End of a project

This afternoon marked the last meeting for our digital information project. It involved a focus group to discuss the project, our learning, and the nature of digital information literacy.
It was curious that all of us, though this was a project about digital information literacy, enjoyed the face to face contact with members of the group and wanted to continue building the community of practice that has developed over the last few months.

I used the metaphor of a children's advent calendar for my learning over the time of the project; opening a series of exciting doors to reveal what lay behind. I feel like I have been playing with many tools and many ideas for their use. Each new door led me to another set of ideas that I could put into practice. I felt that during the project I needed to learn everything that was on offer. Now the project is over it will be time to consolidate and close some of the loops on the active projects I have started on.

I am very grateful for the support of the project leaders - O, L, & D and to all the team members. I learned so much just from listening to what everyone was working on.

YouTube Facebook and other distractions

The last couple of weeks have seen me become distracted from my goal of using digital literacy as a tool to improve my teaching. I have however, been building my skills on a much more personal level and have been investigating the internet's amazing ability for social networking. Part of this is about connecting to the types of things my students might be using and partly for my own benefit.

I signed up to friends unlimited, a UK internet network, and have already found one friend from the high school I attended. We have exchanged a couple of emails and though A was not a close friend at school we spent seven years together in the same form and took mostly the same subjects. Unfortunately A does not live in my home town so I won't be able to catch up when I go back to the UK next year.

I have been playing with my new camera and as well as creating a file of useful photos for my PowerPoint presentations -and I have used a couple already - I have also uploaded a video from the camera to YouTube. I discovered a little space on the side of my laptop to insert the XD card form my camera directly rather than using a USB cable. This saved me a little search time. It took ages to upload and then wasn't available for 8 hours except via the email link I sent - but it was worth perservering. I have already had several comments from family overseas and see this as another great way of keeping in touch.

I have learned a few tricks with my camera including panorama shots which I have never tried before - for once I actually read the manual after playing around without for quite a while. The menus etc are very easy to use on this Olympus ( http://www.olympusamerica.com/cpg_section/product.asp?product=1363) - much simpler than the Canon we had originally. Iwould recommend it to anyone. I took it out in the big storm a couple of weeks ago to photograph the damage done to our property by all the rain without worrying that it could be damaged. I also took it out for rainy walk in the forest. The phot at the top of the page is of a basket fungus I found .


I also got back onto Facebook after deciding not to use it because of the difficulty of deleting material. My brother in England and my husband, who often travels, have both set up pages too, to add to others in the family. My hotmail Spaces site was not being well used as most people seem to be on Facebook so I decided to go with the majority. My youngest daughter (20) has not accepted me as a friend. We discussed and agreed to this -there can be too much sharing. I am not concerned about what she has on her site - we have had several conversations about Internet safety and consequences, and I trust her. It is about maintaining privacy - just like I wouldn't read her diary.

Facebook is a very interesting and interconnected network and friends of friends keep turning up. I don't add them. my intentions is simply to use it as a way of keeping in touch with family overseas. I am sure it can be very time consuming - I know my daughter is on it most days.

I was discussing Second Life with a group of students last week and I was interested to find out that very few had heard about it at all. No one used it, though one student shared that her father was totally addicted to it to her mother's horror and spent a lot of time and money riding Harley Davidson's in cyberspace.

I have been involved in strategic planning this week and want to work towards more blended delivery of the two courses I am responsible for as well as the Degree I teach on as a whole. The shifting price of petrol makes this even more important as many of our students travel for over an hour to reach class. I also taught a night class last week and found several students too tired to engage. If there was more on line learning they could have the choice of when they wanted to study. Interestingly quite a few of the students said they preferred to attend a class which will need further study. I need more time to pursue this and so it has to be written into the strategic plan otherwise development resources will not be available.

During the last DIL session I tried Snagit software and liked the way it could capture a video of the screen as well as a still shot I want to install it on my computer and try it out. I also started to set up a wiki on PBWiki (http://pbwiki.com/). I can see how wikis can be a really collaborative creations and could last over several years (how permanent are such sites?).
I would like to set up one for each of my courses and also an alumni wiki to keep in touch with our students when they have graduated. For my creativity class I can see that the students would be able to develop an online gallery of the creative work they produce. I wonder if a wiki is the best thing to do? perhaps a website is better though I like the collaborative nature of the wiki. I need more information.

My reflection on my involvement in this project is that I have tried out may things - making and editing sound files; editing, downloading, and uploading videos; improving my PowerPoint presentations by adding video and sound files and decluttering the visuals, developing personal connectedness through the web, keeping a blog, investigating eportfolios, making a wiki, developing my skills with a digital camera amongst other things. What i have not yet done is actually complete the project i set out to do. That will have to be the next step. I have followed my curiosity and developed a much bigger toolkit than I had previously - and that has been fun.

Video in PowerPoint

I spent quite a session last weekend finding out how to download videos from you tube, editing them and then inserting small clips into a presentation. This all fits in with my aim of moving to a more graphic/visual presentation style in PowerPoint

The session involved putting firefox and a firefox add in on my Vista laptop (thanks for the information D) so that I could download useful videos from you tube to a downloads folder in mpeg. It took a couple of tries before I found a download that worked and in the end I put youTube catcher on. This let me convert the FLV files to another format -MOV which seems to be the standard quick time format. This involved a fair bit of trial and error. I really need a glossary of file types with what they are used for - it really is hard to work it all out. I just hope I have got the sequence right to do it again. I guess practice makes perfect.

Then I had to transfer the videos via a pen drive to a mac so that I could edit them easily. I tried the editing package on my laptop - windows movie maker - and found I had to split the movie into sections myself - which took too much time. With the apple package - imovie, this happened automatically and it was so much easier. I found I could insert a movie clip into powerpoint with a mac or my home windows computer. I had thought this was only possible on a mac at first.

I used a couple of TED talks on you tube (originally from http://www.ted.com/) to trial this out, plus a section from a pasifika TV show on making drums in Raratonga, the Cook Islands. It all worked well though the pasifika show was rather low quality, and I now have a useful and interesting powerpoint to use in my teaching. I'll be interested to see what the response is from my students.

I also tried to connect a movie camera to my laptop so I could make and edit my own movies. Unfortunately, even though the camera is only about 3 years old the software "Sony" did not work with vista. I tried to get a download from the Sony website - could find the camera model but not a down load. my next step is to get an ilink cable, which the instruction book tells me will connect the camera directly to a mac. - I'll keep looking for updated software for vista though.

Through all of this I have really begun to understand what being a "digital immigrant" means. The language is so foreign, the culture feels alien, I feel incompetent. I am out of my comfort zone. This is even though I have been using computers as a teaching/learning tool since 1979 when the English High School I was teaching in had a couple of Commodore 64s - I even went on a Basic programming course that year (I have never attempted to write a programme since).

My three children, all in their early twenties, are on the other hand digital natives. The youngest was playing solitaire on a PC at 3 - and that's one of the ways she learned to count. My 20 and 25 year old daughters communicate daily with friends all over the world through facebook and Bebo. These sites are even more important to them than their cell phones. The eldest, with a job in marketing, is involved in emarketing and develping web pages. My 23 year old son composes music on his PC as well as design - he is doing a masters degree in architecture . My husband's business is mechatronics. It is easy to ask any of them for help. However I guess the only way to build my own skills is by doing - trial and error, and putting some time aside to play.

moving on

When I took one of my regular PowerPoints and analysed it, I saw that I could easily reduce the text content down. but then - what would I be left with?

Further reflection led me to a search for the meaning behind my presentation. I asked myself the question - "if students only remembered 10 things about my presentation what should they be?" Next I looked for the affective dimension - how to capture the emotions.

I decided to use photographs as backgrounds and limit the text to just a few words - essentially a single thought or comment. Pare everything back to the essence and match the pictures very carefully with the message I want to give. This was an interesting concept to work with - the visual and the text working together.

I spent ages looking through my own photographs and then started to look through the web. I found a wonderful site called morguefiles.com. This site stores photographs that are free to use - provided attribution is made. By combining my own and other photographs gradually my powerpoint took shape. This process took 4 hours one Sunday afternoon

I tested the powerpoint on various colleagues and the members of the DIL project and got great feedback. "I wish all our lecturers would make PowerPoints like that " said one of our student DIL project members, which was very encouraging. I can't wait to try it out with my own students.

I know that it will take a significant investment of time to change all my presentations to this style, especially as I will also have to produce handouts to go with them. I feel it will give me back the flexibility and creativity in my teaching that I have been craving.

Looking at my presentations in readiness for the next semester of teaching I was totally aware of how many times I was using the templates in powerpoint as backgrounds and how often i have seen those same backgrounds in my colleagues presentations too. On reflection how lacking in originality

Taking the text off the PowerPoints means that I can also be more creative in how I present the content information to students too. My aim is to produce a one to two page handout per powerpoint. I am going to look at "Course Genie" software to see how this might integrate.

One of the things I would like to know now is how to have the PowerPoint notes pages visible on my front desk computer and the slide show version through the data show.

I have bought a new digital camera to use - a shockproof, waterproof Olympus. I can safely carry this around with me - and already I am beginning to capture images that will provide backgrounds for my future slide shows.

end of death by powerpoint

I spent some time reflecting on how to make my PowerPoint presentations more engaging.
What I have noticed is that I, like so many teachers/presenters, seem to have fallen into the trap of making my powerpoints full of the content of our presentation - with endless text and bullet points. I have heard some of my colleagues say that they don't need a lesson plan because it is all in their powerpoint.
I have reached this point in my thinking because of several factors

• a presentation on brain based learning I attended last year where I came across the phrase "Death by PowerPoint" for the first time
• a desire to teach more from a conceptual rather than a content perspective
• thinking about the "crowded curriculum" and who makes it crowded - often me
• reflection on the number of slides I sometimes have in a presentation - mostly of content
• the linear nature of powerpoint - start at the beginning and work through to the end
• a desire to make my presentations more flexible so I can respond to the direction of my students without someone complaining I have missed somenthing out not finished
• a desire to make my presentations more memorable
• an intention to make the talk parts of my classes shorter and have more time for classroom exercises and discussion
• a desire to make more use of images to connect with student emotions
• a reflection that printing powerpoint handouts is not the best way to communicate content with students

I have been watching quite a few TED Talks on the internet and looked carefully at the powerpoint presentations. Many of these were graphics rather than words and the presenters spoke for their alloted 20 minutes without reading from text on the slides. The talks are full of emotion, enthusiasm and interest and I thought I would like to try it

So I took one of my regular powerpoints - mostly text and some images. I analysed it

Podcasts and streaming video

Session three

Another interesting session!
I had doubts about whether I had the time available to be involved in this project. Now after three weeks I am very pleased I signed up.

Already I have learned so much.

So far I have:

1. Acquired two pieces of equipment to help a colleague with her project- an eeepc and a digital photo frame
2. Set up this blog
3. Reviewed eportfolios and discovered the difference between blogs and eportfolios
4. Found out the advantages and challenges of podcasts versus streaming video from the institute server (I had planned to make podcasts but think I will start with streaming video)
5. Considered privacy issues with material held on the net - and thought about what is the best platform for me to use for my reflections - will continue with this blog but I am also using onenote in office 2007 - since it connects with my PDA and has good screen capture and live links - not so good for photos or videos - but they do not form a big part of my reflections as yet. I am interested in the levels of privacy eportfolios can provide
6. Set up delicious (query spelling) and google bookmarks so I can access them from any computer
7. Started to collect material for my first video
8. Started to plan for videos 2 & 3
9. Applied to have the smartboard software on my work computer - and next step my laptop - I am looking forward to creating interesting and interactive material for my classes next semester
10. Set up training for my colleagues on the use of the smartboard - trying to get them enthusiastic so we can apply for funding to have them in two more classrooms
11. Checked out other's blogs and posted comments
12. Requested purchase of a digital recorder to assist in this project
13. Found out how to play videos full screen from the server
14. Answered one of my questions from the first session - how much can we trust digital information? - not much - it is so easy to edit and change

We have been encouraged to use a three step reflective process (Bronwyn Hegarty 2007):

• Step 1: Take notice & describe the experience
• Step 2: Analyse the experience
• Step 3: Take Action

So what did I notice this afternoon? That creating digital material to support student learning is both interesting and time consuming. I enjoyed playing with the apple mac computer and seeing the seamless ease with which it can help with creating and editing sounds, images and movies. I can't wait to play. If I had not bought a new laptop at the beginning of this year I would have gone for a Mac.

Analysis: The Mac makes creating these digital materials more achievable without huge amounts of technical support - I will be able to do it myself (I think)

Action:

1. plan my first video - What is it going to be about? Who exactly is the audience? What do they want to know/learn? what is the best way of getting this message across? how can I make it interesting and engaging? beginning, middle and end?
2. make the sound recordings for the introduction and voice overs etc
3. Collect sound effects
4. video my own material to set the scene

Also:

• Check out teacher tube for useful videos
• Download Audacity software to PC to record and edit sounds
• Try out mac laptop for imovies and garageband
  

Videos, smart boards and play

I found the Digital Literacy session this afternoon really interesting. I particularly enjoyed seeing B....'s video and was taken by the fact that so much preparation went into it beforehand. He said - "You have to get everything down on paper first otherwise you will waste so much time".

I teach a class on creativity in education. Thursday is the “culminating event” - an exhibition of this semesters work. Students display their creative products and also the documentation of the processes they used to create them to their invided guests. D... is going to video the students and their projects. I will be able to use the video to show a vision of what is possible in my next classes. I need to think through what will benefit these future groups of students most. If they see the videos - what would be the questions they would like to ask about the project processes and products? I feel I have to put myself in the place of these future students to design the questions and yet keep it simple. Perhaps I can ask each group different questions so that I can cover more.

My initial plan had been for me to interview students directly; being in the frame with them - yet perhaps it would be better to provide the students with the questions and then for me to stay out of the way and let them answer in their own way.

Another alternative would be to use B...y's example. I found that his method of staying behind the camera, as he interviwed people in Otara market, very powerful – it gave a sense of intimacy with the subjects of his interviews – as if I was doing the interview myself. Perhaps afterwards I could edit in an introduction and conclusion where I front up to the camera – to create the narrative, and a sense of coherence and continuity. It suddenly seems a much bigger project than I had thought. Help! There is only a day to think about this.

Preparation must be the key to so much of this digital teaching and learning (as it is with any teaching and learning interaction/intervention); thinking through what we want to present, the learning we hope will take place, and then making decisions about the best means of doing this. Which of these wonderful tools at our disposal will be the most appropriate?

I expect these tools to add value to what I do in the classroom. If I am going to invest time in using them to create materials for students, then it has to be productive time for all of us – teacher and students.

I have been very engaged with the videos on TED talks in the last year (http://www.ted.com/). I have shown and discussed some in class and have put several of them on Blackboard for students to access. I find the format – a restriction to 20 minutes per talk and the focus on interesting and thought provoking topics - very powerful. This site has been a source of inspiration for my own project to capture relevant material for students through audio and video.

I particularly want to bring our local experts into the sphere of our classroom discussion more easily than the current “guest lecture” strategy. When you ask the same people repeatedly, eventually you can overextend their goodwill and potentially lose their expertise. The guest lecturer process also occupies a large amount of time in the classroom – with introductions, thanks et cetera. There is also a limit to how many people you can ask. For me there is also an equity issue – whose voice is being heard? Voices, viewpoints and topics are limited when you can only bring a few people into the classroom. I hope therefore, that I can bring more diversity into the voices that students hear. I also want to ensure that student’s own voices are captured as part of this process. I do not want to replace guest speakers entirely; the interactive process is very important. It is an AND.

I also want to create my own snippets of video and audio – what are the key points for each of my teaching sessions? What is it that I want students to remember and engage with? I can see that this is becoming a huge project and I see it as evolving over a long period of time. My focus on the next few weeks of the action research project is making sure that I keep my project achievable.

My next reflection is to rmeind myself that play is an important learning process for all of us, not just children. Sometimes we forget how much fun it can be just to play. When Dave invited us to try the smart board – the energy level of the group increased and there was a buzz of excitement as people tried out its features and explored just what it could do. I already use the smart board a little in my classes and now, instead of simply using the notepad to record what students do in the classroom – I plan is to use it to create material before class.

This links to another ongoing reflection I havehad; “Death by PowerPoint”. This began at the end of last year when I attended Mike Scadden’s workshop on brain based learning. He put the phrase out there and I have returned to it many times since then. I introduced this topic to the group this afternoon and we had a useful discussion on how PowerPoint encourages/confines us to present in very linear, logical ways. It seems to me that when we used overhead transparencies it was much easier to change a class or presentation in response to student’s questions, interests, and misunderstandings. It didn’t take long to pull out an overhead from a folder from future or previous classes – even one form a different course (though it took me a long time after class to put my folder back together). It is not quite so simple to do this with PowerPoint – that important in the moment reflection and response is curtailed. An additional concern is when I place our presentations on Blackboard and students print these off before class, some students express dismay when I try to change the order – I am being socialised by the students to keep to this linear plan. I wonder if I prepare classes using notepad I will be able to encourage interaction and discussion in more interesting ways.

I still have many questions - even more than last week – yet I feel am beginning to think through the answers to some of them. I am left with one main questions as I go home tonight – how can I use digital literacy to add value?

Digital thoughts

I have just joined a small digital information literacy research project. We met together for the first time this afternoon and began our adventure.

I am thinking about what digital information literacy is? Where will it take me in the future as a teacher? What will I learn and perhaps how will I influence that future? As a digital immigrant rather than a digital native, to what extent will my ventures into the digital world be clumsy and culturally inept? - and will this matter? - and who would judge?

To what extent is the digital age creating a new elite of those with access to computers and broadband? The new eeePCs and other mini laptops may go some way to address the digital divide - will it be far enough? Who is excluded when as teachers we create more digital information and learning materials? Who is empowered? How do we address these potential inequities? How and with whom do we advocate for students to obtain laptops and broadband internet access for example? Is it good enough simply to have computers on site in learning institutions or do we need to do more so students have these tools in their own hands in their own places not just ours?

In New Zealand it may be realistic to expect that the majority of students will have these tools within the next couple of years. It has already changed so much even in the last five years. But what about other countries? Is it increasing the divisions between the haves and the have nots?

What if by increasing our reliance on digital information we are missing out on other important ways of knowing that depend on personal encounters with people, places, things and events?

I am curious about how the web has the potential to be a vehicle by which we create our own reality either deliberately, for example through this blog, or inadvertantly through the searches we do on line, the materials we purchase or view, and the interactions we have with others in this etheric community.

I was extemely interested in the thought of the distributed nature of the web, its interconnectedness rather than logical heirarcy - I feel I need to know more about how this works.

I am curous about trust and truth and to what extent this really matters. How much can I believe in what I see and find? How I can evaluate content and discourse.

I enjoyed listening to others discuss their potential projects in the group. I saw the enthusiasm in our faces, heard the hesitancy in the confessions of what we did not know yet and wanted to find out. In the sense that everything was possible - yet in a 10 week time frame? I am pleased that others are thinking about similar projects and reassured about the amount of support available.

I wondered how much more I learned from sitting and watching and listening to others in the group rather than just reading and interacting on line.

I am certainly looking forward to the next 9 weeks. I doubt that I will find the answers to all the questions I have posed here, yet the exploration of even my own simple project will be fascinating and lead me on an unpredicatable journer of discovery.