eCurriculum Blog

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noreply@blogger.com (Joan Walker) — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 10:35:00 +0000

Open publication - Free publishing - More elearning

Horizon Report 2010

noreply@blogger.com (Joan Walker) — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 15:26:00 +0000

This is the seventh edition of this annual report and describes emerging technologies likely to have an impact on teaching & learning in Colleges and Universities in the next five years.

The report describes in relatively plain English technologies which you may have heard of but not experienced and outlines with examples how they are already being used in academic institutions. Interestingly once they are broken down a bit you might be surprised just how many of them you use routinely already.

One year or less	Two to Three Years	Four to Five years
Mobile Computing	Electronic Books	Gesture Based Computing
Open Content	Simple Augmented Reality	Visual Data Analysis

Yes - I know what you're thinking but the report provides just a couple of pages on each - enough to whet the appetite e.g. Do you use Sat Nav? Have you needed to find out where the nearest petrol station is? Using a device that combines information based on GPS, a camera or compass could be considered as Simple Augmented Computing. Anyone get a Wii for Christmas? It's hard to think of anything that's more gesture based. And take a look at my favourite websites in the tag cloud down the right hand side of this website - the larger the text the more links in that category - an example of a new form of Visual Data Analysis.

So the report's not just for "Geeks" - and the technologies are actually here already, but the report does give some interesting insight into how they might be employed in the education business.

http://www.nmc.org/pdf/2010-Horizon-Report.pdf

RSC Scotland South & West

noreply@blogger.com (Joan Walker) — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 10:12:00 +0000

A Toolbox for Learning Professionals 2009

noreply@blogger.com (Joan Walker) — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 11:26:00 +0000

I came across this updated version of Jane Hart's Tool box - thought I'd share it. I was delivering training this week and touched on a number of them.

25 Tools: A Toolbox for Learning Professionals 2009

View more presentations from Jane Hart.

The wonder of BOB

noreply@blogger.com (Joan Walker) — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 15:02:00 +0000

I had a demo of the Box of Broadcasts (BoB) this week in one of our supported institutions - one of the first in the UK to subscribe to the service. BoB (developed by the British Universities Film & Video Council (BUFVC), Cambridge Imaging Systems and Bournmouth University) - provides staff and students with online access to television and radio programmes from the previous seven days, as well as allowing staff and students to book recordings for broadcasts seven days in advance. Currently free view channels and radio are available. Library staff at Glasgow Met have implemented BoB and I was totally blown away by it.

The best feature in my view is the simple way you can create relevant snippets to use in class or provide for students through learning platforms or other web technologies that they use. This eliminates the need to watch a whole chunk of a programme when only a small relevant clip is really what's wanted. These can be tagged for other BoB users to find and it has the potential to become a huge source of contemporary, highly relevant and engaging video material.

Although it may be considered quite expensive to set up depending on licences that are currently in place, the librarians at Glasgow Met feel that it has had some unforeseen impact by providing a gateway into other library services and digital resources previously under utilised.

You can listen to the RSC's latest podcast about BoB here. For more information go to http://www.boxofbroadcasts.com/

Have you tried Blogging yet ?

noreply@blogger.com (Joan Walker) — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 13:55:00 +0000

Well the start of a new academic term for us all and time once again to challenge myself to keep this Blog up to date and dynamic with all things e-Learning of use to the learning community in the West of Scotland.

An interesting video on YouTube I was recently alerted to with Seth Godin and Tom Peters, discussing the value of blogging. They are both enthusiastic advocates of the benefits of Blogging in terms of personal, intellectual and emotional outlook and I broadly agree about the personal benefits of summarising a topic and writing down your own thoughts on it - It's described as meta-cognition.

So if you haven't tried it yet maybe now's the time to try.

iPod v Walkman

noreply@blogger.com (Joan Walker) — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 09:44:00 +0000

State of the art technology in it's day, Sony celebrated the 30th Anniversary of the launch of the Sony Walkman this week. In this article BBC news invited 13 year-old Scott Campbell from Aberdeenshire to swap his iPod for a Walkman for a week. It's an amusing stroll down memory lane.

"It took me three days to figure out that there was another side to the tape. "

"I managed to create an impromptu shuffle feature simply by holding down "rewind" and releasing it randomly - effective, if a little laboured."

It does remind me that I used to listen to OU tapes on my own Sony Walkman when I was out with the dog without considering it as innovative at the time. It was just the way it was. So, although range of information and the nature of it (latest and up to the minute) may have changed, I guess the notion of considering mobile technologies as something out of the ordinary might be a mistake. It's just the way it is.

Read Scott's article

Realising the Benefits

noreply@blogger.com (Joan Walker) — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 11:01:00 +0000

The previous post of images from our recent conference uses a number of web2.0 technologies. Practice what we preach is the mantra in our office and I'm rather pleased with myself having uploaded to Flickr and embeded the slide show in my Blog. It's a slick way of doing things and means that our collection of images can be used in a variety of different ways. Hope you enjoy them.

Flickr photstream from Realising the Benefits conference

noreply@blogger.com (Joan Walker) — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 10:38:00 +0000

A banking scheme that's paying off

noreply@blogger.com (Joan Walker) — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 10:00:00 +0000

"Very useful, informative & motivational"

Last week we finished the initial phase of our Bank on Success project based training initiative with 35 individuals taking part over the 4 days we ran our workshops.

The deal that in exchange for a free training day delegates would send back 2 x 10 question assessments seems to be a sound model and we'll be busy processing everyones' hard work and putting them on our web site over the next 6 weeks or so. These assessments just keep rolling in! In fact the enthusiasm was such that many participants managed to complete one of the assessments on the day. We were also able to include images and hyperlinks in questions and feedback using the template used for question design.

"An excellent session - I feel entirely confident that I could now go back and develop e-Assessments and also show the rest of my staff group how to go about it"

The opportunity to consolidate new skills learned on training days provided by the project model is what it's about really with the bank of questions that will become available to the sector an additional positive outcome but not an end in itself.

The feedback has been very encouraging and we'll be rolling the concept out in the new academic session so if you're from an institution we support in the West of Scotland and interested in finding out more about e-Assessment contact me or support@rsc-sw-scotland.ac.uk and we'll keep you informed.

"Just the right mix of theory & practice"

Creative Commons - The answer to our Copyright prayers?

noreply@blogger.com (Joan Walker) — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 10:23:00 +0000

While delivering a briefing on copyright recently I realised that copyright had not featured on my Blog. The danger when talking to staff about copyright issues associated with digital resources is that in effect you cannot copy and paste anything from the Internet without breaching copyright law. Case closed - and that's not what staff want to hear!

Our approach here at the RSC however is to focus on how you can find resources that you are at liberty to use. Creative Commons (CC) is a not for profit corporation dedicated to making it easier for people to share and build upon the work of others, consistent with the rules of copyright and for me has become the most useful tool to use to help find materials that you can use. Essentially Creative Commons allows you to assign usage rights to your work before it is published indicating how your work can be used. Unless this, or something similar, is done the default position is that the work is copyright as soon as it is published to the web.

Google (for websites) and Flickr (for images) now have advance search tools which allow you to filter your search to resources which have a Creative Commons licence already assigned. You should click on the CC icon and read the licence but really all 4 licences do tend to cover use in the mainstream, non-commercial education sectors with just a simple attribution note.

Advanced search in Google:click advanced search / enter your search term / expand date and usage rights section / choose one of the 4 appropriate usage terms that suits you needs. All 4 reflect the CC licences.

Advanced search in Flickr: enter your search term / click search / then choose advance search / check box that says "Only search within Creative Commons-licensed content".

The returns you get using either of these techniques will provide you with materials that you can use without breaching the copyright legislation but you should check out the CC license terms for every resource you find.

It is worth noting that you may not be in a position to assign a creative commons licence the work you develop yourself for your students as the intellectual property rights are likely to rest with your employer. Check it out

http://creativecommons.org/

How Creative Commons works

JISC Legal Webcast on “Digital Copyright with Confidence”

Banking on Success

noreply@blogger.com (Joan Walker) — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 13:40:00 +0000

We've started to roll out our latest project based training initiative this week with a full house at the first of our 4 sessions. I enjoyed the day. It's good to work with teaching practitioners again as these days I seem to have had more contact with curriculum managers and senior staff in our supported institutions and it's good to get back to my roots.

Bank on Success is aimed at showing staff the most painless way to create eAssessments that can be uploaded and integrated into their learning platform. In fact processing and uploading can be quite a tedious operation that follows routine procedures that I'm not sure many teaching staff would want to do. The focus of our project is on the design of good, reliable eAssessments rather than the technicalities of getting them to work ( in my opinion a task more appropriate for a learning technologist unless the lecturer is a hybrid model with sufficient skills to ensure that ROI time-wise is practicable). Demonstrating the processes involved though is undoubtedly helpful to staff and allows them to see what's involved from start to finish.

If I'm honest I think e-Assessment is something that we've struggled to support effectively. Perhaps it's the term that puts people off as we've had plenty of offerings over that last couple of years but not many takers. In terms of learning materials it really is (technically speaking) eAssessment that provides interactivity. Looking at materials, even those that include multimedia is a rather passive activity and it is the activities such as web-quests, crosswords and quizzes that engage learners and provide the interactivity. All are technically forms of eAssessment. Maybe finding and alternative name for these types of activities that form such a critical part of the learning process is needed. I'll get my thinking cap on!

Anyway feedback from the day was great and my colleagues and I are greatly encouraged by the positive response we've had to the initiative so far.

Bank on Success - more information

To Blog ....... or not to Blog

noreply@blogger.com (Joan Walker) — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 14:48:00 +0000

You'd think having had a comment on my last posting in early March (thanks Joe), the third one ever, I should have approached my Blog with renewed enthusiasm. Someone out there is reading it! Yes you'd think so - however I seemed to have run out of steam there for a little while. I have, to be fair, been really busy particularly with the Collaborative Course Design Pilot we are running from the RSC right now and also working with colleagues designing another pilot project aimed at progressing the use of e-Assessment. But having said that I have allowed my Blog to slip down my list of priorities and I need to get back on track with it.

So I've coined a new phrase - Blog Fatigue! - well I thought I had however on closer inspection I discover that there is much written about this new phenomenon - so there you are Mrs Smug!

“Blog fatigue” is a common subject - and it's said that pretty much everyone comes down with it at one point or another. (see Jason Kaneshiro's blog about it). He suggests that it's routine that leads to it, something I was actually determined to keep to - hence the Friday Blog. No, no, no ..... he says "mix it up" to avoid BB (Blog Burnout.)

Another strategy suggested is to craft 52 one for each week and post date their publication - a bit too mercenary for me. I rather like to think that I provide an informative, responsive and up to date service - hmmmm.

I prefer Jason's solution so beware! I'm going to Blog as the inspiration takes me and it could be on any day of the week! In fact it's Wednesday today if I'm not mistaken.

Blog Fatigue: Is it fatal to your Blog ?

Suzanne senses Blog Fatigue - do you ?

The Silent Treatment

noreply@blogger.com (Joan Walker) — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 10:36:00 +0000

Sorry if you're an avid reader of my Friday Blog - I've been really busy initiating some project work and then had a week off in beautiful Ports du Soleil region of the French Alps. Back un-injured I'll try to get back into Blogging mode.

Our mobile technology came into it's own when away. For this first time this year we checked the BBC news web site over some vin chaud (elevenses!) at 2100 meters (almost 7000 ft) on my pal's iPhone. We also booked a restaurant in the village for dinner from the same place. I logged into my work email just to see if I could - and I could. I emailed a picture taken that moment to my email account and of course sent a multimedia message to the team back at the office - life is good!

Text messaging came into it's own for our rendezvous at the pub, I received numerous happy birthday messages to disturb the silence of the mountains (probably a bit annoying for others), and kept in touch with the family. We took short videos on my mobile phone but sadly missed the best moments.

I'll need to get back to applying all this to learning teaching but here's my message to you all - the technology's there and it's awesome - use it for personal activities and it will help you to get your head around it's application for learning & teaching.

Using Blogs for e-Assessment

noreply@blogger.com (Joan Walker) — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 12:04:00 +0000

As with many Web2.0 tools the emphasis on communication and collaboration means that many types of social software are becoming recognised as valuable learning tools that can be particularly useful to assess contributions of individual learners to group outcomes. Blogs can be used in this manner and have the potential to become powerful tools to provide evidence of deep learning and reflection.

Community blogs can be used to document progress towards the completion of a group task and the chronological aspects of the software are helpful in monitoring progress, achievement and contributions. Consideration of the extent to which authentication is required and indeed how it's managed will determine how this type of software is deployed within an institution.

Blogs provide an ideal solution when the documentation of learning processes is needed, often a challenge for institutions and potentially quite "high risk" in terms of moderation and verification. As with other social software the "signing in" requirements mean that activities are well documented and can be monitored relatively easily. Comment facilities provide a mechanism for peer assessment - provided good guidelines and support for the whole process is in place.

Blogs can be used as a journal and to assist personal development planning, documenting progress towards the achievement of goals. Staff at Dumfries and Galloway College are using Blogging software in quite a structured way very effectively with learners to encourage reflection and document progress. The ability to easily upload multimedia to web-based applications is of great value in many areas of the curriculum e.g. hairdressing students can take images of both the end result and also the processes that were involved. This could be applied in the same way in food production or the construction trades.

Balancing the need for structure (to ensure performance criteria is met) and learner autonomy is a challenge for institutions. It is argued greater structure undermines the authenticity of postings and can compromise the opportunities for deep learning that Blogs can offer. It can't be denied though that using technology seems to be more attractive to learners than putting pen to paper. Perhaps in the Further Education sector providing structure is an essential ingredient if the attractions of web 2.0 technologies are to be exploited and potential benefits are to be maximised.

Which comes first the Chicken or the Egg ?

noreply@blogger.com (Joan Walker) — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 10:46:00 +0000

This week saw the start of our new initiative aimed at supporting curriculum development in our region - we're calling it Collaborative Course Design (CCD) and beginning pilots in 3 of our supported institutions. My colleague and I spent 2 days this week working with a course team exploring technologies and how each can add value to the learning experiences both for the learners but also for the staff. It kind of brought home to me the chicken/egg nature of making decisions about how to exploit new technologies in general. In other words how do you know which technology to use unless you are exposed to them in an appropriate context.

Although I had a few concerns, the original plan for our sessions to explore and establish a common understanding of new technology was a good one. While individuals have ideas about the role of technology in the context of learning & teaching, ideas are constrained, quite naturally, by an individual's own experience and exposure to technology and software. I did wonder if spending time showing and explaining the scope and range of new learning technologies might be perceived as a waste of precious preparation time. However it became evident that a brief and concise demonstration provided enough of an insight for staff to quickly realise the potential of and application of new technologies for learning & teaching. The experience also supports our new 20 minute topic briefings aimed at senior & operational managers which we are offering and delivering to our supported institutions. These are also aimed at assisting the decision making process but in an institutional context rather than a course context.

Working with a course team meant that, as a group, ideas could be bandied about and the practicalities, suitability and local issues regarding the use of hardware and software could be considered as a group and introduced to a course in a more coherent way. The whole experience seemed to me to promote a very creative and positive experience with real commitment to making some changes and doing things a bit differently. Reservations about making what might be considered to be a significant departure from previous methods are understandable but I'm quite delighted that our Collaborative Course Design (CCD) initiative has got off to such a positive start.

Charged up for 2009

noreply@blogger.com (Joan Walker) — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 13:48:00 +0000

How dull everything's looking now that all the fairy-lights are back up in the attic. It always seem to take a bit of time just to get back up to speed after the festivities even though my batteries should be fully charged. I was glad to have pre-arranged an interview for our Podcasting service to help focus my attention this week.

The interview for this episode is with Steve Bishop, IT Helpdesk Manager at Cardonald College. They've been using a very clever remote mouse/media control (the MX Air from Logitech) which can be charged for up to a week at a time and has a range which should work in large classrooms. Do note though that this is just one in a wide range of similar products.

As well as providing the tutor with the capacity to wander about the classroom, using this type of device does mean that the irritating shadow encountered when using an interactive board is eliminated. In addition the risks associated with looking into the bright projector bulb are minimised. Here at the RSC we have invested in remote kit that includes a keyboard and gyro-mouse (from Gyration) that has a similar long range capacity. These types of wireless input devices work especially well with interactive whiteboards and I always take them out with me on training to illustrate this. As well as the advantages that Steve outlines in the Podcast, there are significant accessibility gains to be made. Learners with a variety of support needs e.g. those with mobility problems or with special educational needs can benefit greatly and are able to participate more fully in classroom activities when devices can be passed around the group.

Incidentally, if you haven't experienced our Podcasting service yet, you can find out more about this and other examples of effective practice around the Region by going to the podcasts page on our website and subscribe through iTunes or your preferred RSS feed reader.

http://www.rsc-sw-scotland.ac.uk/podcast/Podcasts.htm
http://www.logitech.com/index.cfm/mice_pointers/mice/devices/3443&cl=US,EN
http://www.gyration.co.uk/proddata.php?partno=E3900

Christmas Cheer

noreply@blogger.com (Joan Walker) — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 11:35:00 +0000

Merry JISCmas

A few websites for some Christmas fun this time:

Dvolver creates creativity widgets - software that enables people to creatively communicate using internet technologies. www.dvolver.com

NORAD Santa Tracker - It is very good this year, with educational games for younger students, plus lots of other goodies.On Christmas Eve they team up with Google Earth to track Santa as he speeds around the world delivering his presents. As he reaches places of interest there is information about the towns and Cities. http://www.northpole.com/

Buying a Present - One for the lads - forearmed is forewarned!http://bewareofthedoghouse.com/videoPage.aspx

Elf Yourself - For those of you who had fun a year or two ago - just to let you know The Elf back again this Christmas: http://elfyourself.jibjab.com/view/KQHtQ4ef9fWLQ9h118fI

Toondoo“ Create your own comic strips, Publish, Share & Discuss”: a creative site with a community presence, very visual, embed or link to favourites, your own or other peoples. http://www.toondoo.com

Have a happy Christmas and New Year - I'll be back blogging in 2009 - Joan

Digital Storytelling - Are they Tall Tales ?

noreply@blogger.com (Joan Walker) — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 08:34:00 +0000

Digital Storytelling describes the practice of combining narrative with digital content. Consider how Broadcasters present history and current affairs now e.g. "The History of Scotland" and "Who Do You Think You Are". Take a look at The BBC project Telling Lives which illustrates the concept of digital storytelling.

Theoretically it is suggested Digital Story Telling could be applied to any subject area as a legitimate technique that can support learning & teaching. Integrating skills from a range of disciplines is an obvious possibility and provides a natural fit for e-portfolios. In addition Digital Storytelling could provide a means of introducing technology to areas of the curriculum that sometimes have difficulty of seeing how it can be applied in non-technical disciplines.

Someone with little technical background should be able to create digital stories. Typically, a project starts with a script and then digital artifacts are assembled or created to illustrate the story which is then pieced together to form a short movie.

It is argued that as well as enhancing the oral tradition of knowledge transfer through storytelling, the process also has an impact on learners by forcing them to think critically about the combination of the elements that construct the story.

There are many easy to use online tools to support the concept over and above well known applications such as photostory3, Windows moviemaker or iMovie. Timeline tools, genealogy tools and the excellent Museum Box which provides tools for you to build up an argument or description of an event, person or historical period by placing items in a online and virtual box.

http://www.learningtools.arts.ubc.ca/timeline.htm
http://www.geni.com/
http://museumbox.e2bn.org/index.php
7 things your should know about Digital Storytelling (www.educause.edu/eli )

infoKits R US

noreply@blogger.com (Joan Walker) — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 14:44:00 +0000

JISC infoNet has produced a number of really useful infoKits, some of which I'm sure I've already mentioned here and are the ideal first step for managers involved in making strategic ICT decisions.

This week sees a new infoKit published by JISC infoNet. The Shared Services infoKit aims to clarify the issues concerning shared services and contains examples of the current drivers, benefits, inhibitors and enablers of using or developing shared service infrastructures. Along with the ePortfolios infoKit also published this month there are now a total of 15 online infoKits available on the infoNet web site.

JISC infoNet is the UK's leading advisory service for managers in the post-compulsory education sector promoting the effective strategic planning, implementation and management of information and learning technology. While infoNet's remit is to give strategic advice, the service provides this in a very pragmatic way, offering practical solutions based on the outputs of a wide variety of research projects funded by the JISC. Resources, including infoKits, are freely available to institutions and individuals in the UK further and higher education sectors and well worth a second look.

http://www.jiscinfonet.ac.uk/

Learning about Learners

noreply@blogger.com (Joan Walker) — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 16:24:00 +0000

A trip to the lovely city of York provided the venue for my first visit to the Higher Education Academy. The focus of the event was the dissemination of the outcomes a group of projects funded by the JISC e-Learning Programme which is investigating learners' experiences of e-learning.

This is the second phase of projects focusing on the learners' perspectives of e-learning (see In Their Own Words for the outcomes of phase 1) and as well as producing case studies of individual learner's experiences, I was particularly interested in the methods used to elicit authentic accounts from learners about the use of technology in the context of their learning.

I've been involved in facilitating focus groups in our supported institutions with learners and found it quite a challenge to get a full picture of where technology fits into a learner's own learning strategies. It's easy enough to find out what part institutionally provided systems and resources play but harder to find out what learners prefer to use themselves and I think a lot could be learned from investigating this further.

Some guidance on learner-centred evaluations based on the Phase 1 studies is available and useful examples of learner consent and learner profiling forms are available from the JISC. Methodologies explored by the JISCle2 projects have been packaged as toolkits and are available from the JISCle2 website now.

I found both the interview plus methodology, email Pen Pal methodology particularly interesting and plan to investigate further with a view to incorporating them into own our focus group methodology. I'll keep you posted on developments.

What's your preference - Pull or Push ?

noreply@blogger.com (Joan Walker) — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 14:11:00 +0000

This week we published our first podcast. It's the first of a series of short podcasts (and in the longer term - vodcasts) that we are planning this session.

The essential difference between a podcast and an audio file is that a podcast is syndicated. This means that, if you subscribe to it, the podcast is automatically supplied to you when it is published - you don't have to go and "find" the information. You'll have seen the orange feed icon I'm sure. You see it on browser menu bars, on websites and in email clients. It's the new way to manage information. It's now often referred to as "pull technology", where the request for information originates from the client, with the reverse known as "push technology" where servers push data to the client.

Feeds can also be embedded into websites using feed widgets. Therefore it's perfectly feasible to provide dynamic content to course websites using this method. e.g. a feed with local exhibitions for art students, a current affairs feed for journalism & politics or late travel deals for tourism students.

We had a great deal of discussion in the team about the best way to provide access to our new podcast service. Mark would use iTunes, Celeste uses Google reader and I prefer the RSS reader integrated into MS Outlook. So because of the range of alternatives that people use now we've provided a few options.

If you use iTunes simply click on the link; If you use an RSS reader copy and paste the code provided; the final alternative is to open the link and save as a favourite feed (an option in IE7) or a live bookmark (FireFox).

Check out our very first podcast here

The ever reliable Lee and Sachi LeFever from Common Craft have a great short video that describes RSS really well, although as I've already mentioned the reader software they talk of is not the only option now.

CPD, PDP & ePortfolios

noreply@blogger.com (Joan Walker) — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 14:38:00 +0000

I've said before that I'm surprised about the impact doing this Blog each week has had on my capacity to reflect (see posting on 4th of April) and I do feel I really benefit from it. It provides an opportunity to have another think about my activities each week, firms up my ideas and files them in amongst the rest of the nuggets of knowledge that are in my head - (bet you're glad I shared that thought with you!)

I've previously advocated the use of Blogs with learners as a tool for reflection. Many eportfolio systems include them along with templates that encourage Personal Development Planning (PDP) which is often an element in guidance programs, but a paper I was reading this week as part of some personal study that I'm undertaking, got me thinking a bit more about the idea. The paper was written by Lorraine Stefani the Director of the Centre for Professional Development at the University of Auckland. It essentially explores the link between PDP, Continuing Professional Development (CPD) and the use of ePortfolios. She makes the point that there is a very low uptake by education professionals of formally recording the CPD that is an implicit part of their work (by virtue of their professional status). Stefani suggests a link between the attitude of staff to recording CPD (i.e.the resistance to it) and how it mitigates against the successful implementation of PDP with learners and the embedding of eportfolios into the curriculum. In other words if teachers have difficulty formally reflecting on their own development and documenting it, how can they really expect learners to be able to effectively reflect on theirs.

At the University of Auckland they implemented an initiative where staff were encouraged to develop a Teaching ePortfolio and there was the possibility that it would become mandatory for new staff to have one. Some staff development input was necessary and Stefani posed some interesting questions that would need to be resolved before a significant cultural shift might be seen:

Do line managers understand and value the concept of reflection on teaching and learning ?
Do line managers recognise the importance of teaching staff modelling the use of technology ?

They are not easy questions to answer. The initiative was introduced initially as a pilot with staff members, as part of an assessment strategy and staff who were facilitating and mentoring were also expected to maintain their own Teaching ePortfolio. It will be interesting to revisit this and have a look at the outcomes of the pilot and I'll update the blog once I find out more.

The idea of staff modelling the use of technology is something that the team here have always agreed with and is one of the reasons that I began to write this blog last year. If institutions embrace new technologies for their own business processes, robust systems would develop and wouldn't it make perfect sense for teaching staff using new learning technologies for their own CPD.

The team here at the RSC endeavour to use the technologies that we advocate whenever possible and I do feel that it provides us with a real insight into the issues that will crop up for the people that we support in the post 16 education sector. It's really invaluable and I'd certainly recommend that learning by doing yourself will help to you to introduce ICT into the curriculum more effectively.

Joan

Stefani, L. (2003) ‘PDP/CPD and e-portfolios: rising to the challenge of modelling good practice’ [online], Association for Learning Technology. Available from: http://www.alt.ac.uk/docs/lorraine_stefani_paper.doc

USB AccessApps: Free Enabling Technology on a Stick!

noreply@blogger.com (Joan Walker) — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 15:20:00 +0000

This week after our own team meeting, Margaret McKay, our eAdvisor for Accessibility and Inclusion did a session with us to introduce AccessApps. This is an initiative developed by the two JISC Regional Support Centres in Scotland, in conjunction with the JISC TechDis Service. AccessApps provides a range of portable/open source technologies on a pen drive. In fact there are over 50 provided.

Some of the applications are generic tools, such as the word processing, spreadsheet and presentation alternatives. Others cater for specific needs, such as a need to view larger font sizes or different screen colours, or to control a computer without using a mouse.

Margaret McKay our eAdvisor:Access and Inclusion is providing the support to roll out the initiative in colleges. Contact us here at the RSC if you'd like to know more.

RSC - AccessApps

Dr Kawashima strikes again

noreply@blogger.com (Joan Walker) — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 12:00:00 +0000

Learning and Teaching Scotland reports that use by children of Brain Training on a Nintendo DS boosts maths scores. Schools in Dundee piloted the DS with primary school kids - I wonder what age they managed to achieve ?

more info ....