Group items tagged

This seems particularly pertinent given all the recent activity in College around the 'Student Experience'. The lastest version of JISC Inform talks about this and this appears to be the launch of their "Student Experiences of Technology" campaign which is bound to yield something useful.

Guardian education supplement examining technology in higher education, particularly so called Web2.0 technologies and examining the student perspective.

Article in the Guardian Education about why students find lectures boring. Unsurprisingly, PowerPoint is mentioned as a factor although reading further it's the usual story of the inappropriate use of PowerPoint rather than the existance of Powerpoint itself. I went to some extremely tedious lectures during my degree...it is possible to bore with a blackboard too! I would be interested in seeing more details of the types of lecture that students actually *like*!

Actually, it's just struck me...we have these awards where students nominate staff. We get a lot of nominations. What is it that students actually *like* about what staff are doing?

David produced a 'tag cloud' of the words used in their nominations.

We probably shouldn't be unduly concerned with QM's apparent lack of progress in the Web2.0 area....yet....

Article in the Guardian education about HE's use of Web2.0 technologies. It's driven by the publication of a report by Sir David Melville but highly annoyingly does not provide any reference for the report itself....I have managed to track it down....see the "Higher Education in a Web2.0 World" bookmark!

Despite the focus on games there's obviously potential educational value in realistic simulations like this...

Article in the Guardian Technology about integrating 'chatbots' into games and the potential of being able to converse realistically with characters. The writer speculates on the birth of a new genre "The First Person Talker". Could this be the "killer app" for games for girls?

Video marking at the University of Westminster

Article on using text messaging to reach students at U Wolverhampton. The team that did it recommends that students be offered the chance to opt out.

Interesting :-)

Quick commentary piece on working-class students being disadvantaged at universities that made me think of the Transitions project. Also of interest to the Graduate Attributes project: Goldsmiths' mission statement. It offers "a transformative experience, generating knowledge and stimulating self-discovery through creative, radical and intellectually rigorous thinking and practice."

Immediately made me think about someone in a College department, which will remain nameless, who proudly proclaims that they fail a large number of students...like it's some kind of badge of honour! This article would appear to hit the nail on the head but unfortunately it's a problem that's doesn't have a "simple" solution like lowering entrance standards or handing out more Oxbridge scholarships.

Good lord, the apocalypse is upon us. Machines are marking essays.

QM, the rising star in the RAE...oh dear, 57th this year, a drop of 10 places. My alma mater...Heriot-Watt...up a stonking 30 places from 52 to 22. Hurrah! Of course, we shouldn't believe league tables should we?

The Guardian's ranking of UK universities according to teaching excellence.

Hmmmmm, what will QM be cutting?

The issue of linking to materials raises its head again.