Looking in the Mirror…How technology can enhance reflective practice.

                         
                          Damn I look good. Photo.  Retrieved http://themetapicture.com/damn-i-look-good/

 

 

Reflective practise and reflective journaling have been used in nursing education for decades.  I know this because it’s more than two decades since  I was doing it as a student nurse and have been involved with students and professional development ever since (no hiding my age now)!

Reflective journaling by students nurses has been used to encourage them use a systematic approach to analyse clinical practice, ethical issues, or just their personal thoughts on situations This reflection allows them to improve future actions and responses (Sherwood, 2012). 

Historically, when being used as a learning/assessment piece to show critical thinking, students write a journal which is reviewed by a supervision/teacher. Or they present a reflective experience through tutorial forum.  There is no doubt it’s an authentic skill, and one that aids in becoming a nurse that is open to feedback, reflection and critical thinking.  In my own Intensive Care Unit, this practice is encouraged in practitioners of all levels.

This area of learning and assessment now can be adapted to todays learners via a number of modes.  Having students do microblogging via twitter, on line blogging via LMS or open blogging tools like wordpress or blogspot, has the potential to enhance the effectiveness of the reflective exercise. The learning theory of constructivism suggested that using these social modes of ICT, the learner will be much more involved and actively participate, also in sharing the experience with peers and facilitators can create knowledge based on reflection of experiences (Harasim, L. 2012).

 Timeliness of feedback is important to learners, with the advent of twitter and blogging, students can get formative feedback instantaneously, which may be more meaningful being closer to the time of the experience upon which they reflect.  This is inline with the Seven Principles for Good Practice in Undergraduate Education which Chickering and Erhmann(2006) updated to reflect (today’s catch word getting plenty of use) today’s technology.   These ICTs also encourage contact between faculty and students and collaboration by peers.

 The great thing about bringing reflective exercise into open forums, means not only the person writing the reflection may learn from the experience, so too may the reader.  And my eyes are always on the end goal…learning.

 

Retrieved: http://reganjpreston.files.wordpress.com/2012/10/gibbs.gif

 

References

 

Chickering and Erhmann(2006). Implementing the Seven Principles: Technology as a lever. Retrieved from http://www.unc.edu/courses/2007fall/germ/700/001/downloads/Chickering.pdf

 

Harasim, Linda. (2012) Learning Theory and Online Technology. Taylor and Francis: New York

 

Sherwood, G. (2012, Oct 12). Reflective Practice: Narrative Pedagogy Can Transform the Educational Paradigm. Guest post. http://www.rwjf.org/en/blogs2012, /human-capital-blog/2012/10/reflective_practice.html

 

 

Blogging on bloggers

 

( http://www.oxfamblogs.org/fp2p/wp-content/uploads/blogging-out-loud.jpg)

My fellow bloggers have put forward some very interesting readings.  It's great when you can learn from other students.  They present ideas that I hadn't thought of before and take my ideas and knowledge in new directions.

Blog 1: Blair's     Night of the living dead (lecture)
Blog 2:  Luke's   The MOOC conundrum
Blog 3: Jackie's  Enhancing assessment with technology
Blog 4: Della's   Trends, new directions and affordances of technology (Pull not Push)

Let's get social...

 
(Tips on Collegiate student blogging, 2012)

Thinking about my classroom (or lab), what makes it up?  It's me and those 24 faces staring at me (or at their smartphones when they think I'm not looking).  When they are busily engaged in activity it's still just them....and me.

But occasionally there's little intruders.  "The other lab didn't do this activity," " RPH blood transfusion policy doesn't require that...," "you know One direction just landed in Sydney."  And this information all came from 'the outside' world.  So my opinion now is, if you can't beat them, join them!  Social media and technology is in every part of most of our lives now, 80.5% of Australians are internet users (Internet World Stats. Usage and Population Statistics, 2013).  It plays a role in how we communicate, seek information, shop and many other facets of our lives.

So why not in learning?  Instead of banning smartphones in class, maybe we should embrace them.  Isn't that more authentic?  Out in the 'real world' professionals access the internet and social media for information exchange, expert advice all the time.  So why say no in class?  There's always that risk that it will be misused and students will be distracted. But as Caleb Ferguson  (2013, 745) points out with view to smart phones in hospital settings, "avenues for idling time away have always been there, but those who work within ethical  and clinical standards clearly will not engage in this behaviour."  Let's put the ball in their court.  You misuse it, you loose it.

Within my practical labs, I encourage the use of devices along with the 'old fashioned' text or lecture notes.  If it's going to aid in their learning, I'm all for it.  I'd like to even enhance it.  Microblogging platform twitter is starting to show a strong presence in research and how people information exchange.  A study outlined by Peter Reed (2013) showed students that used twitter for an assessment requiring them to tweet daily on a topic, raise points of concern, offer remedies, also respond to tweets on the original topic/concerns and remedies were far more engaged and offered more discussion points than a control group that were writing journals.

NDU Fremantle Campus Nursing School conducted it's inaugural SMART Care conference (Social Media application for research and teaching) recently.  Students there showcased how they have engaged in social media to benefit their learning.  And if you were unable to attend the conference, you could follow along on twitter #NPD100.  Academics tucked away at universities or nursing experts in their hospital offices are now within reach, exchanging current up to date information with the community the seek to improve.    It's an exciting time, not time to put the phone down.


 
 (Social media in education. Is it a good thing? 2012)

References

Ferguson, Caleb. 2013. It's time for the nursing profession to leverage social media. Journal of Advanced Nursing 69 (4): 745-747
 Internet World Stats. Usage and Population Statistics, 2013. Accessed Oct 29, http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats.htm

Reed, Peter. 2013. Hashtags and retweets: using Twitter to aid Community,Communication and Casual (informal) learning. Research in Learning Technology 21 :19692 - http://dx.doi.org/10.3402/rlt.v21i0.19692 Social Media in education is. Is it a good thing?  2012. http://www.iptv.org/medialib/graphics/ed_20120308_socialmedia_classroom.jpg

Tips on Collegiate Student Blogging. 2012. http://profalbrecht.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/social_media_classroom.jpg

 

 

 

 

 

Flippin' awesome

 

(http://www.edudemic.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/flipped-classroom1.jpg)

 

So previously I looked at "The lecture as we know it is dead..." So what can we do to either revive it, or maybe...turn it on it's head?

 

Talk of "The Flipped Classroom" has gained lots of momentum over the past few years. There's no definition or exact example of the flipped classroom, but more the idea and intent behind it.

 

It's about spending that valuable teaching time, engaging students in activity that provoke higher learning, give context to content and allow immediacy to the feedback that students require.  Instead of being at home wondering if they are on the right path, they have their expert right there in class to discuss answers, ideas and issues with.  Not only do they have you (or me) the expert there, they have their fellow students to collaborate with, learn from and return the favour of passing on their knowledge to fellow students.  You know what they say... the best way to learn is to teach (see the learning pyramid in my last blog). 

 

So, where's the content gone?  This is the other part of the flip.  The students are gaining the content (previously the didactic lecture) in their own time and before class.  Whether it be the lecture now via podcast or YouTube for example.  Or maybe a series of small lectures so the content is broken down into sections.  Perhaps they can wonder through a prezi taking in small parts of the content at a time. Salam Khan (2011) gives an interesting TED talk on flipped classrooms and discussed how his audience (nephews) preferred the online version of him, than tutoring them 'in real life.'  No offence was intended.  They just liked that they could pause him, rewind him, review something and then move on.  Food for thought or Flip for thought if you like a pun. 

 

Research into the flipped classroom shows positive outcomes.  Holland and Morra discussed how Clinton Dale High school in the United States flipped some classrooms.  The outcomes had the fail rate for English drop from 50% to 19%.

Is it for everyone?  As Spencer et al (2011) outlines, you need to review your end goal, and see if you have or can create the resources you need to ensure they get you (or more importantly your students) to that end goal. And it's not the pinnacle, you cant just say you've flipped your classroom and roll out the same 'flip' each semester.  You still need to review, evaluate and revise your plan to ensure the student outcomes are met. As Sams  says, "your flip needs to be in flux. (Sams, 2011)"  

Now of course there's cons...there's always some cons. Maybe I'll do a prezi on it, you can have a read and then well discuss it ?



Berrett, D. "How 'flipping' the Classroom Can Improve the Traditional Lecture. 2012. The Chronicle of Higher Education. February 19.  http://moodle.technion.ac.il/file.php/1298/Announce/How_Flipping_the_Classroom_Can_Improve_the_Traditional_Lecture.pdf

Holland, B and Morra, S. 20135 Flipped Classroom Issues (And Solutions) For Teachers. Accessed 23 September. http://www.edudemic.com/flipped-classroom-issues-solutions/

 

Khan,Salman. 2011 : Let's use video to reinvent education. TEDtalks video. 20:27

http://www.ted.com/talks/salman_khan_let_s_use_video_to_reinvent_education.html


Sams, A. "Setting The Flip Straight". 2011. The Daily Riff  November 11. http://www.thedailyriff.com/articles/the-flipped-class-shedding-light-on-the-confusion-critique-and-hype-801.php    


Spencer,D., Wolf, D. and Sams A. " Are you ready to Flip?". 2011. The Daily Riff June 22.

http://www.thedailyriff.com/articles/are-you-ready-to-flip-691.php

 

The lecture as we know it is dead...

As I’ve been thinking about learning of late and trying to define my thoughts, a quote I read recently has stuck with me.  “Learning is not a spectator sport. (Meier, 2013)”

Potentially the old fashioned lecture is on its way out.   I feel face to face lecturing is important, but by marrying it with the constructivist pedagogical emphasis of active learning we can enhance its effectiveness.     Utecht (2012 )presents interesting thoughts on lectures which I have to agree.  By using it less for content delivery, and more to inspire and push ideas.   He has suggestions on making students seek the content.  Really he’s making ‘pre-reading’ active and collaborative.

Image from Soft Star Research Inc

I think the benefit we have now is how we consolidate that lecture and have the students actively engage with the content. The ability to open up discussion forums, wiki or google doc for groups to discuss or debate main points, to see what other people took away from the lecture and maybe through that collaboration gain greater depth of content knowledge by actively questioning what was presented.  Yes this is what tutorials have offered face-to-face.  But now as our student cohort are more ‘digital natives’ we can offer them that option of mobile learning and flexibility.

 

The lecture as we know it is dead was the topic of this blog entry.  Ultimately I don’t agree. I don’t think lectures as such are the problem, I think bad lectures are.  And that’s not new thinking.     Maybe they should  be presented as a  TEDtalk…condensed to 20 minutes (the length Byner suggests is as useful as a 50 minute lecture)? What do you think?

 Byner, C. L. (1995). Learning as a function of lecture length. Family Medicine. 1995 27(6):379-82

Meier, Andrea. 2013, January 29. "Learning is not a Spectator Sport: set up an engagement triple play." Blackboard blog.   http://blog.blackboard.com/products-services/blackboard-learn/learning-is-not-a-spectator-sport-set-up-an-engagement-triple-play/

Soft Star research Inc. 2013. The Learning Pyramid. http://softstarresearch.com/Blog/?p=143

TED ideas worth sharing. 2013. TED conferences LCC. Accessed September 6, http://www.ted.com/talks

Utecht, Jeff. 2012, July 12. "Lecture As Content Delivery Is Dead." The Thinking Stick Blog http://www.thethinkingstick.com/lecture-as-content-delivery-is-dead/

 

 

 

 

Let's start by what I've discovered as a massive issue for online learning (it's an issue for me at least).  One very big distraction....the world wide web.  I logged on 1.5 hrs ago to do this blog.  But I thought I'd just do some more reading so I followed a link, and then another, then there was the blog from the site, to another blog....and on it went.  I ended up here.  There was  a suggestion that "one possible option for fighting distraction in online courses is to increase student engagement and accountability."  Its not that I'm not engaged (I promise I've not been on Facebook), maybe it's all too engaging.  I've stayed on topic.  The problem is the massive amount of content available can lead you (well me obviously)  to distraction.

Mobile learning and online collaboration are potentially just this era's 'group work,' they have replaced the traditional physical settings and replaced it with new technologies.  The goals of the eLearning theories appear to align with the Constructivists.   When looking at constructivist theorist such as Biggs, it's ultimately the self directed learner that we hope is the outcome.  Wanting them to achieve  meaning through actively selecting and constructing their own knowledge. Not just as individuals, but through collaboration to achieve greater knowledge, that continues to build upon previous experiences.  The modes of learning I've experienced in the first 2 weeks of ED6114 such as the discussion forums and blogs, I think fall directly into the category of tools that align with the constructivist learning theory

I'm looking to develop new and interesting ways to present learning opportunities to my students. 

Areas I work in, course content has continued the same for many years, not progressing with updates in technology and the choices that has presented in modes of teaching.  I feel this has the potential to have learners disengaged.

I want to be excited by what I teach and how I teach it, hopefully giving my students access to a learning experience that fulfils outcomes and their experience.