Swansea Academy of Learning and Teaching

n the learning technology field there is no shortage of research questions- but there is a shortage of research funding. Learning technology researchers are increasingly being required to address issues of impact in order to attract funding. At the beginning of the project, they must anticipate the potential impact of their research on end users, beyond the realms of scholarly citations, and put in place measures to demonstrate that impact. This is a particular challenge, especially in a field that in its infancy was prone to adopt a non-critical 'evangelical' stance to learning technology. The field is maturing however, both in its methodological and theoretical approaches, and it would seem pertinent (if not imperative!) that learning technology researchers be proactive rather than reactive with regards to mapping out what impact means in the context of learning technology research.

Whether or not you take a constructivist view of education, feedback on performance is inevitably seen as a crucial component of the process. However, experience shows that students (and academic staff) often struggle with feedback, which all too often fails to translate into feed-forward actions leading to educational gains. Problems get worse as student cohort sizes increase. By building on the well-established principle of separating marks from feedback and by using a social network approach to amplify peer discussion of assessed tasks, this paper describes an efficient system for interactive student feedback. Although the majority of students remain passive recipients in this system, they are still exposed to deeper reflection on assessed tasks than in traditional one-to-one feedback processes.

Bucky Roberts (thenewboston.com) introduces the HTML5 family of features and APIs in this YouTube playlist of 53 (so far) 4-5 minute tutorials. As Bucky Says, HTML5 is an evolution of the "HTML Burrito" of HTML, CSS and JavaScript and he has earlier video courses on these as well. I've only watched two episodes, but they seem good quality to me. Thanks to mrparkin for the recommendation.

This blog is written by Jane Hart, Founder of the Centre for Learning & Performance Technologies and the Social Learning Centre

This paper reports on a study at a research intensive University in the North of the UK exploring academics' perceptions of the potential of Web 2.0 for their teaching and any influences shaping those perceptions. It looks at the perceptions of academics 'on the ground' as well as those leading teaching and learning strategies at the University. The study identifies a range of perceptions among academics. These are influenced predominantly by academics' beliefs of what constitutes good teaching in their contexts. The paper concludes with an exploration of ways in which the range of perceptions evidenced may inform discussion of Web 2.0, arguing that academics' perceptions are crucial to context-based understandings of its potential.

Academic support is a vital component of higher education. Not only does it ensure that students are able to succeed in completing their degree, but it provides them with the confidence to develop their skills and give them a sense of belonging within the institution.

I asked for suggestions for a replacement for Netskills TONIC and Chris Hall (@chris_hall) passed on this recommendation from one of his students: BBC WebWise. This is a beginner's course aimed at adults who are new to computers and the internet. It has a very wide brief which seems to be the closest to TONIC in it's range of topics. Very high-quality resources as well as you'd expect from the BBC. Although not a direct replacement, WebWise was the best alternative that I have come across so far, and is the one I will be using with my EG-152 class this year (I will be linking to the Internet Detective and OU Safari too).

I asked for suggestions for a replacement for Netskills TONIC and Sam Oakley (@rscsam) also suggested SAFARI "a guided expedition through the information world." This resource was developed by the Open University (OU) and looks like a comprehensive tutorial on accessing, finding and reviewing information  -- and not just from the Internet. The recommended time to work through the examples is 10-13.5 hours. TONIC was much more of a beginners guide to the internet but Safari looks an excellent resource for students embarking on a research project.

I asked for suggestions for a replacement for Netskills TONIC and Sam Oakley (@rscsam) suggested the Internet Detective (developed by the University of Bristol and Manchester Metropolitan University from an original tutorial by Marianne Peereboom. Though launched in 2006 it doesn't appear to have been updated since 2009. TONIC was about the internet generally though, not just research.

JISC infokit on cloud computing in education

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