Another Student Feedback from a Project - Authentic Learning and Web 2.0

I was a student enrolled in the Certificate of Boat building
program at the Institute of Applied Science, Unitec. One of those exciting
things during the course is the elearning perspective based on Web 2.0
technology and applications, which was introduced and promoted by Vickel.

Despite the concept of Web 2.0 sounds quite complicated or specialized,
this new educational approach actually uses daily computer software and
program, online applications and resources, and other IT technologies we
use everyday, such as 3G network on our mobile, recording video and taking
pictures with camera or smart phone, etc.

Based on this approach, we (tutors and students all together) established a
comprehensive Web2.0 e-learning platform. Everyone got their own Blog. In
the blog, students can write down what they have done today, what are they
thinking, or what kind of help they need. Other students and tutors can read
his blog and make comments on it. Moreover, blog is also used to create
students’ portfolio (now we call it e-portfolio). Students are asked to take
photos and videos during the workshop, and upload them to the blog. Other
internet applications and webs, such as Google Docs, Buzz and YouTube are
used as well as useful tools to improve communications between students
and tutors.

I really liked this Web2.0 concept and I think its application in the CAT program
is quite successful. I think it has following advantages:

1. Improved communication between students and tutors with little or
no limitation of time and place. Compared with face-to-face meeting
and communication, students and tutors now can communicate online.
You can post your ideas, thoughts, suggests or comments at anytime,
anywhere. You do not have to be in the workshop in order to discuss
with your mates and the tutor.
2.  An effective way to record work and study. As pictures and videos are
made during the workshop, students can upload them onto their blog.
This provides a dynamic and expressive source for constructing their e-
portfolio online.
3.  More progress-oriented and better supervision on students’ work
and study. Students are asked to write their blog based on their daily
learning process. Tutors can see how each student is doing all the
way through the course. This gives opportunity for tutors to make more
comprehensive and flexible assessment on the student on the basis of
his learning process, not only on the basis of the final outcome.
4. Students are more motivated. Well, as a student, your assessment
and portfolio will be based on what you have put on your blog. So you
need pay more attention on your daily study. Moreover, you can also
help other students if they post any questions on the blog and make comments on their works. And remember, other students can do the
same to you.
5.  It does not increase the cost of study. Software, applications, websites
and other devices and technologies used in the Web2.0 educational
approach are mostly free. You might need a cellphone that can take
pictures and videos. If you happened to have not got one, do not worry.
You can borrow the camera from the institute.

(Former student in the Boat Building course, Unitec New Zealand)
 

this blog post by Vickel Narayan is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 New Zealand License.

Emerging themes from student blogs.

How students are using blogs in their course and what are some of the emerging themes.

this blog post by Vickel Narayan is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 New Zealand License.

Things that make your day!

I started a Web 2.0 project with Marine Technology students last week and had only spent 1 hour with the students explaining why we were doing things the new way. Got the students setup on Blogger, Gmail and gave them a quick overview of GDocs and Youtube.

 Picture: Student's in the Marine Technology course doing a presentation this morning.

After the session last week and few days later, a student commented:

ILearning???

I've just started the 2011 semester 1 studies and something very diferrent is changing the "old fashion way" of teaching students at Unitec, I am saying that because I already been at Unitec on semester 2 2010, and we were tired of listening to our tutor talking for two hours every day doing the theory side, seeing my colleagues falling asleep, anyway to my and the others surprise Unitec had implemented a new tool called "ILearning" I have to admit I was a bit worried how would it end up, but now I really like the idea and I need to say since wed 16/03 when we had our first day of "ILearning" I am really impressed how the theory side became much more interesting, and we(students) are more involved as a team, I hope my classmates are enjoying as much as I am and together we will learn how to build our blogs. (Marine Technology Student, 2011)

What more can I say! They are willing to make the change, but it is how we take it to the student's that makes a difference (no digital native assumptions!!). Also the acceptance of the teacher, he/she plays a huge role. I have to admit the staff I am working with is a STAR!

this blog post by Vickel Narayan is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 New Zealand License.

Boat Building Students - a milestone achieved

this blog post by Vickel Narayan is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 New Zealand License.

Project Gran Turismo 5 - CAME Proposal (Game-based learning and Web 2.0)

Project Gran Turismo 5 (GT5) - CAME Semester 1, 2011

Proposal By:
Vickel Narayan

Academic Adviser (Learning Technologies),
Te Puna Ako

Email: vnarayan@unitec.ac.nz
Phone: ext 7413

Introduction

The CAME created waves around the institute and to some extent in other institutes in modeling effective pedagogy. It is also the first course at Unitec to successfully go through the rigorous Living Curriculum tick process. Institutionally the CAME has put Department of Automotive and the Faculty at the forefront of effective practice in learning and teaching and has set a model of others to learn from.

The CAME managed to successfully move from teacher-content to student generated-content, a process where students take ownership of their own learning and the teachers in the course playing the role of a facilitator. Feedback to students on their work in class became a critical feature in the learning process along with building relationships with students and encouraging the same between students. The course has had positive impact on student's learning (Narayan & Baglow, 2010) and hopefully the students will move on to achieve greater things as they begin their career. Even though there are a number of things happening in the CAME that is having a positive effect on the way students learn, there is still room for improvement. Herrington (2006) expresses the importance of authentic learning contexts in promoting higher student engagement, success and for creating an opportunity for students to explore a 'real world' situation over a sustained period of time to deliver a solution.

This proposal outlines how GT5 will be integrated in the course to create an experience for the students to learn from. The proposal also ensures CAME and the Faculty maintains the lead in innovative approaches to learning and teaching and continues to set a model for it's staff, other programmes and faculties to learn from.

About Gran Turismo 5

My Page user options

Figure 1.0 - My page on GT5

Tuning Shop - Customising the Car

Figure 2.0 - Tuning options in the game

Is a multi-player online gaming device however it's not just about racing:

• Personal online message board to keep in touch with friends.
• You can gift car parts to your friends.
• You can take pictures and share it with your friends.

(As outlined in figure 1.0)

Dynamic weather hence gives a feel of how the vehicle behaves under different weather conditions (temperature, pressure, humidity).
Over 900 cars from different car manufacturers, all on HD with crisp clear picture and graphics.

Cars are customisable meaning one can build a car down-up through the Tuning Shop (Pictures from the tuning shop: http://www.gtplanet.net/gran-turismo-5-menu-screens-show-tuning-options/gt5-menu-tuning-7/ and http://us.gran-turismo.com/us/news/d5297p2.html). This is how the game flows (Career Mode):

• You start with 3,500 Cr (iPad version). This credit is used to by a car but before you can buy a car you keep to get a drivers licence to drive one in the game.
• You race to gain extra credit.
• Using this credit you can buy parts from the After Market Store (this ranges from tyres to pistons and suspension). This website shows the tuning options in GT5: http://www.gtplanet.net/gran-turismo-5-menu-screens-show-tuning-options/
  
• Next you take the car to a Diagnostics Centre to run tests on the customisations you have made. There are various tests you can perform for example: compression, torque, speed, variations in behavior under different conditions (Pressure, stress etc). After the test, make the changes as needed and
  
• You take the car for a spin on the track.

Theoretical Underpinning

The most critical ingredient to students' succeeding at learning is motivation, 'a motivated learner can't be stopped' (Prensky, 2003. p. 1). Contrary to this well known fact and in this digital age, student learning still remains 'dry' (Eck, 2006; Prensky, 2003). This said there is a platform available for educators that achieves high level of engagement and motivation to utilise and can be found in almost all homes in some form: computer and video games. Prensky (2003) claims that students attitude towards computer/video games is totally opposite to what some of them have towards school. The attitude students have towards video/computers games in what is desperately needed in the schools: 'interest, competition, cooperation, results-oriented, actively seeking information and solutions' (p. 1).

Prensky (2001) suggests that games can facilitate as many as 36 vital and effective learning principles. These include instant feedback, decision making roles, a student could be punished by being given a tougher task if they failed (sets higher expectations, challenges hence becomes a motivational factor), engaging, lets the user experiment many ways to learn and allows flexibility to create different thoughts (Prensky, 2001).  Pivec et al. (2003) also suggest that games can create a collaborative learning environment. The use of multi-player gaming platforms allows users to exchange thoughts and ideas with other users who are interacting with the content simultaneously under shared circumstances. This takes collaboration to a new level where the level of critique and exploration of a concept or event is negotiated between individuals to create new understandings and meanings (Johnson et al., 2010). The New Horizon Report (2010) outlines number of case studies where game-based learning was successfully incorporated in the curriculum. Prensky (2001) states 5 affordances of video/computer games for students that renders it as a powerful learning platform: (1) engage (2) explore, (3) explain, (4) elaborate and (5) evaluate. These elements when mixed with the right pedagogy create an environment, which could be beneficial to both students and teachers (Eck, 2006; Prensky, 2001).

Design: GBL, Constructivism, Authentic Learning

"Knowledge is not passively accumulated: rather, it is a result of active cognising by the individual" (Doolittle, 1999. p. 6)

The table below outlines the relationship between the 3 (GBL, constructivism and authentic learning) and how GT5 and Web 2.0 tools bridge the two into an effective learning environment.

GT5 (Game-based learning)	Constructivism	Authentic Learning
The situations presented in the game are realistic scenarios a racing driver and his crew face. This also creates an urgency/relevance for future tasks/actions	learning context should be authentic and where possible should be real-world the learning should have immediate relevance to the students	'real world' learning - the learning situation has immediate relevance to the way learning will be applied in real life
All digital games presents an ill defined problem but 'in-time' promotes are in place to guide them through the process	learning should be situated in a social environment to enable collaboration and sharing	learning activities are ill defined - one complex problem that the students can explore over a period of time
The diagnostics centre, teacher in class and because GT5 is an online gaming platform expertise from around the world is also available		students have access to expertise and the use/process is modeled
As a driver, owner, crew member, analyst. This enables a learner to bring any prior knowledge they may have into the current situation they are/could be facing.	the learning should take into account the learners prior knowledge and should build from it	learners are able to explore an issue from multiple perspective and through assuming different identities (roles)
Blogging/student portfolio, Google Buzz all situated within a student CoP - all geared towards building a student community - community of learners	should be student-centred - students given the ownership of their own learning	learning is situated in socio-cultural setting - students construct knowledge together through interaction each each other
Reflection and articulation is at the core of students blogging, learning activities designed also take this into consideration and feedback a regular event	formative assessments should be embedded within the course to create opportunity for the teacher to guide and lead the student into further learning.	Reflection and articulation is a critical element in the learning process
Scaffolds are built into almost all the games as an engagement factor, teachers in class as coach, and other resources on the web as guided by the teacher. Vickel Narayan as a technology steward and support in class for students/teacher, every week for 1-2hrs.	the teachers role in the process to be as a facilitator and not an instructor.	'Scaffolding and coaching' - support mechanisms are out in place to help the students through the process - digital resources, readings, teachers
ePortfolio - every activity and events within make up a post(s). An assessment rubric will be discussed/created with the students at the start of the course.	teachers to create an environment that nurtures student views and perspectives and allows students to deliver content in multiple formats (multimedia - pictures, videos, audio, storyboards etc).	Authentic assessment - embedded assessment - activities and assessments are not separate and distinct from each other rather they should implement each other

(Doolittle, 1999; Herrington, 2006; Lombardi, 2007)

Gran Turismo 5 allows students an opportunity to experience learning in an authentic context. The game will be embedded in the course which will allow students to learn basic car parts and the functions in a fun environment. The teachers in the course will have a set of questions to look at after each gaming session to reflect on. A possible learning scenario is presented below:

The class will be broken down into smaller groups of up to 4 students in each. (Groups maintained for the whole course.) The groups begin by having a gaming session to decide who is the best driver of them all. This exercise will  help build a team as in many cases students don't know each other and it takes a while to establish a relationship to get a team going. The person who wins the contest becomes the driver for the team and other members the pit crew. Learning activities here after are based on analysing the performance of the car and tweaking the parts for better performance on the race course. The diagrams below outline how the gaming aspect will be used in student learning and integrated in the curriculum.

Pedagogical Affordances of the Game

Figure 3.0 - Pedagogical affordances of the game

Figure 3.0 outlines the features of the game and further details in the diagram outline possible use in the course. The CAME students this year (2010) had to learn about parts and its functions by reading books, watching videos and through communal discussions however the students had very limited opportunity to explore the parts in an authentic context. GT5 will allow the students to explore various models of a part and put them through a number of diagnostics to determine the impart of certain variables on the performance of the car. Figure 2.0 shows a screen capture from the game of the tuning features available, in this case the engine block, piston and ECU. Other options are available for example the chassis, tyres, body (fibre and alloy), turbo charging, exhaust, etc. Figure 4.0 outlines the process each group and group members will have to go through after a session on the console. The teachers in the course will be heavily involved in the process providing guidance (feedback), setting up conditions and requirements for the activity and observing the activities for expected deliverables. The reflective blog posts will add towards the student portfolio as an assessed activity.

Embedding it in the course - It's not just about gaming

Figure 4.0 - Use with Web 2.0 tools to enhance students learning.

Conclusion

The use of technology in learning and technology is only effective if it is underpinned by effective pedagogy and careful planning for embedding it within the curriculum is done (Johnson et al., 2010; Prensky, 2003). Prensky (2001) floated the concept of what he called digital natives (born after 1980) and digital immigrates (born before 19980). From the data collected this year, majority of students in CAME could be categorised as digital natives and according to Prensky digital natives are attracted to technology as a metal is to a magnet. This was apparent with technology used in the course this year, again the data collected from the students indicated that they were happy with the use of etools in the course (Narayan & Baglow, 2010). The indications are that the students enrolling in the CAME and many entry level courses here at Unitec will be getting younger every year with different expectations of how learning should be (Horizon, 2010).

Literacy and numeracy is still an area that needs attention, while literacy is being looked at GT5 can help with the numeracy issues. The diagnostics students can run in GT5 requires them to gain an understanding of what the numbers mean and how they arrive at the result. This requires them to gain an understanding of the process and the method, the motivation in the process is to get the best performance from the car they have customised when it comes race day against other groups and win. This when combined with blogs allows the teacher to identify and help the students/group where needed, this could even happen at an early stage. GT5 creates an opportunity for students and teachers alike to tackle numeracy issues which under normal circumstances would go undetected.

Also keeping in mind future plans CAME has of moving into schools this pilot project will help make a difference in the lives of many students who drop out of the school system by engaging the students in a fun but effective learning environment. This project will also create an opportunity of the CAT students to be involved and hopefully will get the staff teaching excited to try out new and informed methods of teaching.

References

Doolittle, P. E. (1999). Constructivism and Online Education Retrieved January, 2007, from http://edpsychserver.ed.vt.edu/workshops/tohe1999/pedagogy.html
Eck, R. V. (2006). Digital Game-Based learning: it's not just the digital natives who are restless. EDUCAUSE, 41(2).
Herrington, J. (2006). Authentic e-learning in higher education: Design principles for authentic learning environments and tasks. Paper presented at the E-Learning Conference.
Johnson, L., Levine, L., Smith, R., & Stone, S. (2010). The 2010 Horizon Report. Austin, Texas: The New Media Consortium.
Lombardi, M. M. (2007). Authentic learning for the 21st century: an overview: EDUCAUSE.
Pivec, M., Dziabenko, O., & Schinnerl, I. (2003). Aspects of game-based learning. MIS Quarterly, 3(1).
Prensky, M. (2003). Digital game-based learning. ACM Portal, 1(1).
Prensky, M. (2001). Digital game-based learning. New Yorke: McGraw-Hill.
Prensky, M. (2001). Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants. On the Horizon, 9(5), 6.
Narayan, V., & Baglow, L. (2010). New beginnings: Facilitating effective learning through the use of Web 2.0 tools. In C. Steel, M.J. Keppell & P. Gerbic, Curriculum, technology & transformation for an unknown future. Proceedings ascilite Sydney 2010.

this project proposal by Vickel Narayan is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 New Zealand License.

iPad - iCommunicate, iCreate, iShare and iLearn?

 

Context:

Students in the Civil Engineering course have to buy a calculate worth some where around $400NZ. The calculator has very limited use in class, basically calculations and programming only. The course itself is very hands-on. Students meet once in a week for a 4 hour lecture followed up by a practical session using the equipments for surveying and many calculations that follow later.  In the practical session the students record data they would have taken using these equipments and is later used for calculating 'things' (sorry I have no knowledge of surveying hence wouldn't pretend to know what they calculate from the data collected) needed from it. Data is recorded on a sheet of paper and is later (when the students have returned back to the classroom) checked by the teacher. The reason why it couldn't be checked out in the field is, students are not at the same location they could be few hundred meters apart doing their own bit in groups. This creates a few problems for the students and teacher alike:

1. teacher is unable to give feedback or check for accuracy. This is only possible after the students are back in classroom. The students miss out on being able to correct their mistake and take readings and data again.
2. Because data is recorded on a sheet of paper it limits what calculations could be done out in the field.
3. other problems not relation to practical sessions:

• the 4 hour lecture. I did a quick survey in class with the students and they admitted that they find the 4 hour lecture overwhelming and boring. The staff teaching the course reflecting on his 4 hour session stated standing in-front of the class talking and going through PowerPoint presentations and pdf's to deliver the required knowledge to the students.
• 'Learning' and 'assessment' are seen as two distinctively separate process. Learning is where the teacher is in-charge - talking and explaining and lecturing most of the time (Teacher - active, students - passive participants). Assessment, students are expected to recall and regurgitate the knowledge 'learnt'.

The iPad .....

iPad was designed primarily as a 'consumption' device- watching videos, pictures, reading book, browsing the net and as a portable gaming unit. The apps designed for it available on the App store however take this even further. It potentially turns it into a portable computer that not only allows content to be received but can engage the user into creating it too. Some key elements not available on the iPad however make it a bit difficult, for example:

• lack of a camera (no photos or videos)
• iPad runs a mini or lite version of a browser Safari and now many other available on the App store. This creates a problem for using applications like Google Apps and other -  they need a full browser to function properly. We can however overcome these limitations by using Apps from the App store, like Documents on the go,  Documents 2, Connect - these apps allow you to connect to cloud platforms like Google, download the documents edit and sync it back. Some even allow you to create a document on the iPad itself and can later be uploaded to a cloud storage. Blogging that is a crucial tool we use in our course. However again because iPad doesn't have a full browser blogging is made difficult and the lack of a proper blogging app on the store compounds the issue. We can do email blogging but this means we'll be restricted to text only. Other digital artifacts like pictures and videos are critical elements when blogging to engage students in cognitive processes.

Vox has been the best blogging platform for use in class, well at least for me, Blogger is close but not as good. However Blogger is flexible when it comes to blogging on the iPad unlike Vox. It gives you a HTML compose window and throws an error message when you try to change to WYSIWYG saying "the browser you are using is not supported."

What we are doing with it?

16 Civil Engineering students and 2 staff teaching the course received an iPad (Wifi version 16 Gig) each for use this semester.

The concept map on the left outlines few tools we'll be using in the course. Others tools will be added as needed. m48 is an App that can be downloaded for free from the App store. This is the same calculator students buy for around $400NZ.

Documents 2 is a free App again from the App store that allows the user to create/download documents from Google docs to edit, this can be sync'ed back to Google Docs. Students setup a Blogger account for use in the course. My experience with Blogger has been: it's hard to create or get the student community going hence Google Buzz will be use to and an auto-feed will be activated meaning every time the student make a post on their blog a message will be posted on Buzz hence all the students can see and participate*. The teacher can also use it to initiate discussions and to engage the students. To make things simple Google Mobile App for iPad will be used, this adds a short cut on the iPad making access easier. Buzz Buzz is another app that can be used to access and post to Google Buzz only.

So what do these Apps do?

Let's call it Web Surfing 2.0  - the old way was browsing the net using a web browser, FireFox, Internet explorer, Opera, Safari etc. The browser was the portable to accessing information. Apps on the App store for the iPhone do the same but each service have there own version and with customisable options. You select the services you want delivered when you open the application on your iOS device. It has a more personal touch to what a browser can deliver. NZ Herald have an app for the iPad, TVNZ also have an app for portable Apple products. Will this change the way we have browsed the web since its invention, only time will tell. Portable devices have replaced desktop and laptops as the leader when it comes to accessing the web according to recent research done in USA.

Given the limitation of the browse on the iPad and other portable Apple products these apps allow the user more capabilities, for example Google Docs doesn't function properly using iOS version of Safari but other Apps like Documents on the Go, Connect etc allow you to edit and create documents. Similarly blogging has always been seen as a primarily web based event because of browser capabilities on the iPad, blogging using the browse is not possible hence Apps like iBlog, Blogit, TypePad etc enables the user to perform these actions. Moblogging (Mobile blogging) is also gaining momentum, you compose a message and flick it to your unique Moblogging email address and your blogging platform does the rest. Portable Mobile devices are changing the way we have done things, enhancing the experience and delivering a more personalised experience.

In the project above we have selected Douments 2 for accessing Documents hosted on Google so enables the user to upload to Google from iPad. Documents 2 delivers functions like font formating (bold, italics, underline etc) and basic calculations while using Spreadsheet.


Buzz Buzz is an app for buzzing - service similar to Twitter - Google version of it. It takes Twitter a step further by allowing users to share pictures, videos, links etc and it is treated as a conversation unlike Twitter which treats every post as an individual blurb. Connecting Blogger to Buzz will automatically posts updates on Buzz hence people following you can quickly see what you been up to, for students it makes a huge difference - collaborative learning.

The aim of this project is:

1. Does the iPad provide any additional value to students in Civil engineering course?
2. To explore its affordance for use in a student-centred learning environment.

More updates from the project to follow.


Reflections from the Lecturer