Wcel_Team

Grainne Conole proposes 12 dimesions for better classification of MOOCs. the degree of openness, the scale of participation (massification), the amount of use of multimedia, the amount of communication, the extent to which collaboration is included, the type of learner pathway (from learner centred to teacher-centred and highly structured), the level of quality assurance, the extent to which reflection is encouraged, the level of assessment, how informal or formal it is, autonomy, and diversity. She then evaluates five example MOOCs against these dimensions.

"A report issued by the United States Government Accountability Office on June 6th confirms a trend of the educational publishing industry: textbook costs to students at higher education institutions are rising 6% per year on average, and have risen 82% over the last decade. The study, ordered by Congress, looks at the efforts of publishers and colleges to increase the availability of textbook price information and "unbundled" buying options as required under provisions in the Higher Education Opportunity Act of 2008 (HEOA"

Report by think tank on the future of HE in UK. Recommends credit from Moocs, all academics to have training in teaching & assessment, and a teacher track for academics.

Full report of IPPR on the future of HE in UK.

Template based activity for school kids but idea could be adapted for other levels.

Useful video on Diigo features

Sugata Mitra (TED talks and hole-in-the-wall computer innovator) critiques traditonal 'pencil and paper' exams and learning and gives an alternative which is (I think) a problem-based learning approach which he calls SOLE (Self-organised learning environment). 

coffee shop meetings boost productivity and creativeness because of moderate level of background noise. More meetings in coffee shops to enhance WCEL team performance!

Hadn't paid attention to the improvements in the Diigo extension for Chrome. Just discovered that you can use it to do screen captures and mark them up at the same time with text, arrows and shapes.

"Massive Online Open Course for Educators, or MOOC-Eds, are professional development experiences that will engage you in new technology-enabled learning opportunities that are becoming widely used for both adults and students"

"If you want to find out why people might become engaged in OER and Open educational practices (OEP) then you might like to look at the Motivations section. If you are interested in looking at the range of models and approaches adopted for OER Release then the Models page may be useful for you. If you want to know about the impact of the HEFCE funding then we have an Impact section. We have drawn together some critical factors to support OEP for those that want some tips on how to go about this themselves. We have a section that highlights tensions and challenges around OEP and the OER journeys section provides an interesting look at the wider context and how the HEFCE-funded initiatives fit into that. We also offer recommendations. If you contributed to our surveys, polls and interviews then we have a series of supplementary appendices and you can look at out methodology and evidence pages - all available from the main report page http://bit.ly/HEFCEoerReview. We have also produced a summary briefing paper."

Vince Ham from CORE Ed discussing the factors which make professional development in e-learning 'effective'. 

Deakin trying out a MOOC with some interesting assessment ideas - mainly assessed via peer review and awarding of badges, formal credit on payment of $495 fee involves an interview with the student as well as learning artefacts. 

Great presentation on putting social into workplace learning.

"Brute computing force alone can't solve the world's problems. Data mining innovator Shyam Sankar explains why solving big problems (like catching terrorists or identifying huge hidden trends) is not a question of finding the right algorithm, but rather the right symbiotic relationship between computation and human creativity."

"This site is aimed at students. It concerns when to reference sources in written course assignments."

The (non) importance of academic experience to getting a job at Google.

Stephen Downes on the purpose of learning and what constitutes success. Video, audio & slides.

Slides from the various keynotes at the EDEN conference