What’s new in
Teaching with Technology
Seminar, 28 August 2008
Stephen Marquard
Centre for Educational Technology
[email protected]
What’s new (August 08)
• Vula Blogs
• Questions and Answers (Q&A)
• LAMS:
Learning Activity Management System
How to add the new tools
• Site Setup / Edit Tools
(course and project sites)
Blogs Overview
What is it?
A blog tool that allows participants to create blogs or journals within a
site.
Use it to …
• Create a sense of community
• Record learning experiences in reflective
What are the alternatives?
• Forums
(topic-focused rather than blogger-centric)
• blogs.uct.ac.za UCT blogspot
(public blogging, UCT-wide community)
• Any other Internet blogging platform
(public blogging, global community)
journals
Blogs
Strengths
Very simple!
No registration, easy to get started.
Keeps site-related blogs in one place
Postings can be private, site or public
Configurable permissions
Allows comments
Don’t have to worry about blog spam
Weaknesses
Single layout (no templates or customization)
Just a blog (not as capable as dedicated blog sites)
Blogs home page
Blogging
A blog post
Q&A Overview
What is it?
A tool for asking, answering and managing questions.
Use it to …
•
•
•
•
Allow students to ask questions anonymously
Respond quickly and efficiently to student questions
Find out what questions concern students the most
Create a knowledge base through managing a set of frequently
asked questions
What are the alternatives?
• Forums (less structured, fewer workflow options)
• Email (no benefits for other participants)
• Wiki (more setup required, fewer workflow options)
Why questions?
• Many students ask the same question
• Students will ask a question online which they wouldn’t or
couldn’t ask face-to-face
• Students may ask a question differently (or at all) if they
can ask it anonymously
• Students answer each other’s questions
• The student questions and answers provide a window into
student thought processes, their difficulties, confusions,
misconceptions and successes.
• Questions and answers provide academic support, peer
support, and diagnostic insights.
Q&A supports different workflows
• Expert: Student asks question > lecturer or tutor
responds publicly (in the site) and/or privately (by email)
• Collaborative: Student asks question > peers respond >
lecturer or tutor may also provide or nominate a definitive
answer
• Questions may be moderated, i.e. only become visible in
the site once reviewed
• Site members may be allowed to ask questions
anonymously
• Q&A works equally well in project sites
Student view of questions
Viewing a question
Choose the
behaviour
you want
through
Permissions
and Options
LAMS Overview
What is it?
An environment for designing, managing and delivering online collaborative
learning activities.
Use it to …
•
Set up structured sequences of activities which students work through in a
scaffolded way.
•
Create tutorials or activities where students interact with each other
•
Track student progress through a set of defined tasks
•
Create activities for students which provide different pathways according to the
student’s level of knowledge
What are the alternatives?
•
Structure activities using the Vula tools, linked together using the Wiki or web
pages (harder to create, less scaffolding and feedback)
LAMS
(Learning Activity Management System)
Define a sequence of activities
(like a flowchart) through
which students progress.
Applications include tutorial
activities or simulation games.
Piloted in Inkundla
yeHlabathi - World Forum
Online (PBL2001H)
More info at
www.lamscommunity.org
“LAMS is a revolutionary new tool for designing, managing and delivering online
collaborative learning activities”
A simple LAMS sequence
A simple LAMS sequence
A simple LAMS sequence
LAMS caveats
• Needs a recent version of Flash
• Relatively new and complex: responses to
help queries about LAMS may be within
days rather than hours.
• Data from LAMS is not available inside
Vula tools (e.g. Assignments or
Gradebook)
• Check with the Vula team first before using
LAMS for high-stakes assessment (tests,
exams) or large groups of students