Checking grant bids

This week I shall be one of the presenters at a university Bidding for Funding workshop on ‘Building your track record with funders’. Below is the checklist for grant applications that I will be circulating to participants

Quick-check questions

1. What story am I telling?
2. Who is the audience?
3. Why does it matter?
4. Why now?
5. Why me / us?

Have I:

• Formulated the problem clearly?
• Established appropriate intellectual aims?
• Set the problem in the context of contemporary scientific and theoretical debates?
• Explained what the research will do – to whom or what – and why?
• Justified my selection of staff and / or collaborators?
• Demonstrated the ways in which this work will build on existing research?
• Clearly and concisely set out appropriate, practical and attainable aims / objectives?
• Shown how my research will relate to and deliver these aims and objectives?
• Developed a well thought-out research design in which there is a reasoned and realistic explanation of the scale, timing and resources necessary?
• Provided a full and detailed description of the proposed research methods?
• Defended my research design and shown why others are not appropriate?
• Highlighted any innovation in the methodology I am planning to use?
• Justified the quality, validity, reliability and relevance of this research?
• Considered the possibility of using existing data sources?
• Set out a clear and systematic approach to the analysis of data?
• Shown how my approach to analysis fits the research design?
• Thought about the ethics of what I plan to do?
• Addressed any sensitive issues or potential problems?
• Fully consulted on these issues and obtained approval if required?
• Provided written confirmation that access will be given where necessary?
• Identified and planned for the skills and competencies required?
• Highlighted potential difficulties and discussed how they will be handled?
• Demonstrated the ways in which this research will make a contribution to the area?
• Identified people outside the academic community who might use this research?
• Involved / consulted potential users of this research?
• Arranged for those users to continue to be involved in an appropriate way?
• Explained why this research will be of interest to this funder?
• Investigated possibilities for co-funding the research?
• Provided a good quality, up-to-date bibliography?
• Provided a clear dissemination strategy that will engage all interested parties?
• Demonstrated ways in which my research will make an impact?
• Considered ways of making my data and my publications open access?
• Checked the spelling, grammar and style of my proposal?
• Identified potential referees, and justified their selection?
• Conveyed my genuine interest in, understanding of and enthusiasm for the research?

Teacher-led Inquiry and Learning Design: The Virtuous Circle

Between 28 January and 30 January I co-chaired a workshop at the Alpine Rendezvous held in Villard‐de‐Lans, Vercors, in the French Alps. My co-chairs were workshop leader Yishay Mor and Barbara Wasson.

The workshop, Teacher-led Inquiry and Learning Design: The Virtuous Circle brought together inquiry, learning design and learning analytics. It also brought together participants from Denmark, Finland, France, Norway, Spain, Sweden, the UK and the US

The objectives of the workshop were to establish a new strand of inquiry aimed at the synergy of learning design and teacher inquiry into student learning (TISL), solidify its theoretical foundations, propose methodological instruments which would build on these foundations and consider tools and representations which could support these instruments.

All workshop participants – including some who were unable to attend the workshop itself – contributed a paper on their work, and these papers were brought together online in one Cloudscape.

The workshop itself focused on working and building knowledge together, with participants working in small groups on frameworks and paper outlines.

A final presentation set out the outcomes of the workshop and our Grand Challenge for future research in technology-enhanced learning – Empower the Future Teacher.

 

SoLAR Storm Event

Social Learning Analytics symposium, Knowledge Media Institute, The Open University UK.

An afternoon presenting and discussing the work of SocialLearn interns Zhongyu Wei (The Chinese University of Hong Kong) and Shaofu Huang (Bristol University) on the development of social learning analytics. I re-presented the talk on social learning analytics that I presented at LAK 2012 earlier this year, setting the scene for the work of the interns, and painting the broader picture. Zhongyu talked about his work on discourse analytics; Shaofu talked about the progress of his work on disposition analytics and there was a question and answer session with members of the audience.

View the webinar.

Full details of the event are available on the SocialLearn Research blog.

This hybrid face-to-face / webinar event formed part of SoLAR Storm  — the virtual research lab convened by the Society for Learning Analytics Research to build research capacity in this new field by networking PhD researchers with each other and the wider community.

Exploring teaching and learning in real and virtual worlds

The Open University has a big presence on iTunesU, which includes many of the university’s podcasts and videos.

These include ‘Exploring teaching and learning in virtual worlds’, a 40-part podcast. Part 6 focuses on teaching and learning in virtual worlds and includes footage of me taking my Teen Grid avata, Fox Phlox, into Schome Park to meet with teenager Vibia. It also includes my Main Grid avatar, Marie Arnold, exploring the Open University’s Second Life islands with Elsa Dickins (Anna Peachey)

Digital worlds: designing games, creating alternative realities

I don’t make much mention of teaching in this blog, which focuses mainly on my research work.

Nevertheless, in the background, I usually have some teaching going on – whether it’s informally within Schome, or more formal.

In 2009, I started working formally on The Open University’s T151 course. This began as an uncourse – Tony Hirst blogged it as he developed it, and a group of readers (including me) followed on, and made comments and additions. This developed into a formal online course, which didn’t follow a teacher/student model but involved moderators and then exam markers. In 2009, I joined the marking team.

Course summary:

From the earliest days of computing, computer games have led the way in exploring how we interact with digital media. In this ten-week online course you will discover how computer games and interactive digital experiences are designed and made, marketed and played. Through designing, creating, sharing and reviewing your own games, you will learn how complex games are often constructed from simple building blocks. You will also see how the evolution of communities around computer games helps drive an international industry that extends from casual single player games to interactive online entertainment and ‘serious’ educational games.

PGCE

After working in journalism and publishing, I returned to study – this time completing a PGCE at Homerton College, Cambridge.

By now, computing had moved on and we had a computer in many classrooms. Never more than one per classroom, though. The college was better supplied – we had a whole roomful of computers we could use for word processing. In terms of professional training as teachers, though, things didn’t progress far past showing the cohort how to switch them on and load up some basic software.