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”. “
For anyone with an interest in the practical challenges of delivering effective e-
assessment, please consider attending UCISA’s one-day event (E-Assessment:
Making IT work) at the University of Bradford on 4th November.
Keynote addresses will focus on the development of policy on e-assessment
practices, as well as the lessons learned from implementing thin-client
technology.
Discussion groups will be addressing the following topics:
• joining up assessment practice across an institution, addressing key
relationships and processes, as well as challenges in delivering effective high
stakes summative e-assessment;
• classroom set-ups for summative e-assessment (large scale);
• role of support staff in supporting summative e-assessment;
• role of the VLE and associated learning systems in supporting
summative e-assessment;
• development of regulations to manage summative e-assessment
activities.
The programme, speakers and booking details are available at:
http://www.ucisa.ac.uk/groups/ssg/asg/Events/2009/eAssessment.aspx
via HELF list
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
“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
On July 2, 2009 LTRI (London Metropolitan University) hosted the successful MATURE Workshop on User Centred Requirements Processes for E-Learning and Knowledge Management – A European-Wide Perspective. John Cook has provided a summary of the day:
http://mature-ip.eu/en/node/315
The slides from the day can be found by follwing the link at the bottom of the page: “Slides are available under http://mature-ip.eu/en/event/user-centered-requirements-engineering“
All participants seemed to agree that this had been a highly productive day and the organisers (John Cook and Andreas Schmidt) are planning to hold follow up activities in order to keep the momentum and intellectual clarity generated on the day going.
Funded by the JISC Learning and Teaching Committee through the Innovation group’s e-Learning Programme, JISC infoNet, the Association for Learning Technology (ALT) and the Higher Education Academy were presented with the challenge of trying to make some kind of sense of the diversity of current e-learning practice across the HE sector and to seek out evidence that technology-enhanced learning is delivering tangible benefits for learners, teachers and institutions.
The result is, we believe, a celebration of the diversity in the sector and shows the effectiveness of a range of approaches. Most importantly it shows that it is possible to address the thorny question of defining tangible benefits. The set of 37 detailed online case studies available here are supported by an accompanying publication and a briefing paper. We hope these will serve to inform, to inspire, to stimulate debate and to encourage others to participate in this form of knowledge exchange.
Taken from http://www.jiscinfonet.ac.uk/case-studies/tangible, see this page for more & reports
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
I am pleased to announce the launch this week at the Higher Education Academy Conference of Effective Practice in a Digital Age – a guide to technology-enhanced learning and teaching which provides the further and higher education sectors with a welcome update to the popular 2004 JISC publication, Effective Practice with e-Learning.
Effective Practice in a Digital Age is designed for those in further and higher education whose focus is on designing and supporting learning: academic staff, lecturers, tutors and learning support staff, facilitators, learning technologists and staff developers, and others with an interest in enhancing the quality of learning and teaching, and a curiosity about how technology can assist them.
The publication can be ordered in hard copy from http://survey.jisc.ac.uk/digitalage or downloaded in PDF and accessible text-only formats from www.jisc.ac.uk/practice. In addition, a number of supplementary resources are available online in the Effective Practice Resource Exchange (www.jisc.ac.uk/resourceexchange) which may be added to over time. These currently include themed video clips covering topics such as Responding to learners and Rethinking learning resources, a range of podcasts and audio resources, plus extended versions of the case studies.
All resources associated with this publication can be downloaded for use in educational contexts.
A UK-wide distribution of Effective Practice in a Digital Age begins this week, targeting senior managers with a responsibility for the curriculum and heads of e-learning and staff development. I recommend this resource for your personal use and for discussion with colleagues and curriculum team members.
Best regards,
Sarah Knight
Programme Manager: JISC e-Learning Programme
