Working together with Ubuntu / ICTs in Africa

I came across this slideshare presentation last week when I was searching for information relating to current and future uses of ICTs in Africa. Although it's three years ago and the author says that it's very basic, I love its simplicity and design. It gets a couple of good messages across. Slide 8 is a photo collage showing the reliance on cell phone infrastructure and is taken in Joburg - I would recognise it anywhere. There's a lovely definition of Ubuntu from Archbishop Desmond Tutu at the end.

Check it out here.

ClustrMaps and community building

I'm very excited to see my ClustrMap working. Something that worked first time !!! I have an interesting dot in the middle of the States must be somewhere around where our dear friend Johnny is working at the University of Missouri-Columbia (Mizzou). Although America's a big place..... could be right off target. I think ClustrMap is a great visual representation tool for developing and tracking a community. Kind of brings people together when they can see where they are - I love it.

If anyone should happen to make a new dot on my map - please feel welcome to comment about anything. Perhaps you are considering studying H800 for next year. Perhaps you're already on H800 and we haven't met before. Perhaps you're just thinking about studying something with the UK Open University. Feel free to chip in, (comments are open to anyone with a Google account).

New ClustrMap

Just spent an interesting little while adding a ClustrMap to my blog as suggested by fellow course member Sacha. I've seen these in lots of places and wondered how to get one; anyway www.clustrmaps.com has all the details and lovely step by step instructions for Blogger users. A little fiddly but fun. Now I'm looking forward to when it starts updating.

On timing and skimming

Image: www.trcc.commnet.edu

It's official. I'm developing the art of skimming. As a new OU student and returning to formal studies after last graduating with my Masters in 1993, I have often wondered during H800 whether I would acquire this ability. In Week 12, we considered a paper by Richardson (2005) which observed that we can bring about desirable approaches to studying by appropriate course design, teaching methods and forms of assessment. Richardson also found that there is an intimate relationship between students' perceptions of quality, and the approaches to studying that they adopt. Perceptions of quality and learner experience are multi-faceted; important aspects including the course design and structure, mapping against learning outcomes, appropriate workload and assessment tasks. So drawing these threads together, I would say that although the course design and quality of materials is generally excellent, I am at a 'tipping point' where the course workload is affecting my perception of quality (and ownership) and is bringing about a more shallow or superficial approach. Either that, or I am internalising and consolidating the course material to such an extent that I can now adopt more efficient study methods!! In the next few weeks I have no option but to fit the course around ROL (rest of life) rather than fit ROL around the course, which I did seem to be doing in the beginning. TMA04 has to be finished early by at least a week so I'm going to be multi-programming between that and trying to achieve what I can from the remaining weeks of course material.

PLEs and ownership: A couple more thoughts

I've been thinking quite a bit about PLEs, the contribution of Mobile 2.0, and the issue of ownership of learning, about which we are being invited to reflect. As John points out in his comment on my previous post, the benefits of Web 2.0 and a PLE extend far beyond the educational world. We have been considering the 'blurring' of boundaries between formal and informal learning, and between work and leisure. It's interesting that I use nearly all of the tools in my PLE both formally and informally (my formal studies being H800 which is controlled by formal assessment criteria and a recognised masters level qualification). It's only the ones down in the bottom right hand corner - TV, Faceboook, cell phone that I don't (yet) use for formal studies.

Do all these new tools in my new PLE change the 'ownership' of my learning? I don't currently think so. I don't even think the boundaries are becoming blurred, but maybe 'jagged' as one of our course readings described it. My experience is that these tools enrich both my formal and informal learning, but in my formal learning I have to conform to set assessment criteria or else I will fail the course. My informal learning about leisure, things that interest me, information that I seek etc, belongs entirely to me. I see this all the time with my son - he conforms to what he must learn at school because he has to - but his informal learning really belongs to him. He is wagging his own tail, so to speak. The formal or informal nature of the learning is always what will control the ownership in my view, and what we pay for when we to go to school or university. There will always be a need for recognised, assessed qualifications for a labour market to function, so I don't believe that educationalists need to worry that the advent of Web 2.0 tools and PLEs is going put their whole function at risk - there will continue be a role for educational institutions as we understand them now.

I believe that institutions will have to maintain their core systems, such as VLEs (LMSs), library systems etc, but that as one of our readings has suggested, there will need to be a greater integration between student PLEs and the institutional systems, with the possibility of students docking into the 'mother ship' every so often to exchange data. As with life it's never going to be black or white, but various shades of grey, that will suit different individuals.

My PLE:how things have changed in 10 years

I'm interrupting my rearward looking introspections to do a bit of up to date posting and consider my PLE (or Personal Learning Environment). This is the acquired collection of tools and services that we use outside the confines of institutional provision. Mostly these tools are freely available on the web, feature rich and easy to use. There can be a contention between PLE's and institutionally controlled systems which may less functional and flexible, but do supply the consistency and uniformity required for collaborative work and assessment purposes.

We are asked to consider how our own practice and use of technologies has changed over the last 10 years or so. The technologies in my PLE above have revolutionised my life whilst I have been in South Africa - when we arrived I had access to email and internet browsers on a dial up modem and that was about it. I was amused to see how complex my PLE is already - and there are still tons of tools I have yet to explore. It has definitely become the richer for joining H800!

I don't know where I would be without the technology any more. It enables me to continously stay in touch with what's going on in the UK, to keep in touch with family and friends, to professionally develop, to network, be a part of online events, and to have fun.

Summary of Block 2 (Part 2)

Week 11 was really brilliant for me. We were at Sabie River Sun near the Kruger Park with family and I was studying whilst listening to the sound of hippos grunting and playing in the river right outside our chalet.

Week 11 was all around debates in e-learning, structured around the 'iron triangle' of accessibility, quality and cost. We looked at a very interesting Economist debate concerning whether or not technology adds to the quality of most education. We dealt with many issues close to my heart (like the digital divide) and when I returned I was posting away like crazy in the forums! As a quality professional, I thought the section on quality did not do justice to the entire debate. We only considered measures of end results such as student pass rates, and not the e-learning production process, or quality from different stakeholder points of view. However the week was great and I really enjoyed it (hippos and crocs did help of course).