E-TeachUK

Geospace Cloudy with a chance of Earthquakes

2011-12-06T16:14:00.001-08:00

Some earthquakes occur underneath abnormally warm patches of atmosphere that form just hours or days before the Earth starts to rumble, according to preliminary reports from American and Russian scientists.

Geospace

Augmented Reality in Education

2011-10-03T06:26:00.001-07:00

Augmented Reality for Smartphones

This report should help developers and content publishers who want to take advantage of the latest developments in smartphone and augmented reality (AR) technology to create novel and exciting new learning experiences. Not so long ago, augmented reality was an experimental technology that rarely left the lab and required a high level of technical expertise and knowledge to create new applications. Now, thanks to advances in smartphone hardware, AR technology is much more available and easily accessible for users and developers alike

tags: AR smartphones augmented_reality
SCARLET (Special Collections using Augmented Reality to Enhance Learning and Teaching)

The Benefits of using Augmented Reality in Education

tags: augmented_reality benefits education
Classroom Learning with AR

Applications of Augmented Reality (AR) may be used in many ways to provide

tags: AR augmented_reality learning
An Interactive Augmented Reality System for Engineering Education

This paper presents an innovative approach to enhance students’ learning and understanding of digital design using complex commercial design flows. The architecture of our experimental system is based on new technologies such as Augmented Reality (AR), XML metadata, and an XML integrated database system

tags: engineering augmented_reality
Introducing LearnAR

LearnAR specialist education using augmented reality

tags: augmented_reality
6 Smart Augmented Reality Apps

6 Smart Augmented Reality Apps

tags: apps augmented_reality
Augmented reality meets D&D-style gaming

Dungeons & Dragons and other turn-based strategy games are alive and well. Gamers paint elaborate miniature fighters, monks, thieves, and monsters and send them out to battle on tabletops around the world. OggBoard, a new Kickstarter project, is looking to bring those characters to life without plastic or paint. The concept is to mix augmented reality with board games so that knights and creatures take shape on your iPhone

tags: augmented_reality games
Wearable Displays: Mobile Device Eyewear

Mobile device eyewear, currently in the initial development phase, would combine Microvision's ultraminiature PicoP display engine with special optics that are embedded into fashionable or protective eyeglasses

tags: augmented_reality eyewear
Augmented Reality in Education (WikEd)

Template:Newpage. by Karen E. Hamilton (View ETC: Advancing Learning presentation on http://www.authorstream.com/Presentation/k3hamilton-478823-augmented-reality-in-education/

tags: augmented_reality
Augmented reality in action - maintenance and repair

Augmented reality in action - maintenance and repair

tags: augmented_reality
How The New York Times, Others Are experimenting with Augmented Reality

(Dorian Benkoil, poynter.org, 30 October 2009.) This post discusses how The New York Times and other publishers are exploring the use and application of augmented reality. The author also suggests how AR can be used in conjunction with other technologies such as the semantic web and smart objects.

tags: augmented_reality
How Augmented Reality Apps Can Catch On

(Mac Slocum, O’Reilly Radar, 13 October 2010.) This article discusses standards for development of AR applications.

tags: augmented_reality
Delicious: Augmented Reality

Follow this link to find additional resources tagged for this topic and this edition of the Horizon Report, including the ones listed here. To add to this list, simply tag resources with “hz11” and “augmentedreality” when you save them to Delicious.

tags: augmented_reality
Collaborative Augmented Reality in Schools

(Lyn Pemberton, Marcus Winter, University of Brighton, 2009.) This brief research paper discusses the use of augmented reality for collaboration and learning, and describes a specific collaborative project deploying three AR prototypes.

tags: augmented_reality
Blended Reality: Superstructing Reality,

(Kathi Vian, Institute for the Future, 4 March 2009.) This in-depth report looks at the impact of augmented reality as it is increasingly integrated into technology and society, focusing specifically on the transformation of sensory perception and its implications culturally.

tags: augmented_reality blended_reality
Augmented Reality - Its Future in Education

(Mark Smith, publictechnology.net, 15 November 2010.) This post offers a look at how augmented reality can have an impact on education.

tags: publictechnology augmented_reality education
Text Spaces in Augmented Reality

Text Spaces in Augmented Reality is a project at the University of British Columbia using AR in conjunction with text. The project gives many examples and a list of references related to the subject.

tags: augmented_reality
Skidmore Campus Map

The Skidmore GIS Center used augmented reality to create the Skidmore Campus Map.

tags: augmented_reality
Radford Outdoor Augmented Reality (ROAR ) Project

ROAR is an augmented reality game developed by researchers in the Games, Animation, Modeling and Simulation (GAMeS) Lab at Radford University. The project uses AR to help teach K-12 students more about Native American history and teamwork through a game called Buffalo Hunt. The project was done in collaboration with HP Labs and MIT.

tags: MIT augmented_reality ROAR
Powerhouse Museum Augmented Reality

The Powerhouse Museum has developed an augmented reality application that allows visitors to use their mobile phones to see Sydney, Australia, as it appeared one hundred years ago.

tags: augmented_reality

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Qualcomms Augmented Reality

2011-09-19T10:44:00.000-07:00

View More Qualcomm Videos

Learn how easy it is to build an AR app using Qualcomm's AR SDK with the Unity extension. The AR SDK utilizes computer vision technology to tightly align graphics with underlying real world objects.

Augmented Reality and Education

2011-09-01T03:42:00.000-07:00

Augmented Reality in Education

Augmented Reality Explained by Common Craft

A nice video showing the concept of augmented reality (AR ) in a way that could by easy incorporated into educational textbooks, adding that extra dimension to paper medium. The technology to achieve this is already available and adding a AR code marker will be as common as adding a web address.

Mixed Reality Book:- Earth Structures

http://www.youtube.com/user/Larngear

Text book including code marker showing a 3d molecular structure.

Video outlining Future of Education Augmented Reality

Example of Augmented Reality you can try at home click here

Examples of Augmented Reality use in Education

"Schools Minister Vernon Coaker MP has launched this interactive web-based product designed to encourage pupils in Years 6 and 7 to be inspired and excited by science.

Scimorph uses the latest 'augmented reality' technology to present Key Stage 2 science topics in a fun and interactive way to support teaching and learning both at home and in the classroom.
Scimorph is a simple 3D animated character who responds to interaction from users: you can take Scimorph through various activity areas which affect him in different ways, including exploring the effects of gravity. The package has supporting material for parents and teachers which is available to download from the directgov website. "

SciMorph

EduAR

Some nice simple applications, puzzles, geography and mathematics.

Imaginaliity Unleashed.
Imaginality Unleashed is a unique product that consists of software and some physical, handheld paddles. It is used with a standard PC and webcam. When you point the webcam at a paddle, you see a virtual, 3D object hovering above it, which can interact with objects on other paddles.

Links@

http://www.hitl.washington.edu/artoolkit/
ARToolKit Marker Generator Online
http://flash.tarotaro.org/blog/2008/12/14/artoolkit-marker-generator-online-released/
SciMorph
http://scimorph.greatfridays.com/#/home
Larngear
http://www.youtube.com/user/Larngear
Imaginality Unleashed
http://www.mindspacesolutions.com/imaginality/iuhome.html

Previous E-teachUK Blog Post:- Wikitude and Augmented Reality http://muppetmasteruk.blogspot.com/2010/01/wikitude-and-augmented-reality.html
Augmented reality (AR) is a term for a live direct or indirect view of a physical real-world environment whose elements are augmented by virtual computer-generated imagery. It is related to a more general concept called mediated reality in which a view of reality is modified.

Imaginality Unleashed - Exciting Hands-On Educational Software ...
Augmented reality educational Software
tags: augmented reality AR educational software
Teachernet, News
Schools Minister Vernon Coaker MP has launched this interactive web-based product designed to encourage pupils in Years 6 and 7 to be inspired and excited by science.
tags: 3D animated character augmented reality
New Smart Devices for Learning
An invited presentation on new and emerging technologies for learning, for the Learning Technologies 2010 Conference, held at Olympia 2, London, UK
tags: AR augmented reality e-learning web 3.0 future technology learning
Tagging the world on a phone
Augmented reality (AR)using iphones,tagging the world using air tags.
tags: air tag augmented reality AR
junaio - Make the world yours
Augmented Reality tagging
tags: junaio augmentedreality augmented ar

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Augmented Reality Fieldtrips

See more presentations by muppetmasteruk | Upload your own PowerPoint presentations

Bing Maps Apps
Bing Maps powered by Microsoft Silverlight gives you added features like Map Apps, Street view and whats nearby.
There are a number of Apps available depending which country you are looking at, for example Streetview is only available for major cities in North America, below are a few examples.

For the full functions available and the fantastic Augmented Reality the following video from
TED2010, Blaise Aguera y Arcas demos new augmented-reality mapping technology from Microsoft. (Recorded at TED2010, February 2010 in Long Beach, CA.)

Mark Rollins Feb 15th 2010.

The following is a blog inspired by a video from Singapore that came to my attention on the same day I received a copy of Lord Puttnams video "We are the people we've been waiting for" (I've still to view it).
I see Augmented Reality playing an increasing role in future education, but my concern is that at the moment there are a diversity of formats and applications that vie for the title; the Apple iphone, Android phones and PDA and the new iPAD just to name a few. But maybe the answers lies in the following videos.
The first is the video from Singapore showing the concept of an Augmented Text Book, part of Singapores ‘Intelligent Nation’ in 2015 vision.

In order to achieve this a transparent screen would seem to be the obvious way to take it, negating the need to transfer the image from a camera....enter the second video showing a Samsungs OLED transparent screen that will be on sale in the very near future. reghardware

So image the combination of a device that can use GPS, a transparent screen to augment reality with a world full of accessible data at their "augmented" finger tips.

The future of education is on the cusp of a fundamental change with technology driving the way students will learn and access data(an the way we teach them), a device that augments their learning experience will, I believe play an important if not vital role, but this device must be universal and as accessible to children in an African village as the front row of a lecture theatre.

Vision based input system

"The new technology doesn’t seem to have an official name yet other than being called a vision-based Input Interface. What it allows for is five-finger gesture input on a device like a phone just by using the embedded single-lens camera. Not only that, but it is able to register depth as well as standard 2D movement therefore making it capable of detecting 3D motion input."

SixthSense

At TEDIndia, Pranav Mistry demos several tools that help the physical world interact with the world of data -- including a deep look at his SixthSense device and a new, paradigm-shifting paper "laptop."

Basically, Sixth Sense is a mini-projector coupled with a camera and a cellphone—which acts as the computer and your connection to the Cloud, all the information stored on the web. Sixth Sense can also obey hand gestures, like in the infamous Minority Report.

Links

http://www.ted.com/talks/pranav_mistry_the_thrilling_potential_of_sixthsense_technology.html

What tools are ?available

wikitude (wikipedia) and wikitude me
Layars
Brightkite
My tracks
Google Latitude

Example of augmented Reality and Fieldwork.
Image students armed with a wikitude or Layars enabled smartphone, they reach the first stop on their River or geological field trip.

The teachers says...." OK using your mobile GPS locate and mark on you maps/notes your location and use my track or google latitude to record place mark.

The teacher having previously created a Google maps or a wikipedia entry, with location/placemarks already recorded and information in the form of notes placed on the Google map.

"ok lets look at this location, what is the rock type here? if you are unsure refer to your Augemented Reality notes"....... at this points the student point their phones at the outcrop to see a Google layar showing location 1, clicking on this opens a set of explanatory notes or a set of clues, a close up photo of the rock, or even a youtube video the teacher recorded beforehand on a previous trip.

Augmented Reality on Google Maps using Junaio
Junaio is a mobile and online platform that lets users create, explore and share information using augmented reality and location-based content. Users can place 3D objects, twitter messages or websites into the real world and then share their creations with friends through social networks.

Suggested benefits:-

allow independent investigation of scenarios.
can be used by a teacher for whole class demonstration,
by students in a classroom through laptops, netbooks and desktop computers or,
by students exploring at home.
increased student engagement
helps to explain difficult concepts

The 2010 Horizon Report predicts how emerging technologies will affect teaching and learning worldwide:-

"says that in the short term mobile technology will have the biggest effect on pedagogy. However, within three years, e-books and "augmented-reality" technology will also play a major role in universities."

"So-called "augmented reality", where digital information is overlaid on to the physical world, will become central to teaching in technical subjects, the report anticipates."

One such example is the HARP (Handheld Augmented Reality Project) an “augmented reality” game designed to teach math and science literacy skills to middle school students.
Developed by MIT in which students move around a physical location, such as their school playground or sports fields, a map on their handheld displays digital objects and virtual people who exist in an augmented reality world superimposed on real space.

Augmented Reality (AR) in Education

View more presentations from Steve Yuen

Links@ Blog Post E-teachUK Previous
http://muppetmasteruk.blogspot.com/2010/01/wikitude-and-augmented-reality.html
Gamesalfresco
http://gamesalfresco.com/2008/11/26/how-to-get-the-next-generation-hooked-on-augmented-reality-today/
Environmental Detectives
http://education.mit.edu/ar/ed.html
Article

Mark Rollins

Flipped Classroom

2011-08-29T15:35:00.001-07:00

Created by Knewton and Column Five Media

Qwiki

2011-02-16T13:29:00.000-08:00

What is Qwiki? Well my favourite web 2.0 resource at the moment. It is a multimedia search engine but with a difference, in the fact that the results it returns are presented in an interactive, engaging way rather than merely textually.
I have been using Qwiki as a tool to introduce topic areas by embedding them into our Colleges VLe (Moodle), with a very positive response from the students.

Qwiki gets it information from Wikipedia and YouTube and "intelligently" splices together a visual presentation with sub-titles and options to improve content and best of all the ability to embed them into websites and Moodle.

SpicyNodes (Presentation)

2011-01-30T06:14:00.000-08:00

Just came across this online fantastic....... mindmap with a difference......SpicyNodes.

SpicyNodes is a way to visualize online information that mimics that way that people look for things in the real world. Bits of information — such as text, links, photos, and other media — are placed into "nodes," which are then linked together in an appealing interface that invites exploration. SpicyNodes can be used for everything from mind maps and content portals to organizational charts and lesson plans. Visit our FAQ for more information.

Moodle 2.0 for Teachers:-An Illustrated Guide

2011-01-23T09:10:00.000-08:00

After several interupted weeks I have finally completed the upto date version of my Moodle for Teachers:- An Illustrated Guide, this time for Moodle 2.0.
Moodle 2.0 for Teachers:- An Illustrated Guide, is designed to be a guide for users of Moodle 2.0.
What will you learn from the manual?

• Create and manage course content through adding files, resources, linking to resources, creating and linking to a variety of activities.
• Create quizzes and assessments.
• Create and run forums and blogs within Moodle.
• Embed multi-media, social media; modify blocks to make your Moodle site more dynamic and webpage like.
• Create pedagogic sound courses.
• This is all facilitated by the use of an illustrated guide using actual screen shots.

Open publication - Free publishing - More tutorial

You can purchase my manual at http://www.lulu.com/product/paperback/moodle-20-for-teachers--an-illustrated-guide/14691944?

Moodle 1.9 Screencast How To's

2011-01-02T13:56:00.000-08:00

A compilation of my Moodle Screencast

How to set up a course:-

How to upload a file:-

How to link to resource:-

How to add an Assignment:-

Setting up a quiz in Moodle:-

Adding questions to a quiz:-

How to add embedded video into a Quiz:-

How to create an Audio based quiz in Moodle:-

How to add a Slideshare into Moodle:-

How to embed SMS Poll into Moodle:-

Using Icons in Moodle:-

Hole in the Wall-Sugata Mitra.

2010-12-04T08:24:00.000-08:00

After attending the UK Innovative Education Forum 2010 this week in Manchester I wanted to write this blog and the main the reason I attended the meet, and that was the keynote speech by Professor Sugata Mitra.
"He is the instigator of the Hole in the Wall (HIW) experiment, where in the year 1999 a computer was placed in a kiosk created within a wall in an Indian slum at Kalkaji, Delhi and children were allowed to freely
use it^"http://www.hole-in-the-wall.com/Beginnings.html
The experiment was aimed at proving that kids could be taught by computers, in fact during his talk Prof Mitra quoted Arthur C Clarke saying "those teachers that can be replaced by machines....should be" and the second quote "when learners have interest, learning happens,".
Sugata termed this learning as Minimally Invasive Education (MIE) and during the keynote speech he mentioned Self-Organised Learning Environment (SOLE). The experiment has since been repeated at many place.

Key points from Manchester Talk

There are 1 billion children in the world, and of those 750million have inadequate resources, Prof Mitra illustrated this using a Pyramid and he stated this pyramid exists in both developing and developed world.
He continued by stating that the problems are of "relevance and problems of resources". His initial survey looked at the achievements of the students as he moved away from the centre of Dehli, his finding showing that there was a correlation in distance from Delhi and student achievement showing that the further away from the centre of Dehli the poorer the achievement . After several other investigations he concluded that "remoteness and quality of education was correlated to migration of teachers, better teachers want to move to Dehli and get better conditions". In the UK distribution in the quality of achievement was related to the density of council houses, showing that "the greater the density of council housing the lower the GCSE scores", and "the better teachers wanted to work in better areas". So the reasons for lower achievement in India was geographical whilst in the UK it was social economic factors.

What can we do? The hole in the wall.......

Summary of Findings

Sources @
http://www.hole-in-the-wall.com/Beginnings.html
http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/sugata_mitra_shows_how_kids_teach_themselves.html

Virtual Environmental Survey using Google Street View.

2010-11-28T06:39:00.000-08:00

This project was evolved from wanting to give my A2 Geography students chance to complete a Environmental Quality Survey as part of the requirements for their Pre-release exam Geog 4B. The pre-release material covers the decline and regeneration of Belfast, and after reviewing the pre-release I thought one aspect that they may be asked on was the completion of an Environmental Quality Survey.
With time constraints, money and health and safety being major barriers to actually going across to Ireland I initially thought about completing a similar survey in Manchester, but then I thought most of the aspect of a environmental quality survey ie dereliction, litter, street furniture etc can be identified by using Google Maps Street View. So below is the task and resources I used to set up a "Virtual Environmental Quality Survey".

Aims:- Students to complete a Virtual Environmental Quality Survey in three locations of Belfast:- Inner North Belfast, Duncairn 1 and Duncairn 2 as identified in pre-release material.

Objectives:- Students will identify 5 random location within the study areas of Inner North Belfast, Duncairn 1 and Duncairn 2. Complete an Environmental Quality Survey, collate the information on spreadsheets and produce a short report including introduction method, results , analysis and conlcusion.

Procedure:-
I first ran an introductory session on Environmental Quality Survey and decided on using a Bipolar method.A bipolar survey uses a slding scale for example of 1 to 5 with two opposing views for example Poor Quality Housing to Superior Quality Housing. The spreadsheet below shows this.

Using google maps street view, link to Google Maps

View Belfast Environmental Quality Survey in a larger map

The screencast below shows how to use Google Street View to assess the Environmental Quality of the area, by looking through 360 degrees and using the zoom function to look for litter, graffiti and pavement quality etc. Obviously two things that can not be assessed are Noise and Air Pollution so for our survey we left these out.

Students collated their results on a spreadsheet I had placed on the colleges VLe, (this could also have been done using Google Documents) however, I divided the class into three groups, each group tasked with surveying a separate area, the spreadsheet was automated to calculate the Environmental Quality Survey result, the lower the score the poorer the environmental quality, we then collated the results on the whiteboard at the front of the class(with students copying this down) and the students were then asked to graphically present their findings, analyse their results and draw conclusion.

After speaking with Chris Mason @57Mason today at the #UKief10 he reminded me of a site from which students could have access to Airquality Data http://www.airquality.co.uk/ The UK National Air Quality Archive.

Using Moodle to Complete a Knowledge Survey

2010-10-09T08:03:00.001-07:00

What is a knowledge survey

"A standard Knowledge Surveys consists of many questions that cover the entire content of a course. Questions cover all levels of Bloom's scale of thinking. (From low-level to high-level cognition, the scale goes from knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, to synthesis.)" http://serc.carleton.edu/NAGTWorkshops/assess/knowledgesurvey.html

Knowledge surveys maybe formative (at the start of a course) or summative (at the end of the course).

Why use knowledge Surveys?

They help students learn, help faculty improve their classrooms, and aid departments and programs as they explore new curricula or pedagogies. (Wirth and Perkins).

In the power point presentation given by Perkins and Wirth they state the following reasons for supporting use of knowledge surveys

Knowledge surveys are indispensable tools for instructors and for students.
They aid instructors as they design courses.
Allow for mid course corrections
The surveys provide students with full disclosure of the course objectives and serve as study guides.
Help students develop self-assessment skills
Evaluate the effectiveness of alternative pedagogies.

How do you use a Knowledge Survey?

Students at the start of the course or topic are given a series of question up to 200 in some cases; the students do not answer the question, but give a score of how confident they would be at answering the question. This provides a baseline information about their base knowledge preparation needs.

How do you create one.

Generally a tutor would refer to a bank of exam papers going back over several years. To ensure all parts of the topic/subject are covered a range of questions are sorted in to topics. To ensure all levels of thinking are assessed, the tutor scores the question from one to six based on Blooms Taxonomy.

A useful resource/website divides Blooms Taxonomy in to tabular form with exemplars of terminology and use. http://www.teachers.ash.org.au/researchskills/Dalton.htm

Blooms Taxonomy

Higher Order Thinking

Creating - designing, constructing, planning, producing, inventing, devising, making
Evaluating - Checking, hypothesising, critiquing, Experimenting, judging, testing, Detecting, Monitoring
Analysing - Comparing, organising, deconstructing, Attributing, outlining, finding, structuring, integrating
Applying - Implementing, carrying out, using, executing
Understanding - Interpreting, Summarising, inferring, paraphrasing, classifying, comparing, explaining, exemplifying
Remembering - Recognising, listing, describing, identifying, retrieving, naming, locating, finding

Lower Order Thinking

Sample Knowledge Survey Questions.

Blooms Taxonomy Level	Question
Blooms Taxonomy Level 1	What is the definition of a flood plain?
Blooms Taxonomy Level 2	Outline the basic characteristics of a meandering channel.
Blooms Taxonomy Level 3	Explain why the outer bend of a meander has faster stream flow.
Blooms Taxonomy Level 4	Compare the river regime of a temperate climate with that of an Alpine regime.
Blooms Taxonomy Level 5	Judge the success of a river management scheme using an example from the British Isles.
Blooms Taxonomy Level 6	Design and flood management scheme for your local river system assuming a 1 in 100 year flood event

Using Moodle Feedback with a Knowledge Survey

The Feedback module can be downloaded from http://moodle.org/mod/data/view.php?rid=95

To find out how to create the feedback survey full detail are here......

Bibliography
http://serc.carleton.edu/files/NAGTWorkshops/assess/knowledgesurvey/small_perkins_p.pdf

Understanding What Our Geoscience Students Are Learning: Observing and Assessing

http://serc.carleton.edu/NAGTWorkshops/assess/knowledgesurvey.html

Applying Blooms Taxonomy

http://www.teachers.ash.org.au/researchskills/Dalton.htm

Moodle Documents http://moodle.org/

List of Augmented Reality Sites (Diigo)

2010-10-02T04:47:00.001-07:00

Augmented reality (AR) is a term for a live direct or indirect view of a physical real-world environment whose elements are augmented by virtual computer-generated imagery. It is related to a more general concept called mediated reality in which a view of reality is modified.

Imaginality Unleashed - Exciting Hands-On Educational Software ...
Augmented reality educational Software
tags: augmented reality AR educational software
Teachernet, News
Schools Minister Vernon Coaker MP has launched this interactive web-based product designed to encourage pupils in Years 6 and 7 to be inspired and excited by science.
tags: 3D animated character augmented reality
New Smart Devices for Learning
An invited presentation on new and emerging technologies for learning, for the Learning Technologies 2010 Conference, held at Olympia 2, London, UK
tags: AR augmented reality e-learning web 3.0 future technology learning
Tagging the world on a phone
Augmented reality (AR)using iphones,tagging the world using air tags.
tags: air tag augmented reality AR
junaio - Make the world yours
Augmented Reality tagging
tags: junaio augmentedreality augmented ar

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Taxonomy of Learning Outcomes

2010-08-07T06:21:00.000-07:00

This prezi is based on "Rethinking Learning for a Digital Age: How learners are shaping their own experiences" Rhona Sharpe (Author), Helen Beetham (Author), Sara de Freitas (Author)
It summarises the tasks students could undertake to achieve learning outcomes, by looking at pedagogic approaches and taxonomic tasks and associated elearning technology. Note I have not inlcuded the aims, objectives and assessment.

Taxonomy of Learning Activities on Prezi

Associated links @

http://muppetmasteruk.blogspot.com/2010/06/effective-use-of-guerra-scale-in-moodle.html

E-Learning Tools and Website for Educators (update)

2010-08-01T13:21:00.000-07:00

Before I return to teaching (I know some of you are just finishing)I wanted to sort out e-learning tools and websites I have used and come across in the past year, months or even the last few weeks. Alas, for me school(well College) looms large and DIY chores are taking up much of my time.
So anyway here is my updated selection of tools and websites:-

E-Learning Tools and Websites

See more presentations by muppetmasteruk | Upload your own PowerPoint presentations

Have fun, comments welcome (nice comments) :)

Twiducate

2010-07-28T13:42:00.000-07:00

Twiducate is Social Networking for School.

Create online community of your classroom, share inpiration, ideas, thoughts. Post discussions, deadlines and homework. Quickly create surveys and keep parents informed of daily projects and allow students to collaborate, share ideas and connect with friends outside of school.

Resources links @

http://twiducate.com/

E-Learning Tools for Educators

2010-07-12T17:00:00.000-07:00

E-Learning Tools for Educators

A compilation of WebSites and application useful for educators.
(Right Click Mouse to open in New Window)

Google Documents

Wikitude and Augmented Reality Field visits.

2010-06-26T04:13:00.000-07:00

Augmented Reality Fieldtrips

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Gagnes Nine Events of Instruction and Moodle

2010-06-11T03:56:00.000-07:00

After looking at Guerra Scale in my previous blog, I came across a reference to Gagnes nine events of instruction.

“Robert Gagne is considered to be the foremost researcher and contributor to the systematic approach to instructional design and training. Gagne and his followers are known as behaviorists, and their focus is on the outcomes - or behaviors - that result from training.” (Kruse)

Gagne's book, The Conditions of Learning, first published in 1965, identified the mental conditions for learning, he describes the analysis of learning objectives, and how these different classes of learning objectives relate to the appropriate instructional design. Gagne created a nine-step process called the events of instruction, which correlate to and address the conditions of learning.

It is from this I decided to check my own Moodle Course Geology and Soil Mechanics to see if it followed Gagnes nines events, the results and back ground are outlined in the Embeditin File below.

Effective use of Guerra Scale in Moodle

2010-06-01T06:04:00.000-07:00

I have just finished producing a short manual "Guerra Scale and Moodle" after coming a across a short article by ASTD "The Guerra Scale"" by Tim Guerra & Dan Heffernan http://www.astd.org/LC/2004/0304_guerra.htm . This got me thinking about linking their concept with Moodle.

The basic concept behind the Guerras Scale is the scale outlines the range of content that can be found and used online. It is a scale of one to ten with an increase in interactivity, in which one involves the common experience of simply reading notes/text on screen and ten which denotes total virtual reality.

http://courses.mindedge.com/

Each step up the scale “represents an increase in complexity, functionality, development time, demands for programming skill, demands for instructions design versatility, and demands for more patience and attention from subject matter experts. http://www.astd.org/LC/2004/0304_guerra.htm

Guerra Scale Characteristics

• GS1 is a simple PDF file document.
• GS2 is what many folks in the industry deem a page turner.
• GS3 adds what we refer to as dynamic feedback to tests.
• GS4 integrates movement to the text and graphics.
• GS5 adds elements of multimedia, including audio and static or moving graphics.
• GS6 enables users to input information, which results in a printable workbook after completion of the module.
• GS7 provides users with a knowledge repository in a number of possible ways.
• GS8 adds realistic simulations that use a branching methodology
• GS9 adds real life coaching from top performers and managers.(Role Playing)
• GS10 virtual reality simulations.

Application to Moodle

The table below indicates how a typical Moodle course could be designed to maintain student engagement based on Guerra Scale.

Guerra and Hefferman refer to a zone between GS4 (Guerra’s Scale) and GS7 as the “MTV Culture”; studies indicate that to maintain learners level of engagement it was advisable to place activities and sub activities within this zone ie:-

• Motion (in text, powerpoint etc)
• Multimedia (Video, static photos, audio)
• user input workbook (printable at end)
• and knowledge repository (communities (Wiki, Blog, Twitter)

Question for thought

Guerra Scale was first published in 2004, with computer technology and the advent of mobile learning maybe we should be considering how and where the following aspects could be integrated into Guerra Scale.

• Where does Augmented reality fit?
• Where does social networking fit in?

Full Manual

http://www.lulu.com/static/images/email_headerBeachRead305.png

http://www.lulu.com/product/paperback/guerra-scale-and-moodle/11169783?showPreview

References@

The Guerra Scale Tim Guerra & Dan Heffernan http://www.astd.org/LC/2004/0304_guerra.htm

Applying Pedagogical Concepts in Online Course Development: Experiences from the Mediterranean Virtual University

http://www.bolton.ac.uk/AME/eLearning/eResources/Applying%20Pedagogical%20Concepts%20in%20Online%20.pdf

http://www.wordle.net/show/wrdl/2060188/Guerra_Scale

Issues of choosing the suitable Virtual Learning Environment
http://maxwellsci.com/print/rjit/v2-24-29.pdf

Embedit In

2010-05-23T12:08:00.000-07:00

Just been having a play around with embedit in.

Great online application that makes it easy for you to embed a range of documents (PDF, Word, images, website) right into your wbesite, blogg, VLE etc.
The process is very simple and straight forward, with the ability to modify the look, control access,the ability to markup and highlight specific portions of your document. Put this together with the analytical tools and wider function such as creation of a sitewide embed code, it gives us a simple but powerful tool to enhance your blogg, wiki even a Moodle course and all for free.......

Example of word document

Moodle and Blooms Taxonomy

2010-05-19T04:35:00.000-07:00

I am just putting together the final parts of my latest project linking Moodle to Blooms Revised Digital Taxonomy which I will publish to Lulu in the coming days

Blooms Taxonomy

Blooms Taxonomy is a classification of learning objectives used in education. It is derived from the work of Benjamin Bloom et al. “The Taxonomy of Educational Objectives, The Classification of Educational Goals, Handbook I: Cognitive Domain”.

The original books was only intended to focus on the three main domains; the Active, psychomotor and Cognitive domains.

“Within the taxonomy learning at the higher levels is dependent on having attained prerequisite knowledge and skills at lower levels” (Orlich, et al. 2004).

The goal of this approach was to enable educators to create a more holistic form of education.

Within the three main domains developed a set of six sub-domains, initially as nouns then modified and rearranged using verbs

Blooms Verbs

Creating
Evaluating
Analysing
Applying
Understanding
Remembering

Using the main domains and verb associated with these I created a visual map of each set of verbs using Wordle, for example the figure below shows the the verbs associated with Remembering.

Following on from Wordle and with the aid of Andrew Church’s (Blooms Digital Approach), I devised a hierarchy type diagram linking Moodle activities and assessment to Blooms Domains. From this platform I hope to design Moodle course using appropriate activities and resources to cover Lower Order Thinking Skills to Higher Order Thinking Skills.

One thing to remember is that the processes of remembering, understanding are often intrinsic components of Higher Order Thinking Skills (HOTS) and there are no hard and fast rules to say you must progress through Blooms Taxonomy from lower order skills to higher order.

References@

http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Benjamin_Bloom
http://www.teachers.ash.org.au/researchskills/dalton.htm
Krathwohl, D. R, Anderson, L. W. (2001) A Taxonomy for Learning, Teaching, and Assessing: A Revision of Bloom's Taxonomy of Educational Objectives
Blooms Revised Taxonomy Digital Approach (Andrew Church)
http://edorigami.wikispaces.com/Bloom%27s+and+ICT+tools

Using Moodle to Complete a Knowledge Survey

2010-04-07T14:17:00.000-07:00

What is a knowledge survey?

“A standard Knowledge Surveys consists of many questions that cover the entire content of a course. Questions cover all levels of Bloom's scale of thinking. (From low-level to high-level cognition, the scale goes from knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, to synthesis.)” http://serc.carleton.edu/NAGTWorkshops/assess/knowledgesurvey.html

Knowledge surveys maybe formative (at the start of a course) or summative (at the end of the course).

Why use knowledge Surveys?
They help students learn, help faculty improve their classrooms, and aid departments and programs as the explore new curricula or pedagogies. (Wirth and Perkins),

In the power point presentation given by Perkins and Wirth they state the following reasons for supporting use of knowledge surveys

• Knowledge surveys are indispensable tools for instructors and for students.

• They aid instructors as they design courses.

• Allow for mid course corrections

• The surveys provide students with full disclosure of the course objectives and serve as study guides.

• Help students develop self-assessment skills

• Evaluate the effectiveness of alternative pedagogies.

How do you use a Knowledge Survey?
Student a the start of the course or topic are given a series of question up to 200 in some cases; the students do not answer the question, but give a score of how confident they would be at answering the question. This provides baseline information about their preparation and base knowledge.

How do you create one.
Generally a tutor would refer to a bank of exam papers going back over several years. To ensure all parts of the topic/subject are covered a range of questions are sorted in to topics. To ensure all levels of thinking are assessed, the tutor scores the question from one to six based on Blooms Taxonomy.

To do this with Moodle
Knowledge Surveys and the flexible Moodle Feedback module, allowing you to assess formative and summative knowledge of your students, aid curriculum development and student review of own learning.

Effective Use of Quizzes in Moodle

2010-03-29T06:25:00.000-07:00

Moodle quiz module is an effective and powerful tool for assessing and diagnosing a students performance and in a course enhancing way.
Create quizzes that assess your learning goals, differentiate by creating questions that test knowledge, understanding, application, analysis. (Blooms Taxonomy ).

Use multi-choice questions to quickly assess students, but remember to include plausible answers that are often misconceptions, for example which of the following are glacial depositional features, drumlins or roche moutonnees...... multi-choice with more than one answer pushes the students more than single multi-choice options, eg identify which of the following are glacial erosional features........

Quizzes are an effective method of assessing learning that can be implemented as a plenary activity to assess initial knowledge or understanding of a topic, a midpoint through a topic and most commonly as an end assessment.

A well structured quiz will assess the learning objectives and give relevant feedback, and allows a lecturer to assess levels of comprehension, knowledge, analysis, and ability to evaluate.

How can you use Moodle quizzes?

Review of Text:-

Assessing or checking text, for example if you give students a homework task to read a particular chapter in a book, how could you assess/check a student as done this? You could do this by in class discussion but if your students are like me they could slip under the radar by keeping their heads down in a discussion. But by including a quiz that checks for certain aspects/markers in the book this allows you as a teacher to assess and monitor if the task was completed. This encourages the students to read the text and allows you to assess what students found confusing and finally allows you to give effective feedback.

Mini Test:-

a quick check of learning after a subject, I use this quite often to assess learning of a topic area students have worked through in a lesson, a 5 to 10 minute test at the end of the lesson(remember to assess learning objectives); I often project the results up in the grade sheet; students become quite competitive to see who completes it first and achieves highest mark. This encourages students to actively participate in learning and allows lecturer to see where students are confused and again can lead into effective feedback by reviewing answers in class, individually or as group feedback.

Comprehension exercise:-

Embed a section of text, maybe a newspaper article or video and relate the quiz questions to this, creating questions that assess comprehension/understanding, (remember to differentiate), include questions that require a breadth of knowledge outside the specific text eg how is this related to ...........?

Student Quiz Creation:-

One activity I have done is to have student create quiz questions, if you do this you will need to either allow students access to moodle quiz module? Or have student e-mail the questions and (after vetting) place them on Moodle , also get the students to create question feedback. This is effective as it makes students comprehend and dissect the subject, first to create the questions, the answers and finally feedback, and when done in groups allows for collaborative learning. (In the mean time it gives you a nice bank of questions.)

Short Answer questions:-

Short-Answer questions require a student to respond to a question by typing a word or short phrase, requiring the students to supply an answer, rather than selecting or guessing from options supplied, thus removing some of the bias from the question. This form of the questions is familiar to students and they feel less anxious in examination situations. (http://www.iml.uts.edu.au/assessment/types/short_answer/index.html )

Multi-media quizzes:-

Using multi-media in quizzes to enrich your quiz by including audio or video clips into the body of the question. Questions can vary in response- from one word or several lines to over a page and include forms such as complete the sentence, supply the missing line, problems and exercises in science-based subjects, short descriptive or qualitative answers.

Students respond to information differently, thus, it is often to our advantage as teachers to use many different formats and modes to teach the subject matter of a lesson and also in assessing. Multimedia keep students alert and focused.
It may be an important part of the subject for example language course, music or Sport education for example:-

• Recognise audio excerpts corresponding to text, images, or videos (for example, in music or language courses students have to identify a melody from a music sheet excerpt, or the correct pronunciation of a given text)

• Recognize video scenes (for example, corresponding to a certain dialogue, gestural conversation, and so on)

Adding multimedia to the question body is fairly easy because we can use the HTML editor and just link to a multimedia file, and the Moodle filter will do the rest.

http://www.packtpub.com/article/multimedia-assessments-with-moodle-1.9-part1

This manual is design to be used along side my Moodle for Teachers website http://e-teachuk.co.uk/
enrolment key is Staffdev.

Moodle for Teachers: An Illustrated Guide

2010-03-23T11:06:00.000-07:00

Moodle for Teachers: An Illustrated Guide is created by a teacher for teachers, illustrated using actual screen shots how to complete tasks to help you create your first Moodle course, or make an existing course more dynamic by for example embedding social networking tools such as Twitter into the Moodle framework.

Topics covered include course creation, management and linking to files and web sites, creating and adding activities, adding multimedia, creating collaborative forums, wikis and blog, backed up with instruction on how to create lessons and quizzes.

The manual evolved from a staff development website I created for staff at my college, and over the years I have picked up and evolved tips and tricks to expand the framework of Moodle; so this is very much my take on how to create a Moodle course through experience of setting up more than a dozen or so courses within the college.

I have been using Moodle now for over 5 years and obtained the Moodle Teachers Certificate through Synergy Learning and acted as trainer for Synergy. I am also an E-Leader and PDA (eCPD) and have been interested in E-learning since writing my Cert ED dissertation on the use of Computer Aided Learning (CAL) in the mid 1990's

The manual is available in Hardback or as an Ebook download.
Access to my Moodle site E-TeachUK is free and complements the manual, including short video screencasts and examples.

Using Lessons in Moodle : – An Illustrated Guide by Mark J. Rollins.

Review from Moodle Monthly of Using Lessons in Moodle: An Illustrated Guide.

"What a concept, a lesson on lessons. Yes, I am still new to #Moodle, but I do have a pretty good grasp on how to do everything on a level that I would describe as a above average. One item that does create me some minor discomfort is the lesson module. Well, thanks to @muppetmasteruk for writing a nice, clean guide on lessons. The book is Using Lessons in Moodle – An Illustrated Guide by Mark J. Rollins and it’s available for purchase on Lulu.com (a self-publishing platform) for $9.40 (also available as a digital download for ~$5).

This guide takes you through the basics and gives you some visuals to help illustrate the flow of lessons. I do think that the hardest part for most of us, when creating lessons is working on the flow. Mark, aka @muppetmasteruk, sums it up very well. He reminds us that a lesson is a series of web pages. He touches on the concept of designing your lesson first before trying to put it in Moodle . I know we are supposed to be green but it is ok to use paper; .............................................."

Using Lessons in Moodle:- An Illustrated Guide

2010-03-10T14:14:00.000-08:00

Just a short blog to blatantly push my new book, Using Lessons in Moodle: An Illustrated Guide

Lulu Market Place

Using Tweetfeel as a teaching tool.

2010-02-17T07:02:00.000-08:00

What is Tweetfeel?

"Tweetfeel monitors positive and negative feelings in twitter conversations about stuff like movies, musicians, TV shows and popular brands. We display these feelings in a clear and simple way for you."
Tweetfeel compares your search result against a number of indicators to determine whether someone is generally positive or negative towards your term.

Using it as a teaching tool:-

Starting a discussion point:-

Politics, you could enter Political Part names and see which has the higher negative or positive count. Maybe before asking this you could have the students read "Party Policies" and formulate a group "feel" ie positive or negative and then compare this to the general global feelings via Tweetfeel.

Call to teachers/educators, please use the following voicethread to feedback possible educational uses of Tweetfeel .

Bing and Augmented Reality Maps

2010-02-15T04:42:00.000-08:00

Moodle for Teachers:- An Illustrated Guide

2010-02-11T07:00:00.000-08:00

Moodle for Teachers:- An Illustrated Guide

E-TeachUK Moodle Site

2010-02-10T12:00:00.000-08:00

This is just a quick blog to blatantly promote my Moodle Website E-TeachUK, I developed this a few years ago as part of my Moodle Teachers Certificate (through Synergy Learning), designed to help with staff development at my College.
I have updated and maintained it, adding widgets, embedding slideshares and giving it a more of a "webpage" look.
The site includes explanation of the basics of Moodle, how to set up a course and some more advanced techniques.
This is done using "Flash flip" page instruction documents, video tutorials and lesson plans to follow.

Best of all it is free open access, you just need to create an account and dip in.

Links@

Hosting courses
There are two options: 1. You can either install Moodle on your own server and host it yourself (see typical spec' below);
2. Pay a company to host it for you – they would maintain it completely.
Possible external hosted solutions (and support) are either free or paid for;
Free ones

free http://www.keytoschool.com/ + a list of themes http://www.keytoschool.com/moodle/themes
free @ : http://ninehub.com/
Try out a hosted course for a while for free http://www.learningobjectivity.com/moodle19/
Ewedle.com Moodle Hosting

RSC Northwest

Future Vision of an Augmented Education

2010-02-05T13:30:00.000-08:00

The following is a blog inspired by a video from Singapore that came to my attention on the same day I received a copy of Lord Puttnams video "We are the people we've been waiting for" (I've still to view it).
I see Augmented Reality playing an increasing role in future education, but my concern is that at the moment there are a diversity of formats and applications that vie for the title; the Apple iphone, Android phones and PDA and the new iPAD just to name a few. But maybe the answers lies in the following videos.
The first is the video from Singapore showing the concept of an Augmented Text Book, part of Singapores ‘Intelligent Nation’ in 2015 vision.

In order to achieve this a transparent screen would seem to be the obvious way to take it, negating the need to transfer the image from a camera....enter the second video showing a Samsungs OLED transparent screen that will be on sale in the very near future. reghardware

So image the combination of a device that can use GPS, a transparent screen to augment reality with a world full of accessible data at their "augmented" finger tips.

The future of education is on the cusp of a fundamental change with technology driving the way students will learn and access data(an the way we teach them), a device that augments their learning experience will, I believe play an important if not vital role, but this device must be universal and as accessible to children in an African village as the front row of a lecture theatre.

Moodle and Blooms Taxonomy

2010-01-31T03:04:00.000-08:00

This slideshare is my attempt to link Blooms Taxonomy, through Blooms Digital Taxonomy to activities in Moodle. What needs to be pointed out is that for the Higher Order Thinking Skills several activites may need to be linked to achieve the pedagogic outcome.

Moodle and Blooms Taxonomy

View more presentations from Mark Rollins.

Links@
Blooms Taxonomy Blooms Digital
http://techlearning.com/article/article.aspx?Id=8670

twtpoll :: iPad survey in the style of Top Gear:- Sub Zero, Cool, Uncool , and Seriously Uncool (via @muppetmasteruk)

2010-01-29T07:24:00.001-08:00

twtpoll :: iPad survey in the style of Top Gear:- Sub Zero, Cool, Uncool , and Seriously Uncool (via @muppetmasteruk)

Posted using ShareThis

How does AR relate to my classroom or outside my classroom?

2010-01-29T06:55:00.000-08:00

Suggested benefits:-

allow independent investigation of scenarios.
can be used by a teacher for whole class demonstration,
by students in a classroom through laptops, netbooks and desktop computers or,
by students exploring at home.
increased student engagement
helps to explain difficult concepts

Augmented Reality (AR) in Education

View more presentations from Steve Yuen

Links@Previous Blog Post E-teachUK
http://muppetmasteruk.blogspot.com/2010/01/wikitude-and-augmented-reality.html
Gamesalfresco
http://gamesalfresco.com/2008/11/26/how-to-get-the-next-generation-hooked-on-augmented-reality-today/
Environmental Detectives
http://education.mit.edu/ar/ed.html

Feel sketch and Augmented Reality

2010-01-26T08:35:00.000-08:00

Feelsketch

"Feel Sketch is a fun tool (application) that you can experience AR ,augmented reality, with your own drawings.
Feel Sketch will automatically convert your illustrations and images into PM-Code.
PM-Code can be printed, so the Feel Sketch Browser in the smart phone can read the PM-Code.
The image or illustration that you drew on Feel Sketch will show up on AR".

Screenr showing the basic process.

Links@
Feelsketch http://code.google.com/p/feelsketch/
Applications for Android can be downloaded from market://search?q=pname:jp.co.cia.feelsketchbrowser.

How to Embed Twitter into Moodle

2010-01-24T08:39:00.001-08:00

Just a brief slideshare tutorial showing "how to embed" Twitter into Moodle.

Augmented Reality in Education

2010-01-21T08:24:00.000-08:00

Augmented Reality in Education

http://www.youtube.com/user/Larngear

Text book including code marker showing a 3d molecular structure.

Video outlining Future of Education Augmented Reality

Example of Augmented Reality you can try at home click here

Examples of Augmented Reality use in Education

"Schools Minister Vernon Coaker MP has launched this interactive web-based product designed to encourage pupils in Years 6 and 7 to be inspired and excited by science.

EduAR

Some nice simple applications, puzzles, geography and mathematics.

Imaginaliity Unleashed.

Imaginality Unleashed is a unique product that consists of software and some physical, handheld paddles. It is used with a standard PC and webcam. When you point the webcam at a paddle, you see a virtual, 3D object hovering above it, which can interact with objects on other paddles.

Links@

http://www.hitl.washington.edu/artoolkit/
ARToolKit Marker Generator Online
http://flash.tarotaro.org/blog/2008/12/14/artoolkit-marker-generator-online-released/
SciMorph
http://scimorph.greatfridays.com/#/home
Larngear
http://www.youtube.com/user/Larngear
Imaginality Unleashed
http://www.mindspacesolutions.com/imaginality/iuhome.html

Previous E-teachUK Blog Post:- Wikitude and Augmented Reality http://muppetmasteruk.blogspot.com/2010/01/wikitude-and-augmented-reality.html

Ten Twitter Tools for Educators

2010-01-18T09:47:00.000-08:00

Ten Twitter Tools for Educators

A visual guide to Ten Twitter Tools useful for educators including links to "Suggested educational uses for Twitter "

Twitter Tools In Education

View more presentations from Mark Rollins.

Wikitude and Augmented Reality Fieldtrips .

2010-01-11T05:28:00.000-08:00

Augmented Reality fieldwork using Wikitude Me.

Wikitude Browse the World and Wikitude Me

WIKITUDE World Browser presents the user with data about their surroundings, nearby landmarks, and other points of interest by overlaying information on the real-time camera view of a smart-phone.

WIKITUDE.me, is a community of mobile augmented reality users and shapers, empowered with a powerful tool to embed unique points of interest (POI) and location-specific.

The following video shows how to add POI (Points of Interest) and forms the basic function of creating an Augmented fieldtrip or tour.

Educational Use
The teacher could prepare an Augmented reality fieldtrip by adding a POI (Point of Interest)
along the route which subsequently students could find additional information at relevant points by
launching the Wikiude app or their smartphones .

The camera, GPS and compass is used to calculate where you are in which direction the camera is facing. This allows Wikitude articles that are close to be displayed, these articles or blocks of Wikipedia information could be created prior to the field vist by the lecturer or students could create their own using Wikipedia blocks.

Creating Virtual Field Trips using myTracks and Google My Maps.

2010-01-09T04:28:00.001-08:00

Create virtual field trip using myTracks Android phone and linking to Google Maps.

Mytracks (Googles hidden gem)
MyTracks is an application for your Android^TM phone that enables you to record GPS tracks and view live statistics – such as time, speed, distance, and elevation – while hiking, biking, running or participating in other outdoor activities. Once recorded, you can share your tracks, upload them to Google Spreadsheets and visualize them on Google My Maps.

Need an android GPS enabled phone.

Basic instructions are given on the video, open myTracks application, once GPS fix is established click menu and your are of. As you move mytrack shows you GPS tracks position and elevation.

You can give your track a name, so it could be a geology field trip, and add a description.

Once you have completed you track/field excursion, you can then send your maps to Google My Maps.

During your Track, you have the ability to geotag locations, which can be edited once you go to Google My Maps and enter the edit function.

Google my maps:-
Once you have created a map, you can:

Add descriptive text, including rich text and HTML
Embed photos and videos in your map
Share your maps with others
Collaborate with others New!
Import KML or GeoRSS to your map New!
Open it in Google Earth

At each marker point, you can add (formatted) information, pictures and links. This would be useful for descriptive points student could refer to prior to or after a field trip.

You can add photos to your map, as long as they are hosted online, use a service such as Google PicasaWeb to put your photos online.

I have found it best to use panoramio to store and embed into Google Maps, the reason being that Augmented Reality apps such as Layar can be used to view these photos in an "augmented way".

If you want to make this into "Augmented Reality Trip" (i.e by using the Layar app) be aware it can take several weeks for uploaded pictures to be vetted and made public.

Example of Virtual/Augmented Reality Fieldvisit Nant Ffrancon, North Wales

View Nant Ffrancon in a larger map

Augmented Future

2010-01-05T14:25:00.000-08:00

Vision based input system

"The new technology doesn’t seem to have an official name yet other than being called a vision-based Input Interface. What it allows for is five-finger gesture input on a device like a phone just by using the embedded single-lens camera. Not only that, but it is able to register depth as well as standard 2D movement therefore making it capable of detecting 3D motion input."

SixthSense

At TEDIndia, Pranav Mistry demos several tools that help the physical world interact with the world of data -- including a deep look at his SixthSense device and a new, paradigm-shifting paper "laptop."

Basically, Sixth Sense is a mini-projector coupled with a camera and a cellphone—which acts as the computer and your connection to the Cloud, all the information stored on the web. Sixth Sense can also obey hand gestures, like in the infamous Minority Report.

Links

http://www.ted.com/talks/pranav_mistry_the_thrilling_potential_of_sixthsense_technology.html

Augmented Reality use in a Geology Field Trip.

2010-01-02T06:32:00.000-08:00

What is augmented reality ?

Augmented reality (AR) is a term for a live direct or indirect view of a physical real-world environment whose elements are merged with-, or augmented by virtual computer-generated imagery - creating a mixed reality.

What tools are ?available

wikitude (wikipedia) and wikitude me
Layars
Brightkite
My tracks
Google Latitude

Example of augmented Reality and Fieldwork.
Image students armed with a wikitude or Layars enabled smartphone, they reach the first stop on their River or geological field trip.

The teachers says...." OK using your mobile GPS locate and mark on you maps/notes your location and use my track or google latitude to record place mark.

The teacher having previously created a Google maps or a wikipedia entry, with location/placemarks already recorded and information in the form of notes placed on the Google map.

"ok lets look at this location, what is the rock type here? if you are unsure refer to your Augemented Reality notes"....... at this points the student point their phones at the outcrop to see a Google layar showing location 1, clicking on this opens a set of explanatory notes or a set of clues, a close up photo of the rock, or even a youtube video the teacher recorded beforehand on a previous trip.

Augmented Reality on Google Maps using Junaio
Junaio is a mobile and online platform that lets users create, explore and share information using augmented reality and location-based content. Users can place 3D objects, twitter messages or websites into the real world and then share their creations with friends through social networks.

This is an Augmented Reality field trip.

Article
Mark Rollins

My Personal Learning Environment

2010-01-01T13:18:00.001-08:00

Personal Learning Environment

"Personal Learning Environments are systems that help learners take control of and manage their own learning. This includes providing support for learners to

set their own learning goals(review)
manage their learning; managing both content and process
communicate with others in the process of learning
and thereby achieve learning goals."
Wikipedia

LMS- Institutional
PLE Online
PLE Offline
Intranet

Vle

Moodle
Twitter

Linkedin

Google Search Engine

Delicious

Fleck

You Tube/Online Videos

PowerPoint

Word

Excel

RSS (reader)

G1 Smartphone

Google Earth/Maps

Blogger

Mindmaps

Screenr

Wink

Internet Explorer

Visual Search Engines

igoogle

Slideshare

Evernote

Google calendar

Text Books

Video/TV

Newspapers

Journals

(Lecturers)

Workshops

E-Learning Tools for Educators

2009-11-15T05:28:00.000-08:00

My updated elearning tools, ones that I have found useful for a variety tasks and reasons and would recomend for educators. I mainly teach in the FE and HE sector and found these tools useful to create a viable e-learning kit covering most requirements needed to create an effective and diverse e-learning environment.

E-learning Tools for Educators

View more presentations from Mark Rollins.

e-teachuk

Cloud Computing

2009-11-13T07:38:00.000-08:00

Those folks at Commoncraft have done it again.
Using a simple story of a growing florist business, this video explains - in 3 minutes - the basics of cloud computing: how it works and why it makes sense for businesses and individuals.

Evaluation copy.

http://www.commoncraft.com/cloud-computing-video

Castlerigg Stone Circles via quiksee.

2009-10-28T13:08:00.000-07:00

Just had a play around with quiksee.

Quiksee is a location based online tour creator that uses Google Maps to show the location of created tours.

The site lets photographers and mappers to quickly and easily create stunning visual experiences of real world places.
With Quiksee you can click on a location and start walking around that place as if they were there.

You can film your own Quiksee tour and share it with others, plenty of educational uses there...geography, geology, architects

A story of (E)-Learning:-from failure to success in one year

2009-08-21T05:18:00.000-07:00

Over the last few years the AS results have been well "not good" despite all my efforts and tricks of the trade, in fact last year I had only 68% pass rate (dire), however this year that pass rate as increased to 100%, infact it is 100% success rate, (100% retention.)

I have been a College lecturer for nigh on fourteen years, and very much a strong advocate of IT online, elearning, CAL what ever you want to call it. Indeed I am the VLE/E-Leader (Champion) in the Sixth Form where I work.

For many years I have had my hands tied(not by choice) behind my back with regards to E-Learning, the familiar story (I am sure) of no Internet in the class room, limit LCD projectors, over booked IT rooms; however I have persevered and I have finally (almost)got what I wanted for years......an effective (e)learning environment.

Not for one minute do I believe the success this year is entirely down to "elearning"; but elearning as certainly been a very important aspect and integral part of this success.

These aspect can be summarised as follows:-

Increased Retention
Differentiation of teaching and learning (some through myself studying alternative methods)
Increased and effective assessment.
Course Management
Personal Learning opportunity for students.

What did I do different?

a) First I endeavoured to create a cohesive group, enthusiatic about Geography( yes it can be done). I partly did this by getting the students to design and create a "group T shirt", this was done using online tools, and then each design was voted for (will use SMSPoll this year) and the winning vote printed off at a local shop at a cost of £8.99.

b) an early field visit, relaxed but informative, group work and collaboration; this was preceeded by a virtual field vist using Google Earth. (This year I will get student to upload images onto google maps) and I intend to take along my G1 phone and Air Tag location using wikitude or My tracks.

c)Weekly formal assessments and informal lesson based assessment (often using my exploding Gya Ball, it strikes fear into their hearts when I bring it out, infact it got "nicked" in the end), the students pass the ball around and it randomly explodes(well makes a noise like an explosion) and the student who has the ball gets to answers a question.
Formal assessment is recorded on to the Collge VLE(Moodle), where student can monitor and access their own ongoing marks/grades.

d) Embedding VLE into one full lesson per week(by booking an IT room), this allows me to encourage the student to use the VLE and other online resources, for example I have used Poodwaddle for population studies, timetoast to create time lines and obviously class notes, resources, quizzes and assignment outlines etc.

e) Placed course notes, videos, links to videos (youtube), audio revision notes created using readtheword, podcast and video podcast created by myself and by the students most of them using their own Mobile Phones, online quizzes created and embedding on the VLE which I use as plenary/end of topic self-assessments (the student get competative over their attempts, especially when I put the grade book up on the projector).

f) Plenary session using the LCD project) I dont have an interactive smartboard, and I dont believe they are vital)-short quizzes (my own VLE based) or some I have created using Content Creator (flash based quizzes), geogeaphy based crosswords using EclipseCrossword.
Interactive "drag and drop" exercises created just using Microsoft Word, very simple but effect and interactive.

g) Google Earth for a variety of tasks, one exercise in particular was looking at 3D landscapes when considering the siting of a wind farm, worked very well. Or using the flight simulator to fly over a river system and getting students to count or identify particular river features.

h) and finally and needless to say the use of microsoft word, excel to create documents or students to create graphs eg population pyramids and powerpoint to create presentations, which I now upload as slideshares and embed into the VLE. (next step is to use voicethread for narration).

List of resources:-

My previous Blog:- My top ten e-learning resources.

Odiogo

2009-08-18T16:03:00.000-07:00

Some great potential here to have teachers or students create blogs that can then be downloaded to itunes and listened to. Maybe a revision topic, the summary of a novel, scenes from a play or class discussion. Odiogo

Odiogo :-

Turn readers into listeners, and transform your blog into a high quality, ad-supporting broadcast that can vastly expand your audience reach!

Automatic podcast generation

“Near-human” quality text-to-speech

Listen Button feature deployed in next to no time for WordPress, Blogger, TypePad, BlogEngine.NET and Terapad platforms

Seems like a great way to increase your accessibility.

Using Voicethread in the classroom (Geography)

2009-08-14T16:00:00.001-07:00

Just having a play with voicethread , what a really useful educational tool, that allows students and teachers to collaborate and share ideas online. Great potential, for more ideas see Ideas to Inspire

Resources and links
@voicethread
Voicethread

E-Portfolio Video

2009-08-14T02:24:00.000-07:00

Animation promoting the potential of e-Portfolios to undergraduate students for both assessment and CPD/employment purposes. Produced in-house by the Learning Technology Unit at Southampton Solent ...

My Top Ten E-Learning Tools

2009-08-10T09:53:00.000-07:00

Moodle :-
Moodle still my most used tool. A course management system (CMS) - a free Open Source software package designed to help educators create effective online courses .

Twitter:-
is a micro-blogging social networking, Found this increasingly useful, use mainly for research and feedback from “experts”. There are a number of potential uses with students, eg weather feedback from round the country, student research, group work.

Slideshare:-
enable users to share PowerPoint’s and presentations online, I mainly use this by embedding them into my Moodle courses and Blogs.

Read the Words :-
can be used to to assist students with learning disabilities with their studies, by means of auditory learning and auditory processing. I have used this with students by getting them to “type “ up a summary of a topic and convert into audio. I have slso used them to create audio revision notes.

SMS Poll:-
SMS Poll offers FREE Text Message (SMS) Voting and Polling Solutions that rival a sophisticated Audience Response System at a fraction of the cost. Used this as a plenary activity or with a topic discussion. Students very favorable response to using it.

Google Earth:-
Offers maps and satellite images for complex or pinpointed regional searches. Used this in several ways, virtual field visits, measurement of “Glacial Cirque Orientation”, fly over of features.

Screentoast:-
ScreenToaster is a free web-based screen recorder designed to capture screen activity in real-time to rapidly create and share tutorials, demos, training, lectures and more. Mainly used to create video tutorials

Issuu:-
Issuu turns your documents into beautiful online publications. Look great, animated page turning, very simple. Created flash “documents” and embed these in my Moodle Course, useful because they cannot be copied and pasted.

Timetoast:-
Timetoast is a great way to share the past, or even the future...Creating a timeline takes minutes, it's as simple as can be.

Google Docs:-
Free web-based word processor and spreadsheet, which allow you share and collaborate online. Yet to use this in anger with my students, but like its potential in terms of a PLE tool.

Getting Retweeted

2009-08-07T16:09:00.000-07:00

Getting your blog retweeted

Having someone Tweet your blog can be rewarding, to help with this process a simple and convenient way is by using TweetMeme Button , and by just copying and pasting the provided codes.
The Retweet button is for website and blog publishers that want to encourage their audience to retweet their content on twitter.
With one simple piece of JavaScript this will give you up to date tweet counts and shorten your title and link for the retweets. Best of all it will work on any web page, anywhere!
TweetMeme Button

The second reason for this blog is to test out Apture a really cool little app that helps you to create links and incorporate multimedia into a dynamic layer into your pages.

E-TeachUK: How Stuff Works E-Learning

2009-08-03T08:45:00.000-07:00

E-TeachUK: How Stuff Works E-Learning

E-Learning Resources for Teachers.

2009-08-02T07:43:00.000-07:00

E-Resources (for Teachers)

Before creating this Blog site, I tinkered with collating information and resources for E-Learning and placed this in a Moodle driven website E-Resources, I have now made this open access, so please feel free to take a look (any feedback welcome).

I will continue to add to and amend (time permitting) and suggestion or contributions also welcome.

Getting your Blog Retweeted

2009-08-01T09:08:00.000-07:00

Having someone Tweet your blog can be rewarding, to help with this process a simple and convenient way is by using TweetMeme Button, and by just copying and pasting the provided codes.

The Retweet button is for website and blog publishers that want to encourage their audience to retweet their content on twitter.

With one simple piece of JavaScript this will give you up to date tweet counts and shorten your title and link for the retweets. Best of all it will work on any web page, anywhere!

TweetMeme Button

BBC may broadcast educational programmes if swine flu shuts schools - Times Online

2009-07-28T05:02:00.001-07:00

Could this be the catalyst VLE needs to push its wider use?

BBC may broadcast educational programmes if swine flu shuts schools - Times Online

Shared via AddThis

Is iTune Univsersity better than attending lectures?

2009-07-23T03:44:00.000-07:00

Podcasted lectures offer students the chance to replay difficult parts of a lecture and therefore take better notes, says Dani McKinney.
iTune University was launched two years ago and covers a wide range of lectures, some Universities make lectures available online and even give them credit for attending , some limit use to students enrolled on the courses and some limit down load to discourage students from missing class.
To find out how much students learn from podcasts alone, lectures and a combination McKinneys team presented 64 students a single podcast.
Half of the students attended the class in person and received a printout of the slides from the lecture. The other 32 downloaded a podcast that included audio from the same lecture synchronised with video of the slides. These students also received a printed handout of the material. The students were then tested one week later.

Clear Results

This would seem to indicate students attending lectures and watching podcasts more than once achieve better results than students just using podcasts ie missing the lectures, and surprisingly the lowest achievement was the student who attended the lecture only?!

So does this spell the end of Face to face lectures?

So what are the benefits of postcast? well is seems that they:-

Allow students to revisit lectures and improve learning.

Free up time for lecturers to interact with students rather than just talk at them.

Fill a provision for 21st learners mindset.

References:-

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn16624-itunes-university-better-than-the-real-thing.html

Ibrii

2009-07-21T03:39:00.000-07:00

Ibrii

What is ibrii ? (English) from ibrii on Vimeo.

Create your personal notes
Ibrii can be your personal notebookIt is simple, it is fast and it will help you save a lot of time.

Cut everything you like from web pages
With Ibrii you can cut every content you see in a web page. Photos, text, video,and much more are just a drag and drop away!

Share with other people, even if they do not have Ibrii
Share your contents through social networks, email, instant messaging and much more. Ibrii will change the way you share your information.

My Top Ten E-Learning Tools

2009-07-14T03:39:00.000-07:00

MY TOP 10 E-LEARNING RESOURCES

Moodle
Moodle is a course management system (CMS) - a free Open Source software package designed to help educators create effective online courses

Twitter
Twitter is a free social networking and micro-blogging service that enables its users to send and read each others' updates, known as tweets. Tweets are text-based posts of up to 140 characters, displayed on the author's profile page and delivered to other users - known as followers - who have subscribed to them. Senders can restrict delivery to those in their circle of friends or, by default, allow open access

Wink
Wink is a Tutorial and Presentation creation software, primarily aimed at creating tutorials on how to use software (like a tutor for MS-Word/Excel etc). Using Wink you can capture screenshots, add explanations boxes, buttons, titles etc and generate a highly effective tutorial for your users.

Time Tube by Dipity
A mashup of the YouTube and Dipity APIs. See YouTube videos on a timeline, flipbook, or map view. ... TimeTube. by Dipity.

Read the Words
ReadTheWords.com began as a simple concept in January 2008: To assist students with learning disabilities with their studies, by means of auditory learning and auditory processing.

Mahara
Mahara is an open source e-portfolio system with a flexible display framework. Mahara, meaning 'think' or 'thought' in Te Reo Māori, is user centred environment with a permissions framework that enables different views of an e-portfolio to be easily managed. Mahara also features a weblog, resume builder and social networking system, connecting users and creating online learner communities

Eclipse Crossword
Eclipse Crossword is a great application where you can make and create different puzzles to try your general knowledge.

Google Docs
Free web-based word processor and spreadsheet, which allow you share and collaborate online.

SMS Poll
SMS Poll offers FREE Text Message (SMS) Voting and Polling Solutions that rival a sophisticated Audience Response System at a fraction of the cost.

Google Earth
Offers maps and satellite images for complex or pinpointed regional searches

Who is really using Twitter?

2009-07-13T14:23:00.000-07:00

Who is really using Twitter? is twitter not the latest online fad/gadget?, as with most of the latest gadgets and technologies, teenagers should be using Twitter, but they are NOT according to Matthew Robson, a 15 year old intern, over at Morgan Stanley, who wrote a report on how teenagers are consuming media, and why Twitter isn’t the hot topic in high school halls.

Moodle and Mahara

2009-07-08T09:46:00.000-07:00

Key movement in E-learning is,

Student centred/ collaborative, constructivist (construct knowledge for themselves) view.
Base on this there is a need for PLE “Personal Learning Environments”.

PLE:- Access, Aggregate, configure, manipulate digital artefacts.

Proposal One:-
Combine current VLE with Mahara

What is Mahara:-
Open source e-portfolio system, students can collect, reflect on and share achievement and development online, social networking facilitator, network through groups, blogs and forums.

Issues in E-learning

2009-07-07T07:32:00.000-07:00

I pose this question:-

What is the most important issue in e-learning?

Google Wave Presentation

2009-07-06T10:35:00.000-07:00

A cut down 10 min version of Google Wave presentation, this 10-minute video shows the highlights and some of the possibilities without requiring the full time commitment of the full preview.

'iTunes university' better than the real thing - science-in-society - 18 February 2009 - New Scientist

2009-07-06T09:31:00.001-07:00

'iTunes university' better than the real thing - science-in-society - 18 February 2009 - New Scientist

Shared via AddThis

Getting To Grips With Moodle

2009-07-06T06:05:00.001-07:00

Check out this SlideShare Presentation: Held my staff development session on Getting to Grips with Moodle., real diversity in ability as you would expect, most of the TED are at pre bronze or bronze level and using the VLe mainly as a resource deposit. Hopefully given them a few ideas how it can be used as designed?

Also please feel free to access my Moodle for Teachers Site, online course and resources for Moodle, video tutorial, notes and advice. Enrolment key mark09

Getting To Grips With Moodle

View more documents from Mark Rollins.

Getting To Grips With Moodle

2009-07-01T04:29:00.001-07:00

Check out this SlideShare Presentation: I created this for a presentation and training session for our Teacher Education Department next Monday, got to get them up to speed with Moodle.......

Getting To Grips With Moodle

View more documents from Mark Rollins.

How Stuff Works E-Learning

2009-06-30T02:43:00.000-07:00

Take a look at this very nice outline of How E-learning Works by How Stuff Works.

Moodle for Teachers free course.

2009-06-23T05:40:00.000-07:00

I have decided to open up my Moodle for Teachers Course to free access, anyone wanting to take a look, enrol, have a play just contact me and I will give you the enrolment key. Have fun......

Moodle for Teachers

I am a Qualified Moodle Teacher, so ask questions if you like.....

Making Technology Work for Further Education Colleges

2009-06-23T05:03:00.000-07:00

This was an article I have taken form BECTA, posted by Tracy Playle, and I think maybe a useful tool, if like me you have run into a brick wall pushing e-learning......

"What role do governors have to play in making technology happen in FE and skills?College governors are undoubtedly important in driving forward big decisions in the FE sector. We've been talking to a lot of governors recently about technology. In particular, we've produced a special edition of In Conversation with Becta (link to copy of the document online will be provided shortly), this time co-produced with our colleagues at the Learning and Skills Improvement Service (LSIS) specifically around the role that governors have to play in driving forward technology in their organisations. This also coincided with our attendance at the LSIS annual governors conference in Leicester in March. The document, in addition to conversations we had with governors at the LSIS conference, raises a number of conversation points, including:
How important is it to stress the need for technology skills and knowledge when recruiting college governors?
How can technology be used to make governors more effective in their work?
Whose role is it to distinguish between issues of governance and management? Is it the clerk, principal or an independent third party? In what ways does technology alter such distinctions?
How can governors keep up to date with the technology available for teaching and learning?
How important, or desirable, is it for staff and learners to have direct access to the governors through technology?
How can technology help governors get closer to the learner voice?

What do you think of these questions, and other questions around the role of governors in influencing organisational use of technology, and the role of technology in influencing the work of a governor?"

This document offers advice to college governors on how to make technology work for FE Colleges.

http://publications.becta.org.uk/display.cfm?resID=36014

Cloud Computing

2009-06-22T03:48:00.000-07:00

Tools and tips for "Cloud" computing for Teachers.

Cloud Computing

View more OpenOffice presentations from mrollins.

A Vision of students Today

2009-06-20T05:19:00.000-07:00

What a great video......

A short video summarizing some of the most important characteristics of students today - how they learn, what they need to learn, their goals, hopes, dreams, what their lives will be like, and what kinds of changes they will experience in their lifetime.

Creating a Magazine from Blog or Website

2009-06-19T03:26:00.000-07:00

Received this twitter feed:-c4lptZinepal - Create your own printable mag

azines and eBooks http://www.zinepal.com/

What a fantastic resource, quickly had a play around and created a Magazine E-TeachUK, created a worksheet for my colleagues and passed it onto the English department. I can see this being a useful e-learning tool.

Plain English Twitter Search Common Craft

2009-06-17T15:13:00.000-07:00

Another cool production by Common Craft Twitter Search in Plain Enlgish

E-Learning Tools for Teachers

2009-06-16T15:05:00.000-07:00

In the process of pulling together various e-learning tools and useful websites that I have used to produce learning material and facilitate classes.

E Learning Tools

View more OpenOffice presentations from mrollins.

2009-06-15T07:48:00.001-07:00

Web 2.0 Tools to Inspire

View more Microsoft Word documents from tippydawn.

Quality on Moodle

2009-06-14T05:34:00.000-07:00

I was posted this question

"Hi Everyone,

We struggle at our college to find a suitable way in measuring the quality of not only the resources on Moodle, but also a quick way in assessing the 'effective' usage of Moodle, i.e. interactive activities etc.

Any suggestions?

Thanks

My response is below:-Ultimately the effectiveness of any resource is if it achieves its aims and objectives, so as with any resources these must be appropriate to learning activity.

Assessing this can be achieved by pre-test and post test maybe or checking achievement against the minimum acceptable grades for good practice.

A second way of assessing “effectiveness” is the students utilisation of the resources; in Moodle this can be monitored by using the report facility under the administration block.

Alternatively using “Student” feedback using the “feedback activity” (I have created one for a blended learning course in which I mainly asked for students feedback on level of agreement (ie strongly agree etc).

Other suggestions welcome.

iLearn Learning Made Mobile

2009-05-30T10:06:00.000-07:00

Open publication - Free publishing - More technology

Effective use of Google Searches

2009-05-28T07:10:00.001-07:00

Google Searches

*Google Search Criteria*	*Finds pages containing*
Alan Turing	Terms Alan and Turin eg Turing Machine
"Alan Turing"	The phrase "Alan Turing" Alan Turing 1959 graduating
Alan OR Turing	Either "Turing" or "Alan" of both
Alan -Turing	Alan but not Turing.
Search within Specific Website
Site:-BBC.co.uk "Alan Turing"	Will return pages containing Alan Turings name within the BBC website.
Search with fill in the blanks, Wildcard
BBC *	, treat the star as a placeholder for any unknown term(s) and then find the best matches. Eg BBC New Front Page
Search exactly as is (+)
+BBC+Alan Turing	BBC UK News Alan Turing Father of Computers attaching a + immediately before a word (remember, don't add a space after the +), you are telling Google to match that word precisely as you typed it.
Definitions
define:e-learning	Definitions from various sources for the word e-learning for example:- learning (or e-Learning or eLearning) is a type of education where the medium of instruction is computer technology. ... en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-Learning
Search Specific File Types
Filetype:pdf e-learning in FE	Will find a pdf document, containing the terms "e-learning", "FE"
Number or date ranges
2000..2009 "E-learning in FE"	The term "E-learning" and any numbers or dates in between 2000 and 2009
Search Page Titles
E-Learning intitle: FE	Finds pages with E-Learning in the title and Fe in the web page.

Web 2.0 Gift or Gimmick

2009-05-27T03:40:00.000-07:00

Gimmick
In marketing language, a gimmick is a unique or quirky special feature that makes something "stand out" from its contemporaries.

Gift
Something that is bestowed voluntarily and without compensation.

What is Web 2.0?
The definition of Web 2.0, a buzzword that is used often in the Internet industry, and is a bit blurry. However, Web 2.0 sites frequently include interactive resources; sites that allow users to share opinions, ideas, photos, videos, and even favourite Web links, hence given the term “Read Write Web”. This contrasts with a simpler variety of Web sites (Web 1.0) that are generally static sources of information, hence the term “Read Only Web”.
Web 2.0 is perceived as the second generation of web based communities, a trend in web development, but does not refer to a technological update, but a change to ways developers and end users use the web, to build on the interactive facilities of Web 1.0.
Some examples of Web 2.0 sites include:-
Twitter
Facebook
Myspace
Youtube
Blogger
Wetpaint (wiki)

Can Web 2.0 technologies assist with the concerns and priorities of the FE sector?
A typical college curriculum incorporates the need for valid ICT and information literacy skills no matter what discipline area is taught. Such an approach has raised the question of what currently constitutes a learning environment (Pelgrum, 2000).

Marc Prensky (2001) states in his Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants paper.

"Today’s average college grads have spent less than 5,000 hours of their lives reading, but over 10,000 hours playing video games (not to mention 20,000 hours watching TV). Computer games, email, the Internet, cell phones and instant messaging are integral parts of their lives”.
Prensky sees today's students as digital natives who think and process information fundamentally different to their predecessors. One technology which is claimed to enable this change is the wiki, a web based interface where information editable and facilitates the collaboration of information and knowledge world wide.
Ferris, S., and H. Wilder. (2006) advocate the use of wikis as a teaching and learning tool but state that their utilisation in the classroom requires thoughtful and deliberate planning as well as creativity and enthusiasm in order for educators to achieve the most effective and appropriate instruction.

Kvavik's research (2005) states:
“The interactive features least used by faculty were the features that students indicated contributed the most to their learning. The students were especially positive about sharing materials with students (38.5 percent), faculty feedback on assignments (32 percent), and online readings (24.9 percent).”
He also states that a high proportion of students see the use of ICT as “convenient and facilitates communication” with teachers.
His article goes on to indicate that the third highest use of ICT is Surfing the net for fun, emailing, chat forums and using instant messaging.
All of these are potential uses that can be incorporated into a Social Learning Environment including the use of wikis, e-journals and blogs.
So is Web 2. 0 a Gimmick? Well in the marketing sense yes, but it is also a gift, freely bestowed, voluntarily and without compensation and as my Grandma use to say “ Never look a gift horse in the mouth”.

References

Pelgrum, W. J. (1999). Infrastructure. In W. J. Pelgrum & R. E. Anderson (Eds.), ICT and the emerging paradigm for life long learning. Amsterdam: IEA.

Prensky, M. 2001. Digital natives, digital immigrants. On the Horizon 9 (5). http://www.marcprensky.com/writing/Prensky%20-%20Digital%20Natives,%20Digital%20Immigrants%20-%20Part1.pdf.

Kvavik, R. B. 2005. Convenience, communications, and control: How students use technology. In Educating the net generation, ed. D. G. Oblinger and J. L. Oblinger. EDUCAUSE Center for Applied Research. http://www.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/pub7101g.pdf

Ferris S and H. Uses and Potentials of Wikis in the Classroom. Wilder. Journal of Online Education (2006)
http://www.innovateonline.info/index.php?view=article&id=258

Mobile Phones in the classroom

2009-05-24T08:07:00.000-07:00

Up till this year and during this academic year I have had a sign in my classroom "Mobile Phone must be switched off" a common notice I would imagine.

I have had to live with the under desk texting of the girl who, despite being sat on the front row thinks I can't see her txting "l8r my boo xxxx" to her boyfriend, and the Facebook comments "awesome vid" that could have only been posted during class.

But lets look at the facts :-

A recent survey of about 300 college students found that 27 percent own a smart phone as compared to the national average of 19 percent for working adults. Research also found that 99.7 percent of students have a mobile communications device and the rates of sending text messages, e-mail, photos and videos are increasing.

So when I discovered SMS poll, I thought lets see what benefits we can get from using Mobile phones in class.

The students had an overwhelming positive reaction to SMS Poll and despite them having to pay for the text message, enthused and waited on baited breath for their votes to register.

After this positive response, I took to thinking what else we could use Mobile Phones for and here is my list and thoughts:-

Photo images posted to Blogs (VLe) from field trips.

Photo of class room board (quick snap shot of the board when I have waffled and drawn a diagram, formula etc)

Phones with GPs for field work location (eg picture of a particular geographical feature) upload to Google Maps then placed in coursework.
Record and listen to a lecture. Text notes while watching a class video and post it to a social net work for peer review.

Video to record practical work/demonstration to act as a reminder for the student during write up of practical.
Research facts/quick reference (for example,I have used it to find facts in a room without Internet access, I couldn't remember Pythagoras Theorem, (bad teacher) this was quickly sorted using my G1.

Technology is moving fast, access to information takes seconds, the multi functionality of phones now make them as useful as any PC, my current smart phone must be hundreds/thousands of times more powerful than my first computer the Sinclair ZX81, maybe we as educators should be using this to our and our students best advantage.

So maybe we should remove the sign, and replace it with "Take out your phones and Switch On "

Links

http://www.molenet.org.uk/

http://www.e-learningcentre.co.uk/eclipse/vendors/pdatools.htm

http://www.c4lpt.co.uk/Directory/Tools/phone.html

100 Twitter Tools

2009-05-22T17:27:00.000-07:00

100 Tools for the Twitter Teacher .

Twitter has become a powerful tool for community organizers, marketers, and others who want to share and receive information in a fast, friendly environment. It’s no wonder, then, that teachers have also found success on Twitter, using the tool to connect with students, share information with parents, and find useful resources. Here, we’ll take a look at 100 tools that can help twittering teachers make the most out of this helpful microblogging tool.

Virtual Classroom

2009-05-22T17:15:00.000-07:00

Very interesting look at future learning.

Twitter In Education

2009-05-12T14:27:00.000-07:00

Twitter in Education

View more OpenOffice presentations from hopkinsdavid.

Educational use of Facebook

2009-02-14T08:21:00.000-08:00

A recent change of firewall at my college has allowed students to access Facebook, which had up till this point been blocked, students quickly recognised this and I have on numerous occasions had to ask/tell students to turn it off during class.

I am a strong advocate of elearning but I am still unsure of a beneficial use of Social networking sites in a classroom situation that can not be supplied within a dedicated education tool such as VLE or LMS like Moodle.

Should we not leave Facebook for Social networking and not encroach on to a students patch by jumping in and telling them how well they did in class today, while they are busy telling their mates what they got up to at the weekend.
I still think the value of Facebook for formal teaching and learning is unclear.

Some links:-
Some of the pitfalls of being a teacher with a Facebook account (Friend or Foe)

Howsuff Works

2009-02-08T07:51:00.000-08:00

Love this site, found so many videos for my lessons ranging from Transformer to Tundra environments and the odd film showing Lemmings falling/pushed off cliffs (helped by Walt Disney)

http://www.howstuffworks.com/

UK universities should take online lead

2008-11-14T13:02:00.000-08:00

Calls for revival of e-learning to secure future of higher education.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2008/nov/11/elearning-university

Facebook

2008-11-02T03:10:00.000-08:00

Teachers and lecturers are getting the lowdown on how to use social networking sites such as Facebook and Bebo in an educational way.
Most schools and colleges in the UK block access to the websites but they are missing out on their potential for education, a government-funded guide says.
The report for Childnet International and funded by Becta, the government body for technology in learning, says while teachers and lecturers may be using social networking services they may not recognise the educational potential for their students.
Schools could help students develop "e-portfolios" where learners can record their achievements and collect examples of their work, the guide suggests. Or teachers could use social networking services to set up groups that "semi-formalise" students' online communications and "document discussions and milestones as they go".
Young people are more likely to have learned their social networking skills from their friends or classmates than from any formal instruction or support from adults.
But as social networking spills over into the classroom, with students using sites to collaborate on homework projects or discuss lessons, they can provide many opportunities, the report says.
"In addition to providing a whole community with useful information about a school, college, organisation or event, a social network profile sends a clear message to learners that you are aware of the types of spaces they enjoy online.
"This is a good reminder that these spaces are public and are inhabited by people who may not necessarily be within their friendship network, encouraging them to look at issues around permissions and sharing personal information," the report finds.
It also includes an evaluation tool to walk teachers through key features of sites they may be considering using to support teaching and learning.
Stephen Carrick-Davies, the chief executive of Childnet International, said: "The phenomenal speed at which the internet is developing and the rapid take up of new web 2.0 services by young people can be challenging.
"However, it's vital that all of us really take the time to understand the way students are using the latest technology, the various features of these new services and appreciate how these new tools can aid good social interaction and learning."
Stephen Crowne, Becta's chief executive, said: "As technology increasingly becomes a key ingredient in classroom learning, broadening our knowledge of the technology used in school can really bring benefits, whether you are a parent, carer, governor or teacher."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2008/jun/25/schools.uk2

Is computer use changing children?

2008-08-16T08:24:00.000-07:00

Impact of computer on childrens ability to concentrate.

BBC Technology 16th August 2008

In an interview for Radio 4's iPM she said: "The last 10 years have seen a three-fold increase in the prescription of the drug Ritalin, a drug used for Attention Deficit Disorder. One asks why?

Baroness Greenfield wondered if the cause was growing computer use.

Baroness Greenfield also claims "that the distinction has been lost between information and knowledge - with the facts provided by easy-accessed information losing the context necessary for knowledge".

Baroness Greenfield also claims that the distinction has been lost between information and knowledge - with the facts provided by easy-accessed information losing the context necessary for knowledge.

Freepath 2.0

2008-08-15T03:46:00.000-07:00

Freepath 2.0

Finally, an easy way to tell your story. Just drag and drop your favorite stuff into Freepath's playlist — no need to convert files, upload videos or embed links. Just like that, your digital life became bigger and better! Best of all, it's FREE.

Share ANYTHING in your library with ANYONE in the world. You can even exchange playlists with friends, family, classmates, colleagues and others you connect with at myFreepath.

*LMS- Institutional*	*PLE Online*	*PLE Offline*
Intranet Vle Moodle	Twitter Linkedin Google Search Engine Delicious Fleck You Tube/Online Videos PowerPoint Word Excel RSS (reader) G1 Smartphone Google Earth/Maps Blogger Mindmaps Screenr Wink Internet Explorer Visual Search Engines igoogle Slideshare Evernote Google calendar	Text Books Video/TV Newspapers Journals (Lecturers) Workshops