CITations

I've thought long and hard about highlighting this post by a former NUS student. Kian Ann was a Computing student who has now gone full-time into promoting blogs for marketing. He writes about his sociology lecturer:

What the lecturer did was he used a blog for us to keep updated with his announcements, and used the blog comments for us students to post our questions. It was wildly successful. Because of the lecturer’s own participation (and its back to the basics - transparency, authenticity, and building relationships), it was fun for the students to discuss online. The lecturer also frequently posted jokes related to the module, so we could really enjoy studying the module.

Nothing wrong with that. In fact, I fully agree, which is why I run this blog. Kian Ann implies that files and resources uploaded to the blog have context - another very salient point. However, Kian Ann also has some criticism about IVLE and these Module Blogs. Once again, nothing wrong there.

The thing is, I generally agree with his criticism, particularly about IVLE.

What Kian Ann hints at, but does not fully express, is that learning management systems (LMS) such as IVLE are almost diametric to many Web 2.0 tools such as blogs and wikis. At its most basic, the former is a closed system and the latter are open.

What happens when a student leaves NUS? His/her account is shut down. And with it, access to the LMS. Hardly a model for reflective and lifelong learning.

Blogs and wikis, on the other hand are truly learner-centred and learner-driven. If lecturers and students are encouraged to blog their learning, what they have pondered and articulated remains with them. Almost as important, their blogs remain freely accessible on the internet, so that others can gain insights, responding and building on what has been expressed.

Tribolum wrote that in reference to Microsoft's attempts to wow the public with Vista.

The problem?

Microsoft's insistence on triumphing features, rather than the possibilities the operating system enables. This is doubly so as "operating systems aren’t very exciting".

I have to agree with Tribolum.

Similarly, a blog platform isn't too sexy either. And neither is IVLE, the university's learning management system. What tribolum said of how Vista was promoted could easily have been said about how IVLE, Module Blogs and many other IT-in-teaching innovations are promoted in NUS.

Since I'm not part of the solution, I must be part of the problem.

So, in future posts, I will try to let you know what you can do with the Module Blogs - the opportunities which you can seize. Likewise, IVLE. It's going to undergo a major upgrade soon, one in which the underlying structure has been changed tremendously. I have to remind myself that that's not sexy. What IVLE can do for you is sexy.

And as far as possible, I'll try to show, not tell.