Communicating in an Information Age blog
Ruth's thoughts and reflections.
26 January 2007
S2.01
I had the first class yesterday and I've survived to tell the tale, so it can't have been all bad!
Unfortunately only 7 out of 24 students turned up at the class due to a communication glitch - ironic isn't it? Still, we had a good session. The students' initial reactions were a bit "what have I let myself in for?", but after talking through the assessment and demonstrating the course wiki and blogs they appeared to be viewing it more positively as a challenge. I've check Blackboard this morning and some had continued working from home so that's a good sign I think.
I had a few problems with Blackboard's adaptive release. I'd put a quiz in amongst things and I'd obviously set the rules wrong. Anyway, I think that's sorted now. I've also managed to get this blog published so that you can post comments without getting a Permission Denied message.
Posted by Ruth Whitfield at 13:49
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19 January 2007
Blogs v thoughts
Although it's probably more user friendly to post a message via the blog, I've not yet found a way of adding attachments to posts. However, if I create a thought asset to which you can attach files, I can then add this to the blog. It's not obvious there are attachments; however, these are seen when the blog reader clicks on the Read more link.
Ah! I've just discovered that you can add an attachment to the blog posting if you go into edit the thought asset it creates. Still, this is a bit more long winded than creating a thought asset in the first instance. Perhaps this is just my personal preference?
Posted by Ruth Whitfield at 09:06
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17 January 2007
Blogs and gateways
I was going to ask students to publish their blog to the gateway; however, this gives a warning that when doing so their blog becomes publicly available for comments. Looking at PebblePads help movies it looks as though if you want to assess a blog, the most secure way is to add the blog to the webfolio.
Posted by Ruth Whitfield at 14:28
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S1.14
Well, it's the week before I deliver the module to Combined Studies students. I've been busy getting Blackboard ready. All the collaborative work will be done in Blackboard so I've set up group blogs and wikis and class blogs and wikis. PebblePad will be used for individual blogs and webfolios. I've attached screen shots to show how I've set up the wikis etc. I'm also using adaptive release so that students have to mark each directed study task as reviewed before the next task is revealed. Again, I attach screenshots of these. I was a little concerned about this as it may disadvantage those who do not have easy access to a computer, so I've also offered the directed study tasks in pdf for those who want to print them out. Having said that, a lot of the tasks need to be performed online anyway; this is something I need to keep an eye on.
I'm both excited and anxious about delivering the module. We'll be using lots of technologies that are new to the University and I'll be one of the first to use them in module assessments. I'm really excited about how these tools might add to the students' learning experience and how the University might be able to develop social networking tools for learning and knowlede management. More so as the module is part of TQEG's ELP2 project.
On the flip side, I'm aware that new technologies may not behave as I expect and things could go horribly wrong. Still, I've got a good support team in LSS and I'm sure we'll be able to iron out any difficulties.
Posted by Ruth Whitfield at 11:47
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