Creating E-Resources with Xerte

Free face to face and online training in how to use Xerte to create electronic resources.

There are lots of tools available that can be used for creating e-learning content but these days the one I seem to be increasingly asked about is Xerte. This is a free toolkit that can be used for creating e-resources that are accessible AND interactive. Xerte seems to be a popular choice for providers wanting to create electronic resources that can sit within other platforms (such as Moodle), or can be delivered as standalone learning activities.

If you haven’t yet seen Xerte but are keen to know more about how it can be used for easily creating electronic learning resources, take a look at the ‘Learning Object Demo’ that’s available on the main Xerte website (There is a link half way down the right hand side of the page). This second example also shows a number of the of all the standard page types you can have in a Xerte object.

This month and next we will be running two free staff training sessions at Wolverhampton Science Park, showing learning providers how to use the tool.

In addition, as part of their support for the rollout of Xerte, JISC TechDis are now running a series of free online training sessions on the last Friday lunchtime of every month. These webinars are also a great opportunity, as each bite sized session supports just one aspect of using the tool, they’re free to attend and there’s no need to leave your desk. The full programme for their online tutorials can be found online.

To read more of Wobble click here.

Flexibility and Innovation Fund - Round 2

More funding for Work Based Learning providers to support their e-learning development.

LSIS have recently opened the second of three bidding rounds for its Flexibility and Innovation Fund. In this, Learning and skills providers can bid for funding of up to £90,000 for projects which are ‘innovative and which have the potential significantly to enhance the performance of the sector’. Bids can be submitted by providers individually or in groups.

For ideas of what has been successful previously, see this complete list of the 31 projects that were successful in a previous round. You can also read brief outlines of their projects there too. The deadline for this second round of bidding is 19 February 2010. You can get full details plus application forms, guidance notes etc on the Excellence Gateway.

To read more of Wobble click here.

Moodle and e-Portfolios – Try Before you Buy

RSC West Midlands can now offer you your own externally hosted, learning platform for free, for a six month trail period. What better way than to try before you buy?

An increasing number of learning providers are now using e-learning platforms and e-portfolio systems, with this number growing as providers realise the many benefits that they offer. (This includes the ability to share resources online, access documents 24/7, offer learners the chance to present evidence electronically, and more).

To support this growing area of e-learning, Kevin Brace has set up a West Midlands based initiative which now offers work based learning providers (amongst others) the chance to use one or more of five open source e-learning platforms/e-portfolio systems completely for free. In simple terms, this is a chance to ‘try before you buy’; it offers a great opportunity to try out some of this very popular software before you commit to either securing a hosting arrangement of your own, or to buying commercial systems for your e-learning.

As part of the project, the following hosted e-learning platforms are now available for you to trial (with complete functionality). Applicants can choose to pilot one, two, or all of these platforms simultaneously.

• Moodle (including specialist ILP blocks)
• Wordpress
• Mahara
• Mahoodle
• ELGG

Providers will be able to access the hosted e-learning platform for a period of six months during which time they will also receive the help of selected members of the RSC team for getting the system up and running. In return, Kevin would appreciate a short evaluation highlighting the benefits/shortfalls of each platform piloted.

Interested applicants should get in touch with Kevin Brace who can be contacted by email.

__________________

Related wobble links:

E-Portfolios for Starters
E-Assessment Online Toolkit
Use Of E-Portfolios In Assessment
New Midlands E-Portfolio Group

To read more of Wobble click here.

Learning Technologies - Help and Advice

A quick reminder to all West Midlands based learning providers - we have a dedicated Learning Technologist in the team who is happy to offer free advice and guidance on how various technologies can be used for teaching and learning.

Jason has bags of kit which he is happy to come and discuss/demonstrate if required, and is also on hand to provide telephone and email guidance on any of your technology related questions. With lots of providers in receipt of capital funding at the moment, it can be useful to know what types of devices are currently proving popular for e-learning.

Jason provides advice and guidance on the inclusion of Learning Technologies within existing strategies. He is also keen to continue developing the learning technologies community based network started last year and to draw out and develop examples of best practice in this region. A new JISC Mail list was created last year to help support this function. You can subscribe to that list to get the latest updates here.

Jason can be contact by email at jason.curtis@wlv.ac.uk or phone on 01902 518986. His wiki pages also offer information which a busy provider might find useful in the first instance.

__________________

Related wobble links:

Learning Technology Loan Inititative
Staff Development (with Funding Attached)
Information Sheets on Technology for E-Learning


To read more of Wobble click here.

The Impact of Mobile Technologies

I spotted an interesting publication on a colleague’s desk recently – 'The Impact of Mobile Technologies, Examining what it means for teaching and learning'. This is the report that summarises Phase one of MoLeNET projects.

Molenet 1 involved approximately 10,000 learners and 2,000 staff, spread across 32 mobile learning projects. This resulted in lots of examples of good practice and lessons learnt, all of which have fed into the report.

Projects were led by colleges but “...More than half of MoLeNET 2007/08 projects (18 projects or 56%) addressed the national priority of work-based learning. In many cases they used mobile devices for gathering and presenting evidence through e-portfolios....Vocational subject areas in which mobile learning was deployed include hairdressing, motor vehicle, engineering, electrical engineering, industrial services, care, construction and plumbing.”

“Handheld technologies used included personal digital assistants (PDAs), mobile phones, smartphones, MP3 and MP4 players (eg iPODs), other portable multimedia players, handheld gaming devices (eg Sony PSP, Nintendo DS), ultramobile PCs (UMPCs), mini notebooks or netbooks (eg Asus EEE), handheld GPS devices, handheld voting
devices” .

The report offers useful examples throughout and key pointers from providers from their project evaluations. There is a dedicated section on Work Based Learning and also a section on Employer engagement highlighting some of the difficulties in using mobile devices in practice.

The complete publication can be downloaded without registering (for free) from the LSN website or you can request a hard copy by emailing molenet@lsnlearning.org.uk

To read more of Wobble click here.

An Quick Introduction to Wikis

In this short video, Commoncraft explain why “email is not good at organising and co-ordinating a groups input”, but a wiki is. A video offering a short explanation of wikis and how they can be used to co-ordinate a group.

To see a wiki in action, visit the RSC wiki. There you will find examples of lots of resources that have been worked on collaboratively online. Contributions also welcome!

To read more of Wobble click here.

Using iPods for Teaching

A colleague recently shared a link with me to a site that has a wealth of information about how iPods can be used for teaching/training - Learning in Hand. It’s a great site, with lots of uses, ideas, and applications for using an iPod touch or iPhone in education. It’s written by Tony Vincent, a technology specialist who uses the site to share his passion for new technologies (tied nicely into his own teaching experiences).

In the section on iPods and iPhones he offers advice on:

· Using audio and video
· Making use of photos and image sets
· Web apps (websites that are specifically designed for iPod touch and iPhone)
· Software applications
· Podcasting
· And more tips and tricks.


20 more ways...

Also focussed on the iPhone, Kevin Hickey from RSC North West has produced yet another very useful resource that shows 20 ways to use iPods for teaching. (See the video below). This is in the style of a Pecha-Kucha presentation; basically 20 slides/images, 20 seconds each. It contains some great ideas presented with the minimum of fuss.



__________________

Related wobble links:

Mobile Learning in the Work Based Learning Sector
Things Learners can do with a Mobile Phone
Go Mobile - free publication

To read more of Wobble click here.

Greener Computing

One of our E-Learning Advisers (Jane Edwards) has recently been looking at ways that learning providers can both save money and work more efficiently by thinking more about sustainable computing; something also referred to as Green ICT. It is a large area and one that is currently attracting a lot of funding and is the subject of much research.

To help to make sense of all of the available information and to make it easier for regional providers to know where to start, Jane has set up a page on our wiki which brings together a number of key resources.

She notes: “...Whether you are a manager, or a lecturer..., there is no avoiding the fact that matters concerning the environment affect everyone.
The government wants to reduce carbon emissions by 1.2 million tonnes of carbon per year until 2020 and to help it achieve this, it has introduced the Carbon Reduction Commitment (CRC) - a compulsory trading scheme to encourage large businesses and public sector organisations to reduce their CO2 emissions. In any case, it is obvious that by reducing energy use and using ICT more efficiently, you also reduce your energy bills; and you may also be genuinely interested in how carbon emissions affect the world we live in.

On this page you will find information on green agenda government papers, green ICT events and other useful links for the education sector.”

The wiki page is available here.

If you are keen to learn more about ways that your organisation can become greener in the ways it uses technology contact Jane by email or phone.



To read more of Wobble click here.

Image “Don’t forget to recycle” courtesy of Pylon757

Joint E-Learning Forum – Summary of the day...

Last week we held our second joint e-learning forum which bought together staff from adult and community and work based learning organisations from across the region to hear about the latest developments in e-learning.

We have now set up a wiki page that has links to the presentations and many of the information sources that were mentioned on the day so if you missed the event you can still check there for information. Individual section summaries can be accessed via the links below or the whole event page can be viewed on our wiki.

This forum included an overview of Generator, the technology improvement leadership tool for further education and skills. We also had an update on the e-CPD programme form Dave Foord (LSIS), an overview of Accessibility and why that’s important to providers, as well as details on available funding for e-learning, a summary of regional projects and initiatives and more.

2 Generator - the Technology Improvement Leadership Tool for Further Education and Skills
3 Update on the eCPD Programme
4 Accessibility in Work Based Learning and Adult and Community Learning
5 Funding for E-Learning Projects
6 Regional Projects and Initiatives
7 Strategic Development
8 Upcoming RSC events
9 Other Upcoming events (External)

Great to see so many in attendance and we look forward to seeing you at the next one!


To read more of Wobble click here.

Feedback on the Excellence Gateway

Several Work Based Learning providers are now using the Excellence Gateway for resources to support their teaching and learning, and for access to more than 150 case studies showing what other providers are doing with e-learning. (Finding best practise examples has now been made easier using filters that allow you to search on sectors or region).

NIACE (The National Institute of Adult Continuing Education), are currently gathering instances of practice which demonstrate how Excellence Gateway resources are being used in Work Based Learning. These will again form useful examples which can be fed back into the sector.

If you are using the Excellence Gateway in any way within your teaching and learning practice and would like to share with others what you are doing, please email your contact details to gemma.hammond@niace.org.uk by Friday 30th October.

Short telephone interviews will be conducted in November.

__________________

Related wobble links:

Examples of E-Learning in Work Based Learning
More E-Learning Case Studies
E-Learning Case Studies by Sector and Region

To read more of Wobble click here.