Sunday, February 15, 2009

eLearning Links (weekly)

  • Teachers and lecturers are getting the lowdown on how to use social networking sites such as Facebook and Bebo in an educational way.

    Most schools and colleges in the UK block access to the websites but they are missing out on their potential for education, a government-funded guide says.

    The report for Childnet International and funded by Becta, the government body for technology in learning, says while teachers and lecturers may be using social networking services they may not recognise the educational potential for their students.

    Schools could help students develop "e-portfolios" where learners can record their achievements and collect examples of their work, the guide suggests. Or teachers could use social networking services to set up groups that "semi-formalise" students' online communications and "document discussions and milestones as they go".

    tags: facebook, e-portfolios, socialnetworking, students, learning, informal, environment, PLE, education, tools, elearning, NTUEDU

  • Becta report which specifically look at Social Networking in Education:

    "Young People and Social Networking Services"

    The project is designed to investigate how social networking services can and are being used to support personalised formal and informal learning by young people in schools and colleges.

    tags: socialnetworking, research, youth, youngpeople, students, experience, online, elearning, informal, PLE, education, T175, NTUEDU

  • Prof Peter Mobbs, who leads the academic aspect of UCL on iTunes U, said: "Our students will be able to revisit materials presented to them in lectures, so they can learn anywhere and anytime.

    "Furthermore, our students are among the world's best and brightest, and I want them to be involved in generating and sharing their own content - discovery, analysis, imaginings - through audio and visual media, in collaboration with staff and other students."

    Prof Denise Kirkpatrick, pro-vice-chancellor (Learning and Teaching) at The Open University, said: "Making available selected video and audio items from among the university's highly-rated course materials via iTunes U to audiences worldwide offers a new channel for the university. We can open up free access to educational resources as well as a window for our potential students." A number of top US universities, including, Stanford, Yale and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, already publish materials via the iTunes U service.

    tags: mobilelearning, mobile, itunesu, university, highereducation, learning, online, elearning, NTUEDU, research

  • Like this article - reminds us that little adjustments can make a big difference

    One of the most ­famous American cartoonists of the 20th century was Rube Goldberg, who was widely known for his “Goldberg machines.” Each of these comical inventions depicted a complex set of “instructions” for completing what should have been a fairly simple everyday task. His Self-Operating Napkin, for example, required 13 sequential steps involving a parrot, a cigar lighter, a rocket and a sickle—along with various strings, springs and pendulums.

    The cartoons were funny because they poked good-­natured fun at a fundamental irony of human psychology. People will make even the simplest task much more complicated than it needs to be, yet all this overexplaining rarely helps. Indeed, the opposite is often true: Goldberg’s convoluted “how-to” instructions may make us laugh, but they also leave us feeling exhausted. If that is what it takes to use a napkin, why would we bother?

    tags: psychology, readability, online, coursedesign, writing, skill, feel, elearning, education, NTUEDU

  • Tate offers a range of audio and video downloads (podcasts), including audio tours, interviews and recordings of talks and discussions.

    You may download the podcasts to your computer using special software and transfer them to a portable audio player.

    tags: podcasts, art&design, elearning, online, education, multimedia, tate, NTUEDU

  • This paper considers the various definitions of reflection and its role in learning. It suggests two approaches take to the use of reflection in education. Soft approaches that highlight reflection as important in learning and activities may be suggested to students to improve their learning. Hard approaches have more techniques to train people to reflect effectively. The paper considers issues and problems with both approaches and the implications for educational practice.
    Source: BEST conference, April 2002

    tags: reflection, education, elearning, highereducation, learning, NTUEDU, BEST, learningdesign


Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

1 comment:

  1. Hi, Sarah,

    The Digizen Report yet again suggests (p15) a bi-polar understanding of e-Portfolios as being EITHER institutionally based OR 'cloud-in-the-sky' and that an institutional system denies the potential for social interaction.

    In my opinion a good e-Portfolio system can provide not only the safety that many institutional systems provide but also the sense of freedom and ownership that a young learner needs and that learning through social interaction encourages.

    ReplyDelete

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