Netbooks - everything you need to know!

One of RSC Scotland’s newsletters has just caught my eye with an interesting article on netbooks or ultra mobile pcs.

In their latest edition of "E-Quality - a netbooks special", Martin Hawksey, eLearning Advisor for the RSC Scotland North & East discusses the pros and cons of netbooks. He discusses a number of things learning providers should consider before investing in them, focussing on their operating systems, issues relating to connectivity, screen resolution, storage and size. He then goes on to address the all important question…

...Which Netbook should I buy?

Net books are becoming increasingly popular in work based learning because of their size, portability and their affordability. They are also useful because a lot of data and applications are now being stored online and staff and students can access these resources from anywhere using these devices. On his blog, Tony Vincent also discusses why they’re making such a big splash.

Like Tony and Martin, I expect we will see a lot more netbooks making their way into education and training, making this E-Quality article useful pre-purchase reading.

We are running several projects ourselves at the moment that focus on how netbooks can be used for teaching/training and will feedback on the experiences from these when completed. In the meantime, this Excellence Gateway case study shows how Nottinghamshire County Council are using these and outlines some of their findings so far.

E-Portfolios for Starters

This short animation shows the benefits of owning and using an e-portfolio. I think its a nice introduction outling some of what an e-portfolio can do. It refers to a learner based in a university but the same could easily be applied to a work based learner.

Thanks to Derrin Kent for sharing it with me.
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Related wobble links:

New Midlands E-Portfolio Group
Use of e-portfolios in assessment
Legal Issues of E-Portfolios (and Web 2.0)

Free Training in Creating and Finding Electronic Learning Resources

If you’re delivering any kind of learning you will know that effective and engaging learning resources can make a real difference to your learner’s experience. Similarly, the success of any e-learning owes much to the quality of the electronic resources it uses.

To support this area and help learning provider staff discover and create engaging electronic resources, RSC West Midlands are holding a free one day workshop that focuses on resources for e-learning.

In this workshop, staff can learn how to create their own e-learning materials using a number of free software packages including the popular Photostory. We will also show you how to search effectively for resources using the web and will show a sample of existing materials that are available for the work based learning sector to freely access.

The day is all about discovery, so all delegates are asked to bring along at least one object or resource that they use in their teaching and that they have found to be useful or popular. (We believe it’s good to share!)

The full day event will take place at Wolverhampton Science Park on 11th March. Places will be limited to two per learning provider and will be allocated on a first come first served basis.

For more information or to book online visit the events page of our website. Look forward to seeing you there!

Photo credit: Andres Rodriguez
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Related links:

Create your own Jigsaws Online
Digital Storytelling with Photostory
Creating E-Resources, Trainers Doing it for Themselves

Upcoming Webcasts - Accessible from where you are

This month and next RSC Scotland have some interesting subjects lined up for a series of webcasts that they’ll be hosting online using Instant Presenter. The webcasts will all be accessible from simple web links and will allow participants to interact with presenters discussing particular topics. Viewers can also interact with other online attendees via text chat.

The following sessions are lined up for the next month:

Using Blogs for teaching and learning (17th February)
Access this session to find out more about blogging and how it can be applied to teaching and training.

Using Voting Systems for teaching and learning (3rd March 2009)
This session will look at the various types of Electronic Voting Systems on the market and how they can be used to make lessons more fun.

Mobile Technologies for teaching and learning (31st March 2009)
This session will outline the possibilities for the application of mobile technologies for teaching and will also highlight some of the issues that need consideration by learning providers.

To access any of these online sessions you’ll first need to follow the urls above and register your interest, RSC Scotland will then take it from there. Then on the day, log in with your allocated url, sit back, listen and enjoy!

Go Mobile - free publication

I’ve just stumbled across an interesting looking publication on a colleague’s desk called “Go Mobile -Maximising the potential of mobile technologies for learners with disabilities”. This new publication has been developed jointly by the Learning and Skills Network (LSN) and JISC TechDis to showcase stories from the Molenet projects. It focuses on the use of mobile technologies for learners with learning difficulties, but also offer of examples of ways that mobile devices can be used more generally to engage all learners.

The case studies show how learning providers nationally are using mobile technologies and once again it’s great to see examples from this region included (good work New College Worcester! As I’ve noted before, us Midlanders really are keen on learning!)

The 60 page booklet also comes with an accompanying DVD ROM which enables everyone to get involved in mobile learning. Its title “Upwardly mobile – getting started in inclusive m-learning” highlights its role as a toolkit for those new to m-learning.

Over in Wales, Helen Hodges notes that the DVD….

“.. contains a huge amount of information with loads of really easy to follow guidance on how to create text, image, audio and video resources (from both the tutor and learner’s point of view) for the mobile devices, using a lot of things that are free or you are likely to have access too already. My favourites so far are:

* using Powerpoint and a free GIF animator (UnFreez) to make animated images for a mobile device … click here for a ‘walkthough’ of how to do this
* making use of a BT phone with the 1571 answerphone service enabled and access to the account online to create an audio mp3 recording … click here for more details...”

I have a few spare copies of the booklet with DVD to give away so if you would like a free copy for your own organisation, send me an email with your name and address and I’ll get one out to you.

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Related links:

Mobile Learning in the Work Based Learning Sector
Ten things learners can do with a mobile phone
Kineo's mobile learning guide (pdf)
Moleshare site for mobile learning resources

New Midlands E-Portfolio Group

With a growing number of e-portfolio users in the Midlands area, the East and West Midlands Regional Support Centres have jointly launched a new online forum to support the region.

The forum "Midlands E-Portfolio Group" or MEG for short, has been set up to offer support for people who are either using e-portfolios or thinking of using e-portfolios as part of their practice. The site should also prove useful as a point of reference and as a place to ask questions of other e-portfolio users.

The online group will also be supported by RSC organized face to face events, which provide opportunities for networking and show and tell sessions to share best practice amongst e-portfolio users.

You don't have to register to use the site, however its worth noting that by registering you will get to actively participate in discussions and ensure you are kept fully up to date on issues relating to e-portfolio usage. To join the group, post messages or register to receive the latest updates, you simply create an account using the 'join the group' link on the right of the main page.

To get started, learn more or read the current discussions simply visit the Midlands e-Portfolio Group page. We look forward to keeping you posted.

Digital Notepads and Their Uses

I’ve mentioned digital notepads on here previously as I was so impressed with how easy they were to use and how they saved me having to type up my handwritten notes. Im pleased to note there is now quite a bit of information available on the web that shows examples of their use and highlights just how flexible a tool they are for learning providers.

For example, here, a recent Excellence Gateway case study shows how Training for Travel (TFT) has been using a digital notepad to meet their training assessment needs.

“Training for Travel (TFT) has implemented the use of digital notepads, enabling their assessors to fill in written assessment report forms when out ‘in the field' with learners, at the same time generating a digital copy of the report which can be downloaded and delivered electronically. Production of the digital reports... has made TFT more efficient in the process.”

On this page, RSC North West hosts a video which gives a demonstration of what can be done with a digital notepad: http://www.rsc-northwest.ac.uk/content/view/614/205/

In a podcast also accessible from their website, “Sarah Nelmes, of Training for Travel, talks about why they chose to use digital notepads, their experiences of using them, and how they plan to use them in the future. Sarah explains how the use of digital notepads has increased turnaround time. She goes on to explain who they chose digital notepads over similar technology... and how they would like to develop their use of these notepads for ePortfolio evidence”.

Relect on the use of Blogs and Wikis

In the latest issue of Reflect, Liz Boyden suggests some ways of using Web 2.0 technologies in the classroom. She covers blogs and wikis so if you haven’t used any of these tools yourself, want to know more or want some ideas of how they might be used by learners, then this is a good article to read.

I particularly like how Liz uses Tumblr, a blog that enables learners to put short multimedia posts on their own webspace, including photos, text, video clips and sound files. For work based learning, this could be particularly useful for also hosting the kinds of electronic information that currently goes into an e-portfolio.

Liz notes:

“….Tumblr was the most successful blog application used in the project. It has a visually attractive layout and potential for learners to create a professional-looking webspace … Learners could post photos from Google images and then make a text post explaining the image. A particularly successful use of Tumblr was as a daily online diary when learners were on work experience.”

As well as reading the article, you can also watch a short video on Liz’s own blog to hear more about their learners using their new Tumblogs.

In the article, Liz also gives some good hints and tips for using blogs and wikis, much of which also links in nicely with the advice JISC Legal gave last month regarding legal implications of using web 2.0 tools.

There’s clearly some good work going on at the Project Experimental Teaching (PET) project and I look forward to reading more about how it develops!

Funding Updates and ALP Showcasing Best Practice

Last week I attended the Provider of the Future event run by the Association of Learning Providers. This was a good event with a mix of presentations and opportunities to speak with providers who had done some pretty impressive things with e-learning.

My colleague Stan Unwin of the East Midlands Regional Support Centre has nicely summarised the events of the day in his blog post on Innovate so if you couldn’t make the event and were keen to find out what it covered please read his summary.

Key things to note:

· “Chris Swingler (ALP National Projects Development Officer) confirmed that the LIG 4 exercise had attracted bids to the value of £14 million against a funding pot of £4million. Great to see so much interest although as Stan notes it will mean some disappointment for some. (Results of this latest bidding round are being announced this week).

· Skills Capital Funding - Laurence Leader (LSC Capital Policy Director) announced details of new capital funding, aimed at non college providers and intended to “…give a wider range of training provider’s access to new investment which will enable them to develop and deliver specialised services, such as Apprenticeships and work-based learning.” More details on Innovate.

· 3 showcase presentations demonstrated what providers had achieved with previous rounds of LIG funding. Attendees got the chance to speak with other providers about what they were doing with e-learning.

· Lesley Price (BECTA, Head of Regeneration & Skills) spoke about the new BECTA initiative ‘Next Generation Learning at Work’ and made a plea for providers to get involved.

Thanks Stan for providing such a comprehensive outline of the day with supporting resources and links. I’m looking forward to learning which new LIG 4 projects will be funded this week, and the possibility of a ‘Provider of the Future 2009’.

Create your own Jigsaws Online

I just love tools that re easy to use and that’s staff can get up and running with minimum fuss and on that basis here’s another winner. Jigsaw Planet is “…a great little free online tool for creating online jigsaws from your own digital images. Ideal for using with interactive whiteboards or tablet PCs.”

This is a great free addition to a tutor’s e-learning toolbox. It allows you to very easily create jigsaws using your own images and host these for your learners to use. You can set the level of difficulty, set the cut-out shapes and learners can even get a ghost outline of the image to help them if they are having difficulty completing the puzzle.

To see how it looks here’s one I started earlier. Click the image below to see a larger screenshot or access the puzzle online.

The software is absolutely free and there no registration required. You just upload your image and go.

If you use it please do let me know how you get on and how your learners like it. Who knows your jigsaws might also come in useful to me when I have the odd coffee break to fill! :-)

(Thanks to Kirsty for the link).