03 December 2007

EnRoLE directory

The community directory is also taking shape at I write this post. To search for our community member, goto www.cedir.uow.edu.au/enrole/ and do a search. At the moment, the search result includes members official contact details and role play case studies that we have.

We shall be sending requests for updating member information in the next few days.

EnRoLE network members at ASCILITE Singapore 2007

Congratulations and thanks to EnRoLE network members representing the online role play community at  ASCILITE Singapore 2007


Workshop: Online role play: What it means for learners, developers and educators Ann Davenport and Judi Baron The University of Adelaide


Papers presented in Online Role Play Symposium :



Davenport, A. & Baron, J. Meeting the 21st century challenge: The situational learning initiative at U Adelaide

Lambert, S. & Macdonald, D. Reuse of a role play for new university teachers

Devonshire, E. Peer review: A process of EnRoLE(ing) as a reuser

Roberts, A.G. Beyond a participation focus

Leigh, E., Meyers, W. & Rosser, E. Learning design discussions: A conversation tool

Cross-posted to Random Walk in Learning

29 August 2007

EduBlog Game One - FINAL RESULT

THANK YOU everyone for playing EnRoLE's ever first blog game. I hope everyone agree that it was a great experience. The game was played in 4 rounds. In the first round we have asked players to write an additional 100 words in response to the three incomplete sentences. Based on the sentences completed, three teams were also formed. In the next two rounds, each member of each team was asked to work on a different sentence from the first round and progressively reduce the number of words to 50 and then to LESS THAN 26. In the first round, there is a total of 55 entries. In the second round we had 39. In the third round, we still had 30 entries. Everyone has been great, supportive. You are all winners!

The three incomplete sentences were:
My best times as an online learner have been when...
Conditions for learning are optimised when . . . . .
The role of risk in developing innovative education is . . .


From this exercises, there are many gems which worth discussing and reflecting in more details. One of you even set up a blog (http://asonlinelearners.blogspot.com/ ) to capture entries for "My best times as an online learner have been when...".

In the last round, I asked you to vote on the sentences you have input in the first two rounds. The result are in. However, since this is a popularity vote, everyone are entitled to their own opinion. The votes have been spread across many posts, almost everyone has someone considered worthy of his/her vote. So the winners are determined by a very small margin. You may, or may not agree. Since this is a game, we have to be bound by the game rule.

The winner for My best times as an online learner have been when... is
Blue 8: (5 votes)

... I have been absorbing, asking, blending, cruising, connecting, considering, constructing, conversing, discussing, experiencing, fantasising, interacting, networking, participating, posting, reading, reflecting, thinking and sharing.


Specially noted:
Blue 9: (3 votes)

. . . I felt comfortable and personally connected with others. It gave me a flexibility to learn, access information and reflect in my own time.


The winner for Conditions for learning are optimised when . . . . . is
Green 6: (7 votes)

learners are actively participating, collaborating and contributing to their learning because they feel safe, respected, supported and encouraged to do so by peers, topic and teacher


Specially noted:
Green 8: (6 votes)

The learner feels motivated, respected, comfortable, supported, safe, challenging and encouraged under the learning environment in which goals and objectives are quite clear and attainable.

Green 2: (4 votes)

Students are motivated, respected, challenged, yet feel safe to make mistakes. Activities are engaging, relevant, and facilitated by someone well organized who models effective learning.


The winner for The role of risk in developing innovative education is . . . is
Red 3: (5 votes)

...challenging learners to "step outside the square", extend themselves and strive for enlightenment. Risk can cause discomfort but is essential in the process of change.


Specially noted:
Red 8: (3 votes)

The role of risk in developing innovative education is motivation and the creation of new opportunities to stimulate learning and personal growth. However risk must be balanced with opportunity to avoid disengaging the learner.


Thiagi (http://www.thiagi.com) has said that we play a game for the sake of debriefing. So, I would like to invite you to post comment(s) to this post as debriefing AND come back often to share with the other players. Here are a few pointers which may help you to think through this experience and get the most out of it.
1. How well have you done as a player of this game? What have you learnt about the three issues of online learning/teacher, ie as a learner, as a teacher and as a subject co-ordinator?
2. Looking back at all the wonderful posts by your fellow players, who has inspired you most? why?
3. As an online guide to your own students, can you use this game for your course? How would you modify this game to meet your own course?
4. Can you suggest reasons why we play the game in three rounds, progressively reduce the number of words of each round? What are the pedagogical considerations in this design?
5. Has the blog technology provided a good platform for this game? Any improvement? Possibility of using other platform?

Thank you again for playing. I look forward to reading your comments to this post.

25 August 2007

EduBlog Game One - Round 4 Instruction

This is the final round of EnRoLE's first blog game. In the first round we have asked you to write an additional 100 words in response to the three incomplete sentences. Three teams were also formed. In the second round, each member of each team was asked to work on a different sentence from the first round. In that round, the number of words have been reduced to 50. In the 3rd round, the exercise was repeated again reducing the number of words to less than 25.

A big Thank you to everyone for your tremendous successful inspirational stimulating effort. We now have a colourful collections of ideas on three different aspects of the same issue - improving learning. Let me repeat them again:

We all spend many years as students. As yet, your learning may or may not have included any online learning experiences. If you have had such experiences this is great. Describe in EXACTLY 100 words your most memorable, exciting, stimulating, interesting, etc. online learning experience. If you have no prior experiences, think of your most innovative learning experience and use that to shape your reply. Use your imagination to invent ideas about an online learning experience as a student and complete the following sentence in EXACTLY 100 words.
My best times as an online learner have been when...

As educators we have accumulated great insight and vast implicit knowledge of how and when learning is at its best. This game will help us to reach a common point of agreement about one or more aspects about all that insight and knowledge. The task invites you to adopt a role as an experienced learning designer. This may not be you now, so use your imagination. Complete the following sentence in EXACTLY 100 words. (You can end this sentence and add more to arrive at your 100 words).
Conditions for learning are optimised when . . . . .

Risk brings with it opportunity. And we take risks because of the opportunities beyond the risk. For example, 33 years ago, I risked the majority of ALL my future income to marry my wife. Today I still feel it was a good decision. Innovation is a risky business that also provides great opportunities. This game seeks to understand the kind and nature of risks in innovation. Thinking of yourself as a teacher trying to innovate a new online learning approach, complete the following sentence in EXACTLY 100 words.
The role of risk in developing innovative education is . . .

After two weeks of hard work, everyone is eager to know who has won the first blog game hosted by EnRoLE. Before I can announce the winner, I need your help one more time. Please vote for the winners. Remember I have asked you to work your entry to "PLEASE AS MANY PEOPLE" as possible. Well, it is because your chance of winning depends on that.

Here is the rule of the voting:

The entries for the 3rd round is listed below in our three primary colours. You cast ONE vote each to the entries which is NOT your team colour. In other words, you are not going to vote for your team's own entries.

Send your vote to me, by email (albert dot ip dot w dot c at gmail dot com) by midnight Eastern Australian Standard time TUESDAY 28th August. In your email, please use "eduBlog game voting" as the subject, state the colour of the team and the number which gets your vote. That means each email I get should have two votes for two different teams. I will tally the vote and announce the winners here before NOON Wednesday, 29th August.

The entries are:

Red team, to be voted by the members of BLUE and GREEN teams only. The role of risk in developing innovative education is . . .

Red 1:

The role of risk in developing innovative education is to step ‘outside the square’ and to promote solutions which add to learner’s curiosity and flexibility.

Red 2:

The role of risk in developing innovative education is to provoke learners’ thinking in different ways by learning ‘outside the square’.

Red 3:

...challenging learners to "step outside the square", extend themselves and strive for enlightenment. Risk can cause discomfort but is essential in the process of change.

Red 4:

Motivation, taking risks, provoking different ways of thinking and providing opportunities for personal growth in a stimulating and interesting environment.

Red 5:

The role of risk in developing innovative education is . . .to motivate, extend others beyond themselves & personal growth, to reach conclusions otherwise concealed, painful for the teacher, invigorates and kills boredom of education !

Red 6:

…allows facilitators to ‘step outside the square’ and open their minds to the possibility of more innovative and effective learning.

Red 7:

Being different to become more flexible, innovative, motivate, and be able to promote learning and better learning environment for the learners and facilitators as well

Red 8:

The role of risk in developing innovative education is motivation and the creation of new opportunities to stimulate learning and personal growth. However risk must be balanced with opportunity to avoid disengaging the learner.

Red 9:

.....to enhance motivation, thinking “outside the square”, moving beyond the comfort zone, but needs to balance opportunity with risk; beware of “egg on your face”



Blue team, to be voted by the members of RED and GREEN teams only. My best times as an online learner have been when . . .

Blue 1:

…when reading such excellent material as that posted by Carol Russell, KLai, newtownbob, kaly, MargaretS, Stuart, oliviapaulik, Rochelle, felicityelias, Ping and the entire Red Team.

Blue 2:

I’m so glad to be in Red team with every member, because we have the same interest on the opening sentence with “My best time…”.

Blue 3:

I agree with Mat and Kaly, it just too difficult to decide so I created a blog with all your comments. Please see http://asonlinelearners.blogspot.com/

Blue 4:

on-line learning complements other modes of learning, not replaces them. It's great for flexibility in time, pace and style, that is, it's best when it can be individualised

Blue 5:

… I am comfortable sharing ideas with a sense of communal interaction. Learning while cruising but immersed in face-to-face interaction with time to reflect.

Blue 6:

…I immerse myself in discussion boards with reflective communal interaction and participation, especially when it compliments face to face learning; I find these environments challenging.

Blue 7:

On-line learning provides challenges when used to enhance other modes of teaching by providing an unlimited pool of resources with interaction at your own pace.

Blue 8:

... I have been absorbing, asking, blending, cruising, connecting, considering, constructing, conversing, discussing, experiencing, fantasising, interacting, networking, participating, posting, reading, reflecting, thinking and sharing.


Blue 9:

. . . I felt comfortable and personally connected with others. It gave me a flexibility to learn, access information and reflect in my own time.

Blue 10:

My best times as an online learner have been when the online platform included me in an international community of learners and offered a variety of learning pathways and outcomes relevant to my offline life.

Blue 11:

My best time as an online learner have been when online learning was used as a supplement to face to face learning, and I was able to get feedback and support from different sources.

Blue 12:

Online learning encompasses blended learning techniques. As Educator I prefer to teach a "face". Learning is not a system, it's about cognitive, psychomotor and behaviour.




Green team, to be voted by the members of BLUE and RED teams only. Conditions for learning are optimised when . . . . .


Green 1:

the participants have sought out the learning, the learning outcomes are clear, the learning interaction effectively represents the needs of the subject and is challenging.

Green 2:

Students are motivated, respected, challenged, yet feel safe to make mistakes. Activities are engaging, relevant, and facilitated by someone well organized who models effective learning.

Green 3:

When the learner feels motivated, supported, safe, and diverse and uses innovative ways of constructively aligning objectives with assessment process and everybody learns together

Green 4:

When the learner feels motivated, supported, safe, and diverse and uses innovative ways of constructively aligning objectives with assessment process and everybody learns together

Green 5:

When the learner is motivated by meaningful context, the teacher is organised and prepared. Activities are engaging and have relevance. Feedback is prompt and constructive.

Green 6:

learners are actively participating, collaborating and contributing to their learning because they feel safe, respected, supported and encouraged to do so by peers, topic and teacher

Green 7:

…principles of active learning are utilised effectively to engage, immerse, motivate, and challenge targeted learners. Considerations for differing learning needs and constructive feedback are evident.

Green 8:

The learner feels motivated, respected, comfortable, supported, safe, challenging and encouraged under the learning environment in which goals and objectives are quite clear and attainable.

Green 9:

the student is challenged by a task relevant to the instructional objective, ensuring the student is motivated to complete the task and accordingly absorb the lesson.

21 August 2007

EduBlog Game One - Round 3 Instruction

This is round 3 of 4 rounds of EnRoLE's first blog game. In the first round we have asked you to write an additional 100 words in response to the three incomplete sentences. Three teams were also formed by the self-selecting process, by which you each chose your sentence in the first round. In the second round, each member of each team was asked to work on a different sentence from the first round. In that round, the number of words have been reduced to 50. I also asked you to complete the sentence in a way to please as many people as possible.

Now that you have practiced pleasing people while reducing the number of words, this winning round will put that new skill to its highest form. You are now asked to complete yet a different incomplete sentence in LESS than 26 words while pleasing as many people as possible. Note that this is a winning round. Your entry in this round will determine whether you can win this game. You will be disqualified if the number of words is MORE than 25. The part of the sentence we provide does not count towards the 25 words.

Enter your entry in LESS than 26 words, as a comment to the post below, by Midnight Eastern Australian Standard time, Friday 24th August, 2007.

EduBlog Game One - Round 3

The BLUE Team task.

NB you are in the BLUE team if you contributed to "Conditions for learning are optimised when . . . . ." in the first round.

The red team has put in 17 entries in the first round to the incomplete sentence "My best times as an online learner have been when . . ." In the second round, the green team has reduced the words to 50 and these are included below for your ease of reading. In LESS than 26 words summarize, plagiarize, steal, modify, invent, add and/or analysis their sentences to create your completion of the sentence. Your goals is to create a sentence to please as many people as possible, including the red and green team members. (Hint: Using someone's idea is the highest form in the art of pleasing someone). Place your entry as a comment to this post.

Carol Russell said...

My best times as an online learner have been when, reading and posting on-screen, I felt comfortable, personally connected with others, getting feedback and support from around the world. Online learning can be flexible in time, pace and styles of learning. Teachers/facilitators can learn how to create this for students.

K Lai said...

My best times as an online learner have been when ... there was a blended approach. As a teacher, I learnt tremendous amounts about teaching methods from online teaching. My students appreciated how they could have pre-meeting materials and discussions, participate in interactive and realistic scenarios, and put up ideas for detailed comment by others, when and where it suited them.

newtownbob said...

My best times as an online learner have been when I could suddenly find myself doing really cool stuff I never previously imagined possible...like being a fantasy dude on 2nd Life. I can learn while cruising or learn in my own time. And reading many references is a snap.

kaly said...

Classmates made great efforts to Round 1, not only finishing the task but also giving their own experiences, for example, privacy consideration, being easy to question and discuss on discussion board, pre-work for conferences or training, running an e-tivity, sharing ideas, flexibility and efficiency, and a supplement to face-to-face mode.

MargaretS said...

My best times as an online learner have been when I immersed myself in elearning environments and Discussion Boards. Exposure to the broader range of perspectives and feedback on issues, while having time to access online resources, filter information, and reflect, created greater opportunities for deeper learning to occur.

Stuart said...

My best times as an online learner have been when online learning is used to supplement face to face interaction. As a supporting network it is great to use discussion forums and online sites to download information as well as conversing with others to enhance the face to face experience.

oliviapaulik said...

My best times as an online learner have been when the activities were relevant to my learning needs. Online learning can create a dynamic environment that is challenging, flexible, and highly interactive. Online learning can be used to enhance other modes of teaching, providing a more interesting and richer experience.

Rochelle said...

My best times as an on-line learner have been when there was the potential to gain knowledge from an unlimited pool of resources and where on-line learning enhanced face-to-face learning rather than replacing it entirely. On-line learning has provided learners, the flexibility to fit learning in with their busy lifestyle.

felicityelias said...

My best times as an online learner have been when I have been given a sense of communal interaction and participation. The blended learning environment allows for an intersection of techniques and information, with the instantaneous feedback of peers and instructors being a rare advantage for the absorbing mind.

Ping said...

My best times as an online learner have been when I am getting involved in the UTSOnline discussion study mode, which offered me a new platform of interacting with classmates and tutors. Its flexibility and effectiveness enables me to express my idea to others the moment I think of it.

EduBlog Game One - Round 3

The RED Team task -

NB – you are in the RED team if you completed the sentence "My best times as an online learner have been when . . ." in the first round.

The green team contributed 18 entries in the first round to the incomplete sentence "The role of risk in developing innovative education is . . ." In the second round, the blue team has reduced the words to 50 and these are included below for your ease of reading. In LESS than 26 words, summarize, plagiarize, steal, modify, invent, add and/or analysis their sentences to create your completion of the sentence. Your goal is to create a version to please as many people as possible, including the green and blue team members. (Hint: Using someone else's ideas is the highest form in the art of pleasing someone). Place your entry as a comment to this post.

Tony.Dunford said...

an essential one. The task of placing individuals in genuine learning opportunities must be the primary design goal. As noted numerous times by other classmates, it is the inherent discomfort that causes adults, particularly those who are competent; to extend themselves and reach conclusions that would have otherwise remained concealed.

Mat Hardy said...

…To provide a hook for gaining greater insight and inspiration. Risk is necessary for reward and opportunity. It builds a tolerance for innovation and an antidote to complacency and hidebound tradition. But take care, risk is not for everyone and can cause discomfort for students or pain for the teacher!

gilbert said...

Taking risks is essential for change and learning. History tells us that some innovations in the field of science had been banned and considered heresy. Similarly, some teaching pedagogies were frowned at before by supervisors and educational experts, and now it had been widely promoted in optimizing the student learning.

Gail said...

The role of risk in developing innovative education is to step outside the square and provide incentives to step beyond what is known. Opportunities for personal growth while harnessing the fear or anxiety that risk may incur would be an added bonus of the learning experience. ‘Nothing ventured nothing gained’.

Cheryl said...

Innovative education steps outside the 'norms', so risks some potential negative outcomes, but also some positive enlightening changes in attitudes and perspectives. Innovation is often necessary to stimulate passion in novices and also reinvigorate those 'set in their way'. Thus the risk is worthwhile, as 'nothing ventured is nothing gained'.

Esben said...

The role of risk in developing innovative education is MOTIVATION. When we risk ourselves we arouse our body, engage our emotions, challenge our cognitive problemsolving. We step out of our comfortzone and allow ourselves to feel the freedom of not knowing, i.e. to take the position of the existential learner.

Lesley said...

Taking risk may make us excited, but it also moves us out of our comfort zone. Not all learners respond the way we would like them to in this situation. So don’t risk 'egg on face' for the sake of making your lessons seem more exciting than they really are.

Scotty said...

to create curiosity and flexibility, when learners can predict and accurately anticipate what they are about to learn they quickly become bored, risk can be a healthy intervention for the learner. It changes the student’s relationship with the facilitator; they become multi-dimensional impacting on the students learning in more ways.

alisontamplin said...

The role of risk in developing innovative education is to promote learning ‘outside the square’. Engaging adults to learn today is an immense challenge. To keep in touch as educators we need to consider innovation and new ways of making positive engagement. As the saying goes, ‘nothing ventured, nothing gained’

Jacqui Fogarty said...

The role of risk in developing innovative education is to provoke different ways of thinking. Risk inherently implies a chance of failure however this should not be a hinder to innovation. All education at some point was considered innovative. Balancing opportunity and risk will support innovation when (un)anticipated risks are encountered.

Mike Barnes said...

Outside the box, Pandora’s Box or maybe a jack-in-a-box? We may trip out of the box and end up with a red nose? Visualize colourful advertisements that you retell with vivid recall –do you remember the product? Innovation is bright and colourful but risk is always a shade of grey.

Dee Copeland said...

Opportunity attracts hope – risk evokes threat and fear, yet little of value comes without risk. Knowing how to balance risk and opportunity creates space to innovate and develop new ways of teaching. It encompasses new learning opportunities for both students and teacher alike, and provides a rich framework for development.

Gloria said...

… is a two-bladed sword. Undoubtedly, risk provokes motivation and hope. Therefore, educators may kill norms and boredom of conventional teaching. As a result, learners feel stimulated and interested. However, risk may cause pain to risk takers, telling them when to stop unrealistic experiments and stick to traditional yet practical approaches.

Michelle said...

The role of risk in developing innovative education is dependant on whether innovation is approached as a project or as a process. If problems are approached through a process of innovation, a culture of innovation will address educational problems and also drive educational innovators towards dealing with future potential problems.