Week 4 – MSc in Applied eLearning

S2-Week 4-Class

Semester 2 (Week 4)

Theses are the notes I took during the Tuesday afternoon workshop that took place from 14:00 to 17:00 on 24th April 2018. The tutor was Dr Claire McAvinia.

Topic for today’s workshop

– Publishing Journal Papers

Your chosen journal
– Which journal(s) does your research draw on?
– What journal is the leader in your field?
– Where is the journal published?
– Who publishes the journal?
– Are authors you have read on the editorial board?
– Does the journal publish

Computers and Education
– Brendan Tangney is on the editorial board

The Guardian
– How to get published in an educational journal

Structuring a Journal Paper
– Abstract / Summary
– Introduction
– Background / Literature Review
– Research Methods / Methodology
– Findings
– Analysis / Discussion
– Conclusions (including future work)
– References
– Appendices (Depends on Journal)

Brown and Murray

Using Murray’s 10 prompts (2009, p.1)

Do a full draft
Then do a rewrite
Keep stuff for a possible PhD.

Review Process
– Publish as is
– Publish with minor changes
– Major revisions required
– Reject

S1-Week 4-Class

Semester 1 (Week 4)

Theses are the notes I took during the Tuesday afternoon workshop that took place from 14:00 to 17:00 on 10th October 2017. The tutor was Roisin Guilfoyle.

Topic for today’s workshop

– Digital Literacy Workshop

N.B. The following library staff are available by appointment, telephone, email:
– Roisin Guilfoyle
– Diana Mitchell
– Bill Murphy (EndNote Specialist) – bill.murphy@dit.ie

Types of Literature
– Books
– Journal Articles
– Reports
– Official Publications
– Conference Proceedings
– Grey Literature
– Websites
– Theses
– Popular Media

Literature
– Published or Unpublished
– Peer Reviewed
– Not Reviewed
– Community Reviewed
– Not always scholarly

N.B. Research Gate (Australia)
Try emailing the journal article writer using your DIT email address and ask the writer to send you a copy. Tell the writer that you are a Masters Student.

N.B. Alcid Card

ALCID: Academic Libraries Co-operating in Ireland
http://www.dit.ie/library/a-z/alcid/

This can be used to access library resources in other third level institutions such as TCD and UCD.

Evaluating Web Resources
– Websites: Who, Why, When, Where, Ease of Use, Presentation, Use of Graphics
– Content: Authority, Writing/Grammar, Audience (Depth & Scope), Timeliness, Relevance, Bias, References

Advantages of Google
– Quick, Easy to Access, Easy to Use, Lots of Material, Covers Lots of Subjects

Number of Databases DIT has access to
– Approximately 84
Note: Access to Science Direct costs DIT a six figure sum.

What is Summon
– Summon is a powerful search engine that provides fast, simple access to scholarly material. It provides an integrated single search box for Library, Journals, Journal Articles, Print and eBooks, Dissertations, Multimedia Content, Newspaper Articles, Citations in Abstracting & Indexing Databases.

Welcome to DIT Library Services
http://www.dit.ie/
Note: This is where you will find SearchAll/Summon@DIT

The Research Process
– Develop a Research Strategy
– Select Appropriate Resources
– Do a Systematic Search of the Relevant Databases, including Search Engines
– Keep a History
– Keep Records
– Manage References (EndNote)
– Avoid Plagiarism

M4-Week 4-Home

Educational Research Design Module (Week 4)

The following is a reflection on the week immediately after the class that took place on 9th May 2017 using Gibbs Reflective Cycle.

Description

THIS WEEK: Methodology (Home)

Saturday 13/05/17

MyEndNote
Signed up for a myendnoteweb.com account
Installed Cite While You Write EndNote plug-in for Microsoft Word for Mac 2011
Installed EndNote Capture Reference tool in the bookmarks of (a) Safari (b) Firefox (both for Mac)
Installed EndNote Capture Reference app for Chrome

Sunday 14/05/17

Homework

(1) Email from Claire McAvinia on 11/05/17
The prompt questions were:

·         What is the broad area/theme of your research topic? (e.g. curriculum design, student experience)
Answer: Adaptive/Personalised Learning
·         What are you trying to find out/what is your research question?
Answer: How can a domain model for adaptive learning in mathematics be evaluated?
·         How do you plan to find the answer? So what methodologies might help you do this?
Answer: Literature review, design and evaluation of a domain model for adaptive learning in secondary school mathematics.
·         What methodology/methodologies do you feel you can rule out?
Answer: (1) Experimental and quasi-experimental research (testing hypotheses, control and experimental groups, etc.)
(2) Phenomenological research
(3) Heuristic inquiry
(4) Grounded theory (methodology or method)
What’s left?
(1) Analytical Surveys (A deductive approach, the identification of the research population, the drawing of a representative sample from the population, control of variables,
the generation of both qualitative and quantitative data, generalizability of results)
(2) Action Research (Involves both researchers and practitioners (or practitioners as researchers within their own organisation), can be highly structured and involve the use of
experimental and control groups used to test a hypothesis, can also be quite unstructured and used inductively (and qualitatively)

· Plan to write about a page over the week on the methodology you are most interested in. Note any questions for the session next week once you have drafted your page.

(2) Email from Claire McAvinia on 12/05/17
Between now and Tuesday morning, can we ask you to add a note to our Padlet wall here:
https://padlet.com/wall/1hpwjlmjmis9
Simply double-click on the screen to get started.

This very short exercises is leading out of the work and the reflective activity you had last week and leading us into our next topic.

On Tuesday, we will be starting to think about Methods and looking briefly at quantitative methods before getting into questionnaire design. The session will be very participative and we look forward to hearing more of your ideas.

Padlet

Research Question and Methodology – Gerard Kilkenny

Research Question – How can a domain model for adaptive learning in Junior Certificate Mathematics (Strand 5 – Functions) be evaluated?

Methodology – I am assessing the suitability of a Case Study where experienced Mathematics teachers/textbook authors will evaluate a domain model (digital artefact) designed by the researcher (me).

Literature Support for Case Study –
O’Donnell et al (2015, p.26) assert that “the case study methodology is possibly the most appropriate approach to apply to the complex research question of the evaluation of personalised e-learning.”

Šimko (2012, p.2) states that “particularly challenging is development of a proper methodology for domain model evaluation. A direct “quantitative” evaluation is difficult as it is hard to define exact measures that are suitable to assess quality of a domain model for adaptive web-based learning.”

O’Donnell, E., Lawless, S., Sharp, M., & Wade, V. (2015). A review of personalised e-learning: Towards supporting learner diversity. International Journal of Distance Education Technologies, 13(1), 22-47.

Šimko, M. (2012). Automated acquisition of domain model for adaptive collaborative web-based learning. Information Sciences and Technologies Bulletin of the ACM Slovakia, 4(2), 1-9.

M4-Week 4-Class

Educational Research Design Module (Week 4)

The following is a reflection on the Tuesday morning class that took place on 9th May 2017 from 10:00 to 13:00 using Gibbs Reflective Cycle.

Description

THIS WEEK: Methodology

NOTES: from today’s class…

Case Study (Pauline Rooney)

Harnessing Serious Games in Higher Education

Validity
Insider Research
Generalisability

Note: She didn’t use a hypothesis.

What is a Case Study

Focuses on one or more instances of a particular phenomenon
The study of an instance in action
Boundaries may be temporal, geographic…
Appropriate when the desire is to…

Research study and questions

“What are the implications of adopting an interdisciplinary in-house approach to the design of serious games in HE? What processes are involved in, and what issues may arise, with such an approach?”

Features of my methodology

* In-depth
* Phenomenological – aiming to identify the “essence” of human experiences concerning a phenomenon as described by participants (Cresswell, 1998)
* Participant observation case study
* Naturalistic (participants carefully observed in their natural setting without interference by researchers)

Data Collection Methods

Personal emails
Game design specification documents and storyboards
Two semi-structured interviews
Team email correspondences
Participant blog

Data Analysis

* Combined all data sources (excluding spec docs & storyboards)into a primary case document. (Triangulating multiple sources). Used this to generate a detailed chronological narrative.
* Categorical aggregation (“the aggregation of instances…
* Direct interpretation (drawing meaning from individual instances of events)
* Winnowing (Wolcott, 1990)
* AIM

Let’s talk about validity…
(…in qualitative)

No such thing as one objective reality to be uncovered by researcher (Cohen et al. 2000)
We create truth or meaning

Valid data = authentic, confirmable, credible
(Denizen and Lincoln, 2000?)

How did I strive for validity?
Triangulation which is…
* Constant comparison method: trace correspondence / contradictions across multiple data sources (Glaser & Strauss)
* Challenge patterns/themes by deliberately searching for negative instances of pattern
* Shared the reduce case narrative with another team member to verify accuracy of narrative (Yin 1981)

My role as an insider researcher/participant observer…
Positives:
* Gain deeper insight into relationships/processes/events
* Knowledge of context
Negatives
* Interpreter bias?

Claire

ROLE OF METHODOLOGY

Methods
What you do to collect and analyse the data

Methodology

(1) Case study

Characteristics
Depth rather than breadth
…

Criticisms
* May be difficult to generalise
* Perceives as lacking rigour
* Observer effect – presence of researcher may result in participants behaving differently
* Data can be unwieldy and cases become too long

(2) Action Research

* Coined by social psychologist Kurt Lewin c. 1944
* Describes a form of research that could incorporate an experimental approach of social science

Characteristics

* Practical nature – real world problems (so, responding to a problem)
* Change – integral part of the research
* Cyclical/iterative process – feedback loop
* Participation is active not passive (so, the researcher is involved in the process)
*’Takes place on situ (e.g. classroom)
* Research in action rather than about action
* Change – improving education by changing the situation
* Cyclical

Action Research Models
Identify -> Solution -> Try it out -> Evaluate it -> Change your practice

(3) Activity Theory

M3-Topic 4-Assessment

M3-Week 4-Home

TELTA Module (Week 4)

The following is a selection of my contributions to the group chat on Slack from from Wednesday 1st February to Tuesday 7th February 2017. The Slack ‘Chat Channel’ was set up by Dr. Frances Boylan on 10th January 2017 and I joined the channel on 11th January 2017.

1st February 2017

Pauline Rooney [10:12 AM]
@gerard.kilkenny The full instructions on this week’s CA including submission details are available in webcourses. (See topic 4). As in previous weeks, you will need to click the “Mark Reviewed” option under the introductory video before this week’s content and task details are visible. To “submit” your video you will need to tweet it to #dittelta. There is also a discussion board for this week under topic 4: if you have any thoughts on the readings etc. please discuss there and feel free to post your mindmaps there also. It would be great to get some peer review going before next week’s webinar!
Also if anyone is having any difficulties accessing the group tools etc. just let me know.

Gerard Kilkenny [10:55 AM]
@paulinerooney: Thanks Pauline. I went in to BB last night and I could see that what we have to do is all explained well. I thinks having the discussion board in Webcourses as well as Slack though means that we have to go to two places to see/partake in discussions or chat. I prefer Slack and use it more often as it takes too long to get to then discussion board in Webcourses with logins and navigation. Slack is more instantaneous.

Terri Gray [11:46 AM]
Hi I agree with Gerry slack is much user friendly

2nd February 2017

Gerard Kilkenny [9:07 PM]
I know that e-assessment is not for another couple of weeks. However, during a ‘key viewing’, I found my mind wandering and I started to ponder user authentication for online examinations. Veering off the immediate subject matter, I came across this research paper called ‘Continuous Biometric User Authentication in Online Examinations’. It was interesting to read about an authentication method I had not read about before:

Keystroke Dynamics
http://lsia.fi.uba.ar/papers/flior10.pdf

5th February 2017

Gerard Kilkenny [11:51 PM]
Coggle – Motivating Online Students – the CRISPS-(FC)2 Model (by Group 4) https://coggle.it/diagram/58979f9fc128180001bd6ab5/2a93410f20ca56700d9210bd5ec9b7a7c6c73e51d1a880d59bf23d68b66643d9

Coggle
Motivating Online Students – the CRISPS-(FC)2 Model (by Group 4)
A Coggle Diagram about FLEXIBLE. For assessment, provide a choice of tasks and also a choice of modes for completing the tasks, e.g. create a video OR a screencast. Students feel empowered when they feel that they have control over some aspects of their learning., INTERESTING. Trigger the students' interest so that they pay attention during the course. Situational interest (short-term) refers to an aspect of a course that is enjoyable or fun. Individual interest (long-term) is linked to content and vocation., SUPPORTIVE. Provide a personal welcome to the course (e.g. video or screencast) and be available to respond to students' questions (e.g. SLACK). Create a comfortable a… Show more

Gerard Kilkenny [11:53 PM]
Group 4 (for the Mindmap for Week 4) of TELTA were: Blathnaid Sheridan, Dave Culliton, Gerard Kilkenny.

The PDF file of the Coggle diagram.
Motivating_Online_Students_-_the_CRISPS-FC2_Model_by_Group_4.pdf

Gerard Kilkenny [11:59 PM]
I also tweeted our Group 4 (Week 4) mindmap (Coggle diagram). I used the hashtag #dittelta. Can anyone see it on Twitter? I can’t see any other groups’ tweeted mindmaps. The last tweet with the hashtag #dittelta was from Pauline Rooney (5 days ago) which is Tuesday 31st January 2017. It begins with “Exploring online communication tools…”

6th February 2017

Pat Zaidan [12:02 AM]
Hi Gerry, the hashtag is not updating on Twitter. We tweeted the map and hashtag but it does not show up.

Gerard Kilkenny [12:08 AM]
Thanks Pat. I think my issue is that my tweets were protected. I have just changed them to public. I don’t know if there is any other issue that is preventing tweets with y#dittelta
…with the #dittelta hashtag from being discoverable/viewable.

Gerard Kilkenny [12:22 AM]
I resent the tweet having made my Twitter account
Damn enter key is too close to the backspace key!

I resent the tweet having changed my Twitter settings from protected to public. Still no sign of the new tweet under #dittelta. No other groups tweets are visible either.

Gerard Kilkenny [12:36 AM]
@frances @paulinerooney However, my tweet appears on the #twitter channel that you set up Frances / Pauline! Frances, you set up a Twitter integration with Slack on 10th January and asked if anyone else had set up Twitter integration. As you know, four of us students and Kevin O’Rourke added Twitter integration, with mine added on 19th January. You disabled and removed your integration on 20th January, perhaps assuming that Twitter integration with Slack doesn’t work? However, now on 6th February, I can confirm that it does appear to work for tweets sent from unprotected Twitter accounts. It would have been great if all of the groups tweeted mindmaps had appeared together in the one Slack #twitter channel. As things stand, with the midnight deadline having passed, I can’t see any other groups’ mindmaps for week 4. Technology!

Rachel Lynch [8:45 AM]
I tweeted group 6 but I don’t see it either.

Frances Boylan [8:52 AM]
No idea what’s happening with #dittelta :disappointed: I’ve sent a tweet there now to #dittelta from within Twitter and it showed. Are you sharing/tweeting your map from within Coggle, or logging into Twitter and doing it from there?

Pauline Rooney [9:48 AM]
Gerard Kilkenny
I also tweeted our Group 4 (Week 4) mindmap (Coggle diagram). I used the hashtag #dittelta. Can anyone see it on Twitter? I can’t see any other groups’ tweeted mindmaps. The last tweet with the hashtag #dittelta was from Pauline Rooney (5 days ago) which is Tuesday 31st January 2017. It begins with “Exploring online communication tools…”
Posted in #chatFeb 5th, 2017
Pauline Rooneypaulinerooney
@gerard.kilkenny I can’t see your mindmap on Twitter either. Very odd.
Feb 6th, 2017

Gerard Kilkenny [9:54 AM]
Screen shot of my Twitter interface.
Screen Shot 2017-02-06 at 09.49.40.png

Gerard Kilkenny [10:05 AM]
@frances @paulinerooney I just sent a test tweet with #dittelta from my Twitter account. It appeared by searching for #dittelta, same as for Frances’s test tweet. It also appears on the #twitter channel in Slack if you wish to have a look.

Frances, to answer your question about the origin of the tweets. In my case, I sent the two mindmap tweets from the sharing button (Facebook, Twitter and Embed Code) within Coggle. This forces you to login to Twitter, so ultimately it seems to be sent from there. (However, who knows, maybe Coggle are using an old API).

My first (protected) tweeted mindmap from within Coggle didn’t appear under #dittelta (understandable). My second (public) tweeted mindmap from within Coggle doesn’t appear when you search under #dittelta but does appear in the Slack #twitter channel.

That’s the results of my testing.

Gerard Kilkenny [10:10 AM]
@frances Those increased statistics for Slack have probably something to do with the fact that Coggle chat is unusable (doesn’t update in real time) and folk probably dislike having to take an arduous stroll through BB to get to the ancient ‘chat’ interface. Also, it makes sense to use one place for instant and group messaging.

Gerard Kilkenny [10:16 AM]
Maybe we should get Donald Trump in for a talk on Twitter?

Gerard Kilkenny [10:43 AM]
@frances @paulinerooney The #twitter channel on Slack works. Why didn’t we use it for this group task since a Slack channel was used for the Week 2 group task?

Mary O’Rawe [11:39 AM]
@gerard.kilkenny . And all groups, I can see your map in Twitter, all good and well done.

Pauline Rooney [1:33 PM]
@gerry I opted to use Blackboard tools for the Topic 2 task (i.e. discussion board/wiki etc.), although individual groups were free to use other communication tools if they wished. So I think the Slack channel that you are referring to was your private group’s channel? Thanks for your suggestion though! – it is something we will certainly take on board for further iterations of the module.

Gerard Kilkenny [2:35 PM]
@paulinerooney: Sorry, Pauline, the Slack channel I was referring to was the #video-ca channel that was used for individual posting for Week 3 (last week). The #twitter Slack channel is working. You will see my Group 4 posting was automatically posted there from Twitter if you go and set up Twitter integration in Slack.

Pauline Rooney [2:52 PM]
Gerard Kilkenny
@paulinerooney: Sorry, Pauline, the Slack channel I was referring to was the #video-ca channel that was used for individual posting for Week 3 (last week). The #twitter Slack channel is working. You will see my Group 4 posting was automatically posted there from Twitter if you go and set up Twitter integration in Slack.
Posted in #chatFeb 6th, 2017
Pauline Rooneypaulinerooney
@gerard.kilkenny I can see your mindmap when I view your account on Twitter but it isn’t appearing when I search for #dittelta. I tried retweeting it but when I do that, your tweet is marked “unavailable”. If you can figure this one out Gerry, there might be an extra badge on offer! 😉
Feb 6th, 2017

Pat Zaidan [2:59 PM]
Pauline, Gerry, copy the URL from Coggle and paste it into a regular twitter a/c with the hashtag. That’s what I did the last time. Gerry if your Tweets are protected it wont be seen publicly. Hope this helps.

Gerard Kilkenny [8:05 PM]
@gerta: Adding the hashtag #dittelta below the link that appears when the user shares to Twitter from within Coggle is problematic Gerta. There are a number of technical comments posted to this #chat channel by myself and others earlier today. The tweet is sent but the #dittelta hashtag doesn’t do its intended job. From the earlier comments, it seems that the only way to get the hashtag to work is to create a link from Coggle, paste it into your Twitter account, add #dittelta and tweet. I haven’t tried this myself yet but will probably do so later to test this hypothesis and to satisfy my technical curiosity!

Gerta Nestorowicz [8:27 PM]
@gerard.kilkenny I have seen messages but I still managed to post to twitter! As I said – the first attempt with the link did not work. The second, from within coggle was fine. I clicked share to twitter icon, the new tab opened with the standard message (Coggle – **Name of the MindMap** http link). I simply added #dittelta and Group 6 in front of that text. Oh! and one other thing (not sure if someoe has already said that). When searchin for #dittelta I was not able to see the posts on until I cliccked on the tab for Latest results (as oposed to Top results that twitter search defaults to). Good luck!

Gerard Kilkenny [8:56 PM]
@gerta I put the #dittelta AFTER the text in the Coggle share link. I will try placing it BEFORE the link (later) and test it. Yes, I know that you need to click on ‘Latest’ tweets and not ‘Top’ tweets.

Mick Mc Keever [9:11 PM]
@gerard.kilkenny Did you ask last week during the webinar about loading up PowerPoint into webcourses webinar so we can do the 7 min talk and control the screens as well (like we had in ID module)? I don’t see this facility and not sure where to stick my PowerPoint up on line! Any advice on where you are going to put your PowerPoint would be appreciated.

Gerard Kilkenny [10:17 PM]
@mick_mc_keever: Mick, I’m not going to use a PowerPoint tomorrow because (i) the short time slot (7 mins) (ii) I think it makes sense to show the actual mindmap and speak about the different branches and how our group arrived at these branches. Pauline’s email from earlier today seems to suggest what I have indicated in (i) and (ii). Here’s the relevant extract from her email:
“this nominee will present the group’s mindmap and outline the process by which the group arrived at the mindmap. I will give each presenter moderator rights during the webinar so that they can share their mindmap via their own desktop.”

Gerard Kilkenny [10:27 PM]
@mick_mc_keever: @paulinerooney …but if you have a PowerPoint prepared, I’d say go ahead and use it. I don’t think you need to move the file anywhere. My understanding is that when your 7 minute time slot begins, Pauline (or Frances) will just switch to your screen (which is showing a maximised window). I am assuming that’s the way the BB application works but I haven’t been ‘behind the curtain’. Perhaps Pauline or Frances might confirm this or not before tomorrow’s webinar?

7th February 2017

Mick Mc Keever [12:30 AM]
@gerard.kilkenny Thanks Gerry. As the running order is a surprise there is a 5:1 chance of someone else has to blazing the trail tomorrow.

Gerard Kilkenny [2:22 PM]
@paulinerooney How do you get your CATME score/assessment? I went in just now and there are just two buttons (Rater Practice and Change Password) and no links. I submitted my group peer assessment last night.

Cora O’Donnell [3:03 PM]
I had the same experience as Gerard. No links to my own review..

Mick Mc Keever [4:52 PM]
In summary Pub Only, Friday 10/3/17, 8pm in Dublin City Centre. Now for the location! Suggestions please in the whichpub channel. Any one not included let
them know

Terri Gray [6:16 PM]
Mick technology has gone to your head !!!!

Gerard Kilkenny [7:48 PM]
Good man Mick! I suppose it’s too late for a #whichpresident sub-channel as a branch off the #twitter channel?

Rachel Maguire [10:01 PM]
Good work Mick :+1::skin-tone-2:

M2-Week 4-Home

Instructional Design & eAuthoring Module (Week 4)

The following is a reflection on the week immediately after the class that took place on Tuesday 15th November 2016 using Gibbs Reflective Cycle.

Wednesday 16th November 2016 – THE 12 APPS OF CHRISTMAS

Description

I signed up to the online event The 12 Apps of Christmas run by DIT’s Dr. Frances Boylan. The text below is from the link:

The 12 Apps of Christmas course from the Dublin Institute of Technology is a free, open, short, online Continuing Professional Development (CPD) course, that ran for the last two years over the twelve weekdays from December 1st to December 16th. This is the third iteration of this course.

In 2014, 700 educators worldwide followed the course and were introduced to iMindmap, Socrative, Aurasma, Explain Everything, EasyBib, Thinglink, Instapaper, Animoto, Evernote, CamScanner, Bonfyre, and Voice Recorder HD, all of which are available from both Google Play and the iTunes App store. Each app was evaluated in turn against the SAMR model of technology integration and explored in terms of its potential to enhance, modify, and redefine teaching, learning and/or assessment practices in the higher education context. The course itself adhered to the social constructivist theory of learning, and the content presented each day was influenced heavily by the TPACK framework. The site has been left online as an open resource for all to use and is covered by the Creative Commons Licence CC BY-NC-SA 2.0. It can be accessed at https://the12appsofchristmas.wordpress.com/.

Feelings

I have discovered a small number of useful educational apps in the past year (such as Socrative and Algebra Touch) so I always have a positive disposition towards evaluating new apps.

Evaluation

It is not possible to evaluate this course as I have not yet started it.

Analysis

It’s great to hear that this course is being run by a staff member of DIT’s LTTC.

Conclusions

The course must have been successful for the first two years since it is now in its third iteration.

Personal Action Plans

Put the 1st December as a date in my diary as a reminder of the course start date.

Thursday 17th November 2016 – SLACK

Description

Allesio invited me to join his new group ‘TheCompostivist’ today on a new (to me) app called Slack. This is a chat app but also allows for file storage of up to 5GB (free) and it accommodates video conferencing via built-in Skype. I downloaded Slack 2.3.2 for MacOS and also downloaded the apps for iPhone and iPad.

We chatted about cognitive overload and fatigue in relation to instructional design. I passed on an Amazon.co.uk reference to the latest edition (8th Edition) of the book The Systematic Design of Instruction. Here is the link and bibliographic reference to the 6th edition of that book:

Dick, W., Carey, L., & Carey, J. O. (2004). The systematic design of instruction. (6th ed.). ???: Allyn & Bacon.

Feelings

I began to worry that our group The Compostivists might now have too many modes of communication (email, WhatsApp and now Slack). Notwithstanding my reservations, I decided to join the group that Allesio had set up for The Compostivists as I am always interested in trying out new technologies.

Evaluation

Quite quickly, I could see that Slack is more powerful than WhatsApp due to the fact that it has multiple channels, file transfer and a desktop app (in addition to mobile apps).

Analysis

It will probably become more difficult to communicate among the group with the addition of Slack. The reason for this is that even if Mick and Rachel join the Slack group, it may now mean that I will have to send messages on both WhatsApp and Slack unless we decide to abandon using WhatsApp.

Conclusions

I don’t have a problem in using multiple means of communication for the short life span of this project.

Personal Action Plans

None

Friday 18th November 2016 – MOODLE

Description

I created an Excel file with the following columns to create a CSV file to import users into MOODLE.

last name first name username MK1 username MK2 username MK3 password email full record

The 8 columns contained the following Excel formulas in order to parse the data for each subsequent column from 3 to 8

Column A   Column B   Column C   Column D
Column E    Column F     Column G Column H
last name   first name   username MK1    username MK2
username MK3                 password               email
full record

String1 String2 =CONCATENATE(LOWER(B2),”.”,LOWER(A2)) =SUBSTITUTE(C2,” “,””) =SUBSTITUTE(D2,”‘”,””) String3 CONCATENATE(E2,”.”,”@domainname.ie”) =CONCATENATE(A2,”,”,B2,”,”,E2,”,”,F2,”,”,G2)

O’Last name Firstname firstname.o’last name firstname.o’lastname firstname.olastname
Pass7orD firstname.olastname@domainname.ie
O’Lastname,Firstname,firstname.olastname,Pass7orD,
firstname.olastname@domainname.ie

Note: The SUBSTITUTE command in Column D removes any spaces in a username (to generate username Mk2) while the SUBSTITUTE command in Column E removes any quote marks (‘) (to generate username Mk3)

I had a MAJOR breakthrough with MOODLE tonight. I created sections for my Junior Certificate Higher Level Maths class and added content to these sections. The content that I added was in the form of Word, Excel, PowerPoint and PDF files. I tested all of this and it all worked. I discovered that MOODLE allows the Site Administrator to create sections as calendar weeks, topics or social forums.

I downloaded and installed the iPhone and iPad apps for MOODLE. At first, I couldn’t access the MOODLE site that I had set up at my school’s website. However, this was easily rectified by switching on a checkbox in MOODLE Administration.

Feelings

I was delighted about the progress that I had made with MOODLE.

Evaluation

This has been an important night’s work as I have now learned how to use the course content functionality of MOODLE as well as the mobile apps for it.

Analysis

I quite liked the reponsive design of MOODLE in relation to how the classes and content looked on my iPhone and iPad.

Conclusions

It may be possible to use MOODLE with one or two of my classes this academic year. Time is always the issue – I generally don’t have a problem with surmounting technical barriers or with learning curves.

Personal Action Plans

Put content for my 6th Year Higher Level Maths class up on MOODLE which I have installed on my school’s web space.

Saturday 19th November 2016 – ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY 2 and CompendiumLD

Description

I was interested in writing an annotated bibliography on Adobe Captivate as this is the development tool that my group The Compostivists has decided to use for its project. So, I have decided that for my second annotated bibliography I will critique a research paper on Adobe Captivate. I read the following research paper from 2014:

Duvall, M. (2014). Adobe Captivate as a Tool to Create eLearning Scenarios. In T. Bastiaens (Ed.), Proceedings of E-Learn: World Conference on E-Learning in Corporate, Government, Healthcare, and Higher Education 2014 (pp. 514-517). Chesapeake, VA: Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE).

I downloaded and installed CompendiumLD (LD = Learning Design) which is an Open University tool. See the links below for more information.

http://compendiumld.open.ac.uk
http://compendiumld.open.ac.uk/documentation/version1.0/QuickRefGuides/stencilsAndNodes/
http://compendiumld.open.ac.uk/documentation/version1.0/tutorials/

Feelings

I was looking forward to reading this paper as I had not read any non-Adobe articles on Adobe Captivate to date.

Evaluation

Having read the paper, I didn’t find it terribly interesting, useful or informative. It dealt Captivate’s as a tool for scenarios and this is not how I plan to use Captivate for the composting project.

Analysis

Matthew Duvall’s paper examines the appropriateness of Adobe Captivate 7.0 for creating eLearning scenarios to enhance online education. Duvall identifies himself as a graduate student with five year’s teaching experience and ten years as a computer programmer. This blend of experience would suggest that he is well qualified to write a research paper which seeks to analyse the virtues of the eLearning development tool Adobe Captivate. This paper addresses two questions: (1) What are the affordances of Adobe Captivate 7.0 for creating scenarios? (2) What are its constraints?

Conclusions

In relation to constraints, Duvall believes the complexity of parts of the application means that a novice Captivate user would need to dedicate a great deal of time simply learning how to use the technology before applying it. The author sees the software reflecting the behaviourist model of learning, which is a very traditional eLearning approach. Finally, Duvall mentions the high cost of Adobe Captivate which makes it very expensive to buy. This is certainly true, with this reviewer establishing that the full license price of Adobe Captivate 9 is €1,351.77.

Personal Action Plans

None.

Monday 21st November 2016 – MEETING 3 OF THE COMPOSTIVISTS

blackboard-collaborate-selfie — Virtual Meeting of The Compostivists using my iMac and Webcourses (Blackboard)

Description

This meeting took place remotely using Webcourses.

Feelings

Evaluation

Analysis

Conclusions

Here’s the email that I sent to the other members of the group after the meeting.

Hi All,

Please find attached 9 screenshots (SS 01 to SS 09) plus a selfie (of me sitting at my Mac!) which constitute the minutes (and evidence of) of tonight’s remote meeting. This meeting took place using the Blackboard Collaborate feature of Webcourses.

I think that the meeting was very successful especially given that it was our first time to use this application. We managed to use video, sound, whiteboard / markers and text chat.

Well done everyone!

Regards,

Gerry.

Personal Action Plans

Send email to the group members,

Screenshots of Virtual Meeting

M2-Week 4-Class

Instructional Design & eAuthoring Module (Week 4)

The following is a reflection on the Tuesday morning class that took place on 15th November 2016 from 10:00 to 13:00 using Gibbs Reflective Cycle.

Description

According to the hard copy Module Handbook 2016/17, today’s class was to address the following topics: (There were no guest lecturers scheduled for today):

Introduction to models of instructional design
What’s the use of a VLE?
Designing for diverse platforms (Mobile) (video + S3QR)

The first two topics were covered but the third (Designing for diverse platforms (Mobile)) was not dealt with. There is a PowerPoint file on mLearning attributed to Damian Gordon and Claire McDonnell on Webcourses as well as a research paper from 2012 (in PDF form) entitled Mobile Learning: Not Just Another Delivery Method and a MP4 video which is a video recording of Damian Gordon going through the mLearning PowerPoint slideshow.

The first topic (Models of Instructional Design) was dealt with by Damian Gordon and the second topic (VLEs) was delivered by Pauline Rooney.

Models of Instructional Design was really a flipped classroom as Damian had emailed the class about five videos of himself teaching this topic. I had looked at all the videos in advance and although I was not really used to being taught this way, I found it an enjoyable and effective way to be taught. I thought that Damian synchronised his narration with the PowerPoint slideshow in the background very effectively. It worked!

The following macro models of instructional design were dealt with during today’s class:

(1) Bloom’s Taxonomy
(2) ADDIE Model
(3) ASSURE Model
(4) ABCD Format
(5) Dick and Carey Model
(6) Tripp and Bichelmeyer Rapid Prototyping
(7) Gilly Salmon’s Five Stage Model of E-Learning
(8) Pam Moule’s eLearning Ladder
(9) Diana Laurillard’s Conversational Framework
(10) Alessi and Trollip Design and Development Model

The following micro models of instructional design were dealt with during today’s class:

(1) Gagné’s Nine Events of Instruction
(2) Reigeluth’s Elaboration Theory(3) Component Display Theory
(4) First Principles of Instruction (David Merrill)
(5) ICARE Model (Dick and Carey)
(6) The Science of Instruction (Ruth Clark and Richard Mayer)
(7) Active Learning
(8) Six Thinking Hats Model
(9) Six Hats Instructional Model

The last part of the class was on the subject of VLEs (Virtual Learning Environments) and was delivered by Pauline Rooney. I am interested in VLEs and in deploying MOODLE as the VLE of choice in the school that I work in.

Feelings

I very much enjoyed today’s class as I am interested in both Instructional Design Models and in VLEs.

Evaluation

The most important and popular macro models of instructional design are probably the ADDIE Model followed by the Dick and Carey Model. However, as Damian pointed out, most of the models tend to be some variation of the ADDIE Model. Bloom’s Taxonomy of Educational Objectives is still important in relation to instructional design at the macro level.

The most important and popular micro model of instructional design is probably Gagné’s Nine Events of Instruction.

Analysis

For me, the delineation between macro models (for course design) and micro models (for lesson design) of instructional design was probably the most important outcome of today’s class.

Conclusions

There are a lot of models of instructional design! It is interesting to note that Bloom (for macro) and Gagné (for micro) are still important players in the modern world of digital learning design.

Personal Action Plans

Study the materials on Webcourses during the week as there are a lot of instructional design models and a lot of detail involved.

M1-Week 4-Home

Here is the text I prepared, as required, on a single A4 page for Week 5 of the Learning Theories module on 11th October 2016:

Learning Theories Module – Paper 1 (Work-in-Progress Presentation)

Van Hiele Model – A theory that describes how students learn geometry

by Gerard Kilkenny

00 – Introduction (300 Words)

The purpose of this paper is to examine how the van Hiele model can be used as a framework in the teaching and learning of geometry to Junior Cycle Maths students. It goes on to explore how elements of the classical learning theories of cognitivism and constructivism are embedded in the van Hiele theory. In particular, it provides a comparative analysis of the Van Hiele model wih the theoretical learning frameworks of Gagne, Piaget, Bruner and Vygotsky. The concluding section discusses possible implications of the Van Hiele model for eLearning design.

10 – Van Hiele Model (The 5 Levels) (480 Words)

Level 1 (Visualisation), Level 2 (Analysis) Level 3 (Abstraction), Level 4 (Deduction), Level 5 (Rigour).

20 – Van Hiele Model (The 4 Properties) (110 Words)

Property 1 (Fixed Sequence), Property 2 (Adjacency), Property 3 (Distinction), Property 4 (Separation).

30 – Van Hiele Model (The 5 Phases) (180 Words)

Phase 1 (Inquiry), Phase 2 (Directed Orientation), Phase 3 (Explanation), Phase 4 (Free Orientation), Phase 5 (Integration)

40 – The Gagne Van Hiele Connection

Gagné et al (1992, p.44) list “verbal information” as one of the “five kinds of learned capabilities” (R-40, p.44) and this can perhaps be mapped to van Hiele’s Level 0 where “the student can learn names of figures…” (Usiskin, 1982, p.4). Similarly, the capability of identifying the diagonal of a rectangle is provided as an example of the capability “intellectual skill” by Gagné et al (1992, p.44) (R-40, p.44) which appears to have it’s equivalent in van Hiele’s Level 1 where students can understand that “rectangles have four right angles” (Hoffer, 1979, 1981) or that a rectangle “has two equal diagonals” (The Project Maths Development Team, 2014, p.32).

50 – Van Hiele and Piaget

Piaget (1953) (R-50) argues that children do not enter the formal operational stage until they are 14 years of age and that they cannot learn formal proofs before this period. Van Hiele (1985) (R-51) describes similar properties in his penultimate geometric level deduction although he does not specify which age pupils reach this level. In Irish secondary schools, students generally don’t study formal proofs in geometry until second or third year when they are approximately 14 years old. (R-04)

60 – Van Hiele, Vygotsky and Bruner

Van Hiele questioned the notions of growth being linked with biological maturation. Instead, in ways that have much in common with Vygotsky (1978), he saw development in terms of students’ confrontation with the cultural environment, their own exploration, and their reaction to a guided learning process. (p.112)

70 – Neuroscience and Teaching

What can neuroscience teach us about teaching? (Dr. William O’Connor)

http://icep.ie/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/What-can-neuroscience-teach-us-about-teaching.pdf

80 – Implications for ICT and Instructional Design

Book (Principles of Instructional Design), Book (Michael Allen’s Guide to e-Learning) Software (GeoGebra).

Key References

Curran, S. (2014). Is The Van Hiele Model Useful in Determining How Children Learn Geometry? Munich: GRIN.

Gagné, R. M., Briggs, L. J., & Wager, W. W. (1992). Principles of Instructional Design. Fort Worth: Harcourt.

Piaget, J. (1953). The Origin of Intelligence in the Child. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul.

Project Maths Development Team (2015). Teacher Handbook First Year. Retrieved September 25, 2016, from http://www.projectmaths.ie/documents/handbooks/firstyearhandbook2015.pdf

Usiskin, Z (1982). Van Hiele Levels and Achievement in Secondary School Geometry. University of Chicago

Yazdani, M. A. (2008). The Gagne – van Hieles Connection: A Comparative Analysis of Two Theoretical Learning Frameworks. Journal of Mathematical Sciences & Mathematics Education, 3(1), 58-63.

M1-Week 4-Class

The following are photos of the posters used during today’s debate:

The motion was a quotation from William Edwards Deming who was an American engineer, statistician, professor, author, lecturer, and management consultant.

My group opposed the motion and I had the job of writing up points 1 to 9 as well as debating against the nominee from the group supporting the motion. My group won the debate!

We also looked at Kolb’s Learning Cycle in today’s class.