Staff Forum
The next staff forum will be held in G106 12 - 1pm this Friday 28 March. This forum will take another look at the Refocus on Teaching and Learning Strategy.
Enhancing Teaching and Learning at OP
We have opened a new blog under the banner "Enhancing Teaching and Learning at Otago Polytechnic". The link to this blog is http://enhancingteachingandlearning.blogspot.com/. I would like to encourage you all to sign up and to at least keep an eye on the resources posted and discussion that takes place. Better still - participate in the discussion, or post your own examples of good practice.
I am hopeful that this blog will be an important medium by which we can share the many examples of good practice happening at the Polytechnic.
Leadership Team
Participation in Trial of NZQA's new Quality Assurance System
Otago Polytechnic is one of four ITPs participating in the trial of the new evaluative quality assurance system in 2008. Mike Collins, Alistair Regan and Sue Thompson attended a training workshop in Wellington last week. Martin Grinsted, a lead auditor for ITP Quality, has been appointed to work with us as our evaluative coach as we prepare for self assessment of some aspects of our evaluative processes by July 2008.
The self assessment will be focussing on our existing evaluative tools such as Annual Programme Evaluation Review, Course Evaluations, First Impressions Survey and Programme Satisfaction Survey. We will also be doing an in depth review of the results and graduation process. The self assessment is followed by an external review plus an external evaluation of the trial. Participation in the trial provides Otago Polytechnic with the opportunity to help shape the new quality assurance system.
Information on the tertiary reforms and the trial can be found on the following websites:
TEC:
http://www.tec.govt.nz
NZQA
http://www.nzqa.govt.nz/for-providers/tertiary/index.html
More detailed information will be available after Easter.
Teaching and Learning Innovation Fund
Please note that in light of the Easter break, we have extended the date for applications for this fund the first round of to 31 March. Talk to Terry Marler if you have an idea you would like to pursue.
Sustainable Futures Breakfast
Thanks to those who attended the breakfast recently with Dr Morgan Williams - the first in a series of visitors to assist in building the capacity of the institution to delivery education for sustainability.
The Polytechnic signed an MoU with the Swedish based organisation The Natural Step. Dr Williams is the NZ Chairman. The MoU is attached and can be seen on Polybase.
Dr Williams also delivered a workshop in the city which 10 staff attended. His presentation notes can be seen on the Sustainable Futures page on the Polytechnic's website.
Good News
A contract has been signed to deliver Creative studies classes at the Prison for Corrections. This will start the prisoners down a qualification pathway. Congratulations to Jane Venis and her team for their flexible approach to this project.
Working Bee
A reminder re the Leadership Team Working Bee which was rescheduled for Saturday 29 March. If you are able to help (for part or all of the day) and have not already put your name down, please let Simon Noble know asap.
Congratulations
To Bernie Thijssen, Maree Steel, and Roger Southby, who have been promoted to Senior Lecturers.
Fun Committee
A correction to the Xmas party date - this should have read Friday 28 November.
Cheers
Phil
8 comments:
Better still - [...] post your own examples of good practice.
How? Are you going to add everyone as contributors (and that's not a request to add me)? Or should people email one of the contributors with stuff (thats similar to what works on some sites I know of.
yes, good question Dave.. how indeed. I reckon the Slashdot example is a good idea.. but who will have to moderate? I guess Phil or someone does that already in Polyears.. extra work though.. hope someone sees it as worth it..
BTW, there was an invite email broadcast last week or earlier that had an invite email in it.. that's how I came to be here..
To answer Dave -I hope staff will sign themselves on ( we cannot do that for them) and participate in discussion on this strategy. And offer up examples of good practice, either on behalf of others or for themselves. Or even offer up what they think are good ideas. As with Wikipaedia, others will validate whether or not practices or ideas are "good", or will offer up improvements or enhancements.
If 400 staff do sign up (improbable) then we will certainly be testing the effectiveness of this medium as an engagement device for whole organisations.If not, then I for one will return to more traditional approaches.
Cheers
Phil
Phil - you can only sign yourself on for comments I believe.
I think someone else has to add you as a "contributor". At least - I think so (or at least I don't know how to add myself)
What the heck - could someone add me as a contributor and I'll try to balance Leigh's web2.0 flood ;-)
I've always had doubts about group blogging.. for the very reasons Dave points to.. the perception that one is flooding the blog.. and the technical problems.. I get the feeling that Phil is trying to use this as a forum space.. its an interesting idea and certainly pushes blogging more than a bit. I think it would be better to do as Dave suggested somewhere with the Slashdot link.. basically a blog that captures the best of of the various things going on around the Poly.. the things I have been posting I post anyway to my own blog. As do quite a few staff do to their own blogs.. perhaps if Phil used a NewsReader he could keep abreast of what OP people are documenting, and point to it from here.. As well he might like to report on things that aren't captured by the ones blogging..
Just a thought.. as I suspect that group blogging (especially on the scale being proposed) will not work out.
It would be a shame to see Phil retire back to "traditional approaches" without trying traditional blogging and reading..
In response to Leigh, yes, I am pushing the boundaries to see if we can get a lot of people to participate through one blog. My experience with blogging to date is that it does not in fact draw in a lot of people to any one discussion. Blogging clearly has significant merits for networking, but appears to be poor for large scale engagement. Or have I missed something?
I am primarily interested in organisational communication and mass staff engagement. Thus far I have found no tools to achieve the engagement, and for straight out communication ( or at least sending the messages) email works best.
i have taken a look at Slashdot, and cannot see how this will help achieve the objectives above. or have I missed something here as well?
Our ISS team is building a web based internal "blogging' process which will be ready later in the year, which sounds promising in terms of fostering staff engagement. it will certainly be easy for staff to be signed up to particular blogs.
So, I remain open minded,and am happy to receive advice which will help achieve the objectives I have identified.
Cheers
phil
Yes, you are right Phil.. blogging (traditionally) has been good for networking individuals, and more lately on a very large scale.
You are pushing it to be a mass dialogue in a central place - which I think it could be.. but I think it is more likely to succeed if it is you alone that posts to it, and people can respond via comments.. I know this may not at first appear to be true dialogue, but it can be - as the to and frow between Dave's blog and mine about Wikis kind of demonstrates. It is networked dialogue and not centralised. While the networked aspect can appear to be chaotic, there are tools and techniques to make sense of it.
I'm not sure that the mass scale and centralised dialogue you are seeking will be achieved with a blog (or even the website). I think it will result in another channel that a few attend.
My suggestion is that networked communications could be the nearest thing to the mass dialogue you mention.. Its a bit like research communities and their cross referencing in their papers. If Dave posts to his blog, I see it, and I may reference Dave's post on my own blog, and then another blogger may pick the discussion up in their own blog (or in anyone of those blog's comment lines. It is networked dialogue not centralised.. and is already happening to notible scale in the Polytech. I know it appears chaotic (it is) but there are tools and techniques to manage it, that I think you would benefit it using - if a detailed overview of the Polytech is valuable.
The weight and authority of your blog could help connect the dialogue more and assist other who find it too chaotic. If you accasionally monitor the various blog posts, and then post to your own blog anything notable, then I think it is highly likely that you will be facilitating constructive connections - especially given that people inside the Polytech are more likely to read your blog than they are to read mine, Dave's or anyone elses.
As far as I have experienced, there really isn't an effective tool for mass dialogue. There are plenty for mass broadcast, but dialogue is so much more difficult. Email is possible, but not likely either as we are all over loaded by email that lacks substance. I think that's why so many people are excited about socially networked software.. which is essentially what I'm suggesting by networking blogs.
A key tool to this is the NewsReader.. I linked to a video in my last comment that explains the function of the NewsReader. Clearly not everyone is going to use such a thing - nore are they going to maintain their own blogs. But for those that do, you could be using a NewsReader to manage the opportunity to see into people's blogs, and promote connections by posting note worthiness to your own blog - which would no doubt also go out in the Phil's update.. and in combination should go a long way to closing the gab and disconnection in effective and mass dialogue.
Hope I'm making sense. I'd be interested in hearing Dave's thoughts...
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