A. I am your friend. I don’t work in education. You are talking to me about the idea that we all learn from each other, in all kinds of contexts, and that this can often be richer than more formal classroom based learning. I am sceptical. Tell me about an informal learning experience you have had online in which collaboration was involved, show me a concrete example to help me to see what you mean.OK imagine this;-I was flying around in my rocket propelled green dragon outfit through this enchanted forest when I was complimented on my spindly green tight clad legs by a flying tropical fruit jelly; this chance meeting led to a session where the ' jelly', a woman from Canada, taught me how to change outfits/shape/appearance within Second Life and to save the changes within a folder. A simple task and one that once learned made my experiences within this virtual world more enjoyable. Aside frm the fun aspect I was able to apply this new knowledge to my English classes; I Teach English as a Second Language and was able to save my appearance/shape/clothes and attachments in one folder; thus a 'speakeasy attachment' which contained a text introduction to the lesson was saved along with notecards that I could hand to the students. Simple things that facilitated the learning experience of my students and made my enthusiasm for the learning process greater-no small thing I can tell you as sometimes this flags!
B. We all explore new technologies, some grab our attention more than others, some seem revolutionary, others simply bore us. Tell us about that new tool, or set of tools, you have just discovered that really excites you, talk about the potential it has to change your work. What do you want to do with it?The new 'wiziq' free online VLE- virtual learning enviroment- is a program/resource I recently came across; I am developing online and distance programs for my company. We want to be able to teach workers within the oil and gas industry. They often work in extreme conditions and at a distance that makes regular attendance at classes impossible. Previously providing online classes has not been posssible for a medium sized company such as ours due to dubget and knowledge restrictions. I was seeking a solution that was both economical and user friendly. This is both.
Am I excited about it? Yes big time; My task will be to train teachers who are not particularly tech savvy and sell them as competent and experienced. (and also to sell the technology to the teachers as it were)
C. Do you see yourself as a pioneer? Do you think you are more innovative than others in your organisation? Do you think your organisation is lagging behind? Tell us how you feel about this?
Well....I do sometimes but within my organisation I receive support and encouragement from my boss. She listens to my explanations,plans and ambitions and gives me positive feedback; she also asks the questions that give me pause for thought and explains the limitations that can legitimately put a brake on some of my ideas. This often leads to a rethink and has led to siome exciting discoveries as I have reacted to feedback and redirected my research and development away from pie-in-the-sky dreams to more practical and applicable developments. My organisation is a commercials operation and we operate within restrains but the ambition is their and where theirs a will....
My experience working within the UK educational sector in the FE part was both dispiriting and depressing as the speanding on technology was matched by a lack of teacher training and a management structure seemingly hell bent on doing...well...nothing in particular-except hairdressing...
