Saturday, October 04, 2008

End of Week 2 MA

Well, its the end of the induction process of the MA at Bolton and I am now looking forward to getting into the detail of the course, the modules, the structure e.t.c.

I have met most people on the course now and the facilitators are very helpful, one example of this is that I am concerned with how I change change policy at UoM and one of the facilitators has mentioned a academic from Staff's Uni which might be able to come and do a Hotseat in that subject - which I think is great, also this week we have had a video introduction on some of the tools that we will be using on the course which was interesting , so far twitter,Skype and Moodle have been mentioned all of which I am familiar with so thats been a bit of a confidence boost.

Still no communication from the central institution which is funny and also proves my point that sometime its policy that hold things back, we all seem to be communicating well on the course without institutional tools which made me think of the video presentation by Prof Liber at Liverpool where he said maybe teaching and certification should be separate !!!!

Anyway will post again at some point next week to let you guys know how I am getting on , I welcome any comments from MBSW students who want to know how's its going or how what I am doing may relate to their studies!

Thats all for now !!

Stefano :)

Friday, September 26, 2008

MA in Learning with Technology

Well, its the end of my first week in the 2 week induction period for the new MA in Learning with Technology at Bolton Univeristy. So far the course has been really fun and I think that there are a fantastic group of people on the course supported by a good team at the IEC at Bolton.

I am really looking forward to getting into the detail of the study and am proposing to use this blog for the course as well as for MBSW students , so if any MBSW students are interested in the course or in any of the posts I make , please comment and let me know what you think, I am hoping to use what I learn from the course to help me improve MBSW blended learning approach and will be interested in student feedback from MBSW students as to whether they would like any of the things I am mentioning to be implemented at MBSW.

Its a fantastic learning opportunity for us all, bit nervous about being a student again and obviously have worries about the assessment and the workload but I guess I will finally understand what pressures MBSW students are under.

I know it been over a year since I posted on here and I am hoping it wont be that long before I post again !!!!

So ciao 4 now and enjoy the weekend - maybe I will have something for monday!!!

Stefano :)

Wednesday, April 04, 2007

PLE Article

Hi All,

Just had another article published in eLearning Age Journal called Lets Get Personal, that explores the concepts of PLE's and how we intend to use them at MBSW

The full paper is available from the JRUL website at Manchester University

Let's get personal. (cover story) By: Ghazzali, Stefano; McDonald, Paul. e.learning age, Mar2007, p16-18, 3p; (AN 24478848)

Enjoy and comments

Stefano :)

Tuesday, February 20, 2007

New JISC Report on Learning in Immersive Worlds: a review of game-based learning

The JISC, have released an interesting new report on Learning in Immersive worlds.

Please take the time to check it out, its a very interesting read

The JISC-commissioned report finds that computer games could have an important role to play in learning but that for learning to take place, games must be related to learning outcomes and be relevant to real world contexts of practice. Factors that influence learner motivation include, the report suggests, the player’s sense of challenge, the realism of the game, opportunities to explore or discover new information and learner control.

Author of the report Sara de Freitas says that using game-based learning effectively means that the research community will need to continue to explore both the use of commercial games in learning contexts and the development of proprietary games. ‘In both cases,’ she says, ‘there needs to be an emphasis upon embedding games effectively and in accordance with sound pedagogic principles.’

A copy of the full report of Learning in Immersive Worlds: a review of game-based learning is available from: www.jisc.ac.uk/eli_outcomes.html

Blended Learning Article

Well some good news,

Dave snow and myself have had an article published this month in the Training Journal.

I have included the abstract below and if any students want to read the full article , I believe that you can access it through the John Rylands Library using the Athens Authentication Service.

Tech Trends

Stefano Ghazzali and David Snow

Stefano Ghazzali and David Snow explore the use of blended learning to improve student success at Manchester Business School

While traditional teaching methods have the advantage of continuous face-to-face interaction and support, they require physical infrastructure, academic availability, and structural curricula. Online learning, on the other hand, enables students to learn at their own pace, irrespective of locality and time. They can feel isolated and unmotivated, however, due to the lack of any face-to-face contact, or interaction with peers. A blended learning approach offers the best of both worlds with face-to-face tutoring support, and the ability to work with the content and to communicate with one’s peers online.


I welcome any comments

Tuesday, November 28, 2006

Talking Heads videos for MBS Worldwide students

MBS Worldwide believes in bringing Manchester to the student wherever they are studying. Numerous videos of academic faculty are available for viewing on the support site covering administration, programme introductions, FAQs and module introductions. These are short videos are designed to enhance the learning experience and to assist in the overall induction process for new students. These videos are mainly stored on the Support Site

A good example of this is given by Professor John Arnold, Director of MBS, welcoming new students to the school here

Synchronous & Asynchronous Discussions

This is what Wikipedia has to say about Synchronous and Asynchronous Discussion

'Synchronous and asynchronous discussions are both types of internet communication that can be utilized in blended learning to fulfill the technology requirement.

Both synchronous and asynchronous discussions utilize the internet to provide forums for use by the classroom teacher to either give instructions, facilitate office hours or conversation among students that would normally take place in a classroom setting.

Asynchronous and synchronous discussions can be teacher or student led and can be guided by a pre-set format or take place in a more open setting, just like a classroom discussion. Both synchronous and asynchronous discussions have advantages and disadvantages.

Asynchronous discussions allow time for reflection by the learner. In addition the asynchronous format allows for the diversity of the learner. It provides some flexibility for the learner to respond at his individual 'peak time', when he/she is at his best. The asynchronous model also enables each learner time to adequately respond. There is no need to 'grab the mic.' Each student is provided the opportunity to reflect and post a reply as deemed appropriate.'

Within MBSW each module that is delivered through the LMS (at Masters and Doctoral Level) has both asynchronous and synchronous discussions, normally one asynchronous discussion board per unit, plus one for introductions and technical help. There are e-facilitators who monitor these boards to deal with student queries promptly. Also the coordinators use the chat facility on a weekly basis in some modules to see if the students have any issues that need solving, this is particularly useful in the DBA programme because the students are required to communicate with their supervisors on a regular basis to discuss their research.

Here is a screen shot from the introductions thread in our Business Information Systems Module:-