Big Blue Button

On line seminar room

• Open Source community• Modular• HE oriented• In development• Trial instance:–http://50.17.253.98/

Welcomes & Introduction

Screen controls

• Users module– Assign presenter– Raise hand

• Listeners module– Mute/un-mute microphone

• Whiteboard– Upload presentation– Annotation tools only for presenter

• Chat – All– Private chat

Affordances

• Discussion– There is some Lag– Those familiar with Elluminate will notice fewer

interactive tools– The interactivity is in the facilitated conversation

On-line seminar

• Benefits and challenges of communities of practice in higher education– http://openbrookes.net/copsinhe/

The Digital

One-DayIdentity, literacy and

community in (partially) synchronous distributed learning environments

Aim of the Digital One-Days3 events of current interest as new form of

CPD Online identity Digital literacy Communities (of practice) in HE (in the event, 2 have run)

Cover the topics

Exploring the potential of SynchronousDistributedCollaboration

Innovation and noveltyTopics are challenging

The environment is challenging

There is an interaction between the environment and the topics

QuestionsMight identity, literacy and community

be threshold concepts in educational development?

Does the Trojan mouse effect persist in any new learning environment?Any novel medium with or through which

learning, is done serves to foreground not the medium but the meaning of learning

i,e, discussions about e-learning are really discussions about learning

OutlineThe environment

Elluminate …. But no more!Brookes Blogs

The learning design

The topics

Evaluation

The questions

Audiographics

New breed of collaboration tools allowing people to be simultaneously present in an desk-top computing environment based on a classroom metaphor2-way voice & video communicationText chatGraphicsA “White Board” on which “Slides” can be

displayedPresenters Participants Icon-tools such as “hand-raising”, emoticons

(smiley faces), polling

UsesTeaching events

Meetings

Distributed/distant co-presence at face-to-face events (conference streams)

BenefitsReduced travel – time, cost and carbon

saving (?)Recorded for replayDistributed groups

Disbenefits?Technical

The Internet is not like the movies: LagHardware/software compatibility Institutional firewalls

CulturalLiteracy: how to use the $%^&*! thingCommunity:

Interruptability, participation, open plan spaces Identity: representation of the self

Expectation management It is different from both face-to-face and “traditional”

on-line discussion-based distributed elearning

Learning DesignWebsite “home page”

Email joining instructions and briefs

Familiarisation sessions

Simple activity flow

Breaks and continuity

EvaluationSome considered the online interface ‘much richer

than face-to-face sessions’, found the different channels useful.

‘Interesting and productive environment’ effectively replicated a face to face workshop/seminar in terms of medium and activities.

Useful learning medium once acclimatisedBreakout groups worked well for engagement Interesting conceptual stuff from the panel

discussionExcellent questions raised The moderators and the participants with different

views of a very interesting topic, with moderation that made sure that all was somehow held together

The experience of taking part in online learning in this format.

The (useful) flow of presentation through to reflection and discussion

ChallengesA participant who thought the familiarisation

session went well referred to the session itself as ‘fraught with problems’.

Participant who came late took the first 30 minutes to catch up, experienced technical difficulties particularly with sound at first and did not manage to get a webcam working at all.

Communication a challenge in the medium. Sound problems

Difficulty with giving attention to a presentation for full 20 minutes

Bandwidth broke up audio in breakout groupsAttending an online workshop from the work place

different from attending a face to face events as the presence of the web, msn, email and telephone is distraction affecting concentration; needs discipline

QuestionsMight identity, literacy and community

be threshold concepts in educational development?

Does the Trojan mouse effect persist in any new learning environment?Any novel medium with or through which

learning, is done serves to foreground not the medium but the meaning of learning

i.e. discussions about e-learning are really discussions about learning

Thank you

George Roberts, Joe Rosa, Rhona Sharpe, Patsy Clarke