G’day
well, May trundled by quite quickly and the weather stayed mostly nice and sunny. I’ve been working on employing NZ elearning guidelines to help in evaluating and developing an elearning future for an educational institution. Also been helping with a project involving body condition scoring of cows (this is an authentic mooc, methinks). Apart from that I’ve been helping the kids next door to up skill in the 3R’s; fun.The vege garden is laying fallow until the dog stops trying to dig its way to England.
In this posting there are comments and links to blended learning, iPads in education, OER research,instructional strategies, digital literacy,digital badges, selecting an LMS, digital portfolios, survey of adult skills, an archives hub, conferences and the odd one out
Longest day coming up over here and then it’s downhill to July, normally wet and windy, outside as well as inside:-)
Until July
1. Blended Learning: Theoretical Foundations: Brad Garner & Lorne Oke, from the
Center for Learning and Innovation at Indiana Wesleyan University.
This a very comprehensive document which looks at how blended learning has evolved and asks lots of questions about its application and implementation. Some useful ideas, insights, suggestions, discussion and links to related resources. Worth reading and absorbing.
http://www.indwes.edu/CLI/The-Learning-Academy/Blended-Learning–Theoretical-Foundations/
2. Open University UK: OER Research Hub. This is a fascinating site which provides information on research into the impact of OER world-wide. Collaboration with different organisations and institutions around the world is helping to develop a full picture and understanding of what is happening in the world of OER. Have a read of ‘Whadya mean ‘openness has won’? Interesting article.
3.Blended learning implementation guide: Version 2. The first version of this guide was very useful and comprehensive. Having consulted practitioners, the new updated version is even better and well worth having on your device or even on your bookshelf!
http://www.digitallearningnow.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/BLIG-2.0-Final-Paper.pdf
4.Instructional Strategies for Library and Information Professionals: An online course with all the materials you need. It’s aimed at helping library and information professionals develop the skills necessary to create effective, efficient, and engaging instructional materials. Worth a peruse.
http://eduscapes.com/instruction/index.htm
5.Developing Digital Literacies. A new infoKit from JiscinfoNet As usual a very useful toolkit. SIf you haven’t done it before,spend some time looking at all the other toolkits on offer; you won’t be disappointed
http://www.jiscinfonet.ac.uk/infokits/digital-literacies/
6.Creating and Managing Digital Portfolios: Very topical and this short article provides some useful information and tips.
http://ipadeducators.ning.com/profiles/blogs/portfolios?xg_source=msg_mes_network
7.Selecting a Learning Management System: Advice from an Academic Perspective by Clayton R. Wright et al [thanks to Clayton for distributing the links]
Extract from the site:
‘Although faculty and students are the primary learning management system users, administrators and IT experts often select the system. This article stresses the importance of involving all stakeholders in the selection process, offers a step by step guide to LMS selection, and enables readers to develop a customized list of LMS features that align with their institution’s instructional and learning priorities’.
A very useful and interesting read especially if you are considering or even using an LMS. Some useful links and helpful comments as well from the academic fraternity.
and
Selecting an LMS: Questions to Consider
By Clayton R. Wright, Valerie Lopes, T. Craig Montgomerie, Sunday A. Reju, and Seb Schmoller.
http://www.educause.edu/visuals/shared/er/ero1434/selecting_lms.pdf
8. The Potential and Value of Using Digital Badges for Adult Learners
DRAFT for Public Comment. This was released last year. Not sure what has happened to public comment as no evidence of final report. However, this is worth reading to get a really good overview of the potential of ‘Badges’, their role and value in recognising achievement.
http://lincs.ed.gov/publications/pdf/AIR_Digital_Badge_Report_508.pdf
9. The Archives Hub UK: An interesting development with a growing list of resources with associated links. Might be something here for you.
Extract from the site:
‘The Archives Hub provides a gateway to thousands of the UK’s richest archives. Representing over 220 institutions across the country, the Archives Hub is an effective way to discover unique and often little-known sources to support your research’.
Have a look at this innovative initiative from Leeds Universityy for more useful resources; the e books are a good example.
10. OECD Skills Outlook 2013: First Results from the Survey of Adult Skills.
Some very interesting facts and stats based on a survey which evaluates skills of adults from 24 different countries.
Extract from the site:
‘It provides insights into the availability of some of the key skills and how they are used at work and at home. A major component is the direct assessment of key information-processing skills: literacy, numeracy and problem solving in the context of technology-rich environments.’
You can download the book for free and there are some links to multimedia resources on the same page.
http://skills.oecd.org/skillsoutlook.html
11. AppleWatch: Unitec tech: iPads in education. Thought you might like to read this very interesting article about the pioneering work being carried out by James Oldfield at Unitec in Auckland. James is an excellent tutor and dedicated to helping his students achieve. I would imagine that 98.9% of the work involved with the initiative described in the article is his; he would have had a few challenges on the way! Comments on the article make for interesting reading. I’m all for the learning that is enhanced by using devices such as the iPad!
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/technology/news/article.cfm?c_id=5&objectid=11253521
12. MOOC paper from TEC and Ministry of Education New Zealand. Adds to the literature on the MooC’s, worth reading.
(Thanks to Peter Guiney , NZMOE for the link)
nz.linkedin.com/pub/peter-guiney/a/354/160
https://www.educationcounts.govt.nz/publications/80898/146849
12. Conferences
12.1 altc2014: Riding Giants: How to innovate and educate ahead of the wave.
The 21st annual conference of the Association for Learning Technology 1 to 3 September 2014, Warwick, UK
Put the date in your diary.
For more information about the conference go to:
https://www.alt.ac.uk/alt-conference/altc2014
12.2 The Australasian Society for Computers in Learning in Tertiary Education
(ascilite) warmly invites everyone with an interest in educational
technologies in tertiary education to join us at the 31st ascilite
conference (23-26 Nov 2014, Dunedin, New Zealand).
The Call for Papers is now open.
http://ascilite2014.otago.ac.nz/call-for-papers/
and we are inviting contributions describing critical perspectives on the use of educational technology, under the following sub themes:
Emerging technology practices (e.g., MOOCs, OERs, virtual reality,
mobile learning, games or gamification)
Institution-wide technology integration (e.g., implementation of
digital strategies)
Focus on research evidence (e.g., impact-focused methods such as
educational design research, inquiry and action research, and
experimental studies)
Technology-enhanced learning design
Learning analytics
Educational technology and society
Role of learning theories
12.3 Clayton R Wright has just released his latest lists of conferences, some as far ahead as 2016
Go to Stephen Downes’ site for easy access to download. Womble around Stephen’s site while you are there; he always has something interesting to say!
http://www.downes.ca/post/62208
13. NZ happenings: 7th annual NZ Shar-E-Fest will take place in Hamilton at the end of September followed by the regional symposia. Theme for this year is ‘E-learning in practice: How are learning technologies and social media being used effectively to enhance student learning and achievement?
We are extremly pleased that Alan Levine from Phoenix, Arizona, has accepted our invitation to be our international keynote speaker and workshop facilitator. Alan was a pioneer on the web in the 1990s and an early proponent of blogs and RSS, he shares his wide range of ideas and discoveries online at
We are delighted that
Ako Aotearoa, New Zealand’s National Centre for Tertiary Teaching Excellence
is a GOLD sponsor of the event
Full details on:
http://wordpress.isle.ac.nz/shar-e-fest-2014/
14. The odd one out. Who do you know? and how much do you know about them? Historical Painting with Wikipedia Links & Mouse Over Tagging. This is an interesting way of finding someone and seeing if they are as interesting as you thought they were and if you’ve got your facts right! Also good for loading the neurones with facts for the pub quiz!
http://cliptank.com/PeopleofInfluencePainting.htm
That’s it for now
Richard
Richard Elliott
The Eternal Macademic
Auckland
New Zealand