ALERT e-portfolio problem June 28, 2005
Posted by Andy Roberts in : learning , add a commentThe following needs to be shouted from the rooftops in order to avoid losing students’ work and mistakenly marking incomplete assessment products, which by all accounts has already happend.
“All folders you create in your File Cabinet are ‘ghost’ folders - they don’t really exist. Folders are for you to help you organise your work. If you upload documents with the same name, the latter upload will replace the older.”
[..]
“As I said above, folders are not real items; use different names for your documents otherwise your older work will be overwritten by the newer upload.”
The implications of this may not have sunk in to everybody at Ultraversity yet.
Say you create a folder and call it MODULE-1
then upload some work into waht you think is MODULE-1/intro
MODULE-1/main and MODULE-1/conclusions
You hand that in to be marked, then start work on module 2.
If you create another folder called ACTION_ENQUIRY-1 and then upload a file into it called “intro” it will overwrite the file called “intro” which you thought was all safely tucked away in MODULE-1. You may well not notice this. The person marking your work might not even notice, and you get back a coversheet which says “This work is good in parts, but doesn’t hang together very well”.
Pretty serious, huh? Or maybe the explanation from technical support is all wrong, in which case somebody will let me know and I’ll delete this entry.
World map June 24, 2005
Posted by Andy Roberts in : internet , 2commentsHelping to test some new social software produces a world map.
The blue is where I’ve been and the orange is where I’d like to go according to what I’ve tagged so far. Some of the orange has overwritten blue though, because I’ve been to Queensland but I’d like to go to Tasmania.
update:
The site is now live, and open to anybody to help build - if interested just make your way over to 43places.com. Seeya.
Contacts June 23, 2005
Posted by Andy Roberts in : internet , add a comment
Cause and effect June 22, 2005
Posted by Andy Roberts in : theory, Action Research , add a commentEric Benson’s stream of consciousness on his blog today:
“The biggest lesson I’ve learned lately is to not learn from experience. Learning is for suckers. Learning from experience is (more often than not) like being a pigeon and learning that spinning in circles will help make the pellets come from the dispenser. Our brains are hard-wired to tie effects to causes (not the other way around) but this only works as a brute force survival method. Other parts of our brains, I think, are much better at judging each individual thing individually, and deciding with a less crude system what to do. This involves some learning from experience, but it’s never of the “I learned to never” or “I learned to always” variety that usually tries to take over our personalities. I think part of the way that I came to learn this was due to my many years at Amazon testing small changes on the website in parallel to see which small change was superior… and slowly coming to the realization that small changes, though they can have big impacts, don’t matter.”
I picked up on this because it bears just a little bit of resemblance to something I was trying to get to grips with in the ILM2 assignment I just handed in:
I also managed to clarify to some extent the problem of drawing conclusions from research, about cause and effect. One case study by itself cannot establish a relationship between actions and subsequent observations - ‘Change this and that happens’ unless further cases can establish a convincing trend, or else the underlying mechanism which links the two in that order can be identified and shown to be happening in the process somehow. It sounds obvious, but from my experience it’s a common pitfall and I feel this is something which Action Researchers in particular need to be wary of.
hypertext as literacy June 22, 2005
Posted by Andy Roberts in : learning , add a commentI’ve been enjoying Will’s Weblogg-ed a lot recently, and today he speculates about connectivist assessment products:
The other interesting idea in the Open Source show was when Weinberger talked about how even our conception of a document has to change, how for hundreds of years we’ve thought of a report or a story as a container of information. But now, with hypertext, a document’s value comes not so much from what it holds but from where it points out of itself to others. I think the reality is that we’re going to have to start teaching students to give research back to us in a web-ified form, complete with links. In five years when we’ve moved beyond paper, hypertext writing (read “blogging”) is going to be a basic literacy. The final mile will be to publish all of that writing in a public blog/portfolio space. Then we’ll be cranking…
Cause and effect June 22, 2005
Posted by Andy Roberts in : Memetics , add a commentEric Benson’s stream of consciousness on his blog today:
“The biggest lesson I’ve learned lately is to not learn from experience. Learning is for suckers. Learning from experience is (more often than not) like being a pigeon and learning that spinning in circles will help make the pellets come from the dispenser. Our brains are hard-wired to tie effects to causes (not the other way around) but this only works as a brute force survival method. Other parts of our brains, I think, are much better at judging each individual thing individually, and deciding with a less crude system what to do. This involves some learning from experience, but it’s never of the “I learned to never” or “I learned to always” variety that usually tries to take over our personalities. I think part of the way that I came to learn this was due to my many years at Amazon testing small changes on the website in parallel to see which small change was superior… and slowly coming to the realization that small changes, though they can have big impacts, don’t matter.”
I picked up on this because it bears just a little bit of resemblance to something I was trying to get to grips with in the ILM2 assignment I just handed in:
I also managed to clarify to some extent the problem of drawing conclusions from research, about cause and effect. One case study by itself cannot establish a relationship between actions and subsequent observations - ‘Change this and that happens’ unless further cases can establish a convincing trend, or else the underlying mechanism which links the two in that order can be identified and shown to be happening in the process somehow. It sounds obvious, but from my experience it’s a common pitfall and I feel this is something which Action Researchers in particular need to be wary of.
Real World Research June 17, 2005
Posted by Andy Roberts in : learning , 3commentsThis is the book recommended by one Learning Facilitator for Year 3 of the Ultraversity Learning, Research and Technology degree.
It’s called Real World Research by Colin Robson, and you can buy it from Amazon below - they’ve reduced the price to £14.99 now, which is just as well:
School Blogging June 17, 2005
Posted by Andy Roberts in : learning , 2commentsWeblogs are starting to make an appearance in the classroom already, in a limited way. I’ve set up a travel log for one teacher which will be followed and commented on by class 4 children this afternoon, and earlier in the week I used a blog with year 3 children as an introduction to e-communication. That was just a quick method for setting up a many-to-many forum really, not a true blog, but the ideas are creeping in, and the teachers are beginning to appreciate the potential of the new internet.
Here are my notes, copied straight out of my Peanut Butter Wiki.
This afternoon’s year 3 lessons will be particularly interesting to me - I’ve set up a discussion blog for them, as an introduction to the email unit.
So it’ll be the first time that a blog has been incorporated into the formal teaching here - a taste of things to come. I’ll try to observe well and take notes.
What happened:
For the first lesson, the children came in and went straight to the computers. They had already been shown how to navigate to the blog and post a comment using the whiteboard in their classroom. They started off well and didn’t need much technical help. My notes say:
T1 pointed out no need to write “my name is”
some children wanted to jump up and and look at each others computers - they were told off.
They asked how to spell words a lot.
We explained how to have a conversation by mentioning somebody’s name and asking a question.
behaviour and attention (focus) was very good - all on task.
Use of refresh button explained, to read the new comments.
A comment appeared from t2 not in the room, so I went to see if they were using the whiteboard in the classroom - they were following the comments there.
By the end of the lesson there were 114 comments. I asked 1 child ‘how does this compare with Word Processing” answer “wicked”.
—-
I decided to set up a new entry for the second class to comment on, so they can start afresh or join in the prevous class discussion.
2nd class arrived and sat on carpet.
t2 talked about communications, about email, about the advantage of being able to connect to anybody in the world. Then a demo.
Children needed more support to get started
one complained about the writing in the input box “it’s too small”
The 2 teachers interacted from between the two rooms and had fun.
behaviour in this lesson was a bit chaotic, excitement , moving about the room but T2 is ok with that.
by the end of the lesson there were 79 comments posted and 16 additions to the other classes thread.
—what else do I remember?
Thinking ‘this would be good for afterschool literacy club”
asking children what they thought of it - answers - ‘good!”
No behaviour/discipline problems, while the teachers are enjoying themselves.
No problems with the blog host coping with rapid fire commenting, or with people generally understanding the system. No problems with unsuitable language etc either so far, just a slight niggle with having to switch away from registered users comments to ‘other’ in order to simply type in a name and post.
Andrew Roberts June 16, 2005
Posted by Andy Roberts in : General , add a commentAndrew Roberts is about to become one of British Television’s top historians, according to the Telegraph.
There’s also a new book out:
Hitler and Churchill: Secrets of Leadership
( We share the same name but not necessarily the same politics )
I received an email from the writer a while back, after he discovered the Andy Roberts FAQ
"I'm the historian you mention on your website. I just wanted to say that I thought it's a hugely amusing & well put together site. Best wishes, AndrewAfrica, Poverty and Renewable Energy June 16, 2005
Posted by Andy Roberts in : General , 2commentsAn unpublished letter to the Independent by Geoff Morris of OHV.
June 2005
Dear Sir,
I wish to congratulate Messrs Blair and Brown on achieving the debt relief for some of the world’s poorest countries. I am interested in their agenda for the G8 conference later this summer. I have some proposals which link the twin objectives of helping Africa out of poverty and the use of renwable energy.A recent Radio 4 Farming programme from Africa highlighted the plight of Kenyan sugar farmers, who were protesting against EU policies. EU surplus sugar is being dumped on the Kenyan market, putting the sugar factory out of business.
It seems ludicrous, that at a time when Messrs Blair and Brown are trying to raise people out of poverty in Africa, the EU is putting poor farmers into penury. Their erstwhile colleague, Mr. Mandelson, the EU’s Trade Commissioner, has apparently promised to phase out the export subsidy in the next 5 years but only if the USA and Japan do likewise. This EU policy has already been declared illegal by the World Trade Organization.
The present state of affairs means that we are paying to transfer some groups of African farmers from self sufficiency into aid dependency. We are paying to give them aid, except that the aid has not yet reached the people for whom it is intended. Why are we creating the very problem we are trying to solve?
The irony of the situation is that by fermenting and distilling the sugar we can produce ethanol, a biofuel, which can be used in petrol to reduce our use of fossil fuels. A scheme has just started in Herefordshire to ferment and distill surplus cider apples for a proposed power station in Ledbury. A reduction in Duty and/or VAT on this biofuel could see it used widely in the UK. We could be looking at a twin-track solution to help achieve both the Government’s targets on the use of renewable fuel and allowing African farmers access to their own markets.
Even President Bush believes there are similar surpluses of vegetable oils word-wide which could be mixed with diesel to make a usable fuel for diesel engines. Similar tax breaks should be available for bio-diesel.
By altering our own and the EU’s policies we could, not only make a dent in the aid crisis in Africa by removing part of the need for the aid in the first place, but also make a significant contribution to meeting the Government’s own targets on the use of renewable energy.
Mr. Blair and Mr. Brown are spending a lot of time removing the speck from other leaders’ eyes. Isn’t it about time they examined their own and the EU’s policies?
R G Morris
is an online professional who initiated DARnet 
