Moodle Man session reflection

The Moodle Man, Julian Ridden is with us for a week and I was fortunate to attend one of his sessions. Here are some key points from his session:

• Pedagogy of offline  and online courses remain the same - only the delivery method has changed
• Moodle has been used as a "repository" in most academic institutions -  content is created with assessment around i - Dump and Run courses
• Breaching standards vs reducing retention

Some learning design approaches for Moodle

• Linear Flow vs Adaptive Flow
• Game based learning = offer Carrots
• Narrative based learning = storytelling
• Trick is finding the "balance"
• Build two courses; one for low bandwidth and the other for high bandwidth
• Engagement is not bells and whistles
• Is there a way of building flexibility into our course design?

Facebook Statistics for Oceania region

Just stumbled upon this in the Pacific Islands Chapter of the Internet Society (PICISOC) email discussion list, reference to facebook statistics for the Oceania region - I was really quite excited to see some stats for Oceania but it probably requires a bit of caution in taking this to heart - a lot of questions remain..

SOE Talanga Series seminar on OERs

Shikha Raturi, Assistant Lecturer at the School of Education (SOE) and fellow OER VAKA working group colleague gave an excellent presentation on OERS today at the FALE Conference Room. Her presentation covered mostly what she learnt from the OER Forum that was held in Bangkok, Thailand in April. She gave some interesting case studies in the Asian region and I was happy to discover a new OER advocate in Dr Ittay Weiss from the Faculty of Science and Technology (FSTE). He should be an excellent addition to the OER VAKA group.
[Add Shikha's presentation link and audio recording here]

Essay Writing with Readings Module repurposing - 2nd meeting

We just concluded our 2nd meeting to work on repurposing the Essay Writing with Readings module that was done for the EDULINK-SideCAP project. The repurposing has a central goal in mind and that is to make it UU114 compliant, incorporating the 15 steps of essay writing that is covered in this course. In attendance were Niseta and Siniva, Student Learning Specialists for FALE and OER VAKA members, Viola Lesi, Education Technologist and OER VAKA member and Bhavna Vithal, UU114 Content Specialist. The content input has been completed and now Viola and I will work on the design aspect of this module. We are meeting next on Wednesday 4th July from 2-4pm in the CFDL meeting room.
[Photos to be inserted]

Getting on with OPEN working group stuff

I am coordinating the working group that is looking to establish an association for E-learning practitioners in the Oceania region known as Oceania Practitioners E-Learning Network (OPEN). Today, I send out a circular to the members to meet next Wednesday, 13th June to meet from 2.30-4.30pm in the Satellite Room to finalise the constitution of this association. We are repurposing the Middle East E-Learning Association (MEEA) constitution which we have sought prior approval for to create the constitution. I am raring to see this project come to fruition and achieve the mission and goals that it will set out for itself for the benefit of the Oceania region.

Learning is Sharing!

I strongly believe in this OER Commons Slogan, " Learning is Sharing" so when one of my collegues came by to ask me about questions that I was asked when I was interviewed for this Instructional Designer position way back in 2007, I just couldn't resist the the urge of doing a google search and this is what I found at:

http://myportfolio2009.wordpress.com/2009/12/12/instructional-design-interview-questions/

OLPC Project Meeting

Today at 10am, I attended the OLPC Meeting at the invitation of the School of Education (SOE) which was held at the newly established E-Learning Resources Centre for teacher students. The meeting was chaired by the Acting Head of School of Education (SOE), Dr Salanieta Bakalevu and was attending by some of the lecturers in the BEd Primary Programme namely; Lice Taufaga, Dr Govinda Lingam, Dr Mesaka Dakuidreketi, Rosiana Lagi, Shikha Raturi to name a few. I gave a brief presentation on the Khan Academy as a potential resource to use together with the OLPC together with Acting Senior Instructional Designer, Rokosiga Morrison. The Dean of the Faculty of Arts, Law and Education (FALE) also attended to express her support to the project and the importance of ensuring its success. The first training session for the use of OLPC XO computers is scheduled next week, Tuesday 12th June and will be conducted  by Ian Thomson, the OLPC Consultant for USP.

Yesterday, was our Course Design and Development (CDD) Operations Meeting at the ICT Centre Conference Room from 10am-12pm. The following agenda items that I had to report on were as follows:

• STAR Working Groups - specifically on the presentation Anare and I had to do for the School of Geography, Earth Science and the Environment (SGESE) from the Faculty of Science and Technology (FSTE)
• VAKA OER@USP Working Group
• Oceania Practitioners E-Learning Network (OPEN)
• Workshops and Training updates/Professional Development Activities

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VPS PTFA Committee Meeting

This might be considered an out of place blog entry, after all this is a work diary. However, in line with the Staff Review requirements of Community Engagement activities carried out, I thought that it was indeed appropriate to include this. And also, it aligns appropriately with the USP 2010-2012 Strategic Plan, Priority Area 4 - Regional and Community Engagement and Internationalisation. Since the beginning of the year, I have been involved in the Vatuwaqa Primary School Parents, Teachers and Friends Association (VPS PTFA) Interim committee as a secretary. My two girls attend this school which is just a 3 minute walk away from USP, up the road. This school has existed since the 1920s and have been the first school of choice for many USP students from the USP region outside of Fiji given its proximity to Laucala Campus. It has a very colourful student population profile with students coming from the 12 members countries of USP in addition to PNG. As I have mentioned, the committee is in interim form for the reason that the PTA have been quite inactive for the past two years and volunteers were sought from the parents and guardians to sit on the committee until an AGM is held. Getting the PTA to the AGM has been quite difficult given the complexity of getting all the financial records in order. One of the key considerations here for this complexity is the staff turnover specifically with regard to the Head Teacher's position which has created a level of instability in the running of the school. A meeting was held today from 5.30-8pm to discuss further the matters of the school and the next meeting is to commence next Tuesday 12th June to look specifically at the school corporate plan and draft school policies that are currently being worked on by the teachers. My work here has not only benefited me as a parent but also in my work with the School of Education.

Moodle 2 manual - work lingers on....

Came into the office today to finalise a few things with the Moodle 2 manual and also sent out a circular to the Moodle 2 Manual development team on a few important pointers regarding this. Our absolute deadline as per indicated in the email is Monday 4th June.
Attach email here