Conclusions and Recommendations

This module has been particularly useful for me in a wide-ranging ways. To start with, I had never developed a blog and in this module I broke free from this ‘taboo’. Furthermore, during completing my assignment i.e. developing the blog, even more learning has taken place, which I am pretty happy about, let alone the content of the blog itself.

I have learnt not only basics of blogging but also that how much potential this ‘art’ of e-communication has to quickly reach your active peers and have their feedback on your professional thoughts. This can also inform your lecturing, research, publications and even research proposal applications with most up to date information i.e. in ‘real-time’. Information which reaches via books and even peer review publications could still be about at least a year old by the time a paper has been reviewed, corrections made, accepted and then eventually published after a long waiting que time. Similarly, me following blogs of peers can help the same way with an even wider outreach.

In this module not only my existing knowledge and practice was refreshed and enhanced but also new skills and software were learnt, which once practiced a little, can make substantial difference in my current teaching practices. This experience has helped to realize that like the world is talking about concepts of smart cities, smart phones, and smart buildings; now is the time to embark on with ‘smart teaching’ and subsequently ‘smart learning’; which is possible only via the smart and mobile technologies.

Finally, I strongly feel that the pace with which smart and mobile technologies have taken over the teaching and learning world, there is a considerable lack of research studies on how the old – but still valid – concepts (such as Bloom’s Taxonomy; Kolb’s Cycle; and Honey and Mumford’s four learning styles) can be innovated to fit in with the smart and mobile technologies more effectively and efficiently for our ‘smart-era’ students. I have a few ideas to put a self-funded PhD research proposals together, if the Education Department is interested. I believe if we advertise 3 to 4 such self-funded PhD proposals, we are highly likely to have at least one success. The follow-on publications can also enhance chances of securing some external research funds; and escalate the REF.

Appropriate Applications for My Teaching and Learning

Bloom's Taxonomy and Microsoft Applications

The fundamental concepts of Bloom’s original Taxonomy and revised taxonomy (Figures 1 and 2, respectively) (Bloom et al; 1956; Anderson and Krathwohl, 2001; Krathwohl, 2002; Teaching & Learning, 2016) are regularly integrated into my teaching to assist learning of my students, for which I employ Microsoft applications in varying styles. For instance, in my micro-teach lesson which was on the topic of ‘productivity – efficiency and effectiveness’, I employed Microsoft PowerPoint application to deliver the lesson along a certain structure as well as help me prompt questions to students to stir and provoke their reflective thinking, at right and planned stages of my lesson (as per my lesson plan). I also had graph(s) and mathematical equation(s) on my PowerPoint slides to show to students at appropriate stages of my lecture according to my lesson plan.

With reference to Figures 1 and 2, almost all the tiers were embedded in the micro-teach lesson to varying degrees. For instance, the existing knowledge of the students was checked with the first question following the Introduction of the lesson to the students i.e. what is productivity – (which popped up on my PowerPoint slide at the planned stage of the lecture). Then their answers were noted on the white board carrying out analysis of implications of the term. I enhanced their understanding / comprehension by adding to their answers. Then implications and answers noted on the board were synthesized into two main categories i.e. efficiency/quantity and effectiveness/quality – the two parts that the productivity consists of. To cover the evaluating and creating element, I linked productivity and its implications with students own work experience and explained in an exercise that was given to them in interpersonal group discussions. This exercise helped students in these ways too: Turning in (e.g. establish difference before and after); Finding out (e.g. brain storming); Sorting out (e.g. mind mapping); Developing views (e.g. choosing a suitable case study); and Making decision (e.g. problem identification and solving). 

As for other Microsoft applications, in my supervision of dissertation projects for my students, Microsoft Excel application is employed to carry out quantitative and graphical analysis of data to derive research findings. I also have used it in my research as well as still use as an administrative tool for my teaching e.g. keeping record of students' marks and work out average mark as well as standard deviation (statistical features of the spreadsheet). I also used this application in conjunction with Microsoft Access application (which has Visual Basic Application – VBA embedded in it) during my PhD to develop a computer model for environmental risk assessment of landfill leachate. I am advancing this work by preparing doctorate research proposals for employing self-funded PhD students. As for Microsoft Word, I have my students use this application to prepare their assignments as well as I use it to prepare coursework assignment specifications for students and then place on the University’s Moodle system. In my lectures, I would also employ video clips and photos using Microsoft PowerPoint application.

Note:

For more details on my experience and use of these Microsoft applications, please see my earlier post entitled 'Personal Experience with Microsoft Applications'

Other applications

Below is an additional list of applications that I use for a number of teaching and learning objectives, internationally rather than just nationally. For instance, to enhance my research impact, communicate with experts in my research areas, professional contacts, meetings, etc.:

• Research Gate and Academic Edu
• Linked In
• Skype
• Lincs
• Facebook
• WhatsApp
• Dropbox

Moodle (Modular Object-Oriented Dynamic Learning Environment)

For this Section, see the post entitled 'Influence of the Technology on Learning Ways'. 

Kolb’s Experimental Learning Cycle 

For this Section, see the post entitled 'Influence of the Technology on Learning Ways'.

Four Main Learning Styles and Differentiation

For this Section, see the post entitled 'Influence of the Technology on Learning Ways'.

References

Anderson, L. W. and Krathwohl, D. (Eds.). 2001, A taxonomy for learning, teaching, and assessing: A revision of Bloom's taxonomy of educational objectives. New York, USA.

Bloom, B.; Englehart, M; Furst, E.; Hill, W. and Krathwohl, D. 1956, Taxonomy of educational objectives: The classification of educational goals. Handbook I: Cognitive domain. New York, USA.

Krathwohl, David R. 2002, A Revision of Bloom’s Taxonomy: An overview, Theory into Practice, Vol. 41, No. 4, pp. 212 – 218.

Teaching & Learning, 2016, Bloom’s Taxonomy, Available at: www.learningandteaching.info/learning/bloomtax.htm, Accessed: 09 January 2016.

Barriers to the Effective Use of the Technology in Education

In order to analyze possible barriers to effective use of the technology in education, it can be a good idea to consider the issue in two tiers, i.e. Teaching and Learning. The teaching is what is delivered by a teacher and learning is that is to take place at the end of students. So the barrier could be falling in the remit of any of these two spheres in terms of responsibility. A constraint in any of the two spheres can play a role of learning not taking place, and thus, teaching not taking place in deed.

Teacher Responsibility Sphere

An example from my Micro-Teach lesson is used to explain this sphere. When Micro-Teach lessons were being delivered, I was listening to them in a student capacity. There was a glare on the projector screen because of the unnecessary lights being on. All of us in student capacity were shy to request to turn the lights off to avoid the glare, causing uncomfortability and distraction. However, when I was up to deliver my Micro-Teach lesson, the first thing I did was to turn those extra lights off. This was appreciated by all the audience (who were there in the student capacity as a role play). The point is that it was the teacher’s (Micro-Teach lesson deliverer in this case) responsibility to make sure there are no distractions on behalf of the teacher responsibility. Such little matters can make huge difference to remove barriers and bong the teaching with learning more productively. It can be good idea ask students if everything is alright or they can hear me fine, etc.

Student Responsibility Sphere

Similarly there are distractions that fall in the responsibility remit of students e.g. using mobile phone and social media for their personal use in the classroom. However, social media such as Facebook can be employed in educational context. For instance, when I was at the University of Exeter, I co-supervised a mini-project in which Facebook was chosen as a medium of updating all group members of each other’s progress to communicate between the student group members and supervisors including me. Similarly, mobile phones can be used in the classroom setting in a number of ways, e.g. to engage students in a poll with software like Nearpod. However, I need to master this art yet, which itself can be deemed as a barrier, that is lack of time and staff training and development on how to effectively use the ICT technology in classroom and other teaching-learning settings.

General Idea

Based on above paragraphs, the following point can be made: Although the technology has brought about new and innovative opportunities to boost styles of learning, student-oriented education and deeper level stimulation of thinking; the teachers’ mind-sets and traditional beliefs may impede them to uptake and usefully apply the technology with their course designs and syllabus to its full potential. I personally believe the main hurdle simply is the lack of the understanding of the concept of the technology and the social media.

General Examples of Barriers

A few examples of barriers are listed below (but not explored further due to brevity of the blog) where these barriers (or constraints) can be intrinsic or extrinsic depending upon how and where boundaries are drawn (Bingimlas, 2009):

·         E safety (e.g. privacy, hacking, spam, virus, phishing, etc.)

·         Lack of teacher confidence

·         Resistance to change and negative attitudes

·         Lack of teacher competence

·         Lack of effective training

·         Lack of time

·         Lack of technical support

·         Culture

·         Disability / Special Education Needs

·         Language

·         Cost

·         Lack of motivation

·         Access to facilities

·         Prior knowledge (lacking or inappropriate)

·         Numerical skills lacking

·         Etc.

Reference

Bingimlas, K.A., 2009. Barriers to the successful integration of ICT in teaching and learning environments: A review of the literature. Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science & Technology Education, 5(3), pp.235-245.

Influence of the Technology on Learning Ways

The world has seen quite a few revolutions in different walks of life in the context of the advent of technology. For instance, many technologies have revolutionized life throughout the history of humanity, from the creation of hand tools, to mechanical devices, powered machines and automated robotic processes and manufacturing. But among the list of such inventions and discoveries, mobile communications stands out as a giant in terms of the combination of speed of adoption and the extent of the global transformation it has driven. In about four decades, the technology has reached more than six billion people, permanently altering lives in ways that no one imagined was possible in so short a period, and with such global extent (Viswanathan and Weldon, 2014)

Ubiquitous Learning

Ubiquitous learning can be described as learning that takes place anytime and anywhere i.e. free of time and space. In other words, this type of learning is temporally and spatially independent. However, the mobile technology (m-technology) which, in deed, is the portability of computers and computing devices (details in the earlier post entitled ‘Value of Mobile Technology in Teaching and Learning’) has blurred the conventional dividing lines between formal and informal teaching and learning (Education-2025, 2016).

Figure 1: Ubiquitous Learning and Mobile Technology

Kolb’s Experimental Learning Cycle (Kolb, 1985)

The four steps/stages of the Kolb’s Experimental Learning Cycle (Figure 2) can be applied in a ‘light’ form i.e. not to its full capacity as it may not always be possible to carry out a full on experiment in the given time scale and in the class-room setting (as I learnt from my MicroTeach lesson). However, mobile technologies are rendering this more possible even in a conventional classroom setting. For instance, BIM (Building Information System) can be used in a conventional classroom setting to demonstrate various angles of a building at different stages of its construction (Butt et al, 2015). Though, this can still be followed by visits to construction sites. In this context, mobile technology in teaching and learning has already started revitalizing the Kolb’s concepts and they can be further enhanced as the fast developing technology develops further.

Figure 2: Kolb’s Experimental Learning Cycle

Moodle ((Modular Object-Oriented Dynamic Learning Environment)

Moodle (that can be seen as another m-technology) is a software developed on pedagogical principles (originally by Martin Dougiamas in Australia). Moodle is a learning platform designed to provide educators, administrators and learners with a single robust, secure and integrated system to create personalized learning environments. It can be used in a number of ways for a range of academic activities such as blended learning, distance education, flipped classroom and other e-learning projects in schools, universities, workplaces and other sectors (Rogers et al, 2009). 

I have personally applied Moodle to upload my lectures for my students so that they do not have to make notes to great extent in my classroom lectures and be able to concentrate more on what is being said rather than partly on what to note down. I problem which I personally faced all my life during my studies and learning and still do. I also put on course work instructions on Moodle for my students. Students electronically hand in their course work via a turnitin option. Moodle can be access from not just within university premises but anywhere as long as internet service is available (thus, great mobility / portability). It applies to staff as well as students. I can also contact students via as well as place my feedback to them on Moodle for them to access it. Moodle can also be helpful to cut down in having to see students all the time.

Bloom’s Taxonomy

This has been addressed in the post entitled ‘Appropriate Applications for My Teaching and Learning’.

Four Main Learning Styles and Differentiation

Honey and Mumford (1982; 2006) identified four main learning styles including Activist, Pragmatist, Reflector and Theorist. I believe that four learning styles of Honey and Mumford can help prepare a balanced team of students for group project and may be in industry and academic research teams too. In my lectures, employing m-technologies I can furnish my classroom lectures with features that can cater for all four styles. For instance, video and / or audio clips, graphs and pictures on my PowerPoint slides, write a piece of work e.g. dissertation proposal, interactive lecturing and intrapersonal as well interpersonal group discussions, involving students in preparing and delivering presentation on different topics, etc. Such m-technology based approaches can equally help with ‘differentiation’ as a cross cutting theme in my teaching to assist learning of students. Differentiation in teaching consists of efforts of teachers to accommodate and respond to variance among learners in the classroom (Tomlinson, 2000; 2014). Examples of differentiation are (Gill, 2013; 2016): Linguistic style; Authority or lecture style; Demonstrator or coach style; Facilitator or activity style; Delegator or group style; Hybrid or blended style; etc.

HEA Professional Standards Framework

The HEA (Higher Education Academy), which is a British professional institution promoting excellence in higher education, has developed Professionals Standards Framework which consists of five areas of activity (A1 to A5) which are underpinned by six Core Knowledge elements (K1 to K6) and four Professional Values aspects (V1 to V4) (HEA, 2011). These are not described here due to brevity by can be found in the document by HEA (2011). Mobile technologies can assist and already in creating and enhancing the learning environment in which these standards can be more readily achieved as opposed to conventional learning environments. 

Researcher Development Framework (RDF)

Researcher Development Framework is structured in four domains, which are: knowledge, intellectual abilities,techniques and professional standards to do research, as well as the personal qualities, knowledge and skills to work with others and ensure the wider impact of research (Vitae, 2010). These descriptors are further divided into sub-descriptors and are not discussed here due to brevity. However, for the purpose of this blog, the point being made is that mobile technologies can help researchers in the academe to achieve these aims and objectives regarding the RDF via mobile technologies much more efficiently and effectively. With my research students in my job role this is what I plan and aim to achieve.

References

Butt, T. E.; Francis, T. J.; Greenwood, D.; Jones, K. G. and Nasir, A. M. 2015, The role of BIM in tackling obsolescence, climate change, and sustainability. International Conference on Building Information Modelling (BIM) in Design, Construction and Operations, Vol. 149, pp. 555 – 565, 9 – 11 September, Bristol, England, UK.

Education-2025. 2016, Ubiquitous Learning, Available at: https://education-2025.wikispaces.com/Ubiquitous+Learning, Accessed: 17 January 2016, Tangient LLC.

HEA (Higher Education Academy), 2011, The UK Professional Standards Framework for teaching and supporting learning in higher education, HEA, UK.

Gill, Eric. 2013, What is Your Teaching Style? 5 Effective Teaching Methods for Your Classroom. Teaching Strategies. Available at: http://education.cu-portland.edu/blog/teaching-strategies/5-types-of-classroom-teaching-styles/, Accessed: 09 January 2016, Concordia Online Education

Gill, Eric. 2016 (Updated), What is Your Teaching Style? 5 Effective Teaching Methods for Your Classroom. Teaching Strategies. Available at: http://education.cu-portland.edu/blog/teaching-strategies/5-types-of-classroom-teaching-styles/, Accessed: 09 January 2016, Concordia Online Education

Honey, P. and Mumford, A. (July) 2006 (Revised edition), The Learning Styles Questionnaire 80-item version, Peter Honey Publications Limited, Maidenhead, Berks, England, UK.

Honey, P. and Mumford, A. 1982, The Manual of Learning Styles, Peter Honey Publications Ltd., London, UK.

Kolb, David A. 1984, Experiential learning: experience as the source of learning and development. Prentice Hall Inc. New Jersey, USA.

Rogers, Patricia L; Berg, Gary; Boettcher, Judith; Howard, Carole; and Justice, Lorraine. 2009, Encyclopedia of Distance Learning (2^nd Edition), IGI Global, Pennsylvania, USA.

Tomlinson, C. A. 2000, Differentiation of Instruction in the Elementary Grades, ERIC Digest 536, Eric Digests, Virginia, USA.

Tomlinson, C. A. 2014, The Differentiated Classroom, ASDA, Virginia, USA.

Viswanathan, H., & Weldon, M. (2014). The Past, Present, and Future of Mobile Communications, Bell Labs Technical Journal, Vol. 19, pp. 8 – 21.

Vitae, (April) 2010, Researcher Development Framework, Version 2. Careers Research and Advisory Centre (CRAC) Limited, Cambridge, England, UK

Value of Mobile Technology in Teaching and Learning

Mobile technology does not necessarily mean that the technology is in motion. It may or may not be in motion, but what it essentially implies is that the technology is portable (NIBI; 2016). Some examples are:

Figure 1: Showing  a range of the mobile technology.

• Laptop
• Tablets
• Netbook Computers
• Mobile phones and 'smart phones'
• Global Positioning System (GPS) devices
• etc.

The teaching is what is delivered by a teacher and learning is what happens at the end of students. The teaching-learning relationship between a teacher and students has not always existed in typical classroom settings where desks and chairs are arranged in a tidy order. It has also existed outside the classroom. The advent of the technology has not impacted only classroom teaching-learning but equally the outside as well. This fact itself is a great value of mobile technology for it has and can further change the relationship in both settings within and without the classroom.

At this point in time and age, it can still be said that mobile teaching (i.e. m-teaching) and mobile learning (m-learning) are relatively new phenomena and the theoretical basis is currently under development. Even though, the mobile technology has already considerably changed the teaching and learning environment, there is still a lot of further development to come and are coming more or less every year (Kearney et al, 2012; Liu et al, 2003).

Mobile technologies are increasingly being employed in teaching and learning in both developing as well as developed countries (Shohel and Power, 2010). Below is a list of aspects which further explains value of the mobile technology in teaching and learning, I have personally employed them all in my own teaching and learning. However, details of my personal experiences are specifically addressed in the post on appropriate applications for my teaching and learning:

In comparison to the past, the proportions between class contact hours of teachers with students and administrative duties have substantially changed. Administrative duties take a considerable amount of time of teachers / lecturers. The uptake of mobile technology can also help with administrative duties, thereby, enable to work not ‘harder’ but ‘smarter’.

No generation is as good with the mobile technology as the current young generation which can be referred as ‘digital generation’. They have grown up with computers and laptop in their hands from the childhood time. Thus, this can be used to advantage of their learning, by employing mobile technologies in teaching and learning environment.

 
1.      Social media like Facebook, which generally may be seen as a distraction, can be used to motivate students to communicate specially in their group projects while they are physically apart.
 
2.      Skype is used a lot more often to have meetings between lectures of different universities especially when abroad or in different countries.
 
3.      Communication between students and lecturers can be facilitated when students are away to e.g. their home towns or countries. Email is a typical example.
 
4.      Online learning is becoming a lot more common practice.
 
5.      Distance learning now can be referred to as e-learning. Virtual learning environments are becoming common practice.
 
6.      Mobile technologies are being employed not only in teaching but also academic research projects such as dissertations at bachelors and masters levels as well as PhD / Doctorate i.e. Level 8.

Note: For more details on this post, see the post entitled “Influence of the Technology on Learning Ways”.

References

Kearneya, Matthew; Schucka, Sandra; Burdenb, Kevin; and Aubussona, Peter. 2012, Viewing mobile learning from a pedagogical perspective, Research in Learning Technology, Vol. 20, pp. 1 – 17.

Liu, T.C.; Wang, H.Y.; Liang, J.K.; Chan, T.W.; Ko, H.W. and Yang, J.C. 2003, Wireless and mobile technologies to enhance teaching and learning, Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, Vol. 19, pp. 371 – 382.

NIBI (Northern Ireland Business Information), 2016, Mobile Technology, Practical advice for Northern Ireland Business, ICO (Information Commissioner’s Office), Available at: https://www.nibusinessinfo.co.uk/content/advantages-and-disadvantages-mobile-technology, Accessed: 16 January 2016.

Shohel, M. Mahruf C. and Power, Tom. 2010, Introducing mobile technology for enhancing teaching and learning in Bangladesh: teacher perspectives, The Journal of Open and Distance Learning, Vol. 25, No. 3, pp. 201 – 215.

Tedtalk

This is a clip which I found while finding information on mobile and ubiquitous technologies. I think it could be interesting for you to see that the amount of changes that the mobile technology has already brought about in the human life is probably not even the 'end of the beginning'!

Applications used during the ICT Module

Wordle – is great in producing “word clouds” from text that one provides. These words appear in various sizes and various angles to help indicate which ones are more crucial. I can particularly use this software in preparing my lecture materials e.g. on the topic like health and safety which would have associated words like hazard, pathway, receptor, risk, severity / impact, probability / likelihood, etc.; while health and safety remain the most important words among all.

Hot Potatoes – It is a set or suite of six applications which can enable to create interactive multiple-choice, short-answer, jumbled-sentence, crossword, matching/ordering and gap-fill exercises; used with the Internet. I believe this can be employed as to break ice, socialize and even motivate students in classroom if they not feeling particularly active. However, I need to master it before I could use if for these purposes.

Socrative – is a student response system that is smart. Teachers can employ this to gather response in the form of data from their students via their smart phones, laptops, and tablets. I shall have to learn this technology and try it with my colleagues in classroom setting before applying it full-on with my students.

PowerPoint – I already knew fairly enough about this application as I have been using it in my lectures and international conferences to present my research. However, it was useful to refresh on existing and learn some new features. I shall keep using this application and capitalize on it.

Prezi – is a new presentation tool that I learnt and probably can be used as an alternative to PowerPoint. However, since I am use to using PowerPoint and there is a range of features in PowerPoint that yet need to be learnt by me to render my skills on this application yet more professional. I am likely to stick to PowerPoint at the moment.

Nearpod – My comments for this are same as Prezi, above. However, the feature of using it for quiz and poll in classroom is particularly attractive for me. But then, PowerPoint also has interactive polls / clicker feature which can be used for quiz and poll purposes.

Word – the feature of citation and referencing was particularly learnt by me. I am not sure if I shall be using it as I have to key in all the information (on all references I am to cite) in certain fields before it can be used effectively in the document under construction. I find it much quicker to do referencing manually as I have been doing since ever. Probably, I need to try this to come out of my bias. But in the past I used End-Note and Reference-Manager, but they were not as helpful, especially for they had to be updated regularly with new literature.

Excel – New features in writing formulas were leant which enhance my skills on this particular aspect and hopefully can be used by me in my work, research and advising students.

Note:
For more details on my experience and use of Microsoft applications, please see my earlier post entitled 'Personal Experience with Microsoft Applications'

My experience of Mobile Technology

My experience of the mobile technology is not particularly extensive in terms of ‘depth’, though I have used quite a few mobile technologies to a modest level. Some examples are listed below:

 

1.       Team Viewer – to share my computer screen with person abroad to share what I see on my screen;

2.       Tethering – to connect my computer with the internet;

3.       Dropbox / Cloud – to access my e-files while I am away from my work station as well as a backup;

4.       Laptop – used while travelling;

5.       Antivirus – to prevent e-hacking of and / or virus entering my computer via the internet;

6.       Wi-Fi (Wireless Fidelity) – at my home to connect my laptop with the internet;

7.       Mobile phone (standard) – I have used it for texting and phone calls nationally and internationally;

8.       Smart phone – I have used to receive and send emails; satellite navigation during driving, etc.;

9.       Skype – for meeting with experts and family members too;

10.   Moodle – For various administrative functions as a lecturer to facilitate students;

11.   Lincs – To communicate with staff within the organization;

12.   Online shopping;

13. Online banking.

Personal Experience with Microsoft Applications

In the world of ICT (Information and Communications Technology) my experience has predominantly been in the area of Microsoft applications. I have used the four applications (listed below) and are still in use of them in different ways. Honey and Mumford (1982; 2006) identified four main learning styles including Activist, Pragmatist, Reflector and Theorist. In my personal experience, I understand that Microsoft applications together (if not individually as much) can be used to meet all the four learning styles in different combinations. In my teaching, I personally introduce all four styles as much as I can, as explained below:

Microsoft Word

I have used it both in my own work (in the past when I was employed in the Government / Public sector as a flood engineer and Commercial / Private sector as an environmental consultant). I have used during my own studies as well as while working as a researcher and lecturer in the academic sector. Particularly, in the context of teaching and learning, I have used this application to design coursework / assignment specification, etc. I also give feedback to students in a certain form developed and used in Microsoft Word. My students also use this application to produce their work for marking.

Microsoft Excel

I used it during my PhD to analyse data and present in tabular and graphical forms in order to support the demonstration of a computer model that I developed (details of the model are laid below in the Microsoft Access section). I have used it for statistical applications including maximum, minimum and average. In my teaching and learning experience, I use it to compile marks for students on a module. I also work out average mark as well as standard deviation in marks obtained by my students, in order to more objectively discuss teaching and learning experience of my students in the exam board meetings. Plus, when I supervise my students’ dissertation, I supervise its application on their data sets.

Microsoft PowerPoint

I particularly use it in my teaching and learning. I prepare lectures on PowerPoint. I use it for links to video clips. I also place pictures, tables and graphs on my lecture slides. It is also used by me to prompt me to ask set right questions at the right time as designed in my lesson plan, in order to activate, stir up and control students’ discussion in a workshop style in the classroom, rather than me lecturing in a conventional authoritative style all the time.

When I have my students deliver presentation, they generally use PowerPoint to do presentations. I give constructive feedback to them on their presentations and that how can they make it even more professional in terms of content and expressions on the PowerPoint slides as well as their body language in conjunction with the PowerPoint.

Microsoft Access

I have used it in my PhD when I developed the computer model of a holistic methodology of environmental risk assessment of landfill leachate. Access has VBA (Visual Basic Applications) is embedded in it, and that renders the application even more powerful. I also used this application when I worked as a research assistant (for the University of Wales Bangor) on a research and development project regarding Welsh Headline Indicators of Sustainable Development. I am to update the computer model I developed into newer versions / latest version of the Access, and then develop research proposal to further the research work by employing self-funded research students.

References

Honey, P. and Mumford, A. (July) 2006 (Revised edition), The Learning Styles Questionnaire 80-item version, Peter Honey Publications Limited, Maidenhead, Berks, England, UK.

Honey, P. and Mumford, A. 1982, The Manual of Learning Styles, Peter Honey Publications Ltd., London, UK.

Review of a Blog

In my academic activities I have consulted and referred to blogs. I inform my teaching from my research as well as latest developments in industry. For the latter, one way has been me using industrial contacts which can be accessed these days via their views expressed in their blogs. In my understanding, as at times we use ‘personal communication’ as a reference and citation in our academic works and publications. Nowadays, a reference to a bog of a person is not far from ‘personal communication’ type of reference.

In my latest research paper, I particularly referred to one blog which is authored and run by Professor Richard Ashley who has established a world-wide reputation and impact in the water environment. I have known him for just under two decades. His blog is contains information about flooding issues. One of my research interests is flooding and climate change. His blog has been useful to provide me up to date information from the industry and commerce regarding flooding. Research and technological advances reported in journals and books can not be as up to date as they could be falling a few years behind what is happening in right at the cutting edge of the industrial and commercial sector. However, authenticity of a blogger could be an issue, that is why I would prefer to follow blogs of well established names in industry, at least nationally if not worldwide.

Another aspect of blogs is that you can save ample time in terms of ‘personal communication’. For instance, I did not have to speak the Professor to collect his latest thoughts on flooding issues. I can simply consult his blog. However, if a blog is not kept up to date regularly, then that could be an issue and you might have to contact and speak to the blogger directly to gather his latest thoughts and views about a certain topic. In case of blog of the Professor, it is regularly updated. His blog’s link is given below as an example should one want to visit. I want to render my blog look like his when I reach his stage of career.

Another aspect of me consulting blogs is that I can narrow down my questions and queries, should there be any, to much much fewer. For instance, from the blog of Professor Ashley, I found that there is one specific aspect I need to talk to him and I contact him via his email for which I got the response and that informed my academic endeavor at the time.

http://www.engineeringnaturesway.co.uk/author/richardashley/

Feedback FROM Students

How I collect feedback from students

After the class I dispense post-its among my students asking them to give me feedback anonymously. I gather feedback from my students by stressing them to mention at least one worst aspect (and if more than one could be highlighted, then even better) and only one most best aspect. I advise them that if they identify negative / bad aspects of my lecture, that is rather a positive act as this will help me improve in future. Mostly students say in their feedback that they find my lectures most interactive, and therefore, motivating and useful (exemplary feedback below).

How I respond to students’ feedback

After I have read comments of students, I give students my response on their comments in my next lecture to them. I thank them for their feedback. I learn from positive comments which positive aspects of my lecturing can be enhanced. As for negative comments, I let students know what actions I can and will take to resolve in my futures to them. This way, they feel valued, respected and even more motivated too. As examples, I have listed below students’ comments for one of the modules I have been teaching.

An Example

For instance, one negative comment was that my lecturing pace gets slower in places. I told them that in my class students are coming from different nationalities, backgrounds, languages, etc. Therefore, it is necessary for me to sometime repeat and / or rephrase to describe the same point (which is particularly crucial) so that I make sure the whole class is following. I did not say this to students but there are some students with disabilities such as dyslexia and hearing impairment in my class, so my repetition and slowing down at times during my lecture helps these students too, who have appreciated this in their feedback.