Oh my Llog! - Alberto Ramírez Martinell

Before week 1

armartinell — Tue, 10 Oct 2006 15:45:20 +0000

Before the first session of Group 1, I checked the equipment, verifying that the camera was available for recording day, I borrowed a tripod, a lapel microphone, two mini DV tapes, two spare batteries for the camera, and a set of headphones. I got the permissions to host video in the streaming sever of the university; and I designed a questionnaire that aimed to gather information about the users. Since the development of the Video Rich Learning Environment is a user-centred spiral process, the application of questionnaires takes place every time there is an improvement in the prototype. Reason why I decided to implement online questionnaires as a means of gathering data and keeping communication with the users. The best available option was the browser-based version of Questionmark Perception, an assessment management system that facilitates authoring, delivery and report of online sets of questions. The Computer-based Assessment Support Officer of the Centre for Enhancement of Learning and Teaching (CELT) granted me the privileges to create questions and assessments. Although the first questionnaire was ready before the group 1 got together, since I did not have the permission to access to the results manager of Questionmark Perception, I resorted to a paper-based version of the users’ profile questionnaire to avoid lost of data. Students of Group 2, Group 3 and Group 4 accessed the online version of the questionnaire.

Technology Enhanced Learning Environment

armartinell — Fri, 06 Oct 2006 11:22:10 +0000

I am about to start one important stage of my research project. which is the development of a learning enviornment for a Statistics lecture for undergraduates. Next week I am going film the lecturer giving some explanations of the course and I am going to carry out a survey about likes and dislikes of the target group. The aim is to develop a user based prototype and to go on the development of the environment and features according to the users’ needs. I will be reporting the weekly progress of this phase.

After Edutec 2006

armartinell — Mon, 25 Sep 2006 11:13:54 +0000

Last week I went to Edutec 2006 in Tarragona, Spain. As I expected It was a very good experience. Some presentations were interesting but the most important part as in all conferences was meeting people. I was very lucky because I got to know interesting people who were interested in the same field I am doing my research. Among all the people I met, I should say that I was very pleased to meet Dr. Antonio Bartolome, one of the most important contributors to the field of video and virtual learningenvironments.

My presentation was fine, by the way. My paper is here

Integrated e-learning

armartinell — Fri, 08 Sep 2006 12:52:10 +0000

I finished (again) reading the book integrated e-learning: implications for pedagogy technology and organization by Jochems, van Merriënboer and Koper, and I remembered why I cited it so much in my master thesis. It is a very good compilation of articles that by the way are very well integrated and cohesively gathered. The book is about the 4C/ID model, its implications, and applications mainly in the literature of the Netherlands. It must be a pillow book for those who have something to do with the implementation of conscious e-learning systems. I wrote some quotes in this blog

Alberto Ramírez Martinell

To Edutec 2006

armartinell — Fri, 18 Aug 2006 19:02:43 +0000

The abstract I submitted for the Edutec 2006 conference was accepted so I sent the full version of the paper that I will be presenting on 19-22 September. The paper is about the development of a video summary able to redirect the viewer to the full version of a videoed lecture.

DIVERSE 2006

armartinell — Fri, 07 Jul 2006 20:32:31 +0000

The DIVERSE 2006 conference in Glasgow was a great experience, I met many people with interests similar to mine, I presented my work for the first time in an international conference and I gather loads of ideas.

I felt very confident while presenting my work, and I was exposed to a whole new world of ideas, trends and approaches. I am looking forward to being in Norway next year.

The following sites are related to the conference, it is worth it to browse them.

DIVERSE 2006 (Glasgow). Some Presentations (1, 2, 3) Conference procedings
Photos
DIVERSE 2007 (in Lillehammer 2007)
Official Website

Why haven’t I intensively reviewed the constructivist roots (yet)

armartinell — Tue, 04 Jul 2006 12:57:34 +0000

“While the philosophical roots of constructivism antedate modern learning psychology, there is only enough space to deal with current conceptions.”

“Meaning is seen as rooted in, and indexed by, experience ( Brown, Collins, & Duguid, 1989a). Each experience with an idea–and the environment of which that idea is a part–becomes part of the meaning of that idea. The experience in which an idea is embedded is critical to the individual’s understanding of and ability to use that idea. Therefore, that experience must be examined to understand the learning that occurs. Most of us agree that the experience with concepts and relations in school typically is quite different from the experience with them in the real world. Resnick ( 1987); Brown, Collins, and Duguid ( 1989a); and Sherwood, Kinzer, Hasselbring, and Bransford ( 1987) all point to these differences as a major factor underlying the failure of transfer from school-based learning.”
Duffy, Thomas M. (editor) and Jonassen, David H. (1992). Constructivism and the Technology of Instruction: A Conversation, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Hillsdale, New Jersey. Page 4.

Postgraduate Researchers in Education 2006

armartinell — Sat, 10 Jun 2006 18:23:18 +0000

Today I attended the PRIE 2006 Conference and I presented one paper. Everything started at about 10 o’clock and I was included in a group called VLE AND IMAGE-BASED RESEARCH. We were given 10 minutes to present our work and 3 for questions. I took good care of my timing and the audience asked me two questions: one about wireless technology and the other one about the use of Microsoft Producer for PowerPoint 2003.
The experience was worth it, not only did I presented my work but also I attended to three seminars: Writing for publication, hints and tipos on how to get published by Dr. Peter Gilory, Editor of the international Journal of Education for Teaching; Contract research by Dr. John Hockey, and Dissemination of research- communicate your work by Dr. Kathryn Ecclestone.
Some of the ideas that I got in the conference are here

Glasgow as a conference venue

armartinell — Tue, 06 Jun 2006 20:40:16 +0000

Yesterday we went to Glasgow to get some footage to produce a video about Glasgow as a Conference venue. We gathered some good shots and got a good impression of Glasgow, its people, its architecture and its food.

The conference is in four weeks so I have to start preparing my presentation and rehersing my 25 minute speech.

Postgraduate Researchers in Education 2006

armartinell — Thu, 25 May 2006 10:33:46 +0000

The abstract I submitted to the PRIE conference, was accepted and I will be presenting my work on the 10th June 2006 at Manchester Metropolitan University.