Knowledge Building in Landscape Architecture

The objective of this study was to develop an internet-based seminar framework applicable for landscape architecture education. This process was accompanied by various aims. The basic expectation was to keep the main characteristics of landscape architecture education also in the online format. On top of that, four further objectives were anticipated: (1) training of competences for virtual team work, (2) fostering intercultural competence, (3) creation of equal opportunities for education through internet-based open access and (4) synergy effects and learning processes across institutional boundaries. This work started with the hypothesis that these four expected advantages would compensate for additional organisational efforts caused by the online delivery of the seminars and thus lead to a sustainable integration of this new learning mode into landscape architecture curricula. This rationale was followed by a presentation of four areas of knowledge to which the seminar development was directly related (1) landscape architecture as a subject and its pedagogy, (2) general learning theories, (3) developments in the ICT sector and (4) wider societal driving forces such as global citizenship and the increase of open educational resources. The research design took the shape of a pedagogical action research cycle. This approach was constructive: The author herself is teaching international landscape architecture students so that the model could directly be applied in practice. Seven online seminars were implemented in the period from 2008 to 2013 and this experience represents the core of this study. The seminars were conducted with varying themes while its pedagogy, organisation and the technological tools remained widely identical. The research design is further based on three levels of observation: (1) the seminar design on the basis of theory and methods from the learning sciences, in particular educational constructivism, (2) the seminar evaluation and (3) the evaluation of the seminars’ long term impact. The seminar model itself basically consists of four elements: (1) the taxonomy of learning objectives, (2) ICT tools and their application and pedagogy, (3) process models and (4) the case study framework. The seminar framework was followed by the presentation of the evaluation findings. The major findings of this study can be summed up as follows: Implementing online seminars across educational and national boundaries was possible both in term of organisation and technology. In particular, a high level of cultural diversity among the seminar participants has definitively been achieved. However, there were also obvious obstacles. These were primarily competing study commitments and incompatible schedules among the students attending from different academic programmes, partly even in different time zones. Both factors had negative impact on the individual and working group performances. With respect to the technical framework it can be concluded that the majority of the participants were able to use the tools either directly without any problem or after overcoming some smaller problems. Also the seminar wiki was intensively used for completing the seminar assignments. However, too less truly collaborative text production was observed which could be improved by changing the requirements for the collaborative task. Two different process models have been applied for guiding the collaboration of the small groups and both were in general successful. However, it needs to be said that even if the students were able to follow the collaborative task and to co-construct and compare case studies, most of them were not able to synthesize the knowledge they had compiled. This means that the area of consideration often remained on the level of the case and further reflections, generalisations and critique were largely missing. This shows that the seminar model needs to find better ways for triggering knowledge building and critical reflection. It was also suggested to have a more differentiated group building strategy in future seminars. A comparison of pre- and post seminar concept maps showed that an increase of factual and conceptual knowledge on the individual level was widely recognizable. Also the evaluation of the case studies (the major seminar output) revealed that the students have undergone developments of both the factual and the conceptual knowledge domain. Also their self-assessment with respect to individual learning development showed that the highest consensus was achieved in the field of subject-specific knowledge. The participants were much more doubtful with regard to the progress of generic competences such as analysis, communication and organisation. However, 50% of the participants confirmed that they perceived individual development on all competence areas the survey had asked for. Have the additional four targets been met? Concerning the competences for working in a virtual team it can be concluded that the vast majority was able to use the internet-based tools and to work with them in a target-oriented way. However, there were obvious differences regarding the intensity and activity of participation, both because of external and personal factors. A very positive aspect is the achievement of a high cultural diversity supporting the participants’ intercultural competence. Learning from group members was obviously a success factor for the working groups. Regarding the possibilities for better accessibility of educational opportunities it became clear that a significant number of participants were not able to go abroad during their studies because of financial or personal reasons. They confirmed that the online seminar was to some extent a compensation for not having been abroad for studying. Inter-institutional learning and synergy was achieved in so far that many teachers from different countries contributed with individual lectures. However, those teachers hardly ever followed more than one session. Therefore, the learning effect remained largely within the seminar learning group. Looking back at the research design it can be said that the pedagogical action research cycle was an appropriate and valuable approach allowing for strong interaction between theory and practice. However, some more external evaluation from peers in particular regarding the participants’ products would have been valuable.

A trip to London. 'Un viaje a Londes'.

Seleccionado en la convocatoria: Ayudas a la innovación e investigación educativa en centros docentes de niveles no universitarios, Gobierno de Aragón 2010-11

Aprendiendo Inform??tica Educativa y habilidades de acceso y uso de la informaci??n : descripci??n de una pr??ctica innovadora

La experiencia que se presenta se sit??a en el contexto de la integraci??n de la competencia para la gesti??n de la informaci??n en la docencia universitaria de todas las asignaturas. La labor que las bibliotecas universitarias han realizado en la formaci??n del alumnado en la denominada Alfabetizaci??n Informacional ha de ser completada con la intervenci??n del profesorado de las distintas asignaturas. En este caso, se trata de integrar el desarrollo de algunas de las habilidades implicadas en la gesti??n de la informaci??n en el proceso de ense??anza-aprendizaje de la asignatura Inform??tica Educativa de la titulaci??n de Licenciado en Pedagog??a, en la Universidad de Oviedo. La experiencia se desarroll?? durante el curso 2008-2009 y consisti?? en la participaci??n del alumnado en un taller presencial dirigido a la elaboraci??n de una Wiki. El taller, con una duraci??n de nueve horas, se organiz?? en tres fases: la primera estuvo dirigida a la localizaci??n y selecci??n de informaci??n proveniente de diversas fuentes, para ello, los estudiantes formaron diversos grupos; la segunda consisti?? en a la utilizaci??n de la informaci??n para resolver la actividad planteada, teniendo en cuenta los aspectos ??ticos de la misma; y, finalmente, la tercera estuvo dirigida a la creaci??n de una Wiki en grupo, a partir de las aportaciones individuales, y a la participaci??n en las Wikis de otros grupos, para el perfeccionamiento de la actividad mediante la colaboraci??n. Los objetivos espec??ficos fijados en la actividad pretend??an mejorar las habilidades de los estudiantes para acceder de modo eficaz a la informaci??n requerida utilizando las Tecnolog??as de la Informaci??n y la Comunicaci??n, evaluar la informaci??n obtenida y sus fuentes, y usar de forma eficiente y ??tica la informaci??n. La evaluaci??n fue continua durante el desarrollo del taller y los resultados obtenidos permiten afirmar que esta experiencia fue positiva para el alumnado. Sin embargo, se concluye que ser??a aconsejable que la competencia de gesti??n de la informaci??n se incluyera en los objetivos y m??todos de trabajo de las distintas asignaturas y que, para la formaci??n en esta competencia, ser??a beneficioso articular la formaci??n universitaria con la desarrollada en las diferentes etapas del sistema educativo, puesto que el nivel inicial del alumnado que particip?? en esta experiencia era inferior al deseable en un estudiante universitario.

Wikis universitaires: 10 aspects pratiques à l'usage des enseignants

Les blogs et les wikis sont de plus en plus utilisés par les enseignants comme supports d’activités, objectifs pédagogiques ou modalités d’évaluation. Ces outils électroniques sont généralement appréciés et analysés en fonction des utilisations ou des usages pédagogiques qu’ils permettent au sein de la classe, que celle-ci soit traditionnelle ou virtuelle. Ce que nous proposons ici est un point de vue complémentaire et encore relativement méconnu : la description, par l’exemple, de l’intérêt d’un outil de publication souple et facile d’emploi, tel que l’est le wiki, non en fonction de son utilisation par un enseignant, dans sa classe, mais en fonction de ce que ce wiki peut faire POUR l’enseignant, dans son bureau

Aplicació de les TIC a la matèria de llengua castellana. 'Aplicación de las TIC en la materia de lengua castellana'.

Se presenta una experiencia llevada a cabo en el IES Berenguer d'Anoia de Inca. Durante el curso 2007-2008 se han empezado a trabajar los contenidos de Lengua Castellana mediante la aplicación de recursos en formato de nuevas tecnologías, creando así un blog y un wiki. El blog pretende ser un tablón de anuncios de las actividades relacionadas con el departamento de lengua castellana y, por otro lado, el wiki tiene la función de alojar materiales para los alumnos donde ellos mismos contribuyen a agrandar los contenidos a través de su participación.

COMP6218 Web Architecture - Web Content Formats

Plain Text - ASCII, Unicode, UTF-8 Content Formats - XML-based formats (RSS, MathML, SVG, Office) + PDF Text based data formats: CSV, JSON

Common Craft

Common craft make short videos which explain in simple terms some common concepts and technologies used in learning and teaching. These are available through The Common Craft Store, which offers versions of videos that are: Downloadable files Presentation-quality Licensed for workplace use You can find the free, online versions of the videos on The Common Craft Show. Topics include phishing, RSS, wikis, Twitter, social networking, social bookmarking, web search strategies, social media, podcasting, sharing photos online and many more.

Process Lecture: Wikis and Coursework

These slides describe the use of a coursework wiki and the proposed information architecture to support the goals of the coursework.

Making a PDF (Photoshop)

Video on how to create a basic PDF for standard paper based Printing using Photoshop. Ideal format for all printers worldwide.

Photoshop web links

Find out more about Photoshop with this share of links.

Backup your work

A share of information on why & how to make copies of data so that these additional copies may be used to restore the original after a data loss event. Burn cd's and copy to memory sticks.

Scanning Images

Sometimes you may need to scan in photographs, books or magazines. Scanning is the easy part but making sure your settings are right is the important part. Scan at 300dpi to the size you need to print A4 scanner but you need A3 print - no problem scan at 600dpi Always scan as a TIFF file format as this will give you a non compressed source to work from.

Bluetooth Cameras / Phones

Getting images from your mobile phone is best done using bluetooth, remember the image quality on these phones will not be high and you may find you can only print very small images, however camera phones are great for ease of use and look fine on screen.

notes and links related computer misuse act 1990

collectively edited resource for INFO2009 initially created as a demonstrator