This is just a summary of the main points from some of the presentations. They were sectioned out into the chapters that will feature in the book that will be published by the NDLR.

Chapter 6 – Student attitudes to a Novel Personalised Learning system teaching medical interview communication skills - Dr. Fionn Kelly

·         Communication skills are legendary – for all the wrong words. Direct links between communication skill scores and likelihood of being sued.
  ·         Informing, comforting, help patients, help families at some of the most stressful times in their lives.
  ·         Aren’t educationalists, they are clinicians. Methodical checklist, avoid complaint. Better communication skills don’t get them points!
  ·         Teachers Dinosaurs syndrome… I was taught this way. I haven’t been sued! Limited by time and resources.
  ·         Online teaching, high initial time investment. Standardised patient. Sole focus was to get the metholodogy correct, checklist and not the actual communication.
  ·         Empower the user – personalised learning system, adaptive interview, simulated/standardised patient, video + text: allows for non-verbal cues, student chooses path.
  ·         Calgary-cambridge model of medical interview. Assesses student expected v actual performance.
  ·         Assesses communication skills and process..
  ·         Plays in your web browser.
  ·         Select statement/ was it a correct time to select an open statement or a question etc.
  ·         Skill scores throughout the scenario. Graphs.
  ·         Process was poor.
  ·         Attitudes towards ETU were assessed.
  ·         100% felt individualised feedback was ‘useful and relevant’
  ·         92% would like more of my training to be delivered’ via similar personalised learning systems in future.
  ·         They decided to see how badly they could do it as well. They would never walk into someone and do this in the real world.
  ·         Attitudes were very welcome.

Ch7 – Teaching Legal Writing Using the Web: Possibilities and Practicalities (Legalwriting.ie) Dr. Eimear Spain
  ·         Empirical and rigid citation styles, underestimation by students into writing styles.
  ·         Writing as part of the hidden curriculum
  ·         Type 1 learner – not given explicitly
  ·         Educators in law, set them essays we are assessing their skills as well as their knowledge. Not just the content.
  ·         Growing awareness of transferable legal skills, internationally and domestically
  ·         Feedback from employers – lack of student skills- not being able to research to find appropriate materials in an efficient manner – true of law students globally
  ·         In an Irish context- market is v. competitive.
  ·         Teaching legal writing – tedious, repetitive and time consuming – frustrating for teachers
  ·         Technicalities of writing, accuracy of law and critical analysis – what they look for examining them and what employers look for
  ·         Authors identified benefits of ICT
  o   Students practice multiple times
  o   Make mistakes and not worry
  o   Human resources are diminished
  o   Feedback connected to study
  o   Getting them in first year
  o   Reduces possibility of human error
  ·       Funding issues around creating a dedicated resource – funding was received from UL,DIT and CELT
  ·         Use of Moodle –
  o   using MCQs – find those cases
  o   identify the correct answer
  ·         Outcomes were v expected – lessons done before class, instant feedback etc
  ·         Unexpected outcome – students put more of an importance to these skills
  ·         Issues – site wasn’t intuitive, frustrating, challenging for mature students -                         
  o   Problems ironed out with development
  ·         Future developments   
  o   CELT/NDLR funding secured
  o   Question bank to be expanded
  o   Material to be made available via the NDLR

Ch8-Developing Digital resources for Undergraduate Health Science Students… How did we do? – Liz Kingston
  Theme- student evaluation of digital resources
  Attitudes and perceptions
  Powerpoint outline
  ·         Background- influencing factors
  ·         Conceptual framework – guided the development – implementation phase and evaluation phase
  ·         Limitations and Acknowledgements
  ·         Background – group collaborated from UL and NUIG and HSE.
  ·         LInCs 2010 award- topic – infection prevention and control – standard precautions (HSE 2009)
  o   Evidence based clinical work practices – prevent spread of infection
  ·         Influencing factors
  o   Timely – H1N1 (Swine flu) so relevant publically
  o   H1QA 2009 national standards
  o   Limited time frame to teach the session (2hour timeframe)
  o   Teaching and learning challenges (students coming away confused)
  ·         Pedagogy           
  o   Constructivism (Yilmaz 2008, Rovai 2004)
  o   Blended learning (Kelly et al 2009. Caruso & salaway
  o   Net generation
  o   Inter professional education
  ·         Conceptual framework
  o   ADDIE model of digital resource development (this presentation will focus on phase 3 and 4)
  ·         Outcome
  o   New smart community of practice
  o   Main resource- online learning resource (1 hour long) video based, opportunities for practice
  o   Also individual vignettes X 9
  o   Quiz X 2 (MCQ using articulate, modified the quiz and submitted a new quiz up to the NDLR)
  o   12 resources
  ·         Impact on teaching and learning – clinical psychomotor skills, target 1st year, theory, demonstration, supervised practice, reflection on learning (mackway jones and walker 2003 model
  ·         Implementation – new model incorporated the self directed learning prior to instruction, following up with that with face to face time and then a self directed quiz. Take the online learning programme prior to coming to class.
  ·         Recorded using avid pro software and put together using articulate
  o   With a voice over
  ·         Evaluation was the student perception of the resource
  o   Student survey, 22 closed question, 1 open free text response question
  o   Easy to use, easy to navigate, engaging
  o   38 responded out of the 90- too close to exams
  ·         While they appreciate an online approach, they do like the online element and value the face to face follow up contact. Reflective practice – it did facilitate reflective practice.
  ·         Revisited the quiz and put up a print version of the quiz
  ·         Digital resources positively impact student learning – welcomed by student
  o   A blended learning approach is recommended

Ch9 - Using youtube in the classroom. Does it enhance learning?- Colette Murphy AIT
  ·         Oblinger, 2005b students have grown up with technology
  ·         Classrooms that incoportate technology promote a more productive and enriched learning environment – Burke, synder and rager 2009
  ·         Educatiors have become increasingly comfortatble in letting students learn by viewin (duffin, 2010)
  ·         Youtube is at the forefront of student engagement (BarnesmMarateo and ferris 2007, Burke et al 2009, mullen and wewick, 2008, shea and sheerer, 2008.
  o   Engagement doesn’t always mean learning
  ·         Learned
  o   No studies examined youtube effectiveness
  §  Burke et al 2009 acknowledged this lack of research
  ·         Research question
o   Is a participant’s recall a youtube lesson as accurate as the recall of a traditional lesson/.
  ·         Hypothesis
  o   Students who view instructions via youtube etc
  ·         Method
  o   Design procedure
    3 different groups (paper, youtube and traditional)
    2 questionnaire’s (pre and post) (Did they have any prior knowledge of the area, disallowed this result if they knew the answer before the lesson.)
    Follow up (1 week) (did they remember the lesson.)
  ·         Colette prepared materials in youtube and a lesson plan with the use of the classroom and collated the results in SPSS
  ·         Youtube video was prepared with Camtasia using voice overs and uploaded it to youtube
  ·         Lesson plan identified the learning outcomes and these were what the students were questioned on.
  ·         Study suggests that youtube is viable but retention was not significantly better. No significant recall different for either gender.  Viable teaching resource to supplement course content.
  ·         Future. Test for effectiveness with different age groups (mature learners) Test postgraduate not undergraduate.
  ·         Could help online education
  ·         Msmc.ia.edu (oblinger 2005 powerpoint slides)
    
Ch10-Playschool for postgrads: Facilitating creativity and innovation in doctoral education using digital resoruces – Dan rogers – UCD-TCD Innovation academy
  ·         Who we are and what we do
  ·         Course and modules
  ·         The process
  ·         The student experience
  ·         The future

  o   2009 innovation alliance à innovation academy
  o   New breed of Phd graduate, thorough understanding that can create products from the phd
  o   Certificate in innovation and entrepreneurship
  ·         2 core modules – worth 30 ECTS – 3 specialised modules – may be taken from year 1-4 – flexible modular structure- lasts 7 weeks – central is the interdisciplinary element
  ·         Delivery is in terms of workshops, moving out of their disciplinary comfort zones, seminars, design challenges, workshops, seminars, industry projects and video pitches--- effectively communicate their research using a video
  ·         Opportunity generation and recognition – 1 week full time- innovation within their thesis research ‘Researcher video pitch’ ‘Reflective report’. – Harness potential or transferable skills
  ·         Video production- little or no knowledge of video production – they learn this in this module – how to produce a finish Innovation academy youtube.
  ·         They are given an exercise and are split into groups and handed it to the person beside them. Evaluation of how effective they are at communicating their research as the person they hand it to have to explain their topic. 
·         Second exercise – explore if they have anything in common – look for common themes – pick up a camera and start to tell that story – where research might be bridged – mixing students in multidisciplinary teams – cross fertilisation of disciplines – productivity and creativity are harnessed.
  ·         Third exercise – they write a script and a storyboard which would translate into the  - science journalist from the irish times to refine the topics – pre production stages are v. important
  ·         Fourth exercise – they go out to record, supervisors, peers, etc and edit them – use of the video is quite novel – students actively engaging with their research and developing educational video about their research, content creators.
  ·         1 week period – number of guest speakers in that time as well]final videos are presented to staff, supervisors and peers, uploaded to youtube channel

Over the weekend I watched technology news and brought me to this!http://sketchometry.org/ 

It's similar to Geogebra but is offered as a sketching tool on the web, iDevice or android.

Wolfram is a great tool as well or Wolfram Math World.

Math is fun is another site but isn't as detailed.  

I saw this online this morning. Teaches Financial Maths  http://enchantedcollar.com/videos/

Math Tab is good fun and lets you play around with things  http://www.mathtab.com/ or Math cast is another I picked up from the NDLR Research Symposium yesterday at the conference in Limerick  http://mathcasts.org/

This is brilliant, supports project maths and does everything in videos as a supplement to understanding problems outlined in the classroom.  http://www.themathstutor.ie/

Prof. Jo Boaler's piece in the Irish Times.  http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/opinion/2012/0829/1224323180736.html

This is an interview from RTE with Professor Jo Boaler
http://www.rte.ie/news/av/2012/0823/media-3374654.html

Piece against Project Maths in the Irish Times.http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/opinion/2012/0910/1224323799536.html 

Professor Bob Lingard

University of Queensland, Australia

Seminar – Confronting Schools and Social Inequality: Policy, Practices and Pedagogies

Professor Lingard introduced the seminar with thought provoking quotes from the likes of Martin Luther King. This same quote was used by President Obama in the run up to the previous election.

“…Arc of the moral universe is long but bends towards justice.” Martin Luther King

Lingard spoke of the inequalities in schools that are highlighted in different studies globally. He examined schools from the poorest to the richest. Sometimes studies cannot be done in the most priviledged schools. They will not allow researchers into the school.

What contributes to inequality (background, parental income etc) Schools alone can do everything is a naive view of looking at things. There is a focus on the teacher albeit decontextualised from social and inequality background. Some books are used as a bible even when the preface of that same book outlines that other factors are at play but this may get lost when policy makers read this very same book. He makes the point that there are underlying issues at play and these cannot be addressed by the school alone such as the growing income inequality in OECD countries.

There are pressures and anxieties coming from teachers globally about kids test results. Teachers can make a difference but not the difference needed to bring all of society up to these standards expected.

A speaker from the audience contributes to this and states ‘this suits the political scenary for policy makers, if they were to admit that it’s a bigger problem and there were more factors at play, they would need to redistribute the resources. Intellectuals in Ireland want to debate this and at the moment they are seen as ‘public servants’. The ‘public sector image’ from the newspapers and press makes it difficult to find importance in these debates when austerity measures are at play.

Teachers are important and can influence a child for their lifetime be it a good influence or a bad one. The reminisce of a teacher will leave a mark on your life forever.  I’m sure all of you will remember a teacher in your life that was ‘a brilliant teacher’, passionate about their job and those who had a real ‘grá’ for their subject area, were willing to go that extra mile.

The teaching to the test scores is to the detriment of the public. Professor Lingard highlighted some important points on PISA test scores and the inequality across different countries and the inequality across states in America. Even with all the test scores and ‘teaching to the test’ being brought out by policy makers, it seems a running theme of this seminar is that ‘teachers have lost their voice’. He seemed baffled when he is asked by the press in Australia to comment on aspects of teaching when his wife, who is a teacher for the past thirty or more years’ isn’t asked.

A few comments from the audience note that teaching will be modelled on the medical profession, trying to get into the profession to get that sorted and take back their space, setting up for the want of a better word ‘royal colleges of education’ where policy makers go to these colleges for advice before making the policy and allowing teachers have their voice or at least a voice.

Another such comment from the audience is the concept of education itself; the students know what the process of education is. What do people perceive education to be? The child has an idea of what it is be it, doing tests, associating it with activities or just taking the leaving certificate, the child has the idea of what education is in Ireland.

In Australia the national agreed goals were set and they are great documents but negate to relate the assessment practices and these goals together. In isolation, it is a great document of what education goals are needed in Australia but together with the curriculum these seem idealistic when ‘teaching to the test’ and ‘assessment criteria’ for teachers comes into the mix. National testing did badly and the focus was changed into a national curriculum that is discipline focused.

Comments from the audience note that there is a fear of the teacher too. The fear associated with diversity, when a teacher pushes for support they will attend CPD (Continuous professional development) training if someone in the class is identified as having very bad behaviour. Unfortunately the majority of Ireland is made up of teachers that come from middle class backgrounds and these teachers are not exposed to diverse mixtures of students.

Professor Lingard notes that it is the same in Australia with the indigenous people. There is an increase in the amount of indigenous teachers, ethnic diversity population of teachers but the teaching profession is not seen to be a very attractive profession. There is a pressure on time, amount of time, less space and is now must more regulated.

A speaker includes that the teacher is moving into a role of facilitator where a teacher with a back bone isn’t supposed to know anything. Young teachers starting out in very different conditions to before where they earn about 15k less than newly qualified teachers previously. They are being strangulated by trying to be ‘all things to all children’. There’s no doctor that brings in 30 people into their waiting room and diagnoses every one of them in the doctor’s surgery.

Fads come and go and pass through the classroom and there seems to be a lack of research based intelligence when something fantastic could be done in the school but isn’t indicated in the test scores.

Another speaker adds that there is ‘knowledge for practice’ and not ‘knowledge of practice’.

In my opinion, teachers are looking at the fact that it is being run like a large organisation. They are run from the top down and ‘opinion’ doesn’t matter unless you’re the person making the decision. ‘Teaching to the test’ might be here for the next while until people realise that students cannot be graded on test scores when they are a decent person. A teacher may have influenced a person not to take drugs, is this examined on the test? A teacher may have guided a person into further education or made them an overall better person.  

Are we all telling students to become robots like in some organisations where no opinion is actually welcomed? Students get the best test results and I can fill out my test score data, where I will be graded as a teacher and not by the fact that I did all I can with this individual. I made them a better person capable of living a strong, healthy and capable life even in the face of diversity or wealth.

A person in good standing with good moral ethics and a decent individual cannot be quantified by a test score in school!

Professor Bob Lingard is currently a Professorial Research Fellow in the School of Education at the University of Queensland and a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences in Australia. Bob has an international research reputation in the areas of sociology of education and education policy and has published widely in these fields. His most recent books include: Globalizing Education Policy(Routledge, 2010), co-authored with Fazal Rizvi, Changing Schools (Routledge, 2012), co-edited with Pat Thomson and Terry Wrigley and Educating Boys: beyond structural reform (Palgrave, 2009), co-authored with Wayne Martino and Martin Mills. Routledge will publish his selected works in 2012.