Ideas and practice in VTE teaching and learning

A link to explore further for background reading.
Learning styles, learning for life, technology in teaching.

The resources area, MP3 lists and ezine articles.

http://www.icvet.tafensw.edu.au/ourwork/pdmodels/pd_knowledge_era.htm

moodle world wide

Not bad for a little australian invention.

"Map" of Moodle Deployments
In Course Management Systems
http://moodle.org/sites/index.php?country=all

That I should find it discussed on a canadian website/blog is even more interesting. I already knew about it but find it interesting anyway.

new student online tool

This and the last post come from a feed I have found:
www.edtechpost.ca if anyone is interested.

stu.dicio.us - what a student-developed, student-focused learning/study tool looks like
In The Rest
http://stu.dicio.us/
Thought I've been away I did try to catch up in Bloglines the last 2 days and I didn't see this making the rounds so hopefully of interest - stu.dicio.us, while still in beta, is an incredibly simple student-focused tool that currently supports note taking and scheduling, with file storage and self grade-tracking coming soon. There are three things about it that are really beautiful:
- it is REALLY simple, and yet quite useful. Try the note creation facility; it's a very nice web-based outliner that uses keyboard commands (more below)
- all class notes are shared (you have to agree to this to use the system). So not only does this create an ecology of class notes for individual classes (with basic 'tagging' principles in play as to how to identify a class, no heavyweight SIS-integration here) but by searching on certain terms you may find class notes from other classes, even from other institutions, around specific keywords (which does raise quality issues, but one assumes the developers could bring practices from other social softwares to bear here).
- based on the amazingly simple interface, I assume (though I couldn't find such an announcement on their site) that a prime target for the app will be cell phones/PDAs and other mobile devices.
So... a web-based, mobile-accessible site for students to store THEIR notes/information about THEIR studies, which simultaneously gives them access to other students' notes as well. So cool. - SWL

sound in moodle

Something to follow up. From one of my blogline feeds which I have not checked for a while.
The Gong Project - Free Voice boards, voice chat and language tool
In The Rest
http://gong.ust.hk/index.html
During my holidays I received an email from Dr David Rossiter and Gibson Lam from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology inviting me to try out some software they had developed called Gong. I am often hesitant about blogging such invitations and didn't even manage to get around to trying it until today because of the backlog of email etc., from my holiday. But after trying it out I am glad I did.
Free voice recording might not seem like much in the age of Odeo and the like, but this is, to my eye, much more. The Java-based client-server program has been built very much with an eye to teaching languages but looks like it could be useful for anyone wanting to include voice in their online clases. It supports the creation of voice-based message boards and forums, and the client allows users to index their recordings to text, meaning subsequent viewers can see the text 'read' while they hear the message, and jump to specific parts of the message by clicking on that word (for instance on a particularly confusing spelling, as often happens with English). Recorders of messages can also edit the message directly in the client after the fact, easily removing awkward pauses and silences. Additionally, listeners can slow down aqnd speed up the playback of messages on demand.
And if all that isn't enough, it can support synchronous audio chat sessions as well. Did I mention that there is also an existing Moodle module that allows creation of Gong 'boards' directly in Moodle. And that it has an API. Oh, and it's free too (but not 'yet' open source.) Well worth a look for language teachers or for anyone wanting to incorporate voice recording into their online classes for free. - SWL
6 References

blogging prize

Imagine my surprise in being cowinner of regular learnscope blogger award when for the last week I had been feeling guilty about not having added something in over a week! Thankyou for the encouragement Marlene.

NSW Learnscope Managers in eLearning

Thankyou to these wonderful people and their leader Val in letting me join their online session today.
I used DiscoverE for the first time so that makes 3 versions of software for virtual classrooms - Elluminate and Webex being the other 2. I am starting to see some similarities in how they all operate.
And as managers we are all grappling with similar issues - is good to know as well.
I will be keeping an eye on their forum and blog with interest.
(Now how did that RSS feed work again????)

server woes abating

We are installed on the new server and operating. The damage done is almost all repaired. Only our photos left to upload again and no-one is really missing those!

On reflection, we have learned much in the management technicalities of the site. When the fully automated daily backup is operational I will be even happier.

It is impossible to know everything, so a good team with varied skills is the only option and each member contributing their specialities makes it work.

ice breakers for a new online group

Thankyou to this newsletter:

GOG News issue 5 now availableby Kerrie Smith - Friday, 4 August 2006, 04:40 PM

Please visit GOG for the new newsletter: http://www.groups.edna.edu.au/course/view.php?id=270

5. Ice Breakers for Your Group
Getting people to feel comfortable with a group and with their new online life is assisted by providing simple tasks for them to do and activities for them to participate in.
Many groups begin with asking their members to look at their Group Profile and to edit it with some information about themselves, including a photograph or an image.
If you use the People block, then participants can check on who else is in the group and the photographs do help in reinforcing that sense of a virtual community of 'real' people
I often use a simple but somewhat silly poll called Favourite Fruit? You will see an example of this in EdNA's Training Space. I don't always use the bowl of fruit image. http://www.groups.edna.edu.au/mod/choice/view.php?id=9446
You might like to set up a chat as one of your early activities. The agenda could be to talk about the purpose of the group and for the participants to introduce themselves. It will help if they have done their Group Profile activity before that. For those who can't be present at the chat you can set it up so there is a log which everyone can access.
Another good group activity is a glossary: Terminology and Acronym Buster. Set up a glossary and encourage participants to add terms and acronyms. There is an example in EdNA's Training Space at http://www.groups.edna.edu.au/course/view.php?id=270Get participants to add a concept (word or acronym), identify some synonymns (key words) and then add a description. Whenever this term appears in your group site, the definition will be available through a popup system.

Repository of learning objects

found this in the wanders and following through one of the many postings from one of many forums (fora?) I am subscribed to.

http://www.flexiblelearning.net.au/flx/go/home/projects/2006/lorn
and from the July 06 flex e-News:
VTE Case Study
Trainers use online storage system
Have you ever wondered what a learning object repository is and how it could help you?
A Tasmanian training organisation has unveiled a user-friendly learning object repository called The Learning Edge, which allows teachers and trainers to create, store, share, discover, reuse, manage and deliver course material electronically.
The challenge in creating the repository was to make it as simple as possible for trainers to use.
The result was that teachers and trainers can submit resources to the repository to be shared by other trainers around Australia through the Learning Object Repository Network (LORN).
View the full case study.

server woes, contd

We have moved moodle servers. The new site is linked for students to use. All we need to do now is repair the dents and scratches caused by the removal process. All word documents seemed to have lost either their links or been lost altogether (one whole box of files got lost somewhere on the trip from Brisbane to Mt Gambier???)

recording of the 10 tips for online training/learning webinar

Should the recording have disappeared from the site, I have a copy at least of the pps used for the presentation. if you have an hour it might be worth listening to.

http://www.webex.com/web-seminars/view_recording/861227490
Recorded on:
August 1, 2006
Duration:
60 minutes
Presenter(s):
Carrie Le Sieur, Manager, WebEx Univ. - WebEx Communications, Inc.
Description:
Live online training sessions have become a standard part of the e-learning mix. More people are turning to the live virtual classroom in order to rapidly scale programs and train more people, more frequently. Join us for an informative Web seminar about the Top Ten tips for creating and delivering online training events. You'll learn from virtual classroom experts how to:
Plan and prepare for success.
Incorporate proven best practices for live online learning.
Extend your reach with on-demand training offerings.

aug/sep issue of innovate

(See http://innovateonline.info/index.php?view=article&id=296 )

The August/September 2006 issue of Innovate provides assessments of emerging technologies for educational practice, studies of recent efforts at technology integration, and a commentary that promises to provoke engaging discussion about the role of technology in education.

American but interesting reading at a uni level of academia. Articles for this issue listed below.

A Proposal for Accelerating the Implementation and Development of Video Games in Education
Greg Jones and Kevin Kalinowski

Using Tablet Technology and Recording Software to Enhance Pedagogy
David Radosevich and Patricia Kahn

Facing the Challenge of e-Learning: Reflections on Teaching Evidence-Based Practice through Online Discussion Groups
Phil Clegg and John Heap

Online Student Evaluations and Response Rates Reconsidered
Joan Anderson, Gary Brown, and Stephen Spaeth

The “Imponderable Bloom”: Reconsidering the Role of Technology in Education
Robert Sanders

Places to Go: The International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning
Stephen Downes

webex webinar

Had this sent to me in junk mail. Thought that it would be an idea to explore. Telecast from sacremento in US but at our morning time. Duplicate of elluminate. Disappointing because there was only sound for about 8 minutes of the 45 I persevered with. The text on the whiteboard had one or two good ideas in them. They identified the biggest problem as ability with technology and bandwidth. My problems exactly.
link for reference.
https://apac-events.webex.com/apac-events/onstage/g.php?d=861227490&t=a

861227490 was the event number to follow up if a recording is available.