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Kim Aling

H808 Core Activity 7.4

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Edited by Kim Aling, Tuesday, 9 Apr 2013, 09:25

 

Competence

Level of competency

Evidence

 

Poor  

Less than average   

More than average  

Strong   

    

Experience of audio and visual facilities of the web; for example, Netmeeting, Skype, digital photos, webcasting, podcasting

 

 

    X

 

 Strong skills in Elluminate/use of Skype - need to get to know other systems.  Created a short podcast using Audacity, hosted in the cloud and linked to from H808

 

The competence I chose was experience of audio and visual facilities of the web and the evidence I chose the podcast created in Unit 5.  Podcasting is a skill useful for teaching practise, as a means of communication and involves using specific software.  The content of the podcast was a critique of using forums with online groups and therefore can be mapped against this criterion also.  To create a podcast I used Audacity, a piece of software I have used before, so I was able to explore the editing functions a little more.  The podcast was hosted on Podbean which meant getting to know a new hosting site and exploring is functions. 

 

 

Understanding and development

 

 

Skills

Reflection

Analysis/critique

Proactivity

Competency

Practice

ü

 

ü

 

Communication

ü

 

ü

 

Technology

ü

 

 

 

Research

 

 

 

 

 

I consider my level of competency to be above average as I was experienced to know that I needed to script it, read through to identify tricky words and phrases and work in pauses to keep the pace right. I was able to edit the podcast, adjusting the pitch and amplitude and filtering out noise to create a sound I was happy with.  My experience of other hosting sites, such as Wordpress and Youtube meant I was quickly able to find my way around Podbean and provide a link from the H808 forum. I didn't assess as myself as strong, or expert because I still think there are things to learn about podcasting, such as frequent summaries and better use of emphasis and tone.   There are also still things to learn about audacity.

In this self assessment I have not only decided my own level of competency, but also have defined those levels myself.  Others may have different views on what constitutes below or above average and strong and on my view of my own level. 

Link to Unit 3 grid  https://www.dropbox.com/sh/n0rvuogky0122dc/C7vjiL2ve-

Link to podcast http://kimlesley.podbean.com/.

 

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Kim Aling

H808 Core Activity 7.4

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Edited by Kim Aling, Tuesday, 9 Apr 2013, 09:25

Robin Goodfellow's Self Assessment

The question is 'do you find it a convincing approach to self-assessment of professional competence'?  

This value of this kind of competency mapping depends on the audience.  As a personal activity is has value because:

  • It involves and is a product of reflection
  • Helps to map personal progress and determine development needs

However in a professional context it would need to be mapped against standards determined by the profession.  In FE these would be the FENTO standards and in HE the Higher Education Academy standards.  It therefore needs to be:

  • mapped against the competencies required of a role - eg mapped to a job specification
  • validated, for example evidence needs to be accepted by management

The limitations of this approach are:

  • It depends on how it is carried out by the individual. It may be a paper exercise and an expectation which doesn't really achieve the objectives of competency mapping.
  • It needs to ensure that evidence does support the self assessment, that it is relevant and appropriate
  • Terminology needs careful definition - what is meant by novice or expert?
  • The general difficulties associated with subjectivity

In the example we were given from Robin Goodfellow, the competency was the  'Ability to support students with diverse technical backgrounds following different pathways through material', of which he rated himself 'above average'.  The supporting evidence is  'the environment map that I produced for H808 students and tutors at the start of the course'.   

It could be questioned if the evidence does support the competency.  The environment map is a product, whereas to demonstrate that it actually supports students it would need results of a student satisfaction survey.  It would require an outcome as well as a product.

Therefore a limitation of this kind of approach is that there is likely to be disagreement between people as to whether evidence accurately supports a person's assessment of their competency. 

 

 

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Kim Aling

H808 Unit 4

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Edited by Kim Aling, Tuesday, 9 Apr 2013, 09:26

One of the themes considered so far is the idea of an elearning professional and the competencies that might be required.  A study of the posts available in the elearning category reveals a huge diversity of roles and titles. There seemed to be two main types of role, one more technical and the other more pedagogic, embedding technology into teaching and learning and supporting staff in ways to do this.  Few of the roles here were teaching roles, though some had an element of training.  In contrast the studies of competencies by Hiller (2002) and Goodyear relate to teaching and teaching online.  It's far from clear, therefore, exactly what an elearning professional is.  My own role includes both forms, a distance tutor using a range of technologies to support learners and as a Learning Technologist, involved in developing online courses and resources for others and promoting education technology to teaching staff.  Supplementary activity 3.2 was an interesting discussion around developing a list of technologies for elearning and the underlying competencies required of an elearning professional. I contributed to a wiki, adding to the technologies.  To try an tease out the underlying competencies I added a section on 'issues', designed to explore the different issues that an elearning technologist needed to understand.

Goodyear, P., Salmon G.,  Spector, J.M., Steeples, C.,Tickner, S. , (2001) Competences for Online Teaching: A Special Report in  Education Technology Research and Development Vol. 49. No.1

Hillier, Y. (2002) 'The quest for competence, good practice and excellence' (online), The Higher Education Academy. Available from: http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/resources/detail/resource_database/id494_quest_for_competence

 

 

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