The next unit I’m about to study is ‘Technologies for Learning’. I’m hoping that this will allow me to build on the knowledge I obtained when I was an Information and Learning Technology Advocate in a previous role. Also, on a daily basis, I regularly use various technologies (such as Moodle), helping both staff and students to get the most out of them. As well as learning about technologies I am already familiar with, I’m sure I will come across new ones while studying this unit, which hopefully I may be able to use within my LCT role – so watch this space!
I’m referring here to the Postgraduate Certificate in Educational Studies that I’m currently studying. This qualification consists of three units, two of which I have now completed. I had a choice of what to study, and the two that I have recently submitted assignments for were ‘Research Methods in Education’ and ‘Understanding Learners and Learning’ (ULL). It was useful to revisit research methods (having studied it for my Library Masters) as a number of our students are completing their research projects, and so things like validity and reliability, and ethics, are things they need to be thinking about so it has helped in refreshing my memory. By focussing on self-directed/self-regulated learning within adult learning as part of my ULL module, I have been able to apply my reading of various theories to my job within the College. It has been useful to really think about the differences between FE and HE students – they are of varying ages and abilities, and are on a diverse range of courses. One of the key things is that there is an emphasis on independent learning within HE; as a result I’ve started to promote the study skills sessions I run within the Learning Centre. I think these sessions will become even more important when we start getting into the exam season. Another area that I covered in my studies was motivation. As an LCT, I have a big part to play in motivating students – this is not just the job of their lecturers. This made me think about how often a number of IT support sessions that I carry out are with students who have decided to return to education after a number of years. They can sometimes be resistant to technology as they are not familiar with it, and so part of my job is to make them feel more confident and try and engage them to new ways and tools to help them in their studies, hopefully motivating them to carry on long after they have left the Learning Centre. While researching my assignment, I also came across the idea that we should see ourselves as facilitators of student learning. Personalised learning, and taking into account the experiences and backgrounds of our students, is also important, and students from all walks of life bring lots of different skills and ideas to their studies, which in turn affects how they approach their work.
The next unit I’m about to study is ‘Technologies for Learning’. I’m hoping that this will allow me to build on the knowledge I obtained when I was an Information and Learning Technology Advocate in a previous role. Also, on a daily basis, I regularly use various technologies (such as Moodle), helping both staff and students to get the most out of them. As well as learning about technologies I am already familiar with, I’m sure I will come across new ones while studying this unit, which hopefully I may be able to use within my LCT role – so watch this space!
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A couple of weeks ago I was approached by one of our Marine Engineering lecturers, who had a request for us to purchase eBooks for a Marine Electrical course. We have an agreement whereby some of our staff teach in a facility on the Isle of Wight. Last time this lecturer went there, he took a handful of our books with him for the students to use. As he teaches about 20 students, and then has to bring the books back down to Cornwall with him, this isn’t ideal for these students, as they don’t have access to these resources once the lecturer has gone. The lecturer therefore asked about eBooks, and as one of the areas of my Chartership I want to develop is Stock Management, this seemed a perfect situation to start thinking about it. While the lecturer was in the Learning Centre, I did a quick search on our supplier’s site, and straight away found two eBooks that he was interested in.
One idea I came up with includes trying to implement some sort of distance learning loan scheme. When I studied via distance learning with Aberystwyth University, I made extensive use of a similar service. Not only did this include books, but there was also a Document Supply Service, where for a small fee the library would photocopy and post out journal articles or short extracts of books (http://www.aber.ac.uk/en/is/help/distancelearners/). I’m not sure however how feasible this would be (in terms of staff time) and whether we have a sufficient budget to warrant buying books that would exclusively belong to a distance learning collection. There are also Copyright implications of a Document Supply Service as well. In some respects, this is why purchasing eBooks may be the way to go; not only would these students in the Isle of Wight be able to use them, but so too would our students here in Falmouth. Here at the College we use Moodle, and another idea I came up with was perhaps trying to create a subject guide for these students that they could access through Moodle. This might also help to point them in the direction of useful resources/websites that might help them in their studies. Although subject guides seem to be standard documents that libraries now produce (just look at any university library webpage), to my knowledge, nothing has been created for these particular students, or their course. This is therefore definitely something to work on, as is doing a bit more research into eBooks. I thought I'd post a short entry on how I chose my mentor. When I first started looking at Chartership, I felt slightly overwhelmed with the whole process. Contained on the CILIP website is a spreadsheet with details of all the current mentors (this is only accessible to CILIP members, as you need to log in). It was nice to see some familiar names on there - people I had worked with before or names I recognised from social media/professional publications. I chose to approach an ex-line manager of mine as I knew she would be very supportive, and I felt more comfortable with approaching someone who I already knew.
There is lots of advice on the CILIP website about how to choose a mentor, however here are my tips for things to consider: Look and see if there are any names that you recognise - these could be people you work/have worked with, those who you follow on social media or people who have published books & articles that you have read Look at their job titles/places of work - are there people who have a similar job role to you, or one that you aspire to? Are there people who have similiar research interests to you? A couple of things to also consider is whether you want to meet your mentor face-to-face, or are you happy to have meetings via telephone or email (or maybe even Skype or Facetime)? Some mentors stipulate that they prefer to work with mentees in the same region, and others will only support those who are employed in the same organisation as themselves. However you choose your mentor - good luck! I had a very successful first telephone meeting this morning with my mentor. My mentor is actually based in the Midlands, therefore any discussions will be conducted via email and telephone. As a result of today's meeting, I've decided to document my progress through CILIP Chartership by creating this blog; I hope that it proves useful and allows me to develop my reflective practice. You can find out more about my background using the link at the top of the page. Feel free to also follow me on Twitter (see the link at the very top of the page).
Things that came out of my first mentor meeting that I need to work on include: Familiarising myself with the CILIP VLE and Portfolio Builder; joining groups and discussion boards, creating a CV Try and find examples of CILIP portfolios Reading up on reflective writing (hence the creation of this blog!) Reading the full CILIP PKSB and focusing on specific areas that I want to develop Refering to the aims and objectives/service objectives of our department, and how our department sits within the overall College structure and how any evidence I complete for Chartership relates to these My mentor also mentioned a really useful way of how to be reflective: the STAR method. It stands for the following: Situation Task Action Result I'm going to try and use this method when it comes to writing reflectively. My mentor has also very kindly sent me a number of documents to read on the Chartership process in general, including bits on reflective writing. I'm also hoping to network with two of my mentor's colleagues who are also going through the Chartership process. It will be really nice to be able to share experiences and ideas with others. Another thing I want to explore is what groups are out there on social media; I know there are regular Chartership chats on Twitter, for example. So...there's lots to keep me busy until my next meeting with my mentor in March! |
About meMy name's Heather and I'm a Learning Centre Tutor in an FE/HE College in the South West of England. I am also a CILIP Mentor and welcome enquiries from prospective mentees. I created this blog to keep up to date with my professional development and all things library related. Please note - all views and images are my own, unless stated otherwise. Archives
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