#ocTEL An Open Course in Teachonlogy Enhanced Learning

The MOOC I am starting this week is a course run by the Association of Learning Technologists and is titled the Open Course in Technology Enhanced Learning (ocTEL). This is my fourth MOOC. I have enjoyed my previous MOOCs, and I am looking forward to this course.

Week 0: Induction Activities

During this week we are expected to complete several tasks. These tasks and how I go about doing them are described here.

Introducing myself

I am the Senior Learning Technologist at Swinburne University if Technology in Melbourne. My role is to enhance teaching and learning  experiences with the use of technology. I am involved in training staff and identifying innovative teaching and learning tools/technologies/methods. All these contribute to providing great learning experiences to the learners, embracing new technologies for better learning experiences and facilitating improved pedagogical value while looking out for efficient and effective methods of educating.  

I enjoy research and development, looking out for innovative methods and tools, also like to research how digital divide can be reduced and finally to reach equal learning opportunities. I feel technology can assist with this task and I like to research and implement projects that support this vision 

My big question about TEL

Use of  Technology to provide great learning experiences to learners.

I also like to search for methods, tools innovative ways to reduce education divide. 

I'm looking forward to sharing new ideas about how people are engaging students in online, blended and distance learning.

Exploring and experimenting

With a large group of people in the MOOC the introductions have brought quite a variety of expectations, individual skills and  thoughts to the surface. It has been fascinating reading these posts and learning about what other people around the world are doing in the TEL space. Already the discussions have got busy and enormous amount of ideas, with large number of short reading blocks.

People have joined this MOOC with different expectations. Some of them are:

• to learning about best practices
• to learn how to increase student learning experiences
• to investigate how to use technology for teaching and learning
• to find solution through crowd sourcing to problems/issues that they have come across in TEL  

I am personally interested in finding how technology can be used to increase learning experiences, as well as how these great tools can be used to minimize education and digital divide