@Ignatia Webs

Free book on Open Educational Resources #OER

noreply@blogger.com (Ignatia/Inge de Waard) — Tue, 21 May 2013 08:11:00 +0000

While writing up a first workable draft for my probation report (to pass from MPhil to PhD student ... like a first exam, with a defence in front of a small jury), I came across this wonderful free book on Open Educational Resources. The book is a collaboration between UNESCO, Athabasca Uni, Commonwealth of Learning. It might be of interest to everyone looking into online learning, MOOC or simply looking for resources that can be embedded in your own course. OER are used around the world at this point, which gives the concept an added perspective, because an OER can be as local or as global as you make them, fitting the content and the goal of your own or any course. Where I must say I would love to see more local OER.

A short description of what you can expect by words of the editors of the book:

The development and exchange of OER continues to be a technologically intensive process. Technological considerations in OER are not limited to authoring or remixing tools. Collaborative production of OER requires welldesigned and robust online spaces and infrastructure (Wikiwijs) and repositories. The latter can also be used to combine OER to create lesson plans online (Open Science Education Resources in Europe). Unless OER are consistently and adequately described, they cannot easily be located in online searches. The chapter on GLOBE considers these challenges and offers solutions. COL’s earlier publications on OER offered insights and advice on good institutional practices, business models and policy matters.

However, the social dimension emerges as an important factor from a number of chapters in this book. The study on OpenLearn shows that when OER are taken directly from formal courses, the biggest impact is on the formation of communities of learners around the OER. This is similar to the conclusion of the chapter on OER for Lifelong Learning, both reflecting the experience of the UK’s Open University. The African Virtual University (AVU) chapter reveals the importance of the formation of a consortium of OER producers across institutions and countries. This process requires subtle yet intensive facilitation for its sustenance and is important for the quality assurance of OER. The detailed analysis of the experience of the African Health OER Network also points to the viability of viewing OER as a social practice.

In two different chapters that focus on MOOCs (contributed by the global pioneers of MOOCs), what emerges is that even if the teachers do not use OER, the learners draw upon OER through their own social space and networks. The chapter based on COL’s experience reveals that the existing hierarchies and power relationships in many developing country institutions do not allow for the decentralisation that fosters and encourages the use of OER. The experience of the Open University in the Netherlands reveals the significant role of trust in encouraging the increased use and sharing of OER.

#MOOC @Edinburgh report on organizing 6 Coursera MOOCs

noreply@blogger.com (Ignatia/Inge de Waard) — Fri, 17 May 2013 11:03:00 +0000

Last week the University of Edinburgh released their first report on their experiences gained after having organized 6 MOOC courses via Coursera. In this 34 page report they provide insights on organizing a Coursera MOOC, the success rates, their lessons learned, and how they went about in setting up the courses.

This is the summary they provide and it gives a good overview of all the subjects addressed in the report:

In January 2013, the University of Edinburgh launched six MOOCs on the Coursera virtual learning environment (VLE) platform [www.coursera.org]. These were short fully-online courses, each lasting either 5 or 7 weeks, and they had a total initial enrolment of just over 309,000 learners.

Six different subject areas were chosen, reflecting the University’s diverse spread of disciplines, with two MOOCs offered by each of the three academic Collegesin the University: Humanities and Social Sciences (Introduction to Philosophy; E-learning and Digital Cultures); Science and Engineering (Artificial Intelligence Planning; Astrobiology and the Search for Life on Other Planets); Medicine and Veterinary Medicine (Equine Nutrition; Critical Thinking in Global Challenges). AI Planning was developed at Master level, the rest were at undergraduate (Bachelor) level.

Each MOOC team chose a course structure best suited for the delivery of their subject matter; as a result, six different course structures were produced, with several teams experimenting with content delivery and collaboration methods outwith the Coursera VLE. Of the 309,628 people who registered on the Edinburgh MOOCs, 123,816 learners accessed the course sites(‘active learners’) during the first week of launch – an average of 40% of those enrolled - of whom 90,120 engaged with content in Week One. In total 165,158
individuals actively engaged with course content during the life span of the courses, and 36,266 learners engaged with week 5 assessments(29% average of initial active learners, with a range of 7-59% across the six courses). The MOOCs had no barriers to entry and exit, and the option existed to study without active engagement with quizzes or social media; this permits behaviour patterns distinct from those of on-campus degree courses.

A pre-launch (Entry) survey was sent to 217,512 unique email accounts one week before the courses began [22.01.13]; 45,182 individuals replied, giving a 21% response rate. (Note that enrolment continued after this survey was sent out.) 15,351 responses were gathered in the end-of-course evaluation (Exit)surveys.
Of those who responded to the Entry survey, 75% indicated this was their first experience of a MOOC, and 53% were enrolled on only one MOOC offering. 203 countries were represented, with the highest proportion of respondents living in the USA (28%) and UK (11%). 33% were between 25-34 years of age, with ‘Teaching and education’ (17%) and ‘Student (college/university)’ (15%) as the highest represented areas of current employment. Over 70% of respondents indicated completion of degree-level academic achievement; a total of 40% respondents had achieved a postgraduate degree. These demographics were very similar to those of respondents in the combined Exit survey.

98% of Exit survey respondents indicated that “they felt they got out of the course(s) what they wanted”, with the great majority reporting that the length, pacing and level had been about right. The most common time spent on study per week on the MOOCs was in the range 2-4hrs.

Both Entry and Exit surveys asked respondents for their reasons for enrolling, of which the main options chosen were to learn new subject matter and find out about MOOCs/online learning. Gaining a certificate or career enhancement were less significant but more localised to specific MOOCs.

34,850 Statements of Accomplishment (SoAs) have been distributed to learners across the six courses – 21% of active learners or 12% of total enrolment, with ranges of 4-44% and 2-36%, respectively, across the individual courses.The whole process from initial partnership discussions with Coursera to completion of all six courses and distribution of SoAs took approximately 10 months. This document provides a summary of the 10-month process, including some comparisons between the six courses and our initial reflections on the data and our experiences in offering the MOOCs.

Free #mobile toolkit and link to the FRAME mLearning model

noreply@blogger.com (Ignatia/Inge de Waard) — Fri, 17 May 2013 08:35:00 +0000

The University of Leicester has been looking at a framework for mobile learning to fit their learning with iPads in university project called PLACES. In order to build their framework they used the Mobile Toolkit from JISC, and leaned on the FRAME mobile learning model of Marguerite Koole, which offers a comprehensive model for mobile learning in all its social and technical aspects.

The Mobile toolkit from JISC as well as an overview of the FRAME model are disseminated via free downloads which you can find here:
JISC InfoNet. (2011). Emerging Practice in a Digital Age (Mobile Learning Info Kit) (pp. 1-65). Retrieved from http://www.jisc.ac.uk/digiemerge (Or:https://mobilelearninginfokit.pbworks.com/w/page/41122430/Home)
Koole, M. (2009). Chapter 2: A Model for Framing Mobile Learning. In M. Ally (Ed.), Mobile Learning: Transforming the Delivery of Education and Training (Vol. 1, pp. 25-47). Edmonton, Alberta: AU Press. Free download: http://www.aupress.ca/index.php/books/120155

As I am exploring the main factors influencing self-directed learning in a mobile, online platform (FutureLearn) I am screening all frameworks to get an idea what is said, and especially what is not yet said about individual/collaborative learning in a mobile learning environment. I would love to get a framework out on self-directed learning with mobile technology, influences, strategies, getting into the learning zone...

Thanks to Mireille Bikanga Ada for tweeting the link.

Meaningful, hand-picked content curation at its best

noreply@blogger.com (Ignatia/Inge de Waard) — Thu, 16 May 2013 14:16:00 +0000

Angie Popova is an astonishing individual. I honestly do not know how she manages to build one of the most inspiring, cross-disciplined, politically aware, literary content outputs ... out there. Since I discovered BrainPickings, I must admit I was taking her fabulous content for granted, but today I realized what a treasure trove it is and that it is about time I promote it. Brainpickings is a weekly media rich newsletter that offers a good read for minds looking for some art/science/literature food-for-thought.

Just wondering how much time she puts in (in 2012 the hours spent indicated 5000!!!)... Such media rich poignant articles. I would love to see that as a virtual, interactive eBook on any device. Every Sunday a clean slate of nice readings...

Just take a look at how she reviews and lets the reader 'feel' a book. In this case it is the Wild Ones: A Sometimes Dismaying, Weirdly Reassuring Story About Looking at People Looking at Animals in America (public library) by journalist Jon Mooallem. The way the media is embedded, meaningful quotes are used and personal ideas are interwoven with the article...

Still need to make a contribution to Angies work of art though (donations keep the newsletter going)... will do so right now (says she who once said "you have to pay for your own meal" to her 12 year old sister and her friend, luckily my partner intervened and put me on the right track - love is sometimes expressed by money).

Early #career researchers and how to get a job?

noreply@blogger.com (Ignatia/Inge de Waard) — Thu, 16 May 2013 11:46:00 +0000

With every career move, there comes a time of trepidation, confusion, wild gesturing in the living room while expressing "where am I going? What am I doing?!". That is the phase I am in right now. Luckily Andy Coverdale tweeted about a twitter chat for ... early career researchers! And although my grey hairs tend to remind me of careers passed... I feel I am an early career protagonist once again due to my choice to dig into PhD and its research challenges.

To be honest I have NO idea of where to go to once my PhD would be finished, I do not even have an idea on how to go about building towards getting an interesting position... if anyone is interested, here is my short bio: into innovation, teaching big classes, taking initiatives, getting projects funded and realized, international speaker, allround charming presence, passionate about research/writing/new media and mobile MOOCs.... anyone... anyone who wants to hire me? A call for jobs in a blog, is this a good idea? Well why not, so leaving it in.

A friend with an amazing mind Michael Sean Gallagher just got a professor position at the prestigious, international Hankuk University and as I am so eager to learn how that happens I could not wait to ask him how he did it: networking and putting his work out there was his answer.

But even with a network, publications, projects under my belt... the thing I am missing is how to go about it? How can I get hold of positions opening up and me getting there? And do you really need to go through all the hoops (postdoc, fellowship... I do not even know all the names). Or maybe I should create hoops? There must be some backchannel to get in a position based on expertise, drive, capacity to go where no research human has gone before? Or maybe that is more a corporate option? ... Well, that would be the position I would go for anyway.

#MOOC on Managing Change #KM starts next week

noreply@blogger.com (Ignatia/Inge de Waard) — Wed, 15 May 2013 13:03:00 +0000

Change management is and has been a tough nut to crack in any organization. Now, with the economic crisis still weighing on knowledge workers wherever they work, managing the change that is happening all around us in our professional as well as our personal sphere is becoming quite a challenge.
The organizers of the Managing & Surviving Change MOOC will try and provide and exchange strategies on managing this change. The official start is on Monday 20th May at 2pm GMT.

I will be taking up one of the talking slots on 27 May, focusing on how MOOCs can help in keeping on top of change (more on my focus a bit further). But there is a whole variety of participants, and some of those will highlight one section that relates to change: mindfulness, leadership, how to make the most of innovative technologies in the workplace & your community and a whole host of other things. You can also access and upload resources before the course starts and also tweet about the course using #ChChaChanges.

To me MOOCs - in an ideal form which still needs to be found - will be able to cater to our natural sense of learning. If I look at my life I have always been lucky to be able to rely on others to enlighten me, inspire me, direct me towards my goals. So at a certain moment I felt a bit confident that I had this lifelong learning skill covered...
But a couple of years ago, this naturally acquired trait started to be questioned again, and I feel it is not only me, but all of us that feel the pressure. In addition to this the media tells us we need to enter into the ‘knowledge age’, every professional magazine whether focusing on psychology, management or research is promoting online, digital skills … and all the while the sword of Damocles is positioned above our head and is said to fall down upon us if we do not accept change, meaning technological change, meaning more administration, more quality guidelines … more indirect work and training on top of our already heavy workloads. This puts a pressure on all of us, and as such on our colleagues, families and friends.

So here is where I think MOOCs can help us to get our lifelong learning back into pace with contemporary demands and evolution. Because we all need to (re)think where we want to go with our professional and personal life, we need to explore ways that can help us to achieve this. MOOCs can be an option in getting many of us closer to our goals, for MOOCs can be set up rapidly, cater to very broad or very detailed knowledge needs and they can be build with as much or as little technological tools as an organizer wishes.

Choosing between Social Media automation and Reflective Use

noreply@blogger.com (Ignatia/Inge de Waard) — Tue, 14 May 2013 10:05:00 +0000

Thanks to the Ol'daily my attention got grabbed by an article from Elsua (Luis Suarez - an KM/IBM social media pioneer). In his reflective blogpost on the industrialization of social media in the enterprise. His words rang a bell, as I am also caught between automating my (not corporate, but as I see it my personal brand) social media stream, because I feel I am not putting out as much as I want to. But after reading his blogpost, I realized the output is not why I started using social media, it is indeed the conversation, the network, the exchange of ideas ... the dialogue. I need to meet with others, discuss ideas, meet new viewpoints, feel what is out there to grow myself or at least to see other directions. Some poignant issues raised by Elsua:

Why do we have to keep up with that constant urge towards busyness (and bursting online activity) vs. pause, reflection and adding relevant value where it may apply into the overall conversation? Haven’t we learned that social networking tools are just not another marketing channel, but purely a conversation amongst peers on a common interest and with a strong urge to connect further along? Have we forgotten how for a conversation to take place out there in digital channels both parties need to be present and for real? providing value and being silent are two sides of the same coin, that is, you

He is hitting the nail on the head. Without reflection, there is no innovative insight, no grounded argument, no linkage to the past that can provide food for the future.

Another point he raises is the fact that some of us knowledge workers decide to go for automated online presence (I for one simply send my twitter feeds to Facebook, but I am scarcely on Facebook myself apart from sporadic conversations with Facebook friends that are not in my other social media networks... so sometimes I wonder is this the right way?). Luis links this choice to be present online even though it is only automated to the feeling of abandonment which we cannot accept. We rather 'fake' a minimal online presence, then show that we are no longer 'out there'. Again, this feels so true. But then, for me, I want to keep my network alive.

Like Luis, and many of us, our blogs seem to stand even if other media are sometimes put on a low frequency output. My blog is what keeps me going, is my valuable knowledge archive, even a bit like my life's tracker (well in a small, but still a meaningful way). So I agree with him, it is better to be silent at times and stay real, connect on a frequency that suits the personal possibilities, than to be out there without soul, without focus. Having said that... back to the writing board in getting a research ethics pack together... should write about that tomorrow... maybe, sure feels real.

#mHealth opportunities and planning using #mLearning

noreply@blogger.com (Ignatia/Inge de Waard) — Tue, 07 May 2013 10:36:00 +0000

mHealth is a rapidly growing market. The interesting thing is that it actually reaches both patients and practitioners around the globe with all the people around the world using cell phones. Because of the wide variety of options that are out there, I wrote an article for always inspirational Learning Solutions magazine which is the eLearning Guild publication. The mHealth article is entitled Mobile Learning Support for Global Health.

In the article I look at the requirements to get an mHealth project started, what it takes to plan a health related project (e.g. secure data handling) and get it implemented (strategic plan, mobile content mix,...) and I look at opportunities for mHealth applications (e.g. education awareness, early warning systems for epidemic outbreaks, personal well-being...)°

With the world getting smaller by the day, mHealth is a sound and human region of eLearning to get into. And for all of us who have experience in mobile instructional design... this is a great area to explore or expand. There are also links to some free articles and papers related to mHealth for additional inspiration.

And if you are in the neighborhood of San Jose, California, there is a wonderful mobile learning conference planned in 18 - 19 June, the mLearnCon organized by the eLearning Guild. I have been there in the past and it is a real treat, because in just 2 days you will get immersed in all things mLearning and ready to take control of a new mLearning project.

Blogphilosophy learning to survive and keep safe

noreply@blogger.com (Ignatia/Inge de Waard) — Fri, 03 May 2013 12:10:00 +0000

The world can be a tough place. As I walk from the open university to the bus stop I pass by a park. It is a big park with an estate in it harboring big houses. At the end of that park, near the bus stop there is a small playground. As spring is here the park is filled with daffodils and other blossoming trees. Before I reach the bus stop I need to go through a tunnel, underneath a busy lane separating two estates. That tunnel takes me to another part of town which is known as a poverty struck area. Kids from that area cross the tunnel as well, to play in the playground at the other side of that imaginary financial fence.

Last week I saw a group of kids playing, while two of them stood a bit further. A small girl - age 5 or 6 - was standing near the playground with her older brother. She was facing the tunnel. They had an argument. "Go back! We're not goin' home yet," said the brother, pointing her to the playground. The girl kept moving slowly towards the tunnel, nearer to home. The brother got mad and shouted at her. The small girl stood her ground, holding her shoes in her hands.

It was a strange sight, I wondered about the shoes.

The argument kept going, and as I reached them, the girl saw me in the corner of her eye. The girl decided she would go home, even if she had to do it on her own. She started walking in parallel with me, heading towards the tunnel. Her brother was reluctantly staying. Then the little girl turned around, shouting at him: "because I do not want to get raped!".

I could not believe my ears. That girl was much to young to have this fear. She should not have to worry about it. Automatically the shoes in her hand got a strange meaning. I turned my head around, looking at the playground where the other kids - 12 to 15 years - were still playing football or simply hanging out. They just kept on playing, no parents in sight, no older people. I slowed down my pace, and walked in parallel with the girl. The brother caught up with us once we were at the other side of the tunnel. They went home I guess.

It was an eerie feeling. It brought a memory back to mind. Me being about 8 or 9, surrounded by older boys in a park, one of which shouted: "let's rape her!". In my case it was a small park. I went to play there with my best mate Koen and we lived only a block away. The boys had threatened me and Koen. Koen - being a boy - managed to run off, shouting he would fetch help. As I stood there I clearly felt threatened and as a kid I did not know what to do. Luckily Koen came over before anything bad happened. Koen had encountered his dad coming back from work right at that time. His dad was in the army, a sergeant. He was still in uniform. As he came running to us, some of the kids ran off. But the ringleader stayed. The father gave him a stern talk, said he knew where he lived and would talk to his parents. The kid was clearly not impressed. I was escorted home. Koen and me were both pale and silent.

Yesterday, I took the bus from the same bus stop. A mom and her little son got on it as well. The boy aged about 7. They sat down right behind me. As the bus filled with other people, the mom talked to her son.

"I need to work longer hours now, to earn more money."

"Do we need to move to another house again?" the boy asked with his high pitched young voice.

"No, not if I work longer hours. But I want you to learn to take the bus home alone."

"But I don't want to."

"You are becoming a big boy now, you will manage" said the mother. But her tone of voice gave away her own uncertainty.

As the bus drove some teenagers got on the bus as well. They were jolly due to the good weather. At a certain moment a teenage girl screamed. A wasp had gotten in the bus and was circling around her. Her fellow schoolmates laughed and yelled as the wasp flew from one to the other. The anxiety of the wasp got some girls to swear. That got the mom behind me slightly worried.

"Cover your ears" she said to her little boy.

"Why?"

"Because they are using bad words"

The mom wanted to protect her son, even from those harmless, harsh words... she wanted to safeguard him, but life sometimes does not provide the condition to watch over them all the time, not when money is hard to come by.

The world can be a tough place.

Publishing for Kindle Amazon early lessons learned

noreply@blogger.com (Ignatia/Inge de Waard) — Wed, 01 May 2013 11:07:00 +0000

To be honest, I never anticipated the anxiousness I would feel pressing a publish button. I consider myself fairly knowledgeable and experienced in trying out new technologies or new digital options but … having my own words out there for everyone to see, read and critique is a tough realization. Nevertheless, one has to go out there and explore options, for gathering new experiences is part of life.

These lessons listed were learned after publishing my MOOC eBook via Kindle Direct Publishing, which does not demand a Kindle, you can use free kindle apps to read the book.

First some realizations I got after publishing:

Have a distribution/dissemination strategy. There are A LOT of authors out there! When I looked at new releases from the kindle store only three days after publishing my book, I realized that there were over 200 new titles … in the non-fiction education section alone already!!!! This made me realize that publishing an eBook is just the same as eLearning: you cannot offer it and expect people to buy it… you need to think of a strategy for dissemination, and understand that every one book sold is already fabulous!

Provide access guidelines for readers with different technologies. Another thing I realized was that choosing Kindle led to some disappointment for those people not having a Kindle reader. Understandably for in technology, making a specific choice means you exclude other choices from access. Luckily I found out that Amazon actually offers free Kindle apps, which allow anyone with a computer (Windows XP, 8; Mac; iPad, iPhone, iPod touch, Android smartphones, Android tablets and Windows 8 tablets) to be able to actually read the book (also later on).

Understand the “look inside” option. The “look inside” feature that you can see on some of the books, needs to be activated by becoming a member of that Amazon service. I did not realize this until a few days later. So I registered for the service. After reading the guidelines I noticed that Kindle books do not need to be uploaded again, they will automatically be transformed into the “look inside” feature, but only after one week. This made me wonder whether next time I might upload the book, but wait for a week before promoting it, as this would immediately enable possible readers to get a feel of what the book is like. Waiting for the feature to activate till date, so not sure which pages are selected and such.

Why did I choose for Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing (https://kdp.amazon.com/self-publishing/signin ) option?

Simple. Because it seemed easy enough to do, they provide very helpful documents on how to get your book published for both Mac and non-Mac (https://kdp.amazon.com/self-publishing/help?topicId=A2MB3WT2D0PTNK )

No cost. It does not cost anything to actually get your book published (or it does not have to cost anything, a nice cover, some layout, pictures … all of these might cost money, but you can do it yourself as well)

Quickly updateable. You can easily update a version of your book. Nice, certainly in fields of interest that evolve rapidly (like technology based learning)

Interesting royalty scheme. The Kindle Direct Publishing option also offers a 70% royalty option. Which I found of interest, because it combines low-cost for the buyer with more of a return for the author.

It also allows you to publish in multiple languages.

And it gets distributed globally.

So what I have learned so far:

Ask people to review your draft manuscript. It is amazing how blind one becomes after rereading one’s own manuscript over and over again. And although reviewers can pick up a lot of mistakes or doubles… you are still in for many surprises (or at least I was). But then again, I could have asked a reviewing company to have a look, but that would probably take away any earnings I might hope to acquire (if any).

Write a manuscript without any formatting. This includes rewriting stuff you already wrote in draft documents, as these might bring along fonts or paragraph spacing that might interfere with the final formatted version. If you do copy paste from other documents, you can copy all to notepad (no wrapping!) and get rid of any formatting that way.

Follow the Kindle Self Publishing guidelines to get your manuscript ready. Once your manuscript is finalized and cleaned from any formatting, you can put in the suggested options provided by the Kindle publishing options from Amazon (put in bookmark toc at the table of contents so kindle users can use the ‘go to’ option, put in headings so you can integrate a table of contents, put in your pictures straight from a designated book folder, get your bullet lists straightened out, …).

Be meticulous at all stages of the process. Next thing (but this is definitely due to my own eagerness): checking the book for spelling and grammar is one thing, but remember to double check the details you put into the Kindle publishing site (I for example managed to put the title of my book in twice! Argh).

Use the preview option and look at possible errors (with me again I saw that a table was completely warped – took it out, and I saw paragraph spacing that was not visible in the original word document => which led me to the notepad option guideline above)

Get your rates straight. What I did was indicate that prices for my book should all be linked to the US price of the book (so using exchange rates). And although there is a clear indication that Amazon will adjust the prices to the required KDP minima or maxima, it just does not feel that comfortable. Luckily I could change them within 24 hours which felt nice.

Take the VAT into account. Another thing I did not realize was that once I put in a price for the book, the actual selling price was higher as VAT was added to the initial sales prize.

Be online. The publishing goes quickly if your manuscript meets the technical guidelines provided by Amazon. But make sure you publish at a moment that you can check your ‘your manuscript is published’ mail, as this will offer you links to alter some details and/or add an author profile page which is always nice to be able to edit as soon as your manuscript is published (I published at a moment I would not be online for 18 hours, which resulted in some errors in details that could only be rectified after people had already bought the book, which inevitably leads to possible reviews affected with the mistakes that are in at that time). But then again, as a first time eBook author, people will most likely not go wild buying the book.

Author bonus. Once I got feedback from Amazon that my book was published, I was redirected to an author field, where I could upload a picture, add my blog, put in my twitter id … this made me feel like an actual author (I know, I am not, but … it just felt that way which makes it a nice mental bonus)

Accept and learn. And last but not least, I expect to be in a potential uncomfortable place: people will write reviews and I need to be prepared for that: unknown people writing about something you put your heart and soul in for weeks, if not months.

Looking at the numbers

As a newbie author I was obsessed to find out if my book was selling at least one copy … so I was surfing to get an idea of which analytics were out there.

First of all you can keep some kind of track of how you book is doing using the Kindle Rank Calculator (http://kdpcalculator.com/ ). You go to your author page, you copy the Kindle rank of your ebook and you fill it in the Kindle Rank Calculator and … you get some idea of how your book is doing currently.

Then you have the Kindle eBook reports (but they take 15 days to get data, so be patient … I was not at first, so was anxious until I finally saw them), which give you an overview of how many book you have sold and how this relates to the royalties you might get (admitting here that my math skills are so basic nowadays that I just look at the basic numbers). The reports for the Kindle eBooks can be viewed https://kdp.amazon.com/mn/reports (make sure you are logged in with your Amazon account.

… what can I say, it is clearly an adventure, but it is fun. And at this point, I am already thinking about my next eBook. Interested in whether establishing some frequency in book publishing might affect sales.

Spaced learning through #mobile apps work wonderfully

noreply@blogger.com (Ignatia/Inge de Waard) — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 08:57:00 +0000

Mobile learning is an integral part of any contemporary training strategy ... or should be by now. The toughest challenge however is to build a toolkit of mLearning options that cater to the variety of learning that needs to be done in an institution/corporation.

In the last couple of weeks I have been looking at ways to offer solutions for spaced learning. An options that allows your learners to stay up-to-date with specific content that must be delivered multiple times for immediate memorization.

For those not sure about the spaced learning effect, I embedded a graph provided by Retenda who rock in spaced learning http://www.retenda.com/ and how their spaced reminders effected retention.

A classroom option, before giving the mobile option
Before sharing the mobile option, it makes sense to understand the complete dynamic of the principle of spaced learning. In classrooms you can create a perfect setting to get spaced learning going. A wonderful synthesis with lots of information is shared here by the Innovation Unit of the Monkseaton High School. They have put together a publication outlining all the steps to integrate spaced learning with inquiry based learning for optimal memory results.

The spaced learning mobile apps
Now this becomes more difficult with learners in a corporate setting, as you do not have that many face-to-face moments... but this is where the mLearning options come in. With these mobile options you can deliver the content that needs to be memorized through mobile apps, with algorithms that enable those questions that were not answered correctly (yet) to be repeated for that particular user.

It is a great way to provide any content that is cross institutional/corporate like for instance first aid, or security guidelines, or new guidelines overall.

The app below offers a strong desktop and simplified mobile option:

http://fullrecall.com/

The next one's is an open source spaced learning option which is cross platform:

http://ankisrs.net/

http://mnemosyne-proj.org/

It takes some time to get things organized, but it is well worth integrating it in your overall mLearning.

Belgian/Dutch debate on transforming Higher Ed

noreply@blogger.com (Ignatia/Inge de Waard) — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 07:41:00 +0000

For all of you in the neighborhood of Belgium and interested in how the Higher Education landscape is changing, feel free to join a wonderful set of Educational thinkers on Thursday 25 April in the UFO room at the University of Ghent.

One of my long standing professional friends Frank Gielen is one of the speakers at this event and he is a die-hard pioneer of combining academic knowledge with entrepreneurial leadership and innovation. As a mobile learning expert we have had wonderfully inspiring discussions on how mobiles change education. His vision is a balanced combination of research and corporate use of new research findings to strengthen a nation and secure jobs, sustainable economics and continues knowledge creation. In short he is a believer in combining tech with humanity and sound economics.

Loving the title of the debate: The university is dead! Long live the university!

Here are some of the topics which will be discussed during this debate:

How can higher ed strengthen the Flemish welfare state?
How can higher ed deliver strong innovators to its corporate firms?
What does higher ed have to do to prepare its students for a 50 year long career, filled with change and lifelong learning?
What does society expect from its university graduates?
Is there a need for shorter or longer educational tracks to fill in the needs of corporate job demands?
How can we balance the need for diverse jobs when many students opt to go for knowledge based jobs, instead of aiming at the wide range of necessary jobs inside society?

A list of the speakers:
Kris Peeters, minister-president van de Vlaamse Regering

Ed Brinksma, Rector Magnificus van de Universiteit Twente

Jo Libeer, gedelegeerd bestuurder VOKA

Frank Gielen, directeur Incubatie & Ondernemerschap iMinds

Els Goetghebeur, professor Universiteit Gent

Tom Claes, professor Universiteit Gent

Moderator

Jan Hautekiet, radio presenter of Radio 1

The debate is organized in the University Forum, Sint-Pietersnieuwstraat 33, Gent

on 25 april 2013 at 19u30 and its free!

Free Kindle apps for reading eBooks for Kindle

noreply@blogger.com (Ignatia/Inge de Waard) — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 10:58:00 +0000

Get your free Kindle app for most of the mobile devices out there! Last week I published my eBook on MOOC YourSelf, setting up your own MOOC with guidelines for facilitators, newbies, mobile learning adepts.... This lead to some inquiries via blog and mail, especially on the fact that the book was written to be viewed with one device, namely the Kindle. And understandably, some people hesitate to buy a new or another device in order to read books that they can also read on other devices.

So this got me on a search to find out whether one would actually really need a Kindle in order to view or read my book. And it turns out there are free apps out there - offered by Amazon - to enable readers to read eBooks written for Kindle. Great!

Take a look at the free Kindle apps here.

The free Kindle apps are available for smartphones (Android, iPhone, iPod touch), computers (Windows 8, Mac, Windows XP), and tablets (iPad, Android, Windows 8). So this covers many of the devices out there.

The books are still to be paid for, but ... the Kindle publishing option does allow more of the revenue to go straight to the author, which is a nice thing. So hope this helps in giving my book and other authors a chance to get their work straight to your favorite device.

My eBook on MOOC and how to set up #MOOC yourself

noreply@blogger.com (Ignatia/Inge de Waard) — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 07:56:00 +0000

The last few weeks I have been finalizing my first eBook. And now, I just published it as part of the Kindle Direct Publishing option in Amazon. In the book I am looking at different MOOC options (cMOOC, xMOOC), fitting it in with the best online learning practices of eLearning, offering design and learning options, looking at pedagogies and some certification options, and providing suggestions to embed mLearning and social media options to improve training via MOOCs.

The full title of the book is: MOOC YourSelf - Set up your own MOOC for Business, Non-Profits, and Informal Communities.

So if you are dabbling with the idea to set up your own MOOC or you want to learn a bit about MOOC history, have a look at this eBook or contemplate buying it (it is low-cost).

You can find the link to the book here, or you can search for it via Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/MOOC-YourSelf-Non-Profits-Communities-ebook/dp/B00CDVZ2AW/ref=la_B00CE8VHVC_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1366230473&sr=1-1

And for those who want to know a bit more about myself, feel free to read my bio on the author page here

http://amazon.com/author/ingedewaard

If you do not have a Kindle, no problem, you can download an array of free Kindle apps via Amazon here. There are options for Windows, Mac, iPad, iPhone, Android, iPod...

This is the short description of its content:

This MOOC eBook gives a short overview of options on how to set up your own MOOC and how to tailor it to your own needs, tools and target audiences. The challenges and benefits of MOOCs are highlighted and guidelines on how to build an optimal MOOC experience are shared. Online learning best practices' are listed with a focus on MOOC specific learning characteristics, certification options and pedagogies. Taking into account the current learning realities, the book also looks at mobile options and social media tools for learning, specifically how they can be fitted into a MOOC learning environment. To provide a background on MOOCs, the history of MOOCs is covered. The upcoming and existing MOOC platforms and toolkits are also described and linked to. Additionally, the book offers links to DIY options, and existing MOOC opportunities that might offer a solution for what you are looking for. The author has organized mobile MOOCs in the past, and has been researching MOOCs and their learning affordances for the past 3 years.

Tracking your #mobile data journey with #Singly

noreply@blogger.com (Ignatia/Inge de Waard) — Tue, 16 Apr 2013 12:34:00 +0000

Keeping track of all the good content I come across while I am surfing the internet has never been my forté. Although I bookmark, make annotations ... after a short time the only thing I remember is that I did see something about something somewhere. So any solution that can provide me with some automated logbook is just the thing I am looking for.
While I am following Tin Can which is unraveling the personal learning path chaos as mentioned in a previous blogpost, I recently came across the Locker Project, which was the runner up for the commercial data idea of Singly.

The starting point of the locker project, and as such Singly is simple: a locker is a container for personal data, which gives the owner the ability to control how it's protected and shared. It retrieves and consolidates data from multiple sources, to create a single collection of the things you see and do online: the photos you take, the places you visit, the links you share, contact details for the people you communicate with, and much more. From this idea Singly became a reality. Singly takes all the applications and tools that are based in the cloud and offers an API to get meaningful interactions, data, connections from it.

If you are a mobile developer, you can take the Singly app and transform it into a data driven, socially connected, cloud, mobile app that fits your content or interaction needs. Sounds cool!

And if you embed this type of app in a MOOC learning environment, you would be able to filter out the MOOC related data easily (and automated) via hashtags or tags in general, allowing all your MOOC content to be open to the public, yet filtered for the MOOC audience at the same time. That sounds great!

What this brings to mind is more semantic learning. Because if the data I collect is collected, and meaningfully classified for further processing (e.g. keywords in relation to my personal keywords, appreciations of people I am connected with, discussions of peers ....) ... it will enable me to get more tailored, personally relevant information my way. For let's face it, I am never going to be able to keep up with all the content which is created on the web, nor will I be able to critically analyse everything myself. So in some way an automated critical screener needs to be put into place for me to be able to keep on top of what I am interested in, while also enabling me to feel comfortable data wise (nothing simple about that).
The privacy is something I am not sure about. Because what Singly does is take care of all your profiles (which also means it knows all my profiles if I let it... not sure how this makes me feel yet). Currently they enable data gathering and filtering from a number of online tools you can see the list here.

If you are a mobile developer, have a look at the iOS SDK, Android SDK, and open source. And if you built a learning app using singly, let me know!

To get an idea of all the challenges behind Singly, a presentation by Simon Murtha-Smith (one of the co-founders of Singly) below, looking at how Singly works (some coding, some references to OAuth...):

A low-cost pay-as-you-attend educational model

noreply@blogger.com (Ignatia/Inge de Waard) — Fri, 12 Apr 2013 08:42:00 +0000

As the West (or North, struggling to find the right description, but meaning the developed world) is looking for new ways to finance the shift that is taking place in education (MOOCs and Higher Education), it would feel logical to me that inclusive education will be born in developing regions, hopefully bringing along financial options that can help people in the developed regions that are increasingly fighting poverty and seclusion from educational resources. Low cost pay-as-you-attend courses paid via mobile banking are tested in African regions and those projects look promising (based on the article provided). The nice thing is that the model also takes into account accreditation across continents (tough job!) and is linked to regional or specific group infrastructures (e.g. mobile options).

The always inspiring Ol'daily from Stephen Downes got me on this most interesting African approach to tailored, affordable and possibly even all-including type of education based on the concept of 'taxi-brousse':
- you start when the car is full;
- you drive for as long as you need -- and can afford;
- if you don't like the ride, you can get out and find another taxi.

The current problem with the changes in Higher Education (and training) are that business models behind it. Everyone is looking for the goose with the golden eggs and ... probably it is just going to be some golden ideas spread about all the possible geese (all of us included). Nevertheless, this article from the worldbank on a new wave of educational efforts across Africa exploring the use of ICTs offers an interesting option that even fits existing durable trends (like the taxi-brousse or share taxi example.

So what is the approach (in brief, simple terms):
Some of the World Bank staff teamed up with 2iE people to get an approach together that would allow low-cost tuition where the student/learner can hop in a module, and hop out again once either the money runs out (temporarily) or the content is not what they had hoped for, leaving them the option to go for a different training instead. Inevitably this leads to online courses, that have a pay-as-you-go/attend financial basis, including m-payment options as well as sms-based outreach programs. Of course the telecom companies were brought in to support via e-education based cost offerings and different pilots were launched to see which options worked best (feel free to read up on them in the article).
This approach puts learning options into the hands of the learner, and does not put an immediate huge financial strain on the student. It offers economic planning based on knowledge needs (well, still I think education should be open to all, but any solution providing more access to education is very much welcomed).

The nice thing about 2IE is that it is an international higher education and training institute which delivers courses and training that result in programs that are accredited in both the African continent as well as in Europe. Which is in itself already an endeavor. The 2iE offer courses in the areas of Water and Sanitation, Environment Energy and Electricity, Civil Engineering and Mining Industry and Management Sciences.

Breaking the silence coming from juggling too much

noreply@blogger.com (Ignatia/Inge de Waard) — Tue, 09 Apr 2013 15:12:00 +0000

Juggling too much is getting to me, and where my initial action is to cloak myself with silence, I feel it is better to do just the opposite. Ever since I started my PhD it felt as though my identity was undergoing changes as well. All of a sudden I am no longer a researcher that is out there in the field, or an active player, but a simple student digging into unknown territory, trying to gather some interest... I no longer have a budget that I can manage and direct towards goals that need to be achieved (including getting myself out there in the open, at conferences, physically among peers I learn from). So, it really feels as though my identity is changing and to be honest I do not know what to do with it ... yet.

On another note it is hard to juggle all the administration and organization that comes along with starting/doing a PhD in a foreign country, certainly as I feel responsible for my whole family (which my partner tells me not to do, for we are indeed a team, but still... it is me who is the asking party in this endeavor). Practically I am juggling to meet schedules and to keep everyone happy... and looking at the silence on my blog, it tells me that time wise I am not doing a great job. To me, my blog is a representation of good time management. If it keeps having a balanced flow, I am good... if it falls flat, I need to take a look at what I am doing and how.

I am of course fully aware of the luxury position I am in: being able to investigate something I am curious about is simply fantastic, even though less money is coming in. But I simply was not aware of the multitude of organizational elements that need to be sorted, and that takes a bit of a toll.

The only option to take in times of pressure is ... to read. Luckily there are always books ... so digging into the Flow creativity by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi and Aaron Silvers directed me towards Pema Chodron on living beautifully with uncertainty and change. If any of you have books that might help to refind focus ... feel free to share.

Free #OER trend report with #MOOC and innovative learning foci

noreply@blogger.com (Ignatia/Inge de Waard) — Thu, 28 Mar 2013 10:07:00 +0000

The renowned SURF group that are situated in the Netherlands just published a wonderful, insightful and all over great read on the trend of Open Educational Resources (OER). The English report can be found and downloaded here and consists of 112 pages of great up to date OER information
.
This report gives a great overview of why OER are gaining interest and how they can strengthen and promote open learning (with education for all as the ultimate goal). As MOOCs are growing, resulting in more accessible content/sometimes true OER, and UNESCO's OER declaration was adopted in 2012, OER interest has grown steadily in all regions in the world. Some of the initiatives mentioned in the report direct to initiatives coming from Dutch Universities, and refering to MOOCs (massive open online
courses), and starting an open online Master’s degree programme. There is also the Wikiwijs programme, which aims to adopt a specific approach for higher education.
The OER Trend Report for 2013 provides an extensive survey and explanation of these developments, primarily from the perspective of experts. It thus provides a balanced picture of the opportunities and possibilities of OER but also of the objections to them.

These are the topics listed in the report:

open textbooks: trends and opportunities
OER and Informal learning
Global OER Graduate Network
moocs: trends and opportunities for Higher Education
OpenCourseWare evaluation and certification of OER
opening up education
OER Declaration
new role for libraries in content curation
mobile devices and apps as accelerators for OER
Trends in business models for OER and open education
an International perspective on OER: the influence of igos on the OER movement
learning paths and OER
OER Knowledge Cloud
The human factor in adopting OER
What determines readiness to share?
ecosystems for open education: trends and opportunities
Learning analytics: the right content for the right student

If you have a bit of time, this is a nice read to get up to speed with the current state of affairs of OER.

Eliademy a mobile MOOC platform resides in the Cloud

noreply@blogger.com (Ignatia/Inge de Waard) — Fri, 15 Mar 2013 12:51:00 +0000

Another great initiative called Eliademy is getting more attention as it rolls out one day at the time. The people of TechCrunch got me onto this wonderful open course initiative. Eliademy provides people to build their own MOOC courses (for free) and get your own learner base up to speed with relevant content/cases/expertise... This time it is an initiative coming from Finland, more precisely from ex-Nokia high-profiled visionairs. The idea is easy enough: take Moodle, adapt it to usability (lean, smooth immediate overview and orientation), develop it so people can build courses using different languages. You can prepare content and keep it invisible for your learners, or publish it whenever you feel like it. The process is simple, you can log in/register with an existing account from e.g. Facebook, LinkedIn or Gmail.
You can add content, start discussions, a timeline, get annotations or notes in (which is conveniently linked to Evernote, making it a perfect ubiquitous fit).

BUT, although it is in the cloud, I have not found a way to link it to my own existing learning channels. From a content angle you can really easily add a picture, file, youtube or vimeo video, or link it to slideshare, but that just is not enough. In my opinion, nowadays many of us have curated content streams set-up somewhere, and these types of content streams can be seen as learning options, as they are filtered and focused. There is a feed for the course, so I would imagine this feed could be merged with others. Having said that, it could be that such an option exists, as I only took a brief look and could not find it. I also did not see a virtual classroom tool, but that could be integrated using HangOut over Youtube, with youtube being integrated in the course itself (a workaround).

What I would like to see is the Moodle (or other) type of central - collaboratively adaptable - central content environment, with options such as provided by Netvibes , a plea for Open Content Stream Resources (not sure if that type of term exists :-D but it is related to Open Educational Resources (OER), yet of the streamed and curated type). That way the course could be fitted amidst a more realistic content dynamic, more like a Lego type of content creation and not fitting all the content of a course in the confinement of a bordered learning environment. By leaving this curated option open, the course content can also be fertilized by ideas and content produced by the learners themselves.

But overall: really easy, simple, ubiquitous course platform that can be enriched with content in just a few moments. Nice.

20 strategies for learner interactions in mobile #MOOC

noreply@blogger.com (Ignatia/Inge de Waard) — Mon, 11 Mar 2013 13:49:00 +0000

Let's be honest, we all LOVE research *grin*, or facts, or lists, or useful practices ... or practical strategies for that matter. Well, here is a new set of useful strategies for mobile MOOCs, I hope you like it!

In my latest research I focused on the impact of mobile access on learner interactions in a MOOC (Massive Open Online Course). The research was done to get my Master in Education at Athabasca University. As always all of the Athabasca faculty was supportive to get the research up to their standards (ethical approval, relevant literature...).

The readable and hopefully useful list of 20 mobile strategies to increase learner interaction in a MOOC that came out of my research can be found below in this post, but feel free to read the full thesis here, it has links to ethical procedures (e.g. informed consent form), some web analytics, community of inquiry use to screen learner interactions.... If you want to reference to the strategies, or parts of the thesis, this is the APA reference for it:

de Waard, I. (2013). Impact of mobile access on learner interactions in a MOOC. Retrieved from Athabasca DThesis database http://hdl.handle.net/10791/23

Abstract of the research
As mobile access and massive open online courses (MOOCs) become a global reality, the realm of potential distance learners is expanding rapidly. Mobile learning (mLearning) as well as MOOCs are based on similar characteristics as shown in the literature review of this study. They both enhance a community feeling, increasing networking and collaboration; they strengthen lifelong and informal learning, they use social media to a large extend and they are ideal for setting up communicative dialogues. The focus on learner interactions is of interest, as research has shown that dialogue is an important element for learning and knowledge enhancement, and mobile access increases the opportunities to enter into such interactions. This thesis study used a sequential explanatory mixed methods approach to investigate the impact of mobile accessibility on learner interaction in a MOOC. The study showed that opening up a MOOC for mobile access has immediate impact on learner interactions, as participants with mobile devices tend to interact more with their fellow learners in comparison to their non-mobile colleagues. This was deduced from the mixed methods approach looking at web-based statistics, an online survey, an analysis using the Community of Inquiry framework and one-on-one interviews with volunteers. The study formulated a set of 20 strategies and possible consequences deriving from the analysis of the impact of mobile accessibility in a MOOC and more specifically how this affects learner interactions. These strategies might optimize the impact of mobile access on learner interactions in an informal, open, online course. Future research needs to support the findings, embracing a larger learner population from a more varied background. Overall, this research hopes to add to the body of knowledge strengthening the field of distance education.

List of 20 mobile related strategies to increase learner interactions in MOOCs:

Design
1. Offer a ubiquitous learning environment based on BYOD design and content, making use of existing ubiquitous tools (social media, e-mail…) so people can switch between devices at their own preference.
2. Create a user-friendly, one button centralized access learning environment. This easy access must be linked to a clear course overview to increase transparency, user-friendliness and provide the learner with a structure that s/he can organize for self-regulating learning purposes.
Self-directed learning
3. Provide self-directed learning strategies to the learners.
4. Enabling immediate access to content material as well as discussion areas adds to time management options and it enables self-regulated learning.
5. Offer synchronous and asynchronous learner activities within a clearly timed course. This provides the necessary freedom for the learner to access, reflect and possibly react on the subject touched at specific moments during the course.
6. Provide a clear timetable of the course, while embedding time for reflection into the course timeline. This suggested flexible, yet cohort move through the course provides an opportunity to nurture reflection time, which is in direct relation to learner interactions.
7. Embed informality in the course to allow increased, autonomous learner interactions to emerge. This room for emergence is induced by the course being both formal and informal, or informal overall and being mobile. The informal character of a course results in participants feeling more at ease with sharing and producing content and engaging in interactions across all their devices.
Digital skills
8. Increase the necessary digital skills of the learner, providing basic training before the course starts via meaningful content-related actions. If a course is accessible for a multitude of devices, it affects (the need for) digital skills, because multiple devices have multiple characteristics and affordances.
Content
9. Offer an array of course materials, varying from bite size snacks to big, time consuming content. The mobility of the user results in the ability to access materials in a variety of locations and times. As such a wide array of course materials is needed to cater to the time availability of the learner. Offering the learner a choice to tailor the content to their current possibilities.
10. Provide a sense of ownership about the content and the learning: BYOD, contextualized options, this adds to the overall learner motivation.
Human learning environment
11. Ensure a safe learning environment. This essential to increase learner interactions in general. Tolerance, trust, daring to write in a non-native language and knowing that one can pose every content related question and not being judged for either its simplicity or format must be set early in the course.
12. Provide interaction/communication guidelines stipulating balanced communication allowing a safe discussion area to be ensured. By creating a safe learning environment, a broader perspective of personalities are tempted to engage and interact in the course.
13. Profile a central course person(s) (e.g. central coordinator, course support person) who watches over the interactions and links to each participant personally, ensuring a trusting learning environment with room for cultural and language diversity.
14. Watch over the group-size. Community feeling is increased by an intermediate group-size and learner-centered activities, which in turn affects learner interactions.
15. Allow networks to emerge. A community feeling based upon easy (mobile) access increases the formation of a more durable professional network for those connecting to each other in a way that surpasses the course duration.
Course activities
16. Embed icebreaker activities and/or discussions at the beginning of the course to allow learner interactions to take off. These activities should also be linked to intellectual topics.
17. Ensure discussions or conversation starters. The act of conversation and exchanging ideas leads to more interactions as participants become more familiar with each other on professional grounds.
18. Create meaningful, contextualized, generic, topic related interactions, as they are pivotal to create a course community spirit, because the exchange of professional interests adds to the knowledge need of the learners.
19. Add activities involving non-verbal communication to offer additional understanding, which increases the community feeling, for it might offer an additional insight into dialogue and discussion.
20. Ensure topic relevant learner diversity in examples or actions. Learners can more easily join in those conversations where they detect knowledge niches to which they can provide an answer, strengthening each other.

Nota tool for collaborative #mLearning with eBooks

noreply@blogger.com (Ignatia/Inge de Waard) — Mon, 04 Mar 2013 12:58:00 +0000

Last week I got a message from Stephanie Ray and she asked me to take a look and review Nota, a free mobile collaborative learning platform which is available in a web format and as a mobile app. As she mentioned that it was linked to Open Educational Resources (OER) of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) textbooks, I got intrigued. They only launched in January 2013 so still beta, which is the nicest state as all of our remarks on the tool are as such welcomed.

After playing around a bit with Nota, it sure seems a nice tool. It offers textbook access with immediate (= internet enabled) links to movies, pictures, annotations... As it does offer very easy annotation options (just click a button), and most of all everything gets fed right into the cloud again. Another nice feature is the fact that Nota keeps a timeline of your actions (really useful if you know you visited something, but not sure where it was located in a particular book). Because annotations are easy to make, you can also link to personal content that is relevant to the topic you are researching (or teaching or learning for that matter) and build upon the original content provided. Really nice and it works smoothly, if you have a strong internet connection. So anyone can easily add comments, bookmarks, put in links to other content like video's, statistics, pictures.... which then can be commented on, liked, shared... all over again.

At present Nota is focusing on the free STEM catalog of high school and college textbooks, as such Nota is targeting students who can support each other in a peer-to-peer learning environment, without the high cost of textbooks or tutoring. But I can see how this type of technology has the potential to go beyond its original start. A community of practitioners could use the tool to start up their own text and multimedia rich training/learning HUB. Exchanging information and adding to it as they read on. Of course everything is in the open, so everyone could have access.

At the moment the tool is only accessible for Android version 4.0 or higher, or via the web. But they do mention that the Apple versions (cross mobile) will be out soon as well.

The app and web version are still in beta, so everyone is kindly invited to test the application and feed any comments that they have back to the developer team, feel free to look at the bunch of brains behind nota or send your feedback about the app/web tool to info@handstand-inc.com

What would I like to see as an addition: a voice annotation option. Add the audio sensor/microphone from my mobile as a voice-to-speech bit to the options and it will make life easier for me, because I do not like to type much with my smartphone keyboard. Overall a nice addition for mLearning.

A quick look on how it works can be seen here

FutureLearn: pedagogical & mLearning MOOC platform - the approach

noreply@blogger.com (Ignatia/Inge de Waard) — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 11:05:00 +0000

For all of you out there wanting to push your government into setting up a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) platform gathering knowledge from all your national universities, take a look at the approach of UK’s open university on planning a MOOC platform, it looks very promising.

Ever since I was 9 years old I have watched school television on BBC where the Open University UK rolled out wonderfully rich and comprehensible visual content. At age 10 I could understand and speak basic English thanks to them (Dutch being my mother tongue). Now, as in a dream come true I am researching right at the center of that same institution and … even bigger news: they are starting up their own MOOC platform, the so called FutureLearn ! So ok, I am a bit enthusiastic here - read subjective - but after hearing yesterday’s introduction focusing on the pedagogical and design plans of the FutureLearn MOOC platform from Mr UK-MOOC himself – Mike Sharples – I gladly list why I think FutureLearn starts with an advantage and could become a strong contender to the already existing xMOOC platforms out there (EDx, Udacity, Coursera...).

Strong pedagogy and ubiquitous design at its core

Start from ubiquity, mobile design: we live in a mobile age, immigration, brain drain, brain movement, hopping between cities, moving to where the work is … an increasing amount of people are becoming citizens of the world. This mobility is enabled in part by telecommunications, more specifically mobile devices. And all of us are using mobile devices more frequently each day. This is a global movement, as many developing regions are also mainly accessing web content through mobiles. As such, building a platform starting from mobile ubiquity is – to me – the right thing to do. Forget mobile enabled, bring mobile learning at the core of the design, as well as content and learner activity and this will result in more course engagement (more on that tomorrow, will share some of my research on that topic).
Built pedagogy linked to mobility and social media: offer small content snippets, provide short courses as well as longer courses, build a narrative to anchor the content that is offered and the learning actions that are demanded from the participants for higher retention, …
Engaging the learner for their needs: as many of us are lifelong learners, engaging in learning that fits our knowledge needs is important (and time saving), this is also taken into account in the new platform: short courses (6 – 8 weeks, but can vary), progressive rewards (informal and formal).
Put an institute with online pedagogy experience right at the core of the set-up and planning. The only people really knowing what online learning is about, are the open universities world wide. They are best equipped to set up MOOCs using proven practices for online courses. And yes, MOOCs are different from traditional online courses, but they have similarities. And the Open University of the UK is right at the center of FutureLearn. They understand Open Educational Resources, online dynamics, getting learners accustomed with online learning... for them the transition of getting online courses to a qualitative strong MOOC level is within reach.
Build in rapid iteration options, so the platform can be optimized as research and consequent analysis provides new insights

Challenges faced by starting a (national) MOOC platform:

Access to relevant research and information sources (sometimes good research papers and information are only accessible through payment)
High quality course content: e.g. rich multimedia, preferably accessible to all
Solving online best practices learning problems
Ubiquitous platform: users will use their own devices (UYOD comes to mind)
And most importantly (in my view): a platform that meets the learning needs of the participants as mentioned above: tailored, guiding learners through chaos that comes along with MOOCs, multiple devices with which learners will access it…) which inevitably leads to contemporary sound pedagogy.

So how does FutureLearn seem to tackle these challenges (remember, I only took notes during the presentation of the platform, so I could be wrong at some point due to my speedy note taking)?

Using the strengths that already exist – partnering up

The UK has some strong elements for setting up a MOOC (but then all of us have, it is their approach which is usable!):

A high quality multimedia production house (BBC). Just think about the awesome documentaries! (National Geographic also comes to mind when looking at great visuals)
A high profile national library: the British Library just teamed up with FutureLearn, enabling course participants to have access to resources (not sure to what extent, this access can be guaranteed taking into account copyright/costs and such, but … they are partners so the best possible options become possible)
Bringing together strong partners: FutureLearn says to partner up with top UK universities (looking at the 30 most highly rated universities – not sure how this works in practice). Strong partners means, proven qualitative content and teaching approaches (admittedly old school teaching).
Linking traditional university learning with online learning: this is where the combination of Open University with UK universities comes in.

So FutureLearn is rolling out the big guns, building a platform which is embedding educational tools and formats enriching todays educational reality.

On the critical side

All of the above is great in theory, and I really belief the approach starting from a strong, contemporary pedagogy is the only way to have a sound base for any learning platform, but … turning this into practice can proof to be quite challenge. For it means that all stakeholders involved must be willing to go through the change. And change management as we all know is the toughest human nut to crack. So will it work? Will the platform be as innovative as planned? Will participants be willing to reinvent their learning? Will the facilitators of these courses be willing to put themselves in the new teacher roles as guides on the side? We will see, but as to date, FutureLearn is said to roll out its first open courses in September 2013, having gone through beta testing by then, so … let’s wait and see!

MOOC completion and drop-out rates

noreply@blogger.com (Ignatia/Inge de Waard) — Wed, 27 Feb 2013 09:57:00 +0000

Yesterday Katy Jordan casually send me her blog (Katy is a fellow PhD'r sitting only 7 feet away from me!). It turned out she is working (in her spare time!) on the completion rates in MOOCs. Looking at xMOOCs by Coursera, EdX mainly, and one course by Udacity and MITx.
Katy is clearly an upcoming academic, she is thorough, focused, analytical ... everything you need to make it in the academic world. AND she is now focusing on MOOC, the completion rates in combination with the assessment types. The nice thing is, she shares her findings live, so a true open scientist. Take a look at her analytics at her MOOC project site here.

More openness will increase development in the spirit of MOOC
One of the tough things she is facing is getting the data opened up for her. Getting her hands on learning analytics is not always that easy. There are many reasons for this (she researches for non-US institute, while looking at US xMOOCs so outside the universities providing the courses, privacy issues, platform difficulties, ...).
While MOOCs (cMOOCs in particular) came from the open education movement, and with all MOOCs spreading the word that every student, no matter were should be able to follow a MOOC, one would hope true openness of data would be possible. But, there are technical issues only being realized right now, and there is of course a market were business models that still needs to be fine-tuned (if not set up), and best practices need to be created,... tough barriers for emerging (international) research fields. A cross-continental research project would be wonderful, a bit like CERN and the Large Hydran Collidor, universities from the world collaborating for the good of all!

One of the main MOOC challenges: MOOC drop-out
As drop-out rates are one of the main MOOC challenges, this research is a gift. For insight in the drop-out rates can provide angles for improvement, increased retention ... So, looking forward to follow Katy's research. And have a look at the wonderful set of papers she has written, including using semantic web technologies... inspiring stuff!

To me, I feel that MOOCs are also a way to improve expert learning, so not necessarily linked to assessments and such. It is more about lifelong learning, getting information to enhance personal knowledge for professional reasons. But that ... is another research all together. For at that point, you cannot look at assessments to indicate completion. For the expert MOOCs might have lurkers (= people that do not actively engage in MOOC interactions, but do follow what is going on) that actually have found what they were looking for, learning without interacting, and those lurkers would be part of the learners finishing the course (but how to analyse that?!).

#MOOCs change education, but jobs decline in a knowledge era

noreply@blogger.com (Ignatia/Inge de Waard) — Fri, 22 Feb 2013 10:21:00 +0000

Jay Cross got me onto the Ted video where Daphne Koller (co-founder of Coursera) speaks about the benefits of MOOCs. And yes, great MOOCs follow the best practices of great online learning: active learning, authentic learning, peer-to-peer interactions, peer grading... and Daphne puts everything out there very clear and with research based evidence + MOOC stat examples. I love MOOCs, I organized two on mobile learning in 2011 and 2012 - the so called MobiMOOC, because I am a firm believer in both education and online, lifelong learning, as well as technology. So inevitably MOOCs have been and are to me a benefit (and please all the discussions on pro and cons only remind me of similar discussions when school television came out, or the internet even... at the beginning it is always the utopians versus the sceptics, but in the end ... the technology is simply adopted because it allows new things to happen).

BUT ... there are a few inconsistencies resulting from MOOCs on the promises they seem to provide and were I get stuck. Feel free to give me any possible answer.

To provide jobs from MOOC graduates, society has to change
There are simply things, like access to technology. Yes, MOOCs can reach everyone ... if they are literate in the language of the MOOC and if they have the infrastructure and instruments (= technology, electricity) and time needed. As such people in dire straights will still be in a tough position to even follow a MOOC. But even ignoring this group (for this discussion), there is a potential hick-up that can affect all of us, if society is not changed towards another working model.

Most of us in the Web sphere are convinced of the fact that the industrial revolution is behind us, and the knowledge revolution is here. And there are discussions taking place in different fields on how the internet changes everything due to all of the indirect and direct impact it has on all of our lives. So lifelong learning is put into place as a goal (personal responsibility for learning, and linking learning to the promise of success), and knowledge deepening is a goal set forth for all of us. But with knowledge comes the capacity to automate or - with similar effect but in the other option - the realization of increasing profit margins by getting cheaper labor. This means less jobs are needed due to knowledge aiming at the societal model of today.

The university graduate and MOOC dilemma
So in a way, the focus of education of today is actually something we (the world) needs less of ... in quantity. Even if all of us MOOC'rs finish the courses, get accredited (if the course offers it) ... even then, there is not enough work for all of us.
Success stories emerge from MOOCs, with witnesses indicating how following MOOCs has changed their professional and personal lives (which is true and it makes me enthusiastic)... but this is only a temporary Utopia if we do not change the world towards where we want it to be. And I hope we want the world to head where Daphne was pointing at: getting education to all, and a better life for all of us in all regions.

The simple truth is that not all of us get jobs even when graduating from universities, and if MOOCs add to that particular degree market (universities), we are stuck, for indeed if even the one's that graduate now are not always finding jobs, with the declining job market in mind, most of the new wave of graduates will get stuck as well. A knowledge era is a fine thing, it sounds great ... for a minority of people. So how do we (re)find a balance between jobs and people having them?

Any ideas are welcomed, and if you want to hear more about MOOCs, feel free to join Jay's hangout on February 27, 9:30 am Pacific time on MOOCs with many of the MOOC actors.

Or watch the wonderful video talk of Daphne Koller below (20 minutes):

#ict4D: the complex mLearning challenges for specific ethnic groups #mlw2013

noreply@blogger.com (Ignatia/Inge de Waard) — Tue, 19 Feb 2013 13:46:00 +0000

Leslie Dodson from the University of Colorado on The mobile utitly gap and literacy challenges in oral-language communities: sms use by Berber women.

These are my live blognotes coming from UNESCO's mobile learning week enriched with tweets from Ronda (@glam_mobileleo).
Leslie used an epigraphic research approach and working in the field for 8 to 9 months.

For those interested in the number of challenges that can be encountered when diving into a mLearning project with very specific target learners... this is it!

Pressing issues
conventional wisdom assumes

women with mobile phones can text
illiterate women and numeration
mobiles obscure gender

this is not the case

many women are only able to use expensive voice services
functions that rely on counting or nubmer sequences are confusing
cultural restrictions on communication between men and women extend to mobiles

These issues are bigger than a community of Berber women (approx. 500 billion women are illiterate)

Population: women and work

Berber communities: tribal, traditional, Muslim, conservative, rural, arid and poor.
Women lack formal education
women's livelihoods are tied to the Argan tree (oil production, or as a home lifelyhood).

Unseco has designated Morocco's Argan forests.

The technology

simple, broken, secndhand, counterfeit phones
few smart phones
relatively broad network coverage and available power

the goal of the project

expand the use f available mobile phones for personal and instrubmental communicatoin
explore the challenges of moving from oral communication (speaking and calling) to texting in a non-text based community
avoid a formal educational approach because of shame and fear

A complex language environment
2 spoken dialects
Darija: an amagamation of Arabic, French and Spanish words
Tachelhit: one of numerous Berber dialect

2 official written and spoken languages
Modern Standard Arabic and French

3 alphabets: Arabic, Latin script, Tifinagh script (Glyph-based, not widely used).

The texting utility gap
due to the complex literacy and language environment, women's mobile use is basic ("What is literacy when u have 2 spoken dialects?")
they are unable to benefit fro many phone features ("My phone only speaks #French but I dont speak French.")
they face socio-cultural and psycho-dynamic deterrents to learning
illiterate women are paying a tech tax because they cannot text
they are forgoing service benefits

unable to take advantage of mobile bonuses
cannot access development initiatives
missing out on training opportunities

coping strategies: high visual literacy

many users identify words and numbers as visual packets of information (Berber women in #Morocco use small pieces of paper to identify words/numbers on phones)
they rely on pattern recognition to identify phone numbers
they memorize keypad sequences
they use paper to assist in phone use
they identify contacts with icons, names and numbers
they rely on scribes

personal communication: mobile support for literacy in the Coop

informal education
situated learning
adult women get to choose the literacy they want
highly motivated to learn latin alphabet
the mobile provides the alphabet at their fingertips
multimedia use ("Multimedia includes chalkboards, alongside other tools we use..." )

If you do not have common devices, it can be very hard to collaboratively learn. There was a lot of struggle with directions to enter letters, some mobiles have capital and small letters which felt like different alphabets to the women.