Thursday, 28 May 2009
The Animal School
Here's a heartbreaking video called The Animal School. A nice promo from www.raisingsmallsouls.com about how all learners are unique. Maybe it'll even convince me that learning styles do exist!Labels: education, learning, learning and teaching, online writing school
posted by Helen Whitehead 11:07 AM
Sunday, 1 February 2009
Widening access to Higher Education
How do we get more students from lower income families to go to University? Aimhigher and similar projects have not had the impact that was hoped. In fact, widening participation may be purely about financial aspects of studying.
This was brought home to me the other day when someone pointed out the student loans are not interest free and it's true, of course - student loans are designed with low not no interest.
Last year it was clear that that with low-interest student loans a student was better off getting a loan even if the family had savings, because the saving rates were higher than the interest on the student loans. But now, savings rates are ridiculously low and student loan rates are still pegged to inflation (not savings rates) - and I think it's no longer worth having one. And if it's time for second thoughts for a family that wholeheartedly supports education and has a reasonable income to support its student members, how much more difficult is it for someone from a low-income family to take on such a loan - to study for a degree at a time when graduate employment prospects are the worst for 20 years? You can see why they'd think it's much better to get a "job in the hand" now.
The correlation between students attending University and their parents having attended University in the UK is the highest in WEstern Europe.
Even casting aside the financial issues, are the institutions themselves and their culture actually creating barriers. How much does the HE sector need to change its offerings to attract wider participation? Skills and knowledge are much needed to support the ailing economy - but should Universities become something quite different to suit the situation? Would it be throwing the baby out with the bathwater to lose the many benefits offered by a traditional University education?
Yes, it is vital that young and old get equal access to education and development, but perhaps Unviersities are just aprt of the answer, and not the most appropriate route to education and training for everyone. The FE and lifeloong learning sector and skills training of various kinds may be the areas to develop to encourage a variety of courses and educational opportunities that really meet learners' needs.
Is it necessary to change University courses to 2 years full time to suit workers? For some this may be appropriate - but there are doubts that courses can be delivered effectively in such a timescale. Work-based education and training may be very much more useful to many learners.Labels: access to education, education, HE, lifelong learning, training, universities, widening participation
posted by Helen Whitehead 2:24 PM
Wednesday, 19 March 2008
Using del.icio.us with students in a course
Social bookmarking can be used in a variety of ways to support students taking a course. Here are some helpful links on how to use del.icio.us in education;
Using del.icio.us As a Class or Department Resource
http://www.teachbabel.com/...del-icio-us-bookmarking.html
Here's how one tutor used del.icio.us for a course on Computers and Writing course in 2005: http://wrecking.org/...delicious-and-teaching/
And another, more recent: http://jenverschoor.wordpress.com/...delicious.../
Homework-casting using del.icio.us http://teaching.mrbelshaw.co.uk/...homework-...-delicious/
Why save web sites to your computer where they can not be accessed by your students? Using a social bookmarking site such as del.icio.us teachers can bookmark web pages to be used in the classroom or for student to reference at home for homework. A screencast by Jeff Utecht about using del.icio.us. http://k12online...delicious.htmlLabels: del.icio.us, education, elearning, social bookmarking
posted by Helen Whitehead 5:27 PM
Friday, 16 November 2007
Do you use Salmon's 5-stage model or E-tivities framework?
Do you use e-learning or learning technologies such as discussion forums etc. in teaching?
Have you used or adapted Salmon's 5-stage model or e-tivities framework in your teaching? Or have you used it at any time in the past few years?Gilly Salmon's 5-stage model and e-tivities framework have been used successfully to support learning in a variety of contexts, courses, disciplines, types and levels of education from schools to Masters to continuing professional development.
References
I am doing some research to find out how they have been applied in learning and teaching across the world in the last ten years. We know that teachers have used them in a variety of different ways, adapting and developing the models to suit their own purposes. As part of the background to a new book, we would like to find out about the models in practice. The general results of this research will be made available to all practitioners.
If you have any good examples of using the 5-stage model or e-tivities,
please would you take my survey?
http://www2.le.ac.uk/.../smeltsurvey
E-moderating: The Key to Teaching and Learning Online
Gilly Salmon, (2004) Routledge Falmer
ISBN: 0415335442
lifelong learning, m-learning, mobile learning, online courses, online learning, online tutoring, technology, universities, wiki-tivities, wikitivities
E-tivities: The Key to Active Online Learning
Gilly Salmon, (2002) Routledge Falmer,
ISBN: 0749431105Labels: collaborative working, e-facilitation, e-learning, e-learning tools, e-moderating, education, elearning, learning and teaching, learning design, learning technologies
posted by Helen Whitehead 12:48 PM
