but there were quite a few 1s and 2s this time. I'm trying not to take it personally, as the comments show the students either really enjoy the group work, or they hate it, so these extremes of feeling are reflected in their opinion of the session. Despite the majority (fortunately) rating the session as good or excellent, quite a few commented on the size of the class and would prefer to learn in groups, but as part of a smaller class. I felt happy at the end of my last workshop as every group made progress with the task, and not one resorted to searching Google instead of the prescribed databases. In fact, far more had a go at searching Academic Search Complete than students in previous years, so this was a positive result for them and for me.

Student mentor bogs 2

My name is Holly and I am a second year Health and Social Care student. I am a Digital Skills Mentor for the module Research and Professional Practice for the first year students studying Health and Social Care.

My experience of being a Digital Skills Mentor has been a good one. It has given me an insight in to the different ways of teaching. Having taken part in the same module last year, I think using Scale Up with the MAC computers has given the module a more interesting and interactive perspective, making it more enjoyable for the students in learning the module.

However, the Scale Up project hasn’t come without its problems. At first, the students weren’t very confident with using the MACs, as most of them had never used one before so it took time to get used to learning in this way, and using a different operating system to Windows. By the end of the first term however, the students have been much more confident in using the MACs and haven’t needed as much support in finding their way around one, for example knowing the keyboard shortcuts for copy and paste and how to use the mouse.

Also, the NOW system, for the students, took a lot of getting used to especially finding the resources for the sessions such as Padlet and the discussion boards. The class size has seemed quite big to teach for the lecturers and having smaller class sizes would maybe be a benefit but it would be difficult to fit that many seminars into one week of teaching.

However, I think having two mentors in the classroom for students has been helpful to them. Even though at first the students seemed to be quite wary of us being in the classroom, it didn’t take long for them to get used to the idea and were soon asking us for help as well as the lecturer. It has offered them help from people who have experienced and completed the module before so have an idea of what should be happening and how the tasks should be completed. It also offers them a way of getting help from someone who may know how to explain a task in a simpler way from how the lecturer may have explained it for them, to get a better understanding of what to do. Also, another benefit for the students has been that they have been able to ask us questions about second year and our experience of first year generally. Even though that’s not our reason to be in the classroom, I think the students have found it helpful being told from someone who has been through first year what it will be like and how different second year may or may not be. 

Student mentor blogs 1

Hello!

My name is Sarah Metherell, I am a 2^nd Year Health and Social Care Student/Digital Skills Mentor.

When I first started as a Digital Skills Mentor, I was excited to get started and help develop the Learning Landscape and felt this would be something I would enjoy, especially as I have a skilled background in ICT. Before we started the job we were given relevant training and introduced to all the staff we would be working with who were all very welcoming and supportive.

The role of a digital skills mentor, involves attending a first year Health and Social Care (Research and Professional Practice) class every Monday for an hour and observing the way they learn. The session I attend on the Monday is called a Scale Up session, which is a new interactive way of learning on a large scale, where students get to use MacBooks to complete activities (usually in groups) that tutors have set them. A few examples were, using Google Docs and Diigo to help students become more organized in the future when finding resources to use in their work. Another task was to create a power point presentation as a class, where each table was assigned one task each. Personally, from observing these classes, I am jealous that we were not taught using the Scale Up method in first year, as it seems engaging, interactive and fun compared to last year, where we had to sit there and listen to a power point presentation.

As the year first started off, many students seemed very shaky and unconfident using the MacBooks, but a couple of weeks later, students had begun to get the hang of using them, and I think the installation of the mouse’s most definitely helped. The majority of the students, found the tasks pretty easy to complete, although there were a few comments here and there that said the tasks can be difficult at times and sometimes boring. Also, there were some students that suggested they prefer working in smaller groups, as big groups feel very disorganised and students feel they can’t get the best possible help they can. However, the general gist of the class seem to find the tasks easygoing. The other observations I found, were usually technical difficulties such as adding a picture, or copying and pasting.

As a digital skills mentor, I was invited to attend a Learning the Landscape conference, in which those who are involved in the project gathered to discuss what could be done to develop ways of teaching. I found this very interesting and it really gave me an insight as to what the project is about.

I have very much enjoyed my first term of being a digital skills mentor and have found observing very fascinating and I look forward to the second term.

the story so far ......

Well, today's session went smoothly - more smoothly than expected in fact. I set up a Google Presentation and allocated one slide per table to be done within about 20 minutes. The aim was to develop a presentation about the course and studying at this University.

I figured most would be comfortable with Powerpoint, but there are added complications when using Google Drive and multiple users editing at once.

The students seemed to get on with the task fairly easily and the round up session where I showed the whole finished presentation and read it back to them was well received. People actually said they had had fun!

Then I had a tutorial group where one of the student reps relayed a number of concerns about the module.

The first major complaint is that the group is too big. Students don't feel comfortable working in the SCALE UP environment with such large numbers. They feel they don't get enough teaching input or one to one help and the time it takes them to set up the laptops and get started on the task makes them feel they are short of time and missing key information about what they are supposed to be doing. Lots of students apparently mentioned the Macs as big factors in feeling confused, stressed and frustrated, and although I suspect some of the tasks would be challenging whatever the hardware, the unfamiliar interface is definitely adding complexity and confusion.

Interestingly when I asked them about specific sessions and asked if they were useful, the response was fairly positive and those students I spoke to did also feel that although they felt confused at the time, they recognised later that they had picked up some useful knowledge and skills.

The single biggest issue though appears to be navigating through the VLE. They felt that at least one session needs to be devoted to this and they would like help on this built into personal tutorials.

One of the things that emerges for me is the difficulty of trying to develop digital information literacy through just one module. It really makes a nonesense of the idea of "embedding" these skills in the curriculum. Our approach has to be far more holistic. There should indeed be follow up through the tutorial system, but that would mean tutors being comfortable in these areas too and I don't think they would be, 100%.

An alternative could be to provide drop in sessions on a smaller scale, using the technology available in Scale Up, with student mentors and staff on hand.

For me personally, I am disappointed with the feedback so far. I am asking students to take a survey which explores all of these issues in more depth and I think there is a lot we can learn, but my main worry is that the vote will definitely be for smaller sessions.

In some ways I agree as the task of managing 100+ students is stressful and exhausting. But equally running small groups multiple times with very few attendees is just demoralising and a poor use of my time.

I feel I am short on inspiration right now and a bit disappointed that the feedback isn't better, but there's still a way to go till the end of the academic year and I am sure our student mentors' observations will continue to provide valuable insights into this big experiment.

Digital Literacies

yesterday I attended the "Changing the Learning Landscape" strategic conversation to look at how we develop digital literacies in our students and embed them in the curriculum through course design and staff development.

One conclusion that came out of those conversations was the need to listen more to our students. What do they already know how to do? (we make a lot of assumptions around their digital competence). What do they want from their lecturers? ("he's got a PhD in blah blah but can't work the projector...." was my quote of the day). What can we learn from them?

I am learning a lot from watching and listening to my students in the Scale Up environment - so much so that every week is a race for me to keep up in re-planning my sessions as I adjust the pace, the technology and the subject matter to fit with where I see they are.

This week I trialled my laminated "Macs for Dummies" guide, but I think that ship has sailed as most now are fairly competent at using them. (I did however have NO queries this week about the physical operation of the Macs, so maybe they did help).

I also gave the students a  READING task - a 9 page article from a medical journal for them to summarise on a whiteboard, working in "tables". This was weirdly old school in such a technology rich environment. My digital literacies twist was that they had to send me a photo record of their whiteboard work. 4 groups used Twitpic or Instagram and tweeted them using our module hashtag, two emailed me and one shared a DropBox photo.

The student mentors/observers commented that they think the Scale Up environment  makes exercises like this much more engaging. In part this is because of the physical layout - the groups working together on tables - in part the session design. In last year's version of this module, students also did exercises in groups but the engagement was less intense. Attendance in each seminar group was fairly low, there was lot of off-topic chatter, texting and generally looking bored. This year, even though attendance is not brilliant, the room FEELS very full and noisy, there is minimal input from me and much more reliance on the students themselves to work out how to do the activities. For some this does cause confusion, but as Sharon comments in the previous post, it also forces them to fall back on their own resources and to ask friends for help.

So, is it working? Well, its probably too early to say but I do think overall that they are developing skills in digital information management as witness the NOW discussion board feedback on finding resources, the tweeted photos, the use of Dropbox.com (as opposed to dropbox in NOW). This week I challenged them to have a go with Evernote and Diigo and I am going to follow that up next week. In later sessions we are going to work together on a whole group presentation using Google Drive. (Hope the network holds up!) But to try and make some sort of objective assessment I am going to repeat my pre-course survey and find out what they think they have learned.

Not quite as planned

Well, the referencing session was a challenge - nothing to do with the activities and the students. One of the partitions had jammed so most students were crammed into 2/3 of the space, with the overflow in a separate room. Just when I thought it couldn't get any worse the microphone batteries died, and there was not a spare set to be found anywhere. [I observed a colleague on Wednesday - still no spares, and still no moveable partition. Is it a case of "out of sight, out of mind" with IS and CADQ now we're a few weeks into the pilot?]. There was never a more pressing need for the microphone, as we had to relay information to students behind the partition. Someone, not sure who (it may have been the CADQ man) appeared with batteries fairly quickly, but only the two needed for the microphone - no spares. This was another joint session with Sian, so we had a true double act as one of us had to keep popping next door to make sure those students were engaging with the tasks and weren't neglected. At one stage it sounded as though I had an echo as we were feeding back on the referencing task, but were slightly out of sync with each other. Despite the set-backs (I forgot about the drips from the ceiling and the latecomers) we covered everything we'd planned and the students engaged well with the tasks again. I was really pleased to see the majority of groups brought along a book to reference. Some brought a printed article, but most found one online in the session. I was supposed to gather feedback but felt a bit frazzled by the end of the session and ran out of time for this, but will ask for some next Monday as my manager is keen to see if the students felt the same concerns we had about the session. I suspect not, as I didn't hear any grumbles, and they all seemed to get on with the activities. We had success with one of the SCALE-UP objectives as, by the time I was able to get to one student who wanted help, her group had sussed out the answer themselves - result! I used Apple TV for the first time. It was very slow initially, but the promise/threat of showing the students' work kept them focused. It was so tempting to chicken out of trying out a new technology but I was determined not to. I'll feel more confident in using it again now. On reflection, I don't think Sian and I appeared to be as fraught as we felt. I certainly hope we kept our composure. A sense of humour definitely helps under such circumstances. I'm looking forward to my last session running like a dream!

So far so good?

I continue to have my little chats with students on an informal basis whenever I can to try and sus out their feelings about the Scale Up experience.

So far, top of the list when it comes to the moans is, you guessed it, the use of Macs instead of PCs.

The unfamiliar key board and desktop is causing a lot of lag for some in the classroom tasks and students respond fairly grumpily, but they are getting on with it. It just seems a shame that they have to "get on with it" when other solutions were available. In my view teaching equipment really needs to be selected by teachers (and students) not by technical staff.

I also still maintain that providing a simple laminated card with a SHORT list of gestures and essential info would have helped enormously. So I have now made my own which I will take to class with me. There will be one per table and it will be based on the most common questions I get asked as I patrol the classroom.

The other moan seems to be around pacing. I have been conscious a couple of times that students working on tasks in their separate groups tend to do so at different speeds (not really so surprising). This can mean that some feel left behind as the class moves to the next activity whilst others get bored, tune out and start to check their Facbeook updates.

I think what we need to plan here is a basic plus an extension activity. The basic one is something everyone can accomplish in the time allowed, the extension activity could be achieved by the quicker students in the hour, but is certainly do-able by everyone in their personal study time.

An example of this came from this week's session run by Sharon where she asked students to find two articles, then answer a series of questions about these in a Discussion Board post. Some managed to find just one in the time available; others did both; some posted during the allotted hour and some did so after the workshop.

When you work in this way (inquiry/group based learning) you have to let go of the need to control pace - and of the fantasy that you can determine what people will learn in a given space of time. Standing up at the front and lecturing do we imagine that every student is understanding every point to the same extent? That some don't drift off or get confused? Of course we don't - that's why we set reading tasks or upload lecture notes on to the VLE. So we have to accept that groups will work on tasks at different rates and allow for that.

For me, working in this environment - and taking a more inquiry-based learning approach - has meant letting go of control in a number of ways. The noise level for one is something you have to simply accept if you want 12 groups of 9 students to be working actively on a task for the best part of the hour.

When I have spoken to students about their experience of the environment and the group based activities, they seem to have found it strange to begin with but then come to accept it and when they are actively engaged in their group tasks, seem to be able to blot out what is going on around them.

For the teacher (well, for me) this also takes some getting used to. I generally feel less exhausted by the end of the session now than I did at the start of term and more likely to be satisfied with the outcomes. I find the noise less of a problem and can similarly focus on a specific student or table as I do my rounds and am able to use the mic to get the attention of the whole group when I need to. I am becoming more comfortable with the technology and consequently a bit braver in the things I ask the class to attempt (as I know what works, for example).

One tip I have learnt is to plan the group tasks by having them written up as a web page on the VLE with any links they are going to need on the same page, but opening in a new tab. This makes it easier for them to follow the tasks without having to go back and forth between different sections of the learning room (for example - if I need them to make a post to the Discussion Board, I simply put the link to that Discussion Board on the same page as the instructions.) I also try to avoid paper handouts if I can, unless again it helps to avoid the problem of navigating between multiple pages. (For the level three students, who are more familiar with the VLE, this isn't quite such a problem).

So yes - so far, so very interesting, but there is much to think about in this project.  In particular, the need to adapt teaching and learning to the students' level of knowledge and skill, to the physical environment, to the VLE and to the technology.

Attendance

Just to make me feel better - here are some statistics from the attendance registers in other Level 1 modules in the first 3 weeks:

Module A - (large lecture) 78% attendance Week 1 to  66% attendance Week 2

Module B -  (small seminars) 82% attendance Week 1 to 71% attendance Week 2
                    (large lecture)  72% attendance Week 1 to 63% attendance Week 2

Our module - (Scale Up) -  81% attendance Week 1 to 66% attendance Week 2
                                         
             

Welcome to our new Digital Assistants!

Sarah and Holly were appointed this week as the student mentors/digital assistants who will be supporting the Changing the Learning Landscape project to embed digital literacy in the curriculum.

We discovered by accident that both are experienced Mac users which will be a great boon for us tutors as well as the students.

The other great thing about them is that both have been through this module themselves just last year, albeit not in the Scale Up format.

In truth, most of the students are managing OK with the Macs but do occasionally suffer frustrations. It's fun asking them to Tweet with a hashtag when the keyboard doesn't have a # !!!!!!!! (It's Alt+3 if you must know) or when CTRL C/ CTRLV doesn't copy and paste (it's command instead). We have been helpfully provided with a cheat sheet  in a long manual which lives in the cupboard, and there are videos on Apple's website to explain the gestures used on the touchpad, but in the middle of a class you really don't have time to find these things.

The students themselves worked out the Command C thing (trial and error?) and Googled the # solution. So some good digital skills in evidence anyway :)

Numbers attending have dropped over the last three weeks. On the one hand this is fairly normal but on the other it is worrying that we are not seeing the promised increase in retention and engagement. It's impossible to know if we are doing something wrong without being able to talk to those who haven't attended. I think we also need to compare attendance from last year, though I have a feeling 2012 registers have been deleted from the VLE..... Maybe I can compare my registers with other current modules instead?

What it does mean is that the small Friday workshop can be integrated into the larger Monday session from November. On the one hand I will miss the smaller more intimate discussions in the small Friday group, but getting everyone in the same room will ensure a consistent experience across the year group.

Week 3 - phew!

I think the session went well, apart from a few teething problems. The students seemed to know what they were doing with the Macs, so that side was much smoother than I'd anticipated. Thanks, Jane, for getting them going during the first two sessions! Sian and I quickly decided we needed the microphone after all, after foolishly thinking we could manage without. It was fine when the students were silent, but even a low hum of noise easily drowned our voices. Feedback to the SCALE-UP project team - invest in more microphones. We could have done with one each, and I'm sure we not the only ones team teaching. Jane was brilliant in passing on tips for improving our delivery - have all links for resources the students are going to use set up in NOW; wander round with the mic when getting feedback. I was really impressed with how the students listened to the activity briefings and how they seemed to engage with the tasks. It was quite difficult to check they all did what we asked, as it took ages to get round them all (and there were only 52 in today's session). It felt as though the room was almost full so I was surprised at the number. The students seemed to enjoy using Padlet, and picked it up pretty quickly. A few of them were happy to engage with the feedback discussions, and they all listened, even if they felt a bit shy in shouting out answers. One of my colleagues who was observing was impressed by the fact the students answered our questions, so that was good positive feedback. I didn't have time to chat to the new Digital Assistants at the end, which was a shame as I'm interested to know what they thought of it all. I'll find out when I see them on Wednesday. All in all, it was enjoyable. I felt shattered afterwards, and my feet ache, but I feel positive about the experience. I felt as though the students really did take control of their learning.

Week 2 - Reality bites

...so this week I planned things better and simplified the task.

I discovered with the smaller seminar group on Friday that the students really like Twitterfall so I used that to gather responses to the task alongside the Discussion Board. I also managed to get Apple TV working (though my first attempt didn't work - trying with a different laptop I fared better) and one or two started to ask me to display their work.

I still need to go slower.... what looks like a really simple and straightforward task to me took a bit of explaining, but once they got the hang of it, they were off. I am so grateful for the wireless mic when I need to stop the chatter and give a bit of information/instruction.

I really like that I am not tied to the lectern and can circulate around the class. Everyone seems to be pretty much on task most of the time - and generally having fun doing it. They are also really supporting one another. Working single handed across 12 tables, I usually find that by the time I get to the last raised hand they have found a way through their difficulty. I will though be very grateful when the student mentors start (selecting today! Yay!)

The technological problems are there - we had at least 10 Macs that had not been logged off so had to be hard-rebooted (switch it off and then on again, basically). One of the screens had shorted and the sound was consequently too low when I showed a video - but IS were round in a flash (no pun intended) and set it all up again for me. However there was still no audio. Two laptops are missing and I have notified CADQ - not sure if they are being repaired, have been borrowed or stolen :(

So today was an exercise in reviewing and protecting our digital identity. I used this great resource on Digital Identity for Health Professionals  which I can really recommend. Students took individual case studies and worksheets and concluded by presenting three action points they would recommend to others. They seemed engaged and interested in the topic and curious to Google themselves or check their Facebook privacy etc. I think it was a far more engaging session than would have been possible had I simply stood up at the front and lectured them about the perils of social media.

I have also been really impressed by the way students have engaged beyond the classroom, posting their presentations and discussion threads, Tweeting their thoughts. In order not to exclude students who are not on Twitter, I have collected Tweets into a Storify page and posted this on the Learning Room.

Scaled down

I ran the same Research and Professional Practice session with 25 students on Friday in an "overspill" seminar we have had to add because our course over recruited. 25-30 is a normal seminar group size for me.

What a difference I experienced!  Quieter for a start, much easier to wander around and chat to groups on the four tables; I was also better prepared and remembered to set up the Twitterfall screen and even tried out Apple TV (worked with one lap top but not another...)

Students got on with the tasks without much hesitation and even began tweeting their responses in some cases. It was possible to chat and respond to questions without having to dash across the room to hear them or switch on the mic to give an answer.

A bit of me now wants to get my whole module reorganised into 2 groups of around 50 rather than try and run the big room with 90 students on Mondays, but I am also determined to try the large group experience at least for a little while longer, with my Friday small group almost as a "control".
Comparing the two experiences (as student and as student) will be interesting.

What's the worst that can happen?

The first class in the new teaching and learning environment yesterday was less than smooth...

....and it wasn't the Apple Macs that caused the grief - in fact most students settled in happily to using them and were generally tolerant of the unfamiliar UI . Some had brought their own ipads and laptops too and the wifi stood up to the test.

The main confusion for the students seemed to be in navigating their way through the VLE.

I think firstly I was too ambitious in terms of what I hoped to achieve in a first session with a large group, using unfamiliar equipment and an unfamiliar platform. I could have cut down the material by 2/3 and simplified the tasks.

Secondly, I didn't spend long enough explaining the layout and navigation of the learning room.

Thirdly, I do think that if we had been able to get the student mentors in post from Day One, more general support could have been offered which would have facilitated the process. There was some very welcome technical help available from IS and EDU  for the hardware side of things, but noone on hand who could exlain how the VLE was meant to be used (apart from me - and briefly, Sian).

And what went well?

Well the session was well attended and the group were lively and engaged with one another in attempting to overcome their various problems (and in working on the set questions, to be fair).

I was freed up to be able to circulate around the room and help small groups where necessary. The vast majority were on task and not simply checking their emails. I did also see some groups leave the learning room to do a bit of Googling in order to develop their responses to the tasks. (This is a GOOD thing in my book)

I spoke to a small group of students afterwards to get an immediate response. Their feeling was generally "it was a bit confusing but we'll get used to it".....so no shock horror then.

I do have some regrets about my hubris in thinking I could manage all of this in a class of over 100, but then I remind myself that the aim of Scale Up is to bring student centred, problem based learning to the large class. I also need reminding that bringing technology into the classroom is essential and an urgent priority.  Making changes of such an order is bound to be fraught with difficulties. Afterall is said and done, my big mistake yesterday might not seem much of a mistake at all to others. And I am learning from it. I am going to make some changes to my lesson plans for the coming weeks and I am going to add a screencast to the Learning Room which will explain the navigation.

Thunderbirds are go!

I was discussing with my daughter (who is currently on a Schools Direct Teacher Training programme) the age old problem of collecting the class back together after group activities - or even to put an end to noisy chatter.

One of her pet hates is the use of the 5 4 3 2 1 countdown. She loves how one of her teachers uses quirky video clips and music.

This reminded me of the classic Thunderbirds countdown and I wondered about using this at apposite moments in the Scale Up class.....

It also seems appropriate as I nervously countdown to my first class on Monday :)

When is a student mentor not a student mentor....?

.... when they do not yet exist!

I am really disappointed that the process of approving the job descriptions for the student mentors is taking so long. Effectively this means that they will not be joining the group on Day 1 and I think we will miss out on gathering some important data about students' initial digital literacy needs. It may be possible for the tutors involved to do some of the observing/reporting and we can at least blog about it, but don't hold your breath - I think the initial weeks will be busy as we orientate ourselves too.

Another huge spanner in the works is that we have recruited well over 108 students on the first year of course and so will have to split the group after all. This is likely to mean one group of about 90 and another of around 30. I don't exactly know how timetabling will sort this. What I do know is that there will  be no tutors available for the overspill session (except for me most probably) so overnight this has doubled my workload on the module. This will though give me an opportunity to test out the room with a smaller group and compare the two learning environments. (see - I always try and look on the bright side...)

A real positive so far is that, having met the first year students today in our official course induction, I can report that the vast majority are already fairly savvy with NOW, their timetables and email.

The pre course survey we conducted also reveals a good level of confidence in using the internet. So the nuts and bolts of digital literacies/skills that we used to have to focus on in the first couple of weeks are not now as necessary for quite so many students and I am hoping we can really hit the ground running.

More information on the critical digital literacies can be found here (these informed the design of the first year module).

Doug Belshaw's introduction to Digital Literacy is summarised in this Slideshare presentation

Feeling more reassured about the technology

After a really useful orientation session from one of the IS staff, I'm feeling happier about using the technology. I'm now able to control all screens, Apple TV is working, and know where the microphone is. For me, I think this will be the CRUCIAL bit of kit! That, or my trusty whistle from my days of running a Cub Scout pack... The scary part now is the scale of it all, hence the name. The thought of that room full of students is quite daunting, especially if they all ask for help. I'm really hoping they do learn from each other. My feelings swing from downright fear to optimistic excitement. It's refreshing to try out a new method of teaching and, if it's successful for the library sessions, it could be rolled out to colleagues as an alternative way for them to teach their large groups (which seem to grow each year).

Not as bad as I feared.... and some really good things to report.

Yesterday we had the first official demo of the new room set up and I for one really like it.

Forget for a moment about the shiny hardware quietly throbbing and glowing on the tables in front of us, the best bit of kit was the clip on wireless mic. In this large oblong space with 108 students (sorry, make that 108 chairs - we have actually enrolled 127 students since clearing...) it is going to be a challenge to make yourself heard above the hubbub.

Second best bit of kit is the switch on the teachin gconsole that allows you to show content on all three screens simultaneously - or not, as you like. I used this space last year for a one off session and we had to have Powerpoint monitors (like the ink monitors we used to have at school, not the monitor attached to your PC) at each end of the room, pressing the forward arrow when cued. The space is capable of being divided into three distinct rooms each with their own presenting console, screen and speakers, but for the big groups (like ours) it is now possible to have everything linked. This is really good news.

Thirdly - the tables. Now Sharon may be right and we should perhaps have had them a bit bigger, but they are pleasingly round, they do have holes in the middle where the power and network cables for the macs protrude and there is space for nine students in three gorups of three. I'd like to say we had tested the seating arrangements but actually less than half a dozen pilot leaders turned up for the session - we were outnumbered by the IT squad by about 2:1

Now for the niggles. The laptops are stored in charging cabinets which have big padlocks on the doors. The presenters yesterday cheated by having all the Macs ready on the desks, plugged in before we arrived. It was suggested to me that I could get to my session early and set up. Provided I am not teaching immediately before.... and provided no one is in the room before me using the space without laptops.

Then there is th fact that they are, well, Macs. But I have said all I want to say on that front. The IT guys were incredibly helpful, teaching me how to use the "gestures", when two fingers were required (don't tempt me...) and how to select Apple TV. The problem for my students is that there won't I suspect be 108 IT bods on hand to personally guide them through the process.

I asked for "Quick Start " help cards to be available and was told that there were some great You Tube videos showing how to use a Mac. So how were the students going to watch these if they couldn't use a Mac. In their own time? On their PCs? Do I need to go on?

So then I was advised to show the videos as part of my session - ie, teach the students how to use the kit as part of my lesson plan. OK, I am teaching digital literacy skills in one module so that's fair enough, perhaps. But my other module is concerned with team work and leadership - "How to Use a Mac" isn't one of the learning outcomes, so why am I spending my valuable contact time teaching students to use unfamiliar technology? The tech in that context should be invisible.

Anyway, I rather enjoyed playing with the Mac and with Apple TV and though the IT guys treated me with withering scorn when I said I had an Android tablet and preferred Google Drive to Sky Drive, I actually found them a jolly and helpful bunch who were genuinely enthusiastic about what they have created here.

I am sure there are going to be hiccups along the way, but I aim to keep calm and pretend its in the lesson plan.....

Mac fright

Earlier today I went to help a new academic set up his resource lists. Normally this would have nothing to do with the SCALE-UP pilot but, horrors of horrors, his monitor was connected to a Macbook. Instead of reassuring me that I've got nothing to worry about when in the new teaching room, it made me realise just how different they are to PCs. I definitely need some familiarisation time with one (my Mac-loving son will be earning his keep before he goes back to uni). On a positive note, many of the functions were the same, so providing the students and I don't need to right-click, refresh a page, or use a delete key we'll be fine...

Scaled down

Just to add to Jane's frustrations, we've also found out that the tables are about a foot shorter in circumference than the carefully researched recommendation by Robert Beichner. I've peeked at the tables when walking past the room and I very much hope the students like one another as they'll be sitting very close to each other to work in their groups. Good job collaboration is key in all this!

BYOD

(click on image to view full size)

Well, the nightmare came true: the Centre for Academic Quality and Development sent out a terse email announcing that Mac Books have been selected, will be stored in a charging cabinet and will NOT have dual booting capability. Furthermore, teaching consoles in the Scale Up room will still be Windows based (yeah, I know....)

My team and I have recovered from the shock (and outrage at the lack of consultation or even listening) and are preparing for a teaching and learning environment somewhat different from the one we had envisaged.

We aim to have both a tech and a non tech activity available for our sessions and rely on the flipped classroom approach - access to websites taking place outside of the class with the workshops reserved for discussion and project work. That's fine - it just seems a shame given the technological aspirations of the Scale Up room with its fancy new lap tops and Apple TV.

The screenshot above (from our pre-course survey) above is interesting.  Out of 20 students responding so far, none has an Apple pc or lap top and only 6 have iphones. Almost all do have laptops or wifi ennabled phone so the BYOD solution has potential.

I have stated in the module guide that BYOD will be the expected norm but that Macbooks are available. I expect some may want to have a go on them, but dishing out and collecting in 100+ laptops would eat into a good portion of a 50 minute session, never mind teaching OS X basics. So I am just hoping that the promised "flooding" of the room with wi fi, and the cooperation of students in bringing smart phones, tablets and even laptops, will mean that we can spend some sessions on digitally based activities.

I will be getting to work on these over the next few weeks.
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In other - better, news..... our bid for funding for student mentors (through the Changing the Learning Landscape project) has been accepted :D

The aim is to have two students working with us each week to float between groups, observing where students have difficulties and helping out. They will then take these observations and use them to support library staff in creating universal resources to teach digital literacy skills. We also plan to work with the mentors on a conference paper and presentation next year. I'm really excited about this aspect of the project and can't wait to get started on recruiting!

Scale Up Nightmare

I woke up this morning realising that I had been dreaming about the Scale Up project. It was really detailed dream in which I gave my students an activity to complete that involved estimating the number of toffees (the flat ones in the gold wrappers) in a tin of Quality Street.

There was a bit of confusion at first as the students struggled to understand the relevance of this activity to a social sciences course, but I expalined that it was about research skills and sampling. The fact that they got to share the sweets at the end was a further "convincer".

The good thing about the dream was that it didn't involve any scary scenarios about booting up Mac Books - in fact no technology was involved at all. I had been discussing earlier in the day (in real life) with my teaching team the need to have low tech alternative lesson plans for When the Technology Goes Wrong, so this was pertinent.

I have put together a "baseline" questionnaire for the new students which will ascertain how many currently have mobile devices and which OS they are familiar with. (you can access this here)

I am hopeful this will tell me whether (as I hope) a good proportion will be able to Bring Their Own Device to class.

Risk Management

As part of my participation in the ocTEL on line course, I have started on a risk log, spurred on by news that the hardware chosen for the project will be Mac Books. Very shiny! but in a module where I want to teach digital skills - including how to use the University's normal computing environment (based wholly on PCs, Windows and Microsoft) this seems an odd decision to say the least...........

Why "Not to Scale"?

This blog will focus on the SCALE UP project I am going to be involved in for the next year - or longer.

SCALE UP apparently stands for Student Centred Active Learning Environment with Upsidedown Pedagogies. It is also about large scale problem based learning. Professor Beichner in the US has developed the model in a way that fits particularly well with teaching physics in the US Higher Education system.
How this will work in the UK with Social Sciences students we have yet to see.

I have many reasons, at this point, for wanting to be involved in this project, but I have no idea how it is going to turn out.

Not to Scale is a phrase used to label  maps and diagrams to warn viewers not to take what they see too literally.......By reflecting on our learning from this project, hopefully we can discover as much about what works well as  "how not to" do Scale Up.