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I enjoyed this presentation by Steve Wheeler at a recent Elesig seminar. Nothing new here. But Steve always produces great slides and it provides a very neat overview pulling together developments in the pedagogy of learning using technology. There is also a recording of the seminar, attended by some 95 participants, on the Elesig portal (login required).
I have recently had a series of conversations with Cristina Costa on ideas around digital scholarship (we might even publish something together on this in the future!). And by luck I found this interesting presentation by Cristobal Cobo Romaní. The presnetation is based on a paper he has written. Cristobal says on his blog: “Widespread access to digital technologies has enabled digital scholars to access, create, share, and disseminate academic contents in innovative and diversified ways. Today academic teams in different places can collaborate in virtual environments by conducting scholarly work on the Internet. Two relevant dimensions that have been deeply affected by the emergence of digital scholarship are new facets of knowledge generation (wikis, e-science, online education, distributed R&D, open innovation, open science, peer-based production, online encyclopedias, user generated content) and new models of knowledge circulation and distribution (e-journals, open repositories, open licenses, academic podcasting initiatives, etc.).:
Great video, found thanks to Mr T. The video looks at the role of the teacher in creating and sustaining a learning community, developing presence and fostering engahement.
Thought you may like to see this vid of pupils at Ysgol Gyfyn Gartholwg, featured on the Taccle2 website. The school is the local Welsh medium comprehensive school for Pontydysgu’s home town of Pontypridd.
The children are speaking in Welsh and I’m not going to translate it all but the theme of the video is about the need for good punctuation and accuracy of writing.
We love it – and it’s an excellent example of what kids can do left alone with a video camera and some editing software. E-learning at its best. We are hoping to feature YG Gartholwg in the future and use them as a test bed for more Taccle2 ideas – watch this space.
Meanwhile, many thanks to staff and pupils – Da iawn chi! Diolch yn fawr.
This is a great video – presumably made using prezy – from the UK Open Government website, established as a hub to support civil society engagement with the Open Government Partnership in the UK. . I am also a great fan of teh Open Data movement. But I think there are some limitations. Just making government or data about government open will not, on its own, overcome the class based inequalities in income and power within society.
Schools are increasingly using ,multi media. NAACE have released their Third Millennium Learning Award: the school Award videos with links to the videos which are the Award submissions from schools that have gained the Award and the Feature School submissions. These are the Award submissions that they feel show particularly well what 3rd millennium learning is and what kind of learning experience pupils are having schools that have developed what they call 3rd Millennium learning well.
With so many videos to choose from it was ahrd – so of course we decided to feature a school from Wales, Ysgol Gymraeg Pwll Coch from Cardiff.
Neat presentation by Cristina Costa. I particularly like the way that mixing a very few words with pictures tells a story – even without an audio track. And at a time when we are struggling to understand the different contexts in which learning takes place this is a good introduction.
Very happy to feature another video from our creative friends in south Wales, Like an Egg. They say: “Rock School is a programme we run together with Communities First to teach young people how to write songs, manage sound production and perform. It’s led by our Head of Audio, Alex, who works with the kids, trains them to use our equipment and helps them produce some rocking sounds. Our summer school runs during the summer holidays at our studio in Blaina, Gwent, and we all chip in to make sure they have a brilliant time.
We also run an open drop-in for young people on Thursday evenings – come along and hear the next generation of musicians or catch them at a live performance in the local area and beyond!
Rock School kids say…
“It’s a thing of pure awesomeness.”
“The mentors were great, the experience was great… the whole thing was great.”
“Being in Rock School has given me a lot more confidence in myself.” “
Good presentation by Stephen Downes. It was interesting to note that, unlike in the popular press, delegates at Online Educa Berlin 2012, mostly understood the difference between the cMOOCs, as developed by Stephen and friends, and the xMOOCs now being pushed out by the likes of Coursera and Udacity. I especially like slide 20 where Stephen says “Knowledge is grown, not created – we can stimulate it; we can’t manage it.”
We are off to Online Educa Berlin tomorrow, where, amongst other things, we will be presenting three live radio programmes. Yes, here at Pontydysgu, we like sound. And this is Sound” by… SoundCloud! They say “We love sound. Hear from sound experts and friends of SoundCloud why sound is so important to the way we connect with the world.
MOOCs and beyond
A special issue of the online journal eLearning Papers has been released entitled MOOCs and beyond. Editors Yishay Mor and Tapio Koshkinen say the issue brings together in-depth research and examples from the field to generate debate within this emerging research area.
They continue: “Many of us seem to believe that MOOCs are finally delivering some of the technology-enabled change in education that we have been waiting nearly two decades for.
This issue aims to shed light on the way MOOCs affect education institutions and learners. Which teaching and learning strategies can be used to improve the MOOC learning experience? How do MOOCs fit into today’s pedagogical landscape; and could they provide a viable model for developing countries?
We must also look closely at their potential impact on education structures. With the expansion of xMOOC platforms connected to different university networks—like Coursera, Udacity, edX, or the newly launched European Futurelearn—a central question is: what is their role in the education system and especially in higher education?”
The cost of austerity and privatisation
There is growing concern over the consequences of the English (Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have different policies) government’s cutbacks and privatisation of careers guidance for young people. The International Centre for Guidance Studies reports on a discussion paper called ‘Cost to the Economy of Government Policy on Career Guidance: A Business Case for Funding and Strengthening Career Guidance in Schools‘ from Lizzie Taylor who is an Careers England Affiliate Member. “The report claims that the economic consequence of current government policy on career education is an escalating annual cost to young people in reduced and lost earnings, reaching £676m p.a. in 2018 before dropping back slightly to £665 m p.a.2022. The total cost in reduced and lost earnings to young people in the period 2013 to 2022 is estimated as £3.2bn.”
Open Education 2030
The Institute for Prospective Technological Studies (IPTS) –part of the Joint Research Center of the European commission – is calling upon experts and practitioners to come up with visionary papers and imaginative scenarios on how Open Education in 2030 in Europe might look with a major focus on Open Educational Resources and Practices, in different education sectors.
The foresight scenarios submitted can be normative or descriptive, idealistic or provocative, critical or imaginary, reflective or polemic, imaginative or concrete, comprehensive or selective, general or specific. They should be both inspiring and scientifically sound.
Submissions are free to choose any angle, subject, approach, but they say the future vision and/or scenario should address the key question of how Open Education in 2030 in Europe might look, and include the role of OER.
More details from the EU Europa website.
PLE Conference Update
I wasn’t overoptimistic about the Personal Learning Environments Conference this year. Discussions about PLEs have been subsumed in the hype over MOOCs. And most conferences are struggling with the ongoing recession. But I am delighted that we have received 59 submissions including a number of great proposals for interactive workshops.
The PLE Conference takes place on 10 and 12 July in Berlin.
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Our next programmes will be live from the Online EDUCA Berlin 2012. We will broadcast at 11.00 CET on the 29th/30th of November. Here the stream URL: http://uk2.internet-radio.com:31022/live.m3u
