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.

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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

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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!

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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.



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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.



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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!


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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.

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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.

AccessApps - Free Portable Software on a Stick

We have been focussing quite a lot on accessibility recently, coinciding with the launch of a new initiate that is loaning e-learning technology to learning providers. As well as the loans we have given several staff a suite of portable software applications that they can keep, and use without the need to buy licences or install programmes – everything runs from the USB stick. This collection of programmes is called AccessApps and has been developed by RSC Scotland in conjunction with TechDis.

The AccessApps site has more information about the suite of programmes and the video below will tell you more about how it can benefit those involved in education or training.

Find more videos like this on RSC Access and Inclusion

Some of the applications contained on Access Apps are generic tools (word processing, spreadsheet and presentation alternatives to the Microsoft Office suite). Others cater for specific needs, such as a software to support dyslexic students or those with a disability. There are currently over 40 applications in the suite and the list is growing.

All of the software on Access Apps is also available to download directly from RSC Scotland’s site allowing you to pick and choose just those tools you might want to have. For example if you’re a tutor who think mind maps might make a useful addition to your lesson, there’s a free mind mapping tool. Or if you’d like an image editor, there’s one there too. A handy user guide also provides a useful training or reference manual to share with staff that have the usb sticks.

With accessibility being such a key issue at the moment, (it’s also been noted as a priority area for some funding applications) we have included a session on accessibility at our next e-learning forum. That should inform providers not only of why it is important but what support exists to measure and develop your levels of accessibility.

In the meantime, as AccessApps continues to go from strength to strength, why not get yourself a copy of it to use or to share? A USB stick chock full of productivity resources is useful to staff, and learners alike. And in this case it’s also free. :-)


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Related wobble links:

Accessibility Overview


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Funding for Creating e-Learning Resources

Independent work based learning providers will soon be able to bid for a share of £1 million capital funding in a new e-learning content creation (ECC) programme from the Learning and Skills Council (LSC). This programme will be managed by the Association of Learning Providers and will complement the highly successful Learning Innovation Grant programme.

From the ALP website:

“ALP is delighted to announce in addition to the £3m LIG 5 fund, the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS), via the LSC, has released a further £1m grant fund to the ALP for providers in the sector to test how high quality e-learning content could be pump-primed to improve the cost effectiveness of delivery.

This exciting new e-learning content creation (ECC) programme aims to identify gaps in the e-learning content market, particularly to support new industries. It will focus on the development of e-learning content that will have a direct impact on improving the learning experience, the service provided to employers and business efficiencies.

ALP strongly encourages providers to form a consortium to bid for the large scale projects. Between 2 – 4 proposals will be successful with the bid value set from £250,000 - £500,000.

It is anticipated the ECC prospectus and application form will be available at the end of September.”

I’ll post more information about this initiative as they are released and will be happy to work with any providers who wish to explore options in this area.

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Image "Money" from Flickr (Kindly shared by coda)

Free Hairdressing Resources

Last week our Information Officer posted an article on our website about a new batch of hairdressing resources that are now freely available online. These are high quality videos that demonstrate popular hairdressing techniques, such as cutting, straightening, and also cover areas such as client consultation and health and safety. They have been developed by Worcester College and have now been shared on the web for others to use.

This is great if you deliver hairdressing training and have a virtual learning environment such a Moodle as they can be very easily linked to from within that. They can also simply be accessed and viewed directly from the webpage, there is no log in or registration required.

These videos were developed with staff from salons in the West Midlands region and it’s great to see such high quality resources for e-learning emerging locally. Having just watched one or two, I’ve learnt a few handy tips from the professionals myself!

For other web based resources (that also include hairdressing) see related wobble posts below.

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Related links:

Intute - web resources for education
NLN learning resources, whats on the horizon?

To read more of Wobble click here.


Image "_MG_7162" from Flickr (Kindly shared by by NYCArthur)