Assessed Activity 7.1: Instructional Design Model

This week, we visited a log cabin built on the hills behind EIT as a project to explore the concept of sustainable living.  The cabin was an ingenious design constructed entirely of recycled materials.

 

Front view of the log cabin

 

The interior

 

A greenhouse at the back

 



  These photos were taken on my mobile device which was unfortunately not equipped with 3G for wireless access to the internet.  However, feedback from others who used mobile devices like tablets and smartphones reported that wireless connection from the cabin was intermittent, but the video feed for our virtual class was still "watchable".  It is apparent that connectivity would not be good as the area is surrounded trees and one would have to move away from the area to get better connectivity.  A wireless repeater or access point in the cabin would be helpful here.

 

Assessed Activity 5.2: Cloud Tools - Delicious.com

Delicious.com is a "social bookmarking" site which allows a user to create a page of "bookmarks" to various sites on the web.  This page can then be shared with other users who can then view or access these links.

 

Watch a short tutorial on using the site here.

 

An educator could use Delicious.com to create a page with links to interesting sites relevant to the course material being taught and share this page with his/her students.  Students could also be encourage to add bookmarks to the page sites they may want to share as well.

 

See two examples here and here.

Assessed Activity 4.1: Socially Constructed Content

I have added Delicious.com as a DLT tool. Check it out here!

My First Wiki!

I'm now on WikiEducator! Edits are most welcome.

3.3 Skills for Teachers

What are the skills that a teacher who uses DLT in teaching should have?

Basic	Intermediate	Advanced
Using Powerpoint	Create and edit audio	Using blogs and Wikis
Google	Editing digital images	Creating mobile learning apps
Social media (Facebook & Twitter)	Using online sticky notes
Using a smart board	Using note-taking tools
Using Adobe Connect	Creating digital assessments
Group text messaging tools for collaboration (eg.Whatsapp)	Compiling a digital e-portfolio
Online security knowledge	Creating a screencast lecture
Use mobile devices like tablets	Using computer games for pedagogical purposes
Using plagiarism tools (Turnitin)
Evaluating web content
Using file sharing tools

References

[1] Kharbach, M. (2012) The 21st Century skills teachers should have. Educational Technology and Mobile Learning. Retrieved from http://educationaltech-med.blogspot.co.nz/2011/01/21st-century-skills-teachers-should.html

[2] Young, Clive. (2012). 33 Digital Skills for 21st Century Teachers. Retrieved from https://blogs.ucl.ac.uk/digital-education/2012/06/15/33-digital-skills-for-21st-century-teachers/

3.2 Implications of DLTs in Organisations

So many DLT tools around. How are they connected?

3.1 Implications of DLT in Organisations

The use of DLT for learning and sharing knowledge is now commonplace in many educational institutions and organisations is set to become a "must-have" in any modern organisation.  

It is an unwritten rule in the School of Computing that familiarity with EITOnline, as well as Michael's Wiki page is a must for students as it will greatly facilitate and enhance the learning experience (and help with the grades too!).

In this post, I would like to share the use of three DLTs in another learning institution using my previous university, the National University of Singapore (NUS) as an example.

NUS's LMS is called the Integrated Virtual Learning Environment or IVLE for short is a course management system to facilitate collaborative and independent learning and teaching.  IVLE was developed and designed by the institution in 1998 and has undergone several re-designs.  Providing a suite of online tools like class management rosters, chat rooms, forums, lecture webcast, assignment dropboxes etc., it is also "integrated" with the university's other academic, library and administrative systems, making it a one stop portal to access all university resources [1].  

NUS also utilises a Wiki for collaborative learning NUS wiki, where students and lecturers can create their own pages and edit those of their peers.

Another DLT utilised by NUS is the Internet2 videoconferencing system which enables state-of-the art distance learning with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the USA.  Specialised lecture halls transmit classes between MIT and Singapore students through advanced recording and delivery systems, while lesson materials are simultaneously shared through a separate data stream [2].

With so much technology permeating through our educational system, threatening to do away with the traditional methods of teaching and learning for good, are we ready to embrace these changes fully?

[1] https://ivle.nus.edu.sg/v1/public/about.aspx

[2] http://web.mit.edu/sma/about/universities/facilities.htm