Active... lectures and other things...

Michelle Blackburn

m.blackburn@shu.ac.uk

Non-traditional academic route

20 years HR consultancy

Less than 5 years an academic

My ‘confession...’

Me

So why technology?

Image source: http://www.festivalchocolate.co.uk/2013/02/new-for-the-chocolate-festival-this-easter/warm-chocolate-cake-2/

Necessary Evil

My battle against ‘evil’

Power imbalance (see French & Raven 1968)

• Reward Power• Coercive Power• Legitimate Power• Expert Power• Referent Power

Image source: http://www.tnooz.com/article/hold-that-thought-about-big-data-in-travel-what-about-little-data/

Who lives in my ‘Gotham City’?

‘Adults’ who are learning about ‘business’, they are:

• managing more debt than I have ever had to– except the mortgage of course!

• in employment and have ideas from their own lived experience• more knowledgeable about their home countries and culture than I am• used to ‘direct feedback’ at school and being open with their learning

experience– Did you watch Educating Yorkshire?

• going to be speaking about their personal development needs to

others in their future careers

But does the University experience embrace this?

• Co-construction of learning

So what are my ‘secret weapons’?

www.socrative.comSites.google.com

Sony IC recorder icd-px312ipad

Socrative – why?

• immediate input/feedback from the students, so students can

co-create the learning experience.

• check understanding and knowledge, and then focus on areas

of development.

• responses can be saved to spreadsheets, which make useful

research and feedback data.

• allows less confident students to contribute in large group

settings

• great for guest speaker Q & A

• narrative replies are possible – something which isn’t

recommended with Turning Point technology

Logging into the interactive software – get your mobile phones / tablets out

Link to the Wifi• Log on to the internet• Go to settings and then wifi and choose SHU-USS• Click 'accept' button• Enter your university login and password

If linked to the Wifi• Go online and type in: m.socrative.com/student• Room number: michshu• Click on join room

Apps Stores (Apple and Android)• Download Socrative• Select: student• Room number: michshu• Click on join room

Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat etc. are you...

a) an addict - who can't leave it alone?

b) growing out of it?

c) able to take it or leave it?

d) witty - and like to be known for good banter online?

e) a purposeful user - someone who uses them as tools rather an entertainment?

“I want to give you feedback that on the lecture about CVs when you used the App called SOCRATIVE i really enjoyed that and recoment it to be used regular in lectures for a lot of modules. ”

Musawar

FEEDBACK

Business simulation- using IT to support a complex

case study

HS Engineeringdeveloped by TEL expert

Our

Insp

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Photo by Leo Reynolds – Creative Commons Attribution Licence http://www.flickr.com/photos/lwr/

Twice the work - write it down

and then record it

Editing

I'm not very good at shutting

up

Our students seem happy enough with what we produce

It'll take ages

Getting it to the

students will be

nightmare

What about the external?

What if I swear?

I don't do technology

What about our international

students

• Start all recordings with the student's name and number• Makes renaming file prior to upload much easier

• Say hello• Encourage students to have their work in front of them while they listen• Be authentic

• We've found out that when you don't sound like the classroom you - it becomes a challenging experience for the students

• Try not to become telling off parent• Remember there is a pause button – use it!• Read the script, make some brief annotation marks on useful examples to

feedback on and then give your feedback• Do not record the grade in your audio file - instead capture it on the

marking sheet and upload that - this helps with the moderation process as you can change grading simply on the sheet but to edit it out of a recording would be very time consuming.

• Aim for around 5 minutes maximum

What about recording dissertation conversations with International

students?

"Thank you for the audio feedback.  It was very good of you to spend such time on providing such extensive feedback“

“Thank you for the feedback. I appreciate the time that goes into providing audio feedback, however I have found it much more helpful than a bit of writing that we usually get from other tutors.  I shall take it all on board for the future and thank you for going to the effort of providing it." - this from a student who achieved a bare pass.

"That is the best feedback I have had in 2 years of studying at Hallam.  There is nothing worse than working your backside off for months writing an essay only for it to receive a good or bad grade and it not be explained why.  Audio is definitely the way forward…"

"I just wanted to give you some feedback about the audio you provided for my assignment! Although it felt slightly strange hearing a disembodied voice (!) I found it very informative and think it was much more detailed and useful that receiving a few written lines. You raised things which I hadn't previously considered which I can use to improve my future assignments!"

"…wanted to thank you on a personal level for the feedback I have received.  It was very informative and much more constructive to hear how my work could have been improved and points for going forward – this is the most detailed feedback I have ever received and I have taken so much more from it."

Welcome to our STAR graduate celebration and development centre!As you know you've been selected from amongst our cohort of graduate entry students (that joined us two years ago) as having possible potential for our STARS OF THE FUTURE talent development programme.

.....

You need to consider the following:• University cabling etc can sometimes be problematic so you need to choose

software and an approach that will enable you to access your presentation via the internet.

• That the paper based resources should act as the starting point of your consideration and investigation - not the end

• That SHUtastic are really proud of their brand and CSR activities and so want you to have an impact that will ensure that the students watching will remember this presentation!

We would like you to consider the following when you develop your presentation:

• The content of your presentation is the most important part - plan your content before you begin playing with the technology  

• Less is definitely more - minimal content on screen, means that there is more focus on you and the debate

• Minimise your animations - simple, consistent animation will display your message more effectively

• Vary the delivery - some slides will need to be text, some can be displayed better as images/ diagrams - think about how you can vary the experience for the audience

• Bullet points are easy to drop in - think outside the box of other ways you can list / display information 

To help you achieve this we have provided the following technology for your team:• tablet computer(s)• 2 x ipod touches• Some initial desk research.

To help you think about appropriate technology you might like to consider the following (however the choice is entirely yours as long as you can access your presentation via the Internet):

Prezi Haiku Deck Google Docs Keynote Padlet

“All the students were engaged in the activity (I have a significant number of Chinese students in the class and although I needed to spend a little more time explaining it to them, they grasped it and got on with it.)

What I was particularly impressed by, was how it engaged even those students (I have one in mind) who if not managed carefully has the potential to be disruptive. This student actually took a lead in discussions and the presentation. So in that sense it worked very well. Having technology to play with seems to have made a huge difference.” 

Feedback from a fearful seminar tutor...

I’m not a super hero but...

• “Feel the fear and do it anyway” – but remember you have to deal with everyone

else’s fear too!

• Be honest with the students where you’re having early attempts – they can be

incredibly supportive (particularly in low risk situations)

• Talk to your technology experts – that’s what they’re paid for and are often thrilled to

do!

• Unless you want to end up supporting distance learning, you need to create an

engaging learning experience for today’s learners...

• Yes it does take extra effort to get it up and running...

• Don’t see technology as separating you from the student but see it as bringing you

closer together...

• Consider the pedagogy: Graham Gibbs – issue with novelty in assessment –

where do the student get the opportunity to practice and improve

• How might this impact on your practice?

Support resources

• Andrew Middleton: active lecture tips -

– https://blogs.shu.ac.uk/engagement/toolkit/practical-guides/

• Using a business simulation to develop internationally-

minded UK/China-based accounting students: a case study

– http://repository.leedsmet.ac.uk/main/view_record.php?identifier=5002&SearchGroup=research

• Audio feedback paper:

– http://www.academia.edu/3628055/Designing_audio_feedback_for_students_with_different_and_defined_educational_backgrounds_and_experiences