Learner Bytes

Post #30 – where the art of communication is appreciated

This is the final post for #blogjune and I have mixed feelings about the ‘project’ after writing a post every day for the month. Sometimes I’ve struggled to find something to write about and found the discipline to write everyday difficult at times, but overall I’ve enjoyed the experience. It’s given me an opportunity to think, test ideas, and express myself on topics related to my work. I’ve been able to grow my network (PLN) through the list of participating bloggers that was made available by Constance (@flexnib) and it was good to ‘meet’ people of like mind. It was also nice to get some feedback on what I’d written and appreciated the exchange of ideas. It is important to get feedback as it can confirm your ideas as well as provide you with other points of view. Being able to read and comment on other people’s blogs was also fun and a way to begin a conversation. 

I probably won’t be able to keep up the daily blog posts, but I do feel motivated enough to maintain some regularity in putting my ideas out there. Blogging provides an online avenue for conversation and can facilitate a deeper discussion that tools like twitter can’t. Blogging also enables a wider discussion than you might normally be able to have, as the reach of the interwebs is international. Depending on your networks and reach, your blogging can be a way of sharing ideas and getting some validation of your thinking. The two-way (or more) dialogue is a great way to further ideas and confirm their usefulness. You might want to consider participating in #blogjune next year… I’ll give it another go in 2015, and in the meantime share what I’m thinking here – make sure you visit regularly…

Do you find it useful to exchange ideas and talk with others? Are you able to make/find the time to have conversations? 

Conversation – statue seen in Montreal

Word of the Day is: ‘rident’ – a great way to start the week

Post #29 – where infrastructure is the topic of discussion

Do you ever wonder about the backend? What about all those hidden systems and infrastructure that manages to keep our society functioning. The sewers and storm water, gas and electricity, phone & internet, road and water, rubbish removal etc. So much happens behind the scenes that we don’t need to think about, but it keeps things ticking over and functioning smoothly. The photo below show some ancient drainage/storm water system that’s been built under a road. It’s probably two thousand years old and still works! You’d never know it was there though, only that it’s been exposed can you see the foresight and engineering that has gone into it. We rely on these services a lot and are quick to complain when they stop working. The same goes for education – particularly when we are online.

Many of the technologies we use today are supported by a backend that keeps the functionality up and running. It takes skill/s to keep systems running, and it requires resources for hardware and software. Patches and upgrades are a part of this and we expect them to happen regularly to maintain the system. Planning and processes should ensure systems are up for most of the time, and experts are given the responsibility to decide on how best to do this. Many of the online tools and systems we use are complex, and they are often integrated with other systems. Do we make an attempt to understand this, and have an appreciation for the work required to to maintain our access to the systems that drive the backend of our libraries, humans resources, student databases, integrated learning platforms? Frankly I’m amazed that these things work at all – at their base level they use 1’s and 0’s (binary code) to function, and I wonder how many of these transactions are happening at any one time – scary to think about…

So the truth is that sometimes there are downtimes and things break when we don’t expect them. Are we ready for when this might happen? Are we prepared to accept that problems will occur?

Do you appreciate the work that goes into maintaining the backend? Do you have a fallback if the systems breaks?

Ancient drainage system exposed in Aspendos

The Word of the Day is: ’smirch’ – not something I appreciate.

Post #27 – where longevity and legacy are considered

During this #blogjune series of daily posts, I’ve found it very useful to peruse the photos I’ve posted to Instagram. I use an IFTTT recipe to copy all my instagrams to a folder in dropbox so I can have easy access to them. If I have some writer’s block and struggling for something to say, I find the photos a great way to prompt me as all sorts of things pop into my head.

When looking at the photo I’ve included below, I thought about the longevity of things. The picture is of the necropolis in the ancient city of Hierapolis in Turkey that was believed to have been founded over two thousand years ago. The hillside above the city was where they buried their dead and it’s covered with carved stone coffins. These Sarcophagi are dotted all over the hillside and some have even been either buried or exposed and tipped over as a result from past earthquake activity. They usually include some carved epitaph and inscription about the person inside and they range in size and ornateness. Many of them have been vandalised by grave robbers with holes punched through the lids or sides. What struck me though, was the durability of the stone, they obviously last much longer than a wooden coffin. There were also much larger tombs/temples and even burial mounds with space for a room inside them. These seem to be in better condition but also compromised by treasure seekers. 

Anyway, this got me thinking about our learning resource and teaching materials. When I first studied at university we had access to wonderful printed study guides and readers (which are still in a bookcase at home), but now we generally only provide a digital version of learning resources. We put these online and update them as necessary, which I guess is a benefit as it’s easier to do it electronically, than go through and re-edit a document for re-printing… So, these resources as digital artefacts have a type of longevity, but they might lose their relevance over time. Many of our documents need updating for each teaching period, audio and video recordings can also date quickly and we have a process to regularly review and update lectures. Our multi-media resources are more difficult to edit as technologies and formats change and improve. I wonder what our legacy will be like for those who care to look at them in two thousand years time… 

How do you mark or flag the relevance and/or longevity of your digital learning resources? Do you have processes for making the editing of multi-media resources easy and efficient?

The ancient cemetery (necropolis) at Hierapolis (Pamukkale), Turkey

Our Word of the Day (courtesy the Dictionary app) is: ‘environs’ – what surrounds you…

Post #26 – where the idea of different perspectives are discussed

I’ve often found that it’s useful to look at things from different perspectives. Changing the angle from which you view something will show you other aspects of it, and can provide new information. You can go close-up, or turn things upside down, or zoom right out for a helicopter or a bird’s eye view to try and get the bigger picture. Whatever you do, you can be guaranteed that things will look different and may suggest that whatever you are examining could be addressed in another way. There are also different lenses (rose coloured or magnifying) that can help in this process, as well as other tools like De Bono’s Six Thinking Hats. I guess anything that change your normal view will be helpful in providing a new perspective with which to see. 

Putting yourself in someone else’s shoes is always a good way to see how what you might intend to do as a teacher, could potentially look like, or be experienced by your student. This can be very enlightening and often encourages us to consider making changes to improve the experience for our students.

How often do you practice taking a new perspective on things?

Bird’s eye view of Melbourne

Word of the Day is, ‘blithesome’ – woohoo!

Post #25 – where we think about looking on the bright side

Often when facing difficultly, I find it useful to think about what would be the worst thing that could happen. All seems lost and there doesn’t seem to be anything I can do to remedy the situation. It’s a bit like being in a barbed wire canoe without a paddle – we might be sitting in the boat, but it’s painful and we’re on the bottom of the river, not going anywhere. But, we can swim! Let’s leave the canoe where it is and think about getting to dry land and having a think about what we were trying to do with that canoe. Sometimes a learning activity can sink as well – it didn’t get students to where you wanted them to be…

The barbed wire canoe was obviously not fit for the purpose we intended – it’s more suited as an art gallery exhibition piece. I guess we were aware there was some risk involved and we’ve learnt from the experience. So, what to do? It’s back to the drawing board to design a different canoe I guess. Rather than barbed wire, we need to find some other material to build with – what sort of resources are available and appropriate? Thinking more about the purpose and ensuring things like good design, being waterproof and the right paddle will be important. Maybe a sea trial is a good idea too – test the design before asking people to come along for a ride…

Are you willing to abandon your (learning design) ship and rebuild your canoe?

Barbed wire canoe

Word of the Day is, ‘peckish’ – somewhat hungry…