E-Learning Roundup (weekly)

• Social Software in HE Study Report

  Report on the JISC funded study on the Effective use of social software in HE in the UK. Useful section on benefits to the students/challenges of using social software in education. Thanks to Cathy Tong for this.

  tags: elearning

• Improving Your Digital Footprint - Handout - Matt Lingard

  tags: elearning

• Twelve Interesting Ways to use Voicethread in the Classroom

  tags: voicethread, elearning

• 7 Things You Should Know About Personal Learning Environments

  tags: elearning

  • The term personal learning environment (PLE) describes the tools, communities, and services that constitute the individual educational platforms that learners use to direct their own learning and pursue educational goals. PLEs represent a shift away from the model in which students consume information through independent channels such as the library, a textbook, or an LMS, moving instead to a model where students draw connections from a growing matrix of resources that they select and organize. The use of PLEs may herald a greater emphasis on the role that metacognition plays in learning, enabling students to actively consider and reflect upon the specific tools and resources that lead to a deeper engagement with content to facilitate their learning.

• Twenty-Five Interesting Ways to use Twitter in the Classroom

  tags: elearning, twitter

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

E-Learning Roundup (weekly)

• Independent Review of the Primary Curriculum: Final Report

  The final report of the independent review of the primary curriculum which the Secretary of State for Child, Schools and Families invited Sir Jim Rose to undertake in January 2008.
  
  "strengthen the teaching and learning of information and communication technology (ICT) to enable children to be independent and confident users of technology by the end of primary ."

  tags: elearning

• Canadian Forces Base Symposium on ELearning

  Presentations from a symposium, held at Canadian Forces Base (CFB) Gagetown. A number relate to using games for instruction.

  tags: virtual, worlds, games, elearning

• SMART Table in my Classroom - Addition with Fingers

  tags: SMARTtable, collaboration, elearning

  • It is intriguing watching the children’s first attempts and how they realise they need to work together. As the challenge is small scale, once they have been successful they begin to refine their approach, communicate better and so get to later answers quicker.

• Professors experiment with Twitter as teaching tool - Annotated

• e-Safety

  Some interesting case studies with regards to college use of Facebook.

  tags: elearning

  • Safeguarding further education (FE) learners, and providing them with the skills to safeguard themselves when using this technology, is a vital part of the education that organisations should give to learners.

• New Study on Use of Web 2.0 Applications in Classrooms

  tags: elearning

  • Study spotlights the discrepancy between attitudes toward Web 2.0 and use in the classroom.

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

E-Learning Roundup 05/04/2009

• New Study on Use of Web 2.0 Applications in Classrooms

  tags: elearning

  • Study spotlights the discrepancy between attitudes toward Web 2.0 and use in the classroom.

• Prezi

  Interesting concept - I like the way you can zoom in and expand concepts

  tags: elearning

• 3 Word Story...

  Interesting collaborative use of Twitter. Shame about the story but nice concept though

  tags: twitter, elearning

  • 3 Word Story

• Blogging from the 'mud-movers': e-portfolios

  tags: elearning, eportfolios, reflection

  • Whether people collate their 'tweets' or maintain e-portfolios, it is the process of reflection not the medium, that is important and we must encourage staff to reflect in their own way and act on their thoughts to enhance activities for students and staff.

• Touch Screens with Pop-up Buttons

  tags: elearning, SMARTtable, Touch Screens

  • Researchers at Carnegie Mellon discuss a touch screen that also has morphing buttons.

• How to measure innovation in eLearning. The i-AFIEL methodology

  tags: elearning, evaluation

  • This paper presents and discusses innovation in relation to the European project Innovative Approaches for a Full Inclusion in eLearning (i-AFIEL) and, in particular, the methodology applied to measure innovation in eLearning projects developed by the Spanish OVSI Foundation.

• FriendFeed Blog - the new Twitter

  The next step up from Twitter?

  tags: elearning, social networking

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Is this real teaching?

An Open Letter to my Students by Dean Shareski (Web Link)

"Because of institutional requirements and societal norms, I’m required to give you a grade. This grade falls between 0-100 and in some way is intended to inform you and others how well you did in this course. The importance that number is given is appalling. While I do my best to provide you with some outcomes, indicators, rubrics and feedback I still feel my assessment of your learning is fairly trivial or at best a thin slice indicator of what you’ve learned. I realize many would love to believe that the number or grade you get is pure, accurate and will provide future instructors, institutions or employers an indication of your proficiency, understanding or knowledge. If anyone of these groups were to ask me about you, I could tell them what I’ve seen and observed. That may have value, the grade, not so much." And much more here.

And then there's this:

Professor makes his mark, but it costs him his job (Web Link)

"It was not his job, as he explained later, to rank their skills for future employers, or train them to be “information transfer machines,” regurgitating facts on demand. Released from the pressure to ace the test, they would become “scientists, not automatons,” he reasoned." And then it gets really interesting