I am lucky enough to have had an iPad (a personal one, not a work one) from the beginning and have been using it at home (instead of my home laptop and often instead of my phone), very occasionally for work (I would use it more because of the mobile nature of my job if it was a work device) but also a lot as a learner (Open University, H800 Technology-enhanced-learning: practices and debates). I have resisted blogging about the iPad for a few weeks because I wanted to give myself time to see how I would use it for real  in all of these circumstances, rather than cooing over its loveliness (imo) and then working out what apps were available and how other people might use it. Anyway, here are my thoughts so far (starting with the ‘why nots’) about the iPad:

Why not?

• It’s expensive … especially when you already have tools that do the jobs you need them to.
• Editing online can be difficult / doesn’t happen … which I needed to be able to do via Moodle and GoogleDocs for my Open Uni course.
• It doesn’t play Flash video … which has actually only been annoying when I wanted to watch something on the BBC website.

Why iPad?

• It’s very portable … and less conspicuous than a laptop or netbook when you are using it on the move, for example on a plane or in a coffee shop. I have also literally used it ‘on the move’, taking notes as I walked about a potential venue; I couldn’t have done that with my laptop and it would have been awkward with my phone.
• It has a great battery life … plus the charger is very compact and light to carry too.
• Everything looks great on the screen  … better than a mobile, as good as/better than a netbook.
• More and more apps and support materials are being developed daily …  TeachWithYouriPad is a wiki set up to support teachers, iPads in Education is another such website; iPads are a regular blog  feature of  Gloucester College’s James Clay at the moment too and I’m looking forward to mTouch and  mBook, two Moodle apps that are being developed.
• It is another great tool for supporting mobile learning: accessing online course materials, forums and blog posts (via Moodle for me); carrying and accessing offline course materials (GoodReader app for me); making digital notes (the standard basic notepad is great for simple notes); having online access to all files (Dropbox) and bookmarks (Delicious); staying in touch via Twitter, Facebook and Skype;  listening to course related podcasts and watching videos downloaded via iTunesU or on YouTube.

I am more than happy to say that the iPad isn’t perfect and that (as a learner) there are a few things it doesn’t do well. I also agree with the argument that a laptop or a phone or a mix of both would do the job too. However, having started my working life as a new product development technologist, who was constantly looking for the ‘next thing’, I don’t think that having something that does the job OK already is a good enough reason not to innovate and be creative and think differently. Just because something might not seem to have a place at this moment in time, it doesn’t mean it won’t in the future … how many used to think there was no need for computers in the home, or that mobile phones (and text messaging) would be something for a few? I am not saying that I think everyone will have iPads (or their equivalent) in the future, I just think that when we are talking about personal technology (which I think this is) it is good to remember that it isn’t what the tool can do that is important, it is what the tool can do for you.

(If you would like this blog post as an audio file please click this link or right click the link and choose to save the mp3 file. Please note: the audio file was created quite simply by pasting the text into Balabolka (one of the tools available as part of My Study Bar/EduApps) and saving as an mp3 audio file).

The issue of continuous professional development (CPD) in relation to Technology-Enhanced Learning (TEL) has recently been raised by Graham Attwell in his Pontydysgu blog. Graham aims to write a literature review around the subject, and is keen to get input from a wide audience. His blog highlights the importance of the role of TEL in  teachers’/lecturers’ CPD , which has perhaps received less attention than the impact of TEL on learners. However, as JISC studies on learners’ experiences of e-learning have shown, learners’ appreciation of TEL is often greatly influenced by the guidance and example given to them by their teachers.

Some teachers are natural innovators, but most follow rather than lead when it comes to using technology in their teaching, and some will be highly resistant to change (the so-called ‘laggards’ in Rogers’ ‘diffusion’  theory ). It makes sense to find  methods of CPD that might bridge the ‘chasm’ (as described by Moore) between the innovative minority and the slower majority. However, there may always be the barriers of insufficient time and money to hurdle!
Significant effort has gone into the development of schemes, frameworks and standards of CPD for TEL, particularly in the Lifelong Learning sector. Up to date guides can also be of great value, and also resources of the sort produced by JISC.  But  perhaps less thought has gone into the actual delivery of training, though TEL practitioners such as Joyce Seitzinger  have ideas. It seems sensible to me to apply similar pedagogic (or andragogic in this context) principles to the delivery of CPD for teachers as they themselves would apply to their students. Hence, the outcomes of CPD should be well-defined and their value and relevance made clear. Training activities should be varied and active, address a range of learning preferences, and incorporate an element of personalisation or self-direction. Positive reinforcement should be used where appropriate, and existing knowledge and skills should be taken into account. It is probably also benefical to provide training in a ‘little and often’ way rather than in large, infrequent chunks. In short, CPD  delivery should be as enjoyable, motivating and informative as the best lessons/lectures, and should avoid too much passive listening or pages of small print . ‘Testing’ scenarios, as in inspections or peer observations,  may also have  limited developmental value.

Based on the above thoughts, here are some approaches to CPD that I believe are worth exploring:-
• Discuss TEL within regular team/departmental meetings, or in informal gatherings, making reference to subject-specific good practice. It may be useful to look at technology use from different angles (as described in a recent blog post by Paul Richardson), and important to respect differing points of view
• Ask teachers individually about what has gone well in their teaching – ie. appreciative inquiry. Use this to find examples of good practice, and identify situations where TEL could have a positive impact
• Liaise with Education/Initial Teacher Training (ITT) departments to set up projects with teachers to explore particular technologies in the context of their teaching.  Action research and other scholarly approaches could be incorporated.
• link TEL CPD to wider schemes of accreditation and progression.

In addition to these approaches, organisations need to raise awareness of useful technologies (because ‘you don’t know what you don’t know’),  via a range of methods  including bite-size, visual chunks (eg. TeacherTube/YouTube videos on an intranet). Organisations could also make use of ‘champions’ to aid dissemination  and promote good practice, and their managers should aim to provide  leadership in the use of TEL.

What other approaches/factors are should be considered? Conversely, what hasn’t worked? Your experiences and comments are most welcome!

I was asked to write a guest blog post for ULCCs ‘Future of Technology in Education’ 2010 event last week. As I said in the blog post , FOTE09 was one of the best events I attended last year … there was a wide range of speakers and the ideas they put forward were challenging … but made sense. Here are a few of the key messages I picked up and that I reported in my blog post last year:

• The world feels like it is spinning faster and faster  … technology has made the world more connected than ever before … the internet is changing everything … we need to change too (Will McInnes, Nixon McInnes)
• Students and teachers need to understand the potential of technology to get the most out of it (James Clay, Gloucester College)
• We have to all accept that learning does not just happen in institutions … that degree certificates are probably not the best way of representing a person and their abilities to an employer … that if universities don’t give people what they want, how they want it then learning will still happen outside universities… it did before they existed, after all (Dougald Hine, School of Everything)

For those of you who attended our big event ‘Learning in a Digital Wales – Dysgu mewn Cymru Digidol‘ in June, you will have heard Dougald Hine speak about ‘Unexpected Transformations‘, offering his perspective on the way that technology becomes part of the fabric of our lives. You may also have heard (or read or seen) the latest reports from OFCOM suggesting that on average many of us spend half our waking lives using media and communcations.  Technology is already part of education for so many people in so many different ways and with the Welsh Assembly Government aiming to transform learning in Wales working out how technology can help to address the challenges of the future of education is more important than ever. Hopefully FOTE10 will have some of the answers!

(If you would like this blog post as an audio file please click this link or right click the link and choose to save the mp3 file. Please note: the audio file was created quite simply by pasting the text into Balabolka (one of the tools available as part of My Study Bar/EduApps) and saving as an mp3 audio file).

How many times do you hear that in a classroom, lecture hall, workshop, conference …? Increasingly so perhaps as more people start to take advantage of the fact that so many learners, colleagues, delegates, trainees, have a handy piece of communications technology in their pocket.

JISC RSC Wales have had a text wall (a text messaging service where we can receive texts from mobile phones or internet enabled devices and display them on a web page) for over a year now and we have used it as a way of collecting comments or questions during the events, workshops and forums that we run. For us it means we can offer the delegates or participants a way of feeding back to us or asking questions about things as they happen at an event … and they only need to be able to send a text from a mobile phone to do this. It is also great because we can share the feedback or the questions very easily as they come in by displaying the web page they are listed on for everyone to see. At one event we were even able to send the link to the web page (and login details) to Martin Dougiamas, who was presenting to us in Wrexham from his office in Australia, so that he could answer attendees questions as they sent them via text message to the text wall.

This year we also embarked on a series of roadshows, one of which included a session on tools and technologies that can be used to record the learners’ voice. The text wall was one of those tools and as part of the road show we offered any interested delegates the opportunity to borrow a sub account of our text wall in return for some feedback about what they used it for, how the learners (or staff) responded, what they did with the responses and whether they would consider investing in their own text messaging service like this.  A number of people took up our offer (at these and other events) and although a few were unable to actually use the text wall and some are still waiting for the right opportunity to use it, we have had some really interesting feedback as to how organisations have and will be using text walls in the future. The feedback we have had so far shows that this tool has been used in a number of different ways, some of which have worked very well and others that haven’t. Here are some of the uses:

• to gather opinion on how students rated the new library space
• as a method of renewing books in the Learning Zone
• to try and glean some feedback on learning technologies
• as a way of getting feedback about events
• to gain feedback on what residents of the community would like to see offered in the Curriculum
• for feedback on aspects of teaching
• for feedback on a new website
• as an out of school hours revision facility
• to explore possible uses with colleagues

The full feedback can be found here: http://tinyurl.com/textwalluses

Like every technology, tool or resource, text messaging services like this will have disadvantages, as well as advantages. The need to have a mobile phone or access to an internet connected device to participate, the cost of a text message or even the distraction of allowing a mobile phone in a setting where they are usually discouraged may be disadvantage enough for some people BUT we have so many tools available today to be able to communicate with each other, is seems a shame not to take advantage (as these people, who we are very grateful to, have done) of this one to engage with and find out what our learners (and teachers) are thinking.

(If you would like this blog post as an audio file please click this link or right click the link and choose to save the mp3 file. Please note: the audio file was created quite simply by pasting the text into Balabolka (one of the tools available as part of My Study Bar/EduApps) and saving as an mp3 audio file).