eLearning stuff

A major milestone reached - The Web2Rights IP Toolkit is launched 

The Web2Rights IP Toolkit for JISC funded projects engaging with next generation technologies, services and software is now available online at: www.web2rights.org.uk 

Users can:

1. Download or review the individual resources

2. Download the ZIP files containing the separate sections

3. Download or view the IPR Flowchart to select the correct resources for your project

4. Use the IPR Diagnostic Tool to select the correct resources for your project

The resources are divided into the following sections:

1. Basic information about the IP and Web2.0 landscape

2. Practical IP tools for projects engaging with Web2.0

3. Template licences and model releases

4. FAQs and Use Cases

5. Web2.0 and IP Presentation

Although this materal has been produced for the JISC User and Innovation projects I’m sure it will benefit many more users

Tags:   Copyright · IPR · JISC · Web2rightsNo Comments.

There’s much around about Edupunk. Ok, I’m a late comer to the debate (though as this blog is very much in a backwater I’ll use debate as a very loose term) and http://edupunk.org/ has links to it all. And there’s the obligatory youtube vid.

It’s been interesting following the blog posts on Edupunk and as a backlash to Blackboard it’s unleashing a fair bit of frustration in the community.

But, it’s hardly new. Over the past 15 years we’ve been involved in project and developments - some funded, the most unfunded. These projects/interventions/ideas all have one thing in common - they are designed around user needs, and these needs are not those of the institution (though some times they coincide); they are not the needs of the developer/instructional designer/academic. They are the needs of the learner.

To paraphrase the opening line of a true punk classic from X-Ray Spex

Some people think little learners should be seen and not heard…..but I think Oh Blackboard, up yours

There’s a fair bit of evidence around  such as the recent JISC Great expectations of ICT: how HE institutions are measuring up report that users want to do their own thing.

 Evidence shows that using these [social networking] sites in education are more effective when the students set them up themselves; lecturer-led ones can feel overly formal

We can’t constrain them to using institutional systems, they don’t want to use them, they will look for their own ways of working - what we need to do is to support our users.

If they don’t use Blackboard or <—insert your own MLE/VLE here —> so what?

The Wired Campus article: Frustrated With Corporate Course-Management Systems, Some Professors Go ‘Edupunk’ states

A group of tech-savvy professors are claiming punk music as inspiration for their approach to teaching. They call their approach Edupunk.

Great, but it’s just as much about learners doing their own thing, making their own choices and we need to support them in this. Institutions love their Enterprise, out-of-the-box solutions, and yes as academics we can be anti-establishment, but there’s one part of the establishment we need to take with us…..the learners.

Tags:   Edupunk · JISC · web2.0 · X-Ray SpexNo Comments.

It’s about time I blogged, as it’s ironic that the day job (that involves Web 2.0 stuff) is getting hectic and sorting this (and the other blog) ends up at the bottom of the pile.

 Whilst waiting for the Curverider boys to release Elgg 1.0 I came across this article on Ft.com linked from the Dave Tosh’s blog. Now….according to the FT’s Peter Whitehead,  Web3.0 is where professionals take the lead in shaping content when compared to  Web 2.0 - a world in which anyone can have a go at generating content.

Whilst this definition may be attractive to providers selling their services as something new, it’s hardly the semantic web.

Tags:   Elgg · web2.0 · web3.0No Comments.

When it comes to micro blogging I have to admit it’s not really held my attention. I was too late for Jaiku and I never really spent the time to fully exploit Twitter. We have, though,  been spending a lot of time working with Elgg as part of the community area for the UsPaCe project.

The community working with Elgg is small (compared with most Open Source projects), but it’s pretty vibrant and the Elgg site and its forum is one of the first sites I check in the morning just to see what updates/patches/gossip there is. So, this morning I found that the guys behind Elgg had released Elggvoices. The UsPaCe project is aimed at supporting students on Placement or doing Work Based Learning and Elggvoices looks like it could slot in as one of the tools we could use.

If Elgg 1.0 (release date to be announced) allows the seamless embedding of Elggvoices it’s going to be easy to get it used by learners. From the Focus Group work we’ve been doing it looks like they like the skin we’ve put on our Elgg community and the Elggvoices will add a dynamic layer. If we can get up channels for groups (or even get the learners to set them up) we’ll have buy-in from our users.

OK, so I can’t get the RSS feed to work (yet) from Elggvoices but having watched the Shouts today I can see that Dave and Ben from Curverider are quickly getting things sorted, and it looks like some familar names from the Elgg Community are playing with Elggvoices. I liked the Google map mashup showing locations of shouts - it looks like there’s only 4 of us who have entered their location in their profile so it’s sparsely populated but readable. I’d imagine, if there’s a few hundred/thousands of users the map will be unreadable….but if you could just show Shouts from your own channels it would be great.

 So..lots of exciting changes with Elgg…..with ElggJam 08 now open for registration, Elgg 1.0 about to be released and Ellgvoices out as a tantalising glimpse of Elgg1.0

Tags:   Elgg · ElggVoices · microblogging · UsPaCeNo Comments.

A few days ago I had an email forwarded to me that came with this signature

This email and any files transmitted with it are confidential and intended solely for the use of the individual to whom they are addressed. Any views or opinions presented are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of xxxxxxxxxx College. If you are not the intended recipient be advised that any use, dissemination, forwarding, printing or copying of this email is strictly prohibited. If you have received this email in error please delete it together with any attachment and contact the sender. This email message has been swept for the presence of computer viruses. Please note that xxxxxxxx College reserves the right to monitor all incoming and outgoing email communications, especially if there is some evidence of illegal or serious misuse of facilities. Only print this email if absolutely necessary.

So far this is the longest signature I’ve seen and probably the most pointless [Read more →]

Tags:   email · officialdom1 Comment

Darren Walters on the BBC site asks Is the future mobile?

Specifically, they want to know:

• Do we need to produce different content for mobile - or is it just the same stuff reformatted for your device? Do you want stories to be shorter on a mobile or the same as the web?
• Are you interested in different stories on the move - or would you want BBC News or Sport to be consistent across our different outlets?
• What about audio and video? More and more phones are capable of playing this. Is this important to you on a handheld or a distraction? Does your answer change if you don’t have to pay?
• Would you ever watch live TV on a mobile or handheld?

10 years ago I had one of these…. [Read more →]

Tags:   GPS · Mobile · SPV700No Comments.

I seem to be spending a lot of time on Elgg at the moment with the UsPaCe project and two exciting pieces of news from the Elgg community came out this week.

1. There’s going to be another ElggJam - this time in London in June. We’ll probably be there as we’ve spent a lot of time tweaking and tailoring Elgg to our needs. What’s really interesting is that one of the main uses of Elgg by the team at http://community.brighton.ac.uk/ is the support of placement learners, which is what UsPaCe is all about

The Elgg site blog states

In particular, the ability to develop community interaction and provide supportive information and shared experience have been identified as particularly useful for courses with large contingents of students on placement study where they spend protracted periods of time off-campus and where students planning placements can benefit from sharing the experinces of those already on placement.

 This is really interesting as this is what we are doing with UsPaCe.

2. We are getting closer to seeing Elgg 1.0. Ben Werdmuller posted earlier this week that it should be ready to ship in the next 6 - 8 weeks. This is great news and I’ll have a development server on stand by.

Tags:   Elgg · ElggJam · UsPaCeNo Comments.

just need to post this to get technorati to verify the blog Technorati Profile

Tags: No Comments.

just seeing if Elgg will pick this up.

Tags: No Comments.

Yesterday Nominet announced a £5million research foundation…..

……..announce the creation of the Nominet Foundation, a charitable organisation that will fund education, research and development initiatives in the UK Internet industry.

The Foundation will aim to launch in Summer 2008 with a first year donation of £5 million.

The Board has begun the process of setting up the organisation and creating the governance structure for the Foundation. Projects will be invited to seek funding at a later date.

As  Nominet is aiming to have this new Foundation set up and seeking its first projects to fund by Summer 2008 it will be interesting to see if there is a competitive bidding process put in place and how many projects will be funded.

Tags:   funding · nominet · research1 Comment