Education Technology Teacher Development

JISC: The Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC) supports further and higher education by providing strategic guidance, advice and opportunities to use Information and Communications Technology (ICT) to support teaching, learning, research and administration.

Online Safety: WISE KIDS

Promoting Positive and Safe Internet Use: "WISE KIDS believes that the Internet is a vital tool in the information age, and seeks to promote internet literacy, proficiency and knowledge of the Internet and related technologies.

WISE KIDS believes that individuals and communities need the knowledge, skills and tools to understand how the Internet works, use it more effectively, and to see the possibilities that it offers in terms of providing access to information, creating content, connecting people, encouraging people to contribute and participate, use and develop services that are of benefit.

WISE KIDS also believes in the importance of awareness and practice of safe Internet use, and believes that individuals and communities need to be given information on Internet security and safety issues from grooming and chat room danger to scams like phishing.

In this way, they will have the knowledge, tools and confidence to be active participants (users and contributors) of the knowledge economy. WISE KIDS is committed to overcoming the digital divide and believes that the way forward must rest in greater Internet education and awareness."

Click here to save or view the summary of WISE KIDS Ethnographic Research findings for the Peer Mentoring Programme. Click here to read the last press release on the programme."

Technorati Tags: online+safety wisekids social+software+safety

podcast edu

podcast edu: download, listen, learn

Surgeons and Video Games

We Have to Operate, but Let's Play First: "The complex manual dexterity required to be a stellar video gamer and minimally invasive surgeon are strikingly similar, said Dr. Rosser, chief of minimally invasive surgery and director of the hospital's Advanced Medical Technology Institute. More important, he is using video games to help develop and train a new generation of surgeons who may have unwittingly acquired an aptitude for laparoscopic surgery while wiling away thousands of hours playing Mortal Kombat, BloodRayne and the like." (via NYT)

Use of pure computer games in education

Survey of Computer and Video Games in Education : "The survey deals solely with "pure entertainment" computer and video games (henceforth referred to as "pure games"). These are games that are designed, produced and marketed solely for fun and entertainment, and not for any explicit teaching or learning purpose. In the US especially, these are also known as COTS (Commercial Off The Shelf) games.

The aims of the survey are to:

• discover examples of "pure games" which are explicitly used for teaching or learning purposes.
• determine which types of "pure games" have the greatest potential for educational uses.
• identify emerging trends in the use of "pure games" for educational purposes.

To learn more contact John Kirriemuir.

Australian e-learning Resources

oz-TeacherNet :: The oz-TeacherNet was established in 1995 to provide teachers with an infrastructure for using the Internet to support professional development and curriculum design. The oz-TeacherNet projects and communities are managed and developed by the RITE (Research in Information Technology Education) Group based at QUT, Brisbane, Australia.

The OzProjects: This website assists you to find suitable online curriculum projects and provides access to a host of resources to support your involvement. If you are new to online projects, you may like to start in the Support section.

Global SchoolNet Foundation: Linking Kids Around the World! The earliest source for global education and online project-based learning activities.

Digital Schools

Using digital cameras are fun, but if you don't know how to use one check out this site: Digital Schools. You'll find help to get started in digital photography.

Blended, Converged, Married Technologies

What do these words have in common? In technological terms they imply the path that technology is heading down. Technology is going in so many directions, impacting our lives in ways we don’t realize. One technology marrying another, take for example, cell phones. Cells aren’t just phones anymore.

In an article about the 3GSM World Congress held in Cannes last week game phones will be the next technology wave to hit the market integrating music and entertainment. The next generation phones will blend technologies together to give Ipods competition. Cell phones have the capability to surf the web, take pictures, send email, download movies to watch, download mp3’s, watch TV and instant message; now that’s blending, converging, and marrying technologies.

The Asian Market is a big fan of merging media into 1 device. Macromedia has now gone mobile with the development of Flash Lite. Macromedia is working with Nokia in Asia to use Flash Lite on their phones.

What about Podcasting? This NY Times article talks about marrying radio broadcasting, computers and Ipods to play-back pre-recorded webcasts at your convenience. Very similar to do what TiVo did for the TV is now possible with audio.

Blending, Converging, Marrying –same destination; technology taking a new path that will never be the same afterwards. Think about the possibilities!

An introduction to learning platforms

As an introduction to learning platforms, this publication aims to make clear the potential value of electronic learning environments and the issues associated with them. It provides guidance, supported by practical examples, on how to ensure that a learning platform has both clarity of purpose and the confidence and commitment of its users.

Key areas include:

• The benefits of learning platforms
• Procurement advice
• What a learning platform look like
• Points to consider before implementing a learning platform
• A checklist for purchasing and implementing a learning platform

This is one of a series of occasional publications for those who provide support to schools, colleges and education organisations.

The series aims to equip LEAs and other intermediaries with current information and resources, so that they may support schools and other education providers in working towards sustainable, embedded use of ICT.

• Download the publication An introduction to learning platforms (PDF)

Technorati Tags: education+technology education LMS CMS

Change of Thought

Blending Technologies - Flickr and Blogger: I've been thinking about the simple addition of technology to course curriculums and sometimes it just takes thinking "outside the box" when looking at our curriculum to see if certain tools can be used in place of what we are so used to doing....

Blogger is a free service that allows electronic journaling and electronic "diary" entries - Blogger also allows for free hosting of the student "blogs" and Flickr.com is a free photo -sharing- storing service that allows students to upload photos and keep a web photo album online for anyone with an Internet connection to view. (A great idea for faculty too)

Flickr.com can be used in conjunction with Blogger.com to create a photoblog which allows students to blog about digital photos! A very interesting use of new technologies that (in some cases) can be used in place of PowerPoint Presentations in classrooms.

For Example:
An electronic plant photoblog kept by students for the entire semester identifying plants while also allowing the world to see what varieties exist in a certain region

An electronic photoblog of the marine life that lives in the waters of a region that is available online for everyone to see what a specific region contributes to the world's ecosystem

An electronic photoblog of the architecture of buildings that make certain areas and cultures so unique to the world

Using these new technologies in your curriculum provides an opportunity for 'reflective learning', a strategy that will enhance student learning and an obvious result from blogging is an increased fluency in writing.

The possibilities are endless of how you might decide to use these tools in your course curriculums. It just takes a change of thought!

Pepperdine University Guest Lecture e-handout

Hello to the Pepperdine MA Education Technology Cadre 7: The Magnificent 007s!

I’m looking forward to meeting with you all in EDC 665:Curriculum and Technology to discuss adult learning theory and strategies for using social network media in online training/education.

Here is an outline of our discussion for tonight. I’ve also included a quick overview of Andragogy vs. Pedagogy to get our discussion off to a flying start and for you to use as a reference as we dig deeper into the topic!

Thanks again for inviting me!


Derek E. Baird

*************************************
Pepperdine Graduate School of Education & Psychology
M.A. Education Technology

Lecture e-Handout

1.What is Andragogy? (15 min)

Foundations & Theory
Teen vs. Adult Learning
Pedagogy vs. Andragogy

2. Practical Applications (15 min)
Andragogy in web-based VLEs
Role of Knowledge Managers/Trainers/Educators
How to Write Great Learning Objectives

3. Instructional Tools on the Horizon (5 min)
Blogs & RSS
PodCasting
Wiki

4. Q & A (10 min)

European Schoolnet

European Schoolnet: "The European Schoolnet's site is for all people working in education.

eLearning news is the key topic - we'll keep you up to date on events, practice, and more. If you have a newsworthy tip about eLearning, don't hesitate to contribute. Find educational resources, news, class activities, collaboration opportunities, policy documents, research, online communities and much more."

Teens & User Interface Design

What Websites Do to Turn On Teens: "When teenagers surf the web, they often have different goals than adults do. But some interesting features draw them in: big type, lots of pictures and a reasonable dose of respect." {via Wired}

Foreign Launguage Education and Technology

Foreign Language Education and Technology Conference: "The fifth Foreign Language Education and Technology Conference will be held Aug. 5-10 on the Brigham Young University campus. The FLEAT 5 conference, held once every five years, promotes the exchange of theory and techniques of technology in the study of languages.

Originating in Japan in 1981, the conference alternates between Japan and North America."BYU is fortunate to have this once-in-a-decade opportunity to showcase our language programs and the technology we have developed to support them," said Harold Hendricks, supervisor, Humanities Learning Resource Center.

Open to instructors, administrators, technologists, vendors or students who include the use of technology in some facet of language learning, the conference will bring together people from around the world to learn about advancements in language technology theory and practice in a cross-cultural setting.

The conference is sponsored by the College of Humanities at BYU, BYU Conferences and Workshops, the International Association for Language Learning Technology and the Japan Association for Language Education and Technology.For a schedule of events or more information, visit the conference Web site"{via BYU News}

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VLE Survey

I've been working on virtual learning environment (VLE, sometimes referred to as learning platform or learning management system) implementation for an MBA Educational Management dissertation, and would like to find out more about experience elsewhere in this technology.

My particular interest is the extent to which VLEs can contribute to knowledgemanagement in schools. I've put together an online survey and would be very grateful if list members who're using VLEs could take 15 minutes to respond.

Responses will be treated confidentially, and there's no need to identify yourself or your school unless you so wish. The address is http://vle.dyndns.org/

If you know of others who are using VLEs in their schools, I wonder if you could pass the address on to them: hardly a scientific sample I know, but given the still rather limited take up for this technology,the more responses the better.

As this list is the first set of 'live' respondents, I'd also welcome any comments on the survey design itself. As well as making use of the survey responses for my dissertation, I hope to disseminate the findings more widely in due course.

Miles Berry
Deputy Head
St Ives School Haslemere
www.stiveshaslemere.com

Map It!

Google Maps: "Maps are great for getting around, but online maps could be a lot better. So Google decided to make dynamic, interactive maps that are draggable — no clicking and waiting for graphics to reload each time you want to view the adjacent parts of a map. Want to be able to type in the name of a region or neighborhood and see any part of it as easily as with a regular street map? Now you can with Google Maps.

Since these maps are draggable, you can use your mouse or the directional arrows to pan left, right, up and down to see areas that are hidden offscreen. You can also use the slider to zoom in and zoom out."

These interactive maps are a great resource to use on geography, or social studies projects.

Video Games in Higher Education

Electronics Arts Names Video Gaming's First Endowed Chair: "In a further sign of the video game industry's influence, the University of Southern California and Electronic Arts have established the nation's first endowed chair for the study of electronic gaming at a university.

Bing Gordon, the chief creative officer and a founder of Electronic Arts, the world's largest video game publisher, was named Tuesday as the inaugural holder of the faculty chair at the USC School of Cinema-Television."

Edugadget blog

Bookmark edugadget- a blog dedicated to technology reviews for teachers. Bits of interesting technology ideas posted here.

My favorite quote is from one of the posts....

"Just an observation - Many kids today are not excited about technology like me. For me it is magic and for them it is the way it is. When you bring technology into class that you think is cool, they may react in a ho-hum manner. That doesn’t mean they aren’t interested. They just expect things to be delivered to them in a manner they are used to using everyday like the Internet, DVDs, video games, cell phones, etc."

So true.

Looking for Software

The Great Software List describes itself this way:

"The Great Software List is an advocate of great software and ignores mediocre software. The Great Software List is composed of high quality programs that share most or all of the following features:

(1) Ease of use with a well-designed user interface;
(2) A generous array of keyboard shortcuts
(preferably customizable);
(3) High degree of customizability where applicable; and
(4) Affordability.

The list is also highly selective--- it's not just a data-dump of every kind of software in each class."

Next time you are looking for software to do a particular task- be sure to choose the right tool/software for the task you want to do!

Best Web Sites

ISTE Publishes 101 Best Web Sites For Elementary Teachers
Source: International Society for Technology in Education -Washington DC— "Elementary school teachers and others looking for educationally rich and age-appropriate online resources no longer need to spend frustrating hours surfing the Internet.

A new book from the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE®), 101 Best Web Sites for Elementary Teachers" provides a well organized quide as a resource for educators.
But what boggles me is “Publish”? In this world of constant change why not an online book that could be updated to keep teachers current with the latest resources when they become available?

While you're on the web also check out:

• TECH TIME:50 Coolest Websites listed in June 2004.
• Kidsites.com lists their favorites and claims to be “The Leading Guide to the Best in Kids’ Web Sites.”
• WritersDigest.com lists the 100 Best Web Sites for Writers
• And don’t forget to check regularly Web 100 to see what’s new