Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Increasing student success through effective literacy and numeracy support





Abstract: "The success of students is of central concern for tertiary institutions globally and in New Zealand. When learners are unable to meet the literacy and numeracy demands of their programmes, they struggle to achieve the learning outcomes necessary to graduate, and tend not to reach full potential in their community.
To improve the quality of teaching and learning at Unitec NZ, staff is beginning to employ an integrated approach to teaching courses, thereby assisting students with literacy and numeracy challenges. Professional development is essential to engage staff in the process of refocussing and revisioning the experience offered to learners.

The Centre for Teaching and Learning Innovation (CTLI) is working closely with staff to design and provide contextualised workshops in direct response to needs identified by each school for their specific learners. This paper describes one such initiative for Automotive Engineering staff, where a range of literacy and numeracy related tools were showcased in two collaborative and interactive workshops. Eleven literacy and numeracy support tools, sourced from a variety of places, were chosen to exemplify best practice. The presenters will give an overview of the workshops and the thinking/theory behind them (including the iterative cycle of evaluation and improvement of the workshops in response to participant feedback). A demonstration of key workstations with the associated handouts / interactive tasks will be available for trial by conference participants who will also be asked to evaluate each tool/workstation in a feedback form."

Please cite as: Please cite as: Owen, H, & Schwenger, B. (2008). Student Success; Increasing student success through effective literacy and numeracy support. Paper presented at the EIT Teaching and Learning Conference, 2008, Hawke's Bay, New Zealand.


SlideShare Link

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Noel on Blogging

This week I went to watch a presentation by Noel ((a third year BDesign student), who was talking about his blog and the experiences he had had using it. After chatting with us for a few minutes, and mentioning how nervous he was he proceeded to confidently showcase his blog to a lecture theatre with about 30 first year students in it. It was superb - he covered how, with Vox, different levels of security could be assigned to each post, how feedback from peers and lecturers was rapid and could be done anywhere, and how each step of a project could be shown in his blog. He also mentioned more in depth discussions, group work, summaries, and even demonstrated how he could take a picture with his mobile phone and upload it there and then. The only downside was the time that blogging took if it was to be done well - but maybe when offset against more traditional ways of project-building, it might not be such a great investment in time, it just seems that way as it is done nearly every day. This is an awesome resource for folk who are trying to persuade faculty why blogs are a good way to go. Many thanks to Noel (and to Thom Cochrane for posting the footage :-)



Friday, September 19, 2008

Introducing Hazel Owen, CTLI, Unitec New Zealand

This is a short video that introduces Hazel Owen, her current role as an academic advisor (education technology consultant) at the Centre for Teaching and Learning Innovation, Untiec NZ, and a little bit about her background.

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Programme design for learning



This video features a paper entitled "Programme design that puts the 'me' back into learning experiences and spaces" that was presented by Hazel Owen. It was give virtually at the DEANZ 2008 conference "My Place, My Space, My Learning" - Distance and Virtual Education Sunday 17th August - Wednesday 20th August, 2008 Te Papa Tongarewa, Museum of New Zealand, Wellington (http://www.deanz.org.nz/conf2008).

The abstract: "A key objective of tertiary education is to foster fundamental shifts in learners understanding of what learning and thinking comprises, and the role they perform. Learning theorists stress the requirement that students are involved in process-based, experiential activities. The design of curricula and courses must therefore encourage engagement with tasks, peers, teachers and the community. This paper outlines a forty-week Computer, Research Skills and Projects (CRSP) course developed for Foundation students at Dubai Mens College (DMC) using a blended learning approach underpinned by socio-cultural principles and an Activity Theory (AT) framework, and reports briefly on the associated research study."

Please cite appropriately :-) - thanks.

Monday, September 15, 2008

M-Learning: Learning on the go

This is a short presentation on m-learning for Perth's BarCamp. Sue Waters illustrates the differences in how VET and Universities use m-learning in Australia.
From: dswaters, 2 years ago

m-Learning: Learning on the go
View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: sue tafe)

SlideShare Link

Friday, September 12, 2008

Collaborating by Design


This is a 'virtual' paper presentation that I gave at EFest 2008 conference in September and it is in video format with a copy of the Elluminate session question and answer session that followed.

The abstract: "The potential of information, communication technology enhanced learning and teaching (ICTELT) is under-utilised even though numerous process models and frameworks are available. Barriers to using many existing models include resource expectations, experience, skills requirements and ownership of a project.

This paper outlines a process model and framework, adapted from earlier examples, developed to help answer the question Where do I start? for practitioners who are unfamiliar with adapting education resources to make effective use of ICTELT. Employing a scaffolded approach appropriate for working in small teams, or as individuals, the guiding questions form the foundation for collaborative discussion of design choices, ICT tool selection, and the incorporation of a range of pedagogical approaches with a variety of tools. The model and framework can be used with new and/or existing programmes, modules, units, sessions, or learning objects, but initially practitioners are encouraged to trial the process on a small scale.

Practical application of the tools is demonstrated by working through an example that was the basis of a research project at Dubai Mens College. The model and framework have not yet been piloted in NZ, and this EFest session offers a collaborative, hands-on opportunity for participants to experiment and evaluate them."

Please cite as:
Owen, H. (2008, September 8-10). Collaborating by Design. Paper presented at the eFest 2008 - Connected Learning Conference, Auckland, NZ.

The value of using CALL with tertiary students studying ESL: Attitudes and implications


An article that looks into the efficacy of using ICT with ESL learners at Unitec New Zealand.

Please cite as: Owen, H. (2003). The value of using CALL with tertiary students studying ESL: Attitudes and implications. In B. Morrison, C. Green & G. Motteram (Eds.), Directions in CALL: Experience, experiments and evaluation (pp. 33-50). Hong Kong: The English Language Centre, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University.


Article: Socio-cultural theory Interpretive framework for Computer Assisted Language Learning


Here is an article that you may find interesting if you are working with ESL or EFL students.

Please cite as: Owen, H. (2005). Sociocultural theory: An interpretative framework for computer assisted language learning? In J.-B. Son & S. O'Neill (Eds.), Enhancing learning and teaching: Pedagogy, technology and language (pp. 195-214). Flaxton, Australia: Post Pressed.