Group items tagged

In this article I want to reflect on the rhetoric of 'Web 2.0' and its potential versus actual impact. I want to suggest that we need to do more than look at how social networking technologies are being used generally as an indicator of their potential impact on education, arguing instead that we need to rethink what are the fundamental characteristics of learning and then see how social networking can be harnessed to maximise these characteristics to best effect. I will further argue that the current complexity of the digital environment requires us to develop 'schema' or approaches to thinking about how we can best harness the benefits these new technologies confer.

"Social media and online games have the potential to convey 21st century skills that aren't necessarily part of school curricula - things like time management, leadership, teamwork and creative problem solving that will prepare teens for success in college and beyond. Making the transition between a highly structured environment in high school to a self-driven, unstructured environment in college can prove a huge challenge for many kids. Educators spend a lot of time thinking about how to fix this problem. The solution doesn't lie solely with games, but a lot of the psychology that motivates teens to play games holds potential. We need to figure out how to tap in."

Excellent story of the journey to openness and the hugely positive difference it made to this leading photographers business and approach to life.

The Higher Education Achievement Report (HEAR) is designed to encourage a more sophisticated approach to recording student achievement, which acknowledges fully the range of opportunities that higher education institutions in the UK offer to their students. The HEAR has the potential to bring a wide range of benefits to students, employers and higher education institutions. The HEAR can also been seen as a symbolic and practical expression of the UK's student-centred and quality-focussed higher education culture. It is anticipated that the HEAR will become a key feature in differentiating and distinguishing the UK higher education system. This website is an information and resources portal for those involved in: * implementing and managing the HEAR at an institutional level; * creating and making the most of the HEAR at a personal level for students; or  * understanding and utilising the HEAR at a recruitment level for employers.

some ideas for avoidding being caught in a 'filter bubble' such as those formed by Google and facebook...

NZ Institute report on educational disengagement. Argues for rapid elearning deployment as a potential solution.

The project blog for a JISC project on visual plagiarism "This blog is written by the Spot the Difference project team, who are researching the meaning, nature, and issues surrounding the concept of 'visual plagiarism', as well as the potential uses of visual search technology in this complex area."

Excellent post on fair use, its flaws and the danger of copyright accusation without trial.  This is an example of remix and appropriation of an image where the author could not afford to go to court and potentially lose (multiple times $150,000) and so settled out of court at $32500.

Potential economic models for publishing OERs, running open courses, and for open scholarship.

The core proposition is that with the unprecedented amounts of digital data now becoming  available about learners' activities and interests, from educational institutions and elsewhere online, there is significant potential to make better use of this data to improve learning  outcomes.

21st Century Fluency Project A model of five different areas of fluency situated within the context of being a digital citizen. A model with potential but the definitions of the five fluencies - solution fluency, information fluency, media fluency, collaboration fluency, and creativity fluency - are fairly lightweight

"Gamification [n]: the use of game design elements in non-game contexts. Gamification has tremendous potential in the education space. How can we use it to deliver truly meaningful experiences to students?"

Potentially important piece of work around eportfolio maturity and a framework for future development / improvement.

"Another market where eBooks have a lot of potential is education... Surprisingly though, it's not iPad and eReaders that are driving the eTextbook market - but PCs and netbooks." *Be sure to read the comments too.*

Interesting post on url shorteners and some potential downsides, in short and long term.

"The report highlights a number of recurring issues surrounding the potential benefit of information and communications technology (ICT) to learning and teaching in post-compulsory education."

Many members of JISC Emerge community are active in exploiting the potential of various Web 2.0 technologies and approaches. But what if the Web 2.0 sceptics are right? What if Web 2.0 services aren't sustainable? What if the social aspect of social networking tools are too intrusive? How should we go about developing a sustainable approach to use of Web 2.0?

"In the context of a growing emphasis on eLearning, most commonly facilitated by enterprise-scale Learning Management System and a range of institutionally managed and supported communication and collaboration software tools, and in an environment of increasing emphasis on intellectual property rights management and quality assurance, how do universities (and other educational institutions) respond to the use of free, open-access tools in common use by their students? What are the potential educational uses of such tools? What are the current practices of use of these tools within educational institutions? What are the issues, risks and hidden costs? What are the advantages and benefits?"

Over time the learner has been the explorer of knowledge, its accumulator and skilled 'access-or'. In the 21st century challenges and demands are expanding and changing again. Our new society's environment is one of rapid communication, action and change, of intricate social activity and a huge potential for new knowledge. What are the models of the learner for this brave new world? How can higher education create these models and support the learners who aspire to them? This paper postulates four models of the learner of the future: * the collaborator: for whom networks of knowledge, skills and ideas are the source of learning * the free agent: utilising flexible, continuous, open-ended and life-long styles and systems of learning to the full * the wise analyser: able to gather, scrutinise and use evidence of effective activity and apply conclusions to new problems * the creative synthesiser: able to connect across themes and disciplines, cross-fertilise ideas, integrate disparate concepts and create new vision and practice. The paper describes an example of these kinds of learning and considers what they might imply for the development of learning in higher education in the coming century