Elearning Professional...I'm getting there

Spag bol is my speciality dish (I use the word “speciality” loosely). When friends come around for dinner or I want to make something that I don’t have to think about, spag bol is the dish of choice. I don’t have to measure out ingredients or follow a recipe book, in fact I could probably make it standing on my head. I would also be confident to change the recipe to suit people’s taste, for example if someone was vegetarian or another didn’t like mushrooms, it wouldn’t throw me into a blind panic.

By thinking about my objectives for studying this module and assessing my skills as an elearning professional, I’ve discovered that being an elearning professional is a bit like having a speciality dish. There is a basic recipe for being a learning professional, which can then be tailored to become an elearning professional

In my previous blog  I highlighted that my strengths were those things that I was “unconsciously competent” in, and as I look at my PDP grid, I can see that these will also my strengths in the elearning world as they are key skills to have in any learning environment. For example, my ability to use examples throughout, answer questions helpfully and summarise key content should remain constant and consistent whatever the method of delivery. Another strength is my ability to communicate online/audio without having ever met the person. I don’t see this as a barrier for me and is something I would encounter on a frequent basis.

My weaknesses are not so much my technical ability (as I know I am quick at picking things up) but more my technical knowledge. I would class myself as a complete novice not only in my understanding but also my awareness  as to whether certain technology would be applicable for me or not. I suppose the starting point is researching what they are and then assessing its relevance. What I’m specifically referring to are the suggested technical competences e.g.  Text-based communication systems, online community and the understanding of technical copyright issues. At the moment, facing these would cause me to react in the same way as if someone turned up for dinner and said they didn’t like spag bol!

I would struggle to say I have “learned” anything new about my strengths and weaknesses as a result of this activity, but more so it has reinforced for me what I already knew and has allowed me to put it down on paper, or should I say epaper!

My current ability to be an elearning practitioner

”You played really well today.” “I would have played better if I had more practice time”

“I like what you’re wearing”. “This is just an old top I’ve had for years”

“That’s a really good idea”.” It’ll do until someone comes up with a better one”.

We don’t cope well with being complimented. It actually frustrates me at times when I give really positive feedback to someone and they then play down their achievement. Saying that, I know this, “pot, kettle, black” are words that spring into my head at this point!

So if it’s that difficult to accept a positive feedback, how much more difficult is it to openly share our strengths (weaknesses I’m sure for most of us would be much simpler)?

The grid below is an analysis of my current ability to be an elearning practitioner. This is by no means exhaustive, but simply the key points. I am an advocate of the  4 stages of learning model and feel it gives a very clear way of identifying strengths and weakness.

Unconscious Incompetence This is what I’m still ignorant of when it comes to being an elearning practitioner– I don’t know what I don’t know I don’t know! This week my eyes may be opened to something new in the course groups discussion form. I may receive feedback about myself in terms of strength or a weakness that I never knew. However, at the moment, I will remain in the dark!

Conscious Incompetence This is what I know I need to work on when it comes to being an elearning practitioner: Technical ability – I am aware of different types of elearning however still lack the technical ability of creating them  (e.g. Podcasts) My reluctance to slow down at times– Although a strength of mine is being proactive, I recognise that I am impatient at times to learn about why things have developed. I would rather think about what it means to me. E.g. looking at the drivers of eportfolios could help me understand the implications to my organisation, but I’d rather “jump in” and think “what can they bring and how can I implement”.

Unconscious Competence This is what I can do naturally when it comes to being an elearning practitioner: My passion – I love my job, I learning about learning and I love having the ability to support people in their development. This enthusiasm will follow me into the elearning world My ability to learn quickly – I know I can pick things up quickly which will help in my elearning journey My ability to provide the right training – whatever the platform for delivery, I am comfortable and competent in following the training cycle and recognise it as invaluable in my context

Conscious Competence This is what I can do, but have to still think about. It doesn’t come naturally yet. Motivate, engage and lead students - The qualities I have as a face to face trainer need be transferred into an elearning environment. I am very competent in these, however don’t have as much experience of how they will manifest in an elearning environment Transform training material for the elearning environment – I have experience, although limited, of amending material for non-classroom delivery. I am more than comfortable at designing material, which will help me with this.

At this point, this is my perception of my development as an elearning professional. By the end of this week I will have produced a needs analysis for my own development and discussed in the course forum, so I look forward to reflecting about what I have discovered.

Eportfolio recommendation: Activity 3.2

The purpose of this report is to share the objectives of implementing an eportfolio in the organisation, an overview of 3 eportfolio systems currently available, and concluding with a specific recommendation for the organisation.

The objective of implementing an eportfolio system within the organisation is to better manage and support the organisation’s talent pool. An eportfolio system will allow a repository of evidence to be created by all, which the employee can then submit when a development opportunity arises. The result of implementation will be a culture of experimental learning in the organisation, leading to employees being more aware of their capabilities and the organisation being more aware of the talent, resulting in a more focussed, motivated and innovative workforce.

The 3 eportfolio systems investigated were:

1. FolioSpaces – particularly aimed at schools and education systems. It is an open space for people to structure and manage their files as they desire. It also has a blog facility.  It is owned by the individual, who controls what is shared. Individuals can link their eportfolios to the organisation, which allows ease of reviewing.

2. Digication  – as well as having the key functions of FiloSpaces, Digication also has assessment management and a resume builder. Unlimited eportfolios can be created in one account.

3. PebblePad  – clear structure to record (e.g. my action plans, my experiences) allowing for a clear focus. There are also prompts within the system to encourage reflection on practice and learning

Based on the investigations and the resources available to the organisation, I recommend enhancing the functionality that is already available to the organisation. I purpose that the skeleton for an eportfolio system is already in existence ( the private space available to mange a CV and record learning) which can be built upon. I propose adding a blog functionality to allow for reflection, a file manager so work can be stored and categorised and also adapting the security so that individual’s information can also be shared and comments added, as they wish. Finally I recommend that this portal is not restricted to internal use, but can be accessed off site so that employees can update it at a time convenient to them.

The motivation for individuals to use the eportfolio system is for personal development planning, acting as an 21^st century “learning log”, being solely owned by the individual to present and use as they wish. Support and coaching will be provided to them by their manager as to best practices for use (e.g. see guide on reflection ).

I recommend the following implementation plan:

Stage 1: Project team set up

Stage 2: A working group to be set up (comprising of 11 people – 1 from each business area). Their responsibility to communicate the implementation to the different areas to gain buy in

Stage 3: Rollout of the enhanced system, with the working group acting as a support network to provide guidance

Stage 4: Monthly evaluations of how the eportfolio is progressing and any key points that need addressed

Who would have thought a duvet cover could inspire?

Earlier today I stripped my bed and put a load of washing on. I’m one of those people who have to make the bed straight away or I would regret it when it comes to later on when I just want to crawl under the duvet and fall asleep. I gathered clean pillow cases and a bed sheet, but when I looked for the clean duvet cover, it was nowhere to be seen. This was an impossible scenario to me; if it wasn’t in its rightful place, in the wash or out to dry, where on earth could it be? How could a duvet cover be misplaced?

Several head scratching minutes later, I noticed pile of clothes in the spare room and there, peeking through, was the missing duvet cover! That was the moment that it hit me – my approach to study has well and truly changed…dramatically!

Until today, if you asked  how I approached study, I would have told you it was exactly the same as when I was at school, university and two evening courses I have studied. I would have been lying to you - “new Caroline” has replaced “old Caroline” without me even noticing!

“Faffing” was my best friend – “Faffing” is procrastination. When it came to studying, old Caroline would do everything but study and thrived on the adrenaline of the night before a deadline. Until the assignment or exam was less than a week away, I would find every excuse not to study. It’s funny how around exam time, I needed to hoover, polish, clear out my wardrobe, do the dishes, clean the bathroom...anything but study! This is why the duvet incident is so significant to me ; the old Caroline would never have let a pile of clean clothes gather up while there was study to do, this was an opportunity to “faff” staring me right  in the face! I know the reason for this change is time pressure. So many things eat into my time, so time is precious. If I have a core text to read that I know should take 30minutes, I could “faff” before settling down to it, but this would result in it taking twice as long and missing out of 30 mins that I could spend on other things.  New Caroline has the ability to realise that H808 is part of life at the moment, but not my whole life.

"So i say thank you for the music..." – When old Caroline was revising for anything or writing an essay, I had to have noise in the background, whether it be music or the TV on in the background. I couldn’t work in silence as my mind would wonder. The last time I studied was a year ago and even then, I did always have music in the background. Now for some reason, I need silence (although it’s quite ironic as I have music playing as I write this). This again is something I’ve just realised. The reason for this change isn’t as clear compared to why I no longer “faff”.  Has it something to do with the subject – could it be because I am really interested in the topic, I want to give it every part of my attention so I can absorb it all? Did my mind previously wonder as I was interested, but not as interested? Am I able to listen to music at the moment as I’m not concentrating as such, but reflecting? Is it just age and it’s harder to concentrate? Regardless of why, the fact is new Caroline needs to study H808 in silence.

Do what I like first, do the not so nice things at the very end – Old Caroline would look at the overall task, pick out what was comfortable to do, do it, and leave all the “horrible parts” to the end to stew over and complete the night before when the adrenaline would kick in. New Caroline loves nothing more than ticking a task as complete before moving on to the next.  If I know the next activity I need to do is quite challenging, or not as interesting as I’d like, I realise the motivation for me it knowing that if I do it and tick it off, it means that’s it over and done with and I can move on to the next task. Now, if I left it (as I previously would have), it would act as a de-motivator. Again, if I reflect as to why I now work like this, I think it ties into the procrastination again and realising I don’t want to always have in the back of my mind that I have to do something that  I don’t particularly want to do –this is something I can control. New Caroline’s carrot for the H808 journey is ticking each activity off and feeling good about it.

So I’ve evolved in how I study, and it was the duvet cover that made me realise this. As I study H808, be prepared to come to a messier house if you’re calling in for coffee, and if that’s an issue for you, best that I come around to your abode until next February!

There's no "we" in REFLECTION, only "I" - my student guide to reflective writing:

When I look at my reflection in the mirror, I see things I am happy with and then things that I want to change.

I look in the mirror now and think my hair is sitting well and I like the jewellery I have chosen for my outfit. However I notice I’ve put on too much blusher and my shoes don’t go with my jeans. So I’m going to change my shoes and tone down my make up, which will make me happy (as I can be).

This is the same as using reflective writing to learn from our experiences, both personal and academic. It’s only when we hold them up in the mirror that we see what worked well and what we have learned that we can do differently next time.

The gird below can act as a framework to help you write your reflection. As an example, I have used it to reflect on my last holiday. Notice the use of "I" and not "we", as reflection is based on our personal perception.

1. What was your experience and what did you hope to gain from it? In June, I spent a week in Portugal with 2 of my friends. I went on the holiday to relax and completely switch off. I wanted to soak up the sun, have great fun, not worry about anything and create happy memories.

2. Putting yourself back in the experience, how did you feel? (think about your senses: what did you taste, smell, touch, see, hear) When I think back to the holiday, I associate it with bright colours as it was sunny, full of laughs and at night, the place was lit up with various lights and colourful cocktails! During the day there was a contrast, as I felt relaxed as it was peaceful, calm and serene by the pool.

3. How would you mark the experience on a scale of 1-10 (10 being absolute success) and what contributed to this score? I would give it 8 out of 10. I loved Portugal, I loved the company, I loved the weather, the food and the cocktails!

4. What would you do next time to increase this score by 2? Next time I would definitely stay for 2 weeks as I felt a week was too short. As I would stay longer, I would think about doing more excursions and seeing different parts of Portugal. I would go at the same time of the year as I liked the climate. The accommodation was pretty basic and there was no air con, so next time I would check this, as it was uncomfortable at night.

Blogging...good, bad or ugly?

Blogging conjures up loads of very happy thoughts and times for me. It “found me” in 2007 when I started travelling. I knew I wanted a permanent record of my time away which wouldn’t get lost, or become unreadable and could be shared with others.

 I have always loved the idea of keeping a physical diary to, but I knew I would struggle to keep it up for the 9 months I was away. Probably every Christmas from the age of 7 -17 I got a diary, and every year, my resolution was to keep one. If I could place these diaries now, I guarantee I would be able to tell you what happened on the 1^st and 2^nd of January from 1990 – 2000, but from the 3^rd January onwards the pages would be blank!

I have found this blog to be a totally different experience to my travel blog . My  travel blog was to serve as a record of the events I wanted to remember, I would say more than the emotions I felt. It also acted as an “online postcard” to those at home. Even the days that I felt were “insignificant” or “nothing in particular happened”, I wanted to reference as these could trigger many more memories later on, which they did. I still love going back to it and how reliving the memories. In some ways, I now also see how it was quite therapeutic in making me feel connected to home as I was letting everyone know what was happening.

This blog is more focussed on reflecting, sharing my opinions and challenging my ideas. In terms of the usefulness of blogging for reflecting, I think it is a very valuable means of doing so, but in the same breath, I stress that I find it valuable to me. As eluded to in this blog, I am a computer person, writing something down physically is not how I do things. In fact I know if I had to write this on paper, it would take me twice as long and I would suffer writers block. Having a space that specifically forces me to consider my opinions towards a subject provides me with the focus to reflect.

I can see also relate to how blogging could terrify people. The fact that it is public, there are so many blogs out there to compare to and people can openly critique them is daunting. This can also pose another issue that blogs, specifically used for students to reflect, are used to write what the student thinks someone want to read or what they are being assessed against, rather than what they actually feel. They may use it as a “tick box” exercise rather that what is true to them. Experiences may be exaggerated or also played down, with sometimes the biggest fear not being the public’s opinion, but their peers and how their thoughts compare to this group.

In summary, my attitude to the usefulness of blogging in aiding reflection is it’s a tool that works for me. As with any tool, it won’t suit anyone, and that’s why there are various ways and frameworks available to choose from. We are all different, so a “one size fits all” tool for reflecting would be liquid gold!  It is the role of the elearning professional (with or without the “e”) to find what works best for their students when it comes to reflecting and also base this on the purpose the reflection (is it personal/public, to be assed or not etc).  In the same way different learning styles are incorporated into the classroom, should different reflecting styles be included to?