Getting Anchored in My #CritLit 2010 MOOC

Consolidation

When I started the Critical Literacy 2010 course, I started late and was not exactly sure what the major focus of the course was. In my mind the dominant thought was that this was a course that was primarily concerned with Critical Thinking Skills. Reflecting back at the outset, the course details did outline that:

"Content for the course is being drawn from the presentation Pedagogical Foundations for Personal Learning This presentation provides a frame for an understanding of the critical literacies required in a networked learning environment. Briefly, the elements are as follows: i) Syntax, ii) Semantics, iii) Pragmatics, iv) Cognition, v) Context and vi) Change."

During the course, discussion has emerged around the topic of critical thinking and many of the participants have gone on to suggest practical critical literacies that learners in a networked learning environment need to develop. The six week course as it suggests in the course details does also indeed follow the course themes weekly and these provide a background to the practical critical literacies which are being discussed on the course. I am much more comfortable discussing the practical critical literacies as i previously have not looked at all deeply at the underpinning elements of communication and thinking that are the bedrock of this course. I have not been able to attend the online synchronous presentations and i have not looked at the recordings (included here) yet either:

• Week 1: Gráinne Conole Cognition
• Week 2: Dave Snowden Complexity
• Week 3: Graham Attwell Pragmatics

Impetus to learn more about Philosophy and Communication

Whilst preparing this blog post it seemed that although i believe i have something to contribute to the course that my main focus should be to ensure that i have good (better) grounding in the main underpinning topics and themes. This was a deviation from my intention which was to peruse various blogs from the CritLit 2010 course, looking for further discussion of literacies that might be deemed critical (as in imperative). Instead inspired by Ruth Howard's Blog post Self as a locus of Learning I linked to the following article on the pros and cons of postmodernism. Ruth was directed to this resource by the industrious, forthcoming and very interesting blog postings of John Mak. John's recent postings relating to the topic of critical litercaies include:

• Educational Leadership
• #CritLit2010 Reflective Thinking – A Personal Perspective Part 1
• #CritLit2010 Reflective Thinking – A Personal Perspective Part 2

Reading the article on the pros and cons of postmodernism.gave me the impetus to get a brief grounding in Philosophy - A subject that i have not previously explored in any great depth. What i discovered from Wikipedia was that "17th century philosophy in the Western world is generally regarded as being the start of modern philosophy,", generally known as the Age of Reason. I learnt that this era was followed in the 18th Century by the Age of Enlightenment. The Age of Enlightment preceded the 19th Century Modernism philosophy, before the 20th century philosophy of Postmodernism came to the foreground.

Looking at the main themes of the course, communication is the nub of all the critical literacies being considered and therefore an appreciation of Linguistics, the study of natural language is a useful attribute. Important to note that linguistics can be divided between the study of language structure (grammar including syntax) and the study of meaning (semantics and pragmatics). Within the field, linguist is used to describe someone who either studies the field or uses linguistic methodologies to study groups of languages or particular languages. Outside the field, this term is commonly used to refer to people who speak many languages or have a great vocabulary. Wikipedia 2010.

A closely related field concerned with the general study of signs and symbols both in language and outside of it is Semiotics and whilst considering the topic of pragmatics in relation to a networked learner living in a multimedia environment it seems that communicative elements are going to be more than just the written or spoken word.

The Critical Literacy Pyramid

Since the last time i blogged i have perused a few more postings (not as many as i would have liked) and have been considering all the different Critical literacies that have been mooted. In trying to make some coherent sense of them i started to categorize them into top level literacies and categorized them accordingly. This needs thinking through a lot more,but in trying to catalogue them i have been considering a critical literacy pyramid model. Thus far i have captured the following mooted critical literacies and have categorized them thus:

1. Basic Literacy - Reading and Writing
2. Life Literacies

• Management of Time, Workload and Prioritising –Jenny Mackness

3. Computer Literacy (Digital Literacy - María Fernanda Arenas) – For example Completing an ECDL certificate could be evidence of this
4. Web Literacy - Navigating the Web including use of social media and appreciation of cultural, ethical, social and legal issues

• Relationship Building and Development – John Mak
• Wayfinding behaviors and Strategies in Large Virtual Environments - Jenny Mackness
• Emotional and Social Intelligence – John Mak
• Is trust and respect a Literacy by itself? I reckon it is part of the social and emotional literacy. – John Mak
• Would another critical literacy be ASKING QUESTIONS? . – John Mak

5. Learning Literacy – Appreciation of how to use Web 2.0 tools and technologies in combination with various learning theories and strategies

1. I observe data visualisation as an emergent critical literacy - Ruth Howard comment
2. Information management mentioned as a critical literacy Network Student Youtube Video
3. Self reflection, self-directed learning (with learning agenda, experimentation & practice), and relationship building (same as 2) John Mak
4. Would that be the critical literacy that I also aspire to – concise, reflective expression and inquiry? . – John Mak
5. Is a critical literacy for networked learning to know something about Complexity Theory? - Jenny Mackness
6. Literacy of Memory –Steve Mackenzie
7. Would another critical literacy be ASKING QUESTIONS? . – John Mak

6. Teaching Literacy - Appreciation of how to use Web 2.0 tools and technologies to create and foster learning activities
What about Critical thinking? - see below

I intend to turn this into a diagram at some point. If you can imagine this as a pyramid with 1 at the bottom.I envisage perhaps a set of critical litercies that logically build on the preceding literacy. I apreciate that there colud be some overlapping/fuzzy areas especially maybe beween 5 and 6. Missing from the list is critical thinking which i'd have as an external force from level 4 onwards, (maybe earlier?). I need to think a lot more about it. This is my first stab, i am sure there are other top level literacies and many many more sub literacies ( or maybe not - maybe the list needs to be pruned or merged already). The main thing i wanted to do was to identify some top level literacies, so that all those literacies mentioned can much more easily be related to their purpose.
María Fernanda Arenas wrote a very interesting blog post relating pragmatics to digital literacy and along with Ruth set me off on this quest to know more about the underlying principles of communication and also increased my interest in trying to categorize critical literacies as i have never liked the term 'digital literacy' - it just conjures up images of zero's and one's to me.

What about Critical thinking?Again

Note that this blog post has drawn uncritically from Wikipedia for ease of reference. I generally find Wikipedia a reliable place to get initial descriptions, definitions and overviews from which i can delve into more deeply at a later date. I have found that i have used my blogging in this course more as a storage place for useful links for latter reference. By writing a blog post though i feel as though i have engaged much more with the material in trying to weave the links into a coherent written piece and i love the easy accessibility in retrieving this information (my learning) at a later date. Blogging is great for capturing the learning?

Critical Literacy – The Struggle Moves to a Different Arena – My Arena #CritLit2010

A snapshot of discussion around the term ‘Critical literacies’

The topic of what is actually meant by Critical Literacy has been raised in a number of places. Heli Nurmi an educationalist with many years experience has some great blog posts around the topic of critical literacy in this course and asks the questions “are we going to learn anything new, will we learn about new knowledge building, new media literacies (yes, but what?) or is it only technology which develops?” Heli’s three initial blog post give plenty of food for thought:

• My web identity and critical literacies
• Cognitive resonances in my online identity
• Critical thinking and levels of reflectivity

To guide others on the course Ulop O’Taat highlights the following text with this signposting - So Ken, if you and others are struggling with what is meant by critical literacies in this course, re-read the opening moodle page.

“Critical, as the course is not just about finding out how to use the latest technologies for learning, but to look critically at the Web and its underlying structures. Literacies, as it is more about capabilities to be developed than about the acquisition of a set of skills”.

Ken Anderson in his post on Critical Literacy had previously highlighted his struggle to understand what is meant by Critical Literacies in the context of this course. He identifies two themes from the course information:

• CL: literacies critical to functioning in a PLE. This definition suggests tool familiarity
• CL: abilities related to critical thinking, reading, writing i.e. logic skills, syntax etc. as noted in the course outline

And makes an additional observation about the course

• What I have really found interesting is Kop’s statement that the heart of the ‘course’ is about who controls access to information. Is this what this ‘course’ is primarily concerned with? Those that control the means of distribution (of information)… Will this be a course in Marxism?

My own sense-making of the term ‘Critical Literacies’ and my subsequent learning strategy

I more or less identified the same two strands as Ken, which i referred to in an earlier blog post. In trying to establish what is meant by critical literacies in the context of this course I focused on what I considered to be the two most relevant meanings of ‘critical’ that come to mind. These being:

1. Critical as imperative. i.e. imperative literacies to have
2. Critical as in being analysed and evaluated i.e. Literacies that analyse and evaluate

Additionally mindful of the stated aims/purposes of the course I also was aware that i need to consider the following element of criticality.

3. Critical as in looking at (analysing and evaluating) the Web and its underlying structures: i.e. sing traditional Critical thinking skills to analyse and evaluate the web and its underlying structures.

It seems to me that there is already a well established set of generally agreed critical thinking skills – therefore in relation to point 2 above I think the question to be pursued is “What technologies will best facilitate traditional critical thinking skills?”.

With regard to point 1, 'critical' as imperative seems to me to be the most important thing to focus on for the self directed learner in a networked personal learning environment and so far on this course the following critical literacies have been offered from the floor or have been found by me in text or video content that i have perused: My intention is to continue to trawl through the CritLit2010 opinions and offerings to add and then to refine the list:

1. Management of Time, Workload and Prioritising –Jenny Mackness
2. Relationship Building and Development – John Mak
3. Wayfinding behaviors and Strategies in Large Virtual Environments - Jenny Mackness
4. Literacy of Memory –Steve Mackenzie
5. I observe data visualisation as an emergent critical literacy - Ruth Howard comment
6. Information management mentioned as a critical literacy Network Student Youtube Video
7. Emotional and Social Intelligence – John Mak
8. Self reflection, self-directed learning (with learning agenda, experimentation & practice), and relationship building (same as 2) John Mak

So i plan to continue looking at themes of the week, but ultimately at the end of this course i hoped to have a clear idea of the emerging critical literacies (as in imperative) that a networked learner should develop. Maybe i should put this list in a wiki for all to add to – need to get this blog post finished and then have a rest first J

With regard to point 3 and issues of power and control, i shall leave that until another time.

Critical Literacy Course: An Online Distribued Learning Model adhering to a pedagogy of self directed learning using a PLE–Introducing #CritLit2010

Some Background

I became aware of connectivist, networked models of learning whilst completing my MA in the use of interactive and collaborative technology for Adult Distance Learners in 2008. I immediately appreciated the fantastic learning opportunities afforded by web 2.0 or social software and during this time I developed a model, of learning which I termed SCORE 2.0 (Synchronous Community Orientated Reflective and Experiential). A lot more research and development needs to be done but essentially i see this model as a combination of formal learning with the informal self directed connectivist model of learning. I look forward to revisiting and refining the SCORE 2.0 Model to compare with the Online Distributed Model of Learning that drives this course as i am keen to work connectivist learning into formal learning situations. Additionally whilst being a learner on CCK08, the first Massive Online Open Course (MOOC) I became aware of this much larger (Massive J), more open way of learning.

Why I enrolled

I enrolled on the course initially to learn more about critical thinking skills. The course also gives me a focus for learning, a motivation to put the hours to read and think more deeply than if i was just perusing the web for learning opportunities. Although the course is built around self directed learning there is a loose structure and more importantly a simultaneous group effort focused on the same themes at the same time (spread over a 6 week period).

What I found

After reading the course details further I found that the focus of the course whilst embracing critical thinking is primarily focused on the critical literacies that are needed to work with technology in a networked personal learning environment. Perfect – I get to:

• · Think more about Critical Thinking Skills
• · Think more about Critical Literacy Skills in relation to networked PLE’s
• · Practically develop my PLE and Networking skills in this MOOC environment.
• · Learn about Learning

First Thoughts

Firstly I needed to get organised – Do not want to miss any possible postings in this distributed environment. Prior to the course my own personal learning environment has revolved around using tweetdeck to monitor twitter activity. The easy setting up of search columns makes this a great application to monitor twitter activity. – John Mak and Irmerli Aro and Michelle Drechsler have recently awoken me to the to the fantastic media rich and connectively sweet environment that is facebook. (I have never fancied using Facebook educationally in a formal class, but adopting it for use as part of your own personal learning network is a WIN WIN WIN situation).

So, for this course I Joined up to the Daily (aggregator of course news), but the best thing at the moment is using Google alerts – a quick and easy notification to my Google mail of anything related to the course using the hash tag #CritLit2010. Started to gather all #CritLit2010 feeds in Google reader, but have reverted back to just working from the alerts in Google Mail.

Found most useful to read the Course details page on the wiki to orientate myself to what this course was all about. The Blog posts of Jenny Mackness, John Mak and Heli Nurmi have initially kept me orientated. I feel; as though I am struggling to catch up, but we’ll see how we go. Mike Bogle’s Warcraft guild for CritLit2010 Blog post and his suggestion of using the gaming arena as a vehicle to facilitate learning seems good to me – I am a strong believer in synchronous online activity to strengthen bonds especially in conjunction with problem or task based learning. Unfortunately have not had time to engage much with other learners yet.

So what is Critical Literacy and what are we (me) to learn about

The Course Introductory page on Moodle states that:

Technology has brought changes to the way people learn and some “critical literacies” are becoming increasingly important. This course is about these critical literacies.

In the context of this course I expect to learn more about Critical Thinking Skills in general and Critical Literacy Skills in relation to networked PLE’s.

Critical Thinking Skills

John Mak posted a link to a useful presentation on the topic of Critical Thinking. The presentation initially asserts that “Thinking is a purposeful, organised, cognitive process that we use to make sense of the world”.

The presentation goes onto explain that there are two types of thinking i)Creative Thinking - left side brain activities that generate new ideas and ii) Critical Thinking – right side brain activities involving for example analysing, evaluating, reasoning. There are a couple of definitions offered revolving around the themes such ash reflecting on the meaning of statements, examining the offered evidence, forming judgments around the facts – ultimately it is about checking facts, making assumptions, drawing conclusions, challenging assertions and exploring other points of view.

To quote from the presentation (Module 1: Introduction to Critical Thinking, Zaid Ali Alsagoff 2007)

Critical thinking is the general term given to a wide range of cognitive and intellectual skills needed to:

• Effectively identify, analyse and evaluate arguments
• Discover and overcome personal prejudices and biases.
• Formulate and present convincing reasons in support of conclusions.
• Make reasonable, intelligent decisions about what to believe and what to do.
  

Useful to consider from the presentation also these Critical thinking Standards:

• · Clarity - e.g Can you give an example to illustrate your point?
  
• · Accuracy - e.g Is the information source valid and accurate?
• · Precision - e.g Could you be more specific?
• · Relevance - e.g How is that connected to the question?
• · Depth - e.g How are complexities addressed?
• · Breadth - e.g Is here another way of looking at the question?
• · Logic - e.g You have two contradicting statements - How do you square that :-)
  
• · Fairness - e.g open minded, impartial, free of distorting biases and pre-conceptions.
  

Suggested Barriers to Critical Thinking Include:

• · Egocentrism
• · Sociocentrism
• · Unwarranted assumptions
  
• · Wishful thinking
• · Relativistic thinking

Critical Literacy Skills (in relation to networked PLE’s)

To paraphrase the course designers this course is designed around the notion that to learn effectively in a PLE a certain set of skills and competencies are required. The course has in part been designed to test whether learners can in fact employ these skills to effectively self direct their own learning in a PLE OR whether and additional pedagogy is required prior to the use of a PLE. Note to self: Need to ascertain the role of the facilitators and whether more interventions on their part constitutes an additional pedagogy or whether teacher as facilitator is part of the pedagogy it just depend to what degree they scaffold and assist learning. The competencies identified are drawn from Stephen Downes presentation on the pedagogical foundations of learning. The Critical Literacies required are deemed to be:

• Syntax – the ability to recognize and use forms, grammars, patterns and other structural properties of communication. This would include information literacy and ontology of information.

• Semantics – the ability to connect communicative elements to underlying purposes, goals, objectives, theories or meaning, denotation, reference, truth and understanding. Including new ways of interpreting information and evaluating media, through aggregation and filtering for instance.
• Pragmatics – the capacity to use communicative elements in actions, or to take actions using communication, to express, commit, interrogate, and engage in interactions. Including being active participants in the world and on the Web versus passive consumers.
• Cognition – the capacity to infer, or detect faulty inferences, to use communicative elements in order to describe, argue, explain or define. Including the power of reflection, authority of knowledge, stability of knowledge, communication as conversation or as dialogue.
• Context – the capacity to locate a communication in a wider environment, to understand the impact of this environment on semantics and pragmatics, and to assemble and understand sets of communications as expressive of frames, world views, or deontological constructs. Including issues of power, control, and ownership; motivational and affective issues.
• Change – the capacity to reason dynamically, to detect and comprehend processes and flows, to understand the impact of progressions and differences, to reason employing dynamic events such as games and simulations.

The bullet pointed list above is an Extract from Critical Literacies Online Course Details and Learners in this type of course are expected to exercise the capacities described above.

Course Modus Operandi - Learner Expectations

Four types of activity are expected in this connectivist type course:

• Aggregation (of content) e.g access Moodle for recommended readings, google alerts, RSS feeds
• Remix e.g. Keep track of what you have read, maybe via a blog, social bookmarking, post in the moodle discussion boards
• Repurpose e.g Put your own spin on the content you have aggregated, outline your own understandings
• Feed Forward e.g. Share your repurposed work with others - Blog about it tweet about your blog or interesting links, share in a social bookmarking group.

Other points to Consider

Early discussions from course members identified the following critical literacies:

• Management of Time, Workload and Prioritising –Jenny Mackness
• Relationship Building and Development – John Mak
• Wayfinding behaviors and Strategies in Large Virtual Environments
• Literacy of Memory – Transliteracy

Other useful documents in relation to critical literacy competencies is Gráinne Conole's 'New Schemas for Mapping Pedagogies and Technologies' document

Final Thoughts

This initial blog post has allowed me to establish a base anchor from which to now consider the themes of the course. I have consolidated here the main competences and working practices initially expected by the course designers and have briefly started the process of collating others view on what critical literacies are important when learning in a networked environment. I can use this blog post as a reference checklist when analysing my own level of critical literacy. I shall also have a good read of this web article Critical Thinking Development: A Stage Theory to help me understand better the development process with regard to critical thinking. As we are well into week two - I'll need to crack on and move swiftly to consider readings and opinions of others on week 1 theme 'cognition' and wekk 2 theme 'change'.

Technology Celebration at DMU and A Triumvirate platform for success

Symposium Highlight

Just returned from the typically heartening and uplifting Biennial DMU Technology Enhanced Learning Symposium. Biggest impact for me came not from any of the presenters but the attendance of the recently appointed Manager of ISAS (Information Services & Systems), Michael Robinson. It was obvious to see he had a keen and genuine interest in finding out what technology was important to staff at DMU. I had a very brief chat with Michael, but my impression is that he is not just a technical guy, but appreciates how important technology is to the culture not only of teaching and learning, but also to internal and external organisation communication. I hope my first impressions are correct because it will fit very well with all the excellent technology enhanced learning initiatives that our e-learning co-ordinator Richard Hall has driven through.

DMU TEL 2010 Conference logo/themes

It's the Culture not the Technology

A lot of what has been achieved at DMU in the field of Technology Enhanced Learning has been derived from a culture that has encouraged innovation, self expression, self development and a sense of worth in contributing to organizational aspirations.
The general theme of the conference centered around the importance of culture in driving the technology and not the other way around. Keynote speaker Dave White warned of the dangers of not being clear about what your values and aims are otherwise technology will drive and push you to places that maybe you do not want to go. An interesting read related to culture and the use of new social media is Tribes by Set Godin


Keynote Speaker Dave White and the points that touched a chord

Other key points Dave made where having an appreciation of the types of students (customers) that we have and how this might affect how we deal with them. Using his excellent Visitors and Residents analogy he offered a view of how the student population will range on a continuum from those just visiting web spaces, getting information and retreating offline and those students that see being online in all manner of web spaces as part of there natural normal daily life, just like going to the park and hanging out with friends. I remember previously reading that Dave suggests that different approaches may taken in different area of life i.e. socially with friends, at work and educationally for example. Not totally sure of the implications for me in any teaching that i do, but i will give it some consideration in the future.

VisitorResident on Prezi

It kind of chimes in with another theme of Dave's which is the conflict of what a student wants and what they need. For example Students often take the strategic surface approach to learning in that they just want to learn about the things that will help them pass the assessment, whereas educationally what they might need to enhance their deep learning is group work and reflective work, which they may find an irritant, but is actually beneficial to them. Dave cited some evidence that just giving students what they want in online distance learning is not engaging enough and drop out rates are high. Dave noted that what students need is collaborative (and other deep learning) tasks to foster engagement and i wholeheartedly agree with this.

These observations tie in nicely with a Faculty workshop on plagiarism i attended yesterday and lead me to conclude that assessment strategies may benefit from a change in approach. Much better to have a series of ongoing tasks and assessments over the course of a semester, rather than one final assignment at the end. from a plagiarism and learning perspective progress can be monitored much more effectively resulting in better support and ultimately improved learning, improved work flow management and improved understanding of good academic practice, which should help in alleviating plagiarism issues in the cut and paste society that we now live in.

Another highlight from the conference was Dave's use of kinder eggs as prizes for his mini quizzes. It was not so much the eggs but the irreverent throwing of the eggs (very accurately) a la an America football quarterback to the winners sitting in the audience. Way to go Dave.

More Highlights
Attended an excellent presentation by Malcolm Andrew and Anthony Eland demonstrating two tools that can be used to develop e-learning materials Xerte And Adobe Captivate. Xerte is free and looks to me like a very useful 'rough and ready' ) way for lecturers to easily create interactive learning material for students.

Adobe Captivate looks slightly more complex for non technical lecturers to work with, but it looks very powerful to me and seems to have the upper hand on my favourite dektop screen recording software Camtasia in that there is much more opportunity to also create interactive learning material and with the added bonus that it can be integrated into Blackboard to collate grades in the gradebook center.

Pleased with the turnout for the workshop that myself and Richard Davies ran on Extending Learning through online synchronous classrooms. (embedded presentation is playing up - try link until i can sort it out)

Online Synchronous Classrooms on Prezi

I thought it was good getting a couple of different perspectives on how this technology can be used. Both examples related to distance learners, Richard delivering live lectures offering convenience to distance learning and a level of togetherness and connectedness that improves upon asynchronous activities and myself conducting more interactive participative classes trying to take advantage of the wide and varied learning tools available in the online synchronous classroom. Using Camtasia we managed to produce two videos that showed snippets of how we worked in this environment. There is definite interest in web conferencing technology, i hope we can build on the interest to enhance teaching and learning and professional development oportunities at DMU. One by product of presenting at this workshop was an opportunity to work more extensively with Camtasia, which I used to edit the recordings of the wimba and webex workshops that Richard and i showed as examples of our work and the decision to use prezi rather than powerpoint to present the workshop. I created a pretty basic presentation in the style of a powerpoint, but it has given me a good grounding in the basics of prezi.

A Triumvirate platform for success
And so to a triumvirate platform for success - What do I mean by this, well Dave White pointed out during his presentation how institutionally that there will be innovators and pragmatists and that there often tensions between the two. Tensions also to be found between the IT Hardware and Software guardians and the needs of a variety groups that have cultural and work practices that lend themselves to a wide variety of preferred approaches in how technology is best deployed.

I see Richard as the University e-learning co-ordinator having led strongly on laying the foundations for a positive and progressive culture for development here at DMU, both from a teaching and learning perspective and more widely in other areas of DMU. It seems to me that our new leader at ISAS Michael Robinson brings a positive approach in engaging with staff needs at DMU. This combined with the strong work that is done in Professional Development at DMU - Academically with Jane Clarke and her team and Generally with Vincent Cornelius and his team I believe lays a strong triumvirate platform for success in integrating technology into the DMU culture and not the other way around.

Go DMU Go :-)

One Year of Bikram and I am Still Standing (but is my knee locked)

The Anniversary!

I thought I would mark my one year of practice by revealing my thoughts about Bikram Yoga. This post is written with the relatively new or not yet started Bikram Yoga attendee in mind. If you have not attended a Bikram Yoga session I hope to inspire you to take the plunge and for those that have like me been practicing for a while, I hope that some of my observations touch a chord and that my observations and any associated links are beneficial. I am a mere novice, but keen and eager to learn more in relation to Bikram Yoga, Yoga, Health and Well Being so I welcome any comments, counter comments and challenges to my observations and perceptions.

It's So Much More than just Stretching
One year of Bikram and I am still standing, still going strong (started 26th March 2009). Like a lot of devotees i realised early that regular attendance will give a core foundation to maintaining good health and well being and this is the primary reason I consistently attend Bikram Yoga classes. From my very first class I have been consistently attending Bikram Yoga classes three times a week. You can feel this notion of well being after each and every class and it is this feeling combined with the knowledge that Bikram Yoga is a well thought out carefully planned system of self development that makes me love Bikram Yoga! Not that Bikram Yoga is easy, it is a tough 90 minute session that for me acts a catalyst to self development both physically and mentally.

I believe that you owe it to yourself to be the best that you can be and an important part of that is physical development. This is where Bikram Yoga comes in as a core element for your own personal development. Once you commit to Bikram Yoga, you learn not only how to improve your posture, flexibility, agility, strength and balance (through the physical postures), but you take a deeper interest in other aspects of your life that may well influence your health and well being. For example drinking water regularly, re-evaluating your eating habits, the importance of sleeping, the importance of resting and the importance of nasal breathing. Regular attendance at a Bikram Yoga class reinforces good habits that promote health and well being. It keeps you on track.

Where I Practice
I practice at Bikram Yoga Leicester, UK. The teachers are fantastic. Each one delivers consistently the Bikram Yoga Program and all give good advice during the class. Bikram Yoga tends to attract clientele with a good outlook on life. The combination of great teachers, attendees of a good nature and a well thought out program of postures that the teachers and the attendees believe in creates a positive vibe during class and a lovely satisfied afterglow when the class has finished. I think a good description is that it is serious fun. There's me below checking in for a session, that's the fun bit, the serious business is about to begin (check out my serious face in later photographs). Fortunately there is fun to be had in serious hard work and the teachers whilst keeping us focused never lose the opportunity to sprinkle humour throughout the class.

So How has it been for Me?
Initially I attended Bikram Yoga to improve my flexibility. It quickly became apparent that there is more to Yoga and Bikram Yoga in particular than stretching and flexibility. I have found attending Bikram Yoga classes a great stimulus to learn, it has been very educational and made me think more about many other aspects of personal development. My previous blog posts Bikram Yoga and the 'Locked Knee' and Shut your mouth: Nasal Breathing is a snorting good choice give an insight to how Bikram Yoga has made me look deeper into issues that may help my own personal development. The bottom line is that I feel good after a Bikram Yoga session, I am pleased with my progress and am confident I will keep improving on all of the postures, even the three 'impossible' postures that I will mention below.

Firstly I think for all of us that attend Bikram Yoga classes we need to recognize that we all have different body shapes and sizes and that there will be some postures that you are more naturally suited to than others. My motto is to enjoy the postures you are good at and work as hard as you can on those postures that seem difficult. There are many postures that I have thought are near impossible (but i always believe with regular practice I'll get there, even if it takes 5 years or more - the funny thing is i do not expect miracles, but I believe in miracles through hard work and determination). There are some 'impossible' postures where i have in fact made some progress, but i still have a long way to go and generally progress has been slow. I'll expand a bit more and share my experience of my struggle with the three main 'impossible' postures:

Eagle Pose (Twist like Ropes): Initially i just hugged myself. I can now clasp knuckles on the right hand under side and clasp my thumb on the left hand under side. I am trying hard to twist my legs (like ropes :-)), but i cannot get my legs anywhere near the back of my other leg. Still lots of work to do here. In the photo below fellow Bikram Yoga attendee Liza gives a great demonstration on how the legs and arms should twist like ropes in this posture. My effort i think is a true awkward pose :-).

What I know is that to improve on this amongst other things I need to become more flexible in the upper back and the hips and lower back. Tip to myself is be patient.

Standing Head to Knee Pose: For a long time I did not attempt to extend my leg. I can now on occasions extend my leg straight out, keeping a reasonable L shape for the legs. However keeping a straight concrete solid leg which is the essential part of the exercise is something I still have to work hard on. Also i find bending down to clasp the feet in a basket grip and keeping the standing leg straight very difficult. I wish iIhad slightly longer arms :-). Away from Bikram Yoga classes I practice this posture in the swimming pool and lying down on my back (it's a lot easier :-)).

Liza again gives a great demonstration (photo below) on this stage of the posture. As i recall she does a great job on the next stage, actually bending the head down to touch the knee. Can you believe that, actually head touching the knee, for some of us that does sound and look impossible, but as Bikram himself says in his book Bikram's beginning Yoga Class (Copies available at Bikram Yoga Leicester as well) "That's what Yoga is about... Yoga makes things that seem impossible, possible. You can do magic without being a magician.". Bikram also says "I know you won't believe me when I say that in a relatively short time, you will actually consider this one of the easiest poses".

I am pleased with my progress but I need to straighten my back more, get my leg lifted to ninety degrees (and constantly think about locking the knee) before I embark on bending towards my knee. I think the flexibility in my upper and lower back is improving, allowing me to sooner or later get a good clasped hand underneath the foot, which is another key element in this posture. A physically very tough posture, but with improvement in my general posture I can see a chink of light on this posture - it is about 2 or 3 years away though.

Toe Stand Pose: I find this very difficult. I find it very difficult to open my hips to rest the leg on the center of my thigh, consequently when I bend down my leg often slips off my thigh. I pick it back up and put it on once i am down at floor level, but with my arms being slightly shorter than i would like it is very difficult to balance with a straight back and decent posture. Still working on it, but still a million miles away (my ankle and thighs are getting stronger slowly, so eventually my arms can be bypassed and they won't be an issue). No photo's of me in action on this pose - there really would not be much to see, so i have included a picture of the pose from the hotyogadoctor website where many interesting discussions seem to take place. This discussion titled Still can’t do toe stand after 3 years, may be interesting for those like me that struggle with this pose.
For me, I tend to notice a significant improvement in my flexibility, strength and balance around every three months. This will be on a selected few postures and these will vary every quarter. I still have to think hard about 'Locking the Knee'. It seems whilst developing a strong locked knee balance can be affected in standing poses, which leads to a slight give in the knee to stay standing (I was going to say stay in posture, but until the knee is locked the posture has not even begun :-)). I think I have improved, but it is a gradual process to get that leg like concrete and I am not there yet. In my last session I found that concentrating on locking my knees in half moon pose backward bend supported my back much better, but I felt more wobbly on my legs (if you are not a hard core knee locker yet, try this on your next session - see what you think).

Managing Expectations
Fortunately I do not expect miracles and I came to Bikram Yoga with the mindset that I did not expect to see any improvement for a year (this way I would not be disappointed). Nevertheless i have made undoubted improvements over the year and I am satisfied with my progress. I know from others' experiences that some attendees have gained quick, in some cases near instantaneous results in relation to losing weight or managing pain from persistent chronic injuries, but for me having a low expectation in terms of quick results is a valuable psychological tool in ensuring that I do one of the most important things i can do for my own personal development and that is just to turn up at a Bikram Yoga class and practice regularly, giving the best that i can give on any given day.

Practicing with Injuries
I would not want to NOT practice Bikram Yoga for any longer than a week or so. The thought of going backwards and the hard work it takes to get back in the Bikram groove after just a week away compels me to practice regularly. I have had a few injuries over the year, including a sprained ankle, hamstring strains and lower back pain - so what to do when injuries occur. Well although i have found it annoying and frustrating i believe you still need to practice. If you stop practicing you will start to lose benefits and go backwards. You will need to take advice and best decide how to manage your own injuries, but for me I have come to the conclusion that the best thing is to turn up and do the postures that you can and modify or leave out those that aggravate the injury. Generally i have nursed my way through with reduced effort on some postures (I have found concentrating on stretching tall on half moon pose is good if your back is sore and it made me appreciate the importance of stretching tall in this posture) .Occasionally i will miss a practice or two, but i would never leave it longer than a week otherwise I'll be going backwards. Also let your instructor know as they can give advice as to ways of modifying your postures to allow for injuries.

Beyond Bikram Yoga Classes
Outside of class one of the most significant things I have been inspired to do because of my interest in Bikram Yoga is my own home yoga routine which includes some of the Bikram postures (like standing bow pose below), but also other yoga postures such as handstands and headstands. I decided early on that three Bikram classes a week was right for me, both from a logistical point of view, but also to ensure my motivation remains high and that I do not get stale. I do the 45 minute Home Yoga routines on the alternate days between Bikram classes. As I am not in a sauna environment i usually take it a bit easier, but it gives me a chance to reflect a bit more on the postures and what I am trying to achieve.

Although I like my three day a week strategy, i am conscious that ideally Bikram Yoga practice is a daily ritual and that by taking a 30 or 100 day challenge there may well be physical, psychological and emotional gains to be made. This is something i will explore when i can logistically meet the demands of daily practice. Thinking about strategies it would also be interesting to experiment with a fortnight of double sessions (two in one day). This article 'herniated discs' highlights how one Bikram Yoga teacher/attendee found great value in taking double sessions to overcome her injury problem (lot's of good information about Bikram Yoga as well).

The other significant thing to come out of my Bikram Yoga practice is my realisation of the importance of nasal breathing, culminating in my recent purchase of a nose breath mouthpiece from nosebreathe.com. The blog Set Higher Standards has a great blog post about the benefits of nasal breathing (with informative comments) about nose breathing.

Summary
Posture and nasal breathing are key elements to health and well being. Bikram Yoga's carefully thought out sequence combined with great instruction and advice from the rigorously trained Bikram Yoga teachers is a great system to improve these vital elements. Not only that, but apart from developing your musculoskeletal system, the Bikram Yoga postures also address health benefits related to the respiratory,nervous, digestive, immune and endocrine gland systems. Other forms of Yoga, practicing pilates and other conventional fitness training such as running or weightlifting have their place, but I believe Bikram Yoga should be the core anchor of any fitness, health and well being program. It is a solid foundation for personal development. For a great read on the philosophy behind the system read Bikram Yoga by Bikram Choudhury founder of Bikram Yoga and for further information see the Bikram Yoga Website.

Special thanks to Libby, Rachel and Sharan who have been my core teachers during the year. But also to say thanks to Hannah, Harbinder, Nicky and Chris, other teachers at Leicester who have contributed to my development thus far. Thanks to Rachel again for taking the snaps of me whilst practicing at the Bikram Yoga Studio in Leicester. I look forward to what this year brings.

And Finally
Just thought I'd mention this blog ilovesweat - the blogger combines a passion for bikram yoga, healthy living and photography. You might find it of interest as he blogs regularly on his Bikram experience. His photo's have become a bit large of late though :-).

Videoblogging versus Blogging

This blog post gives me an initial opportunity to consider the potential of videoblogging compared with straightforward blogging. It is a short initial piece, primarily for me to focus on the video editing technology. I lay the foundations for a deeper more meaningful discussion on the learning potential of both types of blogging with a few observations about both types of blogging (not by a long chalk, full and complete), suggesting that one advantage of videoblogging could be that it is a quicker more productive method of blogging.




My initial conclusions are that for learning purposes, both types of blogging require some thinking through and some preparation and planning. For audience capturing, videoblogging may help in this regard, but both types will need high quality output, be that written text or engaging on-camera presence. I am coming around to the idea that it actually might be a good idea to mix the two approaches. Having a visual stimulus on the blog i think will spark more initial interest.

Video Editing Technology

Although my initial interest was in using videoblogging to produce content more quickly. I actually became more interested in how to make good use of video editing technology and i have made a start here in this blog. What i can say is that Camtasia is an excellent video editing tool, allowing importing and editing of webcam video, video screencasts, camera video, audio files and image files. With creation and editing also of functions such as zoom and panning, captions, on screen text 'callouts', hyperlinking and an option to include flash based quizzes and surveys there are plenty of tools to be creative with your finalized video output. The bottom line is that working in the camtasia editing environment is very easy even for a teacher that has no previous experience of editing video.

For what you get i think camtasia is very well priced (at last time of checking £134 for educational license), however if you are looking for a free video editor then windows movie maker is also a great free bit of software, that can add a bit of variety and interest to a straightforward talking head webcam.

Final WordIf you did not know already text based blogging is a fantastic learning tool (see my earlier blogging posts). However whatever blogging method is used, you the blogger need to find a subject worth blogging about and then invest time in using your blogging weapon of choice to engage and interest your audience in what you have to say. This may be i) Developing your writing style ii) Improving your webcam talking head delivery or iii) Understanding visual media delivery to make best use of the great video editing tools that are at your disposal. In short if you are like me you blog to learn, but also blog to offer something of value to the audience. In offering something of value to the audience it pays to improve the many communication skills at your disposal.

The Three Dubya's - Wimba, Webex and WiZiQ

Coming towards the end of a phase of Live Online Learning learning using Wimba Live Classroom. Thought i'd take some time to reflect on the Wimba application and compare it with my previous experiences with Webex (training room) and WiZiQ. These are just my initial comparisons, I intend to go into much more depth on these and other applications at a later time.

Good teaching, Great Passion and a Critical Eye

My great passion for live online learning started when i enrolled on the Synchronous Learning Expert Certificate run by insynctraining. I was taught by great teachers with a great philosophy on how learning online needs to be a participative active learning experience. This effects the way i look at the various web conferencing tools. I am looking very critically to see how best the various applications at our disposal incorporate tools to aid learning and how effective these tools are in facilitating technologically efficient, trouble and interference free learning. With each of the three tools that are the focus of this post i have been involved heavily in design, delivery and support of live online synchronous classes. For each web conferencing application at least 30 participants/students in total have partaken of at least one or more live online synchronous classes.

Example: Interaction during Live Online Webex Class

Note: technology should be like a good football (soccer) referee i.e you don't notice it/them

Context

I have an interest in looking at the most effective tool for teaching and learning but also the most appropriate for integration into a higher education institutional setup, where external services may not be an appropriate solution.

• Webex: Agreed a year long trial with Webex at their standard business rates for just a one user licence. A personalised DMU Webex site was created with full admin facilities including the setting up of automatic email reminders and integration with Microsoft Outlook. Can be integrated to Blackboard VLE, but was not for this trial.
• Wimba: Wimba are a company that look to agree institutional wide solutions which would involve integration with Blackboard VLE. Agreed a year long trial with a personalised Wimba website. Admin facilities existed but no automatic email reminders and integration with Microsoft Outlook. The Wimba trial was a stans alone classroom outside of Blackboard.
• WizIq: Free service available to individual teachers. Teachers can sign up to the service and start delivering live online classes. Participant/students need also to sign up and get account before they can participate in any live online classes. For a monthly fee more services can be added.

Logging on to a live Online Classroom

• Webex was by far the least problematic. An email link is created for each session and a listing is available from your main personalised webex site. Most participants could logon satisfactorily.
• Wiziq - unfortunately our students had major problems logging into this service. Most problems seemed to occur when clicking a class invitation link, users also often seemed to go around in circles trying to log back in after changing passwords. After a lot of irritating unnecessary time and effort (for myself and other colleagues), students eventually got sorted out and it was ok after a while. Do not know the exact nature of the problem, but something was not quite right and this experience was a big driver to look for other solutions.
• Wimba also gave our students lots of logging on problems. Although there is a setup wizard which is a good thing, If there was a problem it was not always clear how to rectify the problem. Different browsers seem to react in different ways during the setup wizard causing various problems.

VOIP Audio Quality

One of the essential features in the live online classroom is the VOIP audio quality, without good quality and reliability the whole exercise becomes pointless. I am pleased to say that all three applications provided a generally good service (although not as good as Skype) . When i first started using Webex, we logged on using an integrated telephone landline (the quality is much better, but will cost extra), which i believe is also available in Wimba. Use of VOIP also costs extra in Webex, but not in Wimba or Wiziq. There are occasionally microphone connection issues for participants which seemed to be most problematic for webex users, but after some effort most people got sorted out ok.

Whiteboard Tools and Feedback Tools

Another important issue is control and access to tools, especially the whiteboard tools. Using the whiteboard to gather opinions or for drawing exercises is a very useful way to promote interaction in a live online class. The Webex environment is top class in that a pointer tool associated with a participant/student is automatically available and can be used to grab screen space, thus easily identifying participant contributions. Importantly the presenter does not have to give the participant presenter rights, which would enable participants to have the potential of clicking on slides and moving the class off in an uncontrolled direction not of the presenters choosing. Also participants can individually erase their own contributions to the whiteboard.

Unfortunately in the Wimba environment participants if given whiteboard control both these things can occur, but i think it probably stems from different views on how these applications should work. The Webex way allows for great group interaction and collaboration, ideal for active participatory learning. I get the feeling that the wimba environment is fundamentally based on the old teacher as presenter philosophy, which is disappointing. I was very involved in the initial design and logging on process for the Wiziq sessions and for a number of reasons extensive use of the whiteboard was ruled out, so i have not worked with it as much as the other two products. It does not include the pointer tool, but the whiteboard tools works adequately and i think there is enough scope to instigate the interactive group work that i described for Webex. - (i have just taken another look - i need to revisit and check more thoroughly - it's looking good). Webex and Wimba both had the appropriate feedback icons the most important of which is yes/no, rasied hand and emoticon icons. WizIq had a raised hand only and with no yes/no icons this is a definite dissapointment in this environment, as they are vital when checking understanding of instructions as well as topic understanding.

General Environmental Look and Feel

• Webex by far has the most appealing look and feel for participnats and is easy to work with for teachers.
• Wimba also scores strongly on ease of use for teachers. Probably the most easy to use for teachers - With an easy uploading and organisation of files to be used in the lesson - a presenters panel that allows easy navigation from slide to slide, easy to move students to breakout rooms and easy to setup polls.
• WiziQ is probably the most clunky looking and does not have the feel of an integrated classroom like the other two applications. Good for free though. Once you start paying then maybe need to compare with many of the other individual monthly web conferencing services that are out there.

Recordings

Need to review this information but my experience was as follows:

• Webex: Can download and edit in special editor. Can save files locally or on the webex server. local files initially captured the whole feel of the class - so interactions were an exact copy of what went on in the class. When saving on server this different method did not give exactly the same interactions i.e participant panel was not listed as normal but was accessible. need a webex player to view. Was not easy at the time to then get the recorded file into an mp4 for easy viewing outside of the player, but did manage it.
• Wimba: can view directly by linking to a server and can apparently will soon be available as an mp4 file. When downloading a zip file archive of a recording it is not obvious that a media file can be played.
• WizIq: access to online recordings, but expire after a month which is not that great and is an obvious inducement to sign up for the monthly fee service where recordings can be downloaded - have not tried the service.

Support

• Webex: support was excellent - if need technical support live during a class got it straight away
• Wimba: Not quite as hot, seem more keen for participants to check faq's and other info before engaging directly with the participants on the phone.
• WiziQ: Did not really engage with anyone on the phone during our troubles logging on - may have swapped some emails, but i have no strong memory of great additional support (it has been a while now)

A Word about Video Conferencing

Video conferencing i think for some in this industry may be tremendously important. I think more so if they are still in the mindset of the lecturer presenting and the students passively taking it all in. That is why the video conferencing element of these applications has no great appeal to me. Because my main focus is promoting interaction between participants i do not use it that much (i am sure there is a time and place for me to use it). To me it is an extra technological problem and due to the nature of interactive sessions there is a lot going on for the presenter, especially if dealing with technological problems of other students, grabbing a cup of tea at an appropriate break in proceedings :-) or generally feeling flustered if something is going wrong then presenting via webcam adds additional pressure to a job that already requires a high degree of concentration (very rewarding though)

A Word about other Web Conferencing Applications

Two other applications that i have experimented with in the past but not to a great extent are Elluminate and Adobe Connect Pro. Both i believe are worth taking a look at and i shall review them again in the forthcoming year. Elluminate is popular in education circles. I favoured Webex over Elluminate when looking at theses products over a year ago. I prefer the Webex interface and the visual appeal of the learning environment and at the time i wanted to have as many simultaneous VOIP connections open at the same time (webex allows 7 and Elluminate 5 (at the time of testing)).

This is important to me as spontaneity of response makes for a more stimulating class, so i have always liked everyone to have immediate access to speak without passing a microphone and thus making the technology invisible. This stems from my early insynch training with everybody on the phone you could hear the hubble bubble excitement in the classroom - it was great. With VOIP bandwidth limitations and the teacher as presenter mentality i have learnt that i sometimes have to compromise and stick with systems that will only allow restricted numbers of people to use voice at the same time. Adobe Connect pro is definitely one of the slickest looking products. I discarded it a couple of years ago due to a particularly bad VOIP experience and the whiteboard control problems that i refereed to earlier. I think it is worth revisiting now, a few years down the line.

Summary

I think the most problems i have encountered have been with initial logging on problems. This is a nuisance as students often may be afraid of technology and do not need additional hurdles put in their way. I have learnt that, although it is time i did not expect to have to allocate, that in a higher eduction setting, it is best to be very proactive in helping students get their logon problems sorted our before they come to their first online class.

All these applications have a lot to offer, but both Wimba and WizIQ have made myself and colleagues work a lot harder than we expected to ensure participant/student access. For less determined teachers and students and for time challenged teachers/students this is going to lead to major disillusionment. Both applications are worth taking a look at though. Once any initial logging on difficulties are overcome they both have their selling points and it will become a case of deciding if it suits your needs and the price is right then it might be for you.

Webex is definitely the pick of the bunch but is primarily aimed at the business market. I think they are missing a massive trick by not developing a distinct educational pricing model. For higher education we need stable, trouble free web conferencing environments and webex does fit the bill save for this lack of creative thinking with regard to educational establishments. I suggest they take a leaf out of Google's book who have just joined forces with my own university DMU to provide a student email service in a mutually beneficial arrangement.

The Way Forward

It is only through trial (and tribulation) that we can iron out any access issues with Wimba and Wiziq. By trialling and learning we can build a clear picture of advice to our students and take advantage of the learning environments that both these applications offer. Elluminate and Adobe Connect Pro are also products that are more than worth a further look. As i have said earlier, maybe you cannot get everything that you want and compromises may have to be made. So i shall continue to explore web conferencing applications and try and establish the best balance between functionality, technological invisibility, the needs of the institution or the individual teacher and of course the price.

Camtasia is King and Live Online Learning is the thing

Enjoying Distance Learning

Yes the thing – the thing to bring some emotion and enjoyment to the business of distance learning. Live online learning not only connects people, but is also a powerful aid to learning. How so! Using web conferencing software a teacher/facilitator has a vast array of tools to promote active learning and whether that be face to face or online at a distance there is a vast array of literature that extols the virtues of active learning. What tools say thee! Ok we have voice and video conferencing, text chat, whiteboard text and drawing tools, feedback icons such as 'yes', 'no' and raised hand (to ask a question), web browser sharing, quizzes and polls, file transfers and on the fly uploading of resources.

from a previous study (Mackenzie 2008)

Now with some investment in time to understand how best to use the technology for teaching and learning, you'll soon see how you can transform the hum drum educational experience of the distance learner.

Some Initial Reactions

I write these notes after completing an initial round of live online inductions using Wimba Live Classroom with my colleague Mellissa Phillips on the topic of myDmu and Blackboard, the main online learning services of my university DMU. These first set of month long inductions were not without some initial logging on difficulties which was disappointing as we were desperate to avoid irritating logging on problems. However for those postgraduate students that did logon and participate it appeared to be a welcome and enjoyable experience. Some brief comments (all positive) from those that attended included:

“Very interesting session, i am amazed by what technology is available and i think it will be a very good way of learning and communicating during the remainder of the course.”

“I thought the use of live on line tech was very good and there were no problems. Would like to see it used in discussion boards etc if poss”

Some Broad Lesson Learnt

Some good comments appreciating the value of this form of learning, but we still have work to do to improve this particular live online learning experience. The lessons we are learning are:

1. We have to keep working very hard to change the mindset of the vast majority of programme leaders and students who are unaware of the power of voice technology in distance learning. We hope at the end of this month long series of inductions to have gathered a body of evidence to support the value of this mode of learning and try gradually to move thinking and expectations on in this area.
2. Due to the struggle to get participants live online we are cramming too much into their first live online learning experience. We end up giving them a crash course on how to work in the new environment and then proceed to give the myDMU and Blackboard induction. Currently thinking this should be split due to the need to iron out initial technology problems that some students have.
3. You have to work hard to understand how each particular live online learning environment works. By this I mean that there are a vast array of web conferencing services to use, each one is setup differently - you have to understand how you can smoothly integrate the technology into your teaching aims. Big Big tip – to fully appreciate this whilst developing you should log in on two machines – one as admin/presenter and the other as participant. You can then see the effects of your intended interactions from the participant viewpoint (allowing you to shape and refine your approach).

The Technology Used

Knowing that this was for most students this was their first experience of this type of learning we restricted our use of technology to:

1. Voice conferencing
2. Text chatting
3. Web browser demonstrations
4. Links to web pages that held pre-recorded Camtasia video screencasts.
5. The students also completed some self study tasks during the class.

A Word on Participant Interaction

With regard to the level of participant interaction and use of the technology available on a scale of 1 to 5 I’d rate this just over three. With increased student familiarity and appreciation of the live online environment we can edge this more to 5 when devising classroom activities and interactions in the future.

Headline Grabbing Camtasia



Mentioned as a headline grabber Camtasia is undoubtedly King in the world of e-learning tools. This easy to use moving screen capture software, with brilliant automatic zoom focus technology is a must for any lecturer who spends hours and hours grabbing screenshots for the production of module guides. The video quality is excellent and once saved the source material can be produced in a variety of formats for use in a variety of situations. i.e. web, iPod, DVD. Educational versions can be picked up for £134and in my opinion should be subject to a site licence for any serious learning organization.

More on explanation and discussion on Camtasia and live online learning will follow soon in up and coming blog posts. Look out for them.

Shut your mouth: Nasal Breathing is a snorting good choice

In Praise of Bikram Yoga

Having completed around twenty sessions of Bikram Yoga, what i love about this from of yoga is the solid, know where you stand, never to be changed, carefully thought out structure of twenty six postures (and two breathing :-)) exercises. From this solid base in my opinion those that are interested in self improvement and development will be challenged to look further outside of the class, to find answers to the many questions that practicing this yoga brings.

My Struggle to Breath (correctly)

One such question for me was centered around the correct way of breathing. Not sure when it happened but in between reading and practicing i have had a Clickadoodledastic (eureka) moment, which is the realisation that nasal breathing (both in and out) is indeed a mysterious secret, rarely spoken of in mainstream life, which isin fact the key to improved physical well being and hence life and should therefore be broadcast load and clear..

Now i don't know if it's just me or whether i am slow on the uptake but i have purchased pilates CD's, attended pilates classes, have purchased a manual from the enlightening http://breathing.com and have generally been aware that getting to the bottom of correct breathing would be a very useful life enhancing thing to do. I have never been happy that i have cracked it despite meddling with different strategies over the last 2-3 years. My main thinking was that i needed to improve how my diaphragm works, which included exhaling much longer and more forcefully to empty my lungs of stale air. The focus was always on exhaling through the mouth and eventually getting a deep inhale through the nose. I felt this worked reasonably well for me when running and as part of my breathing recovery between sets of not quite 50 meter interval sprints when swimming (40 seconds sprint, 80 seconds recovery * 6).

Clickadoodledastic

My initial clickadoodledastic (might have been clickadicious as well) moment would have straddled the period from Thursday 23 April to Saturday 25 April. Earlier in the week my new found interest in yoga had naturally found its way into the consciousness of my work colleagues and on the back of this, one of my colleagues lent me a book on the principles behind Hatha Yoga, which is the yoga that underpins Bikram Yoga. In this book i read the unequivocal statement that made it plain that the best and most natural way to breath is in and out through the nose. Here is my paraphrased simple statement:

You and me were born to breath in and out through our noses. Our mouths are made for eating. Breathing in and out through the mouth is an emergency response to a distressing situation. Unfortunately because of the development of bad habits, most people have forgotten or are unaware of how to breathe correctly.

Following on from the reading of this book 'Hatha Yoga: The Yogi Philosophy Of Physical Well-Being' (for more information see http://www.metta.org.uk/public/) on the Friday i grasped a quick chat with Libby the owner/teacher at Leicester Bikram Yoga (where i practice), who confirmed that nasal breathing (in and out) is the way to go during the bikram yoga sessions and in general including sporting situations like running. She also alluded to the fact that it helps with the flight/fight phenomenon to keep you more relaxed in stressful situations. I probably made a mental note that i need to investigate that one further and i have (but more of that later). The other question i still need to address is the use and purpose of mouth exhales in the two bikram yoga breathing exercises, as well as other hatha yoga breathing techniques.

Putting knowledge into practice

Life

So from the excellent book mentioned above and some confirmation from the owner/teacher of my bikram yoga center i proceeded on the way home on the train to breathe solely in and out through the nose. Points to note were:

1. I did not inhale or exhale deeply, just gently

2. Their came a point after a short while where after breathing in i desperately felt the need to breathe out from my mouth as i did not seem to have the ability to breathe out through my nose (it was as though i had too much air to exhale and my nose could just not cope quickly enough with the need to exhale). I did somehow suppress the urge to exhale through my mouth and still managed to breathe in and out through my nose.

3. Eventually the pay off came by way off an absolutely wonderful chest expanding inhalation of my lungs from a nasal inhale which felt very satisfying and did indeed feel as though it was a deep breadth.

4. these deep inhales followed fairly frequently. Much quicker than any other technique i had tried in the past.

5. There are many benefits, but the major point is that you are getting more oxygen into your system and oxygen is life.

I do this anywhere i can now, when i remember. Also I breathe like this when going off to sleep. Hopefully i am not breathing with my mouth open in my sleep..

Running

I followed this up on the Saturday morning with an hour long easy jog, where my aim was to breathe through my nose (in and out) for the duration of the session. Points to note were:

1. Initially (first 10-15 mins) breathing was a bit awkward, but doable - quite a number of natural deep inhales occurred just when i needed them.

2. After 15 mins started to have great difficulty breathing in through the nose, just felt blocked up (narrow passageways). Snot was accruing and my main technique to help clear my nasal passageways was to blow my nose into my shirt as i exhaled, this seemed to help, although shirt not too pleasant :-)

3. I did sneak in about 4 or 5 mouth breaths in, which was not too bad.

4. subsequently i have found that if i am struggling with the inhale, i just start exhaling vigorously through one nostril only (the other blocked closed with my finger) and alternate this exhaling on left and right nostrils until a natural inclination for a deep inhale occurs. (this seemed to work effectively)

There's more, There's more

After another shorter run or two, where i was still unsure if this was the right path to go down, i came across this excellent blog post The Importance of Nasal Breathing and this has given me extra conviction to pursue a nasal breathing policy (in and out) whilst doing sporting activities, such as running or weight training. Prior to reading the blog i had also completed a set of chin ups where by working to the rhythm of my breathing i pulled up on my nose inhale and lowered on my exhale. This felt very good. I felt that i was using the energy of my breath most effectively. With all my exercise now i am going to work to the rythm of my nasal breathing and i am hoping in the long term that a return to the natural way of breathing will bring about significant improvements in my overall fitness and conditioning. I have seen (felt) enough from my initial experiences to have confidence that significant improvements will be made. Getting back to the blog post the main messages were:

1. Confirmation that we are made to breath through our nose

2. Breathing through the mouth encourages the flight/fight response, which produces "adrenaline and cortisol which are both degenerative hormones. They contain waste products called free radicals, which are believed to be the leading cause of aging, cancer, disease and death. In addition, the body responds to this stress by Storing Fat and burning sugar. So if we can train our body to handle more stress without responding to it as an emergency (via nasal breathing), we’ll have taken a huge step in the fight against fat, aging and disease." (that's some motivation to breathe through the nose :-))

3. "Breathing through the nose stimulates the parasympathetic nervous system which calms the mind and rejuvenates the body" (I have felt this calming effect when i was running.)

4. "Due to the need for longer, deeper breaths, one of the inherent results of nasal breathing is a slower breath rate. There is a direct correlation between breath rate and heart rate so that a slower breath rate will entrain a slower heart rate.... The end result being that during a race, you’d have more in your energy reserves to out-run your competitors!"

Footnote
Have just completed a 45 minute spinning session using nasal breathing. It went well and i was not in control of the changes in pace, but coped ok with a few one nostril exhales. The amazing thing was when jogging back to work, without thinking about it i just used nasal breathing all the way back (5 minutes).