I have been following some of the discussions that
have been happening this week, and really enjoying the quality of much of it
and the level of engagement that so many of you are showing (and I hope that I
am demonstrating too). One of the things that I have been thinking about
is how this relates to undertaking a CMALT (Certified Membership of the
Association for Learning Technology) application, and I think that it
demonstrates the types of thing that we are looking for in your
application.
When assessing applications we are looking for
three things relating to each of the headings. These are description of
what you have done, evidence that you did it and reflection on what you learnt
from doing it. I want to focus on reflection here for two reasons.
Firstly, applicants often have the greatest difficulty with reflection
(that is we often have to ask applicants to do more reflection before we can
accept the applications) and secondly the topic this week has been so general
that it is harder to relate to most of the specific sections of the application.
I have seen considerable levels of reflection in
some of the postings where people have commented not just on what they have
done (description), but also why it worked (or didn’t) what might have made it
work better and what they learnt from doing it. This is exactly what we
are looking for in applications, and is really helpful for other participants
in ocTEL. While CP Scott may have said “"comment
is free, but facts are sacred” it
is often the comment that is more useful for other people. This, for instance,
is why case studies are such a popular way of understanding the possibilities
of learning technology (or anything else for that matter). While it may
be true that facts are sacred and comment is free (though most facts are
contested anyway, and much comment wouldn’t be worth paying for) it is when
they are combined in a thoughtful way that the greatest understanding is
developed both by the writer, and the reader. When you are writing posts,
or reading posts (whether blogs or in the forum or anywhere else) think about
what is description, what is the evidence supporting it and what reflection
there is. Try to include some reflection in all your postings, it will
really help to further your own understanding, and yes, I know I have not included
reflection in all my postings, so I will try harder for the rest of ocTEL to
include some reflection in my postings.
One of the other areas that we are looking for in
CMALT applications is communications both as something to write about
specifically in section 3 and because it relates to two of the principles
behind CMALT:
·
An empathy with and willingness to
learn from colleagues from different backgrounds and specialisms.
·
A commitment to communicate and
disseminate effective practice.
Even vicarious learning supports the first of these
two, whilst so many of you have been willing to comment on postings by others
shows a commitment to communicate and disseminate effective practice.
Indeed, particiaption in the MOOC could be used as evidence in the
communications section.
The other two principles are:
·
A commitment to exploring and
understanding the interplay between technology and learning.
·
A commitment to keep up to date with
new technologies
And here again there has been the start of discussions
in these areas, which I am sure you will be pursuing as the ocTEL continues
through the other weeks on topics relating to learning and technology.
What is very clear to me is that many of you
already have the knowledge and experience to gain CMALT recognition, and that
you can use ocTEL both to increase your understanding of learning technology
and learning and to reflect on what you already know and do. That
makes an ideal preparation for completing your CMALT application, so I hope to
see a flood of applications at the end of June or start of July.
Good luck and enjoy ocTEL.
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