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I have been experimenting with the blog facility within .mac and a smitten with it's integration with the other apps  on my computer. So  I have moved over to:






 

I recently submitted my third MA submission entitled "An Enquiry in to the promotion of Autonomy in Personalised Learning".
 
The context of this study …
The reason for my enquiry was simply to capture how autonomy (incorporating the key concept of personalisation) can be promoted online. The findings from this study may begin to inform the consideration of how, if at all, online higher education providers, and particularly the Ultraversity Project can improve provision to promote autonomy, if this is desirable.
 
For me personally this research grew out of seeds set last year with Gina and Ian Terrell in a focus on personalized learning. Ian very kindly fed my imagination with a food parcel of books. 
 
The research questions were:
 
i.  What are the strategies used in online higher education to promote the development of autonomous learning?

ii. How effective are these strategies?

ii. What strategies may be further developed to promote the advancement of autonomous learning in online higher education?

So what was learnt?
A full description of the autonomy promoting conditions existent within Ultraversity was formulated using
 
PRACTITIONER REFLECTION + RESEARCHER DISCUSSION + CASE STUDY
 
The triangulation was totally necessary as it threw up factors which were important to researchers (though not recognised in literature or by practitioner LF's) in helping them become autonomous. It also showed that autonomy was not always a desirable quality and should be accepted with a level of caution.
 
The determinants* of autonomy included :
Community/peer learning & dialogue
Peer review          
Team teaching/facilitation
Reflection on learning    
Negotiated learning activities
Self-evaluation   
Evaluation of performance (though supported by tutor feedback)
 
* the investigation focused only on external factors and did not attempt to investigate cognitive and psychological intrinsic factors.
 
In addition it was found through case study that judgements about the effectiveness of the provision's for autonomised learning were intensely personal, fragile and fluid. A researcher (student) may engage in a journey towards achieving autonomy wherein certain points may be more or less positive, and that points within the journey may result in a negative experience. To make for a positive experience provision is important along with an explicit understanding of the value of autonomy.  There appear to be  levels of autonomy : Degrees of sociability and independence are key governing factors upon these levels.
 

 The cloud appreciation society
This site has some awesome pictures from nature, as a cloud spotter and geographer this is a particularly interesting site. The site explains "The clouds are Nature’s poetry – sometimes spoken in a whisper, sometimes roared with all her might" - what an amazing thought. I particularly like the cloud of the month (July 05!) feature!
My four year old studying weather said clouds are like a blanket which keeps the land warm, if there are no clouds it's colder. What a cute explanation.

today.

 Christmas has been fab but as usual never long eough. Some Christmas pictures here

Christmas has included lots of Star Wars, a broken Mondeo (boo), a broken mobile as of yesterday and being well looked after by family & friends, in fact we hardly had to buy food the last two weeks - result!

Last night we rounded of the holiday by seeing two friends ...

Paul I did not know was so scarily like me!  We are both Klutz's - full of daily disasters - he is by self admission a cross between Victor Meldrew & Frank Spencer!  So amused were we by Paul's daily catalogue of disasters he's decided to share his disasters and  set up a Frank Meldrew Klutz blog.

Paul is also a self confessed OCD case, the thinking pure 'O' version. When he started describing his symptoms - where you think about something obsessively even though it's uncomfortable, a well worn path in your head, it becomes habitual. Like a compulsion without and action.  Paul is a very intellegent sort, his job is analysis it was amazing to hear his stories. Maybe we all have a bit of this in us.

Paul is my longstaning chilhood friend's other half - who is a Libra like most of my good  friends (though I'm not in to star signs). Paul's birthday is three days before mine. We are both highly strung compulsive thinkers and surround ourselves by Librians. Of course we also ghave a Klutz connection. I have in fact found my twin brother! :-)

Looking forwards to your blog Paul...

The coolest Christmas link courtesy of Leonie - Make Santa do whatever you say!

Word limits are set to provide a level playing field amongst students/researchers. Someone submitting 6000 words would have a clear potential advantage over someone submiting 4000. That is not to say that the quality of the work is necessarily better. Longer reports often use more words to say what a smaller report says. In my experience it is not so that longer accounts are more tightly packed, but are looser, padded and conversational.More is not better.

Given that word counts are often difficult to judge when the media varieties in submissions are rich I have not really concerned with wordcounts before. It is important though to maintain a reasonable level of parity when words dominate the modscape!

Being honest there is a self interest here too, marking 20 X 6000 words is significantly more difficult than 20 X 4000 words. The simple Maths of it means that it would be desirable for limits to be adhered to, to some extent at least.

Of all these reasons, the most important issue is the quality issue, concise writing is tighter and appears sharper, more engaging.

So how to become less wordy ... my observations ....

1. Always ask ... does this paragraph/phrase contribute to answering the question or task. If not consider it unnecessary.

2. Plan your account. Sitting down to type can produce (IMHO) more wordy accounts than accounts which use planning techniques. Work out what you have to say. Make a list using imaginary subheadings for your report. Think about how many words can be allocated to each area or idea. Only then is it time to sit and type.For me this gets rid of the feeling, how will I write so much, which is often where the need for padding out a piece originates.

3. When looking for resources there is no need unless in a special case to describe how you found the resources within the scope of your report. Remember it is the literature and theory that is important, less so how you obtained it.

• For example - "I looked in journals and also did an internet search where I found awebsite that helped me to understand more about Smith (2000) who said ...."

• All of this may be simply ... "Smith (2000) said .... "

4. Paraphrase key ideas, rather than having chunks of text cited from other works, simply pinch the point! Summarise what he or she says that is of relevance to you, this may often be more direct for your purpose than taking long quotes which were not custom made for your needs and may distract your readers attention.

5. Use tables, pictures, diagrams etc. Often a well thought out table or chart can convey ideas  more clearly especially when you are trying to compare ideas and show relationships between concepts.

6. When seeking peer review, if you are wordy, say so in your pre-amble so peers have a specific issue to report back on.

7. Use other media.

8. Try to avoid conversational styles (unless you are presenting as a dialogue or journal style piece).



You may also like to look at some sites of writing tighter ...
A wordiness list (funny to look at all the phrases we unnecessarily use!)
A Powerpoint on academic writing - raises some interesting issues including wordiness.

Reading Shirley's blog as I sometimes do I was reminded of the joys of Internet radio.

Work remotely & tune in to your office area online!

Hear what they hear! How very cool! Perhaps remote working would benefit from office radio - with broadcasts from the coffee machine.

 

We do already have video views though ... As Ultranauts round on Chelmsford for the December face 2 face ... spot them with the Lab's webcams.

There's no escape ....

My road in the snow last week. Snow is fab! It's the right sort of weather for this time of year!

 

My house in the snow too!

 

My Independent Learning Module for my MA is based around Autonomous Learning, specifically it is looking at how autonomous learning may be promoted in an online environment and how effective online strategies are at promoting autonomy.

According to the QAA (2005) one of the consequences of Higher Education’s emphasis on autonomous learners is the emergence of new strategies to promote autonomy, including distance learning and the use of electronic materials. The combination of optimum online conditions for autonomous learning though is far from established. Studies considering HE courses which are delivered fully (without face to face interactions) online were not found. Moreover when autonomy was considered in online learning it was often as part of a broader study and was not a subject in its own right, evidence on autonomy seeming then incidental to a wider investigation. Some initial indications of how autonomy may be facilitated online may be drawn.

The fully online nature of the Ultraversity degree is coupled with principles of collaborative community learning, and prominence is given to individuality and negotiated learning, independent learning planning, peer review, reflective study modules, action research projects, staffing by experienced personal learning facilitators and the multi media approaches to learning and assessment.
Ultraversity then draws upon a range of methods of delivery and engagement which are not new or necessarily unique, but they are unique in combination and in the scale of success

My research questions then are:
i. What are the strategies used in online higher education to promote the development of autonomous learning?
ii. How effective are these strategies?
iii. What strategies may be further developed to promote the advancement of autonomous learning in online higher education?

The first step in answering the research questions was to undertake some reconnaissance observations; that is looking at what strategies are provided to promote the development of autonomous learning. This reconnaissance was completed by observing provision the of resources - the provisional findings of this first part may be seen here.

Sprout soup - for sprout lovers

225g/8oz Brussels sprouts, trimmed and sliced knob of butter 1⁄2 chicken stock cube 290ml/1⁄2 pint boiling water 150ml/1⁄4 pint double cream salt and freshly ground black pepper

1. Cook the Brussels sprouts in a knob of butter for two minutes, stirring occasionally.
2. Crumble in the chicken stock cube and add the boiling water.
3. Bring the liquid to the boil, then reduce the heat to allow the stock to simmer for 10 minutes.
4. Carefully pour the soup into a blender and blend for a minute or two.
5. Return the soup to the pan and place back on the heat.
6. Stir through the cream and season with salt and pepper.
7. Serve when the soup has reheated.

Alex's variation (with no cream).... don't weigh or measure anything
Onion or two – chop and sweat in butter till soft
A stick of celery chopped up with onion
Chop up a load of spouts – sweat them too
Add veg stock (marigold bullion) to cover
Black pepper
Squeeze of lemon - 1tbs
1/2 teaspoon corriander
simmer
wizz it