31.10.10

Task 6. New Interactive Environments.

This week's task was to analyze Kiousis' piece- Interactivity: a concept explication. He bulges through a lot of literature to make his point clear, and in the end he manages to give his own definition of the term.

First he begins with reviewing what others have written about the term itself. He notes that in order to get the concept, one needs to "dig through" a lot of points in order to get the main message. He begins with others' thoughts of what interactivity really meant to them. First it was associated with communication technologies, being an independent variable as a medium and a dependant variable as peoples' perceptions, but often the multi-dimensionality is disregarded while talking about interactivity.

He goes on with quite comprehensive literature review which he has chosen from the fields of psychology, sociology and computer science/design. The third field which wasn't used in the previous text is psychology. The author implies that mostly the literature handled the term as a technological and communication aspect, there are still studies that see it as perception, and adopt a psychological variable into it. He browses through various categories as communication definitions which primarily focus on computer-mediated communication, and non-communication definitions which take the psychological role in the term.

The fact is that even if the term is connected with technology, one cannot overlook medium structure and human characteristics. Schneiderman, for example, balances technological criteria (system functionality and reliability) with user criteria (time to learn, speed, rate of user error, etc.). (p. 365) The term is mostly described as perceiver-based more than technology-based, although it originally evolves from the latter. Interactivity originates from the machines which the user has to perceive later in order to understand what is going on in the technological base.

As the author goes through a list of definitions, he understands that the major problem is that the term is weakly explained. He then points out various mistakes, mainly concerned with peoples' perceptions with ever-growing technological opportunities. He also suggests that the term itself should be hybrid, because there is no single possibility of creating a term for the word interactivity, because it is perceived from different angles and the fact that technology is constantly changing, the term will change with the new concepts in the studied fields.

In the conclusion he gives a solid definition: "interactivity is the degree to which a communication technology can create a mediated environment in which participants can communicate (one-to-one, one-to-many, and many to-many) both synchronously and asynchronously and participate in reciprocal message exchanges (third-order dependency).", and goes on with the three factors that interactivity is established by: technological structure of the media used (e.g. speed, range, timing flexibility, and sensory complexity), characteristics of communication settings (e.g. third-orderdependency and social presence), and individuals’ perceptions (e.g. proximity, perceived speed, sensory activation, and telepresence) . (p. 379)

The author hopes that more literature will appear concerning the term, but he has done a lot of work in order to get a clear view to the reader about the current status of the term in the year of 2002, which by now has undoubtedly changed due to vast changes in technology and its users.

27.10.10

New Interactive Environments. Task five.

Concept of Interactivity.

To me interactivity is the action which takes place in "communication" between various people/things, for example, as we are mostly connected with computers, interactivity in this sense would be the environments we go and things we do in the Internet that respond to us either by showing something, going to another place, answering (voice or text or pictures), etc., and the exchange of this "communication" varies in a rapid way.

The article I read about the concept of interactivity would show us how the term has been handled throughout the years, since it is by now a background to history of interactivity.

The author, Jensen, contemplates about the notion of interactivity, which in many cases may vary its definition depending on the context. Initially one can find the meaning of this notion in very many fields, thus there is no clear-cut meaning of the term. The author contemplates about the various fields throughout the text in order to get the meaning of interactivity, but in the very end he does not find a single explanation for it.

Goetz and Jäckel establish three fields in which the term ’interactivity’ should be understood in order to establish the concept, and gives explanation of the term considering the fields:
  • sociology - two people need to be present and "exchange and negotiation regading meaning takes place between those people who find themselves in the same social context";
  • communication studies - any action between a person and the media is called interaction;
  • informatics - the author suggests that it is the "relationship between people and machines". 
 He tries to dimensionalize interactivity to show how one should understand the term in various dimensions, but still the first, risk-free conclusion that he comes to is that the concept of interactivity is complex and there is no single explanation to it. The other, more thorough explanation would be a definition that he gives: "a measure of a media's potential ability to let the user exert an influence on the content and/or form of the mediated communication".

I think this was a good trail of thought to sum up the concept which even the author considered not the final and the very best discussion of the term, but I think he suggests that there should be more done to explain the concept of interactivity.

24.10.10

E- portfoolio. Viies nädal.

Lähtudes viiendas nädala kodutööst hakkasin mõtlema, milline võiks minu e-portfoolio olla ja mis eesmärgil ma seda koostaks.

Tiigrihüppe poolt korraldatud Digitiigri koolitusel koostasin esimest korda e-portfooliot, kuid kahjuks ei suuda ma meenutada tarkvara nimetust. See oli spetsiaalselt õpetajatele (kui ma õigesti nüüd mäletan) koostatud tarkvara CV koostamiseks.

Ma keskendun oma portfoolio loomisele, kuna hetkel mul teadlikult koostatud e-portfooliot ei eksisteeri. Õpiportfoolioks võiks tinglikult nimetada seda blogi, kuna siia on koondatud postitused erinevatest ainetest ning mõni üksik aine on jäänud väljapoole antud blogi.

Kuna ma töötan õpetajana ning õpetaja ametis on tähtis osa enesearendamisel, mis on omakorda kasulik kategooria tõstmisel, siis kavandan ma oma e-portfoolio just selle mõttega, et kokku koguda materjal, mis oleks vajalik minu karjääriredelil edasi liikumiseks ning oleks ka CV-le täiendavaks materjaliks.


Materjalid, mis on vajalikud e-portfooliosse sisestamiseks.



Riigi teatajas on kehtestatud õpetajate atesteerimiseks vajalikud nõuded, millest ma oma järgnevas analüüsis ka lähtun: 
  • tõendid koolituste kohta, mille ma läbinud olen (koolitusel ülestähendatud märkmed, mõtted, ideed ja muud materjalid); koolitusi tuleb läbida 160 tunni ulatuses 5a jooksul,
  • tõendid/kogemused koolis/vabariigis toimunud olümpiaadide korraldamisest või neis osalemisest; õpilaste juhendamisega seotud kogemus,
  • pedagoogilise praktika juhendamisel saadud kogemuste ülestähendamine; võimalusel ka praktikandi kogemus,
  • uurimistöö retsenseerimise/juhendamise kogemus,
  • konverentsidel ja muudel taolistel üritustel esinemised (teema, sihtgrupp, rahulolu jne)
  • loodud publitseeritud õppevara avaldamine,
Milliste vahenditega ma oma portfoolio loon.

Keskkond, kuhu ma oma portfoolio loon peab olema lihtsalt kasutatav ning visuaalselt nauditav. Kindlasti saab seda lihtsalt muuta ja see võib seetõttu olla ka lihtne veebilehekülg, mis on kergesti navigeeritav.
Mulle endale meeldib Weebly kodulehe süsteem, kus on mul olemas ka nii-öelda CV-laadne leht (lähemal meeldetuletamisel üsna mahukas), kuid ma olen selle olemasolu veidi unarusse jätnud. Samuti sobib selleks ka näiteks lihtne kodulehe formaat nagu Wix.com (vt. Ingrid Maadvere portfooliot).

Weebly lehele lisasin oma cv, SlideShare ettekanded, mille olin teinud kooli mitteametliku haridustehnoloogina töötamisega seoses, ning samuti väikese ülevaate sellest, mida pean enda elus oluliseks.

Õpikeskkonnad ja õpivõrgustikud. Kolmas nädal.

Jäin küll rongist maha, aga järjepidevuse mõttes teen siiski oma selle nädala ülesande ka ära.

1. Baseerudes oma eelmisel nädalal defineeritud õpikeskkonna definitsioonile mõtiskle sotsiaalse meedia vahendi(te) üle kui potentsiaalse õpikeskkonna võimalik(ud) koostisosa(d). Millised on sotsiaalse meedia eelised õpihaldussüsteemide ees ning millised on sinu arvates peamised probleemid nii õppija kui ka õpetaja/õppejõu vaatenurgast?

Sotsiaalse meedia vahendite eelised:

Kindlasti avatus ja tihti väike või üldse puuduv haldustasu. Õpilastel on võimalik keskkondadele hõlpsalt ligi pääseda ning oma õpikeskkonda mugavalt täiendada vastavalt nõutud töödele. Väga hõlpsalt leiab keskkondi, mis ei nõua mingit haldustasu ning kuhu saab lihtsalt uusi postitusi lisada.
Sotsiaalne meedia lubab piire laiendada, mis lahti seletatuna minu mõistes tähendab seda, et lisaks õpilastele/üliõpilastele saavad loodud kursuse materjale kasutada ka väljaspoolt kooli huvitatud inimesed õppematerjale kasutada ja huvilised loodud ideid kommenteerida. Blogipõhine õppegrupp moodustab homogeense blogosfääri, mis hakkabki postituste ja kommentaaride harmoonial põhinevalt toimima.
Andmed asuvad veebis, st. mujal kui enda arvutis. Neid ei pea salvestama lisakettale, vaid keegi teeb salvestamise töö Sinu eest juba ära. Inimesel on võimalus salvestada oma digitaalset materjali erinevatele "pilvedele", mis säilitatakse tema eest.

Sotsiaalse meedia vahendite puudused:

Privaatsuse puudumine. Sellistest keskkondadest on hõlbus leida inimeste personaalset infot (enesetutvustus, e-post jne) ning seda kurjasti ära kasutada.

Kindlasti on neid inimesi, kellele ei meeldi avalikkusele oma mõtteid kajastada, mistõttu neid võib segada avatud õpikeskkonna loomus ning nad võivad keelduda oma loodud sisu publitseerimast. On kogemus ühe üliõpilasega, kes avalikkuse ees postitamise vastu võitlemiseks saatis oma kodutööd õppejõule meili kaudu. Siit tuleneb ka autoriõiguse probleem. Näitest tulenevalt võime oletada, et üliõpilane kartis oma ideede vargust, mida on üsna lihtne avatud õpisüsteemide kaudu teostada.
Kõige maalähedasem probleem on vast internetiühendusega tekkinud probleemid, mis takistavad koolitööd tegemast, kuid need takistavad ka kinnistes keskkondades tegevuse toimumist.

Minu jaoks on sotsiaalmeedia vahendites siiski rohkem positiivseid külgi, sest kui tihti ja kui kauaks see internet ikka ära kaob. Pigem on sotsiaalmeedia abil ikkagi võimalus uurida vajalikku infot (seda eelnevalt sõelast läbi lastes, mis on adekvaatne või mitte) ning teada saada erinevate inimeste käekäigust, kuid leidub ka neid inimesi, kes teevad teiste üle nalja, et nad omavad näiteks Facebooki kontot või peavad blogi.

14.10.10

New Interactive Environments. Task Three

Today I am concentrating on different students' study plans as task 3.

I studied Maarja, Jakob, Katri, Mehrnoosh, and Valeria.

1. What elements, components, etc. have been used by others to describe their activity?

All the students named above used a kind of graph to describe their activities during the process. Most of them added written information to graphical illustrations, but Jakob was the only one to get away with only graphic devices. I also noticed that he had added some extra information in the comments section, so it was useful to read.

2. What level of detail?

The most detailed descripition was Maarja's, and the precision caught my eye at once. Jakob, Mehrnoosh, and Valeria seemed the only ones to present their tasks in a graphic form with some explanation of the graph (the latter was a bit longer than the first one).

3. What structural aspects are showing up in their descriptions/visualisations?

Most of the students had used a graph and a short explanation of the graph. Everyone began from deciding on the courses based on the available curriculum and moved on towards different decisions like timing, will to learn, etc. Every single plan had a different approach, but one could find similar clusters. Maarja's and Valeria's graphs were similar in the sense that they involved questions and paths to the final decision, but at the same time I found Mehrnoosh's and Valeria's graphs similar from the meaning of thoughts and decisions.

4. What is missing?

Most of the graphs were missing a thorough explanation.


5. What are pros and cons of the different approaches?

I think a graph is a great tool for visual learners, as it can be presented in various ways (more boring or less boring). Jakob's graph was a great example for an interesting, youthfully grasping graph, and the others were quite classical. In another blog I also found a hand-drawn graph, I assume, which caught my eye at once, but I did not choose the blog for analysis. I would have liked to see a longer description of the choices, because for me it is more interesting to read than to search the words for the author's connotations. Connotations come from our own minds, thus the real explanations from the authors remain hidden.
Pros are definitely the amount of time for creating a graph versus adding an explanation to it as well, the first variant takes up less time for sure.

I also peeked in other blogs and found out that quite a lot of people had chosen the graph approach, this is why I liked Maarja's approach the most, because it was deeply thorough. Jakob gets extra points for his creativeness, and I must say he does have an explanation in the comments.

10.10.10

New Interactive Environments. Task Two.

I started thinking about my semester's choices, and first ended up with a short mind map to sum my thoughts up:




In case you cannot see the object properly, I will provide you with a simpler HTML page.

I will start analyzing the background information.

Work

This year I considered work more important than last year, because I missed so many days because of the learning cycles that IMKE curriculum has. Since there were very many interesting courses, I decided to participate in most of them to concentrate more on the Master's Thesis on the second year.
During school there is no replacement for me at work, so my tasks are not completed. This year my chosen lecture decisions based on the following:
  • More time for work
  • More time for Master's Thesis
  • More time for rest and my family
Since my work demands all of my concentration, it is not possible to study during working hours.

Family

As the last year was crowded with homework there was almost no time for my family. All my child heard was "Mom's learning now, be a good kid and play with your Legos." Or something the like. Quite a lot of my evenings were filled with homework and work tasks. I also spent a few nights studying in order not to miss deadlines. I was not there for my family at all.
I also spent a lot of time in Tallinn during learning cycles, thus my child missed me a lot. This influenced deeply my this year's decisions not to spend too little time with my son and leave a little mind rest for myself.
This means I have weekday evenings free for my family and my own relaxation, and I can go to sleep early in the evening. I wake up more alert and willing to work. My child is happier, and I do schoolwork more eagerly.

Courses

Previous year's choices showed that during study cycles it was possible to interact with coursemates and it was much more fun to study in that way, you had help and teams available at all times. Collaboration was great!
Since there were many new courses I got quite a lot of new ideas and bright thoughts, but as I mentioned previously, my work and family life suffered greatly from studying.
This year there are a few courses left on my compulsory courses list, thus it is easier to choose between the courses that do not disturb my private life and work.

Since I have more time, I also have more options, and thus I chose some optional courses from another curriculum, because I think these courses might come in handy for my future career. This way I ended up choosing some lectures from Educational Technology curriculum.
First I read through the information in order to see if the course fitted my needs and registered online.
The study system allows you to register online without attending the Tallinn University building. This year my choice was between e-courses and weekend lectures. With e-courses it was also necessary to observe the lecturers' weblogs and wikiversity entries in order not to miss the beginning of the courses.
Last year I ended up with passing 72.5% of the curriculum, this year I will try to do the rest.
I am seriously wondering how I could manage this much last year.
This year it seems that noone is bothered at work that I am missing very often, and my family is also happy. I have weekends for studying, because then I am fresh and fully able to concentrate on schoolwork.

3.10.10

Õpikeskkonnad ja õpivõrgustikud. Õpikeskkonna definitsioon.

1) Õpikeskkond on koht, kus tegeletakse õppetegevusega. See võib olla ükskõik, milline koht või internetikeskkond, milles olles omandatakse uusi teadmisi. Õpikeskkonad võmaludavad õpilastel end mugavalt tundes (aga ka vahest teadmatult õppides) õppida.
Selles aines käsitleme kindlasti veebikeskkondi, mis on mugavalt struktureeritud ning võimaldavad nii õppida, õpitut peegeldada kui ka tagasisidet saada.

2) Õpihaldussüsteemidest olen põgusalt kokku puutunud Moodle'iga, IVA-ga, VIKO-ga ja iCampusega või eestikeelse eCampusega (ega neil kahel peale keelelise erinevuse muud vahet ei olegi).
Ma analüüsiks neid viimaseid, kuna need on uusimad.

Positiivne taoliste õpihaldussüsteemide puhul on sotsiaalvõrgustiku mudel, mis võimaldab inimestel saada automaatset tagasisidet nii antud keskkonnas kui ka meili teel. Lisaks on seal võimalus faile lisada ja õppejõuga otse vestelda, samuti muude lisavidinate (kommuunid, grupid jms) lisamise võimalused. Kuna tegemist on ELGG-iga, siis olen enne selle süsteemi "maigu" suhu saanud just Koolielu portaalist, milles on võimalusi vaat et rohkemgi kui antud õpihaldussüsteemides.

Negatiivse poole pealt jäävad taolise keskkonna võimalused siiski kasinaks, ning sinna ei ole integreeritud automaatse tulemuse genereerimise võimalust, samuti paigutuvad sinna asetatud failid väga ebamugavalt järjestusse. Tundub, et antud keskkonda on vaja põhjalikult tuunida, et sellest asjalik õpihaldussüsteem saada.

Mulle meeldib kõige rohkem ehk IVA, mida sai Tiigrihüppe koolituse ajal proovida, see tundus väga loogiline ja mõnus hallata, kui Moodle jäi tiba keeruliseks, aga see võib tuleneda asjaolust, et mul oli seda väga vähe aega õppida. VIKO on väga suurte puudujääkidega algeline õpihaldussüsteem ning vajab massiivset täiendamist nagu iCampuski. WebCT-ga ei ole mul isiklikke kokkupuuteid olnud.