MOOCs - what do we think?

BBC Arts Editor Will Gompertz "interviews Daphne Koller & Andrew Ng, co-founders of Coursera, the company that is revolutionising education much in the same way that Amazon and iTunes turned publishing and music on their heads. Daphne and Andrew have together created a platform which allows anyone from anywhere in the world (who has internet access) to attend lectures and classes given by the best teachers in the world - for free. Universities as we know them may soon be a thing of the past" (Radio 4 web site). See what you think by listening to this 30 min introduction to MOOC phenomenon.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b036j3qc

Should we still be lecturing?

There's a perennial discussion of the value or otherwise of lectures. We depend heavily on lectures in Computing, but do they work as well as they should as a means of encouraging learning? Shouldn't we have moved on from this?



Read about Adrian Chown's workshop on the topic for the CLT: http://cltbrighton.wordpress.com/2012/03/01/makingthemostoflectures/

How the other half teaches Computing: find out what happened at this year's HEA Computing workshops

The HEA for Computing has been running some excellent seminars and workshops on teaching aspects of our discipline. Chris Douce, of the OU, has helpfully produced some very full reports on some of these:

• 10th Teaching, Learning and Assessment of Databases (TLAD) workshop
• Teaching and learning programming for mobile and tablet devices
• Enhancing the employability of computing students through an on-line professional presence
• Mobile Application Development: from curriculum design to graduate employability
• Inquiry, Independence and Information (Computing) Using IBL to Encourage Independent Learning in IT Students
• Creating a positive and workable future for UK games and animation courses: industry and education perspectives
• Embedding Self and Peer Assessment and Feedback in Practice - A Principles-Based and Technology-Enabled Approach
• Computer Forensics Workshop
• Higher Education Academy BotShop Workshop

Each report contains excellent links if you want to explore further. This is a super-easy way to take advantage of these events and maybe being inspired to go to some in person. Watch out for this year's programme soon.

Encouraging students to engage with feedback

The HEA's STEM group have some very useful concrete suggestions on their blog for encouraging students to engage with feedback: http://blogs.heacademy.ac.uk/stem-feedback/

And some great ideas on the University of Reading's site: http://www.reading.ac.uk/internal/engageinfeedback/Whyisfeedbackimportant/efb-WhyIsFeedbackImportant.aspx

Feedback in a Sandwich

For those who couldn't make yesterday's session on feedback at the Division meeting, or who want a reminder, here's a summary of the "feedback sandwich" approach to supplying useful information that a student can work with to improve performance. 

 

The Open University uses a very succinct description:

"If you can, adopt the ‘sandwich’ model of providing feedback.

• Bread: Be positive about what has been done well and, if appropriate, the effort made
• Jam: Discuss how the work could have been improved with specific examples
• Bread: End with a positive comment and make it clear that they can discuss the feedback with you"

Here's a bit more detail from Oxford Brookes on their very useful FirstWords site: 

First, give them the good news.

They need to know what they've done right, or well. They need to know this so that they'll keep on doing it right or well, and also because it will make them feel appropriately good about themselves and their work, which in itself aids learning as well as feeling good. They also need to know why it was right or good. Learners sometimes do well by accident - so tell them why it was right or good, in what respects it was right or good. Good news needs to be:

• Clear Don't beat about the bush. If you think it was 'great' or 'excellent' or 'admirable' or 'very stimulating', then say so. Have the courage of your convictions. (Don't worry about using clichés!)
• Specific Words like 'great' or 'excellent' carry a strong emotional message, but when the emotional buzz fades, the intellectual hunger remains. As we suggested above, say what, exactly what, was good and say why it was good.
• Personal That is, make the person you're giving feedback to feel acknowledged as an individual. This will get easier as you get to know your students. Using their name in the feedback helps - "Emma, I thought they way you handled this was both valid and original. I particularly liked the way you ....."
• Honest As well as truthful, honest good news clearly distinguishes between fact and judgement. A numerical answer is 'right'; this is a fact. A design was undertaken 'rigorously'; this is an opinion, though hopefully based on clear criteria for 'rigour'. An argument was 'original'; a fact, at any rate relative to your own current knowledge. An argument was 'elegant'; an opinion, or at any rate a judgement. Be clear what the nature of your good news is.

Next, give them bad news - constructively! - and tell them why it is bad and what to do about it They also need to know what they've done wrong, or poorly, or performed in some other way which is inappropriate within the subject. And, immediately and always, they need to know in what respects it was wrong or poor or inappropriate, and they need suggestions on ways in which it could have been correct or better. In primarily numerical or scientific disciplines, where some at least of the answers to some of the questions can be right or wrong, reasons for giving prompt and reasoned feedback on wrong answers include:

• So that the learner won't repeat the specific error;
• So that they can identify the misunderstanding which led to the error;
• So that they can develop a new and correct understanding.

In disciplines where answers are more likely to be considered good or bad rather than primarily right or wrong, reasons for giving this kind of feedback on poor answers include:

• To help them appreciate why their approach or answer was inappropriate;
• To help the learner see the preferred approach;

Bad news needs to be:

• Specific Make it clear to what you are reacting - which word, which idea, which equation, which stylistic feature. Make it clear in what respects the work is wrong, inappropriate, whatever it is.
• Constructive Suggest how the work could have been made accurate, good, conforming to the paradigm of the subject, whatever. Suggest sources of information and guidance. Give them a handle, encouragement, whatever seems right.
• Kind Specific is kind. Constructive is kind. "Poor" scribbled at the bottom is cruel.
• Honest (See above under 'good news')

Finally, end of a high note of encouragement. Round off your feedback with a high note and encouragement. "You really seem to be getting to grips with this", "Your analytic skills are improving steadily", "You're making good use of evidence". Say whatever you can that's encouraging and truthful. There's usually something that meets these two criteria".

Hollywood anyone?

At the recent ECEL conference Paul Newbury and Phil Watten gave a demo of their thoughtful approach to video lecture capture. Here's the abstract of their talk and a link to their lab:http://www.sussex.ac.uk/mtl/home.php

Why Recording Lectures Requires a New Approach 

Paul Newbury, Phil Watten, Patrick Holroyd and Clare Hardman 

University of Sussex, Brighton, UK

It is now commonplace for Universities to record lectures with video cameras. Indeed there are several off-the-shelf systems, which Universities can purchase to provide this type of functionality, e.g. Echo360, Panopto etc. There are also several distribution outlets available, such as iTunesU and YouTube EDU, which Universities can use to distribute this recorded media to students. However, the capture of standard lecture material with these systems can only provide partial support to learning. Material recorded in this way can be engaging for students who attended the original lecture, but has less efficacy for students who are seeing the material for the first time. 

To be truly effective learning mechanisms in their own right, these new recording systems need to address two key issues. Firstly, current lecture material is overwhelmingly designed for the live lecture theatre audience. Consideration is rarely given to how these materials will support learning when viewed as stand-alone learning resources. Secondly, as lecture theatres are rarely designed for video capture, the off-the-shelf recording systems are often severely limited by the environment, equipment and resources available. Lighting and camera position are key considerations that have a big impact on the quality of the captured material, but are generally restricted by the environment required for the live audience. This paper reviews these two key issues and presents both a framework for the production of teaching material targeted at video capture, and the bespoke recording system developed for online learning in the School of Informatics at the University of Sussex. Additionally the paper covers analysis of download rates, qualitative staff and student feedback and lecture attendance and shows that using this framework has a significant effect on the student interaction with recorded material. Other types of online support such as providing copies of lecture slides are also discussed and a tangible improvement in engagement over these techniques is shown.

Smartphones in the classroom?

 

A story in the Argus has started a debate about the use of smartphones in education. Here's what their readers, a notoriously grumpy bunch, think about smartphones as educational tools. I'm seeing more students using their phones as instant information points as well as notebooks and cameras, and I'm sure they'd appreciate being asked to integrate their phones even more actively into the lecture theatre.

Anyway - still time to add your vote: Argus Smartphone Poll