Professional Background and Personal Learning Objectives
About Me
My name is Mike Bogle, and I am an eLearning Researcher from the University of New South Wales. My primary role in my unit, Learning & Teaching @ UNSW, is to research innovative technologies and evaluate how they can support learning and teaching, pilot new services, and provide consultative support for local academic staff interested in incorporating emerging technology into their curriculum.
Work History
I’ve been at UNSW since 2002, and began at the Educational Development and Technology Centre (EDTeC) on the Learning Resource Catalogue (LRC). This project sought to provide a central storehouse of learning materials, which could be used and reused by the academic community to support their teaching efforts. Encompassing 18 international institutions at its peak, the LRC eventually expanded to include a group area for facilitating community interaction and collaboration.
After the LRC I expanded into research as a member of the Authentic Learning Project, which explored the logistics and possibilities of field-based webconferencing. The project aimed to determine the feasibility of facilitating two-way link-ups between staff in remote locations and students in the classroom. A highly ambitious project, we established a proof of concept by successfully conducting a field geology lesson between a lecturer in Centennial Park in Sydney and colleagues on campus. Ultimately however we determined that the local infrastructure (strength and availability of wireless Internet access) and technical complexities of the setup rendered more widespread usage unrealistic in the short term. Furthermore the virtually complete absence of high speed Internet outside of urban centres make the prospect of remote field-work impossible.
One of the key outcomes to emerge from the Authentic Learning Project was the web conferencing pilot that I helped organise. Based on Macromedia’s Breeze, a web conference room was constructed that enabled groups of up to 12 people to connect with colleagues anywhere in the world to hold meetings, job interviews, and even student exercises. I facilitated the technical aspects of countless meetings, including a highly complex link-up with the UK for the ISSOTL conference in front of several hundred people, as well as a classroom exercise between local students of Japanese studies and their counterparts in Japan.
Concurrently to the Authentic Learning I began to explore the emerging realm of new media (aka Web 2.0, or social software) and joined a very short lived project known as the Land and Water Australia Knowledgebase as the technical consultant. The LWA-KB as it was called was part of the larger Healthy Soils Project, which sought to link together subject-matter experts from a wide cross-section of society - ranging from government and other public sector representatives, to private sector consultants and consultancy firms, to farmers and rural experts. Unfortunately this project was not meant to be and was terminated before it got off the ground.
The next phase of my professional development was on the front lines of eLearning support as the eLearning Delivery Coordinator and Research Officer. I worked across the eLearning portfolio in a support and testing capacity, liaised with ITS Help Desk and software vendors, provided consultative eLearning support to local staff, and concurrently ran the unofficial web conferencing service. In hindsight it was a huge undertaking, but I learned a lot from it.
Eventually I became fully devoted to eLearning Research and am now responsible for following trends in emerging technology, evaluating new tools and services, piloting new projects, and continuing to provide consultative support to local staff to help them realise their ideas. One of my personal missions is to help local staff realise the untapped potential in new media, and importantly to ensure sufficient attention to learning is maintained in the process.
Personal Learning Objectives
As discussed above, my background is primarily technical in nature. In recent years I have begun to explore the educational side of educational technology, with a particular emphasis upon the fundamentals - learning theory, learning styles, and holistic ways to facilitate the learning experience of others - but there is still much I would like to learn.
My objectives for exploring these areas - above and beyond personal interest - rests on my ultimate goal of enhancing and supporting the learning experiences and opportunities of others. I believe it’s important to understand how people learn, before you can effectively support them. Understanding how technology works is by itself insufficient. Tools by themselves are static, it’s the way they’re used and implemented, the interactivity that’s established, and the communities that evolve that make the most difference in a learner’s journey.
Specifically with regards to the course, there are several areas of interest. First and foremost is the opportunity to explore new areas and topics, and to stretch what I know into unfamiliar areas. Having looked through the introductions of the other students I’m also looking forward to interacting with a diverse group of people - many of whom are experts in their own right. There are tremendous opportunities in the wealth of knowledge this network carries with it, and I relish the opportunity to read through the blogs of the other students.
Additionally there is the chance to return to learning from a student’s perspective. It’s been 10 years since I graduated from uni, and while a great deal of personal and professional growth have occurred I think it’s important to return to the role of the student on a regular basis to remind myself what exists on the other side of the academic fence. To be an effective eLearning consultant, you must understand the needs of the learner; and the best way to do that is by becoming them.
On a slightly different note, I’m also really looking forward to the chance to see how the course is organised and facilitated. I’ve spent years researching new media as an individual, and have discussed, read and written of the learning opportunities inherent in emerging technology; however I’ve not yet experienced a course firsthand that wholly incorporates it.
Questions and Concerns
At this stage I have neither questions, nor concerns. I’m just looking to what lay ahead.
Monday, July 28th, 2008