A very interesting Echo360 ‘community conference’ was held at UCL yesterday. There was a strong UCL presence  including ViTAL webinar star Carl Gombrich, talking about flipping.

Echo360 outlined their technical roadmap, including better editing and social learning features, quizzes and so on. All very exciting but some saw a potential overlap/confusion with the VLE.

I also did a presentation on behalf of the ViTAL/REC:all projects reviewing how our pedagogical ideas of using video had developed over the years and gave a snapshot of how far we had got with the REC:all project.

The slides are below.

We have had UCL Moodle linked to Google Analytics for the past three or so years, the data this allows us to see about Moodle usage and browsing habits is getting increasingly interesting. The concept of looking into data for measuring learning is obviously bonkers, no amount of pure data of browsing behaviour of Moodle will give indication about any actual learning taking place. Observe a classroom or people on the bus, you can see how many people are there and what they’re doing, but you won’t know what they’re thinking, what connections are being made etc. But, do not despair, there is a reason for this post – albeit it’s a bit dry and technical…

What Google Analytics does is give us an anonymous view into what happens when someone comes onto Moodle. For example, you do this:

1. Browse to the Moodle homepage
2. Login
3. View a course
4. Send a forum message
5. Log out

Data Trail

You’ve just left a data trail behind you about your computer (not you). This trail isn’t used for snooping on you personally, it’s anonymous, it also isn’t used for snooping at all. What it does, and I hope you believe me, is leave data tracks telling us something useful. For example, let’s look at the above and break it down.

You and your browser

Google analytics can find this information out:

• Web browser (Internet Explorer 9)
• Operating system (Windows 7)
• Device-ish (only really useful for mobile devices like smartphones)
• Rough location (London, UK)
• Internet Provider (University College London)
• IP Address (your computers’ address to the internet)
• Web software capabilities (Flash, Java, Javascript)
• Some other stuff (passport, NI number, date of birth, name – all not included!!!)

Don’t be scared about this, none of the data can be used to identify you. As a side note: if you’re worried about UCL Moodle collecting this data, remember that for other sites (such as the big ones outside of UCL which you may use daily) your data is their product, and you give them nearly everything about you, this data is only about your computer, but let’s not go down that route, this is about learning…

Other data collected

Google’s Analytics also collects data about your pages you view; so for example each page you load is marked as a ‘view’ on that page. Pages with higher numbers of views are clearly more popular, for whatever reason. Then there’s unique views, one person viewing a page ten times means one thing, ten people viewing the page once each means something else. Adding to this there are other metrics, such as time on page, page exits (if they leave the page, can we see where they go) and eventually building pathways through a site.

So, what’s my point?

What Google reports is really hard to read into but there’s a few changes to Moodle code (really small changes) which makes this data far more useful. Over the coming year I hope we can make these changes, and next year, report back on what the data says about Moodle usage. We want to know what’s popular (read: working) and what isn’t (read: not?).

Informative and technical links:

• http://basbrands.nl/2012/04/18/google-analytics-with-moodle/
• http://www.somerandomthoughts.com/blog/2012/04/18/ireland-uk-moodlemoot-analytics-to-the-front/

Perhaps mostly useful for the technically inclined, but it’s what we work with to make Moodle more useful for you.

More soon!

Kindle with keyboard

So I thought I’d give  some feedback to my colleague today on a document he is preparing and although it’s a little different it still gave me a good idea about how practical it would be to marking assignments on a Kindle.

Many people don’t like to read long documents online (me included) and I also don’t like wasting paper by printing everything out, so this seemed like a nice alternative. I should mention I was using the Kindle with Keyboard – although when it arrives I would like to try this again using the Kindle Touch. I find the Keyboard on the Kindle a bit clunky and slow to type with. I also miss the ease of navigating by touch that I get on my smart phone.

Ok, so here’s what I did…

First of all I had to adjust my Amazon Kindle settings to allow documents to be forwarded from my UCL email account. See this sending personal documents to Kindle help article. Alternatively, you can transfer files from a computer using a USB cable.

It took me a while to find the document on the Kindle, but once I’d located it I started to read and add my comments.

To add feedback to the document I highlighted the word or sentence and typed either a comment or the wording I would prefer to see.

I was then planning to transfer the file back to the PC using a USB and send it back to my colleague with the notes attached, expecting that he would be able to read them using the Kindle for PC software that is freely available. Unfortunately this functionality doesn’t seem to be available yet, so my only option is to hand the device over for him to read directly or ask him to view it on his smart device (Android and iPhone are currently supported, as well as iPads).

If the Kindle software can sort out sending the document and its notes back to the PC for review I think this system would definitely be a good way to mark student assignments. It would suit those who are comfortable with new technologies, but don’t want to sit in front of a computer marking assignments for hours.

Benefits:

• High contrasting text doesn’t strain my eyes like a computer does
• Easy to read in sunlight (yes, it happened to be sunny so I tried it outside)
• Easy to send documents via email to the device (using username@kindle.com)
• Using Send to Kindle for PC I can easily send one or more documents to the Kindle from my Windows computer (a Mac version is coming soon). Once installed the software lets me right click on the document’s name in Windows Explorer and send it to my Kindle or smartphone
• I can mark anywhere without requiring Internet access and send the document back when I am re-connected
• My typed comments are legible to others

Disadvantages:

• Adding feedback is slower than hand-writing or typing on a standard keyboard, which might limit the amount of feedback provided (I’m hoping this is faster on the Kindle Touch)
• Words can’t be crossed out or inserted, you can only add notes to highlighted pieces of text
• Limited options for the author to read the feedback after its been provided – Kindle, iPad and smartphones only
• How to manage large numbers of assignments would require consideration – bulk downloading them from a VLE and syncing them to the device would work, but how would they be delivered back to each student?

Another feature I noticed today was the dictionary automatically pops up a definition when I point the cursor alongside a word. This could be useful for learning languages and for students studying with English as a second language. I’ll write separately on this at a later stage.

Picture sourced from: http://www.flickr.com/photos/wjlonien/6031032246/in/set-72157625188064373

How has file management changed in Moodle 2?

• You only upload files as you need to link to them.
• You must choose a license every time you upload a document.
• A copy is made every time you link to a file.
• This means you can’t currently link to one file from more than one place.
  Note: The ability to link to the same file from more than one place is in development.
• You can not view files outside of the linking to a file / folder / image areas.
  I.e. there is no ‘files’ link in the Administration block.
• The files in Moodle 2 are more secure.

Why has this changed?

Moodle is not a file repository. Only files being used in your course are retained in Moodle 2. Files not being used will be automatically removed, unless they have migrated over from the existing UCL Moodle – in this case they will be available in the Legacy course files area in the Administration block.

“But I like the old Moodle file manager!”

There is a workaround – speak to the LTSS if you would like to know how to continue to share your old files amongst staff or follow these instructions:

1. Go to the Legacy course files area in the Administration block and [Download all files].
2. Create a hidden staff only area in the last topic of your course homepage – click the eye so it is closed and everything inside the topic will be hidden from students – be careful all course editors know never to make this area unhidden area, otherwise students will be able to see the files.
3. Add a folder to this area (you can hide this too to make doubly sure students can’t see it)
4. Upload the zipped folder (must be smaller than 160MB) and unzip.
5. Delete the zip file.
6. You can now share files between staff in a similar way to before.

Electronic voting systems are a curious thing, first they run under many guises (EVS, PRS, clickers, doofers, voting pads – to name a few), they show strong signs of increasing engagement for learning and they are successful all over the college. They’re often well below the radar and often spread within departments harmoniously between technology evangelists, rather than just a central supporting team. Sometimes they even bust out of our little campus and make it to some faraway lands. One of these places is Cheltenham and the Science Festival which is held each year. Last night, the clickers were being used by FameLab over at the Royal Institution.

Usually used for promoting and engaging student learning this time they were used for an audience vote. There were ten scientists who presented their research/idea/area of interest and at the end of the evening the audience cast their vote, using the clickers, and the winner was Andrew Steele.

FameLab contestants all lined up

Why this matters

First of all it’s a real logistical pain having to drag 380 handsets across London. These things are small, credit-card sized devices. A single one is OK but once you start carrying two hundred+ they become a burden. We already know this but by remaining active users of the technology ourselves, we can ensure that people who use them across UCL will get the best method possible for having hundreds of these things for a large session – as this is when they can be most useful. To help address this we’re looking at more permanent installations actually within the Lecture Theatres – and we shall be releasing more information on this over the coming months.

Carrying 380 handsets - not ideal & could be better!

Secondly it’s another user-case challenge. You can usually use up to 1000 clickers with one laptop, usually enough, and it’s all radio frequency and the only problem we’ve had before is two rooms interfering with one another. We found that the environment rarely gets in the way, but last night it did. Upon testing the Lecture Theatre at the Royal Institution had a huge black spot in the middle. Luckily we tested the voting and moved the laptop into a position where everyone could vote and the results could be read.

Lastly, we had an open vote. This meant that people could vote at any time throughout the evening. If another talker swayed them, they could always change their mind – a standard feature of the clickers. But this meant running a laptop for hours with an open vote – and we’ve never tried this before. Further experimentation could have made this even more exciting, for example there’s a ‘point to point’ option in the voting which allows a heart-rate monitor style open question and it can show the results of the buttons at set intervals. If, for example, teams were up against one another and the audience could continually vote, this would have provided some interesting longitudinal results. Maybe next time?

So the reason why FameLab matters, isn’t necessarily that it’s good outreach (Cheltenham Science Festival has an established relationship with UCL) but that it provides yet another testing environment for creative uses of the voting and this will come back around into the teaching and learning for the institution.

Armed with my intrigue for exploring new ways to learn and absolutely no real knowledge on Circuits and Electronics I signed up for MIT’s 6.002x open, public, free course – which started last week. This blog post aims to break down my discoveries of what I learnt so far on this course, and what the experience may lend for UCL’s more open learning initiatives.

Background

Eight years ago I created an online free open educational resource for learning about electronic circuits. The only difference is my course was powered by myself and a University friend building content in Flash and this one is powered by MIT’s soon-to-be open source package for open learning. The other, nearly insurmountable point to note was that mine was for 8-10 year olds studying Key Stage two little scientists and this one is for very real and slightly bigger scientists and engineers.

Starting out

Looking at the homepage of this course I can’t help but feel excited. It’s a clear and crisp platform specifically made for me to get into this course. I can read about the course outline and get to know the teachers more.

Before you log in is a shop-window into the course

Logged in

Now that I’m logged in I am taken to the default Course overview page. This shows me important information about the course such as notices and announcements. There’s some links to a few areas, but really I want to get into the learning and explore this online learning environment.

Logged into the course

Courseware – the resources and materials

The courseware section contains a weekly view into the learning materials offered in this course. Each week contains a series of video lectures which are mostly annotated slides. This feels very different to a recording of a traditional lecture, it feels like someone has specifically made these for this module and gone to some effort in putting it together. Anyone would struggle to just watch videos and feel like their learning but videos are a big component when teaching is delivered online, especially in self-paced areas such as this courseware part. MIT have implemented a couple of tricks to enhance this experience, which is shown in the image below.

The main courseware area - broken down by weeks

Video playback is important, and MIT have all their lectures/recordings hosted on YouTube. In addition, they have overlaid extra video controls on top of the video which allow me to change the playback speed. Studies show that humans can listen (and understand) at a much faster speed than the spoken word, for example you’ll generally read quicker than you talk. For this reason the playback speed controls are fantastic, as they permit a 30 minute video to be played in 15. Realistically this isn’t how it may pan out, being a total novice I paused the videos a lot, went back and tried to understand what was being said. When it was clear I could carry on in 2x speed. On top of the speed controls were closed captions on the side of the video. These highlighted as they were spoken on the video – very helpful when trying to make a note, or attempt a problem.

Course Textbook

Perhaps more popular in American Universities, but still used across educational institutions is the textbook which the course can often follow. For 6.002x the textbook is a part of the system. It’s really just an embedded PDF. Sadly it doesn’t fit well in the screen and I think just downloading it would be easier. I didn’t explore it much, I think we’ve all seen PDFs before and know their strengths and limitations.

The course textbook

Discussion

On a more interesting angle is the discussion area of the course. Taking the StakeOverflow or Yahoo Answers approach; questions can be asked and then a series of votes and responses from other learners highlights their validity and visibility in this area. There are a lot of students on this course (thousands) and they’ll all have questions. Managing this requires some level of intelligent system, helping to sift the useful from the less so. Questions can also be tagged and there’s a lot of user-customisation here to help the sifting of questions which are of a level you’re not interested in.

The Discussion part contains a space to post, tag, rate and answer questions

Example question

The example below shows a question which has a discussion building on it. This level of engagement for students should (in theory) help the teacher out, as common questions can often be answered by fellow students who know the answer. With enough students moderation can often be self-sustaining, but sometimes a teacher may want to drop in and give a more directed response. Adding to this, peer’s instructing themselves via guided, or totally free, discussion can help the learning process. Students talking in their own language to one another has shown to help generate the understanding of concepts or the building of knowledge – independent of other learning resources or activities.

A sample discussion within the course

 Wiki

This course started with a few wiki sections already set up and a strong encouragement for students to create any new pages they liked. As this is a wiki it also encourages anyone to come and edit existing pages. With all changes saved and marked against the learner it helps ensure that pages generally improve in quality throughout their duration, rather than turning into useless resources. The simple idea of building on initial concepts can clearly be useful for learners as they progress through from understanding concepts to building on their knowledge, learning new things and using their existing knowledge to leverage themselves into new areas.

The Wiki area of the course

As this is an electronic and circuits course, it also comes with a wiki-style circuit builder. This was useful for testing out concepts that I clearly had no understanding of! I have no doubt that the circuit below could kill me or do nothing, if it were real.

The wiki tool comes with a wiki-esk circuit builder

Profile and personalisation

Lastly, on our technical run-down, is the profile space, which encourages you to make the course feel like you are really in it (bar moving to USA, or the internet…)

The really neat part of the profile is it details the progress of the student through the course. This seems like such an obvious option, but seeing map of your learning, even if it’s just the content you have looked at or interacted with, can be really helpful, especially for me as I have no understanding of the materials.

The profile space - personalise the area and view your progress

Summary

It’s week two, I haven’t spent enough time in the course to have learnt much but it’s still very exciting (for me anyway). I have previously taken online courses from other institutions only to find the result is a batch of iTunes U videos. Alongside some really innovative ideas of opening up education there still seems to be a real lack of understanding in how people actually learn. I don’t think YouTube Edu, for example, offers much pedagogy independently. Both services, do of course, offer excellent resources for a teacher, or group of learners to reuse and build upon. The Khan Academy is a good step forward as it’s clearer, shorter videos are more instructional and visually more compelling. What seems missing, however, is the interaction with other learners. My impression of 6.002x so far is that it’s really trying to mix the learning material with the learners themselves. The discussions being a very strong part of this course, even though I’d not said a word, yet.

In the future

In a way, this is all heavily Moodle related. By seeing this open course I’ve found another platform which seems to clearly help deliver learning. MIT have stated the platform will be released as Open Source (like Moodle) – this is encouraging as it’ll mean teachers, learners and educational technologists will all have this to play with, remix, adapt and that is always a positive step forwards. What’s coming in the future we don’t yet know, but this is encouraging to see. What’s coming to UCL we still are yet to find out, but the trend is that education is opening up, not closing down.