Using Social Software for Teaching and Learning Horticulture Stories from the Pilbara

My name is Gary Lienert. I live in Newman and work with TAFEWA Pilbara . I deliver horticulture programs, mostly in remote communities and VETiS throughout the Pilbara region of Western Australia. My delivery style is predominately project based. The Web 2.0 technologies that I am incorporating into my training are blogs and moblogs.

My name is Gary Lienert. I live in

Newman and work with TAFEWA

Pilbara .

I deliver horticulture programs,

mostly in remote communities and

VETiS throughout the Pilbara

region of Western Australia.

My delivery style is predominately

project based.

The Web 2.0 technologies that I am

incorporating into my training are

blogs and moblogs.

During summer the temperatures regularly exceed 40 degrees. Undertaking physical activities in the heat of the day was not my idea of fun and probably not the clients either. It was last year that I had just started to feel that I was becoming a bit too comfortable and was at risk of becoming stale in my training. Therefore finding alternative activities, after lunch, that were both beneficial and engaging was the just the inspiration that I needed to give something else a go.

During summer the temperatures

regularly exceed 40 degrees.

Undertaking physical activities in the

heat of the day was not my idea of fun

and probably not the clients either.

It was last year that I had just started to

feel that I was becoming a bit too

comfortable and was at risk of

becoming stale in my training.

Therefore finding alternative activities,

after lunch, that were both beneficial

and engaging was the just the

inspiration that I needed to give

something else a go.

The two things that I have been most proud of using social software with my learners are: 1. The indigenous learners being very interested in anything to do with technology and willing to give anything a go. 2. Being able to inspire other lecturers at Newman to adopt this technology for their own classes Bruce Enting and his E-Learning for Target Learner Groups (Youth) in 2005 enabled me to gain the knowledge and confidence to use this in the classroom.

The two things that I have been most

proud of using social software with

my learners are:

1. The indigenous learners being very

interested in anything to do with

technology and willing to give

anything a go.

2. Being able to inspire other

lecturers at Newman to adopt this

technology for their own classes

Bruce Enting and his E-Learning for

Target Learner Groups (Youth) in 2005

enabled me to gain the knowledge and

confidence to use this in the classroom.

What I most value about using moblogs, as a social software, in the teaching and learning environment is the ability of posting pictures and asking questions to the moblog community. The collective knowledge of this community is great, and was able to ID this snake. Pretty cool I thought. What my VETiS learners most valued in blogs, was the ability to undertake assessments when at home, so as to catch up if a day or two was missed.

What I most value about using

moblogs, as a social software, in the

teaching and learning environment is

the ability of posting pictures and

asking questions to the moblog

community. The collective

knowledge of this community is

great, and was able to ID this snake.

Pretty cool I thought.

What my VETiS learners most valued

in blogs, was the ability to undertake

assessments when at home, so as to

catch up if a day or two was missed.

The use of social software has contributed to good practice by giving me an alternative assessment method. Assessments and evidence gathering through the use of moblog is best suited to learners with low literacy and numeracy skills as they can tell stories (gather evidence) through the use of a series of pictures. Putting up assessments on a blog shows transparency, and allows assessments to be viewed at a later date, without the need for students to keep a hard copy of what needs to be done. Tracking of students progress in real time allows me as a trainer to see who is struggling and needs extra assistance.

The use of social software has

contributed to good practice by

giving me an alternative assessment

method.

Assessments and evidence gathering

through the use of moblog is best

suited to learners with low literacy

and numeracy skills as they can tell

stories (gather evidence) through the

use of a series of pictures.

Putting up assessments on a blog

shows transparency, and allows

assessments to be viewed at a later date,

without the need for students to keep a

hard copy of what needs to be done.

Tracking of students progress in real

time allows me as a trainer to see who is

struggling and needs extra assistance.

The roles that I have taken on board when using social software have been a few more than I was expecting. Role of IT technician: This is a role that needs to be performed whenever working with computers in small campuses. Role of moderator: Particularly important when dealing with youth. I didn’t have any problems with inappropriate pictures being posted, only inappropriate comments being posted to each other’s moblog. It can be very hard to detect early on.

The roles that I have taken on board

when using social software have

been a few more than I was expecting.

Role of IT technician: This is a role

that needs to be performed whenever

working with computers in small

campuses.

Role of moderator: Particularly

important when dealing with youth.

I didn’t have any problems with

inappropriate pictures being posted,

only inappropriate comments being

posted to each other’s moblog. It can be

very hard to detect early on.

Pivotal moment for me was when Alex Hayes came to Parnngurr community with me, and got the mobdeadly moblog up and running. What it showed to me was that the whole community can be involved and the immense interest and very quick uptake by these students who have never used m-learning tools before. The feedback/comments that had been received from people from right around the world was phenomenal and all positive.

Pivotal moment for me was when

Alex Hayes came to Parnngurr

community with me, and got the

mobdeadly moblog up and running.

What it showed to me was that the

whole community can be involved

and the immense interest and very

quick uptake by these students who

have never used m-learning tools

before. The feedback/comments that

had been received from people from

right around the world was

phenomenal and all positive.

Changes that need to be made to make the social software experience even better are: Change in thinking by the colleges IT department, so as to allow these new technologies to occur. At the moment the thinking is “stop anything that may cause the system to malfunction”. What I would like is the thinking to “What do we need to do to avoid these new social software from crashing our system”. Making people/network connections. This may mean getting the students to spend some time communicating with experts in a particular field or communicating with others in similar situations.

Changes that need to be made to make the

social software experience even better are:

Change in thinking by the colleges IT

department, so as to allow these new

technologies to occur. At the moment the

thinking is “stop anything that may cause

the system to malfunction”. What I

would like is the thinking to “What do we

need to do to avoid these new social

software from crashing our system”.

Making people/network connections. This may mean getting the students to spend some time communicating with experts in a particular field or communicating with

others in similar situations.

Keeping it real What I have found is that different target groups respond differently to the different types of social software. In my situation, indigenous clients prefer moblogs to blogs. This is most probably due to the ability to express themselves better with images than the written language. The town VETiS clients preferred blogs, most probably because they use My Spaces when at home. Clients older than 20 preferred none of the above, but I still think it is important to be able to offer social software tools for those who prefer this type of training experience.

What I have found is that different

target groups respond differently to the

different types of social software. In

my situation, indigenous clients prefer

moblogs to blogs. This is most

probably due to the ability to express

themselves better with images than the

written language. The town VETiS

clients preferred blogs, most probably

because they use My Spaces when at

home. Clients older than 20 preferred

none of the above, but I still think it is

important to be able to offer social

software tools for those who prefer this

type of training experience.

Links Mobdeadly moblog Vegetable garden moblog Newman VETiS blog

Mobdeadly moblog

Vegetable garden moblog

Newman VETiS blog