G'day
into November and already there are Christmas baubles swinging from the rafters.It's rugby fever over here which has almost achieved epidemic status since the last match was played. Thank goodness the All Blacks won. I din;t give the stock exchnage much chance if they had lost .
Anyway, after all the excitement, most academics on this side of the globe will now be looking forward to the Xmas holidays once all the exams are over and done with. Summer summons!
I've been doing a bit of work on competence based curriculum development along with developing modules for training the trainer, so some of links this month reflect that activity. I always think it's great to find some gems that some kind soul has made freely available. Makes life so much easier and gives me more time to dig the garden and tickle me marrows.
In this posting there are links to training fundamentals, an alternative to Moodle?, teachers guide to elearning, a MOOC,education toolkit,iPads in eduction, education videos,evaluating teaching, conferences and the odd one out.
Sit in the sun and absorb the rays of knowledge (if it's raining, just do the same and wet your appetite)
Until December then.
1.A teachers guide to elearning 2012.
An excellent up to date, well resourced overview of the current and future state of elearning. Well worth the time to read and digest. SOme good links and resources included and you can contribute if you wish.
http://eduherald.org/book/index.htm
2. From the BBC Academy in the UK. A set of tools which provide some useful guides and resources
BBC toolkit booklet v9.pdf
BBC toolkit cards v11.pdf
3.Technology Enhanced Learning (TEL) Research Programme.
Two new TEL project videos have been added to the collection on youtube. The first, 'Power Tools for Teachers' looks at the 'Learning Designer' environment for teachers developed by Professor Diana Laurillard and colleagues and the second covers the MiGen environment for 'Unlocking Algebra' led by Professor Richard Noss and his team.(thanks to ALT: http://newsletter.alt.ac.uk/ for this information). The TEL youtube channel also has a number of other interesting videos you might want to explore.
http://www.youtube.com/tlrptel
4.Train the Trainer: Training Fundamentals from the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific.
This is another excellent and comprehensive resource. Written in 2001, the topics, ideas and information are still as relevant and useful today
http://www.unescap.org/ttdw/common/TFS/FFMultimodalTx/TOT.pdf
5. Learning by Design: Social Media Tools for Creating and Sharing Learning Designs. Lots of useful stuff here to keep you occupied for a while.
and the parent pages.
http://newlearningonline.com/learning-by-design/
6. Welcome to the Victorian Government iPads for Learning website
Extract from the site:
'This website is for educators who want to learn about using iPads in education. Here you will find information about the Victorian school iPads for Learning trial including specially selected apps,classroom ideas and technical tips.'
Say no more. A great example of a local government actually using its initiative and having a good look at what a difference iPads can make to teaching and learning. Should get at least some of you inspired to think differently!
http://www.ipadsforeducation.vic.edu.au/
If you want to keep an eye on other developments, bookmark the following page and even join the group and contribute your own ideas and suggestions.
http://ipadeducators.ning.com/profiles/blog/list
7. All Ireland Society for Higher Education (AISHE): A Practical Manual For Evaluating Teaching In Higher Education.
A comprehensive resource that has been nicely put together.
http://www.aishe.org/readings/2006-1/aishe-readings-2006-1.html
8. National VET e-learning Strategy from Australia.
This document has just been released. It provides a good insight into the direction that elearning in vocational education and training in Australia is heading. if you are involved in VET education and training it's well worth perusing.
http://www.flexiblelearning.net.au/files/National_VET_E-learning_Strategy_2012-2015%20web.pdf
if you have more of a technical bent, you might be interested in the HTML5 research report released in September. Lots of other interesting stuff on the estandards website if you care to digress.
http://e-standards.flexiblelearning.net.au/research/html5.php
9. Canvas open source LMS. A viable alternative to Moodle?
Read this blog entry:
http://educhalk.org/blog/2011/10/university-of-mary-washington-selects-canvas-over-moodle/
[While you are on the blog page, take note of the FREE Wordpress User's Guide available by clicking on the icon on the left of the screen)
Go to the Canvas site. Try it for free and make a decision. It certainly seems to have a raft of very intuitive and easy to use functions.
10.Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) #change11
An interesting concept and one that appears to have plenty of followers. This one also involves a lot of the big names in elearning. Have a look at the draft schedule and decide if you want be involved.
11. Conferences
ASCILITE 2011 CONFERENCE
The 28th ascilite annual conference will be held at Wrest Point Casino,
Hobart, Australia on 4-7 December 2011. ascilite 2011 reflects on the theme
of 'Changing demands, changing directions'.
Conference details are available at:
http://www.leishman-associates.com.au/ascilite2011/
11.2 Inaugural International Conference on eLearning Futures 2011: Unitec Institute of Technology. Auckland New Zealand
Full details can be found at:
http://www.icelf.org/welcome.php
11.3 Innovating e-Learning 2011:Learning in Transition. Online conference
This is the sixth in the series and it still retains it's popularity and relevance.
Pre-conference activity week: 15th - 21st November 2011
Main conference sessions: 22nd - 25th November 2011
Book by clicking on the link at the bottom of the page.
http://www.jisc.ac.uk/elpconference11
11.3 ALT-C 2012: A confrontation with reality
The 19th international conference of the Association for Learning Technology will be held at the University of Manchester, UK, 11-13 September 2012.
Details from:
http://www.alt.ac.uk/altc/alt-c-2012-0
12. Odd one out. An absolute time waster really, but quite amusing the things it does once you have drawn your stick man.
Have some fun away from academia for a few minutes.
Over and out until the fairy lights come on again
Richard Elliott
The Eternal Macademic
Auckland
New Zealand