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W3: A3 After the Elluminate session

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  1. What were your experiences and feelings during the session? If you have impaired vision or hearing, how did this affect your participation?

While in the session I was feeling a little bit of stress because I was worried whether the sound would have been fine due to a lack of the sound during the previous session and at the same time I was feeling happy that I have heard other colleagues too and that we had a fruitful discussion all of us.  We were actually 4 persons in the session and instead of break up in groups of 2, after a trial, the tutor decided to put us again all together so that we could discuss all of us in one.  No problem with that at all.  What is something that I am not so fond of is that when we are over 3 people then when there is a discussion it is logical that I need time to think in order to reply and when the people are quiet I feel that I have to say something without having to do so actually.

  1. What did you learn about the Sfard paper itself? Were some parts of the session more useful than others in this respect?

I have learnt about the two metaphors and my colleagues experiences with these metaphors and also tutor's thoughts on the two metaphors.  I believe that the most important part of the session was the one that we were discussing on the 3 questions raised.

  1. Can you come to any (perhaps tentative) views about the pros and cons of Elluminate for the task you were set, in the context of a Masters module of this kind? Do you feel, for example, that this synchronous event carries more status when compared with online forums? (You'll remember from Week 3a that Goodyear (2006) argues that this is the case.)

The pros of using Eluminate is that you can discuss and meet online using audio conferencing with your colleagues and at least hear their voices instead of writing only in the discussion forums with a photo or even without a photo at all.  Another advantage is that the use of a whiteboard is very helpful when you carry a group activity as everyone can see the notes on the board and even write on it, change something, draw another thing and participate in an activity placed on the whiteboard.  It is good that it is a synchronous event and there is the feeling of a classroom, i.e. raising hands, ticks, crosses, clap hands, disagreement icon etc.  There can be group activities too when you break up a larger group of students.  The cons of this event is that someone might not feel confident to talk synchronously and prefer texting in order to participate and that will take more time to answer a question and maybe the group will move further till the answer will arrive in the chat box.  Another drawback is the sound quality and some time lags that the sound goes away and comes back.

  1. How far, if at all, would Elluminate or a similar tool be useful in your own context?

In my own context Elluminate will not be used or any other similar program as what is now happening in primary schools is not happening with technology of such strength.  The only technology that is happening is computer lessons for the basic skills and these are held face to face.

  1. How would you design the activities?

I think that I could make my activities targeting to a group of students and most probably in a way that I could break them up in smaller groups and put something on the whiteboard, various activities for them and most probably I would end up the session with a general whiteboard activity on the matter that I will be examining and share different opinions all together as one group.

  1. If you are already using a tool of this kind, how do the activities you run compare with the session you have just completed?

I have used before this tool for another activity in another course but it was not like this one.  We were more members in the group and we were all talking and it was more difficult for more people to communicate effectively in one hour and come to a final result, whereas now, we were more close to each other and to our conversation although there were times that the sound was poor and I had some difficulties but after the first 5 to 10 minutes it was perfect!

 

 

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Act. Task 35.1 Seale Chapter 12

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Read Seale Chapter 12 Individual responses to accessibility: tools, activities and contradictions. Make notes in response to the following questions:

  1. Seale identifies six potential areas for conflict or contradiction within an organisation or activity system. What potential contradictions exist in your organisation and why?

In my own organization there are the subject, object, community and tools.  There are the teachers who are responsible in delivering knowledge to the students and they are also responsible to help disabled students too and make their learning resources as accessible as possible.  Without the teachers then it will not be possible to deliver knowledge using another role, i.e. learning technologist.  As all the roles have to work together in order to successfully deliver the knowledge and make their resources available to their students.  There are the tools; however, the legislation is not so strict from what I am experiencing.  Maybe this is due to the fact that in my school there are no disabled students in that extent as to need assistive technology to help teachers to make their resources accessible.  There is only one kid that just cannot concentrate in the classroom properly but they take it away in a separate classroom when needed.  Not the best way though of treating such a kind of situation.  The community exists but in a very small part that includes the students themselves, support services and Principal of the school.  This is due to the fact that by employing learning technologists, staff developers etc will cost more money to the government.  Thus, they might have very few specialists who have to control each and every school in Cyprus.  I am not sure about this point, but I am talking from my own experience.

  1. How helpful is it to conceptualise the development of accessibility within your organisation as an activity system?

From the one hand, it would definitely be helpful, but on the other hand it will not be as there are areas that my own school does not actually fulfill, i.e. rules and division of labour.

Do you think that Figure 12.1 on page 165 would be useful as a trigger for discussion within your organisation?

Having examined the figure I can say that it would have been useful but not many things could be made in order to apply something in the school I am working.  However, it would give an idea to the Principal of the school about this accessibility matter that will one day become more formal in the evaluation of this system.  I think that if this was presented to the Minister of Education in Cyprus it would have been better to see other views of this matter but still it would be very difficult to do something.

Would it enable you and your colleagues to identify what changes or developments are needed and why they are needed?

It is a very helpful figure in helping us identifying these changes or developments and the reasons why these changes should be applied in the school in order to achieve our objectives regarding accessibility issues.

 

 

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