The Wales-Wide Web

Guardian Unlimited Arts | Arts news | Finland sends in the heavy metal mob for its Eurovision challenge:

A bit of culture for the blog - courtesy of the Guardian web site. I'll be voting for them.

"The trauma of losing the Eurovision Song Contest can do funny things to a country. In Finland, where the words "nul points" are burned into the national psyche, they have decided to take radical action and appoint hard-rocking death metal band Lordi as their Eurovision entry for 2006."

Lordi's official web site can be found here.

Tonia emails me from West Wales

"My website can be found at http://bitter.custard.org, she says (love the name)

I bring it to your attention because I suppose it's an early version of eportfolio, now with added blog".

And so it is - it is a great example of what a portfolio should be - personal and creative. Tonia is using her new blog as a public sounding board for developing her work with schools.

It is always good to here from other Welsh edu-bloggers. With that in mind I have set up a Technorati tag - Walesedubloggers. If enough of you start using it I will set up an aggregator.

And how about a Welsh edubloggers meet up? Who is interested? We could meet in Clwb y Bont in Pontypridd. OK - I know its is not central but it is a cool place with a free broadband network. Email me if you would like to be involved.

Technorati Tags: e-learning, e-portfolios, Walesedubloggers

Quotable stuff from Clay Shirky speaking at the O'Reilly Emerging Technology Conference last month, as reported by Nathan Torkington.

Social software is the experimental wing of political philsophy, a discipline that doesn't realize it has an experimental wing. We are literally encoding the principles of freedom of speech and freedom of expression in our tools. We need to have conversations about the explicit goals of what it is that we're supporting and what we are trying to do, because that conversation matters. Because we have short-term goals and the cliff-face of annoyance comes in quickly when we let users talk to each other.

Technorati Tags: social software

Update: Mike Malloch bookmarked some more notes from the Shirky talk:

If you have javascript enabled, you should see a live linkroll of the items Mike tagged below.

An email from Riina Vuorikari - speaks for itself I think. The document is attached at the bottom of this post.

"To whom it may concern,

Please find attached the answer to the community consultation regarding patents in EU.

The concerns in this document represent the views of more than 400 e-learning practitioners, teachers, learners, parents, researchers, decision-makers, e-learning providers and developer who do not want to allow the future patent policy in Europe to threaten technology enhanced learning in European education, which has become a key element in providing education to prepare Europe to participate creatively, technologically and economically on a global level.

Our views do not only seek to improve innovation and competitiveness, growth and employment in the knowledge-based economy in Europe, but also to provide better education to all learners in Europe.

On behalf of more than 400 signed e-learning practitioners, (please see them on-line and read more about our on-going campaign)"

consultation_e_learn#1FA314.rtf

Technorati Tags: e-learning, patents

Completely bogged down in project management and administration and endless meetings at moment - little time to compose anything interesting, still less for keeping up with the ongoing debates.

One thing I have been meaning to post is an account of the JISC Online Conference ‘Innovating e-Learning 2006’ held the week before last.

This was the first on-line conference I had ever participated in and - to be honest - I was sceptical beforehand.

How could a conference work without the social interaction - and evening drinks - which characterize face to face gatherings. Would there be meaningful discussion or would the discussions more resemble chat room inanities. Would it be possible o concentrate on an on-line conference for a sustained period of time.

The conference was organised in topics, each with a number of parallel sessions. Just as in a face to face conference, each session had an introduction. These varied a bit in format - form downloadable 'traditional' conference papers' to flash based transparencies with audio to full multi media in different formats.

Certainly the availability of the papers prior to the conference made preparation much easier.

At first I tried to follow all the strands but rapidly realised that this was not possible. I found it a bit difficult dipping in and out - there was not the luxury of being away form the office.

On the other hand, the on-lien format allowed me to commit myself over four of the five days the conference lasted - this would not have been possible in a face to face event.

Best of all was the quality of the discussions. perhaps I am being unfair comparing the conference with a face to face event but that is all I have to compare it with. And the discussions were - as a whole - more focused, more interesting, faster moving and of a much higher standard than in comparable events.

there were many, many interesting issues raised and I will try to write about some of these over the next couple of weeks - in the meantime one session I particularly enjoyed was on Mobile Technologies organised by James Clay from the Western Colleges Consortium (WCC) for Online Learning.

The conference is still open for viewing but you need to be registered. The highlights can be found on the e-Learning Focus website  and on the JISC website.

All in all, an impressive and enjoyable event.

Technorati Tags: e-learning, pedagogy

I have spent much of the last three weeks learning something about multi media. OK - I talk enough about it - and I just thought it was time to do it. A steep learning curve - learning howe to use video and sound editing software, learning how to get the stuff published and learning at the same time something about presentation and design.

I've enjoyed it but I am certainly not happy with the results. I have been a bit reluctant to publicize any of this stuff but guess I have to let go at some time.

So - here is my first podcast. Lets call it an Alpha. I can improve the quality. But more importantly the item is too long - nine minutes on one subject is too much for a podcast like this.

It will rapidly evolve. I am working on a new European Commission funded project called Bazaar. The Bazaar project aims to develop and support a community of practice for teachers, trainers, moderators and facilitators in the development, creation, exchange and use of e-learning materials." (now you know why I thought it was about time to learn myself.

I hope to produce a regular (weekly - or is this too ambitious) podcast - 'Sounds of the Bazaar'. Am working ion the format at the moment. If anyone would like to contribute please get in touch.

In the meantime you can listen to the 'Alpha' here.

The first in a series of Bazaar productions

This podcast is about the ideas behind the Personal Learning environment. It reefers to the origins of the PLE, in dissatisfaction with older forms of educational technology and concerns over institutional control. However it goes on to question whether the PLE is really the answer, suggesting the use of freely available Web 2 tools for learning might offer a better way forward.

Podcast notes:

• ELGG Learning Landscapes - www.elgg.net
• JISC Personal Learning Environment Project (Plex) - www.cetis.ac.uk/members/ple/

Credits:

Script, voice and production: Graham Attwell

Opening music:

Taqaima

Closing music:

Sunrise by Deutscheun Child

Technorati Tags: Open content, Open source, OSS, oss_education, podcasts

Had a bad day yesterday. Got into an argument with T-online - my internet provider who have cut off my connection at home (OK, I forgot to pay the bill).

In moment of anger I decided to switch to Nordcom - who are a lot cheaper. But, of course, Telecom controls the local loop and are making it hard to switch - it seems it will take eight to ten weeks.

This is basic economic infrastructure - it should not be left to these private companies. We have the worst of all worlds in Germany. A private monopoly hanging to the grim death to its privileged position in the market.

I was talking with Peter Baumgartner yesterday. I am more ever interested in the use of shortish - say about 10-15 minute - audio and slideshows as a quick method of creating (open) educational materials. OK - there is not much interactivity in a slideshow. But neither is there is a written document. the issue is how the slideshow is used - the content, the context, the learning activity in which it is embedded etc.

Peter was concerned that we are developing a culture where the attentions pan of individuals is becoming ever shorter. I am unconvinced. Peter talked about the importance of books for 'deep' learning. I agree.

But I can (just about) remember when I was at university. I rarely read a book from end to end. I dipped in and out, read particular chapters, read the introduction and conclusion, read a review. That seems little different to how we may now use audio visual content.

And it does not imply a short concentration span. Concentration is on the overall topic. materials - be they in any form - are just parts of the process of enquiry into that topic. the learning is in assessing the materials, developing a critical approach and forming one's own opinion and hopefully, expressing that opinion. Computers can help us in that process.

So I am in optimistic mood.

This weekends exercise - to make a ten minute slide show with audio. Watch thsi spot.

Technorati Tags: e-learning, education and training research, informal_learning, Personal_Learning_Environments

I am getting more and more excited by the potential of multi media through the web.

Dave Tosh introduced me to Dave Cormier who has set up the Webcast Academy - I love the pedagogy behind this.

"The goals of the Webcast Academy include

• increasing the number of people who are capable of producing live, interactive webcasts
• applying the open source community approach to skill development
• creating a place that formally recognizes proficiency, excellence, and innovation in these new media skills."

And Dave showed me the WebheadsinAction site - this is indeed cool stuff.

"Webheads is a world-wide, cross-cultural, and vibrant online-community of educators with an open enrollment for anyone who wants to join. Webheads in Action was created in 1997-8 by Vance Stevens, in Abu Dhabi, Maggi Doty in Germany, and Michael Coghlan, in Australia, for ESL learners and facilitators as a student-teacher community. It has expanded to encompass a myriad of educators involved in e-learning in TESOL EVOnline (Electronic Village) and other language or cultural-based curricula. Webheads meet online regularly to explore the latest synchronous and non-synchronous communications technologies, including video and voice, to adapt and demonstrate new innovative ideas for e- learning and classroom curriculum. These educators also display a deep warmth and dedication to helping others. They are evolutionary and enterprising scholars who are harmonious and know how to have a lot of fun."

Technorati Tags: communities of practice, edublogs, Open content, Open source, podcasts

Media Arts Education:

From Daniela's blog:

"I am thinking, reading and writing about the misconceptions of intelligence and creativity taken for granted in education and research. There is a paper in progress on such issues in the context of media arts education scenarios. The split of academic and scientific skills on the one side and artistic abilities on the other side which hampers non-hierarchical interdisciplinary education processes can be seen as a sort of applied academic illusion."

I think this is very important. Gardener's work on multiple intelligences (see infed for excellent summary) has been used to perpetuate the split Daniela talks of (I am not sure whether he intended such a split - anyone have any views on this). We have to see learning as a process which involves all of our 'intelligences' - not separately but as a holistic process.

Technorati Tags: e-learning, medialiteracy

Interesting s series of posts by Tom Hoffman who is looking at the idea of seeking to have the Pacesetter English curriculum released under an open content license, such as a Creative Commons license.
Tom says "The most obvious question is "Why?" What would the goals of this project be?
The most direct goal is to save the curriculum from oblivion. Pacesetter English represents untold thousands of hours of work throughout the 1990's by many of the leading experts on English instruction, as well as classroom teachers who helped develop and test the work. .... Since all the contents of Pacesetter are proprietary, everything that was learned in its creation and embodied in its texts will simply be inaccessible, lost to the world. This would be a tragic waste."
I think the issue goes further than not wasting the effort of the curriculum developers. It raises questions about what we are trying to achieve in developing Open Content for education. Of course Open Content learning materials and multi media are a boon to teachers. But there is some doubt over how prepared and easy teachers are in using other peoples learning designs.
But Open Content materials on their own do not provide a learning programme. I have written much on informal learning and learner driven(or auto-didactic) learning. However there is a case to say that learners - even those motivated to learn in their own time out of need or interest, need some form of guidance in developing ideas and knowledge. Such guidance has traditionally been contained in curricula.
A big issue - and one that Tom begins to explore - is what form an Open Curriculum might take, How far is a a guide to teachers in help them structure their teaching programme - and how much might it be a guide for learners to assist them in structuring their own learning?

Technorati Tags: edublogs, Open content, oss_education

elearnspace: Requiring Online Learning:

I track George Sieman's elearnspace blog and usually agree with George. But this time I think he gets it wrong. I completely agree when he says our schools are outdated and we are not teaching tech skills kids need today.

But learners are getting those skills - they are teaching themselves. They are learning informally. The big problem is that schools are becoming irrelevant to for learners.

Its change or die, I fear. I used to talk about a coming paradigm shift. I now am increasingly fearful for the future of the public education systems. Or am I just being paranoid?

Anyway this is what George says:

"Our learners don't have the skills they need to learn today. We've taught learners how to learn in a classroom, how to memorize, how to take true/false, mutliple choice test, etc. Essentially, we've given our learners the skills they need to navigate our education system today. But things are changing, and unfortunately, it appears that our educational institutions are slow in responding (Dave Warlick has recently done some good thinking on this subject with his notion of "flat classrooms"). Our students are graduating with skills that would have served them well 20 years ago. Today, a learner needs a skill set that reflects the environment in which they will be working."

Technorati Tags: education and training research, pedagogy, young people

Sorry to be so quiet for the last week.

I have been working intensively on a few things.

The big thing I have been doing is developing a new e-learning programme for teaching evaluation to adult education teachers. trying to use social software and rich multi media. It is enjoyable, absorbing and time consuming. It also uses a lot of equipment.

Am in Rome at the moment but back in the office tomorrow. Here is a picture of the state of my desk at the moment.

Technorati Tags: e-learning