Exploring Learning

This year, I have been a little slack on updating my blog. However, it is with good reason! This year, I have the utmost pleasure in establishing a media studies department. It is challenging to set up and run a department single-handedly, particularly when compounded with technical issues that arise from working for a company that has very tight security and imposes extreme limitations - think 'exercise yard' rather than 'walled garden'. These restrictions have resulted in a school that has been protected from the advancements afforded in more liberal environments, which proves very challenging to a subject that requires access to online resources for success. In addition, the requirements of media courses now are much more demanding than my earlier experiences, particularly in technical aspects, meaning I am on as steep a learning curve as my AS learners in taking a subject for which they have no prior experience. All this compounds to formulate a very trying term. ...

I am always on the search for ways to collect, curate and  organise  information - both for my professional and my personal life. Recently, I stumbled across  TiddlyWiki , which claims to be a unique  non-linear notebook for capturing,  organising  and sharing complex information (TiddlyWiki.com, 2014) What drew me to it was its transformation of traditional note-taking techniques, such as index cards, into an interactive tool that lives on my computer and can house hyperlinks, self-proclaimed "hypertext index card from the future". What could there not be to love? The site hosts helpful explanation video tutorials, as well as text instructions on how to get started. After watching the introduction, I must admit that whilst  i  feel it sounds good, I am not sure about the user-friendliness of it. Use of codes for formatting, etc., much like in the  Bubbl.us mind-mapping  tool I reviewed. After the introduction...

I am a fan of Sketchnotes (see @Rhodesign 's great books ) and visuals, so I had to explore a mindmapping tool that I had not come across before. There are different options including a free account that I signed up for and was able to access the tool straight away. The free account lets you make three maps that can be shared - however, whilst you can add hyperlinks, you cannot add attachments from your computer. For this, you pay $6 a month or $59 a year, which is a significant amount of money. Unless you plan on making A LOT of mind maps. Immediately after signing up, I was sent straight to the creation board: The interface is limited and fairly straightforward, though I did consult the HELP section for details about adding links and basic formatting, which has to be done using codes rather than buttons. Clicking on the box brings up a colour chart -  where you can choose from an existing Palette or chose Custom. The Custom option allow...

This week in my MEd, we are exploring the heady world of infographics with the objective of learning how visual representations of data can enhance and distort data. The aim is for us to think carefully about the use of graphics in our teaching in order that we use visuals to effectively deliver information rather than distort it and confuse our learners. After reading three articles by Edward Tufte, I summarised some basic principles to form the basis of my explorations and use them to evaluate the infographics I found. According to Tufte (1983), graphical excellence happens when graphics: show data make viewers think about content not presentation/design avoid  the distortion of data present many numbers in a small space make large data sets coherent encourage the eye to compare different pieces of data reveal data on different levels - from broad to fine have a clear purpose: descriptive/ explorative /decorative/ tabulative be closely correlated with s...

Marshall McLuhan (1969) claims that, as humans, we are only aware of changes to our environment when the new “supersedes” the old and that we are actually “always one step behind”. If our survival is “predicated on the understanding of new media” (McLuhan, 1969), we have a responsibility to consider the future of educational learning within a digital realm and make learners aware as much of the medium as we do of the message. Often, we are presented with a dichotomy of Utopian and Dystopian representations of technological advancement, and McLuhan’s assumption suggests we may be doomed unless we adapt to new media. If we can do what all good pedagogy does and bring what we know to the table as a starting block, we can draw comparisons between the unfamiliar and the familiar, and the abstract and the concrete, as a way to try and understand the assumptions made about new media and ways of delivering learning. A Utopian perspective presents technology as our salvation - transformative a...

"The educational system is moving with monolithic slowness in this [visual literacy] area, still persisting in an emphasis on the verbal mode to the exclusion of the rest of the human sensorium and with little sensitivity, if any, to the overwhelmingly visual character of the child's learning experience." D. Dondis . (1973) A primer of visual literacy. Cambridge: MIT Press We have just arrived in another new country to start a new life and work in a new school (see Global Living and Connection ). Due to Visa rules and restrictions, I am unable to start work until next term, which gives me more time to sign up to complete TWO modules of my Masters in Education. I must say, to a learning junkie like myself, the idea of studying 'full time' over the next few months is really appealing. My Masters focuses on technology in the classroom and this semester, I will be studying how to use technology for instructional improvement - using tech for AfL essentially - ...