Archive for August, 2007
August 19th, 2007 by Jorge Goncalves
PLOTEUS - Portal on Learning Opportunities Throughout Europe. ‘PLOTEUS was set upon order to respond to the conclusions of the Lisbon and Stockholm European Councils (March 2000 and March 2001), which invited the European Commission and Member States to create a Europe-wide service providing information on jobs and learning opportunities. The purpose of PLOTEUS, just like that of EURES, its counterpart, is to put into effect the right to freedom of movement for European citizens by providing the necessary information.
In its present form, PLOTEUS aims to facilitate navigation among existing information resources on learning opportunities. The work of identifying and classifying the information resources is carried out by the National Resources Centres for Vocational Guidance (Euroguidance) - a European network funded by the Leonardo da Vinci programme and by national authorities.
PLOTEUS aims to help students, job seekers, workers, parents, guidance counsellors and teachers to find out information about studying in Europe. On PLOTEUS you can find all relevant information about life-long learning in Europe.’
August 16th, 2007 by Jorge Goncalves
Taking One-to-One Computing to the Next Level - Laptop Learning Lightens Up Simple Storage Solutions. ‘One-to-one computing holds out the exciting promise of engaging students and empowering educators. Convertible notebook PCs, in particular, can be powerful tools to stimulate inspiration and interaction. This eBook contains suggestions on incorporating some of these new technologies into a 1:1 learning program. A true 1:1 computing solution is more than the computer, however; read this eBook for ideas on bolstering your program with industry expertise, effective software and responsive support.’ (free registration needed)
Related: Tips to Manage a 1:1 Learning Initiative by Todd Bryant, TechLearning, June 2006. Introduction: Schools all across the country are flocking to the concept of 1:1 learning, which is the concept of one laptop for every student and teacher in the school. While the benefits and success stories of a 1:1 learning initiative have been well published, there has been little information published about the implementation strategies used by technical coordinators in these initiatives. However, there are several key areas for a successful implementation of a 1:1 learning initiative, including having a solid network infrastructure, properly configuring and managing the laptops, tracking laptop inventory, and having an excellent laptop Help Desk.
Thoughts Aside: An ebook covering all of the major aspects of the Microsoft certifications 70-547 is easily downloadable from the internet. Also the 70-548 certification exam is considered to be the industry standard in terms of measuring the technical expertise. Adding more such certifications as Microsoft 70-620 certification to one’s portfolio makes one’s career path even more diverse. A highly reputable certification such as yet another Microsoft certification 74-134 can give one a good indication of one’s standing of the knowledge and practical skills.
August 14th, 2007 by Jorge Goncalves
6th International Conference on Imagination and Education: “Imaginative practice, imaginative inquiry”, 29-31 January 2008, Rydges Hotel by the Lake, Canberra, Australia. ‘The Imaginative Education Research Group (IERG) invites you to join us in our aim to stimulate discussion of imaginative education and its applications in all sites of learning, and to ensure that educational experiences are imaginatively engaging for both teachers and learners.
The conference theme “Imaginative practice, imaginative inquiry” aims to connect a cross-section of educators and administrators from elementary & high schools, universities, professional organisations and work-place settings in a dialogue and exploration of imaginative and creative ways of teaching, learning and conducting educational inquiry.’
Imaginative Education Research Group (IERG). The IERG is a group of researchers, teachers, graduate students, parents and others who would like to make education more effective through Imaginative Education. The Imaginative Education Research Group Portal aim is to introduce the visitors to Imaginative Education theories, principles and practical techniques.
August 14th, 2007 by Jorge Goncalves
CDLP Nuts & Bolts - Distance Learning in Adult Education. ‘Animated tutorial covers distance learning basics, distance learners, popular approaches and how to start a program.’
CDLP - California Distance Learning Project. ‘The California Distance Learning Project goal is to help expand learner access to adult basic education services in California. This goal has four major tasks: 1) Build and Promote a Distance Learning Knowledge Base; 2) Provide Technical Assistance in Implementing Distance Learning; 3) Test New Instructional Delivery Methods / Materials and 4) Help Create a Statewide Distance Learning Infrastructure.’
August 7th, 2007 by Jorge Goncalves
Top-Ten Teaching and Learning Issues, 2007 by John P. Campbell, Diana G. Oblinger and Colleagues, Educause Quarterly, vol. 30 (3), 2007. ‘Creating a culture of evidence tops the list of important issues as the academic technology profession moves to an “Instruction 2.0″ world.
The EDUCAUSE Advisory Committee for Teaching and Learning (ACTL) has identified the key technology-related teaching and learning issues in higher education for 2007. This is a particularly important time for the academic technology/instructional design profession, which is moving beyond the formative stages. In surveying themes and issues this year, ACTL believes that we are moving toward “Instruction 2.0.” Just as emerging Web 2.0 technologies are clearly reshaping the Web and online media, innovations in instructional practice and academic technology are now clearly moving higher education in new directions.’
EDUCAUSE Advisory Committee on Teaching and Learning . ‘This committee is designed to bring leading-edge, visionary thinking about higher education teaching and learning issues into the EDUCAUSE program by (1) providing insight into scalable, sustainable, enterprise-wide approaches to the implementation of new learning environments, and (2) suggesting and, where possible, developing activities to carry this goal forward. These activities might include but are not limited to identifying model processes, building communities of practitioners, and contributing to structures for communicating related issues.’
August 5th, 2007 by Jorge Goncalves
Some Historical Thoughts on the ee-Learning Renaissance by Jack M. Nilles, Innovate 3 (6), 2007. Synopsis: Jack Nilles surveys the evolution of ee-learning at the University of Southern California, together with the first formal telecommuting demonstration program, from its beginnings in the early 1970s to the relevant trends in 2006. Although the basic technologies of telecommuting and ee-learning were in evidence in the 1970s, subsequent technological changes have expanded the scope of opportunities for both. Nilles argues that societal trends in this century will increase the future importance of ee-learning, making it imperative for higher education institutions both to become involved and to adapt their curricula to this new learning environment.
Excerpt: The core concept of ee-learning is that the real world becomes the learning environment; in this environment, the purpose of the instructor is to help the distant and/or time-shifted student assimilate and evaluate his or her real world experiences, share them with others, and relate them to the disciplines of the academy. ee-Learning is similar to e-learning in that they both involve technological substitutes for collocation of student and instructor. They differ in focus: e-learning substitutes for the traditional, campus-oriented learning process; the focus of ee-learning is the student’s non-campus environment. One of the dilemmas in structuring e-learning or ee-learning environments lies in deciding how closely they should resemble the traditional undergraduate on-campus experience. This predicament is particularly relevant when the learners are not traditional undergraduate students, as is likely to be the case in the future. In order to provide some perspective on the transition issues, I would like to review some relatively ancient history and relate it to criteria for successful ee-learning today. What lessons from the past can help shape the future?
The August/September issue of Innovate explores the theoretical and practical implications of a distinctive mode of instruction known as “ee-learning” — a combination of the information technologies associated with electronic learning and the pedagogical principles associated with experiential learning. As the articles in this issue suggest, this approach to instruction holds much promise for revitalizing many sectors of education, from K-12 to higher education, governmental, and corporate settings.
Thoughts Aside: If you are interested and have got some level of acquaintance with some basics of ee learning (000-078) you may take any of the related certifications directly (000-190). These certification exams are pre-scheduled (000-222) and mostly multiple choice exams consisting of 35-100 questions (000-228) and show you the result of the exam right after the completion of the test.
August 1st, 2007 by Jorge Goncalves
Jane Hart, author of the well known Jane’s E-Learning Pick of the Day and Directory of Learning Tools, asked a number of people what their Top Ten Tools were “for their own personal working and learning or for creating and delivering learning solutions”. The aim is to build the Top 100 Tools: the most popular tools list. Jane has invited me to participate and here is my contribution:
- Moodle
- Firefox with ScribeFire
- Bloglines
- Blogger and WordPress
- Google Tools (Search, Gmail and Docs & Spreadsheets)
- MS Office: Word, Excel and PowerPoint
- Furl
- Twango
- Snag It
- Copernic Desktop Search
You can find more details at the page Jane has built for my Top Ten Tools list.
