Suggestions+for+next+year

Feel free to use this space to record observations, suggestions and any comments etc for ways to improve the course. Let's try to do this as we go.

Images

What else needs to be added for a two-year course?

=Timetabling=
 * We'll organise our own from the get-go
 * Lecture to precede tutes early in the week
 * Nothing scheduled for Mondays or Fridays (public hols suck)

=Tech admin=
 * Consolidate Twitter feeds
 * What can we do better re site map, site structure?
 * A day of tech workshops for setting up blogs etc. would be really helpful in O Week.

=Students=
 * Perhaps an 'intro' day where we run parallel sessions for each unit, i.e., 'this is how this unit works' + general tech orientation
 * Skills workshops in tech skills -- how to remediate poor skill levels before students start?
 * How can we get our website address out to students earlier/students who are not yet enrolled or who have not yet been accepted?!! Currently all works on student numbers, which assumes enrolment :(
 * Managing/clarifiying/better communicating expectations
 * Did we raise too many anxieties around the tech with The Big Talk by Meg? Could we have better 'normalised' this or explained the rationale better (digital preparedness). But how does this relate to our need for risk management?
 * Managing student expectations better -- especially expectations around being always available and around answering questions individually for which answers have been posted elsewhere.

=Prac=

From Jo'D:

"I've just had a quick look through the Grad Dip survey results. They show that some of the respondents are spending more time on the course than others, and some are doing more of the reading and engaging more with the ICT opportunties than others, and also that some respondents are getting relatively more out of the course. Yet your individual returns will show that for some there is a mismatch between effort and a sense of progress.

A number of respondents commented on the value of their observation days, that it gave them a sense of things they'd learned falling into place. Yet those of us commencing at part-timers in 2011 cannot do any observation this semester. I agree with the requirement that units 6703 and 6704 should be done first. (I also note that, contrary to this requirement, some students in these courses have already done some prac teaching, though this may have been under some RPL type concession.)

However, in future years could part-timers who are not doing ELPC and STS units still be given a chance to have some observation days all the same? This would allow all the students in the semester/term to have that real world experience, and give the commencing part-timers a chance to get a little closer and see if it is really the kind of work that they think they would like to do and feel that they could do well. If they paired up with an ELPC/STS student for the obs days, this would also minimise the red tape burden on the school."

=Assessment=
 * To manage anxieties, should we grade on a P/F basis as opposed to F - HD?
 * Making 'options'

=Induction info for students=
 * Induction session beforehand -- PE
 * More online induction
 * Two 'computer' workshops for students: basic web skills + getting your blog set up
 * Making it clear that there is a good deal of online work

From a student: 1. After accepting offer, first thing to do is to find out which courses to be enrolled in. For this, attend course advice session during orientation week at [room] on [date].

2. Online enrollment process can be done from home or by visiting building 1.

3. After enrolling in courses, need to select tutorial sessions. Ideally would explain process of entering preferences, the system then allocating tutorials, and the process for changing tutorials after allocations. Should note there is a deadline set by the university for entering preferences. Ideally give deadline, but at least should point students to read the timetabling section under enrollments in MyUC for all this information. Should note that it is not a cause for worry if the deadline has passed. The system closes for the allocation but tutorials can still be selected after it has re-opened in a day.

4. National police check has to be completed before visiting schools. Link to forms etc. Professional experience office will NOT help in this. Entirely up to the student. Recommended be done by [date]

5. Need to get badge. For this, go to [which office], pay $10 fee [to whom], get receipt, take receipt to professional experience office. Recommended be done by [date]. (I still haven't been able to find detailed instructions for this online)

6. Useful links, e.g. to University enrollment guide, to course wiki, etc.

=Pruning IT platforms: from a student= Hi Steve,

Will do! Actually, I have a few suggestions about IT use in the course.

(Let me establish my credentials first: I have a Science Communication degree, I worked for a [|science editing and consulting company] for several years, and was responsible for large parts of the content on a [|science news website], ScienceAlert, for a similar period. I'm familiar with Web 2.0 - I use iGoogle to check Gmail, Facebook, and my favourite RSS feeds simultaneously, I'm active on a game development forum, and until last week I was posting ScienceAlert's daily Facebook stories to an audience of almost 150,000 fans, which we used to also relay through Twitter. I'm definitely no technophobe.)

I recognise that the course is intended to make us think about using new IT methods in teaching, but the current information structure is sprawling, and means that information is sometimes duplicated, hard to find, or conflicting with what's written elsewhere.

I've spoken to a few people about this over the last few weeks, and they also felt that the IT solutions used in the course could do with some pruning.

We currently have: Ning, Moodle, Wiki, Twitter, student email, student blogs, and E-Reserve.

I think some of these components could be removed or made easier to access, improving the course. I'm not suggesting that you do any of this right now; just suggesting possible changes for next year. I don't mean to be too critical - the wiki is **fantastic**, especially with adaptive additions like the Weekly and Jason's assessment list. There are just a few aspects of the IT that feel like they grew organically, and might have ended up with six fingers.
 * **Ning** could be replaced by the unit-specific discussion pages of the wiki (or perhaps vice versa - either way, the function is very similar).
 * **Twitter** could be simplified by moving the twitter feed gadget on the wiki to a more prominent location - for example, at the bottom of the Weekly, or on the sidebar if you can find space - so that people see announcements without having to specifically go looking.
 * **Student email** could be made optional by showing everyone how to redirect their student email in the first ELPC tute (this should also help you communicate with students, since a lot of people don't check their student email very often).
 * **Moodle** could be removed from the equation. People were using it to see when assessment is due, but now that's on the wiki anyway. It's still being used to submit work... but not consistently? Some blog posts are listed on it, some aren't; Ed Foundations blog post comments aren't listed even though they are assessable, so we're using email for that anyway. You could perhaps replace this last function of Moodle by getting people to email assessment to you (where they're not comfortable posting it on the blog, or the Wiki discussion pages.)

Cheers, - Arran

=Thoughts from a Grad Dip student on how to introduce/orient the course= What I think I missed most at the beginning of the year was a 20min "this is how the grad dip course is structured and these 8 units will cover... [just a one sentence summary of each]", "these 8 units and two PE placements (run out of the PE Office) will enable us to accredit you to teach with the various teaching federations", "we understand you'll have time taken up by applications and other experiences run by the various Education depts and will make sure to have everything finalised asap on our end", "this is a graduate course, we expect... [eg. you to commit 9hrs per week on each unit and participate in class and online discussions]", "we understand that some of you might not be familar with the technology or some of the methodologies we will use eg. sociology, we will ground you as much as we feasibly can however it is up to you to seek out your peers, or us if you require extra assistance", "there will be 4 main assessment items, each building on the last and these are... [just a one sentence summary] and this is why we have chosen them", "education is a vast area of research, in this course we focus on preparing you for work as a classroom teacher including introducing to all the major theories and how to apply them in a practical setting", "we run this course in the spirit of .... you may like to read these initial articles to get a feel for how we have structured the course as we have", "as you will hopefully become aware during the first part of the course everyone comes from very different backgrounds and experiences, we hope you will learn from each other as much as you are guided by us", "we will ask you for feedback mid term on how you find the course progressing and there will be formal uni feedback at the end of each semester", "welcome to the study of teaching and learning!".

=Excessive word counts for assignments= Do we need to revise our policy about penalties for excessive word lengths. The question of equity.

=A bigger gap between Semester 1 and Winter Term= We struggled in the early weeks of Winter Term, and I've heard a number of students who felt they went into their second prac already pretty exhausted. Is there some way we could start Winter Term a week or two later?