Wednesday, 16 July 2008
Implementing Moodle
Here's a good case study of the implementation of Moodle at Thanet College. Though dated 2006 it still rings a lot of bells if you work in FE. Some highlights:
The difficulties that had to be overcome were:
1. Seeing a benefit; ‘if its not broke don’t fix it’ mentality
2. Expecting this to be an extra piece of work
3. Finding time to train
4. Having time to explore and experiment.
Benefit for students:
Students liked the way they could manage their learning better by accessing information and activities at times to suit themselves and in ways that suited their learning approach, including the facility to repeat work.
Benefit for staff:
There is no doubt that staff feel empowered and excited by using the VLE.
Tutors use the forums to discuss lesson planning.
Project lead Geoff Rebbeck says:
“There are no rules. You want the teacher to be totally in charge of the learning experience. We have started to change the culture of a college, which like most education is based in part on the A4 piece of paper, which is perhaps the most interesting and challenging journey for us all."
There are also lots of good resources on the Moodle belonging to the JISC RSC Yorkshire and Humberside website.
posted by Helen Whitehead 9:41 AM
Wednesday, 26 March 2008
What is the future for HE?
A little while ago I went to a presentation by Martin Williams, Director of HE Strategy at the DIUS.He spoke about the future of Universities at a time when the Government wants to continue to grow numbers in HE – to enable more potential students to benefit from HE.
So far as research is concerned, there is an emphasis on more quality of research – the current RAE exercise is the last of its kind and the future of research funding may be based on linking assessment of research to available metrics such as citations, in some disciplines.
It seems to me that whatever way research is funded some people will lose out. Researchers n the sciences for example may publish less than researches in the humanities because the latter are more comfortable with writing. Obscure mathematical theorems may have huge impact on their field but that field is very small with very few people who can even understand the research, compared with say, a study on internet use which can be more accessible to those outside the field.
Universities and colleges have to adjust to demographic change – start to focus on improving the skills of the current workforce. It's a challenge for the education sector to support acquisition of high level skills by those already in the workplace – and it is a challenge for employers to support their staff in acquiring these skills.
If people are to be upskilled, acquiring new skills throughout their working lives, then there has to be much more of a culture of learning in the workplace and in the community – a perception that learning is part of work and does not stop when one leaves a place of education. There is likely to be a good deal of resistance to this: many people identify learning with a school experience they did not enjoy, and do not want to undertake any further learning.
So how can universities adapt to a student body that will NOT be the traditional 18 year old coming into a 3-year full-time degree? And how will they be funded?
In the FE sector, a lot more of the funding that used to go via the Learning and Skills Council is now going to be distributed through local authorities.
Some scary(?) statistics:
- The average graduate today will have 7 different careers, 3 of which haven't been invented yet. (A Scottish study he quoted which don't have the reference for)
- 70% of the 2020 workforce are already in the workplace...
Labels: FE, HE, learning futures
posted by Helen Whitehead 11:13 AM
Monday, 17 December 2007
Edublog awards 2007
While I've been away with a virus (head rather than computer...) the winners of the Edublog 2007 awards have been announced. They are a great selection of blogs. I was intrigued by the "most influential blog post" which is the one by Karl Fisch back in 2006 which started the "ShiftHappens" meme.
We are about to show the latest version of the video to the staff at an FE College as part of an inspirational e-learning day. I hope they find it as intriguing as the 10 million people or so who have already seen versions of the presentation or video.
It's always as interesting to check out the nominated blogs as well as they winning ones, and some nominated blogs have won in the past...Labels: awards, blogs, e-learning, FE, Fisch, Shift Happens, shifthappens
posted by Helen Whitehead 5:24 PM
Monday, 22 October 2007
Links for week commencing 22nd October
Some interesting social software for learning:
Ecto
http://www.ectolearning.com/
Their blurb: "Ecto is a hosted, open networked Personal Learning Environment. Use Ecto to transform learning into an interactive, collaborative, and student centered activity. Ecto is the only learning management system built from the ground up on the principles and architecture of social software."
It's an online service and at the moment you can join for free although it's a commercial offering. At the moment it looks pretty vanilla - it seems to be social networking aimed at learning and teaching, nothing really new about it.
ELGG
http://elgg.org/
Elgg is an open source social platform based around choice, flexibility and openness: a system that firmly places individuals at the centre of their activities. ELGG is being used by a LOT of universities and educational organisations, but you do need a server to run it on so it's not a solution for individuals.Labels: e-learning, education sector, elearning, FE, HE, online learning, social networking, universities, VLE, web applications
posted by Helen Whitehead 9:20 AM
Friday, 3 August 2007
Join me on the Creativity in E-Learning network
Labels: creativity, e-learning, education sector, elearning, FE, HE, learning and teaching, learning technologies, social networking, universities, Web 2.0
posted by Helen Whitehead 4:06 PM
Friday, 29 June 2007
Gordon Brown's changes in Education responsibilities
OK, I'm trying to get my head round the changes that Gordon Brown has wrought in the people and agencies responsible for Education in the Government.
John Denham is now the head of a new department - the Department of Innovation, Universities and Skills, responsible for:John Denham left Tony Blair's government in protest over Iraq which is one thing in his favour (although let's not get into the pros and cons of the war - I believe that Tony Blair sincerely believed in the presence of WMD in Iraq). He was born in 1953 and was educated at Woodroffe Comprehensive School, Lyme Regis and Southampton University and has three children. So far so good.
- Universities - teaching and research
- Science (formerly of the DTI)
- Innovation (formerly of the DTI)
- Skills sector
In his ministerial statement to the Commons, Gordon Brown said: "The new department will be responsible for driving forward delivery of the government's long-term vision to make Britain one of the best places in the world for science, research and innovation, and to deliver the ambition of a world-class skills base".
The one thing that puzzles me (and others, apparently) is that FE Colleges will be covered by both departments - 14-19 provision by the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) and HE courses and skills-based courses by this new Department of Innovation, Universities and Skills.
In another interesting move, Gordon Brown announced that funding for 16-19 education - which includes a range of academic and vocational training - would in future go to schools and colleges via the local authority education budget.
I guess the FE sector will have the most to do to catch up on what this all means for them - and the implications for actual funding levels won't be known for some time.Labels: education sector, FE, Gordon Brown, Government, HE, Innovation, John Denham, lifelong learning, policy, science, skills
posted by Helen Whitehead 9:48 AM
