25th March 2020
The shift to online teaching is happening incredibly fast. Some university teachers have simply been asked to convert everything they do to PDFs and/or synchronous video lectures - while others have the benefit of learning technologists and educational technologists at hand to help them redesign their modules. How about your institution - what is it doing? What are the expectations in your own academic community…
Read more30th June 2013
I have been doing a lot of work in the last couple of years with early career researchers. Of the 40+ researchers that I have worked with in the last six months, I would say that about 1 in 10 was using the affordances provided by online technology effectively; that is, to promote their academic profile, to connect with other academic and industry researchers and to…
Read more9th April 2009
I am delighted to hear that the new OU course, Living Political Ideas, won the Courseware & Curriculum Award at the British Universities Film & Video Council (BUFVC) Learning On Screen Awards last night. The awards celebrate and reward excellence in the use of moving image, sound and related media in learning, teaching and research. (more…)
Read more9th April 2009
My distance learning course, Creativity, Innovation and Change (B822) has arrived from the Open University, via Parcelforce! I have 3 textbooks, 2 course readers, 1 Personality Inventory, 1 Technique Library, 1 CD-ROM of Online Applications, 1 DVD, 5 CD-Audios and 2 A4 booklets. Who said distance learning wasn’t heavy?! I also have 1 course website, online Library access, online support, online forums, a 2-day residential…
Read more1st April 2009
I am working on an engineering project at the moment, supporting a team that is looking to create distance learning materials. This type of work is always as much about sharing new ideas about learning and teaching as it is about the 'e' bit of e-learning, so I was looking for relevant examples of engineers/engineering academics using 'microblogging' to raise their professional profile. I wake…
Read more27th March 2009
Learning and teaching methods are changing rapidly. Students (for students, read all of us) are learning in innovative ways, in unexpected places, with technology that opens up the possibility of new connections - with experts, with like-minded communities and with up-to-the-second content. As they always have, tutors are exploring innovative ways of teaching, seeking out content to re-use and new methods to stimulate real engagement…
Read more12th March 2009
An interesting evening on the Isle of Wight Schools Competition. Many people from many places - as near as Cowes and as far as Stockholm. Serious networking, well facilitated by the Office for Public Management. Let's see who partners with whom...
Read more27th January 2009
Create your own social networking site, like Facebook, for free. Designed for collaborations, workgroups and social groups all kinds, you can create a private social network (you approve membership) or a public one that's open to all. Once people have joined your network, members can share their blogs, message, post, share media and so on. Educators are increasingly using Ning for collaborations and its use…
Read more2nd January 2009
Oxbridge "has little online "buzz", reports the Times Higher Education Supplement. Oxford and Cambridge are near the top in university rankings but, on the web, do they have a buzz about them? A new league table from Portfolio Communications that measures what is being said about universities online in blogs and on news websites... suggests not. According to the rankings, those enjoying the most positive…
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