First Regional E-Learning Forum – What you Might Have Missed...

Last month we held our first ever joint e-learning forum in this region which successfully bought together staff from adult and community and work based learning organisations from right across the region.

With a pretty packed first agenda, delegates were able to learn what others were doing with e-learning, hear about the latest developments, share good practice (and still have time for lunch!)

This first forum had a hands on demonstration of e-learning technology, which seemed to prove equally useful to those getting started with e-learning and more established providers. We also had an update on E-Guides activity, updates on funding for e-learning, an overview of regional projects and initiatives, a summary of upcoming events and more.

As is typical of RSC events, after the session we compiled a wiki page with details and links to many of the information sources that we mentioned on the day so if you missed the event you could check there to see some of what you might’ve missed.

We are hoping to run the next Joint forum sometime in October and will post more details here and on our events page. If you have ideas of items you would like on the Agenda (or would like to host the next forum at your organisation!) then please do get in touch.

We look forward to seeing you at the next one!

To read more of Wobble click here.

Information Sheets on Technology for E-Learning

Following a number of requests for information from providers, Jason Curtis, our Learning Technologist has very kindly put together a series of information sheets that focus on e-learning tools and learning technologies. Each information sheet (in pdf format) provides a brief description of a particular device that might be used for teaching, its approximate price, specification and in some cases, suggestions for how it could be used in an educational context.

The list is continually evolving but so far includes information on:

· MiniProjectors
· Netbooks
· Busbi Video Cameras
· iPods (Nano and Touch)
· Digital cameras
· MP3 Recorders and
· Digital Notepads

The sheets are all available to download from our RSC wiki.

With many of our regional providers frantically rushing around trying to spend capital grants at the moment I suspect one or two of these might come in quite useful!

It’s also worth noting that for regional work based learning providers; Jason is available to provide free general advice and guidance on the selection and implementation of tools for e-learning. Should you have any queries about technology that you’d like to purchase or questions about potential use, you can contact Jason by e-mail or by phone.

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Related Wobble links:

More than 7 Things You Should Know About...


To read more of Wobble click here.

Trying out Training in a Virtual World

Virtual worlds are increasingly being looked at within training and education because they offer the potential to support larger numbers of learners remotely (as well as offering a list of other benefits for the training provider or business). There is also a growing number of projects that are springing up and demonstrating how virtual worlds can be used for supporting training and delivering NVQs.

· For example, this Excellence Gateway case study shows how the College of North West London has been using Second Life to delivering part of its Gas and Plumbing NVQ to students.

· The image below also shows how the TAFE NSW Hairdressing program, have used Second Life to establish a virtual hairdressing salon - Jack's Hair Creations, which is being used to create detailed photo scenarios which will then be used as part of a media-rich learning resource.

To support our regional learning providers in their understanding and development of Virtual Worlds, my colleague Jane Edwards has recently set up an RSC West Midlands virtual island, which can be used for regional learning providers to experiment on. This experimentation could involve building virtual objects and rooms (such as salons, workshops), delivering staff development and even trailing activities with small groups of learners.

If you would like one of these plots on our new virtual island, or would like to know more about how using virtual worlds could benefit your organisation, get in touch with Jane or contact us.

To read more of Wobble click here.

More Funding for your E-Learning Projects

Good news for anyone with a project idea for e-learning, this summer there looks set to be a couple of options for securing funding to support your e-learning project ideas.

Molenet

The first option, Molenet Funding, is aimed primarily at the Further Education sector but offers opportunities for WBL providers to work with colleges on projects. In previous Molenet rounds we’ve had a large number of successful projects in this area, many of which offer a potentially positive impact on the work based learning sector. (I’ve published a quick list of who was successful and a summary of their projects here).

In this current round of funding, the LSC is making £2.5 million of capital funding available. Contributions will be between £50,000 and £250,000 per project, but funding will also be available for a small number of micro projects, between £10,000 and £20,000.

The deadline for submissions is 11th September 2009. Learn more or find potential project partners here.

ALP Learner Innovation Grants

An additional option for funding will shortly be announced by the Association of Learning Providers (ALP) who recently confirmed that they will be awarding an additional £3m of capital funding to support a further phase of the very successful Learning Innovation Grant (LIG5) programme. Learn more about previous rounds of funding here.

Further details of this new Round 5 will be posted over the summer via ALP’s e-learning website - I’ll also post more information about that when the details are released.

In the meantime, now might be a good time to be getting those project ideas in place! Get in touch if you would like us to help or advice on any aspects of those.

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Related Wobble links:

Mobile Learning in the Work Based Learning Sector
Kineo's mobile learning guide (pdf)
Last Round of Learner Innovation Grants


To read more of Wobble click here.

Using Voting Systems with Interactive Whiteboards

We have offered several interactive whiteboard sessions that aimed to introduce work based learning providers to what can be achieved by using these in their delivery. As a follow on to this we will also be hosting an additional half day event that looks at how voting systems (or learner response systems) can be used to enhance the effectiveness of your whiteboards even further.

Voting systems can be used to deliver interactive sessions that engage and stimulate learners as well as record responses for assessment purposes. They can be fun too – and make use of resources created in different formats such as the popular “who wants to be a millionaire” style quiz.



This session will be led by Andrew Hutchinson, previously project manager for the REVEAL Project. He will be looking at five key brands of Learner Response Systems exploring creative ways of working with each. These include Activote, Activexpression, Senteo, TurningPoint and Quizdom.

All attendees will receive a free copy of the REVEAL project DVD “Effective Teaching and Learning using Electronic Learner Response Systems” which includes a range of useful resources and video content case studies.

The training will take place in Wolverhampton on 18th June. It costs £30 and can be booked online from our events page.

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Related Wobble links:

Using Interactive Whiteboards: A Video Case Study
Interactive Whiteboard Links and Resources


To read more of Wobble click here.

E-Guides Plus Workshops

There are still places available on an E-Guides Plus workshop that will take place in Birmingham on 20th May. These free, one day events are available to anyone who has been on the E-Guides training programme or has had the programme cascaded to them within their organisation.

Sessions on Learning Platforms and ePortfolios will be included in this as well as time for participants to follow their own area of interest.


To find out more about the workshops or book online visit http://tinyurl.com/E-GuidesPlus09 or email e-guides@niace.org.uk



To read more of Wobble click here.

Live Webcast - Increasingly Mobile Work Based Learning

As handheld gadgets such as phones, digital cameras and ipods get cheaper and more widespread, mobile learning is becoming more important for learning providers who want to be able to tap into their potential.

For that reason, during this years annual RSC online conference, Discover-e 2009, we have prepared a session that looks exclusively at mobile learning and explores how many of your learners own tools can be used to delivering learning and assessment away from a traditional classroom.



Di Dawson of DawsonLoane will be sharing some great tips and tricks with us, showing us how we can use mobile learning for capturing evidence, professional discussions, managing video, audio and much more. Di is familiar with both current and emerging practice so there’ll be lots of opportunity for discovery of new ideas.

For the session itself, we will present information live, using the free video conferencing tool Dim Dim, that we also used to deliver our conference sessions last year. This will enable anyone who is new to video conferencing to gain first hand experience of using that too – for free!

The full conference takes place over three days from 19th – 21st May and there’s plenty more in there to accommodate ALL learning providers. There'll be session on using e-portfolios, Moodle, games based learning and much more. To take part, you simply register online and access the live sessions by clicking on a given web address on the day – no special equipment required, just a pc with sound.

Hope you can make it!

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Related Wobble links:

Go Mobile - free publication
Mobile Learning in the Work Based Learning Sector
Ten things learners can do with a mobile phone
Kineo's mobile learning guide (pdf)


To read more of Wobble click here.

Google Maps and Street View

I was quite amazed to discover recently just how powerful the new Google maps street view is.

I’ve always used Google Maps to plan my visits to learning providers but now with street view you can now see photographic 360 degree street level images of where you're going. This makes it possible to also see exactly what a building looks like, plan parking, and take a look around the area all before you set off. I can see how this tool would be useful for assessors or field workers, planning an initial journey out to see a learner on site.

The video below tells you more.



With street view still you still get the step by step route plan that Google maps has always had, but now you can see photographs at every stage of that journey. As for the applications outside of work, the mind boggles. I think the possibilities are enormous. It seems that so far there have been a few issues relating to privacy but Google assure us that these are being addressed.

This street view is only available in major cities in the UK at the moment so Birmingham is covered but many areas aren’t yet. (E-guides may well recognise the image below.) I’ll certainly be watching this space - I imagine it won’t be long before most of our homes and offices are on there too.



To read more of Wobble click here.

Accomodating Your Learners with Assistive Technology

All learning providers have a legal duty to ensure that learner’s needs are accommodated wherever possible, and technology can go a long way towards supporting this. In particular, assistive technologies are products that can be used help to improve the capabilities of learners with learning difficulties or physical disabilities. This could include those with a visual or hearing impairment, or learning difficulty such as dyslexia.

On 7th July we will be running an afternoon training session, here in Wolverhampton that focuses on assistive technologies. This will be aimed at those who want to further their understanding of ways that technology can be used to support all learners. It will be an informal session offering people the chance to try out various examples of hardware and software including:

• Assistive keyboards (including large keys and keyboard overlays)
• Mouse alternatives - Trackerballs and GyroMice
• Write assist tools (Read and Write Gold, Word Bar, Clicker)
• Recording tools (digital cameras, mp3 players)
• Pen scanners
• Plus some low tech options (simple coloured overlays, organisation tools)

The session will also look at Accessibility Apps – a USB flash drive which contains over 40 free applications that can support writing, reading, planning and learning, as well as visual and mobility difficulties.

To book your free place, use the link on our website or contact Alison Wootton for more details.
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Related wobble links:

An Overview of Accessibility

To read more of Wobble click here.

Copyright Free Images for Resources

My sister reminded me this week of a post that I had written previously about finding copyright free images. I thought it also worth sharing something about this here, as I’ve been showing people how to create their own resources for e-learning recently and finding images that ‘are okay to use’ seems to often come up.

The post she was referring to was here. That has a number of photgraphs in several categories that you can use for free.

FlickrCC is another site I now use, and one which allows you to choose images for editing or for commercial use.

"In a search, the panel on the left of the page displays the first 36 matching photos. You click on any of these thumbnails to get a slightly larger image and the attribution details displayed in the right hand section. Right click the image and 'save image as' if you want to use that size, or click on the link in the text to go to flickr and chose a different sized image. Don't forget to include the attribution text in any work you produce using the picture."


A more recent addition to the image collections options, PicFindr might also be of use, as it searches ten different sites to find images you can freely use in your own work. Thanks to Matt Gallon, our Learning Resources Advisor for that one.


Related Wobble links:

Internet for Image Searching
Finding Resources to Re-use in Teaching

To read more of Wobble click here.