Gidday
Well January was a very pleasant month weather wise on this side of the globe and as usual seemed to go by in a flash . So know it’s back to the workhouse. I’ve been reviewing and reading a few papers during the past couple of months and I think it could be the year of the acronym, lots of them interspersed with things called words. Now I like acronyms, especially those that are simple and clever.JISC(def?) projects often come up with some good ones. However some disciplines,like Health, go into overdrive. Not that I want to get acronymonious about the subject, just that sometimes it can be quite exasperating to have to keep on looking for the definition when there are about a dozen on the same page.
Anyway it’s NAM and now I am about to embark on the production of a SMILE (Social Media Integrated Learning Environment) with the help of the DOGS (Digital Object Generating System), which should work well with LAMS (Learning Activity Management System from Macquarie). Okay, enough of the trivia and OASN onto the real stuff.
This edition has links to a blog or two with great elearning resources,workshop practice and facilitation,Moodle stuff,badges,imaging software, mobile learning software. using ebooks in education,stuff about competencies,professional development resources, conferences and the odd one out
TTFN
March is moving closer.
1.From the JISC observatory and under the authorship of James Clay, a new publication worth exploring:
Preparing for Effective Adoption and Use of Ebooks in Education.
James is a good lad and well known for his activities around learning technologies in education and is very experienced in the discipline. The booklet is a very useful resource.
You can download a copy from
http://blog.observatory.jisc.ac.uk/techwatch-reports/ebooks-in-education/
2. Moodle resource. If you are a committed Moodler (sure some of you should be), this site provides a wealth of ideas, information and comment on the effective use of Moodle. In the latest post the concept of badges in Moodle is being explored. Badges seem to be very topical at the moment.
http://www.iteachwithmoodle.com/
If you are keen to pursue the Badges for achievement line , have a look at what Purdue are doing. They are inviting application to test the system. Very slick and neatly done.
http://www.itap.purdue.edu/studio/passport/
3.Langwitches blog
There are thousands of blogs around and finding those that actually provide some useful and interesting stuff is a mission. I like this particular blog as it provides a lot of variety, informed comment, is current, useful and different. For those of you who are creative, the ‘Creating a Classroom eBook with BookCreator’ is an interesting article.I liked the article on Twitter as a Curation Tool (You’ll have to scroll a bit through the pictures). Lots of extra links to other related activities and infographics. Make up your own mind of course but I think it’s worth bookmarking for future reference.
4.Understanding Competencies. I’m always interested in how competencies are described and assessed. Lots of different approaches. This site provides a neat ‘Competency Kit’ essentially for students but can be adapted for others. Some good ideas here.
http://www.uvic.ca/coopandcareer/studentsalumni/resources/competencykit/
and if you are still enthralled by it all have a look at
How is competency determined. By those nice Aussies!
http://toolboxes.flexiblelearning.net.au/demosites/series3/316/ls/ls_c12.html
5.JISCInfonet: Planning a participatory workshop. This is another very useful resource from the Infonet stable. It is an excellent guide to creating and managing a workshop for like minded people to debate an issue, solve a problem or plan the future. Good stuff.
http://www.jiscinfonet.ac.uk/infokits/participatory/
6.Educational Technology and Mobile Learning. The site provides a technology integration matrix (rubric) for you to assess whether or not you correctly integrate technology in your teaching.Mainly focused on K-12 but it’s not difficult to see the synergies with higher levels of education and training Try it out. You might not agree with the ‘correctness’ in all cases but does get you thinking. I hope.
http://www.educatorstechnology.com/2012/12/a-must-have-rubric-to-correctly.html
7. Teacher Tap: Professional Development Resources for Educators and Librarians.
Hmmm, ‘educators and Librarians’? could be one and the same thing. However, this site is a useful resource for information on the use of technology, the Internet and libraries in education. Link to each of the tabbed areas on the left of the screen to access a wealth of resources.
http://eduscapes.com/tap/tap100.html
8.Kuali: Open source software for higher education by higher education. An enterprise class mobility platform and set of mobile tools for higher education.
This is probably more for the techies amongst you but should be of interest to any innovative educator seeking to make a difference to student learning. Must be you.
9.E-Learning Resources. Lots of questions answered on this site in conjunction with assume good resources. Designed to share. Now that’s a nice concept for the IP gurus.
http://www.grayharriman.com/blended_learning.htm
10.OsiriX new version released. It’s not often that I get excited about a piece of software, but OsiriX is free and open source, it works on Mac’s and PC’s and it has a lot of potential for educating health professional. It’s a DICOM (Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine) viewer which uses a standard for handling, storing, printing, and transmitting information in medical imaging. Although it’s designed for Medical Imaging, the potential as a teaching tool for anatomy and physiology in health sciences is immense. Visualisation of the body in action is a powerful resource for the learner.
Download, explore and expand the mind (can do that too with a few tweaks).
11. Conferences
11.1 New Zealand Moodle Moot 2013
Monday 22nd to Wednesday 24th April 2013.
Host venue is The University of Waikato, Hamilton.
Don’t miss out on this one!
11.2 altc2013 Building new cultures of learning
The 20th annual conference of the Association for Learning Technology
will be held at the University of Nottingham, 10-12 September 2013.
More information is at:
11.3 ascilite 2013
The 30th ascilite conference . This year it will be held at Macquarie University on the 1st – 4th December
For more details and to keep in touch go to:
http://www.ascilite.org.au/conferences/sydney13/
12. The odd one out: ebook treasures.
With the rise and rise of the use of ebooks, it’s always great to find a site that provides access to some very interesting and rare literature. Designed for the mobile population who want some serious stuff to bend the neurons.
http://www.ebooktreasures.org/
That’s it until the ides of March provide a few stabs in the dark 🙂
Richard
Richard Elliott
The Eternal Macademic
Auckland
New Zealand