Reflection 4

Feedback from lecturers, facilitatots and students was a good indication of what is not viable and the problems that had to be sorted out before implementation. 

The learning challenges flow one into the other and I tried to address all of this at once which was not possible from the feedback in the online session.  I also realised that all of this “chain reaction” problems can be addressed with a Learning Management System.  The Institute does not have a LMS and the processes were started to have a LMS ideal for our circumstances.  On this basis my prototype changed completely and I focused on the learning problem that is affecting the performances of students in this course and a method to overcome it. 

With this problem the tablet will be introduced that take the student through a step-by-step process to calculate the answer and interpret it to make a correct decision.  The tablet will be used in a lecture setup and all of the proceedings recorded to publish it in a LMS.  The students can then download and go through the process and post a question.  These questions will be addressed in a lecture and the tutorials will be formalised based on this questions.  Problems will be given to groups of two or three with each a tablet.  They are allowed to discuss the problem and work out the most reasonable answer and with a Bluetooth connection to the projector; they will explain the steps to the rest of the class to eventually get to an answer and a decision. 

My exploration started by listing all the problems that we (student and lecturer) are faced with in this course.  The article of Dabbach and Bannan-Ritland (2005) and the information on the Emerging Technologies Wiki were studied to match it with the problems.  Internet restrictions at the Institute, the lack of a Learning Management System and student backgrounds were the basis to eliminate the technologies that are not viable.  I initially focused on the tool to address the learning problem and during the second Adobe Connect session I observed that the learning problem should be my focus with the prototype as my tool to address it.

It is expected of students to determine the amount of water and the direction of water flow in a soil with mathematical equations and then make decisions with the management of irrigation.  The student is able to calculate the answer by memorising the equation but they are unable to make the decisions as they don’t understand the process to the answer of the calculation.  The problem-solving strategy from Heller et. al. (1992) was suggested from a colleague and in the class setup I followed the five-step problem solving strategy with HP tablet.  Classes are big and I encourage discussions with other students to enhance their ability to reason the best possible way of addressing the problem and eventually answering the question.  With these presentations students got more involved and requested that these files are made available.  Various software were used to convert the files to Windows Media Video/Audio files until a facilitator suggested the use of Camtasia Studio.  The activity of class discussion and reasoning in class led to exploring this in smaller groups (tutorial sessions with 15-20 students) and allowing the student to explain the process of solving the problem and making a decision afterwards. 

In the tutorial, students had an opportunity to reason with one another to eventually come to a solution that they can explain and share with the rest of the group.  This was done by giving each group of three to four students a tablet.  And after their discussion they connected to the projector and explained to the rest of the group.  Students are then evaluated on their discussions in class as the lecturer can move from one group to another and listen to their reasoning.  A mark is given when they follow the five step problem solving strategy from Heller et. al. (1992) and make a decision at the end.  This activity was evaluated after a scheduled semester test and students were asked for comments with regards to collaborative learning and the use of tablets in the class and tutorial setup. In the class setup student found it very interesting and helpful for the problem solving through a step-by-step process and these files that are available with audio even on a cell phone.  They consider the tablet to have a positive effect on their learning with active participation in the tutorial that made them feel important, comfortable and part of the team and in the end know exactly where they stand.  They have high expectations from the lecturer to compile groups strategically and facilitate the sessions to ensure that the concepts and basics are used in the correct manner.  In certain cases the use of the tablet was too fast and students could not keep track, especially in the tutorial classes.