Group items tagged

The government of Switzerland has issued a statement declaring that it will not take action to alter current copyright laws allowing the downloading of music and movies for personal use. The statement is the result of a lengthy study conducted by the Swiss government into the impact of so-called "piracy" on the entertainment industry. Despite the industry's claims that downloading undermines their business, this study shows that the effect of unauthorized downloading on the industry's bottom line is negligible. One key finding of the study is that downloaders spend as much if not more to acquire content legally as those who do not download. Researchers found no change in amount of disposable income spent on music and movies, despite the fact that roughly one third of Swiss people engage in some form of downloading. The government concluded, then, that no change to the current legal structure was necessary, and urged the entertainment industry to grow and adapt with the changes in technology and in consumer habits, rather than trying to suppress progress.

This study is an exploratory case study aimed at analysing one academic's teaching in terms of conceptions of teaching and its effect on student involvement or engagement. The research has been done by drawing on Gonzalez' dimensions of online teaching and data generated by the LMS and data analytics in general. There is growing interest in the use of academic analytics. However, most of the reported work is being done at the level of institutions/groupings of courses. Improving teaching can only be done through changing the conceptions of teaching/learning held by the academics. Can individual teaching staff, reflecting on their courses, learn anything important from examining their courses through analytics? How can this be done effectively? What do they find? This study uses an academic's approach to teaching + use as an indicator of involvement, therefore, an improvement of teaching.

" The SLiDA project investigated how institutions are creating and enabling opportunities that promote the development of effective learning in a digital age. The ultimate aim is to promote strategies which support learners to develop the access, skills, strategies and attributes they need to learn effectively with technology. The main deliverables of the study are a set of institutional Case Studies which are presented on this site. Any questions about the project can be directed to Rhona Sharpe, Oxford Brookes University."

"'We found no evidence for any discontinuity in technology use around the age of 30 as would be predicted by the Net Generation and Digital Natives hypothesis,' says the report. What the reseachers do find interesting and worthy of further study is the correlation--which is independent of age--between attitudes to technology and approaches to studying. In short, students who more readily use technology for their studies are more likely than others to be deeply engaged with their work."

That last point is pretty powerful. Need to get the data replicated elsewhere as next stage. But as always, different people are different!

Site to support this JISC project on implementing eportfolios. The ePI study is exploring large-scale implementations of e-portfolio use in Higher and Further Education and professional organisations in the UK . It is JISC funded and led by the University of  Nottingham. The study seeks to:Identify a range of examples of wide scale e-portfolio implementations within HE/FE institutions and professional bodies that will inform practice/strategy;Gather a range of case studies to support the articulation of models of implementation;Develop an appropriate means of disseminating the outcomes that enables a potential user to understand the implementation issues and identify the cases that are most relevant to their own contexts.

The goal of this study is to produce a report with 8-12 case studies which have used social software to support and engage learners, or have embedded the social software within the pedagogy of a course or a programme.

"Published February 25, 2013 Matthew P. Long & Roger C. Schonfeld In this report, we present the results of Ithaka S+R's study of the scholarly practices of academic chemists. This study, funded by Jisc, presents information meant to empower research support providers in their work with chemists. The report covers themes such as data management, research collaboration, library use, discovery, publication practices, and research funding.   The report describes the findings of our investigation into academic chemists' research habits and research support needs. The digital availability of scholarly literature has transformed chemists' research by creating an environment where they can easily search for journal articles and chemical information. However, they often feel overwhelmed by the amount of new research available, and they need better tools to remain aware of current research. Furthermore, despite their heavy use of technology for research, many academic chemists have been slow to adopt new models of sharing data and research results such as online repositories and open access publishing. Our interviews highlighted the importance of the research group as a unit of academic life, and revealed some of the challenges inherent in working in groups that span institutions and national boundaries."

"This 31-page report analyzes the results of a recent Gartner research study performed between August and October of 2011. The study focused on enterprise mobility and was designed to generate qualitative data using in-depth conversations and qualitative analysis. Trends, observations, and recommendations are the core of this research. The report includes recommendations that are appropriate to colleges and universities today."

Great looking site built by 1st years. "AllAboutLinguistics.com was created by first-year linguistics students at the University of Sheffield, supported by staff in the School of English Literature, Language and Linguistics. The website formed part of the students assessment, after they completed a course called Introduction to Linguistics, and it aims to share the knowledge they gained from this module with anyone outside the University who is interested in language and its study - especially A-Level students thinking of going on to study linguistics at University. We asked students to build the site because as beginners in linguistics themselves, they were in a good position to help explain the discipline to you."

Case studies of gamification in the workplace. I like the RAMP solution as well as the progress that DeLoitte could see on individuals.

"This web site synthesises outputs from the JISC Learner Experiences of e-Learning programme. The programme spanned two phases over four years from 2005-2009. It comprised nine research projects in total (two in phase 1 and seven in phase two), employed mixed method approaches, and had the sustained involvement of over 200 learners and more than 3000 survey respondents. Five national workshops were run disseminating the methods and findings. The programme focussed on the learner voice. Learners allowed us into their worlds and showed us what it is like to study in a technology-rich age. The projects produced a huge collection of rich, detailed data that sheds light on what learners expect from the use of technology in post-compulsory education and the choices they make about using technology to support their study."

Cornwall College LSIS funded Research based project exploring the Issues for the uses of Facebookwith 16-19 year old Learners. Bex Ferriday.All the documents written as a result of the LSIS Facebook project are freely available from a range of internet locations. Documents are as follows:* Briefing paper (with case studies)* Suggested acceptable use policy* Plenary dissemination slides:paper and case studies available on Slideshare:

Studying Connectivism in the context of personal 'keeping up to date' rather than in a MOOC context. Acknowledges it is a limited study but it is first steps in this area. Available from our library.

This web site synthesises outputs from the JISC Learner Experiences of e-Learning programme. The programme spanned two phases over four years from 2005-2009. It comprised nine research projects in total (two in phase 1 and seven in phase two), employed mixed method approaches, and had the sustained involvement of over 200 learners and more than 3000 survey respondents. The programme focussed on the learner voice. Learners allowed us into their worlds and showed us what it is like to study in a technology-rich age. The projects produced a huge collection of rich, detailed data that sheds light on what learners expect from the use of technology in post-compulsory education and the choices they make about using technology to support their study.

"AbstractWe present a case study to evaluate the use of a Wimba Voice Board to support asynchronous audio discussion. We discuss the learning strategy and pedagogic rationale when a Voice Board was implemented within an MA module for language learners, enabling students to create learning objects and facilitating peer-to-peer learning. Previously students studying the module had communicated using text-based synchronous and asynchronous discussion only. A common criticism of text-based media is the lack of non-verbal communication. Audio communication is a richer medium where use of pitch, tone, emphasis and inflection can increase personalisation and prevent misinterpretation."

Case studies of using CC licenses, including Nina Paley (Sita Sings The Blues) and Cory Doctorow

The University of San Francisco has revealed the results of a six month 2010 iPad study involving 40 faculty members that looked at how teachers could use the device as a tool in the classroom. The result: while many teachers found the device useful, all thought there was room for improvement.

Claire Guthrie's thesis on plagiarism and comparing Waikato to another study. Found that low levels of plagiarism were under reported at the student discipline committee.

The key attributes that a computer grad needs today. "What all of the employers want is the right attitude and aptitude. With these, any gaps in the knowledge and experience of a student fresh from studies can easily be overcome.  Heck, the industry moves so fast that they need to be updating those on the first day."