Will @schooX do for school-level educators what Mendeley does for academics?
SchooX is just starting out and it’s not yet clear what tricks it has up its sleeve to support learning, teaching, discovery and accreditation — or whether it will be “just another social network” with a skew towards education. Or as they put it, in one of my least favourite words, edutainment. What’s interesting is … Continue reading
Re-imagining the university (again but this time differently)
(I’ve checked with Keith and the absence of a seventh principle between the sixth and the eighth is a simple error!) Clipped from http://www.thesocietyforcuriousthought.com Re-imagining the university (again but this time differently) There’s nothing particularly new about calling for the university to be re-thought/re-imagined/rebuilt. How could it be otherwise? An institution set up in order … Continue reading
How widely known is the Cape Town Open Education Declaration? #OER #ocw
I’ve been meaning to pass this on for a while… The Cape Town Open Education Declaration calls for free, adaptable learning materials and open technologies to facilitate collaborative learning. It was first ‘issued’ over three years ago, though I only came across it a few months back — so I’m wondering how well this is … Continue reading
Will this alternative to the spreadsheet+filestore approach to VLEs fly?
I’m predicting that we’re going to see more cut-down alternative forms of Virtual Learning Environments and Learning Management Systems. The argument (whether you’re convinced by it or not) is that VLEs are just big tracking spreadsheets which have become increasingly bloated with successive iterations of poorly-integrated bolt-on functions. If that is the case, then alternatives … Continue reading
Computer skills to last a lifetime, not just until the next software version
If I had a pound for every list of “21st century skills/competences/literacies” I’ve seen recently…. But still, Jakob Nielsen makes some telling points about the need to move away from the old application-centric way of teaching people to use computers (is anyone still using the European Computer Driving Licence? what value does that accreditation have … Continue reading
OERs in a global context – preview of eLearning Africa debate
I confess to being a little puzzled by Neil Butcher’s defence of OERs, which seems to be based around the same ‘freemium’ model touted to other ‘content industries’ like music. It goes something like: give away your core offering to build your profile, then build revenue from additional products/services sold on the strength of that … Continue reading
Wonderful debunking of e-portfolios by @donaldclark
On his blog, Donald Clark has built a strong track record of laying into some cherished ideas and proclaiming that the emperor has no clothes. This post is the perfect antidote to my post here a few months ago http://agilelearning.amplify.com/2011/01/25/the-new-breed-of-tools-for-building-online-portfolios-myshowcase-zesti-others/ I’ve just included the headings of Donald’s seven reasons — click through for full details … Continue reading
Saylor.org: zero-cost alternative to higher education
Another initiative (US-based, non-profit) to provide alternatives to universities, based around Open CourseWare. Saylor covers a good range of course areas, though “while we may try to obtain accreditation in the future, at present, Saylor.org is not an accredited institution and does not confer degrees of any kind”. There’s a good appreciation by Stian Haklev … Continue reading
Agile Learning 