“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.”

“E-Learning in its Element: Building Informal Learning and Research Capacity in Large Communities”

Date: Tuesday 10th Nov at the Work-Based Learning for Education centre, IoE.

ESRC funded National Centre for Research Methods. Its remit is to promote a “step change” in the use of innovative cutting edge research methods in the social sciences. It is funded on a Hub and Node model, with the Hub co-ordinating the activities of the Nodes. The Nodes are not working with university students, their constituency are social science researchers who tend to attend a short workshop, seminar or conference to learn about a particular new method, see below http://www.ncrm.ac.uk/about/organisation/Nodes/)

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”.  “

•    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

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

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

…

“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

How to use Twitter as an RSS reader (by Ryan Jerz, posted in Jan. 09) http://bit.ly/j9vQE

(RT @pabaker55)

“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