Eloise, just on the point about build it and will they come. Think more like build it, bring it to them and then also help them take it over.

Translated that means create the seminars, let them participate by email etc. disseminate via social media etc

Also think about seminars inside social media instead of in Moodle. You could use Twitter, Flickr, YouTube or Facebook for example. Lots of different ways to do that.

Nick

------------------------------------
Sent while on the move

Nicholas Bowskill,
Faculty of Education,
University of Glasgow 
Scotland.

Shared Thinking - Collectivist Pedagogy

http://www.sharedthinking.info



On 10 Aug 2012, at 08:42, Eloise Sentito <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> Wow! Great ideas, thanks very much Nick. I'd love to explore ALL of those, but am looking for a light-touch lowkey start-up without spending ages chasing funding for a big project - though of course it would be amazing if it grew in the way you're suggesting. I very much like your vision, although would also want the thing to feel student-led and not top-heavy. But if they could *be* the guest speakers... Wow! One day!
> 
> What about the 'build it and they will come' problem though? I guess I'm thinking Jiscmail rather than Moodle, Ning etc. so that opting in is very simple and people don't need to 'go' anywhere other than their normal inboxes to participate?
> 
> Eloïse
> 
> Sent from my Windows Phone
> ________________________________
> From: Nicholas Bowskill
> Sent: 10/08/2012 06:42
> To: Eloise Sentito
> Cc: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: 'Talking of learning...' a student Jiscmail?
> 
> Hi Eloise,
> How about setting up a series of online guest speakers on support issues? That could be in a forum like Moodle etc that people could subscribe to and have sent to email etc.
> 
> For each guest speaker topic you can invite participants to provide resources (as well as those you may have). That offers different ways of participating.
> 
> On top of that you could organise webinars & live sessions.
> 
> You could also have some face to face reviews of the guest speaker series (say one per semester/term). The online guests could  be  from other places. The face to face could be led by the local expert.
> 
> There's lots you could do there. Would that be more helpful?
> 
> Best Wishes,
> Nick
> 
> ------------------------------------
> Sent while on the move
> 
> Nicholas Bowskill,
> Faculty of Education,
> University of Glasgow
> Scotland.
> 
> Shared Thinking - Collectivist Pedagogy
> 
> http://www.sharedthinking.info
> 
> 
> 
> On 9 Aug 2012, at 20:48, Eloise Sentito <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> 
>> Thanks Nick. This would be to supplement all our face to face work, not replace it. With students dispersed across a large rural area and with placements and such, online community is sorely needed by some, and often preferred by others, our stats show.
>> 
>> Eloïse
>> ________________________________
>> From: Nick Bowskill
>> Sent: 09/08/2012 17:51
>> To: [log in to unmask]
>> Subject: Re: 'Talking of learning...' a student Jiscmail?
>> 
>> Hi Eloise,
>> You appear to be describing the development of a learning community.
>> You also appear to be interested in facilitating opportunities for
>> reflective dialogue. In addition, you seem to prefer the online
>> approach as the solution. Nothing wrong with any of that and online
>> student workshops might address those aims.
>> 
>> One *alternative* is to consider the development of a learning
>> community in a face to face setting. You might ask yourself why are
>> you associating the notion of a learning community with online
>> interaction as the preferred option? It could be because its difficult
>> to organise any other way but it could be because that's the way
>> community is usually talked about.
>> 
>> We have used Shared Thinking to support reflective dialogue amongst
>> students in different disciplines. It's a collaborative approach to
>> PDP. It is also a collective approach to facilitating conversations
>> supported by classroom technologies (voting systems, interactive
>> whiteboards etc.). The online space can be used to support those face
>> to face discussions rather than the other way around. Plus it has the
>> advantage of addressing socialisation and student well being.
>> 
>> This is a bit of self-promotion in some senses. I apologise for that
>> but it may be useful as well. We are running a workshop in London on
>> September 27th to help people explore this in relation to induction (
>> see http://www.eventbrite.co.uk/event/4050557326 ) but its also been
>> used to support the development of reflective writing. In our
>> research, we specifically asked students and staff whether or not the
>> process would help them write their reflective journals and the
>> majority felt it would.
>> 
>> Just some thoughts as a contribution.
>> 
>> Best wishes,
>> 
>> Nick
>> 
>> --------------------------------------
>> Nicholas Bowskill,
>> Faculty of Education,
>> University of Glasgow
>> 
>> Shared Thinking - a Community Pedagogy
>> 
>> Web Site: http://www.sharedthinking.info
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> On 9 August 2012 17:27, Eloise Sentito <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>>> Dear all,
>>> 
>>> I find our Jiscmail so valuable that I'd like to set one up for students. Having discussed it with my colleagues, read the Jiscmail smallprint and approached my institution's online and social media policy advisor, I would like to test out my ideas on you if I may.
>>> 
>>> I work for a central academic skills study support team (to use problematic language for the sake of ease, ironically). I would like to set up a Jiscmail list as an informal, safe-but-challenging(!) space for students to talk about learning and study in order to conscientise processes and feel part of a community in which they can exchange ideas and support. This apparently simple project could I think be fraught with pitfalls! I'm really interested in online peer support for writing, and would hope that this could play a part in facilitating that. A Jiscmail is just one of the media I'm considering for it, and is I think the simplest and easiest which I hope should allow for emergence and self-organisation (as well as potential chaos and complexity!). Key questions that arise thus far are:
>>> 
>>> 1. What would its focus be? (I'm thinking if calling it either 'Talking of learning...'  or 'Talking of writing...')
>>> 
>>> 2. Who would the target group be? (I'm thinking all students at my institution as per our other face to face and online services and resources, to be invited ideally as soon as a place has been secured so as to aid transition by starting community-building straight away; there could of course be a case for doing this at programme, school or discipline level, and/or for spreading it nationally and further...)
>>> 
>>> 3. As a discussion list especially for students, how appropriate/valuable would it be to open it to staff too? (All can benefit for their learning and teaching, and segregation might have more disadvantages than advantages.)
>>> 
>>> 4. How would it get going? (Apart from inviting people to sign up, I expect I'd need to post to begin discussions until people got confident; perhaps I'd post study resources, guidelines, links, news, events, and/or 'teaser' questions, e.g. 'what's the difference between opinion and critical analysis in academic writing?')
>>> 
>>> 5. How could this endeavour nurture existing good practice (e.g. students supporting each other, engagement with assessment criteria and feedback), inform best practice (e.g. by promoting development of writing by offering opportunities for people to explore and develop analytic, proofreading and other skills) and avoid supporting poor practice (e.g. collusion, plagiarism etc.)?
>>> 
>>> 6. To what extent is the listowner/team/institution responsible for members' posts and their impacts on other subscribers, and what precautions should be taken? (Tailored guidelines can obviously be sent out to new subscribers, and perhaps posted as and when a need arises.)
>>> 
>>> 7. How can students be supported to feel a sense of ownership and responsibility for, plus engagement in, such a staff initiative?
>>> 
>>> So the biggest tensions seem to be on the intervention/direction-caretaking-light touch continuum.
>>> 
>>> I realise that 'try it and see' might be the only answer to some of these for some people. I would welcome relevant and constructive thoughts, experiences and research pointers from you all. I know of projects like SWORD but could not find anything similar on Jisc's list of lists. Does anyone know anything else like it?
>>> 
>>> Thanks in advance.
>>> 
>>> Eloïse
>>> 
>>> Eloïse Sentito
>>> 
>>> Learning Development with Plymouth University
>>> 
>>> www.learningdevelopment.plymouth.ac.uk<http://www.learningdevelopment.plymouth.ac.uk<http://www.learningdevelopment.plymouth.ac.uk<http://www.learningdevelopment.plymouth.ac.uk>>
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> --
>> --------------------------------------
>> Nicholas Bowskill,
>> Faculty of Education,
>> University of Glasgow
>> 
>> Shared Thinking - a Collectivist Pedagogy
>> 
>> Web Site: http://www.sharedthinking.info