Audience response system demo

Large classes? Do you want to make lectures more interactive? An Audience Response System may be a solution.

If you would like to find out more, there will be a demonstration of Quizdom audience response system on 16th April at 11.00am in Room 703, which is on the 7th Floor of the Library.

http://www.qwizdom.co.uk

Horizon Wimba Voice Tools Demo

Yesterday (Tues 27th March), Paul Higgins and Jessica De'Souza from Horizon Wimba visited Swansea University, to give a demonstration of their Communication products.

The purpose of this demo was to introduce us to their tools, to see if there was interest in such tools here at Swansea.

After giving a general overview of the company they got down to business.

There were 6 products in the communication tools range which they covered, as well as Coursegenie (which we already own).

1. Voice Recorder
2. Live Classroom
3. Voice Boards
4. Podcaster
5. Pronto
6. Voice e-mail

Voice Recorder - works inside Blackboard (and other VLES)- to leave messages, such as an Introduction to the course, extra information, task descriptions


Voice Boards - similiar to a discussion board, but allows for voice and text (its important to have the text option to provide a transcript for accessibility reasons.
- useful for a group introducing themselves, away at a distance, for practicing languages.
- allows for files to be saved from the voice board and as such, repurposed.
- can post, reply, edit, delete, forward, import, export (could import into podcasting tool), and publish - which allows a voiceboard to be embedded into a web page.
- This tool also works inside Blackboard (and other VLES), without needing to log in specifically to the tool.


Podcaster - allows for import into the podcasting tool
- allows for recording straight into the podcasting tool
- provides both the RSS option, and a 1click option (for subscription to iTunes)
- the instructor can restrict the length of recording
- works inside Blackboard (and other VLES)


Pronto - an Instant Messenger
- text and voice over IP
- is auto-populated with people from the courses that you are enrolled in on your VLE/Blackboard.
- allows for users to appear offline or invisible, and to send a message to other people while you have this status
- shows a pen mark to show that the person on the other end is typing
- logs all chat messages
- Client based, no web client (20mb installation)
- Free - (In future will also be a Plus product which can be paid for)


Voice e-mail - allows for voice messages to be recorded and sent as an e-mail
- can be sent to users who are not part of your Blackboard (or VLE) environment as well
- Student 2 Instructor
- Instructor 2 Student
- only sends out a link to the recording, no large file is sent
- provides Voice reply
- asynchronous
- can record up to 20 minutes
- can also restrict amount of time recorded to less than 20 minutes


Live Classroom - Live classroom is a virtual classroom environment which allows for video, presentations such as powerpoint slides (which can be pulled from your Blackboard course), chat, audio, application sharing, and polling.
- the session can be archived, the whiteboard can be saved
- the polling allows for anonymous responses
- there is an option for people to phone into the live classroom session
- When a powerpoint is imported into live classroom it comes in as individual slides, making it easier to navigate through in this type of environment
- can lock down text and voice tools, and allow certain people to respond when say their hand has gone up (virtual hand)
- can set up a Live classroom for entire class, for groups, for individuals to use.


Course Genie - The voice tools work with course genie, allowing you to embed the voice boards in course genie, and create other audio for course genie, using the voice recorder.

(If you wish to know more about using Course Genie itself, please contact Chris Hall in LIS)


The company offers unlimited storage and backups for their hosted solution. It is also possible to run a localised solution. They also provide support. And also training at a cost.

They will be providing us with a copy of their powerpoint, and further information shortly.

We will be asking for feedback from attendees as to their thoughts on these products.


For anyone who missed this and is interested in finding out more, there is an event at Cardiff University on April 12 from 12pm-3.30pm with lunch included.
There are limited places so please book if you wish to attend.


Extra Links:

• Voice Tools


• Live Classrom


• Pronto

Is e-learning better than sex?

That was the question posed by Terry Anderson at The Shock of the Social at Oxford University. I’m not sure I agree with him but here’s his argument anyway –

Why is e-learning better than sex?

• If you get tired, you can stop, save your place and pick up where you left off.
• You can finish early without feeling guilty.
• You can get rid of any viruses you catch with a $50 program from McAfee
• With a little coffee you can do it all night.
• You don’t usually get divorced if your spouse interrupts you in the middle of it.
• And If you're not sure what you are doing, you can always ask your tutor.

Maybe some people have this feeling about Blackboard but what you do in your own time……

Actually that wasn’t Terry’s main argument or a firmly held belief (I hope), it was just by way of an introduction to his keynote on Social Software and Personal Learning Environments.

He argued that student control and freedom are integral to 21st Century life-long education and learning and that education for elites is not sufficient for planetary survival. He concluded that content is now cheap or free and that there is a need to learn to share, recontextulize and re-use. We shouldn’t build value on our content. Content is necessary, but not sufficient, to create a quality educational experience. However, there is no single ‘killer app” in this environment - rather an evolving set of personal and social tools, pedagogies, and resources. Thus according to Stephen Downes "The PLE is an approach not an application."

The rest of the presentations, whilst interesting, didn’t really match up to the opening. Some of the uses of ‘Web 2.0’ were quite controlled, which some argue is against the ideas behind the tools

However, there were some interesting points raised

• Students like social networking tools (myspace, facebook etc.) but have concerns about their use in HE
• Does the proliferation of Web 2.0 mean the end of in-house IT services?
• Students might prefer to use non institutional tools
• A PLE is personally constructed and you don't provide a PLE like you do with a VLE
• Revealing personal information to others on the internet can facilitate deep learning thus, it was argued, there is a relationship between self disclosure and deep learning
• There are a number of very successful ways in which mobile learning can be used to support students.

Bizarrely, when searching for information on the conference tagged with ‘shock2007’, I found this picture – just to prove I was there :-). I was actually reading some interesting information about students’ use of Web 2.0 tools

Surprisingly, by far the most interest section of the conference was the second day – Beyond the Search Engine, which initially may have seemed about as interesting as watching England bore draw against Israel.

Plagiarism and Intellectual Copyright are not normally subjects to get the pulse racing, although some of Alastair Campbell’s homework got a few column inches . However, the thrust of the day was not so much about catching cheats but that firstly, most plagiarism is incompetence rather than wilful cheating and secondly, we should be setting different kinds of assessment; tasks that say ‘build it not find it’, ‘make it not fake it’.

Students don't see plagiarism as a moral issue as most plagiarism arises from misunderstanding and there is no evidence to indicate an increase in deliberate cheating. The question was posed ‘Why do we have peer reviewed journals if not to stop plagiarism amongst academics?’

It was argued that plagiarism is not a technical or a Quality Assurance issue but more a pedagogic issue and one that forces us to create a clearer sense of what learning is. We should teach and not tell, moving away from lectures on plagiarism towards active learning.

Should Blogging be Private or Public or Both?

As has been mentioned before, there are a variety of reasons why people blog.

Some people Blog to communicate with others; some people Blog for themselves but don't mind others reading what they say; some people Blog to communicate with everyone, or as many people as possible, to share thoughts and opinions.

Should a Blog be public or Private? Does it matter?

Some people say that there is no point to Blogging if its not publically available, they suggest that the simple act of puting information on the web means that you should want that information to be available.

I can't say that i entirely agree with that though.

Blogging software allows three levels of privacy, private, public and unlisted.

"The most private blog is password-protected. The most public blog is listed by the user’s blog service and will be easily found by the search engines. An unlisted blog is less likely to be found but it is not fully private; it is unlisted by the blogging service’s directory (similar to an unlisted phone number.)" (Nardi & Schiano)

Some of my Blogs are completely public, but most of my Blogs are in the unlisted category. I give the web address (URL) to the people i don't mind viewing them, but i don't have them listed anywhere, and they are not searchable by Google.

Why? I can't really explain it, i guess i find that for me what i Blog about doesn't need to be seen by most people, its not a big deal if they find it, but I'm blogging to a particular audience, and they are the people who have the link to my Blog.

This Blog is half public, half unlisted, its listed on the Swansea Learning Lab website, however, its not listed by the blog provider, nor is it directly searchable in Google.

The intended audience of this Blog are Swansea University Staff, however, the Learning Lab itself is listed on the main University website, and people outside the university are aware of its existence.

Should this Blog be opened up to a wider audience? What do you think?


Should Blogging be Private or Public or Both? I think that an answer is beginning to become apparent, it depends on the audience of the Blog whether it should be public or private.

There may be very personal reflective writing that happens on a Blog, that perhaps will only be shared with a small number of people, a tutor, family, good friends, or even class groups. This might be private with the audience having to log in to view, or unlisted.

Whereas debating topics from your lecture might have either an unlisted status, with really only the class members paying attention, or be completely public, and still have mainly just the class members commenting.

I don't mind that some Blogs are private, or unlisted, and others are Public. I don't think there is an advantage to all Blogs being public, it really depends what you want to get out of a Blog.

At the recent Enter the Blogosphere session, people asked if there was a list of Blogs that staff at Swansea write, available somewhere. I had to admit that i am not aware of such a list, nor of who exactly is Blogging here at Swansea. I know there are some people, probably more than I am aware of. We'd certainly be interested in finding out how many people have Blogs?, what they use them for?, if anybody is Blogging with their Lecturing?


People are interested in other peoples Blogs, in what other people have to say, sharing this information would perhaps be classed as making Blogs public, but then if you don't want your Blog to be public, you don't have to let the world know about it.


What do you think? Should Blogging be Public? Private? Both? Does it matter?

Would you like to see other staff members Blogs?

Would you share your Blog?

Blogging and Flogging

At the recent "Enter the Blogosphere" presentation Julia Little from Swansea Institute and SAND mentioned this event.
While not an eLearning event per se, it certainly might be of interest!

www.amperSANDswansea.com
Blogging and Flogging - How to avoid a beating when promoting your web site online
Presented by Nigel T. Packer, Business for Business
Wednesday 4th April 2007
Dockside Room, National Waterfront Museum, Swansea
6.30pm for a 7pm start - 9pm
£3 entrance - includes buffet

amperSAND is a forum and meeting place for professionals and enthusiasts working in all aspects of digital media, which welcomes businesses, students, independent artists and people with an interest in animation, computer games, digital art, and other production areas in these sectors.

This amperSAND event, presented by Nigel T. Packer of Business for Business, will look at the various opportunities that are available for Blogging and introduce 'Flogging', part of Buzz marketing and the online promotional process.

'Blogging has become a mainstream feature of self promotion online with individuals setting up 'blog casts' from all walks of life.

But as many start the process as stop. With millions of open diaries and comment pages online how can you take advantage of these opportunities to help your business, avoiding the problems experienced by many big companies with negative blogs?'

Nigel T. Packer, of Business for Business, has assisted businesses of all sizes in a broad range of sectors in Wales, the UK and Europe to increase their Web site traffic - converting cost centres into profit sources.

These web promotion seminars are sold out quickly so register early at www.amperSANDswansea.com to avoid disappointment.

Enter the Blogosphere

Find out how Weblogs can be used in Education

This was the topic of todays Lunch and Learn session in SDU, a 1 hour session where lunch was served, information provided, and questions answered.


Blog or Blogs is a word you probably hear from time to time, I was reading so and so’s blog; there was an interesting discussion on this blog; I’ve just blogged about that; I’m blogging about....

People talk about blogs, they mention blogs, they own blogs, and blogs seem to cover a variety of topics, the blogging phenomenon seems to be everywhere!

but What Exactly are Blogs?
Well the term Blog is a shortened form of the word weblog. An online space for the written word, each entry is called a post, and when submitted is automatically time stamped. These are organised reverse chronologically, so that the latest post is at the top.

Blogs also allow readers to leave comments about individual posts, enabling conversations to take place about the topics blogged about.


Why do people Blog?
People blog for a variety of reasons: to Share thoughts and opinions on a topic; to keep a diary or journal; to communicate with family and/or friends.
Some people describe a need to share; many wannabe writers use blogs to get themselves known or simply to have a voice – after all, a blog can be a personal publishing medium; some blog to eliminate frustration through the process of writing things down, getting them out there; people also blog to create social connections, meeting other people through blog comments; and some simply because its Fun!


As 5th Grader Dominic says:
"Blogging is an opportunity to exchange our point of view with the rest of the world not just people in our immediate environment"
in Educational Blogging, Educause 2004

Blog and connect with a large number of people.


What makes Blogs powerful?

The Connections!

The links within the posts, to articles, websites, other Blogs, these connections are particularly useful, readers do not need to go to a search engine to find out more, the links are right there in the text. They can be referencing other peoples blogs, or perhaps providing contextual information to what you are talking about on your Blog.

But the connection of people really makes blogging powerful.

People leave comments on blogs, leaving their opinion, the author may comment back, a discussion make take place in the comment area of the post, I’ve certainly been involved in this. This discussion may lead the author to re-post, taking into account other peoples opinions and reforming their argument.

When you add a comment to a Blog post, you have the opportunity to link to your own website or Blog. This enables other people who particularly like your comments to go and see your Blog and read more about what you have to say.

Its easy to follow links from one blog to the next to the next in a neverending series of connections. Each time coming across new content and ideas. Forming connections across a number of Blogs, by linking to eachother, commenting on eachothers Blogs, creating an informal network.

This is when you truly "Enter the Blogosphere!"

Interestingly enough, "People typically find blogs through other blogs they are reading, through friends or colleagues telling them about their blogs or those of others." (Nardi & Schiano)

Its time to introduce the element of RSS, something very powerful, and always associated with Blogs. There are actually two definitions for this, the one we tend to use, Really Simple Syndication, and Rich Site Summary.

Now the words themselves don’t really explain a lot, but, the process of RSS is to create a feed – a summary with links back to the source - from your blog of the most recent posts (or a certain number depending how it has been set up), which can be subscribed to by readers. (Using Feed Readers/Aggregators)

Why?
Because instead of having to go and check all the blogs that you are interested in to see if there is a new post, your feed reader will tell you when something is new. Information coming to you, rather than you having to go to it.


and How are Blogs relevant to Education?

In education blogs can be useful to keep a daily or weekly progress report, on study, on a project, on a class, as a reflective journal.

To Communicate opinions, research, reflection.

There can be class blogs, staff blogs, student blogs, community blogs, the possibilities are endless!

Blogs encourage Students to write, the more you write the more your style is defined, and your writing improves.

A conclusion from one Blogging study was that:
"From a junior scholar’s point of view, blogging can be an excellent method for developing and sustaining a confident and clear voice of one’s own and the ability to formulate and stand by opinions." T.Mortensen, & J.Walker

There are several examples of students using Blogging during the composition of their PHD's, documenting their research, their thoughts, their ideas.

T.Mortensen, & J.Walker concluded "that writing the thesis became easier and the writing more focused after we started blogging."

And Blogging in education is not just for students, blogging can be useful for staff as well, possibilities include reflection on classes, on teaching practice, for use with research.

During this session a handout was provided with many links to examples and articles used to create the presentation materials, i link to this information here: http://learninglab.swan.ac.uk/wiki/doku.php?id=blogosphere


Can you see a use for Blogs? Within your Teaching? Research?

eLearning at the Cusp Conference

eLearning at the Cusp Conference
Technology Supported Learning in Higher Education: paradigms for practice and emergent futures.

http://www.staffs.ac.uk/elearnconf

Staffordshire University warmly invites you to this exciting international conference on May 30th 2007.

Conference topics include: models of best practice in eLearning; emerging Web 2.0 technologies and e-portfolios; facilitating learner autonomy and learning communities online; managing emerging organisational issues of quality, ownership and control.

Internationally renowned keynote speakers and presenters include: Professor Gilly Salmon, Professor John Stephenson; Professor Mark Stiles, Professor Robin Mason.

More Information
This conference is focused on learners and learning in Higher Education and exploring the challenge of retaining that focus amidst the unavoidable wave of new technologies to support learning. It will be of interest to Higher Education academic developers, managers and policy makers. Its aim is to explore key paradigms emerging from eLearning in order to help both Universities and practitioners understand and shape the future presented by nascent technologies such as “Web 2.0” tools.

Conference Themes

• eLearning paradigms for practice: guiding the present, informing the future
• sloughing the ‘e’: how do we continue to shift the focus towards learning and submerged technologies as new, challenging technologies emerge?
• Balancing learner autonomy and learning communities: pedagogy, quality, ownership and control

The conference will be opened by Professor Christine King; Vice Chancellor, Staffordshire University.

Keynote speakers include:

• Professor Gilly Salmon
• Professor John Stephenson
• Professor Mark Stiles

Workshop presenters include

• Professor Robin Mason
• Dr Sian Bayne
• Helen Walmsley
• Professor Steve Molyneux
• Dr Pat Jefferies
• Liz Hart
• Kevin Thompson

Book your place
To see more of the conference programme and details of how to book your place, please visit the conference website at http://www.staffs.ac.uk/elearnconf

E-Learning & Cakes - March 15th

Fancy a coffee, some cake and a chance to find out what's going on in E-Learning here at Swansea? The next E-Learning and Cakes session will be on Thursday 15th March at 11:00am in Room 703 on the 7th Floor of the Library building. It's not a formal meeting but a chance for anyone who is interested in using technology in learning to share what they are doing and find out what others are up to. Last time there was a good mix of academics, learning technologists, IT staff, project teams and PhD students, which led to some interesting and wide ranging discussion.

Date - Thursday 15th March
Time - 11:00am
Venue - Room 703, 7th Floor of the Library Building