Educational Technology Blog

UCD Presentations at EdTech

UCD presentations in the Practitioner strand at EdTech 2008 included:

Blogging as a Facilitator in the Learning Process: Student Reflections on Their Information Seeking During Assessment by Crystal Fulton of the UCD School of Library and Information Studies. About 100 second-year students used blogs to record and reflect on their information searching strategies. This helped to deepen their understanding of their own information seeking processes and thus increase their information literacy. Abstract. Slides.

Scholarcast – Podcasting Irish Studies to the World by Niall Watts of Media Services, UCD IT Services. Scholarcast aims to be the audio equivalent of a research journal. It is inspired by RTE’s Thomas Davis series where specialists in the field of Irish Studies broadcast public lectures. Series 1 of Scholarcast consists of eight audio podcasts accompanied by transcripts, which can be used for referencing purposes. It was developed by UCD School of English, Drama and Film and Media Services. Abstract.(PDF) Slides(zip).

Real & Relevant – learning is changing: reflections on the experience of task-based assessment within a masters’ programme by Anne McMorrough and Ana Maria Perez Martinez.
The presenters are both primary school teachers and postgraduate students in the UCD School of Education and LifeLong Learning. They described ICT projects in their schools – one involving e-Twinning with a school in Newcastle, UK and the other Spanish language skills. In both cases the children learned to work collaboratively using ICT tools. Abstract. Slides.

Developing Communities of Practice: Experiences and Challenges co-presented by a team of National Digital Learning Repository (NDLR) Community of Practice (CoP) co-ordinators, including Diane Cashman of the Centre for Teaching and Learning in the UCD School of Education and Lifelong Learning. Other team members were Muireann O’Keefe from DCU and Lisa O’Regan of NUI Maynooth. The presentation discusses the development of CoPs including motivation, structure, collaborative environment, and sustained promotion. Abstract(PDF).

Add comment August 19th, 2008

98 student blogs

Nearly 100 second stage students studying in the UCD School of Library and Information Studies (SILS) created their own ‘Blogger’ blog to record their observations on their information seeking experiences. None of the students had created a blog before. The blogs were used in module, called “Finding Information in Everyday Contexts” (IS20010), in which students explore ways of finding and evaluating information relevant to their lives in and beyond college and increase their level information literacy. Dr Crystal Fulton, SILS, who teaches the module, considers the use of blogs a success, noting that “the blogs added an important reflective element to the students’ Information Hunt assessment.” She plans to incorporate the blogs in assessment for this module again next autumn. In the meantime, Dr. Fulton’s postgraduate students will be using blogs in Qualitative Research Methods (IS40060) in the new year.

Add comment December 13th, 2007