Creative Commons

The creative commons licencing process is a really interesting development from an e-Learning developers perspective.  The possibility of accessing work and content that has been designed and developed elsewhere is a huge attraction to a large organisation such as mine.  I have long argued for a repository of 'stuff' and with the growth of Global Commons materials and the processes to develop and distribute new 'stuff' without fear of using somebodies proprietary materials inadvertently makes great sense.  I was unaware of the type of licencing available within the framework and had assumed wrongly it was all 'up for grabs'.  With this misnomer corrected I'm off to work out what you can do with what and see where CC materials take us.

Acquisition and Participation Metaphors

In terms of military technical training/ education, the AM PM divide is sound. Though this appears wholly dependent upon our assessment what is really being tested in order to do the job.  Therefore our assessment strategy for that particular element of a course is critical.  We require trainees to grasp fact, information in terms of concepts, notions, principles and ideas but also to be able to apply those in the work place.  Therefore we generate scenarios for assessment purposes which demonstrate acquisition of knowledge and the demonstration of AE good practice.   So I see strong comparators with teaching nursing, pharmacy or other 'professional' skills. 

The risk of creating holes in the countryside is considered significant enough for Air Engineering in particular to take steps to create not only technicians but ‘air mindedness’ within technicians.  This is about integrity, procedure, supervision and so on.  This PM is central to learning in the AE world, though until Sfard, I’d not seen it articulated in such a way.  It raises questions over whether our assessment strategies for AE is indeed correct in all cases.  Often I have intervened in systems where the ‘wrong’ thing was being assessed.  This delineation gives me a principle to hang those arguments upon.

The suggestion of a single metaphor which catches all is ambitious.  Furthermore I like the idea that the AM / PM divide highlights weakness in the other and moves towards what Lynda Hine suggest is a more critical approach to understanding what learning is about.  

Lastly, the question of whether the AE learning is individual or socially contextual.  It has to be both.  The individual has responsibility for their actions but the system is designed to reduce bad practice and error.  Knowing where you as a technician sit within that system is, I would suggest  as contextual learning as it gets.   

Isn't Reading Blogs as Relevant as Writing them?

It strikes me that the reason for writing a blog which is summed up by the blog category (column b) is not the same as why students or learners read the blog.  Paraphrased from Guthrie, Bennett and McGough  2004, ‘Motivations for reading are internalized, enabling the individual to perform acts such as acquiring knowledge, enjoying aesthetic experiences, performing tasks, and participating in social contexts’. They go onto outline the reasons for reading. 

• Curiosity, as in the desire to learn about a topic
• Aesthetic involvement, as in the enjoyment of experiencing a literary text
• Challenge, as in the orientation to learning complex ideas from text
• Recognition, as in the gratification in receiving a tangible form of reward for success in reading
• Grades, as in favorable evaluations from a teacher

They further propose that ‘motivations for reading also include: social, processes of constructing and sharing meanings in groups; and compliance, adaptation to an external goal or requirement’.  These in particular would appear to hold true within the blogging world. 

 http://www.readingrockets.org/article/260

Core Activity 9.1: Desktop research – Blogs and Blogging

Serial (a)	Blog Category  (b)	Example Site (c)	Notes (d)
1	Reflective Personal	http://grantkellyou.blogspot.com/ http://collinsmh808.blogspot.com/	Reflection often instigated by the need for assessment therefore often institute or assessment driven.  Continued as ‘Habit’ forming.  But many personal Blogs lie dormant.  As intuitional or course derived, continuation after the course is sometimes problematic.
2	Reflection Professional	http://quantumlearningblog.wordpress.com/ http://wedderburn-college.blogspot.com/	Reflection of professional learning.  Possibly assessment driven but often done for Professional level learning. More likely where reflection is seen as a core professional trait and a stepping stone to professional recognition. Evidence to suggest that these reflective blogs (1&2) are less likely to have feedback or response as opposed to below (3).  Can be either personal professional or corporate professional.
3	Intellectual Exchange, Data Mining / Research	http://edtechdev.wordpress.com/2010/03/19/the-digital-natives-digital-immigrants-distinction-is-dead-or-at-least-dying/	Research orientation. Academic musing over concept, thought or approach.  May be used as two way communication tool (debate in public) and often become more forum orientated.  Expert opinion aired for feedback. (Williams and Jacobs, 2004)
4	Signposting / pathway	http://www.downes.ca/ http://sperry20.edublogs.org/ http://www.academicevolution.com/	Assistance to fellow educators, students etc undertaking the same learning journey. (Oravec, 2002????) Range from ‘Evangelical’ to ‘informative’ in perspective. Danger of being viewed as authority on subject where bias is clear. (Corbyn, 2008, Kirkup, 2010)
5	Community Creation & Communication	http://technorati.com/blogging/article/state-of-the-blogosphere-2010-introduction/ http://blog.techsmith.com/edublog/
6	Political persuasion	http://www.educationstate.org/

 I seem to have put the references some where safe!!  Here's some.....     

Brown, S. (2006) ‘The Blogging Spectrum - An alternative classification system for the blogosphere’, blog entry posted 8 August, 2006. Available online:http://modernl.com/article/the-blogging-spectrum

Corbyn, Z. (2008) ‘By the blog: academics tread carefully’, Times Higher Education, 9 October 2008. Available from:http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/story.asp?sectioncode=26&storycode=403827 (accessed 5 Jan 2011).

Core Activity 8.3: Communicating to an audience (2)

http://support.hopkins.k12.mn.us/podcasts/STP-MartinDougiamas.mp3

·                Sound quality – Professional, Music intro behind, conversational interview between interviewee and presenter.  Good constant sound levels.  Good voice. Presenter voice occasionally sounds computer based.

·                Broadcast quality – Very well constructed, though conversational.  Clearly spoken. Little background noise.

·                Suitability –Conversational approach, provides background to where Moodle came from and why Open Source should be used.  

·                Length – Appropriate, remained interested throughout and I didn’t get bored I did however find myself doing Ironing while listening.  The conversational style made it eay listening.  

·                Interest – Yes.  The podcast covered a variety of issues which were interlinked. It became clear that it was quite dated.

·                Academic quality – Opinion based, however as the interviewee is central to Moodle development it is authoritative.

·                Suggestions for improvement – A guard on the microphone would remove the occasional distraction.  

·                Suggestions for use – This is a ‘why and wherefore’ podcast.  It provides a useful history of Moodle, and the thinking behind it, it isn’t necessarily for enhancing skills.  It is an infomercial for want of a better term. 

Core Activity 8.3: Communicating to an audience

http://sclater.com/pod/podcasting-and-blogging.mp3

·                Sound quality –Adequate, breathy on occasions, good constant sound levels.  Good voice.

·                Broadcast quality –Very well constructed, clearly spoken. Little background noise.

·                Suitability – Very much so, possibly a little low but moves from simple to complex as required. Occasionally goes ‘off piste’ with personal experience. This however adds an additional dimension to the podcast.

·                Length – Appropriate, remained interested throughout and I didn’t get bored.

·                Interest – Yes.  The podcast covered a variety of issues which were interlinked.  Additionally the personal touch was good.

·                Academic quality – A little opinion, supported by academic research. Outlines the pedagogical thinking behind Podcasts and Blogging.

·                Suggestions for improvement – A guard on the microphone would remove the occasional distraction.  

·                Suggestions for use – This is an introduction for Podcasting and Blogging.  It outlines why these have grown in popularity and goes on to explain how to deliver podcasts and blogs to students. It also outlines the issues exposed by podcasting such as quality control of content.  Additionally, it outlines what type of information and learning is most suited to podcasting.  It also points to the possible future uses.  The speaker also discusses Blogging and RSS feeds and the cross over between Blogs and podcasts.  

Inquizitior for Learning

Inquizitior for Learning