The End of the Beginning

This has been the last session ... more of the same, one or two new moves, a string of old ones put together in sequence, with music and changing partners. Familiar format.
It may not look particularly proficient but it works.
What was new however was a sense of of 'class bonding' which came to the fore when the proposal was made to add a few extra sessions before Christmas to reinforce what has been learned and to build a bridge to the next level course starting in January 2009.
This is peer learning at its best, with the entire group wanting to move forward together.
Three cheers to the tutor for forming such as coherent bond - and for moving us from extrinsic towards intrinsic motivation.

The end is in sight

There are now only three sessions left before the beginners class will come to an end and we have now reached the 'consolidation phase' of our learning.
We all try to string together the individual moves we've learned in previous classes, perfecting them in the process and then trying to speed up with the faster beat of the music.
Over and over again the teachers point out the importance of the 'man leading' and at this stage although I can appreciate it I am unable to implement it in any particular shape or form - there are clearly still limits on what has been learned but that is fine.
So what were the expectations and what has been learned?
Admittedly from the outset I would not have learned Salsa dancing without the formal requirement of the MSc course module - which clearly points to extrinsic motivation for getting started. This fact however has been adjusted by the fact that the entire experience has been a positive one, the relaxation part, the socialising element of it, the good music and the achievements observed, even if they may appear miniscule at this stage.
A noticeable shift towards intrinsic motivation of dancing in general and Salsa dancing in particular is now detectable and evidence for this comes from me enrolling on another dancing class (on another day), this time in 'ballroom dancing' and there is also a likelihood of moving up to Salsa intermediate level in the new year.
This does not necessarily mean though that I have become an autonomous learner (as I am for example in Djembe drumming) but at least it will point in this direction.
And this in itself is not a mean feat.

Rollercoaster ride continued - obtaining new momentum

After the somewhat despondent posting last week this week's entry is much more upbeat, precipitated by a very intense dancing session.
There were several changes which resulted in matters brightening up considerably
First we did change partners less than we normally do and I had the pleasure to dance with someone who's roughly at the same level and this made it much more enjoyable.
Secondly we also learnt a couple of new moves which were challenging but were also explained very well, not only by the teacher but also by an advanced dancer who has joined the class recently to provide extra support.
Finally we were, for the first time asked to string together a series of moves we've learnt in previous sessions, initially 2, then 3 and so on until there was a total of about 8 or so. This was cleary developing into a proper dance and although it was exceedingly challenging to remember the sequence of those moves it worked remarkably well, apart from the fact it was physically very exhausting.
For the first time though one could feel the sensation of real Salsa dancing and the affirmative looks of the teacher confirmed that real tangible progress has been made.
I think we're approaching the main learning outcome.

Momentum and Motivation

This has been a long wait - two weeks without proper Salsa dancing...
And somehow it shows - it is very difficult not to remember the steps but to keep the pace and the get a feel for the rhythm.
And for the first time the sense of impatience, the lack of progress if not stagnation sets in. I'm still a novice of course but one would expect some progression. What's holding me back I wonder?
1. Motivation - I would assume that the positive spirit is still there but may be the incentive if not purpose is fading away - why am I doing this? - what is it for? and what benefits do I get out of this? It does not feel like enjoyment any more.
2. Peer learning - or the lack of it. Dancing is the ultimate group learning activity - you need a partner not only to practice but also to learn from. And the motivation and dedicationn of your partner is at least as important as your own.
During the lessons the partners are rotating, so every few minutes you have another person to dance with which is fine as you learn to adjust to different individuals.
However I've now come to realise that too many of the dancing partners are not particularly good at it, mainly when dancing at higher speed. They do realise this of course but state that they did not have much time practising etc.
Unfortunately I interpret this as them denying me the opportunity to move forward in this lesson, and this causes a fair bit of anger and frustration. The one or two dancers who are good allow you to develop further but this is far too little.

I've now decided to join another dance class, which specialises on ballroom dancing, both classical and Latin, just to see whether a different peer learning experience will provide the impetus required. Getting another perspective to learning to dance may do the trick?

Session 6 and half-time

I've entered this session with confidence - after all I managed to practice some of the moves back home using some Salsa tunes. Surely all I need to do is basic recall combined with sense of rhythm.

However this session turned out to be quite different. Tis time the tutor put up some fast and furious Salsa rhythms which we've never danced to before. It daunted to me that this is the real speed in which Salsa is actully practised and a demo at the end did confirm my suspicion.
During the class this created a serious problem in that I (and others) had extreme difficultes in squeezing our moves within the beats of the music; getting out of the rhythm and trying to get back into repeatedly wasn't my sense of fun. Because everything needed to be rushed there was also the odd untidyness of the moves creeping into the dancing.
Progress was slow and at times frustrating but towards the end I managed to get a glimps of some aspects of higher level Salsa dancing:

• that the man is in control and must lead the partner into the variations
• getting the moves into the rhythm pattern for more than a few seconds does create a sense of 'flow', an experience not too dissimilar to the one a surfer has when he gathers speed (provided there is enough wind) and skim 'on top of' the waves.

It is this sensation of 'flow' which hopefully will keep me going during the second half - I want more of it and I want it longer ...

Unlearning for learning - sessions 4 and 5

The first three sessions had instilled a degree of self confidence which comes when you are in love with something new and exciting and you manage reasonably well.
Session 4 brought me down to earth. Although I thought that I had understood the basic pattern of the movements and their relation to the beat of the music I became badly unstuck by a particular horrid move involving what looked like a straightforward spin underneath the dancing partners arm.
Despite attempting it many time over it somehow did not feel right somehow. Over and over I failed to recognise that it wasn't the move itself which I was doing wrong but the timing of the turn itself (which I was doing two beats too early). Unfortunately this did not become apparent to me during the entire fourth session leading me to practice at home what was essentially incorrect.

At the beginning of session 5 I asked the techer for clarification on this particular move and then it daunted to me how it worked, realising that I had to quickly unlearn what I had practised for a few days and relearn the correct version..
This 'EUREKA' moment was quite special but it did take me quite some time after the class to get the correct move into my long-term memory (LTM) after which I felt a particular sense of relieve.
Which demonstrates another aspect of learning:
Be prepared to take a step back, reflect on and question what you've learnt, ask for clarification from the expert(s) and be prepared to unlearn what you have done wrong and relearn. It may take extra effort but it is normal part of learning, enabling you to gain a richer experience in the process, which will then feed into the next level of learning experience.

Moving Forward - Sessions two and three

The sense of novelty has subsided when I showed up for the second session. The practising of the basic moves back home has paid off in the sense that movements with music and partner where nicely in tune and performed in what could approximate a confident manner.
A variation of the initial basic steps was demonstrated by the tutor and, via copying its execution worked reasonably well - the entire evening felt rather enjoyable.
In session three another variation of the basic 4 step move was introduced which when applied in my own moves felt rather ackward. It was near impossible to synchronise the movments with the music which became very frustrating.
The teacher tried to explain what happened but by sheer copying it still did not make sense - I just failed to get back into the rhythm properly.
Until I noticed that one of the four steps has actually disappeared - becoming only a rudimentary (aborted) relic (just like the pelvic bones in a whale). After reflecting on this and making some adjustments everything fell in place - and the moves sychronised with the beat - didn't it feel great.
The outcome of this was that for the first time the learning process moved up a level from pure copying to reflection and problem-solving.
For the first time I realised that there was a fundamental principle in this dance and the accompnying music a discovery which I hope will be applicable to all subsequent moves we're going to learn.
Let's find out whether this holds true.

Learning process - step 1: Copying or rote learning

The first session has begun - the intial warm up and then the first task (no theory, nothing) - just One-two-three-four...
Only four simple but unnatural steps. Full concentration is required to follow the teacher in her agile movements. Every one of my moves looks clumsy and the steps taken are far too big. Confidence - no.
Then some Salsa music is played and off we go - not really. Things are not getting any easier - matching steps with the pace of the rhythms appears a huge hurdle to jump.
But after a few minutes I find that the music (if played slowly) actually helps to synchronise the steps and somehow there is a bit more flow in the movements, although without guidance from the tutor it would not work.
Final task: grab a partner and try to string the four steps together with the added pressure of 'leading' the moves. Now this is a completely different situation - the element of group work (if only two) brings in a new level of complexity if not anxiety, not eased by the fact that the partners change every few minutes.
The stress makes one loose one's concentration of what has been learned only 10 minutes ago. Obviously what has been learnt has not yet been transmitted to the long-term memory. Is this caused by some sort of examination/performance stress?
This is the first big hurdle of the session and some participants do not cope and will not return for the next class.
I'm not sure what makes me persevere - I do enjoy the music and the moves separatly but putting it together with a partner is quite stressful. However towards the end of the class things do improve and a sense of confidence if not a quaint sense of achievement sets in. The outcome is still not brilliant but the foundations have been laid - the rest will come.
Clearly this little plant needs nurturing in the form of practising back home - peer pressure from the dancing partners is too great to leave it at this level.
On the same evening YouTube will be searched for good 'Salsa' tunes and a couple of clips will emerge and played back over and over again - let's dance ... one, two, three, four ...

Learning Challenge - The choice

Initially numerous activities went through my head: what can it be: kite flying, cooking course, pottery, ....
After some reflection it occured to me that the Learning Challenge had to be rooted in one's life interests, in order to remain within a reasonable comfort zone of learning, and to ensure that there is a reasonable chance of attainment, and as an added bonus an element of fun.

Searching and reflecting on my existing skills one aspect clearly stood out - my existing sense of rhythm. I have been playing the African Djembe drum for about three years now and found it both relaxing and refreshing. Maybe something around that theme may be fit the bill.
Reflecting further I remembered that during my recent stay at a 5 day World Music festival where participatory workshops were offered I attended (in addition to the usual Djembe drumming classes) a Samba music workshop where we were able to explore a number of different instruments. The rhythms felt good but I noticed that I was not really able to move my body i tune with the beat something which annoyed me as it held me back to completely 'loosen up' during the sessions.
That clearly needed some attention but then I remembered that it was more than 30 years ago that I had my last formal dance lessons and my memories of that were not entirely positive.
So there was my comfort zone barrier which would in another circumstace most likely have prohibited me from engaging in this learning activity. But this is different and after all it is meant to be a Challenge so let's rise to it.
And the idea was borne: why not attempting to have a go at some Latin dancing, Samba or anything related.
The rest was easy - exploring the local Yellow Pages on the Web identified a suitably local venue offering 'Salsa for Beginners'. That sure had to be it - and isn't the music just fantastic (see below).

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Learning about Learning

As someone who has been working in Higher Education for many years as a lecturer one is usually concerned about the quality of one's own teaching often focussing on the feedback obtained by the learners.
Consequently one often forgets to pay attention of the process of learning itself. Due to their professional qualifications and scholarly practice teachers and lecturers tend to learn 'informally' without paying attention to what works and what does not, for them or others. They also tend to take learning for granted - after all it is an integral part of their job.
As part of my studies for an MSc in e-Learning at Edinburgh University on a module called 'Understanding Learning in the Online Environment' participants have been asked to undertake what has been termed a 'Learning Challenge'.
This challenge consisted of a learning task over which we did not have an entirely free choice though; the Course Tutor imposed that the Challenge should not be of an academic nature but rather involve a 'motor skill' like juggling , playing an instrument or learning a new sport - not an easy task if you are an 'intellectual'.
The reason for this constraint imposed by the tutor was for us to explore learing opportunities and processes outsise out immediate comfort zone in order to find out how far we were prepared to 'venture out'.
How big is my 'confort zone', what are my constraints in trying out skills outside my normal life routine.
After some initial panicking calm set in allowing some reflection on the way forward. Where is the base from which I will venture out.?
Could my background in African drumming open up new learning opportunities?

Introductory Lecture on e-learning

Link to a Slideshare Presentation on
The basics of e-Learning

A Day In Oxford

This is a quick message from the NetSkills workshop at the Computing Services Department at Oxford University.
We are currently dabbling with Blogging and this entry is an attempt to continue with the Blog series.

Cultivating bacteria in a laboratory

Q: How are bacteria cultivated in large quanitities in order to produce pharmaceuticals?
A: By using an industrial scale fermenter

Have a look at the movie file below to see how a fermenter works,

This work is licenced under a
Creative Commons Licence.