All posts by James Clay

flickr, google, stuff, twitter

Top Ten Web Tools of 2011

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This is the fourth time I have posted my top ten web tools of the year. Looking back over 2008, 2009 and 2010 it’s interesting to see what new web tools I am now using, which old ones have been left on the shelf and the web tools I still use.

There are still a few services that I like or use irregularly that didn’t make the top ten. I used Foursquare for a while, I then did a podcast with David Sugden and after that I never used it again….

Facebook and Linkedin I just don’t use and so aren’t in the list, but I hear they are quite popular…

I did use Prezi this year to demonstrate it, but have not yet used it in anger so it’s not in my top ten either.

Delicious has had a few upheavals this year and drops out of my top ten, I do still use it, but it had lost some of the core functionality that made it so useful in the past.

I still like Screenr, but don’t use it as much as I think I should and I would like too. The same can be said for Audioboo. These are two tools that I really like, but don’t use much or use them effectively. I may use these better in 2012.

TinyGrab which was in my top ten last year also had problems, so that got dropped and I went with another tool.

Posterous dropped out too, however the only reason was that I decided to host my own blog on my own server, it’s still a great service. Spaces is pretty interesting too.

Google Docs dropped out of my top ten after been in for the last three years. Looking over the documents from the last year I realised how little I was using it. It’s a great collaborative tool and that was my primary use, but for lone document working I realised looking back that I now had a different workflow, so Google Docs dropped out.

There are other web tools I do use now and again and I am sure there are some peoples’ favourites I have missed off, so let me know in the comments what web tools you are using.

10. Evernote

I really do like Evernote and I use it a lot for making notes. I really like the mobile applications on the iPad and the iPhone (and Android) and I really like how I can make audio notes and photographs of notes. I am sure it would be much higher if I used it more effectively and my plan for 2012 is to become more organised and systematic on not only how I make notes, but how I use and share notes.

9. SlideShare

Though most of my presentations (as in the slides) rarely make sense on their own, the use of SlideShare does allow me to easily show them on my blog alongside the audio recording. This is often quicker and easier than trying to match the two up myself and I can let others choose how they want to listen and view the presentation.

8. WordPress

I have been using WordPress for a fair while and though I swapped to my own host over a year ago now I still think WordPress.com is a great starting place for a blog. My own blog is self-hosted, in other words I bought a web hosting service on which I have installed the WordPress software. This has given me flexibility in how I manage the blog. Having said that I still subscribe to various WordPress.com services including VideoPress and storage. Much easier for example to have the podcast files on the WordPress.com server from a bandwidth perspective than to have them on my own server. I do like the VideoPress service, but I think other video services have now caught up, but I like the fact that I have much more control over the videos on VideoPress than say on YouTube or Vimeo.

7. Skitch

My main screengrabbing software use to be TinyGrab, it allowed me to quickly grab parts of the screen, upload them to a website and copy the URL to my clipboard, making it very easy them to paste a link to a screen grab in Twitter or Facebook. However problems with the TinyGrab software meant that I looked for an alternative. I had forgotten that I had an alternative already installed on my Mac, part of a MacHeist deal or similar called Skitch. This is a great piece of software that not only allows you to grab part of the screen, but you can also annotate it with text, arrows and other shapes. Really quick and easy to use, you can either then save the image, or upload it and share the link. I really do like it and it has made explaining stuff easier because I can do it visually.

6. Instagram

I have been using Instagram since it came out in 2010, well I started using it about a week after it was released. Over 2011 I used it a lot more and have posted nearly five hundred images to Instagram. One aspect that I do like is the social aspect. With any social app the key is the community, now that many more people I know are using Instagram, the social aspect, even though it can only be accessed from the phone is much better and more social. I do like the multi-posting ability, so usually not only will I post to Instagram, I also post a link to Twitter and upload the image to Flickr. As for the photographic effects, I know it is possible to do much better with PhotoShop and even Snapseed on the iPad is superior, however the filters on Instagram are not there to be the perfect photorgraphic filter they are there to add a little something to the photographs you take and to have a bit of fun with. To think that Instagram is a serious photographic app really does miss the point of the app; it’s fun and it’s social, enjoy it for that and not as a photographic app.

5. Flickr

I now have over 4,500 photographs on Flickr and though (in total) Flickr does not come anywhere close to the number or quantity of photographs uploaded to Facebook, I still much prefer using Flickr for uploading, but also for finding photographs for use on the blog or in presentations. It is so easy to find great photographs and so many are CC licensed making it also legal to use them too.

4. Flipboard

Flipboard has become my primary RSS reader and in many ways I also use it to browse Twitter and Facebook. The iPad app has made it so much easier to flick through and browse the news, the social news and even images. I’ve not really used the iPhone version yet, but the iPad is a key way in which I can keep up with what is going on.

3. Twitter

Twitter was my number one web tool for the last two years and this year it has dropped two places. It is still a really useful tool.

I usually access Twitter via Osfoora on the iPhone and on the iPad. On my computer I will generally use the web interface.

So what do I get from Twitter?

Well the key thing is a community of practice from which I can get curated and useful information from. I can ask them questions and offer points of discussion to see what they think. I also find it a useful source of news and links, much easier in some respects than RSS feeds, a more personalised approach.

I post lots of stuff to Twitter, yes I do feed into Twitter posts from my blog, photos from Instagram and other stuff. This is stuff I do want to share with my community and my view is that if you don’t like this then don’t follow me. However I do try and keep my posting of links to my stuff to a minimum, I try whenever possible to only post links to my blog only once to my Twitter stream. I know that this means people may miss that link, but I also know that clicking on links to blog posts I have already read are annoying. Twitter is a key tool for me with the conversations I have with my fellow learning technologists, e-learning specialists and library professionals. However one of the reasons it has dropped a couple of places is that I don’t think the conversations I am having there are as good as I am having in a different place…

2. Google+

Straight in at number two for me is Google+ and the reason is the quality of the conversation. I never really found Buzz or Wave useful, but Google+ seems to have worked well for me in 2011, much more so than Twitter. I am unsure if this will continue, a lot will depend on how the community use and continue to use Google+ as a service. I think the main reason I like it, is that it reminds me of Jaiku, which was my number one web tool back in 2008 (back then it beat Twitter). I like the fact that I can have a threaded conversation and people can easily join in. I hope it continues to work and be useful, but we will have to wait and see.

1. Dropbox

Well my number one web tool has been one that isn’t social, but I use it every day and in some cases all day. Dropbox is a fantastic tool, in the main because it works! I use to really love the concept of Apple’s iDisk, but it never worked for me, either it was too slow to be a useful cloud storage, or if syncing seemed to sync either really slowly or would forget to sync! What I like about Dropbox is that it is fast and reliable. So much so that if I have to move files from my laptop to my desktop on my home network, I usually use Dropbox as it “appears” to be faster than trying to move a file between shares across the network, and Dropbox moves the file via the internet… Virtually all my working files are now on Dropbox and I have it installed on my home and work machines. I use it for sharing files across my mobile devices and for sharing files with others when e-mail doesn’t cut the mustard. The main reason Dropbox is my number one web tool is that it just works, to the point it is transparent and it never gets in the way of me doing my stuff, which is as it should be.

google, ipad, iphone, kindle, stuff

Top Ten Technologies of 2011

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This is the fourth time I have posted my top ten technologies of the year. Looking back over 2008, 2009 and 2010 it’s interesting to see what new technologies I am now using, which old ones have been left on the shelf and the technologies I still use.

What was interesting this year was how little change there was from last year, as though my personal technologies have settled down. There is no iPhone 4S for example in this year’s list. I keep thinking about upgrading my 3GS to the 4S, but keep putting it off.

There were a few technologies that nearly made it to the list. I really like my Apple TV and it’s a great tool for streaming content to my TV. However I really don’t use it as much as I thought it would. Without content providers such as BBC iPlayer or 4OD it’s not as useful as it could be. No cameras in my list this year, I do use my Canon DSLR a fair bit, though my Sony stills camera has spent very little time out and about. I still miss my Koday Zi8 which went missing in 2010, but the fact that I haven’t replaced it says a lot.

Will be interesting to see what is in my 2012 list.

10. Tricaster

The Tricaster makes a re-entry into my top ten, it was number six in 2009.

So you need to shoot video? You need to stream video? You need to record video? You need more then one camera? You want graphics, you want presentation slides, you want to screenshare? Though there are a plethora of tools out there for shooting and recording video, screen captures, presentations; most then require you to edit the footage before sharing. One of the things I wanted to do was to do all that, but do it live!

The Tricaster makes a comeback this year as it was the tool I used for ALT Live Beta, an experiment at ALT-C 2011 in which we broadcast live backstage video from the conference. It was a lot of fun and was well received by those who couldn’t attend the conference (and by a fair few delegates who were).

9. Blue Snowball Microphone

I have been recording this year again, not just e-Learning Stuff podcasts, but also symposia and other discussions. The Blue Snowball Microphone is certainly a key tool for this. I also use it at home for Skype and making recordings.

The main downside is that the size of the microphone makes it less than ideal for taking to events and carrying in a bag. However the quality of recordings means that I am more keen to use this then any other microphone.

It is lower down the list this year, in the main as I used it less. It is however still an essential tool for me.

8. Edirol R-09HR

The Edirol has appeared in my top ten for the last four years. it’s enduring quality has to be down to the fact it is that it still a brilliant job. It records fantastic audio in WAV or MP3 format to an SD card and uses AA batteries. Still a great technology and does what it says on the tin really well.

7. i7 iMac

People often ask me why I buy Macs, well the i7 iMac is a testament to why I do. I bought my i7 iMac in 2009 and was really impressed, it was my number two in my top ten in 2009 and was also in the top ten in 2010. It’s in the top ten again. Why, well for a computer that is over two years old it is still a really powerful computer that does everything I throw at it. It’s great for video editing, audio editing, video recording, encoding, all that web stuff, office tools and so much more. I use it virtually every day for a whole range of tasks. It’s one powerful machine and I don’t expect to replace it for at least a year, probably two, and it wouldn’t surprise me if I was still using it in 2015!

6. Kindle

I got my Kindle in 2010 and I was impressed with how easy it was to use, to get books and importantly read. Supported by the excellent Kindle app on the iPad, I am using Kindle much more for reading these days.

5. iPhone 4

The iPhone 4 is an amazing smartphone and was what the iPhone should have been from day one. The camera is excellent, and great for taking stills and video. The retina display still astounds me in terms of the visual quality, especially when I drop back to the 3GS (which drops out of the top ten this year). The key advantage of the iPhone for me is the sheer number of apps and the quality and quantity have changed how I use a phone. iOS 5 has improved the user experience, for example notifications (very Android like) are so much better.

I do think the iPhone 4 is one of the best phones I have ever used and I am really pleased with it. However the reason why it has dropped a few places is that it fails now and again as a phone for making phone calls. I have also had some signal issues failing to get a decent 3G signal.

4. Google Nexus One

The Google Nexus One is getting a bit long in the tooth for an Android phone these days, it’s stuck at Gingerbread, there is no Ice Cream Sandwich for the Nexus One (which is a pity). However Gingerbread means that I can use my phone as a portable wireless hotspot so the MiFi stays in the bag and I returned my 3G USB dongle over a year ago now. Another reason why the Nexus One is higher in the top ten was the integration with Google+ and I do like Google+. The main reasons that the Nexus One is higher in the top ten that the iPhone 4 is the fact that it is a better phone for making phone calls. Also I seem to get a better 3G signal on the Nexus One than I do on the iPhone, though that may be down to T-Mobile on the Nexus One over O2 on the iPhone. On quite a few occasions I have used the portable wireless hotspot on the Nexus One to provide internet connectivity to the iPhone (and that can’t be right). I will say I prefer the app experience on the iPhone, but that’s not to say the apps on the Nexus One are awful, no they are really good, but my preference is for iOS.

3. BT Infinity FTTC

My fibre connection was in my top ten last year and over the last twelve months I have been very pleased with the stability and speed of the connection. Rarely, well once or twice, I have had an issue with bandwidth (dropping to a still reasonable 7Mb/s) but generally I have had a stable 37MB/s down and 8MB/s up.

2. MacBook Air

I upgraded my 13” MacBook Pro this year to the 11” Air. Alas not the new model. However I have been very impressed with the MacBook Air. It took me a while to get use to Lion, especially the gestures and though I still prefer Snow Leopard, I am now use to Lion on the Air and it isn’t stopping me from doing stuff (which is key really). I really like the weight (or lack thereof) of the Air and despite the lack of raw power the SSD ensures that the speed of the MacBook is fast enough. It has made an impact on how much I use my iPad and if I had to choose one I think I would choose the Air, but would really miss the iPad.

1. iPad

So for the second year running, the iPad is my top ten technology for the year. Now I know I just said I would choose the Air over the iPad, the difference is that I only got the Air in July and I have been using the iPad all year, and this is a top ten for the year; so it will be interesting to see what will be number one in 2012. Also they are complementary technologies rather than competing technologies, they both have their uses, advantages and disadvantages.

I was surprised in 2010 the impact of the iPad on the way that I did stuff. It continued in 2011 to have a real impact. I use it on a daily basis for communication, collaboration, content creation and content consumption. I did managed to get an iPad 2 in the summer, but in terms of how I use the iPad it had a minimal impact, I rarely use the camera, but do like the mirroring. As a result the iPad 2 is not in my top ten, whereas the original iPad is.

Back in 2010 I said

At work I use the iPad for dealing with e-mail and my calendar and quickly checking things on the VLE. For some meetings I do need to take a laptop as some tools we use rely on Flash or Java and that is one of the main weaknesses of the iPad is that these kinds of tools can not be used on it.

I still use the iPad for e-mail and calendar, however I now use a Citrix app to access our Windows XP corporate desktop to access those Java or IE based tools that we have. Therefore the main limitation is less of a limitation for me now. The fact I can easily access these iPad unfriendly tools using the iPad still makes me smile.

… its media capability easily surpasses any other mobile devices I have used. It’s not all perfect, I would like to stream (easily) video and audio from my iMac to my iPad…

AirPlay has made a big difference for me for media streaming across my home network. I like that I can stream iTunes Rentals from my iMac to my iPad without having to go through the laborious process of transferring the movie file from the iMac to the iPad, I can just stream the DRM’d content across the wireless network.

So last year the iPad was my top technology, Apple have made things better and on the basis of how much I used it, the iPad is once again my top technology of the year.

app of the week, ipad, iphone

Microsoft OneNote for iPad – iPad App of the Week

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Microsoft OneNote for iPad – iPad App of the Week

This is a regular feature of the blog looking at various Apps available. Some of the apps will be useful for those involved in learning technologies, others will be useful in improving the way in which you work, whilst a few will be just plain fun! Some will be free, others will cost a little and one or two will be what some will think is quite expensive.

This week’s App is Microsoft OneNote for iPad.

Microsoft OneNote for iPad is a note-taking app for capturing all of your ideas and to-dos on the go, brought to you by Microsoft Office.

Create searchable notes with text, pictures and bullets. Make and manage to-do lists with checkboxes. Then keep your notes in sync using free Microsoft SkyDrive® online storage to access, edit and manage them from virtually anywhere, from your PC or almost any web browser. Access your notes online at http://skydrive.com.

Free

My preferred note app is Evernote, but working within a Microsoft environment I now and again look at Microsoft’s OneNote. I did manage to get OneNote for the iPhone when it was US only, but it eventually came to the UK. I didn’t use it much, but quite liked certain features.

Microsoft have now released OneNote for the iPad and I think the iPad is a much better platform for note taking compared to the iPhone; the iPhone works better as a to do list and for reading notes in my opinion.

It’s a free app, but you are restricted to 500 notes, however you can go beyond 500 with an £10.49 in-app purchase for unlimited notes. Seems expensive, but Evernote Premium at $5 per month, or $45 per year is a lot more pricey.

You will need a Windows Live ID to use OneNote, but this is free and you get other features (such as Skydrive) which can be useful. There are some functions that will only be possible on the OneNote web app or in the OneNote application, but it’s not as though the Evernote iPad app was free of restrictions.

The app is very easy to use, and it is easy to add photographs or images, you can add bullet points and check lists.

At the end of the day I think the only real way to evaluate OneNote for the iPad is to use it on a regular basis, as it is a free app then it at least won’t cost you anything.

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100 ways to use a VLE – #96 Offline Assessment

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Submitting assignments online through the VLE is a great way for learners to ensure a) that the work submitted is logged, b) it’s unlikely to be lost, c) they can, once graded, refer to the grade and feedback when they want to.

The problem with submitting assignments through the VLE is when the assignment asks for the students to submit a physical thing as their assessed piece of work.

If a learner creates a sculpture for example, or makes a lasagna, welds copper tubing, these things can not be submitted electronically. Submitting a photograph is of course possible, but why? It’s an extra step that isn’t strictly necessary.

Many learners will often do a presentation for an assessment, others will do a live performance or demonstrate a technique. Now yes you could video these “performances”, but video files can be quite big and you not want to upload these to the VLE (especially if you use tape over an SD card).

However it is still useful to grade these offline activities on the VLE to inform the learners how they did and provide feedback. Of course generally that is done anyway, so why put it on the VLE?

One reason is consistency, if other (written) assignments are been uploaded to the VLE then a learner will probably want to at some point know the grades for all their assessed work regardless whether it was a written essay or a live presentation.

Another reason is that one of the key factors that aids retention is ensuring learners know in terms of their assessment what they have done, what they are doing and what they need to do. If they can find all this information in one place rather than using different systems for different assignments using differing forms of assessment then it will make life better for the learner. If feedback and grading on written work is on the VLE, it makes sense then to use the VLE for all assessment whether it be written or another activity.


e-book, podcast

e-Learning Stuff Podcast #082: e-Books go Mobile

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From a recent presentation at a CILIP Excecutive Briefing on e-Books. Through the use of a number of mobile devices James will give an overview of how the FE sector is promoting their e-book collections through mobile technologies and how this can enhance the learning experience and extend the access and use of e-books.

With James Clay.

This is the 82nd e-Learning Stuff Podcast, e-Books go Mobile.

Download the podcast in mp3 format: e-Books go Mobile.

Subscribe to the podcast in iTunes

Shownotes


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Developing

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Gloucestershire College

Thursday was our College Development Day, one of two days of the year where we “close” the college and every member of staff takes part in staff development activities. For the first time in a few years we did a “pick and mix” in which staff are provided with a choice of sessions and can pick and mix to create their own personalised day of training and development. There are, as there was this year, a few compulsory sessions, but generally staff are free to pick what else they will do on that day. An example would be that all teaching staff had to attend a session related to our forthcoming inspection, but were free to pick what they wanted from the menu for the rest of the day.

The challenge for me however was that this process means is that staff generally choose what they want to do, rather than what they should or need to do.

So the sessions we planned on Turnitin, LanSchool and Accessibility were either cancelled or cut back, and the sessions on digital imaging and iMovie were oversubscribed. It also is apparent how you need to “sell” sessions to staff to get them to sign up.

I generally spend the day delivering training and this year was no exception, my first session was for my Learning Resources team and looked at the strategy, vision and focus for the next three years as part of a re-positioning of the strategic vision for learning resources which includes the library. It was also an opportunity for the teams from my three libraries to get together as a whole team. It was an interesting session and it was great to see that they could see the importance of a focus and a vision but also the need to revisit what we do and why we do it. I will probably cover this in more detail in a future blog post.

The second session I ran was an introduction to Mac OS X. I planned this session as we have recently recruited new staff into the libraries and as we have Macs in the libraries they asked for an introductory session. I kept it simple, first showing them this video from Apple, before going through Finder, Safari, iMovie, iPhoto and Garageband. I mentioned Keynote and Quicktime too. Overall feedback was positive and many of the session participants realising that OS X isn’t that different than Windows and if you can use Windows you can use OS X.

My afternoon session was much longer, and was a supportive VLE workshop. The session allows participants that time to reflect and build on their courses on the VLE. If they get stuck, need advice or want ideas, then I am around to provide that support. It worked very well with staff having a chance to “play” and try out new things that will enhance their learners’ experience.

As well as the ILT sessions I was delivering we had booked some excellent external trainers, many of whom will be familiar to readers of this blog for their appearances on the e-Learning Stuff podcast. Each of them delivered a range of sessions with a real focus on adding interactivity through ILT into teaching and learning.

These days reinforce the importance of training and development for practitioners, especially in regard to the use of learning technologies. Our focus for the day was less on the technologies themselves, but much more on the actual use, how they can support, enhance and enrich learning.

Over the next few months I will be following up staff who attended not just my sessions, but all the ILT sessions to assess the impact of the training. Experience has shown that not everyone takes on board what they learnt, but most do.

Image from here, created with Paper Camera.

conference

Emerging Technologies

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At the AoC Conference I was part of a presentation that looked at emerging technologies and how FE Colleges need to be preparing for them. As well as myself speaking for the first part of the presentation, Donald Taylor, did the second half.

There then followed a workshop session where the delegates looked at the barriers and opportunities that FE Colleges would face with these emerging technologies.

Here are my notes and references, though they only cover my slides.

Future

So what does the future hold?

VR Glasses

Do you worry about costs?

Do you worry about breakages and theft?

Are your staff resistant or sceptical to technology

Well you’re not alone and concerns and scepticism about new technology is not new.

Lets go back 300 years….

Emerging technologies

Impact

What new technologies will be having an impact on teaching and learning over the next five to ten years?

Potential

How should colleges prepare and utilise the potential that these technologies will bring?

Preparation

We need to prepare and so lets see what is on the horizon….

Electronic Books

Who here has a Kindle or reads books on their iPad?

Amazon have said they sold more e-books than paperback books in the last quarter of 2010. They have sold millions of Kindles.

Apple sold 15 million iPads then they released the iPad 2.

There are numerous academic e-book platforms and collections, including the free JISC Collections e-book collection of 3000 books.

We’re using that a lot,  as are Oldham Sixth Form College who last month accessed the collection and they viewed 50,561 pages. We did 7,882 pages…

Mobiles

So when was the first mobile phone call?

1946

When was the first handheld mobile phone call?

1973

Mobile phones are not a new technology. However the phone as a mobile computer, the smartphone, though about ten years old now, will dominate the phone market.

National Star College, used 3G phones with GPS to enable learners to access information,  guidance and content to support them for independent living. The phones would tell the learners how to catch a bus, where to catch the bus, when to get off, how to get to their workplace.

Augmented Reality

…is the application of a digital information layer over the real world. Hold up your phone to a building and get information on its history and current use. Hold up to a college and see what courses that organisation offers. In an engineering workshop, hold your camerphone up to a piece of equipment and overlaid will be information, on what it is, what it can do and relevant health and safety information.

QR Codes are another way to add digital information to a physical space, at Gloucestershire College, we use QR Codes in the library on the shelves to provide easy and curriculum relevant access to online resources to learners.

Game-based Learning

Casual and mobile gaming is really big now in the UK. From the Nintendo Wii , the DS to the iPhone and iPad, as well as the Playstation and xBox. Gaming is huge and lots of different people do it.

When we talk about learners having a short attention span, can’t sit still for ten minutes in a lesson, how is it these same learners can play World of Warcraft for four hours…

Using games for learning is not new, as an old economics teacher I use to use paper based business games a lot. However video games now offer so much more and there are lots of ways that gaming can be used to enhance and enrich learning.

Many colleges, including my own, have been using Brain Training on the Nintendo DS to support the teaching of numeracy and encourage learners to enjoy maths.

Gesture-based Computing

The iPad is all about gestures. Microsoft Kinect allows you to play games without needing to use a controller. It won’t be long before we control our devices by waving our hands about!

Henshaw College who were already using the Nintendo Wii, are now using Microsoft Kinect to enable their blind and visually impaired learners to interact with a computer.

University of Portsmouth have already built an audience response system, MARS Motion Based Audience Response system, that can anaylse the hand interactions of the audience for answering questions without the need for the audience to use clickers or voting units.

Learning Analytics

You probably already know a lot about your learners, colleges gather huge amounts of data about each and every learner, about them, their progress, their success and their failure. The question is are you making use of that data to make business decisions? Are you analysing learners on entry, during their course and where they go, in order to make decisions about which courses you are running and importantly which courses you should close.

Learning analytics is the measurement, collection, analysis and reporting of data about learners and their contexts, for purposes of understanding and optimising learning and the environments in which it occurs.

IBM are able now to sell you a product that does this all for you. Making sure the right learners get on the right course and achieve success.

4G

3G already offers fast wireless speeds, the future though will be 4G which will allow learners to have download speeds in excess of 20 Mbps, or even faster. This means that learners will be able to stream video content, access a range of media using mobile devices where and when they want to.

Of course 4G isn ‘t yet available, however Grimsby Institute of Further and Higher Education have demonstrated the potential of 3G technologies, by putting 3G wireless routers in their coaches, so that learners can access the internet, the VLE whilst on the bus journey in. Making use of “dead time” for learning.

Connected Televisions

80% of televisions sold today can be connected to the internet, they can be used to access content and resources. Whether they are actually connected is a different question. However popularity of services such as YouTube, BBC iPlayer, 4OD and other content delivery systems, demonstrates that this could be a real way to deliver learning in the home.

The College of West Anglia has developed Springboard TV to create and deliver video content to their learners. Connected TVs will allow learners to access this content from the comfort of the sofa is going to enhance and enrich the learning process.

The key though is are we ready as organisations to make this transition to take advantage that these new technologies offer?

Emerging Practice

It is not just a matter of the technology changing, we also need to change our practice and how we do things to realise the potential that emerging technologies will bring to our colleges.

Social Learning

The internet and networking, means that learners can learn wherever they want to? Of curse they have always done this, what the connectivity means is that they can access a range of different content, communicate and collaborate. Individual learning, becomes social, this means we need to rethink about the social spaces we have in our institutions and how they need to change to support and promote learning.

Blurring informal and formal learning

In the past (and now) students have come to expect to learn formally in formal learning spaces. However new technologies mean that learners can “attend” college without actually being physically at college through remote delivery and webinar technologies. We are blurring the demarcation between informal and formal learning.

Changing Culture

As a result colleges need to change their traditional cultures of resistance and sceptism and embrace a new culture…

Innovation

One that encourages innovation and new ways of working…  A culture that sees new technologies as an opportunity…

Experimentation

A culture that rewards experimentation and innovation and encourages learners and practitioners to utilise new technologies as part of their joint learning journey.

Future

There are other technologies as well: fibre broadband, voice recognition, voice commands, cloud computing to name a few. New ways of working, studying, all these will have an impact.

The future is coming, it always has and it always will, are you ready and will you always be ready for the future?

References

Martin Bean, Keynote at ALT-C 2009

2011 Horizon Report from Educause

Connect to Succeed Grimsby Institute of Further and Higher Education

QR Codes in the Library

Springboard TV

MARS

Student Analytics for Success

conference, jiscel11

Innovating e-Learning 2011 – Can you afford to miss it?

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The JISC Online Conference, Innovating e-Learning 2011, has opened with a pre-conference Activity Week preparing the way for next week’s main conference programme 22-25 November.

Are you interested in?

  • Technology-mediated learning and teaching
  • Institutional efficiency and curriculum transformation
  • Open educational practice
  • Introducing change in assessment practice
  • Digital literacies
  • Students as agents of change in curriculum enhancement

Do you want to know more about?

  • Using Facebook in learning and teaching
  • Using Web 2.0 technologies to create online communities for non-traditional learners
  • Using mobile devices in the classroom
  • A range of freely available online tools and resources to enhance your practice

Can’t afford to take time off work?

You can still register for this big conference experience with a low carbon footprint. But don’t delay. The main conference programme commences Tuesday 22 November.

Follow the conference on Twitter @jiscel2011
Contribute your views on Twitter using #jiscel11
Programme and booking at www.jisc.ac.uk/elpconference11