Creativity, education design and evaluating process

I must convey my recent collection of experiences on work I've done with a bachelor of nursing unit for post registration nurses (across the globe).

Since beginning my education design career, I have felt bombarded by the magnitude and scope of the myriad tasks which constitute my workload. I seem constantly to get stuck inside the mundane, administrative activities, and have forgone reflecting on the more creative elements of my work - of which, I must say, are quite substantial. I ask you to broaden your definition of 'creativity' to encapsulate the elements of personal development to be learning experiences (most are aren't they?!)...

I find the problem solving aspects of my work offer a creative challenge - this, to me, is the essence of education design. The learning is immense - and intense! I have, in the last fortnight or so, reflected more closely on the actions and conversations of and with my colleagues in light of this word 'creativity' and my problem-solving thesis has been proven many times! You can almost feel the cogs turning, well-oiled, with full service history!

Having turned my focus more to these creative moments, I have felt new life being breathed into my work. That is not to say I've dropped all administrative and other mundane tasks (oh to dream!), but I have realigned my thinking to centre more on the processes of creative thought instead. Now, many would say "I told you so!" - but as with all experiences, you must feel it yourself, rather than rely on others to be your 'wise eyes'. Although, I do recall a saying that goes something like this:

A fool learns from his mistakes; a wise person learns from the mistakes of others.

Perhaps not a very practical idea, but it sounds promising!

I have digressed...back to creativity...
Another 'creative catharsis' arose from presenting the findings of an evaluation conducted on the same unit mentioned above, which ultimately informed the development I worked on. Reflecting on the evaluation has me reflecting again on the creative experience and the time spent building a rapport with the academic coordinating the unit. This relationship combines a fluid arrangement of creative input and negotiating the academic terrain, which often involves critiquing the content presented within the unit itself. Content poses many challenges and education design often asks the academic particularly to release this content from the 'sanctuary' within which it resides. This means building avenues of trust and allowing time for this 'release' (usually more than one development phase, often at least two) to manifest.

Education designers have become quite adept at not only supporting this release, but empathising with the academic position. The content, in its released form, becomes 'public property', 'naked' for all to see - transparent.

Sharing content in this way is perhaps challenges the legitimacy of the academic's own position. So too, education designers are challenged - often their position is in danger of being construed as lacking academic discipline. However, education designers usually display a wide ranging scope of interests and skills, which stand them in good stead for the work they must do.

My partnership with the academic of the nursing unit has brought this very interesting relationship struggle to the fore, not for her acknowledgement of a lack of my position, but has shown herself to build her own picture of me as an education designer. This has developed through the negotiation of tasks and of initiating and supporting various aspects of the development process, as each stage has presented itself. to me it is reminiscent of constructivist learnign theory, that we all bring prior knowledge and experience to a new learning encounter; where we then restructure our knowledge framework to distill and appropriate this new learning with our existing knowledge. Constructivist learning approaches seem to most naturally fit the education design paradigm.

I am most grateful for this experience with this academic and to be privy to such a relationship early on in my career is a big plus - I feel my ideals have not been sullied to the point of anonymity!

Long live education design!

Flexibility - hitting the surf ...

Well, after a windy day down at Jan Juc near Torquay and watching surf lifesaving events with growing exhaustion, I was quite motivated to sit on my comfy sofa and read some more on the notion of flexibility and have found some interesting resources.

What intrigued me was the change in context in which flexibility has been discussed. Prior to about 1997/1998 the notion of flexibility was talked about in relation to open and distance learning. From 1998 onwards the context switches to significantly include online technologies, e-learning and flexible delivery. this may not be a new observation, but have always wondered about the way in which we use such terms and what determines or drives their usage. I asked the question do semantics really matter? I think discourse has it's place in critical analysis and certainly in this context it can be explored further.

Resources from the Distance Education clearinghouse might prove useful. As would the journal of Distance Education (ODLAA).

I think as society and culture changes and shifts focus, so too must the dialogues and discourses shift or as Richard Edwards (1997) comments, to be rewritten and reread. With this shifting and changing, so too do the power structures. Thus, I think we are seeing a great push for effective change management strategies as communtiies, institutions, businesses and governments attempt to articulate and cope with this change.

Much is address through economic rationalist glasses and this is problematic - we need to acknowledge more readily the cultural shifts which also impact the status quo.

Food for thought! Ciao.

Melbourne's 'cool' summer...

So far my summer hasn't felt much like a summer [and before any Melburnians jump down my throat, yes, the Xmas weather was spectacular! :o) ] - I am still acclimatising to the lower latitudinal, more temperate climes of the east coast, having spent a good deal of my young adult life in Perth and then more recently Geraldton! It's so distinctly different - even the air is different! There must be a more apt meteorological explanation than my poor efforts here, but it does make a difference to one's demeanor I feel. So, what does it mean to feel displaced? Misplaced? Dislocated perhaps? When will I get around to relating this back to educational design and flexible learning you might ask?... About now!

Households, Work and Flexibility is an EU project which looks at how changing forms of flexibility affect work and family life. What intrigues me about this project is the notion of flexibility, something I want to research further in relation to educational technologies. The 2000 - 2003 project report series is available from the website in PDF. The project's use of the term flexibility is simplified in my view, but they offer further terms of reference with which to later discuss the notion of flexibility.

Interestingly, if you type the phrase "flexibility of space" into your search engine [I prefer Google], the EU project site is the second one on the list!

What are your thoughts on the notion of flexibility? Are we sometimes careless in the use of such terms? Do semantics really matter? How does flexibility apply to the discussions surrounding educational technologies and good pedagogical practice? Before I get carried away with mind-boggling theory, I'll say...

...Ciao until the next!

...and so on to 2004!

Again, the circles turn into another year...so fast! More change, more push to streamline and realign. For what? With what? By whom? Organisational change in my rather cynical view, is about costing out time and resources to sit and think about better, more "innovative" ideas than the person or persons before us. A lot of change is simply for the sake of change! Hmmm, any challenges there? The race to lead change with innovations is on!

change

Syn: To alter; vary; deviate; substitute; innovate; diversify; shift; veer; turn.

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.

innovative

\In"no*va*tive\, a. Characterized by, or introducing, innovations. --Fitzed. Hall.

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.

innovative

adj 1: ahead of the times; "the advanced teaching methods"; "had advanced views on the subject"; "a forward-looking corporation"; "is British industry innovative enough?" [syn: advanced, forward-looking, modern] 2: being or producing something like nothing done or experienced or created before; "stylistically innovative works"; "innovative members of the artistic community"; "a mind so innovational, so original" [syn: innovational]

Source: WordNet ® 1.6, © 1997 Princeton University

Question: Innovative at what?
The question was brought to my attention at the 2003 presentations of Flexible Learning Leaders in Victoria.

The push to be innovative in an atmosphere of constant change echoes a need to keep people 'on the ball', to keep motivation levels high, in order to sustain efforts of change. To be innovative is to keep rolling out new and exciting ideas, brainstorm suggestions of better practices and more successful outcomes - and creating those outcomes along the way! Just as we tender for project funds, we also tender for a slice of the innovations cake, hoping our ideas and sughgestions will be selected from the many put forward to "those in a position of power and influence". If we jump through those flaming bureaucratic hoops with enthusiasm and effort we might just get what we deserve!

Where should I go with all this? My role as an educational designer in my institution is one which puts me and my colleagues in a position of supporting academics essentially through a process of change which incorporates their experiences of a changing workplace and a changing educational environment. Educational Designers are not new to education settings, but their role has increasingly become one involving necessary well-developed skills of change management.

Change management as a skill? Certainly! Think back to those managers you had the priveledge of working with who were able to and comfortable with leading co-workers through change on a daily basis! Many learnt to manage from their experiences over a time and the qualities they exhibit as individuals. Time helps hone such skills. The trick I think is to remember how and when to use these skills in the most appropriate ways. That means being highly sefl aware, that is aware not only of oneself, but of others around you - emotional intelligence or EQ.

I had the priviledge to attend a personal development workshop through the Philosophy of Living Centre and relished every restful and reflective minute of it! I chose such a workshop over the myriad workshops to do with organisational development, management and leadership and countless others offered by various well respected institutions.

"...we point people in the direction of their own common sense and they learn through insight how to solve thier own problems, how to enjoy and appreciate life more. In essence, they learn to listen to their own wisdom" (Spittle, 2001).

Three points the Centre focuses on in its workshops are Mind, Thought and Consciousness. These three principles are used to explain and describe the experience of life, our "reality". Throughout the workshop, many participants told their stories and the workshop facilitator told some wonderful, simple, insightful stories too - they got us thinking and reflecting, much like the buddhist methodology of bringing one back into contact with and trusting one's own life experiences. One of my favourite books is The Tao of Pooh. Check out some of the thoughts here. For a reflective individual such as myself, I relish these texts! It mirrors the texts that are our life experiences.

Until the next ...

The State of Play - On the Soapbox!

Where will Australian training and education be in 5 years time? What will flexible learning be in 5 years from now?

What will happen with flexible learning communities and the role they play in fostering flexible learning developments?

I was fortunate enough to present to a small group of Thai delegates from the Open University recently and the issues of moving to an online teaching and learning environment were obvious. It was an interesting look backwards, at where we had moved from to be where we are now in terms of providing open, accessible and flexible learning opportunities. What seems always to be the largest bone of contention is the role of the teacher/academic in the uptake of educational technology for flexible learning. Teachers are our education system's bread and butter and without them we are drifting boats at sea!

I feel we need to take some time and space to seriously consider the role of our teachers and academics in the grand globalised educational sphere that revolves around us and our institutions. There is still a substantial lack of commitment by government and institutional management to providing meaningful and relevant staff development and support for the move to flexible learning modes. There is still a gap between the commitment to the provision of such modes and the means by which to resource them!

Okay, so I'm allowed a little bit of time up on my soapbox - try it at EDNA, it's therapeutic! (register if you haven't already).

Discussion as a Learning Preference ...
I think we do learn a lot through discussion, look at how parents talk and interact with their children. It's a negotiation, a clarification not only of what is meant by what is said, but of roles people take in a discussion. Power plays are most often recognised, especially with authority figures and in one's workplace. I'm just thinking of this following the thread on institutional management...! Here's a wonderful article told for teachers by teachers on power plays ...

... May the force be with you!