G’day everyone
June is upon us and down-under we are moving towards the shortest day. Most seem short these days. I’m sure our government must have taxed them as well.
Still not to worry, there’s lots going on in the world of eLearning, ePortfolios and mLearning. Blogs and Wikis are still to the fore as we speak, so naturally this posting has a few links which may be of interest.
It would be nice to think that everyone was using the ever growing smorgasboard of electronic/digital learning resources.
Not the case.
One size never fits all and having attended some presentations recently, I think that sometimes educators should be able to recognise that the flexibl-e-learning environments and resources that are being created,and that they are creating, are for the students and their learning. Whether we believe they are ‘must haves’ and everyone should use them, matters not a brass razoo. The students are the best assessors of what works for them. Listen, learn, adapt and adopt. Rave finished.
Other links in this posting provide information on pedagogy and elearning, MMOG’s and the latest from RELOAD.
In addition JISC Info net has turned out two very good resources on project and change management.
I include another reminder about ALT-C 2006 and hope to touch base with some of you there.
AND the odd one out is Wikimapia which is Google Maps + a Wiki. An encyclopedia of places and maybe faces.
BTW there was an incorrect link in the May edition. Correct one is shown below
http://www3.telus.net/~kdeanna/mlearning/index.htm
1. If you haven’t seen this article from Denmark, it’s worth reading. Some thought provoking stuffed buried in the text.
Pedagogical quality in e-learning
Designing e-learning from a learning theoretical approach
By Christian Dalsgaard
Extract from Abstract:
“The article is concerned with design and use of e-learning technology to develop education qualitatively. The purpose is to develop a framework for a pedagogical evaluation of e-learning technology”.
http://eleed.campussource.de/archive/1/78/
2. M-LEARN is a site created in iWeb by Jonathan Nalder (an Aussie, but whatever! He’s done a good job and he IS a Mac man).
It provides a very nice interface to links to resources and information on the rise of m-learning. Worth exploring even though much relates to K12 it’s equally applicable to other areas of education and Higher Ed can often learn lots from the innovation from the youngsters.
http://web.mac.com/jnxyz/iWeb/mlearn/Links.html
3. Helen Barrett is well known for her pioneering work with e-porfoilios. If you haven’t visited her Blog, it’s about time you did and got some inside information on current developments.
http://electronicportfolios.org/blog/index.html
4. From the e-Learning Athenaeum in Ohio, sample ePortfolios, ways to design them, examples of student ePorfolios, and issues to consider when adopting ePortfolios.
http://cscc.edu/oln/showAllSubTopic.asp?akey=44
5. Two excellent new ‘infokits’ for good practice from the JISCInfonet stable.
Change management and Project management.
Both are a must for the wannabee educational administrator/manager and any one else involved in planning an organizing educational projects
http://www.jiscinfonet.ac.uk/infokits
6. Much talk around the traps these days on the use of educational gaming This article may be of interest to those of you who are fervent about the possibilities. You will need to create a login, but it’s free.
MMOGs as Learning Environments: An Ecological Journey into Quest Atlantis and The Sims Online
Michael Young, P. G. Schrader, and Dongping Zheng
The authors use the concepts of ecological psychology to examine how massively multiplayer online games (MMOG’s) promote specific learning processes in their players. In their analysis they identify and define nine principles of learning that allow such games to have valuable potential as tools for educators:
http://innovateonline.info/index.php?view=article&id=66
7. RELOAD is a project originally funded under the JISC Exchange for Learning Programme (X4L). The team is now developing materials as a joint project without JISC funding. They ahave done an excellent job and deserve support from the wider international educational community. Check out the latest
The primary aims of this project are to:
“Facilitate the creation, sharing and reuse of learning objects and services
enhance the range of pedagogical approaches realisable through the use of lesson plans”.
A new version of the learning design editor has recently been released
8. ALT-C 2006 Edinburgh
Getting closer to the registration date be quick to be in. It’s the must be at event of the year.
ALT-C 2006: the next generation
5-7 September 2006, Edinburgh, UK
Conference co-chairs: Prof Terry Mayes and Prof Ron Oliver
http://www.alt.ac.uk/altc2006/
Keynote speakers: Stephen Heppell, Diana Oblinger, Tim O’Shea.
Theme leaders: Terry Anderson, Phil Candy, Gilly Salmon, Chris Yapp.
Registration will be available by the end of May
9. The wonderful Biology resources site from Rose Marie Chute. Doesn’t mention Wikis, Blogs, Eports or SMS.
Amazing collection of resources and links to things biological/ physiological/health related. For a nice piece of reinforcement learning, have a look at “Introducing the bloody characters of specific immunity” under the immunity dudes link.
http://science.nhmccd.edu/biol/rchute.html
10. From the European Foundation for quality in e-learning, a useful article entitled
“A Framework for Quality of Learning Resources” by Frans Van Assche, Riina Vuorikari
11. The odd one out: Wikimapia
WikiMapia is a project to describe the whole planet Earth.
How to use
Just move the map to find interesting places, click on rectangles. To add an interesting place or object use Add New link. Note: Please only add places interesting to everyone.
Until July comes around the corner, that’s it folks.
Richard Elliott
E-learning Watch
http://elearnwatch.falkor.gen.nz/
Auckland New Zealand
‘Learning in the Driver’s seat, Technology turning the wheels’
Member of the Programme Committee for ALT-C 2006