Video source

Schoolbuk is a platform for teachers to publish resources online. It also seems to be part of a trend to mangle spelling to create some illusion of coolness. I presume that it has not spelled school as “skool” because it has some standards to uphold.

After watching the video, I wonder how much Schoolbuk offers that Facebook already doesn’t. I doubt very much, but then I am aware that there are schools in parts of the world that ban various social networking platforms.

Another thought crossing my mind is how teachers and students use tools like Facebook socially. However, they don’t know how to use them educationally.

So Schoolbuk seems to be designed to offer the social affordances of something like Facebook while emphasizing the educational affordances. It is, as the Becta site says, an attempt to make learning personal.

But it’s all rather artificial, isn’t it? I could not help but notice how the teacher first tells them to read her blog and then reminds them to respond to blog entries. If I cast a very critical eye, I see a change in medium without much of a change in the pedagogy. I laud the teacher’s efforts to bring current news to her classroom and to develop her students’ thinking skills, but you could do the same with other media.

That said, I am sure that most of the students are motivated to use the tablet PCs, UMPCs, iPod Touches and the online platform as a whole. The classroom extends beyond the traditional four walls and fixed periods. All this seems to motivate students to get their work done, and this seems to be one of the main goals of the project.

But the kids aren’t dumb. They know that they aren’t using a real social platform. It’s one thing to attempt to engage learners, but it is another entirely to make learning meaningful. Just like it is one thing to get students to do their work, but it is another to get them to actually learn something.

One way to make learning meaningful is to make it real. The teacher in the video used current news and that is a step in the right direction.

But we still need to rethink the dominant model of schooling: Simplify content, chunk it into smaller pieces and remove real life context (because real life is messy and does not always play by the rules). Just think of how we attempt to teach languages at a fixed pace with recommended texts, conduct science “experiments” with predefined correct answers or solve math problems that don’t mirror real life.

We need to rethink schooling and act on it first before bringing in forms of technology that will not just enhance learning, but enable meaningful learning. Then, and only then, do we have the beginnings of an education for our children.

This review brings together a range of research evidence and data from England to look at what has been achieved in implementing technology to support learning. Most of the data presented here was collected through studies conducted in early 2009.

A review of the evidence of the impact of digital technologies, on formal education. Includes sections on what the evidence says, and challenges for the future

In the recent publication of ‘Update’ by the Learning and Skills Improvement Service (LSIS), there is an interesting article on how Becta is helping to address the issues raised in the Digital Britain report and the Independent Review of ICT User Skills.

Digital Britain identifies four barriers to embracing digital technologies:

• availability
• affordability
• capability
• relevance

In addition to their role as the government agency that helps schools, colleges and training providers use technology more effectively, they are also rolling out the national Home Access Programme. This programme will bring computers and connectivity to low-income households around the UK.

We see an opportunity here not just to support young people to use technology to benefit their learning, but to provide access for their parents who can use technology to improve their skills, whether it’s basic IT, a specific work skill, or leisure learning. Following the publication of The Learning Revolution White Paper earlier this year, we are also working with government and key national partners on plans to improve access to informal learning opportunities through technology and digital media.

Read the full article: Embracing technology to support adult skills

La aparición en escena del libro electrónico o del “eReader“, como se conoce en todo el mundo, ha causado gran espectación y preocupación para diferentes secotres de la sociedad.

Algunos consideran que este aparato será el sustituto de los tomos del papel mientras que otros consideran que el libro electrónico no viene a usurparle el puesto.

El concepto eBook, para aquellos que no están familiarizados con esta tecnología, hace referencia al contenido escrito es decir, al libro en sí y tiene a confundirse con el término eReader. Éste define al aparato o instrumento tecnológico desarrollado para leer.

Sin duda alguna, los lectores se enfrentan a una dura decisión que afectará no sólo a su bolsillo (puede llegar a costar la mitad que un libro), sino que además modifica por completo la idea que durante siglos hemos adquirido sobre la lectura.

En el caso de los jóvenes españoles según investigaciones realizadas por Becta se aprecia un aumento considerable del uso de nuevas tecnologías de la Web 2.0 favoreciendo nuevas formas de aprendizaje social.

El eReader puede ser la solución a la baja tasa de lectura y pérdida de interés que siempre han supuesto los libros para los jóvenes y como no, el fin de la lucha de los sectores educativos por fomentar la lectura.

Su comercialización estiman que puede ser diez veces mayor que el año pasado en España y pese a declaraciones como las de Umberto Eco: “el libro tradicional tiene virtudes que no tiene el electrónico, como el componente afectivo, el olor, la permanencia y calidad” tendremos que esperar un poco más para ver si gana lo tradicional a la era digital que comienza a despegar.

My presentation slides from the joint Becta and LSIS Conference on Learning Innovation, Embracing Technology where I gave a presentation entitled, The future of learning is mobile.

There is an audio recording of the presentation.

At the joint Becta and LSIS Conference on Learning Innovation, Embracing Technology I gave a presentation entitled, The future of learning is mobile.

This is an audio recording of the presentation.

I am hoping to put up the slides when I have more bandwidth.

It’s a busy week this week, though in the main because I am getting asked to do lots of things.

Today I was giving a keynote (and running an exhibition stand) at the joint Becta and LSIS Conference on Learning Innovation, Embracing Technology. My presentation was on mobile learning, though (as you might guess) I covered a fair bit more than just “what is mobile learning”.

I was on just before lunch, prior to my bit we had had LSIS and Becta give their views on embracing technology and a workshop.

Alas (or luckily) I only had ten minutes to do my presentation and using the digital clock on my iPhone I did keep to time.

I would loved to have more time and engaged the conference delegates in conversation and discussion. Well to be honest I did over lunch, where for an hour I chatted and engaged with the delegates on my stand.

As well as showing off a lot of mobile kit (from my bag of crap) I also had bundles of LSN publications about MoLeNET which were taken in their droves.

Went very well, so much so, I never got a chance to eat my lunch!

After lunch I went to Becky Barrington’s workshop on tools that she uses with her staff. Though I know practitioners love to create content, and the tools Becky showed demonstrate how much easier that it is to now, I do question the sustainability of a that model across the FE sector. How can we share all that wonderful content that is being created in various colleges across the country? How can we ensure that the shared content is being utilised effectively and for the benefit of learnings.

We can’t be the only institution who once more will create a series of slides or quizzes on customer service?

I enjoyed Stuart Edwards’ presentation and nice use of this video to prove how social media is having a huge impact on the way we communicate. Glad I didn’t show my video in my presentation as we used the same audio track!

Overall it was a very interesting conference.

Learning

I was reading ‘16 Ways To Win £25k And Change Informal Learning In The UK’  on Ewan McIntosh’s blog and stopped to consider our learning responsibilities. It does frustrate me that we have such wonderful IT services here at Hamble College and such little out of school hours use but to add to that, I am not currently stepping forward to host / teach / support in the evening. But am I really needed?

What if schools could opened their wireless connectivity to their local communities? Open internet access where learners can learn for themselves? Local authorities could post wireless access edumaps with control passed over to the school network manager. It’s not like most schools are not already screening the internet usage of the students and additional users in the evening would not be a drain on the network out of school hours.

My over-riding thought was that it is a shame that we have fantastic connectivity – disconnected. So I posted on those thoughts / feelings on the submit and idea link.

Becta has published major new research at the end of July. I have just come across it and it is interesting reading. It looks at the use of Web 2.0 technologies, such as wikis, blogs and social networking, by children between the ages of 11-16, both in and out of the school environment.  

The reports found that young learners are prolific users of Web 2.0 technologies in their leisure time but that the use of Web 2.0 in the classroom was limited. However, schools and teachers who are innovating in this area have found benefits, such as:

• Web 2.0 helps to encourage student engagement and increase participation – particularly among quieter pupils, who can use it to work collaboratively online, without the anxiety of having to raise questions in front of peers in class – or by enabling expression through less traditional media such as video

• Teachers have reported that the use of social networking technology can encourage online discussion amongst students outside school

• Web 2.0 can be available anytime, anywhere, which encourages some individuals to extend their learning through further investigation into topics that interest them

• Pupils feel a sense of ownership and engagement when they publish their work online and this can encourage attention to detail and an overall improved quality of work. Some teachers reported using publication of work to encourage peer assessment.

The research also found that over half of teachers surveyed believe that Web 2.0 resources should be used more often in the classroom.

However, the majority of teachers questioned had never used Web 2.0 applications in lessons, despite being frequent users of technology in their personal and professional lives. Their main concerns involved a lack of time to familiarise themselves with the technology and worries about managing the use of the internet in class.

The reports recommended that teachers should be encouraged to help learners to develop more sophisticated use of Web 2.0 technology and to give them the skills to navigate this space.

BECTA is the UK Government agency promoting technology in education. Report

This report is Becta’s update on the implementation of the UK government’s ICT strategy for education.

Ministerial foreward

‘at least £10 billion has been invested since 1999. Many schools, colleges, universities and training providers are using technology in innovative ways
to raise standards and improve learning. Critically, learners are making use of technology to support flexible learning stimulated by their personal use of technology.’ pg 3

‘We need to ensure providers and learners use technology well in supporting these ambitions.’ pg 3

‘Technology has – and will always have – huge potential to change things for the better. Equally the risks it creates have grown too and we need to make sure that we guard against these.’ pg 3

‘Technology has a central role to play in enabling services to be more innovative, responsive and coherent, in ways which would not be practicable without the opportunities technology offers.’ pg 3

‘In many ways learners are leading the way in using technology and we need to listen to them’ pg 4

‘Learners of all ages use technology for informal learning, recreation and entertainment. This is matched by rising expectations from learners, parents and employers to make good use of technology to support education and training.’ pg 5

‘Whilst changes have taken place, learners across all sectors do not experience a consistent quality of technology-supported learning and the system as a whole needs to better exploit new ways of working to meet future needs.’ pg6

5 important cross-sector themes;

• learner entitilment
• family and informal learning
• Professional tools and support for teaching
• Mobilising leadership
• Personal ownership and environmental sustainability

BECTA – The UK Government agency promoting technology in education. Report on a new strategy for technology in learning.

• UK is one of the leading uses of technology in learning
• Learners are making use of technology to support flexible learning stimulated by personal use of technology
• Country needs to remain competitive, so we need to improve our learning, upgrade our skills and develop our knowledge and understanding.
• Technology is seen by Department for Children, Schools and Families and the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills as a vital tool to achieve these ambitions.
• Need to ensure providers and learners use technology well to support these ambitions.
• These departments see a need for a strong strategy to support learners of all ages.
• Technology has revolutionised the way we communicate, collaborate and do business.
• Trends reinforce the need for a continuing system wide approach to use of technology in education.
• Improve the quality of provision and outcomes
• Technology enables adult learners to choose what, how, where and when to learn. This has a powerful impact on the learning experience increasing satisfaction from 50% to 99%. Improved satisfaction, retention and achievement without expanding the physical footprint.
• TEL brings a sense of empowerment and wider choice to informal adult learning
• Technology can bring people together with shared interests (long tail)
• Technology enables learners and teachers to acquire knowledge and skills, enables effective delivery, in more flexible and customised forms.
• Reports show that learners prefer to learn in groups, by doing practical things, with others and using computers – but the most common teaching activities used still are copying from the borad and book, and listening.
• Challenges
  • Access to reliable and sustainable infrastructure
  • Pedagogical changes and professional development
  • Continuity of learning (not widespread)
  • Learner expectations of the use of technology in learning is not being med.

This year, the Annual Conference was billed as the Annual Event and included a pre-event dinner and JISC Services ’speed-dating’ activity.

I have been to many RSCNW events and conferences but this year we negotiated an exhibition stand for the college, to showcase the work our eLearning Champions have been undertaking in conjunction with the college ENGAGE project.  ENGAGE is a college-wide initiative to introduce and embed Learner Owned Devices into everyday teaching and Learning.  One day, I hope we will not be referring to eLearning or mLearning, but simply have it embedded as learning.

ENGAGE came about as a response to our unsuccessful MoLeNET (2) bid.  We (College) were already working as part of  the BECTA Technology Exemplar Network and I had been on the pilot LSIS Collaborative Leadership Skills and Technology programme. We knew we had experience, skills, enthusiasm and pedagogical cases for looking to actively promote mLearning – ENGAGE was an opportunity borne out of a lack of funding.  Our students have mobile devices, they are often more advanced than our own – college cannot fund equipment on that scale and certainly could not maintain or sustain it.  Students also know how to use their own devices and are comfortable with them – they carry them everywhere.  I’ve blogged about this a week or so ago…

Back to #JISCRSCNW09 – I found it to be both an interesting and successful format.  The RSC had taken the brave decision to break away from the usual conference format of Keynote1, Keynote2, Seminar1… etc. and created a flowing event, which included Pecha Kucha presentations, open-house seminars (what! no need to pre-book?!!!) plus plenty of event stands comprising most of JISC/JANET services along with service providers and universities & colleges.

We had many visitors to our stand and felt we had a very successful day, both through making new contacts and also establishing some new funding opportunities and collaboration possibilities.  I would like to think we also got a few people thinking about the work we have been carrying out and hope to have shown that you should not give up on an idea if you’re not successful gaining the funding.

Thanks to all at the JISC RSC NW Office for a really worthwhile and successful event.

Key points from the day: Pecha Kucha – Kevin Hickey and David Sugden.

Also a mention for:

Beaumont College stand – always inspiring, Jane

LSIS – helpful and informative as always

BECTA – likewise, friendly and informative

Despite struggling with a backlog of work, I took time this week to meet with Chris Davies from Oxford University who is midway through a Becta funded learner voices research project. It’s these open-ended conversations which push us forward. I hope to have more of them as the HEALD review begins next month. We didn’t have enough time and I left with an incomplete list of, what are for me, some of the current challenges in learner experience research:

• developing skills and techniques in eliciting what we need from learners
• time to tease out the similarities and differences between ‘young people’ and ‘learners’
• the need to conceptualise differences in how learners experience learning with technology
• the need to identify theoretical frameworks to help analysis of the rich and varied data which emerges 
• the need to unpick the role of context in how learners use technology 
• understanding the development of digital skills and literacies, the role of educators in developing these literacies and their transferability between social, leisure and study contexts
• the challenge of conducting research which demands early and frequent dissemination

Doing the rounds on Twitter today has been quite a few people talking about the Next Generation Learning video from Becta.

Some people have posted the video to their blogs, Steve Wheeler for example, Andy Oliver is another.

So am I going to post the video?

Well…

I already have!

Nearly a month ago, on the 12th May!

So if you want to keep ahead of the game and find out what is happening check back more often.

Thoughts?

Technology Enhanced Learning

Yesterday saw the launch of the newly formed Digital Inclusion Forum set up by the Technology Enhanced Learning Programme, which is funded by the ESRC and EPSRC and directed by Richard Noss here in the UK.

In 2008 BECTA’s Disadvantaged Learners Report observed that the lack of a single voice in UK policy championing disadvantaged learners has led to unhelpful fragmentation – particularly in addressing digital disadvantage across education.  Hopefully this Forum will help to draw together disparate resources and streams of research and practice to give more cohesion to those seeking to mitigate exclusion within technology enhanced learning.

The Digital Inclusion Forum has two key purposes:

• To identify key inclusion-related questions and issues for research into digital inclusion issues in education

• To discuss and evaluate the contribution that the TEL research programme can make to the digital inclusion research agenda.

According to Jane Seale, the group convener, there will be two main phases of activity:

• The first phase (May-November 2009) will be the development of an online space for sharing digital inclusion related resources, discussing inclusion-related issues and scoping priorities for digital inclusion research. It is hoped the online space will be a platform for the collaborative writing of a web-based document that starts to draw together what the key issues are in relation to digital inclusion research.

• The second phase (December 2009-September 2010) will involve the setting up of a commentary group who, drawing on the web-based document will co-author a TEL branded publication which offers a commentary on digital inclusion research and highlights the contributions of the TEL projects to the field.

The forum welcomes input, with invitations being issues specifically around contributions to an emergent Digital Inclusion Reference Library and posts to the new discussion forum.

To add any digital inclusion references that you think are relevant and make a significant contribution to the field visit: http://www.tlrp.org/tel/tools/digital_inclusion_references.html

To add to a conversation thread or post a response on the Discussion Forum visit: http://www.tlrp.org/tel/digital_inclusion/forum/digital-inclusion/

The forum also notably draws on blogs and other resources tagged with ‘digitalinclusion’. This marriage of expertise and materials will hopefully accrue into a valuable resource for everyone working to achieve access and equity in technology enhanced learning.

Research undertaken by a leading UK non-departmental public agency has revealed that consultants with double-barrelled surnames are on average one-and-a-half times more expensive than their single-barrelled rivals.

The chair of the agency’s Central Committee on Procurement has responded with a ban – effective as of today’s date – on contracting with further double-barrelled consultants.  An unnamed colleague on the agency’s research team, which had worked with the procurement team on a root-and-branch review of consultant input, said: “we’re not sure whether the double-barrel thing is causation or merely correlation.  We’ll be bringing in an external team to mine the data for a clearer picture”.