TEL Blog - Technology Enhanced Learning

article having a look at, “50 Fascinating Lectures on the Future of Education” (http://onlineschool.net/2009/10/25/50-fascinating-lectures-on-the-future-of-education/).

“Many people believe that the education system needs some changing if it’s going to produce the leaders of tomorrow. While there are failings in today’s system, to be sure, there are many people out there already working to change, adapt and reform educational programs. Here are some lectures to help you learn about what may be in store for the students of the future and the ways in which education may be changing for the better, utilizing new technology and working with the way we learn.”

Dickens’ tale circa 1135 and other massive errors. Google Book Search’s mistakes provoke questions …

TimesHiger Ed. http://tinyurl.com/lm3kxl

“Professor Nunberg was even more outspoken in a blog posted on 29 August. With Google likely to become “the universal library for a long time to come”, scholars need good metadata. Unfortunately, Google’s information is “a train wreck: a mish-mash wrapped in a muddle wrapped in a mess”.  “

The VLE is Dead: the movie http://bit.ly/zvGs8. (RT @josiefraser)

Above link is for the recording made of the VLE is Dead Symposium at ALT-C 2009: http://altc2009.alt.ac.uk/talks/show/6776

#altc2009

See also blogs:

http://www.pontydysgu.org/2009/08/the-vle-is-dead/comment-page-1/

http://steve-wheeler.blogspot.com/2009/06/another-nail-in-coffin.html

The Higher Education Academy and JISC welcome the publication (on Tuesday
12 May) of the HE in a Web 2.0 World report, which looks at the projected
future trends in the use of technology in higher education.

A committee of inquiry was set up after discussions between the Academy
and JISC examined the online experiences of young people currently
entering higher education, and how this impacts on their studies.

Findings from the report show that students typically spend four hours a
day online, a figure that looks set to rise as teenagers make increasing
use of Web 2.0 technology in their daily lives.  One of the challenges for
the higher education sector is therefore to ensure that staff can keep
pace with the advancing technology which many of their students rely on
every day, using the technology to enhance the student learning
experience.

David Sadler, Director of Networks at the Academy, said: “This report
provides a valuable insight into the knowledge and experience our students
have of social web technologies.

“The Academy already undertakes significant work to enhance the student
learning experience through the use of Web 2.0, and we work closely with
institutions and their individual staff members to identify and share the
most effective practice in its use.”

Through their collaborative work, the Academy and JISC will continue to
support HEI staff in their use of Web 2.0 technology, to help them become
proficient users of a range of appropriate technologies.

Dr Malcolm Read, executive secretary JISC, said: “This report highlights
what needs to be done to maintain the UK’s position at the forefront of
higher education.  JISC will continue to deliver a world-class
infrastructure to support the use of web 2.0 technologies giving access to
over 18 million people across education to secure online resources.

“We will also build upon our work in giving training, advice and guidance
on how learners and academics can re-use and re-purpose online content
freely while respecting and recognising intellectual property rights - all
of which will help to develop a digital and knowledge based economy.”
see http://www.jisc.ac.uk/publications/documents/heweb2.aspx

“Virtual worlds are about to plunge into a “trough of disillusionment”, lecture podcasts are fast becoming obsolete, but cloud computing will soon be on the “slope of enlightenment”. These are the findings of an analysis of the “hype cycle” of technology in education, published by Gartner, an IT advisory firm.”

…

“Cloud email for higher education - free email services offered to institutions by the likes of Google, Microsoft and Yahoo - is also firmly ensconced in the sector. In 2008, the technology was heading towards the peak of inflated expectations, but this year passed through the trough of disillusionment and is now on the slope of enlightenment. Dr Lowendahl said the technology had seen a “tremendous uptake, especially in higher education”. Although cloud email for the sector was launched only in October 2005, the report, published last week, estimates it has a penetration rate of up to 20 per cent. I think it is the quickest uptake I have seen of outsourcing in higher education,” Dr Lowendahl said.”

From Report in Times Higher Education: http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/story.asp?sectioncode=26&storycode=407839&c=1

Press releases etc:

Gartner’s 2009 Hype Cycle of Emerging Technologies http://bit.ly/ooVxT : potentially transformational technologies http://ff.im/6Tgjt

online ed continues to grow faster than brick-&-mortar, 2009’s economic woes accelerate the pattern http://bit.ly/9CYnO

“In its annual report on the state of online education, the Sloan Consortium reported in 2008 that online education continues to grow at a much faster rate than its brick-and-mortar competitors. Anecdotal evidence suggests that 2009’s economic woes will only accelerate the pattern”

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/07/31/CMLM18L4MG.DTL#ixzz0N98M8aPk

Brian Kelly from UKLON

Use of Web 2.0 technologies & approaches:

• RSS feeds for structured information
• Geo-location data
• Exploitation of 3rd party services
• Openness of resources
• Risk assessment / management approaches

http://www.slideshare.net/lisbk/the-higher-education-in-a-web-20-world-report-implications-for-it-service-departments-1558270

“This document offers guidance to staff within the University on some of the issues
which need to be considered before using such services for University purposes. The
document is intended to be helpful for all staff, including researchers, teaching staff
and support staff. Note, however, that it focuses on issues specific to using external
Web 2.0 services – issues which are common to Web 2.0 services regardless of
whether they are internally or externally hosted are not specifically addressed.”

 https://www.wiki.ed.ac.uk/download/attachments/8716376/GuidelinesForUsingExternalWeb2.0Services-20080801.pdf

Enhancing learning and teaching through the use of technology: A revised approach to HEFCE’s strategy for e-learning was published in March 2009.

This revised approach to the strategy recognises that institutional contexts and strategies are key in realising the potential role of technology to enhance learning and teaching. Institutions may use the strategy document to identify areas where they wish to focus attention to achieve

• efficiency (existing processes carried out in a more cost-effective, time-effective, sustainable or scalable manner)
• enhancement (improving existing processes and the outcomes)
• transformation (radical, positive change in existing processes or introducing new processes)

John Cook gave a keynote at the JISC Institutional Impact online meeting #ssbr0709 (using Elluminate), Thursday 09/07/09.

The title of John’s talk is ‘Scaffolding the Mobile Wave’. See the following link for details:
http://ssbr0709.inin.jisc-ssbr.net/programme/

A blog by Graham Attwell has an MP3 podcast (including questions from audience of about 70) from John’s keynote embedded in it: http://www.pontydysgu.org/2009/07/conference-podcast/

The slides from John’s talk can be found at his Slideshare site: http://tinyurl.com/m27lhc