Group Learning Agreement

Tags:

Draft Learning Agrement 

The tutor will set up a Closed Group Facebook site.  The site will be used to detail influential educational theorists within their respective school of educational theories.

 

Students will work as part of a group within the educational theory school, eg. Behaviourist, Cognitivist, or Constructivist. 

 

Within each group, (educational theorist school of thought), each student will maintain a Facebook page in the guise of the assigned educational theorist within that school.  They will record events using the timeline feature within Facebook and will also maintain a blog.

 

Students will research the educational theorists from references given by the tutor.  In doing so they will gain experience in using the internet, on-line library and other media (Youtube, Wikipedia, etc).  Students will also learn how to use a full range of social software tools.   (See Appendix 1)

 

Students will interact with each other in a role-play situation , posting comments, quotes and status updates, and “wall-to-wall”.  They may also interact with the teacher through the page.  

In addition to the name students will be identified by appending the theorist school they belong to their name.

 

Upon completion of this activity there will be a complete reference site for all students on the educational theory schools and the influential theorists which belong to that school.

 

Students will learn the social aspect of learning because they are part of a group.  They will have individual and group accountability for producing the Facebook page.  The students will learn from the positive support of and for the group.  They will learn critical analysis skills by exploring online resources and evaluating the relevance of them and then constructing their own meaning or interpretation for inclusion on their Facebook page.  

 

Allocating realistic amounts of time means effective learning for learners and effective teaching for faculty.

• Using new technologies to allow learners to learn when they are ready without having to travel, or work at specific times increases the productivity of learners.

• Use flexible and intuitive course design, scheduling and completion, online monitoring tools for student‟s progress.

 

These timelines are not restrictive with regard to starting point, however the activity must be completed by the end date.

 

Day 1 – 3:        Students must have uploaded a photograph of the theorist.  Updated their profile with accurate date of birth, and educational record – college attended.

 

Day 4 – End:    Students must update their progress every day. 

                       Students must provide a formative comment on one post everyday.

 

Day 4 -7:          Students must write a note outlining the major points of the theorist.

 

Day 8 - 9:         Students must ask a question to each theorist within their school of thought and a different question to each of the other schools of thought based on the notes already posted.

 

Day 9 – 10:      Student must reply to two questions from within their own school of thought and at least one question from the other schools of thought.

 

Day 10 -11:      Students must write a note detailing their findings from one experiment of the theorist.

 

Day 12 - 13:     Students must post a video, or video link on their page

 

Day 14 - 17:     Students must collaborate with one other member of their group to write a note to identify areas of similarity of the theorists.  The note should be posted on both pages and the students must be tagged in the post.

 

Day 18 - 19:     Students must ask a question, not previously asked, to each theorist within their school of thought and another question to each of the other schools of thought based on the answers to previous questions, notes or video posted.

 

Day 20 – 21:    Student must reply to two questions from within their own school of thought and at least one question from the other schools of thought.

 

Day 22 – 25:    Students must post a note on their page reviewing one theorist from another school of thought.

 

 

Teacher/Tutor must Encourage contact  • Frequent student-faculty contact in and out of class is a most important factor in learner motivation and involvement.

 In getting started, learners need help in assessing their existing knowledge and competence. 

• Then, in classes, learners need frequent opportunities to perform and receive feedback on their performance.

• Computer programmes can be used to provide immediate feedback to learners in areas such as testing.

• Use online tutorials, quizzes, online assessments, self-assessment tools

• Expecting learners to perform well becomes a selffulfilling prophecy. 

• Many learners 'feel stimulated by knowing their  finished work will be "published".

• If they know other learners will see their work,learners usually set higher goals for themselves. 

• Also, learners are able to use the “published” portfolios to get job interviews as part of their CVs. 

• Use online Web tools for content creation/ management/ publishing for learners; e.g. Web Blogs, Wikis. 

Students are encouraged to be highly imaginative when completing this task.  The tasks listed in the timeline above are a minimum requirement but students are encouraged to expand on these.  Students are reminded that this is a group project and as such have a responsibility to ensure they do not let the group down.

 

• . Effective teams exist when members of teams:

• · have at least one attribute in common;

• · receive clear instruction on effective team function and have access to related resources;

• · have clear goals and ground rules;

• · have regular, structured meetings;

• · maintain good, accessible records of the deliberations of those meetings;

• · undertake and receive feedback on repeated anonymous peer evaluation of their team;

• · are assessed on their team function as well as on the project output;

• · have fair processes for dealing with non-performing members, documented by the team;

• · have prompt feedback on the success or otherwise of their team’s performance;

• · become aware of and reflect on their own abilities and performance.

From Teamworker, Managing teamwork online:

• TeamWorker provides a comprehensive team management tool with the following facilities for students:

• · Mandatory registration with the system in order to be allocated to a team; this process filters out students who leave the unit very early, leading to much more stable teams.

• · A mandatory self-evaluation exercise, to sensitise students to their own skills in teamwork.

• · Quick access to fellow team members’ day-to-day phone numbers and email addresses.

• · Advice and guidance on how successful teams work and, more importantly, a step-by-step process on how to deal with loafers which mimics standard workplace processes.

• · Ability to create an email addressed to the whole team or teacher with only two mouse clicks.

• · A peer evaluation facility similar in operation to Team Developer and SPARK, but as a wholly integrated part of the team management system.

• · A team and self-reflection facility similar to the SCP.

• Ability to submit structured meeting minutes recording member attendance, past and future allocated tasks, member completion of tasks, current and future meeting details, key decisions.

• · Ability to submit a team’s goals and a structured plan.

• · A Quandary-style simulation to help students run effective team meetings.

• · Ability for students to view information or records or evaluations about their team or themselves which they or fellow team members have entered.

 

 

 

Each student will be assigned an influential educational theorists within a group.  The tutor will setup a closed group Facebook page for each student.  The minimum information necessary will be put on each page and students will be responsible for updating it.

 Small groups will help establish Communities of Practice  Behaviourist, Cognitivist, or Constructivist. Groups

 

 

 

 

Each student is responsible for the content of their own page.  Students should not post inappropriate comments and are expected to follow the rules of Netiquette. (See Appendix 11)

 Good learning, like good work, is collaborative and social, not competitive and isolated.

 

 

Navigation through the site will be as setup by the tutor (Timeline).  Students are not permitted to change it.

Asynchronous means of communication allows for greater contact between faculty and learners with varying schedules. 

• Learner faculty contact can also be enhanced by synchronous means such as chat. 

• Use email, bulletin boards, forum, chat.

 

Learner to learner interaction, separated by geography and time is enhanced using Internet tools to create a sense of community, both within the institutions and without. 

• Use chat, forums, instant messaging, blogging, resource pooling/sharing, online community sites and resources.

Extract from “How Facebook Is Bringing Web 2.0 Mainstream”, July 19th, 2007, http://www.mappingtheweb.com

Facebook is educating the masses about web 2.0 without them even knowing. In other words, Facebook IS bringing web 2.0 mainstream.

How is Facebook accomplishing such an improbable feat? By rebranding the terms and phrases that seem so daunting and sophisticated. This facilitates the education process and reduces the learning curve, making it easier for regular folk to adopt these technologies.

The term “social network” is synonymous with web 2.0. Though the nature of the term may be rather self-explanatory, people understand it. Sites such as MySpace, hi5, and Friendster have helped to provide clarity around its meaning. This education process is exactly what is happening at Facebook as we speak.

Let’s explore some of the web 2.0 technologies that Facebook has rebranded as internal features:

Wikis - By definition, a wiki is a collaborative space that can be edited by anyone with access to the site. This notion of participation and cooperation creates a more productive, usable information portal for all affiliated members.

Facebook has rebranded this concept as ‘Groups’. Within a given group, you are able to start a conversation (with a message), add photos, and provide simple commentary. Furthermore, administrators and officers have added control and functionality.

Blogs - When a user writes a ‘Note’ on Facebook, they are expressing their thoughts or opinions in a given manner. A collection of these notes, in reverse chronological order, can be classified as a ‘weblog’ or blog.

The offline concept of a diary has been around for centuries. It doesn’t take a huge leap of faith to consider a jump into the online world.

User-Generated Content (UGC) - Once again, the term may seem rather self-explanatory, but it does need some clarification. UGC is content created by the user - it is not production quality. Examples include photos, videos, and audio clips.

Not only does Facebook upload an astonishing amount of photos each day, but they also provide a simple, yet powerful video experience. Simply put, users are constantly interacting with user-generated content. They just don’t know it.  

API - An API is an Application Programming Interface. In other words, it is a way to let others integrate with your service by tapping into your data. This is what Facebook has done with their new ‘F8 Platform’. They’re allowing others the ability to tap into Facebook’s database and create applications which can then be added to the system and adopted by users.

Micro-blogging - This new phenomenon is essentially a mini-form of blogging. Recently made popular by companies such as Twitter and Tumblr, micro-blogging is a way to provide a short message (usually less than 200 characters) about your life, mood, or current state via the web, e-mail, text, or IM. To meet demand in this area, Facebook launched ‘Status Updates’, which is simply another way of labelling micro-blogging.

Widgets - Though the comparison may be a bit rough, it is still worth acknowledging. A widget is an embedded device that provides some level of value to the publisher. This is somewhat akin to what Facebook has done with their ‘F8 Platform’, and more notably ‘Applications’. Once a user adds a given ‘Application’, it appears on their profile page, where other users can see it and interact with it (or even add it themselves).

 

 

Abridged Core Rules of Netiquette taken from http://www.albion.com/netiquette/corerules.html

Rule 1:    Remember the Human 

Rule 2:    Adhere to the same standards of behaviour online that you follow in real life 

In real life, most people are fairly law-abiding, either by disposition or because we're afraid of getting caught. In cyberspace, the chances of getting caught sometimes seem slim. And, perhaps because people sometimes forget that there's a human being on the other side of the computer, some people think that a lower standard of ethics or personal behaviour is acceptable in cyberspace. 

Be ethical, breaking the law is bad Netiquette 

Rule 3: Know where you are in cyberspace 

Netiquette varies from domain to domain 

What's perfectly acceptable in one area may be dreadfully rude in another. For example, in most TV discussion groups, passing on idle gossip is perfectly permissible. But throwing around unsubstantiated rumors in a journalists' mailing list will make you very unpopular there. 

And because Netiquette is different in different places, it's important to know where you are. Thus the next corollary: 

Lurk before you leap 

When you enter a domain of cyberspace that's new to you, take a look around. Spend a while listening to the chat or reading the archives. Get a sense of how the people who are already there act. Then go ahead and participate. 

Rule 4: Respect other people's time and bandwidth 

When you send email or post to a discussion group, you're taking up other people's time (or hoping to). It's your responsibility to ensure that the time they spend reading your posting isn't wasted.

Bandwidth is the information-carrying capacity of the wires and channels that connect everyone in cyberspace.  When you accidentally post the same note to the same newsgroup five times, you are wasting both time (of the people who check all five copies of the posting) and bandwidth (by sending repetitive information over the wires and requiring it to be stored somewhere).

You are not the centre of cyberspace 

Rule 5: Make yourself look good online 

Take advantage of your anonymity 

As in the world at large, most people who communicate online just want to be liked. Networks let you reach out to people you'd otherwise never meet. And none of them can see you. You won't be judged by the colour of your skin, eyes, or hair, your weight, your age, or your clothing.  You will, however, be judged by the quality of your writing. For most people who choose to communicate online, this is an advantage; if they didn't enjoy using the written word, they wouldn't be there. So spelling and grammar do count. 

Know what you're talking about and make sense 

Pay attention to the content of your writing. Be sure you know what you're talking about.

Don't post flame-bait 

Finally, be pleasant and polite. Don't use offensive language, and don't be confrontational for the sake of confrontation. 

Rule 6: Share expert knowledge 

The strength of cyberspace is in its numbers. You do have something to offer. Don't be afraid to share what you know. It's especially polite to share the results of your questions with others.

Rule 7: Help keep flame wars under control 

"Flaming" is what people do when they express a strongly held opinion without holding back any emotion. Netiquette does forbid the perpetuation of flame wars, however it's unfair to the other members of the group.

Rule 8: Respect other people's privacy 

You'd never dream of going through your colleagues' desk drawers. So naturally you wouldn't read their email either. Failing to respect other people's privacy is not just bad Netiquette.

Rule 9: Don't abuse your power 

Knowing more than others, or having more power than they do, does not give you the right to take advantage of them.

Rule 10: Be forgiving of other people's mistakes 

Everyone was a network newbie once. So when someone makes a mistake -- whether it's a spelling error, a stupid question or an unnecessarily long answer -- be kind about it.  If you do decide to inform someone of a mistake, point it out politely, and preferably by private email rather than in public.Supporting Virtual Communities

Template for Group Learning 

Agreement

You have all experienced group work on the MSc Applied eLearning this year. As 

a result, you may have a preferred way of working together already established. 

Please feel free to make use of this again for your group work in this module. 

After all, if it ain’t broke, no need to fix it! It is also fair to say that some groups 

prefer to be more fluid and not have a learning agreement at all and that too is 

fine!

This is an opportunity for your group to form a learning agreement for how 

you would like to work together in the module, prior to starting work on your 

group project. By doing this, you are establishing your own ‘rules of engagement’ 

for the project and also declaring preferred methods and timing of 

communication,, action plans, meeting schedules, goals and consequences of 

inactions of group members. 

Please note: You will remain in the same group for the duration of the module 

and be completing the module group assignment together using a wiki. To 

support you in your discussion of roles within the wiki,  resources on wiki 

formation and development will be provided next week.

Example learning agreements can be found overleaf.Dr Roisin Donnelly, 2012

Learning Agreement Example 1: please feel free to adapt

Membership: group names

Roles and responsibilities of members

Forms of communication (email, 

discussion board, chatroom etc)

Time-keeping on activities 

Decision making: by vote or 

collaboration

Emergency contingencies: should a 

member be unresponsive, dominating 

member?

Others???

Learning Agreement Example 2: please feel free to adapt

Group Name:

Names of group members:

List some common objectives your group has in taking this module:

What are some of the obstacles you might face in this group?Dr Roisin Donnelly, 2012

List ways that these obstacles can be overcome: