DIL/Otago Polytechnic

Surveys DIL OP
Pre-survey- When starting the DIL workshops, please take the DIL pre-survey here.

Post-survey - When finishing the DIL workshops, please take the DIL post-survey here.

=List of blogs=
 * Bronwyn - http://brondil.blogspot.com/
 * Christine - http://chrisdigilearn.blogspot.com/
 * Gwen - http://gwenblogg.blogspot.com/
 * Jodie - http://dilopresearchproject.blogspot.com/
 * Leigh - http://learnonline.wordpress.com/
 * Karen - http://katestracings.blogspot.com/
 * Merrolee - http://oteducation.wordpress.com/
 * Raewyn - http://raewynbusymumof4.blogspot.com/
 * Sarah's musings - http://sarah-stewart.blogspot.com/
 * Sunshine - http://sunshineconnelly.blogspot.com/
 * Susan - http://audioimagetext-susane.blogspot.com/
 * Will - http://will-mcma.blogspot.com/
 * Lyn -http://lynb.wordpress.com/

Recent posts by participants to their blogs
Bronwyn is tagging work that is openly shared by participants so that the list below updates automatically. Here you can only see the latest 10. To see the full list: http://del.icio.us/bronwynh/DILOP

http://del.icio.us/rss/bronwynh/DILOP|max=20

=Questions for Randy Fisher - WikiEducator session=
 * Please add your responses under the questions and add your signature - click on signature from the menu --bron 00:29, 23 June 2008 (UTC)


 * Responses from Susan on her : blog

'''1. What do you understand "confidence" to mean? Do you think it is important?Why or why not?'''
 * Confidence to me means having the ability to try out new technologies and software without being bothered about it going wrong. For example, trying out all the Google tools.
 * Confidence or self-efficacy is a very important part of digital information literacy; if you are too scared or worried it will go wrong when trying out new tools, you will never explore nor give yourself permission to learn new approaches --bron 00:29, 23 June 2008 (UTC)
 * confidence to me means two things - firstly that you are a risk taker - you are willing to try things without being too worried about the consequences. Also that you know that you have the problem solving skills and that they work to be able to work out if things don't go as planned. It's knowing that you've been somewhat successful before and therefore you can tackle the current issue knowing that you will at some point achieve the outcome without too much physical, emotional or psychological cost. --Merrolee
 * Confidence is a feeling of capability closely tied up with one's sense of self-worth. It is vitally important, because without confidence, we lose ourselves, and our capability to learn and grow. (Christine)
 * I understand confidence to mean a belief in oneself and your abilities to overcome any obstacle or problem put in your path. I think confidence is one of the most important attitudes to possess because without it it would you be impossible to consider getting out of bed in to morning and face all the unknowns that each day throws at us. (Jodie)

2. Can you recall a time where you had to master something that was technical, but seemingly incomprehensible (i.e., programming a VCR; learning a new software program; writing wiki skills)?


 * Provide an example – personal or professional
 * HTML has always seemed like a mystery.
 * I would like to say that learning how to set up a blog and master the different language eg writing a post and adding visuals, hyperlinks was confusing. Sometimes even though I knew they were speaking English  it still sounded like a foreign language to me. This is why I feel fully qualified to show others how to blog the memories are still fresh. I do feel more confident now but I still struggle with some of the technical aspects like what are widgets and do I need them. Also setting up a profile why do I have an avatar instead of a picture. The help menus are pretty good as well. From Lyn.
 * Hmm incomprehensible - I'd have to say that looking at budgets and having to work out what was spent where and why is a technical skill that I know I have, but I still get 'blocked on'.--Merrolee
 * Trying to add a photo to a blog. (christine)


 * How did you feel while you did it? (i.e., happy, sad, determined, frustrated, challenged, fed up, etc.)
 * I learn a few pieces of code every now and then when I need it e.g. for adding pizzaz to Blackboard, checking fonts whch never go right in Blackboard. I felt good I managed to learn it and put it to use. --bron 00:56, 23 June 2008 (UTC)
 * I don't get started - I find reasons not to try to do the task, even though I know that once I sit down and work logically through it I can solve the problem.. the biggest issues is overcoming the 'block' which is self-imposed to begin with! --Merrolee
 * I was frustrated and annoyed with myself and would easily have given up completely, except having a few others around who could help me if I really needed it was calming. (Christine)


 * Did you notice a change in your feelings as you moved from start, to middle, to end? Explain.
 * Yeah warm fuzzies at having achieved it as not really that hard. --bron 00:56, 23 June 2008 (UTC)
 * Usually a feeling of satisfaction that I've finished the task, and the self-castigation as to why I put off doing it and making it a bigger molehill than it needed to be. --Merrolee
 * I suppose around the middle determination kicked in. By fiddling about I found what I should have been clicking on, and that seemed to solve the problem.  I felt more relaxed after that, and more outgoing. (Christine)
 * I remember when I started to learn to use photoshop during creative studies course last year. I couldn't even figure out how to cut and paste an object and it was the sort of programme that wasn't intuitive so it seemed to be an insurmountable task. I felt extremely frustrated and confused and also a bit stupid. I soon realised however that the only way to tackle the problem was to learn the 'rules' of the programme as it wasn't something that trial and error was going to help me work through. As I slowly learned to use different aspects of the programme to create simple paste ups etc I began to feel more confident and satisfied. I still feel that way when I use the programme today for simple photo manipulations, especially when i realise that its not a programme that everyone can use. (Jodie)

'''3. Have you considered how you will engage others in using digital info / technologies? Explain. How will you recognize / deal with resistance?'''
 * I have spoken of my experiences and what teh blog is to people who have no idea and little experience in this area they are interested. From Lyn.
 * I have found that they are more than happy to set up a blog to become technologically savvy in some area because the sheer volume of what you need to know around using the tools on the internet is staggering. A little bit at a time. From Lyn.
 * I support staff and programme development. I find it important to start slow and do lots of nuturing.
 * Helping people see the relevance to their work or study works well and if there is resistance to one approach, try another which suits the individual.
 * Just-in-time help works well. --bron 00:56, 23 June 2008 (UTC)
 * I have done this a lot over the last few years - its like Bronwyn says - working out where the individual is at, what type of learning style they have - do they like to see you do it, can you provide instructions and pointing from over their shoulder, do you have to print out some instructions and then work through it with them.. but always starting at where the individual is, understanding what they already know and then going from there.. Also working on something they want to know! --Merrolee
 * I think I need to overcome more of my own problems first before engaging others. Using myself as an example may help encourage others. (Christine)
 * The only sort of digital resource that I am currently interested in engaging others to use is skype which i have slowly been introducing my family members to to enable us to keep in touch more easily. I havn't encountered much resistance so far. There is one family member who has decided not to engage with this even though I have given them instructions but as i'm not sure as to weather it is because of digital illiteracy or lack of time I havn't tried to solve it. (Jodie)

4. How do you think individual / community trust will influence Digital Information Literacy?

(By the way Bron - how do you get signature to work? I'm just copying the HTML and replacing my name for yours! - click on signature  icon in the menu - signature with timestamp - --bron 21:58, 24 June 2008 (UTC)) (Christine)
 * Where possible it is important to connect people with others who are working on similar things, that way they can help each other.
 * Groups of people working on or in the same project is great for stimulating motivation, ideas and exploration.
 * At Otago Polytechnic we have an email forum - Networked learning - where staff exchange ideas and collaborate on projects and share information. --bron 00:56, 23 June 2008 (UTC)
 * I have seen that where trust exists, then people feel comfortable to disclose their inadequacies! --Merrolee
 * If reluctance to engage with DIL is to do with lack of trust, then increased trust should increase Literacy. There is a saying "Trust more: fear less" .  Though putting personal information on the Web needs care.
 * I'm not entirely sure what you mean by indidual/community trust but if its anything to do with privacy issues etc, then i think that older generations will have a lot more of a problem engaging with the internet etc than younger ones. I think this has alot to do with the fact that my generation were bought up with the internet and take it as a matter of course that anyone can access any information they want about you at any time where as older generations still hold the belief that personal information is private until voluntarily disclosed and so will try to protect there privacy more and as a result cut themselves off from services that require some sort of 'signing up' - which alot of them do. (Jodie)

=Meetings= Short, concise notes outlining the plan for each workshop.

Wednesday 15 July 2008

 * work on own goals for the first hour - tie up loose ends;
 * Take post-survey;
 * Discussion about where to from here;
 * Timing of focus groups.

Wednesday 2 July 2008 - compulsory

 * Review progress participants have made in the last week and goals for today.


 * Participants to work alone or in small groups on tasks to achieve goals.


 * Merrolee to make times with each participant to review content of action research cycle.


 * Last 15 minutes, review progress in today's session and set goals for the final two weeks of the project.

Wednesday 25 June 2008 - optional

 * Discussion via Elluminate with Randy Fisher regarding use of tools such as Wikieducator.

Wednesday 18 June 2008 - compulsory

 * Introduction to action research cycle, go over task to be completed. People to do this in own time or during workshop today. Merrolee available to meet to discuss, or review and may see clarification (15 mins).


 * In pairs discuss what's happened during the week in relation to this project. Use this as a base for setting a specific goal for the workshop today. Document goal on paper. (up to 15 mins)

Move to computer lab.


 * Individual time to work on goal (aided where needed)


 * Review goal set - was it achieved, where to next (last 15 mins). Remind re action research cycle.

Wednesday 11 June 2008 - optional
Summary of topics covered:

Privacy and social networking The session began with further talk about blogs and privacy.

Generation difference? Do attitudes towards privacy and confidence differ markedly between and within generations? Other differences including those who create in a digital environment and those who consume information.

Change in the way information is disseminated A key shift is where filtering takes place. Previously with newspapers and other forms of publishing the information was filtered before dissemination. The choice lay with those who gathered and edited the information. Now, with Web 2.0 there are opportunities for large volumes of material to be poured out and the filtering happens when people choose what they want to look at, or to have fed to them. They make their own decisions about the merits of the information.

Virus risks Information supplied relating to online safety and Gwen virus protection. This was linked to the use of various platforms.

Individual work This included developing blogs, adding images and video to blogs and wikis.

Wednesday 4 June 2008 - compulsory
See blogs for more explanations: Bronwyn and Susan has posted a really nice diagram.
 * 3.00 - Round table discussion about people's progress.
 * A survey was handed out by a participant for the group to test and provide feedback.
 * One participant is investigating php programming for some online simulation work and online forms etc.
 * Items such as wikis, podcasting and RSS feeds came up. There was discussion around the true meaning of podcasting. "Podcasting is not just about audio though that is a common misconception, but about broadcasting and sending out packages of information you can download. The trick is to know how to get automatic access to the information by subscribing to RSS feeds."
 * An explanation of Linux and Ubuntu use by a participant - excellent for increasing computer speeds.
 * 4.00 - Moved to the computer lab.
 * Watched the video called RSS in Plain English - unable to access it on Youtube due to the present organisational overquota, but it played well on BlipTV.
 * RSS feeds such as Bloglines and Google reader were demonstrated by participants who are using them.
 * 4.50 - People were asked to firm up their goals and make sure they were recording their progress somewhere providing at the very least a summary for the class to view e.g. on the group email.


 * The next workshop is optional.

Wednesday 28 May 2008 - optional
This was an optional workshop. People worked on their goals. For example:
 * WikiEducator - the tutorials are useful when getting started. WikiEducator Tutorials
 * Adding pictures to blogs and WikiEducator.
 * Accessing blogs and other sites such as Flickr was difficult for some who had mislaid their usernames and passwords.
 * Animoto for creating video with music from slides.
 * Using Creative Commons for searching for images, music, video which has some rights reserved items.
 * Using Flickr to access by attribution images which can be used.
 * Discussion about access to web facilities - usernames and password difficulties.

Wednesday 21 May 2008
Then Sarah was asked to show her blog to the group to meet the objective: 'show and tell' - Who has done something this week that are willing to talk about and show the group?
 * 3:00 Surveys were distributed to each participant - copies of what they had filled out online.

Sarah showed the group her blog and e-portfolio. There was some discussion about privacy issues. A question was asked about the comparison of Animoto with a similar commercial programme PhotoStory (Microsoft). Animoto can only handle a short show (15 secs). You can pay for a version that will do more. There is also another programme: SlideShare.net. Animoto needs to be compressed or it is very slow to upload. BH talked about how the reflective framework could be used to write their progress logs/journals and people were asked to write about sarah's show and tell as a practice run. The group went into the computer lab. Three people worked together with LB to find out about screen capture software eg Camstudio and Camtasia. Others worked on their goals, mainly setting up their blogs.
 * 3:30 Review reflective framework
 * 4:00 Break out sessions - those who would like to learn more from the show and tellers form groups and break out. Those who remain, continue a facilitated discussion to find objectives.
 * 4:50 Action list for facilitators and what they need to organise. Shared actions in the group.


 * BH to organise a Linux person to meet with one of the participants next week.
 * Next week will be an optional workshop.

Wednesday 14 May 2008
3:00 - 5:00pm moving between H302 and 310 for computer access if need be

3:00 Overview the session / exits / toilets

3:10 Overview the project / Look at information sheet / project objectives / expectations

3:20 Watch EPIC2014

3:40 Introduction to participants / personal objectives / Facilitator to map complimentary objectives / ideas and discussion about movie

4:10 Discuss relationships in objectives / review format of fortnightly tasks and journal entries / Use reflective framework /

4:20 Complete consent forms / move to computer room

4:30 Do survey

4:50 Set up email group

objectives

 * Sarah - blogs and wikis - embed movie
 * Sunshine - graphic design, animations, websites, wikis, creating and editing movies, sourcing commons media - want to learn how to use linux
 * Susan - uses a wide range of tools - survey methods, audio production, publishing, audio vsual pres
 * Raewyn - Doing DFLP, - Wants to set up information resources for health professionals
 * Gwyn - - Keeping up with 10 yo, use more digi info to reduce paper etc, to  help people info access
 * Kristine - writing - Smart boards, academic writing with digital resources
 * Will - Video, Action Scripting - Learn to use paper vision for 3D modeling online
 * Fiona - - Basic computing, simple videos, animoto
 * Jodie - blogs, images, creative suite - Audio production
 * Karen - Art, digtal image manipulation - academic writing, build a library
 * Lyn - Teaches computer skills, - more digital base help resources, develop resources for learning blogs and wiki

=RA jobs for workshops=
 * Set up the rooms - data projector, laptop, audio recorder in H310.
 * Organise refreshment trolley.
 * Organise recording
 * Turn on computers in H302 computer lab.
 * Document what happens in the workshop session in Google doc - OP DIL research notes.
 * Add in links to people's blogs etc.
 * Collate reflective framework evidence.
 * Put equipment away.
 * Add summary of weekly research notes - taken from OP DIL research notes - to DIL/Otago Polytechnic page on WikiEducator.