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 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
Report on teens and cell phone ownership in the US http://tinyurl.com/lufd5v
Brian Kelly from UKLON
Use of Web 2.0 technologies & approaches:
“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.”
Pew Report on Wireless Internet Use: http://tinyurl.com/ndorge
The report summary highlights the following:
The summary of the group discussions from the recent JISC Learning and Teaching Practice Experts Group meeting is now available from http://www.jisc.ac.uk/whatwedo/programmes/elearningpedagogy/elearningexperts/jul09.aspx
The summary provides an account of the valuable discussions held around the themes of the meeting, including digital literacies, feedback and assessment, transition and peer support.
From Sarah Knight,Programme Manager: JISC e-Learning Programme
John Cook is part of the London Mobile Learning Group (LMLG) accepted workshop at the Alpine Rendez-Vous, within the framework of the STELLAR Network of Excellence and organised by the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität Munich. The workshop is entitled Technology-enhanced learning in the context of technological, societal and cultural transformations. The LMLG workshop will take place from November 30 to December 1 in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Bavaria. There has
been a tough competition for places, during which the Reviewer Board had to reject 50% of the proposals. In addition to helping organise the workshop, John has a position paper to present: Individualized participation in public forms of communication and learning: reshaping contexts in a changing world of cultural products, by John Cook (LTRI) and Elisabetta Adami (University of Verona, Italy).
Links:
LMLG workshop description: http://www.londonmobilelearning.net/?page=Alpine-rendez-vous
Alpine Rendez-Vous: http://www.stellarnet.eu/programme/wp3/rendez-vous/
LMLG: http://www.londonmobilelearning.net/
STELLAR Network of Excellence: www.stellarnet.eu
WASHINGTON — Online learning has definite advantages over face-to-face instruction when it comes to teaching and learning, according to a new meta-analysis released Friday by the U.S. Department of Education.
The study found that students who took all or part of their instruction online performed better, on average, than those taking the same course through face-to-face instruction. Further, those who took “blended” courses — those that combine elements of online learning and face-to-face instruction — appeared to do best of all. That finding could be significant as many colleges report that blended instruction is among the fastest-growing types of enrollment.
The Education Department examined all kinds of instruction, and found that the number of valid analyses of elementary and secondary education was too small to have much confidence in the results. But the positive results appeared consistent (and statistically significant) for all types of higher education, undergraduate and graduate, across a range of disciplines, the study said.
A meta-analysis is one that takes all of the existing studies and looks at them for patterns and conclusions that can be drawn from the accumulation of evidence.
(see link below for more …)
Taken from http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2009/06/29/online
June 29, 2009
The edgeless university? JISC report on the need for HE to use Web 2.0 in teaching ;for a blog about this http://bit.ly/4xBZuf
www.jisc.ac.uk/edge09 for the report:
“British Universities have world-class reputations and they are vital to our social and economic future. But they are in a tight spot. The huge public investment that sustained much of the sector is in jeopardy and the current way of working is not sustainable. Some are predicting the end of the university as we have known it. The Edgeless University argues that this can be a moment of rebirth for universities. Technology is changing universities as they become just one source among many for ideas, knowledge and innovation. But online tools and open access also offer the means for their survival. Their expertise and value is needed more than ever to validate and support learning and research. Through their institutional capital, universities can use technology to offer more flexible provision and open more equal routes to higher education and learning. We need the learning and research that higher education provides. But this will take strategic leadership from within, new connections with a growing world of informal learning and a commitment to openness and collaboration. By exploiting this role, universities can harness technology as a solution and an indispensable tool for shaping their vital role in the future.”
via RT @timbuckteeth
