I can't say my first experiences are a real success. I only can take a few steps, and my system crashes ... I will check Wednesday 12/11 with my system administrator in order to see if my system meets the requirements.
Although I couldn't do much, it felt exciting to move around! The first time another avatar started communicating. That felt strange, without any context, she started telling things about what she was doing; That felt like over communicating.
I tried to change the appearance of my avatar, but my system crashes.
I looked at the advised video on Youtube, but was a bit disappointed because it focusses on the potential of graphics of SL. I'm so eager to discover the collaboration, communication and interactivity on SL!
For a newby is seems just so many information!! I can't afford to look at all the links and so on. I will need more time. I still have to find my way on the Muvenation site. Although I feel a bit frustrated, I'm still optimistic!
maandag 10 november 2008
zaterdag 8 november 2008
MUVEnation - Self-Diagnostic exercise
A. I am your friend. I don’t work in education. You are talking to me about the idea that we all learn from each other, in all kinds of contexts, and that this can often be richer than more formal classroom based learning. I am sceptical. Tell me about an informal learning experience you have had online in which collaboration was involved, show me a concrete example to help me to see what you mean.
In order to formalise the kwowlegde and experiences of our top teachers, we set up a team of 5 people who had to write together their best practises for different training purposes (e.g. how to cope with demotivated students). We all started writing using a Google docs document. Although each teacher had his/her own list of training purposes to cover with own best practices, very soon, each author started to add, rewrite, .. the input of other authors. The goal of this activity was to document, not to learn, but we all mentioned that by reading and rewriting items from our colleagues, we got new insights in our teaching job.
B. We all explore new technologies, some grab our attention more than others, some seem revolutionary, others simply bore us. Tell us about that new tool, or set of tools, you have just discovered that really excites you, talk about the potential it has to change your work. What do you want to do with it?
I attended a symposium last year and one of the presentations was dedicated to the use of web 2.0 tools for educational use. I felt really excited about it, because it was really concrete. I started to use the following tools at work. I didn't know them before that day.
- Google docs. As I have to work with a large team of language teachers, who are all geographically spread, this is really what I needed. Before use Google docs, we were working through sending documents around by e-mail, and it was really hard to keep up with the different versions of a document. I also centralise all documents there which I want a new trainer to see. That is so much easier. When I was already using Google docs, I discovered that I could also easily create a form, like a questionnaire, and send it around. I now use this form to send evaluation questionnaires after a course. As the answers are stored in a very structured way, it is amazing how I save time in analyzing the results. I use the same questionnaires to get input on the kind of workshops the teachers want me to organise.
- Ning: When the speaker was presenting it, I immediately thought that this was what I needed. I spent only a few hours and I had created on online Academy for my teachers! I really felt excited, because it was fun creating it and it was so nice seeing the result. The members of our academy are teachers. Functionalities are: profile of teachers, fora, groups, blogs, pictures, calendar with events of my company coming up. Setting up the Academy is less challenging than make it live, but the use of it is still a success: (1) teachers know each other better now, because they can discover the profiles of each member of the Academy (2) We set up fora for teachers working together on a particular big project. They can exchange experiences, materials, ... (3) The tool manages the events we organise and keeps track of whom of the members/teachers is going to attend. (4) We store and centralise information on the Academy. Teachers are happy because they have everything there. The information is not "somewhere in their mail" anymore.
- Wiki: We started slowly, but now some teachers use a wiki for a particular course. They share it with their clients. They put relevant materials, links, ... and so on. Our clients, which are professionals, are really happy about it.
C. Do you see yourself as a pioneer? Do you think you are more innovative than others in your organisation? Do you think your organisation is lagging behind? Tell us how you feel about this?
In my organisation I am in charge of innovation and my organisation feels innovation is very important. I think that we are quite innovative in our sector, which is language education, given the fact that we are a private, commercial (small) company. Universities are always further than we are. Time is an issue in our context. I can't afford to spend much time on activities which are not generating revenue to my company. That being said, we are convinced that all new tools can enable us to save time, to work in a more efficient way. The sales team is dreaming of a new USP (unique selling proposition) and will encourage innovation. As a person, I like changes, and I'm always eager to learn. I really get excited when I use new things on the internet. In that sense, I can say I'm different from my colleagues, who will not try new things spontaneously. When I see the possibilities of web 2.0 and when I see that 95% of the language programmes are still working with paper materials, I would say that yes, we have and we want to play the role of pioneer....
In order to formalise the kwowlegde and experiences of our top teachers, we set up a team of 5 people who had to write together their best practises for different training purposes (e.g. how to cope with demotivated students). We all started writing using a Google docs document. Although each teacher had his/her own list of training purposes to cover with own best practices, very soon, each author started to add, rewrite, .. the input of other authors. The goal of this activity was to document, not to learn, but we all mentioned that by reading and rewriting items from our colleagues, we got new insights in our teaching job.
B. We all explore new technologies, some grab our attention more than others, some seem revolutionary, others simply bore us. Tell us about that new tool, or set of tools, you have just discovered that really excites you, talk about the potential it has to change your work. What do you want to do with it?
I attended a symposium last year and one of the presentations was dedicated to the use of web 2.0 tools for educational use. I felt really excited about it, because it was really concrete. I started to use the following tools at work. I didn't know them before that day.
- Google docs. As I have to work with a large team of language teachers, who are all geographically spread, this is really what I needed. Before use Google docs, we were working through sending documents around by e-mail, and it was really hard to keep up with the different versions of a document. I also centralise all documents there which I want a new trainer to see. That is so much easier. When I was already using Google docs, I discovered that I could also easily create a form, like a questionnaire, and send it around. I now use this form to send evaluation questionnaires after a course. As the answers are stored in a very structured way, it is amazing how I save time in analyzing the results. I use the same questionnaires to get input on the kind of workshops the teachers want me to organise.
- Ning: When the speaker was presenting it, I immediately thought that this was what I needed. I spent only a few hours and I had created on online Academy for my teachers! I really felt excited, because it was fun creating it and it was so nice seeing the result. The members of our academy are teachers. Functionalities are: profile of teachers, fora, groups, blogs, pictures, calendar with events of my company coming up. Setting up the Academy is less challenging than make it live, but the use of it is still a success: (1) teachers know each other better now, because they can discover the profiles of each member of the Academy (2) We set up fora for teachers working together on a particular big project. They can exchange experiences, materials, ... (3) The tool manages the events we organise and keeps track of whom of the members/teachers is going to attend. (4) We store and centralise information on the Academy. Teachers are happy because they have everything there. The information is not "somewhere in their mail" anymore.
- Wiki: We started slowly, but now some teachers use a wiki for a particular course. They share it with their clients. They put relevant materials, links, ... and so on. Our clients, which are professionals, are really happy about it.
C. Do you see yourself as a pioneer? Do you think you are more innovative than others in your organisation? Do you think your organisation is lagging behind? Tell us how you feel about this?
In my organisation I am in charge of innovation and my organisation feels innovation is very important. I think that we are quite innovative in our sector, which is language education, given the fact that we are a private, commercial (small) company. Universities are always further than we are. Time is an issue in our context. I can't afford to spend much time on activities which are not generating revenue to my company. That being said, we are convinced that all new tools can enable us to save time, to work in a more efficient way. The sales team is dreaming of a new USP (unique selling proposition) and will encourage innovation. As a person, I like changes, and I'm always eager to learn. I really get excited when I use new things on the internet. In that sense, I can say I'm different from my colleagues, who will not try new things spontaneously. When I see the possibilities of web 2.0 and when I see that 95% of the language programmes are still working with paper materials, I would say that yes, we have and we want to play the role of pioneer....
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