Understanding blended learning

From Tuesday 23 February 2016

Blended Learning is really impportant in an information driven environment.

I find students come to univiersity with assumed knowledge that they can use the technology, but this is not always so. As long as the outcomes of the unit are achieved and the design of the assessments and program encourage learners to engage deeply in the learning process, introducing technological skills and terminology leads to lifelong learning and employability, possibly even in jobs that have not yet been created.

The key is to find the right balance and to not use too many techie tools. Depending on the outcomes to be achieved, one or two tools being introduced and used most likely will suffice.

Research Thing 20: Making and sharing podcasts and videos

Here is a Ted Talk I found interesting with Bill Gates discussing a program to bring teacher feedback into the classroom. Australia does better then the US with giving teacher feedback, but it is an informative video on how to get feedback in teaching.  Research on effective teacher feedback is a valuable tool for improving education.

I also listen to a range of podcasts in my personal time, mostly on health related topics of interest, but also about life coaching, spirituality and technology. I can see how podcasts and videos can be valuable data and also to communicate to the world research output. They are becoming more popular and great for visual and auditory learners.

Research Thing 19 : Screen capture tools

I have used Adobe Captivate fairly ofen as part of creating demo videos for information literacy instruction.

My top 5 tips are:

1. Create a storyboard or script of what you would like to include;
2. Run through the tasks that will be demonstrated before recording;
3. Use a clear voice and a good quality podcasting microphone for the audio explanations;
4. Keep the videos bite sized and short so it is not too overwhelming for viewers;
5. Make sure all videos are consistent and professional looking if going on a website (eg. consistent branding, layout, fonts etc.)

Research Thing 17 : Visualisation tools

In research, data in difference formats is usually needed to illustrate and represent visually the information that supports certain arguments or facts. Although I have not heard of or explored data visualisation tools before, I think such tools would be very useful to display data in a way that is visually appealing and makes information processing a lot easier for the audience / readers.

Research Thing 16: Mapping tools

I have yet to explore and understand mapping tools. I can see their use, especially for historical purposes (like HistoryPin) and also to tag photos with the location for future reference. It would be useful in some research disciplines like History, Geography and the Sciences.This is not a Thing I am completely familiar with (I have only heard of HistoryPin before) and it is not as useful to me as other Research Things. I liaise with the School of Education - in a curriculum and pedagogical setting for research output, how can mapping tools be used? If anyone has any suggestions to offer me, I am willing to explore mapping tools further.

Research Thing 15: managing research data

I and some of my colleagues at my campus have had questions from academics regarding organising data files using naming conventions. It is very important, from the start, to name and label data in a way that makes it easily retrievable when needed. Apart from organising the files in a logical order and with metadata, storing the digital data in a secure way is crucial. I learnt about CloudStor in a previous lesson, which is a useful tool for storing data in the cloud. I have more to learn about this area of research and how we, as librarians, can use our organisational skills and expertise, to assist or advise researchers about naming conventions for their data files and storage options.

Research Thing 14: Reference management tools

I predominantly use and have expertise in EndNote as ACU subscribes to this. Once a user sets up and learns the basics of EndNote, I can assist them also in building their skills to tailor EndNote to meet their research needs. It is an excellent program, but if you want to collaborate, not so easy, unless you use EndNote Online. The desktop version, however, is more powerful and I prefer this version (as long as you back up a compressed version of your library to a USB or the cloud like Dropbox).

RefWorks I have yet to grasp. I have issues installing the Write'n'Cite plugin and this was also difficult when assisting a student on his Mac laptop. It was frustrating. I am much more competent with EndNote.

I have experimented with both Zotero and Mendeley. I have the Zotero browser extension in my Firefox browser, but I haven't used it enough to know the benefits. Also, I had completed the first two parts of a three part Mendeley Librarian Certification program offered by Elsevier. The beauty of Mendeley is the collaborative aspect, where you can create a private group and share papers, and work on a project (like a publication) with others. There are also public groups where you can share citations, and I like that social networking aspect of Mendeley. I had two academics from ACU ask me if there are any tools to use for sharing references and creating a paper with a peer from another university as they worked on a publication. At the time I only knew of EndNote and it wasn't the best for collaboration. If only I knew more about Mendeley to provide information to these researchers back then so a more informative decision could be made.

Each reference management tool has its strengths and weaknesses. It is a matter of assessing your needs before you start on your project (eg. is it individual or collaborative) and making a call on which tool is most appropriate to use from the start.