After going through one of the modules, we quickly realised that in order to really understand the relationships between modules, we’d need to look at them in 2 different ways:

• Horizontally – how do concepts in different “groups” relate to each other in the same year of study? E.g. what are students learning in anatomy and how does that relate to their applied subjects?
• Vertically – how do concepts in the same “groups” relate to each other over time? E.g. how does what students learn in PHT203 relate to what they learn in PHT303?
• It’s hard to visualise how these different “tracks” relate to each other. I’m thinking that a concept mapping tool (e.g. Cmap, Xmind) would be the best way to do it.

We’ve split the curriculum into “groups” of related modules e.g. Movement Science (human movement and movement disorders), Applied physiotherapy (clinical theory), Clinical practice (application of theory). Staff members were then assigned to groups to look at the following over the next few weeks:

• Curriculum alignment. We’ll need to make sure that our learning outcomes are aligned with content, and assessment
• Practical assessment. We’re looking at moving to our practical assessments to an OSCE-type format
• Integration of teaching and learning practices in alignment with university policy
• Determine how we’re going to integrate the institutional graduate attributes (scholarship, lifelong learning, etc.) into our modules and teaching practice

During the meeting we noted other issues that arose. We realised that we have no naming convention for our digital files, which means they all have different names. I’d like to see a convention adopted during this process e.g. module code-description-version-increment. I also think we should consider having a Notes section at the end of each module descriptor, where we can document minor editorial corrections that happen during the year, as opposed to creating a new version for major changes and archiving the old one.

I’ll be sitting in on each group to document the process we’re going through. Part of my PhD will be how I track the changes that are happening in the department, both as a result of my own work, but also as we fall in line with institutional changes in teaching and learning. I don’t see this becoming part of my publications, but will rather form bridging documents that establish relationships between research objectives. I’ll need to evaluate the process of the project, and these meetings will form an important part of the process. I’m starting to realise that the curriculum we had when this project began will be quite different from the one that exists when it ends.

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This group is by far the most technologically sophisticated group I’ve run the workshop to date. As we were setting up their profile pages, some of the students were logging into their Facebook accounts to pull in those photos to add to our social network. Most of what I was explaining wasn’t new, and even for those who have no experience with any other social networks, they caught on pretty quickly.

I learned that at least one of them enjoys photography, and not only enjoys it but shares his fantastic pictures on Tumblr. I would probably never have learned that about him if it wasn’t for this little experiment of mine. I think that that’s one of the enormous benefits of social networks…that we might actually engage with students in ways that would never come up in class. I mean, how many times do we ask students what their hobbies are? And even if we do, and they choose to mention it, will it ever match up to being able to see it? After exploring some of the photos from this student, I came across one of his short posts, which is one of the most inspiring things I’ve read in a while.

It was quite exciting for me not to have to listen to any moaning when I introduced this assignment. I also haven’t read anything negative about either the assignment or the network, which is refreshing. I did have one student report that the “workshop sucked”, although he hasn’t yet responded to my request for any suggestions for improvement. We still have issues with some of them not having computer or internet access at home, but I think that being on campus for at least a short while during the week is enough time to participate.

I have one more workshop to do with the first year students, which I’m hoping to finish sometime next week. Then it’s just a case of waiting for the assignments to finish running, survey the students to determine their experiences using the network, and finally to analyse their activity to see if there was any reflection / community building going on. I’m going to actively facilitate this group, as opposed to the relatively passive stance that other lecturers took when their assignments were running. I’m interested in seeing if this group has a better experience with active facilitation, as opposed to just being left to their own devices.

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@PaulaBarAsh Great to meet up with you at #saahe Hope we can arrange to do some cross-institutional work with students. Keep in touch in reply to PaulaBarAsh #

RT @rvidal: Android apps on the way! We will be seeing some cool stuff show up soon using the Mendeley Open API! #

RT @mendeley_com: People already developing Android Apps against our API; we’re also looking to hire iOS/Android developers! Awesomeness in reply to mendeley_com #

Mendeley: 1st iPhone app available. Gr8, research going mobile, but no mention of Android version = sadness http://tinyurl.com/2wxq42g #

@carlcrisostomo thank you in reply to carlcrisostomo #

@cristinacost Never mind to previous question, I see that #ECE11 is in July, might just be possible in reply to cristinacost #

@cristinacost not sure if I can fit in #ECE though will have to keep checking dates, funding, time available, etc in reply to cristinacost #

@weblearning Thanks for coffee and the chat in reply to weblearning #

Just met the only other tweeter at #SAAHE conference. Hi @paulabarash #

@cristinacost Pearl Jam always makes me remember when my life was less complicated in reply to cristinacost #

@weblearning I’m a lecturer in the physiotherapy department at UWC #

@farrylpurkiss No problem #

#UWC 2nd yr #physio students had their first patient encounters today. Always 1 of my favourite days of the year. All nerves & excitement #

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I’ll post the presentation when it’s done.

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@cristinacost I’ve been going through the interviews and some of the presentations…looks like it was awesome in reply to cristinacost #

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