tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-69409295879407537512012-01-31T22:08:23.773-07:00I am using this blog to record my thoughts and experiences through the process of researching, developing and teaching distance education in Alberta, Canada.dlh_downunderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03972586045609527957noreply@blogger.comBlogger131100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6940929587940753751.post-44090845836199374322010-09-29T12:10:00.002-06:002010-09-29T12:22:18.225-06:00

After a loooong break, I'm slowly starting to get back into posting here. What can I say - life intervened :-) Several conferences, workshops, visits to Oz and other places in the world, new friends, new work, new roles etc ... E-portfolios and digital storytelling have been occupying a lot of my thinking time as I puzzle with the disconnect between new approaches to teaching and new

dlh_downunderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03972586045609527957noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6940929587940753751.post-4791315267229870892008-09-05T02:28:00.003-06:002008-09-05T02:37:03.355-06:00

Here I am in Székesfehérvár, Hungary (about 67km SW of Budapest), for the 2008 EuroCALL conference on new competencies and social spaces - 2 aspects of the field dear to my heart. I've come here from Antwerp where I attended the international CALL conference on the relationship between research and practice - both very interesting from a [rofessional point of view, but also great catching up with

dlh_downunderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03972586045609527957noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6940929587940753751.post-45054016757861422422008-06-06T10:42:00.002-06:002008-06-06T10:50:26.962-06:00

My students in 702 & I are currently struggling with the parameters of lit reviews and research proposals - what goes into them, how they should be formatted, what "voice" to use, how to incorporate others' findings, ideas or opinions into one's own approach and views - and how to write all this up?? There seem to be conflicts between handbooks, guides, previous students' examples, course

dlh_downunderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03972586045609527957noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6940929587940753751.post-30835511313583199192008-05-23T18:12:00.002-06:002008-05-23T18:52:30.979-06:00

... that I would have any more time after CNIE to post some more. As Stephen Downes says, you have to make time ... regularly ... hmmSo I've spent the last 2 weeks writing 2 papers, monitoring my teaching website, preparing another couple presentations, working on a new course proposal, turning Twitter back on & the last 2 weeks participating in the SCoPE online conference trying to formulate a

dlh_downunderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03972586045609527957noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6940929587940753751.post-19969017894375772702008-05-13T08:18:00.003-06:002008-05-22T13:03:05.526-06:00

Until such time as I can think & post sanely, here is the Slideshare link to my presentation at CNIE 08 :-) | View | Upload your ownNow back to reading the SCoPE forum postings!

dlh_downunderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03972586045609527957noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6940929587940753751.post-5571456616629986922008-04-29T08:46:00.002-06:002008-04-29T08:56:30.020-06:00

Today is the official day 2 of CNIE in Banff. Some interesting research and considerations so far - especially in the areas of interaction online and the factors that contribute or otherwise to the effectiveness of this. More about this late as I have to get on with putting the finishing touches to my presentation as I am "on deck" in about 3 hours?! :-P Banff is certainly a beautiful location

dlh_downunderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03972586045609527957noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6940929587940753751.post-77472905789923406782008-04-29T08:35:00.002-06:002008-04-29T08:44:08.854-06:00

Finally I finished my marking for 601 & posted the results last week ... some great student ideas for DE projects and agencies - & it looks like some of them are actual, real proposals! So hopefully my comments will be useful in getting these off the ground.So it is with a mixture of sadness & excitement that I move on to this week: sadness that one course is over and that I may not "meet" with

dlh_downunderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03972586045609527957noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6940929587940753751.post-44778278734436723592008-03-27T18:27:00.002-06:002008-03-27T18:40:14.946-06:00

Assignment 2 is over with all the reviewing, posting & commenting. We had an exchange with a class at the the University of Education, Iceland, in Reykjavik that was interesting. It was a pity from the point of view of this exchange, that some of my students chose articles to review that were very specific to Canada or to their local needs ... though of course they were articles that were also

dlh_downunderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03972586045609527957noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6940929587940753751.post-37928040081165128622008-01-30T22:36:00.000-07:002008-01-30T22:47:41.137-07:00

We are almost to the end of Unit 1 and Assignment 1 is busy being completed (I hope?!) while I freeze to death in Edmonton ... someone remind me again why I came to this country of snow, dark & cold?? :-) So far only 2 students have posted their assignments, but there has been an amazing amount of activity on the forums - & so far very thoughtful and well-considered. Obviously people have been

dlh_downunderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03972586045609527957noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6940929587940753751.post-91864600035399940752008-01-21T10:26:00.000-07:002008-01-21T10:47:44.889-07:00

So posting has begun in earnest ... with some confusion as to where to post what etc ... but that's natural as it's new to many of us. I was a bit late posting protocols for posting too as I went down to Calgary on Friday for a network lunch meeting & got stuck there with the foul weather :-( Luckily I had a friend's place to stay at as my drive down was "hairy" to say the least! Suffice it to

dlh_downunderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03972586045609527957noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6940929587940753751.post-88137561426792597042008-01-15T11:50:00.000-07:002008-01-15T12:08:22.949-07:00

What an exciting new week this is! Let me see: I've moved into my new place,teaching has begun,my students have started to interact and post stuff on the forums& we had about 15cm of snow last night!So this morning before I could get to my Moodle site (but not before my email!) I had the new & interesting experience of shovelling snow?! I'm sure the novelty will wear off soon enough! I'll post

dlh_downunderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03972586045609527957noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6940929587940753751.post-52432168423792186892008-01-04T12:58:00.000-07:002008-01-04T13:04:26.866-07:00

Teaching will be starting soon & still so much to do & prepare?! I've seen my list of students' names now & I'm looking forward to getting to know them. I'm trying to think of ways to make the course more interactive and to help students & me to feel more a part of a group or class or community, while still allowing us all space to maintain our privacy. The balance between sharing and working

dlh_downunderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03972586045609527957noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6940929587940753751.post-14670277506292186482007-10-26T13:08:00.000-06:002007-10-26T14:04:33.962-06:00

As I am thinking about how to design appropriate and exciting interactions for my new students in the CDE I've been reading a lot about other distance education programs in Nth America and other parts of the world and am becoming increasingly interested in access and feasibility issues for people in remote and rural areas - and in timezone and lifestyle differences and how to deal with these. It

dlh_downunderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03972586045609527957noreply@blogger.com3