tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-47862080027800326812024-03-13T16:36:45.623+00:00next stepsTout est possible - Talleyrand
(mais tout n'est pas souhaitable - Teresa)Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08495417459800479413noreply@blogger.comBlogger151125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4786208002780032681.post-13567581951323006362024-01-24T11:21:00.010+00:002024-01-25T08:57:10.593+00:00The future's bright...<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaX-XY3wj4-GVSzXiYhTqbTfm89ZUq_mMyRagQ5_AztR2FW1klNsqKOl86qYZ-1Q2rbKzohyFyMQxzI05iLc-fAslD7be2h8pXwogw0P6QvY8WF45866kk7VbOY4qhhUpo7HAaNx2EzaDpWIJvxIcccR5wd1gmdckBhu_63Glb-h_k6C65VEVLEuKMuQU/s1280/forest-fire-432870_1280.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Trees burning in a forrest fire" border="0" data-original-height="836" data-original-width="1280" height="261" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaX-XY3wj4-GVSzXiYhTqbTfm89ZUq_mMyRagQ5_AztR2FW1klNsqKOl86qYZ-1Q2rbKzohyFyMQxzI05iLc-fAslD7be2h8pXwogw0P6QvY8WF45866kk7VbOY4qhhUpo7HAaNx2EzaDpWIJvxIcccR5wd1gmdckBhu_63Glb-h_k6C65VEVLEuKMuQU/w400-h261/forest-fire-432870_1280.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /> <p></p><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span>Image by <a href="https://pixabay.com/users/ylvers-337353/?utm_source=link-attribution&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=image&utm_content=432870">Ylvers</a> from <a href="https://pixabay.com//?utm_source=link-attribution&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=image&utm_content=432870">Pixabay</a><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">Some of you may remember the tag line of a telecoms company that went:</span></div><blockquote><div><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">The future's bright, the future's Orange</span></div></blockquote><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">I have been reflecting on my participation in the Future Teacher 3.0 network and the connections between the future, the orange flames illustrated here, the nature of forest fires and technology are all coming to my mind. I last wrote about <a href="https://teresa-nextsteps.blogspot.com/2022/02/future-teacher-30-reflecting-on-impact.html" target="_blank">the impact of Future Teacher 3.0</a> nearly two years ago.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">Now I wish to reflect more urgently on the nature of this network and the resources it provides. Urgently because time is running out, we are (if you hadn't noticed, let's face it our government hasn't) in a global climate crisis. We are also at <a href="https://youtu.be/Zfqsvsg4goA?si=96LXElVWBMp2wUr_" target="_blank">90 seconds to midnight</a> on the Doomsday clock. The orange future is upon us like a forest fire. Education is urgent, must be accessible to all, sustainable and free from bias if it is to help humanity to face the future. Importantly, it needs to be trully sustainable. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">How does Future Teacher address this urgency? </span></p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><a href="http://bit.ly/ft30ukpage" target="_blank">the resources it contains </a>offer a comprehensive digital snapshot of technology enhanced learning in 3rd sector education spanning many years. <b>We can learn from the past to better face our future</b></span></li><li><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">the community it has created over 7 years is vibrant and supportive. You can connect on our <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/groups/12908561/" target="_blank">LinkedIn group</a> we have recently moved away from the burning hotspot of X formerly aka Twitter. <b>We are better together.</b></span></li><li><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">The shifting sands of technologically "enhanced" teaching and learning bring big challenges and a need for critical thought. <b>We have to watch our step.</b></span></li><li><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">As educators we have a responsibility to ensure access for all, push back against bias, exclusion and discrimination.<b> We must keep our eyes and our hearts open. </b></span></li></ul><div><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">Urgent action has been happening in Future Teacher 3.0 over a prolonged period thanks to a small group of committed individuals who got together supported by a little European funding and decided to keep going after the funding finished. That activity is captured on the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/@ft30uk" target="_blank">You Tube channel</a> with subtitles added to increase accessibility for all because it matters. We will be reflecting on the latest series of webinars shortly because urgent action in a crisis is best when it is based on informed, intelligent decisions rather than unthinking knee jerk reactions. I am very proud to a be team member and to be able to contribute in a small way by recognising through an open badge the work shared freely by others. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">If we can incorporate these resources into our teaching communities we have the possibility of the hope of a better educated, more sustainable way forward in education. The growth that often we are told follows forest fires, pushing up from the grass roots.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-IcUdbv5ueTLH15ONLWb8Y81QaMynb3DEz8XUod7zAdpBmmRDpmwHTA5rqygwVsuC-9NrNF5utu0ubMCIgS0TOAUzRYKTR1qdGjkKJfiaY324d8desVoh09AYXdjcvUMABiXx5GJ_P99BNauD49I4uiC1Fm5BwV9vRA7m_lb2DwS2Yj8EXxfHyhRnLYk/s1794/PXL_20240119_144937227.MP~2.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1794" data-original-width="1669" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-IcUdbv5ueTLH15ONLWb8Y81QaMynb3DEz8XUod7zAdpBmmRDpmwHTA5rqygwVsuC-9NrNF5utu0ubMCIgS0TOAUzRYKTR1qdGjkKJfiaY324d8desVoh09AYXdjcvUMABiXx5GJ_P99BNauD49I4uiC1Fm5BwV9vRA7m_lb2DwS2Yj8EXxfHyhRnLYk/s320/PXL_20240119_144937227.MP~2.jpg" width="298" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Snowdrop by Teresa MacKinnon CC BY</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><p></p>Teresa MacKinnonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14439853587132749365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4786208002780032681.post-50995401998555223542023-01-07T16:33:00.000+00:002023-01-07T16:33:09.065+00:00Anti-social social media? <p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjC7fwOLoZmHA1IXScN27IS4kJpsF1AbzWlHTCJPuKcyMcuA2A36tMWASGd5cTCjdvMsEqtfyT-s0qM5sAzZ_RW4j0c0XMAn8IzXcE51idFQTiCdqH2BsB6fQtipfE9T-l2R9Yy3oYeUj3Jq6empnfvdzX2xZsL0sv2hFQQ6BGWJdkkBarBqJFitltP/s920/TAGS%20%23wihea%20%23knowhow.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="TAGS explorer image from 2017" border="0" data-original-height="743" data-original-width="920" height="323" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjC7fwOLoZmHA1IXScN27IS4kJpsF1AbzWlHTCJPuKcyMcuA2A36tMWASGd5cTCjdvMsEqtfyT-s0qM5sAzZ_RW4j0c0XMAn8IzXcE51idFQTiCdqH2BsB6fQtipfE9T-l2R9Yy3oYeUj3Jq6empnfvdzX2xZsL0sv2hFQQ6BGWJdkkBarBqJFitltP/w400-h323/TAGS%20%23wihea%20%23knowhow.png" title="#wihea #knowhow project" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><span style="font-family: verdana;">New Year, new ways of connecting to explore. I have invested many hundreds of hours over the years in developing my use of social media channels in order to inform and amplify the causes I support, notably :</span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"> language learning and teaching (I was Communications rep for <a href="https://university-council-modern-languages.org/" target="_blank">UCML</a> for some years), </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">european language networks (I still hold a communications role for <a href="http://www.eurocall-languages.org/" target="_blank">EuroCALL</a>)</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">open education (curating on open practice and through the Open Ed SIG) and</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">virtual exchange (communications for <a href="https://www.unicollaboration.org/" target="_blank">UNICollaboration</a> - a not for profit organisation) and many other projects such as the <a href="https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/cross_fac/academic-development/knowhow/" target="_blank">#knowhow</a> one in 2017 (illustrated above). </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">My use of Twitter has been fundamental to all of these roles. The open nature of the platform enabled me to make connections and build a network. I became proficient at using tools such as <a href="https://tags.hawksey.info/tagsexplorer/" target="_blank">TAGS Explorer</a> and <a href="https://wakelet.com/" target="_blank">Wakelet</a> to curate tweets and provide insights against hashtags which could inform strategic direction for these causes. The networks and connections have made a real difference to my professional and personal life. </span></p><p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigLOVAHSGjioXhuNlnhKXtQ49rmb1lh9Cs4Twh8fVyIWmcAxO_vKavXU5h3_7RnwQuXlRORFY-f7ICHYX8KHEs5OWh9cHh8MPANH1zgGXhcSgrMYoiXC1JRZpBbTY1dVpeVdq2Ii1SAcGXf4yAO-yXK1wy9mdu_l1L02QyC-m10y0xzhwFYQrCh-w-/s1280/social-media-3846597_1280.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="807" data-original-width="1280" height="253" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigLOVAHSGjioXhuNlnhKXtQ49rmb1lh9Cs4Twh8fVyIWmcAxO_vKavXU5h3_7RnwQuXlRORFY-f7ICHYX8KHEs5OWh9cHh8MPANH1zgGXhcSgrMYoiXC1JRZpBbTY1dVpeVdq2Ii1SAcGXf4yAO-yXK1wy9mdu_l1L02QyC-m10y0xzhwFYQrCh-w-/w400-h253/social-media-3846597_1280.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Image from Pixabay CC0<br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;">I am very used to internet based tools changing and even disappearing (remember Storify?) but the latest changes on Twitter are without doubt challenging. Musk's impact on the company, the workforce and the integrity of the service are very worrying and often inhumaine. I have covered several bases therefore and, with the help of other open education practitioners I have extended my use of both Discord and Mastedon. <a href="https://edtechfactotum.com/open-educators-on-mastodon/" target="_blank">Clint Lalonde's blog post </a>is helping me find my way on the latter. He is a wonderful example of the importance of being an open educator - taking the time to log what you learn really helps others. It is a selfless act undertaken out of care. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">The openness of social media has been vital to the visibility of connections such as this, likeminded educators have been able to share wisdom. Sadly we only hear about the more negative aspects of openness such as the use of platforms to spread false discourse and harmful abuse. I have always maintained that we need to be present in such environments in order to understand how they work and call out abuse. In much the same way as bringing light to dark environments in physical spaces. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">I recently attended at <a href="https://mypad.northampton.ac.uk/socmedhe2022/" target="_blank">#socmedHE22 conference</a> hosted at Northampton Uni by the lovely <a href="https://twitter.com/HalaMansour" target="_blank">Hala Mansour</a> where I was able to share my <a href="https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/16VB82UMjZno7xECVz74CgZgxgvg1YfUJ3jxZG-C8zZ8/edit?usp=sharing" target="_blank">#openbadges work</a> and meet up face to face for the first time in ages with old and new friends for the first time since the first lockdown. My second attendance at this small but likeminded grouping. Many friends have been contacts through <a href="https://lthechat.com/" target="_blank">#LTHEchat</a> another vibrant network of open practice which relies on Twitter as a platform. It is clear that many years of interaction will be lost if we all decided to leave en masse. Not something I can bear to contemplate so I stay and curate my Twitter feed with a vengeance to block and mute the voices I cannot tolerate. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">As many uses of social media become "mainstream" parts of organsational communications strategies there will no doubt be further attempts to monetise the content and control the discourse and so those of us who work (unpaid of course) to uphold social justice will have to continue to consolidate our networks, amplify our influence to counter the voices of the powerful, wealthy 1% and treasure our values. Currently I am experiencing Discord and Mastedon as places where this can happen. I hope to see that further through the <a href="https://www.alt.ac.uk/events/open-education-conference" target="_blank">OER23 conference</a> backchannels too. Once platforms move behind paywalls more people will be excluded from participation and the existing inequities are further widened. I am therefore placing a call to arms for those who are active in this space to consider the ethical implications of their actions. We have mu</span><span style="font-family: verdana;">ch to lose. On a personal note I will also continue to support and advocate for the work of the <a href="https://blog.archive.org/about/" target="_blank">Internet Archive</a> as a means of protecting years of recent history mediated through social media platforms. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></p>Teresa MacKinnonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14439853587132749365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4786208002780032681.post-40814661411442109562022-11-07T19:15:00.002+00:002022-11-10T09:26:49.359+00:00Use your ears! <p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAMyRrq3GTOih_ZM5t8kdcczMkgGmrSeM52oBi0ATF_gihibAXe68E7TFIuuO01yd0vTFW51QGWudGLvpMdPK8zSJPEOyZfrMGFcV7DjqHHESv2d3z7XHNwFQKtotDH6lZOJBq2jErr6OHlFJjYP3kk0GIm0V5s-_vGzRkig0POgDPPwCIgirtn8aP/s1280/podcast-3646472_1280.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="856" data-original-width="1280" height="428" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAMyRrq3GTOih_ZM5t8kdcczMkgGmrSeM52oBi0ATF_gihibAXe68E7TFIuuO01yd0vTFW51QGWudGLvpMdPK8zSJPEOyZfrMGFcV7DjqHHESv2d3z7XHNwFQKtotDH6lZOJBq2jErr6OHlFJjYP3kk0GIm0V5s-_vGzRkig0POgDPPwCIgirtn8aP/w640-h428/podcast-3646472_1280.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Often when teaching language I have told my students that they have just 2 ways to help their brain do what it is wired to do - acquire language. Teachers can find lots of original and fun ways to teach language but it is the learner's brain that is best placed to figure out how to produce language well, it will go on doing so throughout their future, beyond the classroom, if they give it the chance. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Despite there being 2 ways to help the language learning process by letting examples of usage in, many spend far too long only using one of them. What are the two ways? </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">through the eyes: eg.reading</span></li><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">through the ears: eg.listening</span></li></ul><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">The "captioning effect" is well researched, a powerful way of combining both forms of input. It was my desire to facilitate listening opportunities online that first brought me into contact with <a href="https://twitter.com/markchilds" target="_blank">Mark Childs </a>at Warwick University many years ago. He supported my plan to run a professional development session on the importance of voice. I used a digital recording of a baby crying to open the session. That got everyone's attention and how they begged me to make it stop! I think it proved a point - human beings are touched at a very deep level by the souds we hear. Voice is powerful and too often we use our ears selectively as we get older, tuning out the voices we don't want to hear. Older language learners have to reconnect with the often uncomfortable feeling of listening. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">This week I am delighted to be back working with Mark and another friend I have met through ALT, <a href="https://twitter.com/jsecker" target="_blank">Jane Secker.</a> With my #LTHEchat hat on, I am happy to say these two fab folk will be leading <a href="https://lthechat.com/2022/11/04/lthechat-246-podcasting-in-higher-education-informing-practice-or-just-podcrastination-led-by-markchilds-and-jsecker-wed-9th-november-8pm-uk/" target="_blank">this week's @LTHEchat</a>. And the focus is upon podcasting - a great way to use your ears. I am a fan and have been listening to podcasts for many years, using the old Juice podcaster back in the day. I love to listen to a comedy podcast before I go to sleep, more recently I have been inspired by the wonderful <a href="https://www.pedagodzilla.com/" target="_blank">Pedagodzilla</a>, enjoyed the <a href="https://25years.opened.ca/" target="_blank">25 years of Ed Tech podcast</a> , been interviewed for the <a href="https://theeducationburrito.podbean.com/" target="_blank">Education Burrito</a> and there's another interview on my work with eportfolios coming soon. These are just a few of my many subscriptions now on Google Podcasts. Digital technology has made it so much easier to catch up on conversations at a time and place that suits us. We have come a long way since the days of endless buffering online. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">I embedded listening into my teaching from the early days. When I started teaching we used a reel to reel tape recorder to play audio in class, I later prouced personalised cassettes for students and found it greatly increased their engagement. Since all went digital I have used <a href="https://soundcloud.com/teresa-mackinnon" target="_blank">Soundcloud</a> and digital recorders to provide audio and oral opportunities for my learners and indeed for many purposes. I was an early adopter of audio feedback and when done well this is really appreciated by students. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">So is listening to podcasts just #podcrastination? </span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">Well, if you want to learn and time is, inevitably, short why would you only use 50% of the resources </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">available</span><span style="font-family: verdana;"> to you? </span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">UPDATE:</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">My latest podcast on #eportfolio use is <a href="https://podcast.mahara.org/2018360/11549188-teresa-mackinnon-professional-portfolios-values-and-transferable-skills" target="_blank">available now</a> </span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">https://podcast.mahara.org/2018360/11549188-teresa-mackinnon-professional-portfolios-values-and-transferable-skills</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><br /><p></p>Teresa MacKinnonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14439853587132749365noreply@blogger.com0Warwick, UK52.282315999999987 -1.58492723.972082163821142 -36.741177 80.592549836178833 33.571323tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4786208002780032681.post-56150283837786601982022-02-21T16:02:00.009+00:002022-02-21T16:02:56.550+00:00Future Teacher 3.0: Reflecting on impact<blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj1CGf3wcnxTFNWOMUyOa0UuJCSmgKXGN8hLACzTRzf7IAgTCFJiV9Ws3uj1-1ihLM0mbvDsLr6SkyHWz6ofuTLPWkswHmnM5FzkGSe-Lcvv4S19U5Y7hvwt-7v2cAxPC1YFe9ivFq-O08TSry7HKTswibF4_blWsDQ8dSmIwe_jQOvd00U23WaQXNR=s1280" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="wise owl" border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj1CGf3wcnxTFNWOMUyOa0UuJCSmgKXGN8hLACzTRzf7IAgTCFJiV9Ws3uj1-1ihLM0mbvDsLr6SkyHWz6ofuTLPWkswHmnM5FzkGSe-Lcvv4S19U5Y7hvwt-7v2cAxPC1YFe9ivFq-O08TSry7HKTswibF4_blWsDQ8dSmIwe_jQOvd00U23WaQXNR=w640-h480" width="640" /></a></div><p></p></blockquote><p style="text-align: left;"><br /></p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;">Image by <a href="https://pixabay.com/users/chraecker-5555/?utm_source=link-attribution&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=image&utm_content=50267">Chräcker Heller</a> from <a href="https://pixabay.com/?utm_source=link-attribution&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=image&utm_content=50267">Pixabay</a></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><p><br /></p><p><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: verdana;">This year sees a new venture added to my retirement activities. An unexpected invitation came from the <a href="https://xot.futureteacher.eu/play.php?template_id=4#home">UK Future Teacher 3.0 team</a> and this was too good an opportunity to turn down. The small UK team are an absolute powerhouse, a great example of how much can be achieved with the right blend of experience, and expertise and a shared commitment to inclusive practice in teaching. Lilian, Alistair and Ron have orchestrated monthly webinars for teachers in HE and FE since 2017 firstly as part of an Erasmus Plus funded project but now unfunded and undaunted! I have had the privilege of contributing to several sessions over the years and I really value the network and the resources they create as OERs. </span></p><p><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: verdana;">Using an open source tool called <a href="https://xerte.org.uk/index.php/en/" target="_blank">Xerte </a>they are able to create reusable learning objects which include interactive content and are media rich and accessible. </span></p><p><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: verdana;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: verdana;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj4A7R21fjj385rBIl27i7VPrgjLVBFC7kbbUd9MDVaHQ6tosMtfevExV7itKuNJVi9hUDPI3wH-bNXwqYMAqY4qG2o0U4cPF2qFwNKB9nG86Q__nCWlhFZXip3nOGUS8t-SgV6HAxbk80nWycXWUESWMMhQpIfYQjemyzQeaKNmpb3DmBD60-qNE8r" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1030" data-original-width="1920" height="215" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj4A7R21fjj385rBIl27i7VPrgjLVBFC7kbbUd9MDVaHQ6tosMtfevExV7itKuNJVi9hUDPI3wH-bNXwqYMAqY4qG2o0U4cPF2qFwNKB9nG86Q__nCWlhFZXip3nOGUS8t-SgV6HAxbk80nWycXWUESWMMhQpIfYQjemyzQeaKNmpb3DmBD60-qNE8r=w400-h215" width="400" /></a></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: verdana;">I have used the <a href="https://xot.futureteacher.eu/play.php?template_id=4#getsavvy" target="_blank">Tool Savvy</a> resource from the 2018 webinar series several times as part of my work on tool choice for <a href="https://www.unicollaboration.org/" target="_blank">UNICollaboration</a> and it is so good to be able to focus minds on key questions when choosing authoring tools. Xerte also means that our trainees can learn about tools whilst using one of the best examples available. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: verdana;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi8gQAYfDBF_E0HntXO0eLp9bobddlOhkMTI7ANJTnftLF6NhEvXdy9ChQYKqCF0MMPpt18q7nPH3vh5Jemmq4Jyfxnyv5ASTiGsJiErCb-Yur6hmWdE3DnIsb889KdU7Qs5e9WgSSCuLIM8XMC3QNSa2PWC17s9ru-AeFDEd5oAxAVmM9IRy5bN_FX=s1261" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="681" data-original-width="1261" height="216" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi8gQAYfDBF_E0HntXO0eLp9bobddlOhkMTI7ANJTnftLF6NhEvXdy9ChQYKqCF0MMPpt18q7nPH3vh5Jemmq4Jyfxnyv5ASTiGsJiErCb-Yur6hmWdE3DnIsb889KdU7Qs5e9WgSSCuLIM8XMC3QNSa2PWC17s9ru-AeFDEd5oAxAVmM9IRy5bN_FX=w400-h216" width="400" /></a></span></div><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: verdana;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div>So this is a network that lives the values of its originators, in the same way as we in #virtualexchange like to "walk the talk". So you can see why I was so excited to be asked to join the team this year. </span><p></p><p><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: verdana;">Of course, one of the bugbears of doing anything at the "bleeding edge" is that new tools and approaches are constantly being developed but the <a href="https://twitter.com/ft30uk" target="_blank">FT3 UK</a> team have even turned this to an advantage! The second iteration of webinars was Reactivated -bringing new ideas to enhance the earlier recordings and this current series is Reflected, where the focus is on building upon what we have learned through reflection "because future teachers never stop learning". </span></p><p><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: verdana;">In my final years at Warwick I led a course for final year students who were considering teaching as a career. Central to my course design was both virtual exchange and reflection. We used an open source tool <a href="https://mahara.org/" target="_blank">Mahara</a> as a private reflection space and students were able to keep private journal posts every week which could, if they so wished, be used as part of their assessed eportfolio. This process of regular reflection incorporated into the course design helped to establish the importance of reflection to those working in time constrained and often demanding roles in teaching. Taking time to take account of how you are feeling and to, over time, develop a picture of the direction you wish to take - these things are so important in life. Sharing some of these thoughts with others can also help to strengthen your professional network and can even lead to unexpected outcomes such as new connections. </span></p><p><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: verdana;">I'm not great at sticking to routines but I do use my blogs to think things through and it has been helpful over the years. Reflecting through writing on a diary or a blog can really bring my thoughts into focus and help me find a way forward. I look forward to reading reflections from others who have been part of the Future Teacher network.</span></p><p><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: verdana;"> </span></p><p><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></p>Teresa MacKinnonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14439853587132749365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4786208002780032681.post-37953812067563614812022-01-10T14:26:00.000+00:002022-01-10T14:26:55.723+00:00Fair Use or Misuse of open badges?<p> </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhADjEQcWqG6P7yZ3IWvduJkx65kDWxt5sFW13VVXBuaSBlYmRT4A_JFv2b6mKhnL4jq9Rj-qG-S9eMPJ9bLwUpbmD4-OuXZMnnVuIn5OO-MYlbHxwgzy7CJdMzN054Casma3alDx10lVbs_Pp2IT6aqkccysQOH4uQMqyDiOF1CIoPTG_Hfjd7mO6Mbw=s971" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding: 1em 0px;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="449" data-original-width="971" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhADjEQcWqG6P7yZ3IWvduJkx65kDWxt5sFW13VVXBuaSBlYmRT4A_JFv2b6mKhnL4jq9Rj-qG-S9eMPJ9bLwUpbmD4-OuXZMnnVuIn5OO-MYlbHxwgzy7CJdMzN054Casma3alDx10lVbs_Pp2IT6aqkccysQOH4uQMqyDiOF1CIoPTG_Hfjd7mO6Mbw=s400" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Screenshot of point of "badge" issue </td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">Over the weekend I got a notification on Twitter that I had been awarded a badge. Those who know me will know that I am usually enthusiastic about collecting badges, especially those which help me to keep track of the events I have presented at or recognise new skills I have worked to master. This one was odd though. It claimed to be a <b>fake</b> english language teaching certificate, TEFL. </span></div><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">English is my first</span><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> language but I have never been interested in teaching it. I loved learning other languages and chose to specialise in teaching French and Spanish. So where had this badge come from and why had it come to me? </span></span></p><div><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">Intrigued, I followed what links were available. The badge had not been issued to my email address so it didn't exist as something I could accept (or rather reject!). So why did it bear my name? I queried the twitter account which had sent the tweet. I am writing this post as a record of what I discovered but I have removed the details of the "issuer" to spare his blushes, since he has now apologised and I can only accept that apology with good grace. Having engaged with the twitter account in question I also contacted the VP of the platform which had been used, someone I have interacted with before online and who I have always found to be trustworthy. I am grateful to <a href="https://twitter.com/ottonomy" target="_blank">Nate Otto</a> for his prompt engagement. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">Here are some screenshots of the interactions that followed (read below in reverse order). The details of the "issuer" have been redacted for the reasons I outlined above. He has since removed the tweets to me and I have blocked him from my Twitter connections. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEibedAXZY82GP5px2Lyizf_iU7U2x3vn7Oy8CF9w931sMwgfUrX4nsyordRILnyoEWhCBbtXhTdW2B8T8m9LDPDIGgsR42R_JWRNP9ZLz5SAkDhU43fipuQYSzXdXJu__0I93OJHViUgU5c9xhds31fnctjIbiotBoPFGaV4pFPGT_2QnBpKjJ5xwXmhw=s756" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="639" data-original-width="756" height="270" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEibedAXZY82GP5px2Lyizf_iU7U2x3vn7Oy8CF9w931sMwgfUrX4nsyordRILnyoEWhCBbtXhTdW2B8T8m9LDPDIGgsR42R_JWRNP9ZLz5SAkDhU43fipuQYSzXdXJu__0I93OJHViUgU5c9xhds31fnctjIbiotBoPFGaV4pFPGT_2QnBpKjJ5xwXmhw=s320" width="320" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">Having asked why he had targeted me with this badge I did not feel the reason given added up. He claims the badge was a parody. I can understand wanting to poke fun at credentials which don't stand scrutiny but I enjoy parody and didn't find this at all funny. He said he wanted to parody diploma mills (I don't believe there is much open badge use there actually). I would totally agree that credit, credentials (micro or otherwise) shouldn't be issued without robust evidence that they are fit for purpose and that the construct behind the criteria for issue need to be clear. If anything, this act was demonstrating how <b>not</b> to create and issue open badges. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgExcBHQzGX_Oc8eLduAJGvGIcIL6jB5GFEG3zesi5SPvuHm5KiJgzOlziZfKfkAnT5YTGnEAKfe18Kyu9qIxNd2x3YhWJzCXGcm7PwFIYq3nSsWkSF0vM_zNcRXY2gIhxeGWuZi3V7_UDLHEO_93NT97y61oXDqUpLU6rajLdh5U0BvCdhgsiImIwz-g=s750" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="328" data-original-width="750" height="140" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgExcBHQzGX_Oc8eLduAJGvGIcIL6jB5GFEG3zesi5SPvuHm5KiJgzOlziZfKfkAnT5YTGnEAKfe18Kyu9qIxNd2x3YhWJzCXGcm7PwFIYq3nSsWkSF0vM_zNcRXY2gIhxeGWuZi3V7_UDLHEO_93NT97y61oXDqUpLU6rajLdh5U0BvCdhgsiImIwz-g=s320" width="320" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I advocate the use of open badges as a means of open recognition and micro-credentialing. I have used them extensively in European projects to ensure that participants have a way to prove their engagement and expertise in virtual exchange. I have also enjoyed collecting and issuing badges through the open recognition framework which exists. I have researched, <a href="https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1701-3727" target="_blank">written and presented </a>on these activities.</span><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">Nate pointed out that this so called badge issuer had put my name on a badge without my consent. My feminist instincts had already kicked in, this was an act of micro aggression. It was encouraging to see that the platform owner was ready to examine this activity. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgL4qami2iysXzHi0rqkKz9O7i65Ic9SiAAyyZAg8yW4iOsS-MuLPcyXeJRI613HD0Nabjh1HFGdNvbSNlU2e7uKmKgUXkYn6Py2iH556BYZiOciOmkctQoPUbM-wW_gGnHRJh3AmcLAMbPNNkOZ7UbHs24bf8hyyINHW_re1shTKzXBC1ivjI5leDXYg=s494" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="130" data-original-width="494" height="84" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgL4qami2iysXzHi0rqkKz9O7i65Ic9SiAAyyZAg8yW4iOsS-MuLPcyXeJRI613HD0Nabjh1HFGdNvbSNlU2e7uKmKgUXkYn6Py2iH556BYZiOciOmkctQoPUbM-wW_gGnHRJh3AmcLAMbPNNkOZ7UbHs24bf8hyyINHW_re1shTKzXBC1ivjI5leDXYg=s320" width="320" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">Despite the "issuer" 's apparent contrition, I see he still has a fake badge invitation on his twitter feed. The link leads to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/There%27s_a_sucker_born_every_minute" target="_blank">this wikipedia page</a>. </span></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiF3TPyiPNBESRHJB48WZnvpJQXt6GtQQxOfnI8hjyQ8j8OqNzZC7DKvZy_kB6PXA7I9hrOW6rKnnER2pLylMrla06nh4JczZ0c8aZJrLAuy4OICbvmANM84z26HcxromnbKH_y4CyAA8kzcW92lg5Vxi5AbuxdNgx3Fnb-bTbKMGz_SLkDRKTas_o2sA=s748" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="328" data-original-width="748" height="140" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiF3TPyiPNBESRHJB48WZnvpJQXt6GtQQxOfnI8hjyQ8j8OqNzZC7DKvZy_kB6PXA7I9hrOW6rKnnER2pLylMrla06nh4JczZ0c8aZJrLAuy4OICbvmANM84z26HcxromnbKH_y4CyAA8kzcW92lg5Vxi5AbuxdNgx3Fnb-bTbKMGz_SLkDRKTas_o2sA=s320" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">Is this "having fun"? Are those that are interested in open badges are suckers? Not my definition of fun in the midst of a pandemic I'm afraid. Maybe my sense of humour (which is so subjective don't forget) has been blunted by the knowledge that <b><i>we need experts</i></b> to help us escape covid 19. Perhaps though this experience is a timely reminder of how we must always question critically how technologies are being used. Now that's something I can get behind. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div>Teresa MacKinnonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14439853587132749365noreply@blogger.com0Royal Leamington Spa, UK52.2851905 -1.520078923.974956663821153 -36.6763289 80.595424336178837 33.6361711tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4786208002780032681.post-1861531915350153932021-09-27T15:49:00.001+01:002021-10-30T12:27:37.613+01:00#innoconf21 continued<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfQAjq9zXT4_CPL3GkKvQTTUR6wpLY9wib-E7H-w8pUhIhJ0JdUQbbiWPI1-7LoBJHu-PTuw5o4NVZjyj4404tCAgu8cLr3OjSzYAVwxp6SyC0iirGz67mjCo0ww2mvVusHmPGTQvFrPY/s890/vevox-result-image.png" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="890" height="346" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfQAjq9zXT4_CPL3GkKvQTTUR6wpLY9wib-E7H-w8pUhIhJ0JdUQbbiWPI1-7LoBJHu-PTuw5o4NVZjyj4404tCAgu8cLr3OjSzYAVwxp6SyC0iirGz67mjCo0ww2mvVusHmPGTQvFrPY/w640-h346/vevox-result-image.png" width="640" /></a><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">This post is a continuation of the keynote I prepared for #innoconf21 to acknowledge the many details I would have liked to say but didn't have time to include! </span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">I used Vevox to garner information from participants during my presentation so I will use the data submitted anonymously in response to my questions to make sure that the participant voices are heard. This is an extension of the approach I took to my keynote which was to open the process so that the recording showed the interaction which would often be left "behind the scenes". </span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">As you can see in the first image above, the participants had a range of experience of using technology for teaching with over 50% saying they had little or no experience of teaching using online tools prior to the pandemic. Immediately this impacted on my keynote. Seeing this I was immediately very aware of how tired these people must be. Rethinking your usual teaching style and reframing it through computer mediation takes time, to do it whilst juggling a global pandemic is exhausting. As <a href="https://czernie.weebly.com/blog/letting-the-light-into-higher-education" target="_blank">Laura Czerniewicz says in her blogpost</a> :</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">"the classroom has been made strange"</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">Despite the exhaustion, they were engaging in an online conference, eager to find out more about mastering the skills necessary. The response to the next question showed lots of experimentation has been happening. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAXTVOoeTFTvtNF4HspRQ8SV1woeSjmy0xXmywhbeZUR0n26wDxkRGbgyZUYrTMIgQNm5-SxUBxS-t3AQ69fxWXqe4BciDB62Hr59eoHa9TMbTMMDkn0B6Gn-eJrat5ID361fquB2AeD4/s890/vevox-result-image+%25281%2529.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="643" data-original-width="890" height="289" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAXTVOoeTFTvtNF4HspRQ8SV1woeSjmy0xXmywhbeZUR0n26wDxkRGbgyZUYrTMIgQNm5-SxUBxS-t3AQ69fxWXqe4BciDB62Hr59eoHa9TMbTMMDkn0B6Gn-eJrat5ID361fquB2AeD4/w400-h289/vevox-result-image+%25281%2529.png" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><br /><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">I see here a mixture of institutional tools such as the VLE Blackboard/Moodle and relatively new internet Zoom and Padlet. Also some references to hardware such as ipads, phone and a router, things that may not have featured in the vocabulary of teaching tools for some until recently. After lockdown many had to get familiar with these pretty quickly. In such a situation, when a technologist tells you to follow a few steps and use this "solution" it is easy to be left with the impression that there is magic in the technology that solves your problem. It was this very mindset that was questioned on the arrival of CD-ROMs years ago, showing the dangers of <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1JasdDuM9Oqyy3Cm_NSLmM5KmvF8ONUol/view?usp=sharing" target="_blank">succumbing to the WOW factor. </a> I was eager not to further feed this myth of "solutionism" which remains rife in this space. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">I believe that the current pace of change in technology has outpaced the capacity of practitioners, especially if they are isolated and not part of of a helpful Community of Practice. That thought was illustrated when I asked about professional support networks:</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxvAc0GPlsdxYn6Aibm0YMw8QhXVD4_PnYY1eeL3_3qf2tq8XTrRRK6eKkJS8BX2pyERPejTBepSzPuK0Nyd6IoUaDo8a-qWzW9ZqVO2537gKYMYVBBlp7T0y_lbCx-EvMqhLC1Bbq4ls/s890/vevox-result-image+%25282%2529.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="643" data-original-width="890" height="289" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxvAc0GPlsdxYn6Aibm0YMw8QhXVD4_PnYY1eeL3_3qf2tq8XTrRRK6eKkJS8BX2pyERPejTBepSzPuK0Nyd6IoUaDo8a-qWzW9ZqVO2537gKYMYVBBlp7T0y_lbCx-EvMqhLC1Bbq4ls/w400-h289/vevox-result-image+%25282%2529.png" width="400" /></a></div><br /><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">Unsurprisingly given the emergency situation we see informal support coming from friends, colleagues and even partners. Social media looks like it has provided a connection to colleagues now disconnected physically. However the immediate emergency has passed so how are we best to proceed in a world which may yet undergo more changes? I would propose that joining an appropriate expert network would be a good first step. Let's get good quality information to ensure that we build on the initial "magic" with greater understanding of what is actually going on in the background. As I tweeted later:</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfQAjq9zXT4_CPL3GkKvQTTUR6wpLY9wib-E7H-w8pUhIhJ0JdUQbbiWPI1-7LoBJHu-PTuw5o4NVZjyj4404tCAgu8cLr3OjSzYAVwxp6SyC0iirGz67mjCo0ww2mvVusHmPGTQvFrPY/s890/vevox-result-image.png" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><br /></a></div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">If we are going to bust myths about <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/edtech?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#edtech</a> we have to see behind the magic curtain. Ask better questions of your tech support and students- what happens to the student data? How much did this platform cost? who cannot access? <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/innoconf21?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#innoconf21</a></p>— Teresa MacKinnon (@WarwickLanguage) <a href="https://twitter.com/WarwickLanguage/status/1438798828707237893?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 17, 2021</a></blockquote><p><br /></p><p><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">If we are to carve out something using technological tools that carries our values and priorities we have to be more confident that we understand what we are doing. There is a risk that otherwise our work will be carved up. </span></p><p><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">Such great work is already happening in languages, driven by practitioners who love to learn and who are willing to collaborate in order to create great learner experiences. I shared examples <a href="https://padlet.com/profteresamac/6u5aolxddh8c" target="_blank">on our padlet board </a>of produsage (using extracts from media to create exciting learning opportunities) and virtual exchange (international collaborations between practitioners and students). Wider adoption of innovative assessment techniques such as blogging, wikipedia editing and eportfolio use would also be welcomed as they provide meaningful ways of acquiring skills which will shift the balance from students as consumers to students as producers of knowledge. <a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/16PtMDM6kiI9JHuHXChuyH_ZJMYF_kU-cnvnPQ05rUng/edit?usp=sharing" target="_blank">See links document. </a></span></p><p><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">Connecting with folk already doing these things, according to what you think you can change this year will be a useful shortcut to build upon their expertise. My experience of these folk is that they welcome those who take an interest in their work. They are generally open to human centred approaches, we all need to be if we are to sustain our influence and our role in the future of language teaching. It really is in our hands. We need to bear in mind that great carving takes time, Google tells me that even experienced sculptors can take up to 80 hours to make a relatively simple piece. So identify your priorities for the new term, get informed and connected and then make your own masterpiece. </span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/jEN7cxvvNWw" width="320" youtube-src-id="jEN7cxvvNWw"></iframe></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Recording of my keynote. </div><br /><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p><br /></p><p> </p> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>Teresa MacKinnonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14439853587132749365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4786208002780032681.post-86538838688713414962021-09-16T17:03:00.002+01:002021-09-18T13:41:41.132+01:00#InnoConf21 keynote. Carving a better future from dark matter.<p> </p><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Who would like one? Will not be able to send them until mid-Sept. <a href="https://t.co/Slwt4Y922c">https://t.co/Slwt4Y922c</a> <a href="https://t.co/PYJZtg3gml">pic.twitter.com/PYJZtg3gml</a></p>— Dr. Donna Lanclos (@DonnaLanclos) <a href="https://twitter.com/DonnaLanclos/status/1033358488821538816?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 25, 2018</a></blockquote><p><br /></p><p> </p><p><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">I'm very excited (and a little nervous) about my next challenge. I will be opening tomorrow's <a href="https://twitter.com/InnoConf" target="_blank">#innoconf21 </a>which is hosted by Reading University with a keynote which will address the use of educational technologies (edtech) in language teaching. I am very grateful to the organisers for giving me this opportunity to curate resources, reflect and present my insights into the work of language teaching and I hope that by the final plenary we will all have a clearer vision for how the next 5-10 years of language teaching could look. </span></p><p><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">Here is the abstract for my keynote:</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>Carving a better future from dark matter. </b></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b><br /></b></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>A dramatic turn of events beset our lives in 2020, a global pandemic. Everyone had to face a new and daunting reality that touched every aspect of our lives, both personal and professional. Our working lives faced huge disruption and, in order to continue to function at all, we all became more reliant on technical “solutions” to connect us to each other. For some this was a continuation or extension of familiar territory, for others this was a new endeavour. For all it brought huge challenges, long days and complicated negotiations with students and colleagues. The “pivot online” revealed many areas of university teaching which were unresolved, from “delivery” to assessment. Intensive innovation was the order of the day and such rapid change is not without pain. As we face an emerging reality in which ongoing disruption is likely, how can we be better prepared for a more positive future in which our processes and pedagogies support learners and staff alike? </b></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b> </b></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>In this keynote, I will not shy away from the very real challenges we face. I will however offer hope for a more sustainable future for language educators through collaboration beyond our usual hierarchies and borders. </b></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b><br /></b></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>Slides:<iframe src="https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/e/2PACX-1vQzO8G2DngkZXC9Px5wTJyqTW38dCJmE8POD2l6otcznD8b-smn8gpt0vyQ8KMkcU_iWvDwmTAMkgFr/embed?start=false&loop=false&delayms=3000" frameborder="0" width="480" height="299" allowfullscreen="true" mozallowfullscreen="true" webkitallowfullscreen="true"></iframe></b></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b><br /></b></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b><br /></b></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b><br /></b></span></span></p><div><br /></div><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">In my preparation I have drawn on the work of many people, curating a <a href="https://padlet.com/profteresamac/6u5aolxddh8c" target="_blank">padlet wall of resources</a> which includes links to additional sources for those who want to dig deeper. I will be inviting participants to join the conversation in the zoom chat and also respond to some shared questions through the vevox poll. My slides will be shared online tomorrow morning, look out for the #innoconf21 tag. </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">The pandemic has of course been hard for everyone. Many are now gearing up for further challenges in coming academic year. As I stand on the sidelines now I am hoping to use this platform to inspire and support my colleagues. </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">In keeping with our focus on shaping the future for modern languages I would like to encourage all participants to arm themselves with the tools to carve out their future, both individually and collectively so we can sustain our important role in connecting the populations of the world for the huge challenges hurtling towards us. Use the force!</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/enKhkTmB0OQ" width="320" youtube-src-id="enKhkTmB0OQ"></iframe></div><br /><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p></p><p> </p> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>Teresa MacKinnonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14439853587132749365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4786208002780032681.post-39577902542251368692021-06-03T17:00:00.004+01:002021-06-03T17:05:58.110+01:00#JuneEdTechChallenge DAY 1: The VLE in my life...<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYqK8siLYE8YG5_OfDLYM0z4j7IGensGdtuGfJQW_XAhawu0XyKWjF0RILKutm0MTs_gWGkgAnpNglWECs-kDLtRRI1FxwpGWqad55z1NW4mvsOD4GDHeU_m6COYoBIeIQ7wdumM5IaKs/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="576" data-original-width="1024" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYqK8siLYE8YG5_OfDLYM0z4j7IGensGdtuGfJQW_XAhawu0XyKWjF0RILKutm0MTs_gWGkgAnpNglWECs-kDLtRRI1FxwpGWqad55z1NW4mvsOD4GDHeU_m6COYoBIeIQ7wdumM5IaKs/" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><p></p><p><br /></p><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Join the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/JuneEdTechChallenge?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#JuneEdTechChallenge</a> at any point, whenever you can, throughout June <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ALTC?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#ALTC</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/EdTech?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#EdTech</a> <a href="https://t.co/0B75s0yf9x">pic.twitter.com/0B75s0yf9x</a></p>— David Hopkins (@hopkinsdavid) <a href="https://twitter.com/hopkinsdavid/status/1400173138571403267?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 2, 2021</a></blockquote><p><br /></p><p><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: verdana;">This is a great initiative from ALT, encouraging the open sharing of our different learning teach contexts throughout June through social media. Although I may not be able to keep up the pace every day I was reassured by David's tweet!</span></p><p><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: verdana;">Day 1:</span></p><p><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: verdana;">The VLE in my life - well there are multiple VLEs I have used over past years and as I have now retired it may be expected that I no longer have to use VLEs, but I do (mostly Moodle/Mahara/Google workspace/Canvas/Blackboard/Ning). I was responsible for procuring and implementing a VLE in the Language Centre at Warwick University back in the day, it was based on Moodle and Mahara (a mahoodle no less!) and was called Languages at Warwick. The focus was upon creating course spaces which encouraged interaction. I wrote about the development in this <a href="https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/10_years_of_the_LLAS_elearning_symposium/z8ctBgAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=info:hRNym8Ga59YJ:scholar.google.com&pg=PA57&printsec=frontcover" target="_blank">book chapter</a>. We were ahead of the institutional curve by several years and when Moodle finally became a central initiative our platform was "dissolved". My colleagues still tell me though they are glad they had access to their own VLE prior to the wider implementation as they upskilled as a result. </span></p><p><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: verdana;">Moving to a central VLE came with some serious losses though. We had previously been able to create "managed holes" in Languages at Warwick courses in order to admit students from other institutions to participate in our virtual exchange initiatives. This was lost and we relocated this work to our Google Suite over which we still had control. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtual_exchange" target="_blank">Virtual Exchange</a> is a proven approach to online learning which helps to build capacity for online teaching, supports interdisciplinary and intercultural learning and thanks to recent research through projects such as <a href="https://evolve-erasmus.eu/" target="_blank">EVOLVE</a> and EU initiatives involving the academic organisation (soon to be not for profit org) <a href="https://www.unicollaboration.org/" target="_blank">UNICollaboration </a>, has gained significant traction. We were at the forefront, but faced with lack of institutional support we moved into the wilds. There we found personal learning networks (PLNs) and created personal learning environments (PLEs) of our own. </span></p><p><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: verdana;">VLEs have their place, they are private, institutional spaces generally. However, real life requires knowing how to navigate not just the private, secure digital spaces but also the broader "wilds" beyond. <a href="https://www.scribd.com/doc/98582382/Teresa-MacKinnon-Breaking-Out-of-the-Walled-Garden?in_collection=3772802" target="_blank">That journey</a> requires greater critical expertise, a form of digital fluency which ideally comes with a deeper understanding of digital ownership, profile management, appropriate behaviours... a whole raft of "soft skills" and expertise which is best acquired through activity alongside others, a community of practice. My situation is very comparable now to that of Sheila and I was so delighted to <a href="https://howsheilaseesit.net/learning-platforms/a-short-thought-about-the-pyschogeography-of-the-vles-in-my-life-juneedtechchallenge/" target="_blank">read her post</a> and see her use of the French word "dérive". I have described my journey through learning technology in the past as being that of a "flaneur" , wandering through online spaces to see how they affect my interactions, how communications change, who feels uncomfortable, who is excluded. This has become central to my critical digital practice, focussing on open educational practice using social media spaces for example. </span></p><p><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: verdana;">Being able to flow between spaces is a huge advantage. This water feature created with recycled television screens captured that feeling for me. <iframe src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/86047182?badge=0&autopause=0&player_id=0&app_id=58479" width="640" height="350" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; fullscreen; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen title="freeflow (Enhanced)"></iframe>Each VLE needs to suit the needs of those who are using it, it needs to make us welcome and protect what is dear to us. Otherwise we just move on and find our own spaces. The challenge now before all institutions in the post pivot era is to co-create spaces which are suitable for today's needs. Sustainable, equitable, welcoming, accessible, fair spaces. It should allow for continued learning beyond the institutional experience: portability of resources and acquisition of knowledge and skills to address online intellectual property confidently. This is more than any one VLE can offer. Like Sheila, I am keen to continue this reflective journey and I'm thinking about what I could contribute to the next #SocMed conference...</span></p><script src="https://player.vimeo.com/api/player.js"></script>
Teresa MacKinnonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14439853587132749365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4786208002780032681.post-6023530082787324732021-05-12T14:24:00.005+01:002021-05-12T14:24:31.489+01:00Demystifying Open<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixnT8wKdszyqyHbhueQ9Z722ry389_q9U1Ui7lOpMUT9Y0bpa5VVfKfNSC-noqpkGrA82KW4rmFnedpKUIni-LamGEdBYXk_WxXiyJPmtaes40nkrKkFLccjmZ7XwFMrgNLBmu7YaKp-0/s1280/open-1853924_1280.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Open" border="0" data-original-height="853" data-original-width="1280" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixnT8wKdszyqyHbhueQ9Z722ry389_q9U1Ui7lOpMUT9Y0bpa5VVfKfNSC-noqpkGrA82KW4rmFnedpKUIni-LamGEdBYXk_WxXiyJPmtaes40nkrKkFLccjmZ7XwFMrgNLBmu7YaKp-0/w400-h267/open-1853924_1280.jpg" title="Open" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0 0 0 40px; padding: 0px;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0 0 0 40px; padding: 0px;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0 0 0 40px; padding: 0px;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;">Image by <a href="https://pixabay.com/users/pexels-2286921/?utm_source=link-attribution&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=image&utm_content=1853924">Pexels</a> from <a href="https://pixabay.com/?utm_source=link-attribution&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=image&utm_content=1853924">Pixabay</a></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><p><br /></p><p><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">I am delighted to see more educators engaging with OpenEducation or at least taking a greater interest in things "open" but I think it would be helpful to have a sort of beginner's guide to the many forms of open which are relevant to educators. I do not profess to be an expert in all things open but, as chair of the <a href="https://altc.alt.ac.uk/oesig/about-oesig/" target="_blank">Open Education Special Interest Group</a> and as an open education practitioner, I feel I could contribute a little to demystifying some of the terminology which comes under the banner "open". Here goes. </span></p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">Open Access:</span></h3><p><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">Probably the first term most academics engage with as it relates to academic publishing. Essentially this is a category of publication which is accessible to anyone rather than being restricted to those who are registered with a university. Some publishers require APCs (article processing fees) in order to make publications available to a wider public. For more detail see <a href="https://www.jisc.ac.uk/guides/an-introduction-to-open-access" target="_blank">Jisc's useful guide. </a> Librarians are often experts in this area. </span></p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: verdana;">Open Source:</span></h3><div><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">A term that applies to computer software and how the coding has been created. Open source software is usually created by a community and the source code is shared openly so that developers can build on it. Contributors to open source are not always paid, some do the work as a passion project. There are many examples of open source software which practitioners may encounter such as Moodle, H5P and others. Here's <a href="https://opensource.com/resources/what-open-source" target="_blank">a more in depth article </a>which explains why open source is helpful for teachers and learners. </span></div><div><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><b>Open Educational Resources:</b></span></h3><div><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">Often referred to as OERs, these are resources which are shared openly on the internet usually under a Creative Commons licence. UNESCO <a href="https://en.unesco.org/themes/building-knowledge-societies/oer" target="_blank">provides information here </a>about the origins and place of OERs in education. Many practitioners and institutions create OER as part of a mission to broaden access to learning,<a href="https://open.ed.ac.uk/" target="_blank"> such as these</a> from the University of Edinburgh. Practitioners often share their own resources, known as <a href="http://oro.open.ac.uk/24702/" target="_blank">Little OER</a> (Weller,M) through sites such as Slideshare or social media free of charge, expressing their sharing preferences through a <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/" target="_blank">Creative Commons licence.</a> </span></div><div><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">Open badges:</span></h3><div><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">Open badges are digital artefacts which can be created and issued to recognise participation or activity according to the criteria defined by a badge issuer. They are made up of a digital image which has hard coded data "baked in". Open Badge platforms build on a shared standard which enables portability of badge display for earners and, when used in a learning context, can allow the creation of an ecosystem of badges to support educational aims. Here's the <a href="https://badge.wiki/wiki/Main_Page" target="_blank">handy badge wiki site </a>to find out more. </span></div><div><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">Open educational practice (or praxis):</span></h3><div><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">OEP, or the act of working openly as an educator, may include creating and sharing OER, using social media to connect and collaborate with learners or other practitioners online, maintaining a digital profile which is visible to anyone online and curating digital resources. This is an emerging activity which is <a href="https://link.springer.com/referenceworkentry/10.1007%2F978-981-287-532-7_710-1#:~:text=Cronin's%20(2017)%20definition%20of%20OEP,peer%2Dlearning%2C%20knowledge%20creation%2C" target="_blank">described in more detai</a>l here (Cronin,C) and is clearly connected with achieving the aims of open education. </span></div><div><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">There are other "open..." terms in use out there - for example open data, open pedagogy but these are related to the ones mentioned above so I think this may be enough for a primer! However, here are some additional resources should you wish to know more. </span></div><div><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://www.teachingandlearning.ie/resource/introduction-to-open-educational-resources-oer-open-licensing/" target="_blank">An introduction to Open Educational Resources and Open Licensing.</a> </span></div><div><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://www.oepolicyhub.org/" target="_blank">Open Education Policy Hub</a></span></div><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://oerworldmap.org/" target="_blank">The OER world map. </a></span></span></p><div><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">The recent <a href="https://oer21.oerconf.org/programme/" target="_blank">OERxDomains21 conference </a>has many recordings and resources available openly as part of the <a href="https://twitter.com/covid_education" target="_blank">#OpenCovid4Ed</a> pledge. </span></div><div><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">Open Education is a route to addressing the many inequalities suffered by our populations around the world which have only deepened during the pandemic. </span></div><div><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Teresa MacKinnonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14439853587132749365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4786208002780032681.post-84293542755359169392021-03-22T18:47:00.000+00:002021-03-22T18:47:14.820+00:00AULC conference 2021 #AULC2021: What can open badges do for you? <p> </p><iframe allowfullscreen="true" frameborder="0" height="569" mozallowfullscreen="true" src="https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/e/2PACX-1vSrzC0QPEAGEtHuEq_Wqbab-AWRu45JrAez4ZLgGvgkameiTlCW3Fbfk9UZbMlKm1jGYqjA8Hq3vjq5/embed?start=false&loop=false&delayms=3000" webkitallowfullscreen="true" width="590"></iframe><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: verdana;">The slides shared above were part of a presentation for ALT NE (the North East regional group of Association for Learning Technology). I add them to this post as they provide some useful resources for those who wish to know more about open badges. A recording of the presentation done by Deb Baff and myself is also <a href="https://youtu.be/1ACrp_8X7Gw" target="_blank">available on my You Tube channel.</a> </span></div><div><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: verdana;">For the AULC conference Mirjam and I will share how we used open badges in a language learning context. Knowing AULC as I do, I am sure there will be those who would like to try out the technology and the point of this post is to support you in doing just that. Go for it!</span></div><div><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: verdana;">Collect a badge. </span></h3><div><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: verdana;">We have all managed against all the odds to do all we can to protect each other from a global pandemic. N</span><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: verdana;">ow you can get recognition for playing yo</span><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: verdana;">ur part in making the world a safer place. </span></div><div><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: verdana;">In the slides above, at slide number 12 you can scan a QR code on your phone and pick up a Socially Distanced badge. Or you can simply <a href="https://ottonomy.badgr.com/public/badges/mfCQav3jTjSd6lxiRwuZWw " target="_blank">go here to claim it</a>.</span></div><div><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: verdana;">You can display your badge using a free <a href="https://openbadgepassport.com/" target="_blank">Open Badge Passport account</a>. Just make sure that you have your email address/es in your profile and then <a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1fEgrM_diuUysKLd40qOtfIJmj5Ct5TZZkjrCP3iB6Io/edit?usp=sharing" target="_blank">follow these instructions</a> to share on your website, social media accounts or make a page for curating your badges. There's more on <a href="https://youtu.be/RbA4poKJ7DU" target="_blank">this You Tube tutorial</a> made for the <a href="http://wels.open.ac.uk/oclc" target="_blank">Open Centre for Languages and Cultures</a>. <br /></span>
<div><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: verdana;">Design a badge.</span></h3><div><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: verdana;">If you are thinking of creating badges for issue to your students there are many things to consider. These are summarised in <a href="https://doi.org/10.14705/rpnet.2021.50.1236" target="_blank">an article I've written on Innovative Pedagogy</a> published this month. </span></div><div><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: verdana;">Of course you can do your thinking using traditional technologies such as paper and pens but I couldn't resist sharing a badge planning tool with you thanks to <a href="https://twitter.com/BryanMMathers" target="_blank">Bryan Mathers</a> and his Fabulous Remixer Machine. The Badge Bloom was useful when communicating our badge ecosystem for Erasmus Plus Virtual Exchange. You can see <a href="https://remixer.visualthinkery.com/r/BIwKXIWOhVVifVn3P31Z" target="_blank">our badge bloom here.</a></span></div><div><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: verdana;">I have set up a <a href="https://remixer.visualthinkery.com/g/c/uSPaSi" target="_blank">private gallery </a>where you can share your badge ideas with each other and get inspired. The most useful part of engaging with badges is the conversations we have together about what we value in our teaching and learning. To create your own remix just click on the example given and change the text and colours to your heart's delight. Save your creation as a new remix on the gallery. You can comment on those of others and share your ideas on social media. </span></div><div><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: verdana;">Let's embrace the affordances of the internet as creators and not merely consumers. </span></div><div><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div></div>Teresa MacKinnonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14439853587132749365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4786208002780032681.post-78851090010133697612021-01-19T14:25:00.004+00:002021-01-19T14:25:31.580+00:00Collaborating openly when the doors are closed.<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAxp5kDHckxaciM7wiDCrnO-6aWr8thvNtLRdQd8OQKuSVFZlorw8Hez4CHiqehxNOYumXugIhEg3m2a9gCKTtqrWajyfARWsq8Io2bZAQ9DHiqun6s7iwWb1lhteWElzuEaDCeG4fRWg/s1065/collaboration+pyramid.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="796" data-original-width="1065" height="299" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAxp5kDHckxaciM7wiDCrnO-6aWr8thvNtLRdQd8OQKuSVFZlorw8Hez4CHiqehxNOYumXugIhEg3m2a9gCKTtqrWajyfARWsq8Io2bZAQ9DHiqun6s7iwWb1lhteWElzuEaDCeG4fRWg/w400-h299/collaboration+pyramid.png" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><span style="font-family: verdana;">I'm revisiting <a href="https://teresa-nextsteps.blogspot.com/2017/01/byod4l-thoughts-on-collaboration.html" target="_blank">this post </a>made in 2017 during an open course called #BYOD4L which took place in Google + (remember that??) as a result of a suggestion that arose from a twitter musing:</span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span> </p><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">lots of reminders of <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/byod4l?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#byod4l</a> in various timelines today - how times change <a href="https://twitter.com/alexgspiers?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@alexgspiers</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/neilwithnell?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@neilwithnell</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/chrissinerantzi?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@chrissinerantzi</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/suebecks?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@suebecks</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/debbaff?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@debbaff</a> and so many others</p>— Sheila MacNeill (@sheilmcn) <a href="https://twitter.com/sheilmcn/status/1350385496967544833?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 16, 2021</a></blockquote><p><br /></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Sheila's tweet <a href="https://howsheilaseesit.net/curriculum-design/bring-your-own-device-for-learning-or-bringing-learning-to-your-device/" target="_blank">quickly coalesced into a blog post</a> and brought a group of us back together again to plan a proposal to <a href="https://oer21.oerconf.org/call-for-proposals/" target="_blank">#OER21</a>. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Since I wrote the Collaboration post in 2017 many things have happened. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">The Erasmus Plus Virtual Exchange initiative lasted 3 years and has had a huge impact as you can see in the <a href="https://europa.eu/youth/erasmusvirtual/impact-erasmus-virtual-exchange_en" target="_blank">reports hosted here. </a> <a href="http://UNICollaboration.org">UNICollaboration.org</a> has been the lead partner on HEI work, delivering recognition through an open badge system based on a collaboratively produced <a href="https://europa.eu/youth/erasmusvirtual/erasmus-virtual-exchange-competences-framework_en" target="_blank">competency framework</a> and providing research into the impact of virtual exchange. This research has been further enhanced by the work of the <a href="https://evolve-erasmus.eu/" target="_blank">EVOLVE project </a> which has shared outputs openly under Creative Commons licences to help HEIs deliver training and support for practitioners and internationalisation officers. So a good deal of concrete support has been available free of charge thanks to the European Commission over the past 3 years or so. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">More recently I retired from my role at Warwick but I am very happy to report that the Clavier virtual exchange continues thanks to the depth and personal engagement of our collaborators. Clavier is now in its 10th year and continues to work as a large scale opportunity for both staff and students to learn together. We celebrated <a href="https://openbadgepassport.com/app/badge/info/288675" target="_blank">with a badge</a> of course!</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">The UK withdrew from Erasmus, a decision which <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/29/world/europe/brexit-erasmus-uk-eu.html" target="_blank">shocked many</a> around the world. A decision which has been called out by <a href="https://university-council-modern-languages.org/2021/01/14/ucml-writes-to-uk-minister-for-education-on-erasmus/" target="_blank">UK language communities.</a></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">The voices of the language community speaking out about the decision to take the UK out of Erasmus Plus:</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"><a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23erasmust&src=typed_query&f=live" target="_blank">#erasmust </a></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">So many doors can close at many levels: personal, institutional, political, financial. How does international collaboration continue when doors close? </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Here is what I have learned over the years. </span></p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b>Collaboration can overcome barriers if the purpose of the collaboration is shared and valued by those working together</b>. Clavier has outlived loss of budget, loss of senior management support, even time constraints because we support each other. </span></li><li><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b>Working openly helps strengthen collaboration.</b> Choosing tools which are not dependant upon institutional finance and methods which make sharing activity safe but open leads to many unexpected additional opportunities. </span></li><li><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b>You can learn lots if you are open to learning from others</b> (including your students). Treading the trickier path described above meant getting a deeper grasp of the technologies we used, sharing critical digital wisdom, listening to all participants and being willing to try new ideas. </span></li><li><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b>Celebrate your victories </b>and hug your communities (virtually of course). Virtual Exchange is a hybrid, tougher than the "pure bred" systems which favour either all face to face or all online learning. These strengths have been of great comfort to virtual exchange practitioners during the current pandemic. </span></li></ul><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">Personally, the Clavier, UNICollaborate and EVOLVE communities have been hugely helpful in advancing my work in virtual exchange but these collaborations go much deeper so I need to acknowledge here the support, inspiration and collaboration gained from participation in these many open online communities of practice:</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><a href="https://altc.alt.ac.uk/oesig/#gref" target="_blank">Open Ed SIG</a>; <a href="https://www.alt.ac.uk/" target="_blank">ALT</a>; </span><span style="font-family: verdana;"><a href="http://www.eurocall-languages.org/" target="_blank">Eurocall</a>; </span><span style="font-family: verdana;"><a href="https://lthechat.com/" target="_blank">#LTHEchat</a>; <a href="https://byod4learning.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">#BYOD4L</a>; <a href="https://creativecommons.org/" target="_blank">Creative Commons</a>; <a href="https://femedtech.net/" target="_blank">#femedtech</a>; <a href="https://www.openrecognition.org/" target="_blank">Open Recognition Alliance</a>; <a href="https://mahara.org/" target="_blank">Mahara</a>; <a href="https://www.globaleducationconference.org/" target="_blank">Global Education Conference</a>; </span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">these networks have all been part of my professional and personal development and more importantly perhaps individuals within them have been the key to sustaining my progress whatever happens. Impossible to acknowledge all the individuals but worth saying a huge thank you to all who have worked with me in any way. Some of you have moved on to other careers and opened new doors. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">Collaboration and working collectively touches so many lives and brings so many possibilities that doors are no longer relevant. We've all gone open plan!</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><p></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script><iframe src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/78514623" width="640" height="480" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; fullscreen; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>Teresa MacKinnonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14439853587132749365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4786208002780032681.post-50783762642348173612020-12-13T16:09:00.002+00:002021-02-16T14:03:13.224+00:00on e-portfolios<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhC5e5wgEkoNLMIIqWW1uHzJNY2tAtTIslUJnzYvqUgrLIVDDdRiEg8g6PfakOVBYLLXAPT-yzChjcYYobejULKxnK5rqzxr6rRAk-VrambM0qrxIxBaEYuGrldYlZmDf-hKuBk3w6EyCg/s1280/Mahara+MUM+welcome.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhC5e5wgEkoNLMIIqWW1uHzJNY2tAtTIslUJnzYvqUgrLIVDDdRiEg8g6PfakOVBYLLXAPT-yzChjcYYobejULKxnK5rqzxr6rRAk-VrambM0qrxIxBaEYuGrldYlZmDf-hKuBk3w6EyCg/w400-h225/Mahara+MUM+welcome.png" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Over the years I have used eportfolios for many different purposes. Prior to the ALT Winter conference 2020 where I will be a panel member talking about e-portfolios I think it would be useful to draw all my explorations and activities into one place. This will be a post with lots of links but I hope also to summarize the rationale for looking to eportfolios in my work. The image above is taken from the Mahara #MUM (Mahara users Midlands) group which now resides in <a href="http://mahara.org">mahara.org</a>. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Firstly, it is important to distinguish between a portfolio and an eportfolio. There are many professions which expect to see a portfolio in order to recruit. A typical portfolio in this context (photography, modelling etc) would include examples of the work you are most proud of. A curation which shows your talents and expertise. An e-portfolio can also be used in this way of course. An electronic version of the same. This is how I used mahara for my <a href="https://www.foliospaces.org/view/view.php?t=ulGqKzW874H2tIAXDopw" target="_blank">CMALT assessment</a> and subsequent <a href="https://www.foliospaces.org/view/view.php?t=aEWw4TkLFOVqyebfXd6A" target="_blank">review</a> for example. The beauty of a digital curation is of course that it displays multimedia evidence wrapped with contextual narration. It reflects the fact that much of my activity is online and open. Display of my open badges also tells the story of my activity. So for me an e-portfolio is the logical choice. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">My rationale for supporting e-portfolio is more that just encouraging folk to "show off" however. An eportfolio is a very useful personal collection tool. By default, using Mahara the pages and collections you create are visible only to the user. This makes it a "<a href="https://www.slideshare.net/teresamac/thinking-spaces-using-mahara-as-a-domain-ones-own" target="_blank">domain of one's own</a>" a space online (as I presented in ALT winter conference 2016) which can be used to collect your work, a space to reflect upon your experiences of online or blended learning which may for example have happened in a more formal VLE space. This is the approach we adopted in <a href="https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=z8ctBgAAQBAJ&lpg=PA57&ots=ICBhV2Cc9k&dq=info%3AhRNym8Ga59YJ%3Ascholar.google.com&lr&pg=PA57#v=onepage&q&f=false" target="_blank">Languages@Warwick mahoodle</a> and in the <a href="https://evolve-erasmus.eu/training-resources/" target="_blank">EVOLVE</a> training co-laboratory. This store of personal reflection and evidence can easily be curated, selecting good examples which can then be shared more widely. There is an economy of time and effort gained in this approach and the results I've seen in our <a href="https://read.bookcreator.com/czHiWg1mbURBt6XGEriXdgYJEr62/j09MDQqZTXGthHfmyzsU0Q" target="_blank">Assessed e-portfolio for language learning </a>summarised in this e-book for example bear witness to the power of this approach. The eportfolio owner can acquire vital digital literacies (management of IP/copyright, permissions and online visibility) which improve the quality of their online presence. I have written extensively and openly about the process of forming a construct for assessment, leaving the <a href="https://www.scribd.com/lists/4168647/e-portfolio-for-accreditation" target="_blank">documents available openly on scribd.</a> A more recent final year module I created, Developing Language Teaching was 100% eportfolio assessed. A fact which was fully appreciated when lockdown arrived this year. Using their eportfolio as a private space throughout the course encouraged students to evidence the evolution of their development over time. Some extracts are included in this <a href="https://www.slideshare.net/teresamac/using-mahara-to-share-your-skills-with-others" target="_blank">recent presentation</a> for the MaharaHui2020 conference. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Finally, I have also used an eportfolio shared space (Mahara group) to support shared research such as in the case of the <a href="https://www.foliospaces.org/view/view.php?t=SpsrHNX6wiDvmQKRVOxu" target="_blank">WIHEA #knowhow project.</a> Shared pages allowed us to collaborate and view each other's research and then decide together where we should investigate further. In a project such as this where staff and students in different roles had limited time to get together the shared group space mediated our interactions, saving time and allowing us to collaborate remotely. The digital artefacts we stored there were then easily accessible for us to create a <a href="https://www.slideshare.net/teresamac/wihea-poster-knowhow" target="_blank">digital poster</a> for dissemination at the end of the project. </span><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">My conviction that eportfolios can be a really useful tool for staff and students alike has several key contributing factors:</span></p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">Deep thought and reflection require private space and time as well as mediated discussion. We provide for both in the physical world, I believe we need to provide digital spaces with the same affordances. Especially in a pandemic. </span></li><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">Ownership is a crucial conversation in the digital domain. Legally there is too little protection for the rights of the individual who creates online, the industry would prefer us to all be consumers. There is much to do to increase understanding of Creative Commons licences.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">The assumption that all academic work should reside on institutional platforms to which you lose access at the end of your course or contract should be challenged. The possibility to export and retain your work should be supported. </span></li><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">Designing assessment which use e-portfolios is a really useful collaborative activity. For a practitioner it requires questioning what we value and empirically investigating how best to achieve that learning. There are of course disciplinary differences but sharing your construct openly can inspire others. </span></li><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">Learning is not a tidy, linear process. It is full of twists and turns. Making that explicit through reflection can help us come to terms with the challenges we face and find better strategies. </span></li></ul><p></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Here's the recording from the ALT Winter conference 2020:</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></p><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/w4EylGjZhC4" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>Teresa MacKinnonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14439853587132749365noreply@blogger.com0Bishop's Tachbrook, Leamington Spa CV33, UK52.2492667 -1.544727523.939032863821154 -36.7009775 80.559500536178845 33.6115225tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4786208002780032681.post-86949916784002603872020-10-16T17:00:00.001+01:002020-10-16T17:00:30.752+01:00A swan song<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_7a6p6_NJCqwxJMjTJm96pJ1dTXG7C7pEajvqKyKTQI0fT7I4yzS9GZtmhlUjJSdYGgu_6vJ6IZqc5JJVoEy3dMCdcN-byzDenKiDzO6BGkvnUeaaVt6903Xyuspy-rLb4mjObtJjTYI/s2048/IMG_20140223_212515.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="2048" height="370" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_7a6p6_NJCqwxJMjTJm96pJ1dTXG7C7pEajvqKyKTQI0fT7I4yzS9GZtmhlUjJSdYGgu_6vJ6IZqc5JJVoEy3dMCdcN-byzDenKiDzO6BGkvnUeaaVt6903Xyuspy-rLb4mjObtJjTYI/w370-h370/IMG_20140223_212515.jpg" width="370" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: verdana;">My final teaching commitments before I retire are fully online. I have taken on 2 groups of Business School Master's level students of Management who would like to learn some French, some are absolute beginners, some have experience or speak another romance language. This is not for credit, it is an optional course for which the resources have already been placed on a moodle course and which has previously been provided as a face to face experience. Attendance is the only criteria for assessment. There are over 100 students on the class and all share access to the moodle environment. They are not grouped in any way, all can see everything. I have about 40 of them and this week I met them for the first time in a Microsoft Teams channel I set up for our synchronous sessions. There will be 8 weeks @ 2 hours a week, all running at night. They are joining me from wherever they happen to be right know due to covid, some in Warwick, many in Asia. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: verdana;">Anyone reading this with any teaching experience will be able to decode what I have just described - a highway to hell in teaching terms! A hiding to nothing perhaps. Putting to one side the pedagogical challenges of designing for this mixed ability, time poor group of students I would like to capture here some of the many issues that present themselves in the light of my rich experience of teaching with technology. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><h3 style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: verdana;">Closing psychological distance matters.</span></h3><div><span style="color: #073763; font-family: verdana;">In a physical classroom there are many techniques I use to do this. Some may call them ice breaker activities but they go beyond the "first impressions" stage in a language class. My constraints in this setting are imposed by the requirement to teach using MS Teams. This (like many of the tools institutions provide for teaching) is not designed for teachers. It is cobbled together from the leftovers of tools created and sold to businesses, often with the tagline that they are solutions to better team work. In MS Teams case it remixes a huge investment made in buying Skype (<a href="https://www.wired.com/2011/05/microsoft-buys-skype-2/" target="_blank">see this from 2011</a>) with the extensive use of MS Office 365 in HEIs. Recouping return on investment whilst claiming to be a covid solution. So, once the students have their email address (courtesy of Office) they can join a Teams channel and hold meetings. So far so business like. They can even join as a guest but they will then have restricted access. However, in a teaching context where one is trying to establish a collegiate, collaborative and welcoming environment this just increases the work the teacher must do. Student names appear in the room in surname/first name order. Many of my students have very long names, meaning is is very difficult to see their first name in the participant pane, so I have to cross reference with a separate spreadsheet to avoid mistakenly speaking to people using their surname. No possible renaming as we have in zoom, no freedom for students to access under a name of their choice. Reminiscent of a public school classroom from the era of Jeeves and Wooster. So far so colonial.</span></div><div><span style="color: #073763; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: verdana;">Feeling at home.</span></h3><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: verdana;">The combination of a Teams space and a moodle course means that tutor time has to be invested in a guided tour. Despite already having a recorded version of this prepared before I started teaching, most had not seen it and so some serious hand holding was needed. I used screenshare to show everyone around both spaces, sharing links in the chat so they could investigate further. I designed a task in sub teams (group work within MS teams) for students to input into a notepad shared document how they wish to use our precious time together. This gave them experience of jumping into a different virtual room and collaborating together. This is do-able in Teams and by and large we got through it but it is very clunky compared to the interfaces I am used to for breakout rooms (in Zoom/Bb Collaborate for example). No quick room allocation through drag and drop, no one-stop recall message to call everyone back in 5 mins, instead I visited each room in turn to invite them back the main room, interrupting whatever they were doing to demand their presence. I certainly didn't feel at home. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><h3 style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: verdana;">Emotions matter. </span></h3><div><span style="color: #073763; font-family: verdana;">We know that learning is positively or adversely affected by one's emotions. Most virtual rooms acknowledge this by offering a range of emoticons or reaction images which participants can use during conversations, giving a guide to the "room temperature". In MS Teams you can raise your hand and just like in school you can be ignored! It is not easy to navigate through a large group of students in order to ensure everyone feels heard. I became very reliant on good old fashioned teaching skills - namely my voice - to inject warm and welcoming vibes and encourage everyone to use the chat so I could deal with their queries. People who don't feel heard just get noisier or withdraw. Another cultural reference came to my head: <a href="https://youtu.be/ZXhHFgDRNBQ" target="_blank">Joyce Grenfell.</a> Those were not the days! Of course there were individuals for whom I didn't have a Warwick email address and they couldn't participate in the group activity as their guest status prevented them from seeing the subgroups. More work for me to sort out and update their details and more disappointment for them. It is lonely when you can't get through the door. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: verdana;">So all in all, this term will be a challenging one. One where I am constantly reminded that my 10 years of experience through virtual exchange, although it has equipped me for anything, has failed to result in evidence informed technological provision for great teaching and learning. Plus ça change! </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><p></p>Teresa MacKinnonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14439853587132749365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4786208002780032681.post-55917662450528839022020-08-22T20:35:00.003+01:002020-08-22T20:38:23.223+01:00#eurocallgathering A meaningful mission on my road to retirement<p> </p><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/86046115" width="640"></iframe>
<div><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">Summer 2020 was to mark my the end of my teaching at Warwick. I plan to retire at year end and didn't want to leave the next cohort part way through their learning. These were just plans in my head, but they were of course affected by the arrival of a global pandemic - forecast for some years by experts and yet unexpected by the UK Government, which of course had their eyes only on the earning potential presented by their #brexit agenda. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">As it became apparent that we would not be able to travel easily, thoughts turned to how we could maintain some continuity in the Eurocall community which is almost entirely supported through an <a href="https://www.eurocall-languages.org/conferences/past-conferences" target="_blank">annual conference</a>, already some way into planning to take place in Copenhagen. A difficult decision was made, we would not be able to go ahead. I had been co-opted to the board of Eurocall in 2018 and this organisation has a special place in my heart. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">As an early adopter of technology for language teaching and learning I had become aware early in my career that there was a group of academics who researched in this area. As a teacher, even as a head of subject I didn't have resources to enable me to join a physical conference. I read some of their work and attended local training events in Warwickshire but back then there was no easy access to information through the internet. In the 90's, <a href="https://www.eurocall-languages.org/about/history">when Eurocall was founded</a> I used CD-ROMs such as Granville in my teaching. Later in my career, having moved to work in Higher Education I was able to track down Graham Davies, thanks to his ICT4LT website and twitter. I contacted him in 2010 as I had taken on a role to support staff development at Warwick Language Centre and he kindly agreed to speak to our teachers in his Second Life persona. Even with my very rudimentary skills in Second Life I was able to get my avatar to wear a Eurocall t-shirt! Warwick language tutors listened to Graham together and discussed how we could further embed technology in our teaching practice. I felt I was offering them the chance to connect with the leading edge of research and those with most experience. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">Graham and I shared a love of Europe and the need to support language learning: <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">UK withdraws from ECML, European centre created to support excellence in language teaching - reducing our influence over policy <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/mfl?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#mfl</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/sttf?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#sttf</a></p>— Teresa MacKinnon (@WarwickLanguage) <a href="https://twitter.com/WarwickLanguage/status/129822856946270208?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 28, 2011</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">Sadly Graham died 2 year later. I attended a celebration of his life in Second Life, a really moving event. He cared deeply for the fellowship he found in EuroCALL and I felt honoured to be able to pick up his legacy through working <a href="https://eurocallvirtual.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">on the virtual strand blog</a>. I felt that the challenges I had faced as a young teacher would not be going away. The opportunity to make the work of Eurocall more open and accessible to all who supported language learning was one I could not resist. For me this was personal</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">The idea of the #eurocallgathering event was born of the challenges presented by covid19 in 2020. 10 years after Graham had spoken to our teachers, I put a plan together to use the under-utilised capacity of our G Suite to ensure that we could still get the community together. <a href="https://sites.google.com/warwicklanguage.org.uk/eurocall-gathering-2020/home" target="_blank">I set up a site</a> a hashtag and a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRYxp-MEw0KrOaZqPzh3IBw" target="_blank">You Tube channel</a> and spent the summer months pulling it all together. Thanks to the support of the executive, the conference committee was able to transfer much of the planned event online. We didn't have the joy of visiting Copenhagen but we were able to share our work and and fellowship for two packed online days which will also leave a legacy behind them for others to find. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">The wide range of research which is generated by this community continues and #eurocallagathering only shows a small cross section and much of my work continues with UNICollaboration which was born out of the work supported by Eurocall. The stream is widening, as John Gillespie pointed out <a href="https://youtu.be/J9LkL4cTCV8" target="_blank">in his keynote</a>. </span><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWA0JfS6cV_ZaaRnF0k7DVb9T2NuyegQxTgSE987_iqnsxk6OF_8MP3Xg_WOMvcf6vPtaLB1FW5iXftiIMdwNTMYbXJzt2H4m1tOINwFrMP4X38PHkXA8l3xStAHAxI8W2Fm_PoxJ0zwo/s1024/WordItOut-word-cloud-4318712.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="573" data-original-width="1024" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWA0JfS6cV_ZaaRnF0k7DVb9T2NuyegQxTgSE987_iqnsxk6OF_8MP3Xg_WOMvcf6vPtaLB1FW5iXftiIMdwNTMYbXJzt2H4m1tOINwFrMP4X38PHkXA8l3xStAHAxI8W2Fm_PoxJ0zwo/s640/WordItOut-word-cloud-4318712.png" width="640" /></a></div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div>Teresa MacKinnonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14439853587132749365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4786208002780032681.post-1365846672704691052020-07-02T16:23:00.001+01:002020-07-02T16:32:25.220+01:00SEDA panel: Educational development and learning technology - challenges and opportunities.<br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnD-Pscbo-jVPVTHXIgySvVXii2s21-B1dLI9o0gUOTkox5fxyvZzgdqOuHhCqams76-Qf3xYyLf9L6YeE0_ODGvOf7tawkvsi7biScY-_25eoE0tU23acoZhmRa7Q2xftNQNT14sTCJg/s1920/Screenshot_20200601-073020.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1920" data-original-width="1080" height="500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnD-Pscbo-jVPVTHXIgySvVXii2s21-B1dLI9o0gUOTkox5fxyvZzgdqOuHhCqams76-Qf3xYyLf9L6YeE0_ODGvOf7tawkvsi7biScY-_25eoE0tU23acoZhmRa7Q2xftNQNT14sTCJg/w281-h500/Screenshot_20200601-073020.png" width="281" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Screenshot from my Google music app.<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div><font color="#3367d6" face="verdana">Since lockdown my usual gym trip in the mornings has been replaced by time spent on my exercise bike in the back garden listening to my music and making the most of the warm weather. My playlists have often thrown up some very apposite songs which have framed my reflections on work. This coming week I have been invited to contribute to a panel discussion hosted by <a href="https://www.seda.ac.uk/about" target="_blank">SEDA</a> (Staff and Educational Development Association) and as I will have just 5 minutes I have decided to put further detail here for anyone wishing to follow up on my thoughts, which will be particularly drawing on my experience as a language educator. </font></div><div><font color="#3367d6" face="verdana"><br /></font></div><div><font color="#3367d6" face="verdana">Firstly to frame my contribution please read the executive summary of <a href="https://university-council-modern-languages.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/HEPI_A-Languages-Crisis_Report-123-FINAL.pdf" target="_blank">this report</a>. It is prefaced by this statement from Nick Hillman, Director of HEPI (Higher Education Policy Institute) regarding why we need to direct greater attention to language learning in the UK because:</font></div><div><font color="#3367d6" face="verdana"><br /></font></div><div><font face="verdana">"</font><font face="verdana"><i>the decline in Languages is so great and
because there is so much uncertainty about the UK’s future
place in the world."</i></font></div><div><font face="verdana"><i><br /></i></font></div><div><font color="#3367d6" face="verdana">Many of us working in languages have seen the challenges coming over many years and have been pushing for greater recognition of the demands that come with the contextual shift happening in our domain of intercultural communications. Covid19 has brought this into sharper focus, revealing the capacity gap for leadership in effective online language learning and teaching in HEIs. It is not all bad news though - there are many opportunities ahead. </font></div><div><font color="#3367d6" face="verdana"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="485" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="//www.slideshare.net/slideshow/embed_code/key/NEktBCiRNAynX6" style="border-width: 1px; border: 1px solid #CCC; margin-bottom: 5px; max-width: 100%;" width="595"> </iframe> <div style="margin-bottom: 5px;"> <strong> <a href="//www.slideshare.net/teresamac/languages-seda-panel-contribution-030720" target="_blank" title="Languages SEDA panel contribution 03.07.20">Languages SEDA panel contribution 03.07.20</a> </strong> from <strong><a href="https://www.slideshare.net/teresamac" target="_blank">University of Warwick</a></strong> </div></font></div><div><font color="#3367d6" face="verdana"><br /></font></div><div><font color="#3367d6" face="verdana"><br /></font></div><div><font color="#3367d6" face="verdana"><br /></font></div><div><font color="#3367d6" face="verdana">CALL (Computer-assisted language learning) and CMC (computer-mediated communication) have a good deal of literature to support professional development. The rise in virtual exchange, <a href="https://evolve-erasmus.eu/" target="_blank">backed by research</a> and financial support from the European Commission, <a href="https://europa.eu/youth/erasmusvirtual/activity/opportunities-educators_en" target="_blank">offers skills development which empowers educators </a> and a <a href="https://europa.eu/youth/erasmusvirtual/activity/opportunities-young-people_en" target="_blank">range of activities for students</a> unable to travel due to the current crisis. This learning is being shared across disciplines through a new academic organisation, <a href="https://www.unicollaboration.org/" target="_blank">UNICollaboration</a>. </font></div><div><font color="#3367d6" face="verdana"><br /></font></div><div><font color="#3367d6" face="verdana">When learning design is applied to the "new normal" of online or blended learning it is necessary to return to first principles and re-examine what you do with your students, why and how you do it. If you are spending your summer figuring this out, I suggest starting as a student - <a href="https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/blended-learning-getting-started" target="_blank">join a mooc</a> . Establish your own <a href="https://youtu.be/a2LaWrIT2js" target="_blank">professional online identity</a> to reduce the psychological distance that is now part of how we must live and work. An important part of this preparation includes understanding copyright and ownership of your intellectual property. The Association for Learning Technology have brought together a great set of <a href="https://www.alt.ac.uk/communityResources" target="_blank">resources to help you</a>. </font></div><div><font color="#3367d6" face="verdana"><br /></font></div><div><font color="#3367d6" face="verdana">Creating interesting and inspiring digital learning materials which will enthuse your learners may well include some <a href="https://epaa.asu.edu/ojs/article/view/1825" target="_blank">advanced produsage</a>. It will certainly require critical digital literacies in order to ask difficult questions of your academic technologists and question the institutional status quo. You may wish to consider working as an <a href="https://www.slideshare.net/teresamac/open-educational-practice-in-language-teaching" target="_blank">open educational practitioner.</a> </font></div><div><font color="#3367d6" face="verdana"><br /></font></div><div><font color="#3367d6" face="verdana">This video illustrates the size of the challenge. Time now brings a new context to this recording which includes a section about Brazil's leadership in this area before Bolsonaro. </font></div><div><font color="#3367d6" face="verdana"><br /></font></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/AIQv4lX4ENo" width="320" youtube-src-id="AIQv4lX4ENo"></iframe></div><font color="#3367d6" face="verdana"><br /></font></div><div><font color="#3367d6" face="verdana"><br /></font></div><div><font color="#3367d6" face="verdana">Take a look at your own learning, explore heutagogy and reflect on the opportunities that the digital domain and open educational practice offer to you and your students. This could be a summer of transformation. </font></div><div><font color="#3367d6" face="verdana"><br /></font></div><div><font color="#3367d6" face="verdana"><br /></font></div><div><font face="verdana"><i><br /></i></font></div><div><font face="verdana"><i><br /></i></font></div><div><font color="#3367d6" face="verdana"><br /></font></div><div><font color="#3367d6" face="verdana"><br /></font></div><div><font color="#3367d6" face="verdana"><br /></font></div><div><font color="#3367d6" face="verdana"><br /></font></div>Teresa MacKinnonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14439853587132749365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4786208002780032681.post-40312452916197776782020-05-14T13:57:00.001+01:002020-05-14T14:04:49.655+01:00How important is measurement?<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf1IAh7KzeXO21FPgAsPXd4bfkIekbXmQA3j_HTQ9IYqHD-7W6U0J-f6QcO_EuTrvn00LogC_L03y1kbILMefI9cLGWZVdl-UIKZxrHUJwjXLRNjpzNSjhSeleeYpYDFOLxNNyuCuenBUJ/s1600/diet-695723_1280.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="853" data-original-width="1280" height="425" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf1IAh7KzeXO21FPgAsPXd4bfkIekbXmQA3j_HTQ9IYqHD-7W6U0J-f6QcO_EuTrvn00LogC_L03y1kbILMefI9cLGWZVdl-UIKZxrHUJwjXLRNjpzNSjhSeleeYpYDFOLxNNyuCuenBUJ/s640/diet-695723_1280.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
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Image by <a href="https://pixabay.com/users/stevepb-282134/?utm_source=link-attribution&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=image&utm_content=695723">Steve Buissinne</a> from <a href="https://pixabay.com/?utm_source=link-attribution&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=image&utm_content=695723">Pixabay</a></div>
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Last August I started incorporating regular visits to the local gym in my routine. Aware that I am not getting any younger and that my work has included substantial periods of time sitting at a screen I really needed to include more physical activity in my life. All was going great, then came lockdown. Fortunately I have an exercise bike and thanks to the lovely weather I have been able to set up a little home gym to keep things moving but I am aware that the balance has tipped somewhat as all my teaching, interaction with colleagues and social life is now screen based. My husband has started leaving the scales out in the bathroom to draw my attention to the need to review the effects of lockdown lasagne and increased home baking..I studiously avoid the hint as I know what is going on and don't need another cause of stress in my life right now. </span></div>
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Last night's <a href="https://lthechat.com/2020/05/10/lthechat-176-how-do-students-engage-with-learning-technologies-with-guest-host-professor-momna-hejmadi-bssmvh/" target="_blank">#LTHEchat </a> gave rise to a tangential conversation (as it often does) about the National Student Survey (NSS) and measuring student engagement/enjoyment of learning. Of course metrics have been the focus of much in education over recent years with many calling on empirical evidence as a basis for change. A suggestion that the NSS results could include emotional engagement information brought strong reactions;</span></div>
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Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo! <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/LTHEChat?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#LTHEChat</a></div>
— Chris Jobling (@cpjobling) <a href="https://twitter.com/cpjobling/status/1260660210789568512?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 13, 2020</a></blockquote>
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">and a call to discuss such surveys in a future chat. This prompted me to reflect a little on measurement in general. There is a tendency to assume that opposition to measurement comes from a desire to hide away from investigation. I do not believe this to be at all justified in education. Most practitioners want to understand how people find their teaching, we have in interest in knowing what works and what doesn't. There is little satisfaction in working away blindly without feedback. However let's not be naive, we need to know the purpose of such measurements. We need to understand the basis of the judgements and how they will be interpreted. For those working in education measurements and metrics have been used not to inform but to be interpreted selectively in order to advance certain agendas. Used to reduce the costs of teaching by removing experienced practitioners in favour of cheaper labour without a thought for how new practitioners will be supported. Used to pit head teachers and colleagues against each other through league tables. These are not in the interests of learners, they do not support the necessary interpersonal dynamics that create a great learning ethos, they do not help improve your teachers, they create a culture of fear and prevent true collaboration. </span><br />
<span style="color: blue; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: blue; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Another area of measurement - summative assessments - which have been hugely changed due to the #pivotonline agenda have increased stress and anxiety to our learners this year. We really need to stand up for what is helpful to learning and look critically at what we're measuring and for whom. If we really to wish to serve the learning needs of our students and indeed ourselves we need to question the purpose of measurement - the intended audience, the nature of the interrogation and the awareness of how subsequent judgements impact on the stakeholders. If measurement matters, how and what we measure matter more. If the stakes are too high, I don't want to play. So the scales can go away for now!</span><br />
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Grades are the bureaucratic ouroboros of education. <a href="https://t.co/5Wp9DxptdA">https://t.co/5Wp9DxptdA</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ungrading?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#ungrading</a></div>
— Jesse Stommel (@Jessifer) <a href="https://twitter.com/Jessifer/status/1225553906962440193?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 6, 2020</a></blockquote>
Teresa MacKinnonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14439853587132749365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4786208002780032681.post-66745784627939621362020-04-18T13:44:00.001+01:002020-04-18T13:44:33.834+01:00Whatever next?<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
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“Through the lens of critical digital pedagogy learning revolves around the idea of liberation. Liberation from oppression, but more specifically liberation from thought patterns (and educational practices) that limit human creativity and genius.” <a href="https://t.co/d9VfbAqBj1">https://t.co/d9VfbAqBj1</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/digped?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#digped</a></div>
— Sean Michael Morris (@slamteacher) <a href="https://twitter.com/slamteacher/status/1251148575007928321?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 17, 2020</a></blockquote>
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">As our teaching term ended and we returned home for the Easter break in the hope of finishing some outstanding tasks and maybe some well earned rest suddenly all our hopes were overturned. COVID19 was about to change everything as the UK government suddenly decided this was a risk which needed more extreme measures. To be honest <a href="https://teresamac.blog/2020/03/15/all-in-this-together-covid19/" target="_blank">their response was too little too late</a> but as ever the impact of crisis measures was yet again to put ordinary folk into the position of being "the elastic resource". This is an expression coined to me by one of my previous Heads of Department, a very wise Germanist. She would say whatever needs changing always relies on the workers being an "elastic resource" - stretching ever further, even when we are already over stretched. So it was again. All our carefully planned and prepared exam papers would need to be shelved and we were asked to create new assessment methods to fit a world where no-one could share a physical space, a new reality of social distancing and online "delivery". Otherwise we would not be doing our job. </span><br />
<span style="color: blue; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: blue; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">For me this reality of working remotely has been a way of life for at least 10 years so it didn't hold any of the fear I saw elsewhere. We (the language teaching community) have had at least 30 years of academic research into computer-assisted language (CALL) learning which has informed what we do and helped us to avoid some of the basic errors and misunderstandings which result from random application of shiny tech to teaching scenarios. Surely all would be fine. </span><br />
<span style="color: blue; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: blue; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I had neglected to consider that assessment is still akin to a lesser known martial art in higher education. Often mediated solely through 3 hour writing sessions filling large halls with hoards of nervous students surveilled by a team of invigilators. It was, in retrospect, unsurprising that many were just looking to replicate such conditions online and move on. Of course that wouldn't work for language assessment, but it took a while before a plan was centrally agreed and meanwhile the elastic resource (ER) stretched further to plan, design and refine replacement activities which could be used to arrive at a magic number for those students who were hoping to graduate this year. Yes Jesse, <a href="https://t.co/5Wp9DxptdA?amp=1" target="_blank">aloting numbers </a>remains a real issue in our competitive system which pits students against one another in order to identify those who are the most worthy of the best jobs. That's how capitalism views the world, on the basic of "merit". <a href="https://teresamac.blog/2020/04/12/go-on-you-deserve-it/" target="_blank">A fact we need to address more critically.</a></span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Social media was full of the fall out resulting from the call to <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23pivotonline&src=typed_query" target="_blank">#pivotonline.</a> Hurriedly deployed Microsoft teams reflected the urgency not of teachers but of managers to focus their ER to rise to the challenge before the Easter break despite the failure over past years to ensure that they were at least armed with the essential tool of assessment literacy! Fortunately some of us had undertaken some assessment training off our own bat, wanting to better understand what we do and why. <a href="https://www.scribd.com/document/246674729/Assessement-and-Language-Learning" target="_blank">I completed a PGCert in Assessment</a> in 2014 which really opened my eyes but I still felt ill prepared to make this sudden shift and grew increasingly nervous when some colleagues started suggesting lengthy oral presentations to be prepared by students under conditions of which we were blissfully ignorant. It became clear over a few days that some of us would become ill, many would have to return to their home countries in different timezones, many would have to adjust to strict lockdown, caring responsibilities and even the possibilities of huge and painful loss. This would be nothing like business as usual. </span><br />
<span style="color: blue; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: blue; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I found Dave Cormier's podcast really helpful and shared it with all those who were tasked with creating tools to measure performance under these new and bewildering conditions. </span><br />
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<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/DY59FcHjQ9U" width="560"></iframe><br />
<span style="color: blue; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Armed also with the learning shared at <a href="https://oer20.oerconf.org/#gref" target="_blank">#OER20</a> on the theme of care in education I set about advocacy for a humane approach to assessment in every forum I could. I hope to have made a difference. Measurement may be important to some but it is not life and death. Supporting and facilitating lifelong learning matters.Yes Sean, we must first liberate ourselves to speak out and stand up for those to whom we are responsible. Otherwise we really are not doing our job. </span>Teresa MacKinnonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14439853587132749365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4786208002780032681.post-57543859460626413242019-08-30T08:00:00.000+01:002019-09-04T13:44:00.519+01:00EuroCALL 2019: Critically open - designing for learning with your eyes open.<div style="height: 0; overflow: hidden; padding-bottom: 56.25%; padding-top: 35px; position: relative;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="true" allowtransparency="true" frameborder="0" height="315" sandbox="allow-scripts allow-same-origin" src="https://www.mentimeter.com/embed/25dd86a9bfa4dc8edc024d83a0f5462d/102879339aba" style="height: 100%; left: 0; position: absolute; top: 0; width: 100%;" width="420"></iframe></div>
How do you choose your digital tools?<br />
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This coming week I will ask this question to those attending EuroCALL2019 in Louvain La Neuve, Belgium. Their input will update the word cloud above. I am interested to find out what or who influences our tool selection - do we use what we know? what we are told to use in our institution? what we have heard about from others? When do we change tools? Does student interest or advocacy play a part? Are we aware of how some tool choices may negatively impact on student engagement? Do we think about whether a resource created using for example an authoring tool may not be accessible to some students? Perhaps we have limited choice.<br />
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I hope <a href="https://www.slideshare.net/teresamac/eurocall2019-critically-open" target="_blank">my presentation</a> gives rise to discussion about how we can ask better questions when designing for learning in digital environments.<br />
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A favourite resource from <a href="https://twitter.com/ft30uk" target="_blank">Future Teacher 3.0 UK</a> on this subject <a href="https://xot.futureteacher.eu/play.php?template_id=4#topnav" target="_blank">is available here</a>.<br />
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You see sadly there is little training for web developers into the accessibility needs of those using learning resources, little awareness amongst learning designers and practitioners of the importance of accessibility and therefore the online resources which have been assumed to help support learning can sometimes just further marginalise learners. Increasingly as the technology gets more complex, more "magical" thanks to algorithms and artificial intelligence we understand less of what is going on inside the black box. I believe that if we use digital tools we need to ask better questions, to uncover some of what is hidden from us. We need to use and promote <b>critical</b> digital literacy<br />
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I have been curating some of the conversations on twitter which <a href="https://wke.lt/w/s/v4Ekp" target="_blank">relate to #criticaldigilit</a>. I hope you find them useful.<br />
<br />Teresa MacKinnonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14439853587132749365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4786208002780032681.post-4910659380170439282019-07-04T11:05:00.000+01:002019-07-04T11:05:01.004+01:00On the sustainability of teaching<span style="background-color: #e6ecf0; color: #14171a; font-family: "segoe ui" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span>
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Image by <a href="https://pixabay.com/users/geralt-9301/?utm_source=link-attribution&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=image&utm_content=3310049">Gerd Altmann</a> from <a href="https://pixabay.com/?utm_source=link-attribution&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=image&utm_content=3310049">Pixabay</a><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Recently I contributed to <a href="https://xot.futureteacher.eu/play.php?template_id=4#page19section1" target="_blank">this final Future teacher 3.0 session</a> by briefly sharing why I work in the open and support open educational practice (OEP) for teachers. I cannot separate that journey from the decision to learn more about ownership of digital learning objects and the use of Creative Commons licences. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Sustainability is at the heart of that decision. Teaching as a profession is about creating the conditions for learning and growth and currently our wealthy economies are dominated by austerity and the drive to reduce regulation, resulting in open season on working terms and conditions. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2019/jun/28/gig-economy-in-britain-doubles-accounting-for-47-million-workers" target="_blank">The gig economy continues to grow </a> and we will reap the negative effects of the societal impact.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The human cost of forgetting our humanity, our responsibility to one another, in favour of short term rewards is shocking. </span><br />
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Gert Biesta: Teaching is not an intervention on objects but an encounter between subjects aimed at calling forth the subject-ness of students <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/CCCUedconf?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#CCCUedconf</a> <a href="https://t.co/DW9tKQIsC3">pic.twitter.com/DW9tKQIsC3</a></div>
— Dr Lee Hazeldine (@CccuEd_blended) <a href="https://twitter.com/CccuEd_blended/status/1093577266167197696?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">7 February 2019</a></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">In my discipline the race to market language learning has decimated a real understanding of the fundamental fact that language is a human act, to improve you need to use it with real humans! </span><br />
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Extracts from an interview for EFL teachers with Ross Thorburn.<br />
A. What are the biggest changes that you've witnessed in how languages are taught and learned since you started your career in the 1960s? <a href="https://t.co/6RHdkFsMI6">pic.twitter.com/6RHdkFsMI6</a></div>
— Vivian Cook (@VivCookMC1) <a href="https://twitter.com/VivCookMC1/status/1096837552668139520?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">16 February 2019</a></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">It may seem dull to learn how to operate and share resources online legally but at the heart of that learning is freedom which is central to the sustainability of teaching. Already inequality of access to language learning is growing, access to learning resources more widely is being limited according to wealth:</span><br />
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In <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/copyrightreform?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#copyrightreform</a> legislators should care about teachers, not publishing market, which is the “largest cultural industry in Europe”and“shows signs of a new phase of sustainable growth”according to a FEP report from 2017, <a href="https://twitter.com/AxelVossMdEP?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@AxelVossMdEP</a>, <a href="https://t.co/MvZCTg9Nf9">https://t.co/MvZCTg9Nf9</a> <a href="https://t.co/0ewQJcoEUS">pic.twitter.com/0ewQJcoEUS</a></div>
— communia (@communia_eu) <a href="https://twitter.com/communia_eu/status/995947370687889409?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">14 May 2018</a></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">These threats should be resisted by us all, but particularly by teachers. In a typical tongue in cheek tweet, Dave White commented on the difficulty of replicating human interaction through AI:</span><br />
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If only people were computers this would be a whole lot easier... I mean, people - it's almost like they aren't just a stack of maths in some meat.</div>
— David White (@daveowhite) <a href="https://twitter.com/daveowhite/status/1146414080644833280?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">3 July 2019</a> </blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">To sustain a good quality of human life we must first value each other, whatever our talents, flaws, differences and challenges and then refuse to support changes which undermine our collective potential to thrive. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>Teresa MacKinnonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14439853587132749365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4786208002780032681.post-28992971222649933862019-05-27T16:47:00.000+01:002019-05-27T16:47:36.696+01:00You can't stop wildflowers spreading!<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSCZCLTC2C4yUmRNVmPsvcmAOkA8HVapM-lz5KagyPWJVq49Zy0H6rRhISLt3eU01any7393W0Z78dU3JiGaKfPnqpWd8CF1veRN3MtqO7EaYMAsksSeMpIDCOngeIFgB3IxpFOwSNhSk/s1600/MVIMG_20190524_073457.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSCZCLTC2C4yUmRNVmPsvcmAOkA8HVapM-lz5KagyPWJVq49Zy0H6rRhISLt3eU01any7393W0Z78dU3JiGaKfPnqpWd8CF1veRN3MtqO7EaYMAsksSeMpIDCOngeIFgB3IxpFOwSNhSk/s640/MVIMG_20190524_073457.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Warwick's wildflower roundabout Summer 2019 CC BY 4.0 <a href="https://twitter.com/WarwickLanguage" target="_blank">@warwicklanguage</a></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It is now a year since the end of the <a href="http://teresa-nextsteps.blogspot.com/search/label/wihea" target="_blank">Warwick International Higher Education Academy (WIHEA) #knowhow project ended</a>. The metaphor for talking about open practice which we employed was based around wild flowers and I took a moment last week to revisit the campus roundabout which was one of the enduring images used to promote our activity, delighted to see that the wildflowers are back and blooming. The disadvantage of funded projects is that they often disappear once the funding runs out leaving little in the way of legacy. I'm pleased to say that our legacy continues as many of the project outputs are open and freely available, but they are sometimes changed by circumstances beyond my control:</span><br />
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<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">WIHEA has a set of <a href="https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/cross_fac/academy/funding/2016-17fundedprojects/knowhow/" target="_blank">project pages for #knowhow</a> (sadly the G+ community is now only visible to those who are part of our GSuite)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Our <a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLAwTp2E3EbggygNpVBt3Ll9y16_thVIDg" target="_blank">You Tube channe</a>l is open to all, as it <a href="http://wiheaknowhow.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">our blog</a> (frozen in time it reflects the experiences of project members)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Dissemination of <a href="https://sites.google.com/site/lamodification/resources/remix" target="_blank">open practice is available on my website</a> and my <a href="https://www.slideshare.net/teresamac/wihea-poster-knowhow" target="_blank">slideshare feed</a>. </span></li>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The recent open education conference <a href="https://oer19.oerconf.org/#gref" target="_blank">#OER19</a> shared many great ideas for the development and implementation of open educational practice which I have started to investigate now that my exam marking has finished. These conferences, supported by ALT, leave lasting footprints year after year modelling the advantages of open practice. Their CEO <a href="https://twitter.com/MarenDeepwell" target="_blank">Maren Deepwell</a> is committed to open practice and <a href="https://marendeepwell.com/?p=2105" target="_blank">shares her learning</a> as she participates in a range of educational activities and events. She is one of many open practitioners in my <a href="https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1UOr0iFCCsFEr1P5ssphWjECjISvk45oD-bd2-09Gquo/edit?usp=sharing" target="_blank">personal learning network</a> (<i>note to self I must update this as it was last done in 2017</i>) who inspire me. She is a sower of seeds. Learning is lifelong, sharing that learning can help others in their journey. It is <b>not</b> a competition or a race which depends upon beating others by withholding information. We thrive through collaboration and co-creation. This may require compromise. There will be times when we become more vulnerable than we would like to, times when we have to admit we get things wrong, times when we have to as for help. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/may/24/the-guardian-view-on-theresa-may-a-poisonous-legacy" target="_blank">Some of us have to learn this the hard way.</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> Through posting openly online I offer an imperfect work in progress. As you will see in this recent update to a previous post on an <a href="http://teresa-nextsteps.blogspot.com/2018/08/video-in-language-teaching.html" target="_blank">EU project called Video for al</a>l. I hope others find it helpful in some way. I will be presenting at <a href="https://sites.uclouvain.be/eurocall2019/" target="_blank">Eurocall 2019 </a>on open practice, continuing to sow my seeds. I may have little control over where they fall and whether they grow but you can't stop wildflowers from spreading. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>Teresa MacKinnonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14439853587132749365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4786208002780032681.post-81067613845067468202019-04-03T19:00:00.002+01:002019-04-03T19:01:37.261+01:00From CMC to VE #wlvmlearn <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Just home from participating in an event held at the University of Wolverhampton Walsall campus at the invitation of <a href="https://twitter.com/HowardScott75" target="_blank">Howard Scott</a> and I would categorise it as an opportunity to provide my experience of CALL, or more specifically CMC and my subsequent journey into the <a href="https://europa.eu/youth/erasmusvirtual" target="_blank">Erasmus Plus Virtual Exchange</a> initiative. I was able to provide myself as an OER. My focus was particularly upon the importance of finding suitable networks to support our professional development and I am pleased to say that I have come home to connection requests on various social media platforms which mean the conversations can continue. Particularly important given that it will take the Palestinian teacher trainers I met today 2 days to return to their homes. We will be able to overcome our geographical distance and continue to interact and learn from each other. </span></div>
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">My <a href="https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/e/2PACX-1vSSkTtmkuFZzovWW3MzGW_vpFCE82K8dLRDGGeitcAhI2GPURkgystmpGWDwXVzbr4w_-lM4Rz3jadC/pub?start=false&loop=false&delayms=3000" target="_blank">slides from the session</a> and the <a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1g6dAMdxDRy6lgVKxyaVW8QMUwF2oPt5Zh7so2mPaRnk/edit?usp=sharing" target="_blank">google doc with the tasks</a> we tried to cover are linked here. Our conversations were urgent and rather restricted as we were part of a packed programme and participants were eager to find out as much as possible during their visit. We talked about how technologies of all sorts have long been part of our practice as language educators - from blackboards and chalk (chalk and talk was the expression used by one of the visiting teachers) to digital tools which they are very keen to embrace but wish to understand what works. Both myself and the <a href="https://www.uclan.ac.uk/staff_profiles/michael_thomas.php" target="_blank">final keynote speaker Michael Thomas </a> spoke about the importance of critical reflection when adopting digital technologies, alluding to the dangers of a solution based mindset and techno evangelism and the importance of prioritising the learning when designing with technology. Central to these arguments is the notion of ownership. The digital wilds, where your data is harvested, trolling, spam and fake news abound, are not exactly a safe space. If you are insisting that your students engage there, you need to ensure that they are digitally savvy. We as teachers need therefore to be well informed and to ask better questions. As Michael said we need to uphold our responsibilities as "difficultators" (taking learners out of their comfort zone).</span></div>
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Much to ruminate on, I hope the conversations will continue.</span></div>
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I captured the social media footprint of the event here:</span></div>
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Teresa MacKinnonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14439853587132749365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4786208002780032681.post-15975480008380476782019-03-28T16:19:00.001+00:002019-03-28T16:19:09.690+00:00CALL to TEL(L)<div class="padlet-embed" style="background: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 2px; border: 1px solid rgba(0 , 0 , 0 , 0.1); box-sizing: border-box; overflow: hidden; position: relative; width: 100%;">
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">This week I was invited to present at an event jointly organised at Warwick for the Extended Classroom and the Arts faculty co-ordinated by the new <a href="https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/arts/dal/">Digital Arts Lab</a>. The event was really well attended and I spoke about my personal perspective on the history of CALL and how it has contributed as a field of study to better teaching and learning. </span><br />
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<strong> <a href="https://www.slideshare.net/teresamac/a-personal-journey-through-call" target="_blank" title="A personal journey through CALL">A personal journey through CALL</a> </strong> from <strong><a href="https://www.slideshare.net/teresamac" target="_blank">University of Warwick</a></strong> <br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #073763; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The audience included some familiar faces - people who regularly get together around use of technology in teaching, friends from languages at Warwick and some new (to me) so I was eager to ensure that I didn't get too bogged down in the technical or the personal. Meaning of course that there were some things I meant to say that I possibly didn't say clearly enough. Thankfully this blog is a good way to reflect on what I may have omitted! </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #073763; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The tools I used for the event were the slides embedded above and a set of resources for exploration shared on the padlet embedded at the top of this post. The story (just like my personal biography) goes back to the 1960s. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #073763; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">CALL has a long history of research involving practitioners in language teaching and researchers in language acquisition, it overlaps and connects with practitioners in English language teaching and applied linguists from around the world who also have their own networks. As a larger community we have sometimes been accused of being techno-evangelists (I have no idea what this accusation really means). I don't think there is a religious zeal within the community, we are mostly excited to try new things but often disappointed by their failure to deliver the promised change we seek!). Publications arising out of CALL and related fields such as Computer-mediated communication, Mobile Assisted language learning, Online Intercultural Exchange etc. often tell of the disappointments, the things that go wrong, the misuse of power through use of technology and other such critical issues. As a community we are well placed to help the scales drop from the eyes of those enchanted by the promises of technology enhanced learning. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #073763; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I feel I dwelt a little too much on avoiding the mistakes of the past and perhaps failed to mention the triumphs emerging from the work of this extensive, diverse, international community. So time to put that right. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #073763; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The best teaching arising from those who have engaged with the work of this community upholds some really important principles which contribute to the best in teaching and learning today:</span><br />
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<li><span style="background-color: white; color: #073763; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">human centred approaches to learning can be achieved using technology if we take care to prioritise learners,</span></li>
<li><span style="background-color: white; color: #073763; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">we can use our agency to inform and empower learners, encouraging autonomy and innovation in pedagogy,</span></li>
<li><span style="background-color: white; color: #073763; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">linguists are used to navigating the intercultural, any disciplinary project can be improved by involving a suitably competent linguist.</span></li>
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<span style="color: #073763; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I did in passing make a point around critical digital literacies. We must always ask ourselves when we think of computer-<i>assisted</i> language learning and technology <i>enhanced</i> (language) learning: who are we assisting? what are we enhancing? I should have also stressed that open practice is a great way of supporting reflection and improvement for researchers and practitioners. In my defence I have spoken about this many times so <a href="https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1701-3727" target="_blank">my work on this is fairly easy</a> to find!</span></div>
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<span style="color: #073763; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I really hope that something positive comes out of what was an exciting and positive event, that some more barriers have come down and that projects rooted in great teaching continue at Warwick. </span></div>
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Teresa MacKinnonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14439853587132749365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4786208002780032681.post-85698307653225813312019-01-12T15:01:00.001+00:002019-01-12T15:08:52.073+00:00Connecting communities and conferences: We have the technology!<iframe src="https://docs.google.com/document/d/e/2PACX-1vSRw16_oVJhrTR3JHUzTwWHddnfglOvJXJFDx0S3ChznvbvhSETX_DhPs-RskaaHSxx5pHIVuHSo-8G/pub?embedded=true"></iframe><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">Last week I made my way up the M1 to join the #socmedHE conference. Strictly speaking it was the #socmedHE18 conference but as it happened in 2019 I kept to the generic hashtag mostly. I was off to present - or rather to facilitate experience of - Virtual Exchange. The rationale for this was to connect participants at the Nottingham Trent based conference with those attending the <a href="https://elearningyork.wordpress.com/2018/11/12/9-jan-2019-future-teacher-conference/" target="_blank">Future teacher 3.0 conference </a>in York. Both exciting HE conferences on the same day but about 90 miles apart. Both sharing experiences and expertise in online or digital teaching. My aim was to use what I have learned through designing and running virtual exchange over the past 8 years and share my enthusiasm for the work of the <a href="https://twitter.com/ft30uk" target="_blank">@ft3uk</a> team. I have regularly attended their lunchtime webinars which are always comprehensive, interactive and useful for professional development. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">The design for this session was founded in experiential learning. I designed 3 tasks to take the participants through these stages:</span></span><br />
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<li><span style="color: blue; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Information sharing</span></li>
<li><span style="color: blue; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Comparison and Analysis</span></li>
<li><span style="color: blue; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Co-creation</span></li>
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Timing being short the tasks included a little ice breaking but, unlike the cohorts I usually work with, the participants in these 2 conferences are more homogenous - all working in UK education, mainly Higher Education practitioners. The embedded gdoc in this post shows the tasks in more detail. <a href="https://www.slideshare.net/teresamac/what-is-virtual-exchange" target="_blank">My slides</a> were a remix from those used by <a href="https://www.unicollaboration.org/" target="_blank">UNICollaboration</a> to present virtual exchange. The co-creation was aggregated using the two conference hashtags through <a href="https://tagboard.com/ft30uk/465462" target="_blank">a Tagboard</a> and a <a href="http://wke.lt/w/s/nSHFv" target="_blank">wakelet post</a>. (again this was a modified version of co-creation due to the time constraints, our virtual exchangees have to intentionally co-create artefacts but they typically have weeks to negotiate this). </span></div>
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">My session was a face to face session at Nottingham Trent #socmedHE18 transmitted through my Blackboard Collaborate Ultra room to York. <a href="https://europa.eu/youth/erasmusvirtual_en" target="_blank">The Erasmus Plus Virtual Exchange</a> initiative supports practitioners through training to design and engage successfully in virtual exchange and offers opportunities for students to have meaningful international experiences which may compliment or even take the place of physical mobility in cases where it is not possible for whatever reason. </span></div>
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Recognition of training or participation is provided in the form of open badges. A framework for the creation and issue of <a href="https://www.justframeworks.com/#!/frameworks/53db2e9a-0bf4-e411-8f25-d067e5ec4c65" target="_blank">open badges for virtual exchange is shared here.</a> The badges are issued through our account with <a href="https://openbadgefactory.com/" target="_blank">Open Badge Factory</a> which is based in Finland and those who earn them can collect and display them through setting up a profile on Open Badge Passport. <a href="https://openbadgepassport.com/app/user/profile/1534" target="_blank">Here's mine. </a></span></div>
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">This taster session - the resources for which remain open - hopefully gave in insight into the excitement and potential for working with those who are at a distance. Having experienced for myself how virtual exchange and connected practice can enrich your understanding of the contexts and challenges faced by others, help develop technical and learning design skills, bring new and exciting opportunities to both students and teachers, I feel that it was a valuable experience and certainly a first for me to present in 2 conferences at the same time!</span></div>
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span>Teresa MacKinnonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14439853587132749365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4786208002780032681.post-26847573349599771322018-10-24T15:33:00.000+01:002018-10-24T15:43:13.981+01:00Knowledge creation - trouble at mill<iframe allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/lG75cp6PWfw" width="560"></iframe><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">As scholars and academics we are knowledge creators often working at the edge of understanding. We have a mission to share and report back on what we find, especially when it can help others but even when we don't really know or understand the significance of what we report. That becomes a shared task, we work together as a community to extend understanding. In my personal case, as a teacher I have spent over 30 years looking for the best ways to engage my learners in intercultural and linguistic understanding, looking to build their curiosity and supporting their lifelong interest in language learning. As a researcher and open educational practitioner I report back to share what I find and others chime in. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">It is therefore natural to me that I would turn my hand to editing Wikipedia as a way of sharing knowledge. I am a newbie but a long time supporter of the project. I have been researching in an area variously described as "telecollaboration" or "Online Intercultural Exchange" or "virtual exchange" as a teaching practice. It offers much to support my aims as a practitioner. I have <a href="https://scholar.google.co.uk/citations?user=asO7c8wAAAAJ&hl=en" target="_blank">published in this area</a> and when I used Wikipedia to search for a reference to it, <i>lo</i> there was nothing. There is a page on telecollaboration which was dominated until 2013 by references to the tools and technical functionality:</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOFVLqmqJKt2rmSmiWZYV6-6DijhVJz9QtY8SLZUHx8wbLT5fQnJ6ru7NtCPVdh163PnGWYBGrRbKtUnm2uYybZpvTo1pthvG9edT0sQ2glU1FwhqH19JM71OU0FMa9Rnlqh-B9T52cAU/s1600/telecollaboration.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="752" data-original-width="1600" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOFVLqmqJKt2rmSmiWZYV6-6DijhVJz9QtY8SLZUHx8wbLT5fQnJ6ru7NtCPVdh163PnGWYBGrRbKtUnm2uYybZpvTo1pthvG9edT0sQ2glU1FwhqH19JM71OU0FMa9Rnlqh-B9T52cAU/s320/telecollaboration.png" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">(on left wikipedia entry from 2009, cf current page)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">now much improved with good references to the academic work in this area, a page on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_conferencing" target="_blank">web conferencing</a> which again focuses on the tools and their history. I could find nothing on the educational practice of virtually connecting people from other cultures to facilitate discussion and build those all important soft skills and/or language skills. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">However, my editing knowledge at the time was very limited. Inspired however by an <a href="https://altc.alt.ac.uk/oesig/2016/10/26/webinar-recording-a-new-look-at-wikimedia-the-worlds-largest-oer/" target="_blank">Open Education SIG webinar by Martin Poulter</a> I decided that the best way to learn was through experience (a maxim I hold dear in my teaching). I started an account, drafted in a sandbox and then took myself off to a wikipedia meet up in Oxford where I met some really helpful folk who told me where I was going wrong. I learned much in the few hours I spent in an Oxford pub that day thanks to these guys:</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPSzjCsU5QU7v2Y4nwnMB_A3CiqjbD6iVMSisLVhb3VIklAzHaPDEziHmqAIz2vF1_i5bSJtH9vE5xpiVsy1p3XqPiK9tiAdWMNFL2_OYbATQmWNMUwvztmo5FjJ2sY86k-HLOW9sntlI/s1600/oxford+meet+up.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPSzjCsU5QU7v2Y4nwnMB_A3CiqjbD6iVMSisLVhb3VIklAzHaPDEziHmqAIz2vF1_i5bSJtH9vE5xpiVsy1p3XqPiK9tiAdWMNFL2_OYbATQmWNMUwvztmo5FjJ2sY86k-HLOW9sntlI/s320/oxford+meet+up.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">In summer 2018 <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtual_exchange" target="_blank">the page on Virtual Exchange</a> was approved and since then others have continued to edit and add to it. I felt proud to be able to contribute to this project. I went on to set up a Wikipedia editing workshop at the EuroCALL conference in Finland with help from a Finnish editor and amongst our participants was the fabulous <a href="https://twitter.com/ParisaMehran" target="_blank">Parisa Mehran</a> an Iranian language educator living and working in Japan. She shared my enthusiasm but unfortunately her first post was blocked as it didn't comply with the editor guidelines. This was a newbie error and I was quick to try to get help to get her back on the right track. Help did indeed come from colleagues in Wikimedia UK and I believe she now has a better understanding of a process which quite rightly observes quality controls. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">However, it seems my objection to Parisa's blocking has made me a target of some unwarranted attention <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User_talk:Teresamac63#Conflict_of_interest_and_promotional_editing" target="_blank">on my talk page</a> accusing me of promotional editing. I have read the Conflict of Interest guidelines again and again and I cannot see any reason why I could be accused of flaunting them. I guess you could say that as a teacher I promote language learning (so sue me) but as I have a son with a language disorder I am pretty realistic about the benefits of languages to those who have more basic communication needs. In reading <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Conflict_of_interest" target="_blank">this page</a> I would say that the editor who accuses me is engaging in harassment. I find the tone of his comments offensive and patronising. I have left them on my page "for the record" but this post is also recording my side of his story.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The strength of the Wikimedia project lies in the community sharing of information. That community must be tolerant, diverse and supportive. I am privileged to know many in the community who advocate for Wikipedia, I will always remain one of them despite such experiences because I recognise that it takes time to build an inclusive, supportive community. I will not be silenced or marginalised due to my gender and neither should others. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">After all, nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>Teresa MacKinnonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14439853587132749365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4786208002780032681.post-82631715329706926652018-08-30T13:52:00.000+01:002018-09-02T17:19:19.983+01:00Creative Commons Remix assignment<iframe allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/AIQv4lX4ENo" width="560"></iframe>
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I'm about at the half-way point in the Creative Commons Accreditation course I am doing this summer. The video above is a submission for this task:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> Create a remix in any medium (e.g., photo, video, audio) for use in a course you teach. If you aren't currently teaching a course, create a remix for use in a future offering of the CC Certification course. Your remix must meet the following criteria:</span></div>
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<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">be comprised of at least five (5) pre-existing CC licensed works,</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">contain appropriate attribution for each component work (remember to think TASL!), and</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">be a legal remix (that is, the licenses of all component works must be compatible).</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">You are welcome to include your own original work in the remix but this is not required. Be sure to create a remix and not merely a collection.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">For inspiration, see Montgomery College’s Open Pedegogy Assignments (click on one of the links under Assignments on the left): <a class="external" href="https://cms.montgomerycollege.edu/mc-open/unesco-sdg/" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">https://cms.montgomerycollege.edu/mc-open/unesco-sdg/<span class="screenreader-only" style="border: 0px; clip: rect(0px, 0px, 0px, 0px); height: 1px; margin: -1px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: absolute; transform: translateZ(0px); width: 1px;"> (Links to an external site.)</span><span class="ui-icon ui-icon-extlink ui-icon-inline" style="background-image: url("/dist/images/jqueryui/ui-icons_222222_256x240-a2c05c5e96.png"); background-position: -32px -80px; background-repeat: no-repeat; display: inline-block; height: 16px; margin-top: -0.25em; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: relative; text-indent: -99999px; vertical-align: middle; width: 16px;" title="Links to an external site."><span class="screenreader-only" style="border: 0px; clip: rect(0px, 0px, 0px, 0px); height: 1px; margin: -1px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: absolute; transform: translateZ(0px); width: 1px;">Links to an external site.</span></span></a>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Post your remix online. License it with a Creative Commons license (be careful that the license you choose is acceptable given the terms of the component works included in your remix!). </span></div>
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I will use this remix as part of my new module <a href="https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/arts/modernlanguages/applying/undergraduate/crossschool/ln306/" target="_blank">LN306 Developing Teaching in Languages</a>. This year will be the second iteration of this course and I found from feedback last year that my students, although they appreciated open education as "a good thing", it wasn't very clear to them what it meant for their practice. The student group are linguists who have worked in schools abroad and/or worked as tutors and are considering entering a career in teaching when they complete their degree. I wanted the remix to demonstrate what can be achieved and why it matters to engage with open practice. </span></div>
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The remix (originally created as a contribution to video in education project ViLTE) includes sections taken from <a href="https://vimeo.com/8040182" style="font-size: 16px;" target="_blank">RIP A Remix Manifesto</a> (already a remix of many other works, licenced CC BY 3.0 and my own additions including an image from Flickr which uses a licence which prevents derivatives. It exemplifies the discussion I co-wrote about <a href="https://epaa.asu.edu/ojs/article/view/1825" target="_blank">the issues faced by language educators </a>when using contemporary cultural artefacts as produsage in their courses. <i>I have messaged the poster of this image to see if he is OK with its use in this context. I have used the image without any changes but this licence would prevent me applying a CC BY licence on the finished work so I need the permission of the owner in order to include it.</i> <i>If nothing is forthcoming I will have to replace it with another image.</i> <b>Update: the video above is a remix again as no response came from the ship image creator. (UPDATE 2: The original image creator responded to me via Flickr messaging to ask a few further questions about the purpose I wanted to put the image to. Although I had already removed the image, it was good to see that contacting an owner through the community on Flickr could work).</b> This serves as a good reminder of the detailed level of understanding of Creative Commons licencing needed by educators in order to operate in the digital domain. Real scholarship is required to work confidently online. </span></div>
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Once the remix was ready to share I uploaded it to my YouTube channel.</span><span style="color: blue; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> Another problem: YouTube do not have a full selection of CC licences available, just CC BY. This is my preferred licensing option in any case and (provided the Flickr image owner gives me permission) is fine for this remix. </span></div>
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I am submitting my assignment within a blog post (my blog is CC BY) as I think the context and issues for remixing are as important as completing the assignment. Here are the questions that arise during the remixing process:</span></div>
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<li><span style="color: blue; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">when remixing using content which explicitly allows remixing (eg CC BY) where do you attribute? In the video itself? In the description on the streaming site? Is a link within the blog post enough to provide the TASL requirements?</span></li>
<li><span style="color: blue; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">If the licence on an image (for example) is too restrictive for inclusion, can this be ignored if the owner gives his/her permission for your use?</span></li>
<li><span style="color: blue; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">What if the sharing site used (eg. You Tube) does not support the full suite of CC licences? How can we influence site providers to offer better display of licensing options?</span></li>
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Finally I decided to create a further remix of my own resources around open educational practice:</span></div>
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Teresa MacKinnonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14439853587132749365noreply@blogger.com0