Category: Learning
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Constructive alignment workshop
Constructive alignment workshop – Dr. James Garraway I attended a workshop this morning looking at constructive alignment, with the view to relating it to the work I’ll be doing on my PhD next year. The second of my objectives is to do an analysis of our undergraduate curriculum and then do a Delphi study evaluating…
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Aligning curriculum with assessment
Our department is gearing up for it’s annual planning meeting, where we review the physiotherapy course from the past year and plan for the next one. This is also the year that our newly formed Directorate of Teaching and Learning has developed an institutional teaching and learning policy, with a strategic implementation plan over the…
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Students’ languages and their associations
Our Directorate of Teaching and Learning has organised a series of seminars over the next few months, with invited speakers from a variety of institutions across the country. They’ll be presenting on a range of topics, including academic literacy, integrating technology into teaching, working with large classes, teaching practices, and educational theory. I’ll also be…
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The child is made of one hundred – a poem by Loris Malaguzzi
This is a poem I came across by the founder of the Reggio Emilia approach to education, Loris Malaguzzi. The child is made of one hundred.The child has a hundred languagesa hundred handsa hundred thoughtsa hundred ways of thinkingof playing, of speaking.A hundred, always a hundredways of listeningof marvelingof lovinga hundred joys for singingand understandinga…
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Notes on podcast from Stephen Downes
I thought I’d make some notes while listening to this podcast interview from Stephen Downes., where he talks about personal learning environments, problems with e-learning and open vs. closed educational content. ———————————— Mentions Plearn as part of the opening discussion and bio. What is a PLE? Compares LMS to PLE. LMS is based around the…
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Different views of learning resources
I was just going through this presentation on personal learning from Stephen Downes (2008), and wanted to highlight the point he makes about 3 different approaches to viewing learning resources: As a thing – books, videos, presentations i.e. a content object As an event – lectures, workshops, seminars, meetings As flow – user generated content,…
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What is Connectivism?
It is the idea that… Knowledge is networked and distributed The experience of learning is one of forming your own neural, conceptual and external networks Learning occurs in complex, chaotic and shifting spaces And that it is increasingly aided by technology Siemens (2008), via Connectivism – Personal Learning Networks for 21st Century Teachers
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Developing clinical reasoning and critical thinking
“Clinical reasoning is a process in which the therapist, interacting with the patient and significant others (e.g. family and other health-care team members), structures meaning, goals and health management strategies based on clinical data, client choices and professional judgment and knowledge (Higgs & Jones, 2000). Clinical reasoning is difficult, if not impossible to “teach” (if…
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The role of feedback in medical education
This reflection on the role of feedback in education is based on a mailing list discussion as part of the SAFRI programme, as well as on a few of the assigned readings. I thank the organisers of the session, as well as all the participants in the conversation. Guidelines for effective feedback The assigned readings…
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Technology in the classroom: can we make it work?
I’ve been trying to think how to use technology to enhance both my teaching and my students’ learning and it’s proving more difficult than I’d initially thought. I like to think that laptops and internet access in every classroom give students real-time access to related content while they engage in meaningful discussion, but this will…
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Continuing professional development (CPD)
It’s our responsibility as healthcare professionals to keep up to date with our professional development in terms of maintaining clinical skills, improving knowledge and many other aspects of our practice. Unfortunately, due to host of problems, it’s often difficult to stay current and to accumulate the required number of points. One option is to sign…
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e-Learning is not an option
A few weeks ago I posted a quote by David Warlick who suggested that e-learning is not an optional approach to education and in fact has little to do with good teaching (Digital kids / Analogue schools). He points out that it’s merely a tool that’ll be used with varying degrees of success, which will…
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Teaching and learning workshop outcomes
Two weeks ago I attended a teaching and learning workshop on campus that was pretty interesting. I just received an email from the coordinator highlighting the following key points that were raised: For me, the main benefit of attending the workshop was finding out just how many resources are available to the students.
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The “Hole in the wall” project
In 1999, Sugata Mitra and his colleagues dug a hole in the wall bordering an urban slum in New Delhi, installed an Internet-connected PC, and left it there (with a hidden camera filming the area). What they saw was kids from the slum playing around with the computer and in the process learning how to…
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Digital kids / Analogue schools
www.scottmcleod.net/storage/digitalkids.pdf Recently I came across a collection of quotes on the website of Scott McLeod, an Associate Professor in the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies at Iowa State University. It mostly consists of quotes by David Warlick but also has a few from other blogs. Here are a few that I enjoyed: I…
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Knol: a unit of knowledge
http://knol.google.com/k/knol and Wikipedia article on Knol Knol, described as “a unit of knowledge” by the project’s creators, is a new initiative by Google that allows anyone to write an article, called a “knol”, about any topic. It’s a bit like Wikipedia in that respect but is limited to discrete articles with no links between them.…
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Expanding the e-learning curriculum: oral presentation from SAAHE
In this oral presentation at the SAAHE conference, Dr. J. Dempers of the Division of Forensic Medicine at the University of Stellenbosch discusses the use of digital video to enhance the e-learning curriculum already in place in the Forensic Pathology Department. Currently, the department makes use of Blackboard to manage all course content besides testing,…