Author: Keith Aquilina

Currently my professional role is that of Education Officer (Quality Assurance) within the Directorate for Quality & Standards in Education in the Ministry of Education, Malta. After eight years teaching Computing and ICT within a state secondary school, I moved to the Department of eLearning where my role focused on the organisation of national educational events of which the national eLearning awards and conference, Malta Robotics Olympiad and student competitions. In addition to the work within the Department of eLearning, as from 2011 I have taken the role of ICT coordinator within the Directorate for Lifelong Learning where for 5 years, I was involved in the development and organisation of ICT related courses within the directorate’s adult education centres and collaborating entities. In 2012, I completed my Masters studies in Online and Distance Education from the Open University. This blog started off as an online reflective diary for my studies in the Masters in Online and Distance Education with the Open Univeristy. As may be easily deduced, my main interest is in technology, learning and anything in between. Linkedin; mt.linkedin.com/in/keithaquilina/

the Maltese VLE for schools

Last Friday our school had a school development meeting in which the launch of the ‘Maltese’ VLE system for schools has been scheduled for 2011 (wasn’t it long overdue already ?). What actually made me angry/bewildered was the lecturer’s statement that such a system would be eventually made compulsary for teachers to use. It is […]

H800…officially concluded :)

Today I’ve got the news that I passed my first course with OU. This was a very busy course which has made me reflect on various issues ; not just study related but also professionally and also personally ! Well this is just the beginning of MAODE. I’ve gained credibility in myself, where now I […]

Blogging for students

It’s been quiet some time since I have written a post. In the final part of H800 I was thinking about ways in which my students might be introduced to blogging. I have focused on my secondary students where two main blogs have been set up with two different aims. stigstud.wordpress.com is being used to […]

SNS

Whilst ‘patching’ up my ECA, I’m realising how SNS are entrenched in the lives of the majority of students. On the other hand schools (not just in Malta) tend to block access to SNS. What does this mean? That SNS are put in the same category of online gaming, porn and other time wasting online […]

ECA and …

Drafting and drafting and drafting and drafting … my ECA. One of the two technologies for my ECA is surely blogs. It is very interesting researching how learners and teachers use them in different learning contexts. Whilst developing my writing I am more convinced that in the next scholastic year, I’ll be using some sort […]

Back from the Highlands

Just got back from 1 week in Scotland’s highlands. Great holiday were we drove over 1300 miles around the highlands. We have seen Oban, Aviemore, Inverness, Edinburgh (Zoo and Militaty Tattoo!!), Balltare Highland games etc…too little time to see so many beautiful places! Now need to get back on track and try to finish off […]

Week 25 – A2: Mix right ?

Reading: Anderson (2003) ‘Getting the mix right again: an updated and theoretical rationale for interaction’. 1. On page 2 of this article, Anderson (drawing on Sims, 1999) lists the functions of interaction, as follows: Learner control Facilitating programme adaptation based on learner input Varied forms of participation and communication Aiding the development of meaningful learning […]

reBlog from emmanugent.wordpress.com: Em Nugent’s Learning Diary

I found this fascinating quote today: Technologies do not float freely in their social context; they are part of what constitutes up a social context and they are changed and have different effects when taken up and used within different social structures.emmanugent.wordpress.com, Em Nugent’s Learning Diary, Jul 2009 You should read the whole article.

Week 25 – A1: Sage on the Stage or Guide on the side?

some points… reading: Haythornthwaite (2008) ‘Ubiquitous Transformations’: Proceedings of the Networked Learning Conference, Halkidiki, 2008. 1. What evidence is there of this shift towards taking responsibility for learning by the learners themselves? – New practices emerging around Internet use. – These new media lay the foundation for radical transformations in who learns from whom, where, under […]

Week 24 – A8: Practitioners and models of pedgagoy

reading: de Freitas et al (2007) ‘The practitioner perspective on the modelling of pedagogy and practice’ 1. What are the two main ways in which interventions intended to change how teachers teach actually attempt to do this? (page 26) Assumption that interventions intended to change teachers’ teaching (model practice) will improve practice. The authors argue […]