This presentation reflects a shifting online pedagogy for assisting students to critically reflect on their Obstetrics practical experiences.

1. Emerging Technologies to Improve
Teaching and Learning
in Higher Education
April / May 2013
Veronica Mitchell
M Phil (HES), B Sc (Physio)
Veronica.Mitchell@uct.ac.za
Education Development Unit
Faculty of Health Sciences
University of Cape Town (UCT)
South Africa

2. Overview
• How did I go about exploring what I needed to do?
• How did I design and develop my learning activity?
• How did I formatively evaluate my prototype learning
activity?
An educational shift in Obstetrics

3. Emerging Technologies
tools, technologies, innovations
and advancements utilized
in diverse educational settings
to serve varied education-related purposes
George Veletsianos 2010:3
http://www.aupress.ca/books/120177/ebook/01_Veletsianos_2010-Emerging_Technologies_in_Distance_Education.pdf
“

4. http://www.aupress.ca/books/120177/ebook/01_Veletsianos_2010-Emerging_Technologies_in_Distance_Education.pdf

5. www.tagxedo.com
Unpacking traditional practices
Looking beyond the
classroom

6. http://www.open.ac.uk/personalpages/
mike.sharples/Reports/Innovating_Pedag
ogy_report_July_2012.pdf
http://www.nmc.org/pdf/2013-
horizon-higher-ed-preview.pdf

7. Confronting
Emerging Technologies
Disruptive / Constructive

8. Photo by SJCckell http://www.flickr.com/photos/sjcockell/3251147920/
Collaboration
as main theme
Our networked society

9. Awareness
We are beginning to see developments in online
learning that offer different affordances than
physical campuses, including opportunities for
increased collaboration while equipping
students with stronger digital skills
NMC 2013 Horizon Report (2012:4)

10. Context

11. Choices
Image: David Castillo Dominici / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
3d Man With Multiple Arrow Paths"vv

12. Possible tools
to enable students to share
Icons by
http://dryicons.com
Social media
Websites
Blogs
Wikis
Google Drive

13. Educational development
Established practice
On Vula
UCT’s Learning Management System (LMS)
1. Six Step Spiral for Critical Reflexivity
2. Compliments & Complaints reporting tool

14. Vula

15. On Vula & published on UCT OpenContent
http://opencontent.uct.ac.za/Health-Sciences/Probing-Professionalism-Towards-Positive-Practice
Six Step Spiral for Critical Reflexivity (SSS4CR)
Thanks to Dr Kevin Williams, Prof Athol Kent, Nariman Laattoe, Dr Simone Honikman, Sarah Crawford-Browne

16. Vula Students’ posts on Forum threads

17. Compliments & Complaints

18. New design
Google Drive

19. Individual => Critical partners => Group
• Intro session
– Demonstrate using a student example
– Students write their comments in subgroups
• During the practical block
– Individual and partner contributions
– Facilitator support and feedback
• End of block
– Expert input
– Share with colleagues in department and beyond

20. Individual => Critical partners => Group
• Intro session
– Demonstrate using a student example
– Students write their comments in subgroups
• During the practical block
– Individual and partner contributions
– Facilitator support and feedback
• End of block
– Expert input
– Share with colleagues in department and beyond

21. Folder created

22. A student example
Using the SSS4CR

23. Google form
Expresso
theme

24. Google Drive folder

25. Action
E-mail to Head of Department on 11th May 2013
Perhaps we could try a Google document for
listing the students’ experiences. I’m not sure if
you already use Google docs or not. It offers a
number of affordances in the cloud such as
sharing with students, staff and perhaps outside
experts, and a space for comments and feedback
next to the text. One chooses who to offer access
to the document. It can facilitate a collaborative
approach. It will also illuminate how the critical
friend / partnership dialogue is happening that
I’ve recently introduced. I’m keen to try the latter
aspect with the next student block.

26. Affordances
“An affordance is the action potential of a technology”
Siemens (2009:21)
Examples of affordances of Googe Drive include:
View-ability Use-ability
Record-ability Inclusiv-ability
Permission-ability Search-ability
Share-ability App-ability
Synch-ability Mobil-ability
Bower 2008:7

27. • Feedback
• Learning from others
• Student participation
• Colleagues comments
• The insights shared or not shared
• Departmental engagement
Evaluation
From students, facilitator & colleagues

28. Self reflection
http://www.flickr.com/photos/hikingartist/7165990596/sizes/m/in/photostream/ CC.BY-ND

29. My blog
http://medededu.blogspot.com/

30. What next?
Stacey Stent illustration 2010
http://opencontent.uct.ac.za/Centre-for-Higher-Education-Development/Studying-at-University-A-guide-for-first-year-students
Implementation of G Docs
Buy-in
Feedback, Evaluations
Monitoring
Expert input
Assessment opportunities
Course Convenors
Task structure
Meaningfulness
Rather than strategic learning

31. • Resistance to reflection
• Reflections are private
• Google Drive
– Getting connected
– Developing groups
– Using it effectively
• Assessment opportunities through
negotiation with course convenors
Challenges

32. Can hierarchy & sharing co-exist ?
http://opensource.com/business/10/8/can-hierarchy-and-sharing-co-exist

33. Thank you

34. References
Bower, M. 2008. Affordance analysis – matching learning tasks with learning technologies.
Educational Media International. 45:1:3–15.
Veletsianos, G. (ed.) 2010. Emerging Technologies in Distance Education, (online book).
Edmonton: AU Press. Available:
http://www.aupress.ca/books/120177/ebook/99Z_Veletsianos_2010-
Emerging_Technologies_in_Distance_Education.pdf Accessed 20 May 2013.
New Media Consortium. 2012. Horizon Report. 2013. Available:
http://www.nmc.org/pdf/2013-horizon-higher-ed-preview.pdf Accessed May 18, 2013.
Siemens, G. 2005. Connectivism: A learning theory for the digital age. International Journal
of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning, 2:1. Available
http://www.itdl.org/Journal/Jan_05/article01.htm Accessed 20 May 2013.