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.....