Web 2.0 Comes to Campus

I was reading CogDogBlog the other day, when i came across an entry (Me TV), taling about how Learning and Instructional technologist Alan Levine had recently been involved in a panel discussion on Ready2net.

Ready2net run by California State University, Monteray Bay, provides a free series of national satellite broadcasts and webcast programmes.

This latest programme Web 2.0 Comes to Campus, lasts for one hour, and has two panel discussions, the first with members of the corporate world, Microsoft, Blackboard e.t.c, and their views on Web 2.0. The second with a number of people from the "campus" community, 2 CIO's, a Librarian, and Alan who is a Vice President for the New Media Consortium(NMC).

These were very interesting discussions, covering a range of topics, debating how controlling institutions should be about content on users Wikis, discussing Second Life - are we moving into it too quickly?

Well worth watching if you have the time:
http://ready2net.csumb.edu/speakers/2007/index.html#program_1

(Note: you'll need to sign up to watch it)

Blogging in the Air at Swansea University

Those of you who haven't seen the Universities "latest news" web page will have missed the article about Professor Paul Brain (from Biological Sciences) and his Blog.

We have been talking about Blogging for a while, what a Blog is, different ways in which you can set one up, and how they can be used both for personal and educational benefit and fun.

There are a number of staff at the University who have Blogs, Chris Jobling with his Fresh and Crispy blog, Rita Kop with her u-learnspace blog, and Sonja and Liz's knitting for peace blog are just a few around.

Both Professor Brain, and Sonja attended the March "Lunch and Learn" SDU session "Enter the Blogosphere". Professor Brain has been blogging ever since, he provides a rich experience with very interesting posts full of vibrant images.

Sonja and Liz kept an interesting blog "as a way of letting off steam and supporting our own mental health", when they were doing research for the Mental Health Foundation on the West Bank and Gaza strip during April.

There are bound to be more bloggers around, if you wish to share your Blog address, or have anything else to say, please leave a comment.

Assessment design for learner responsibility

Assessment comes in many different packages, it can be formative or summative, group or individual, assessment can be traditional - for example essay writing and exams, or it may include the assessment of Blogs, Wiki's, ePortfolios. There are a variety of different activities which can be assessed.

At the end of the month (29th - 31st May 2007) there is a Free online conference sponsered by the REAP (Re-engineering Assessment Practices) Project, about Assessment design for learner responsibility.

Focusing on assessment FOR learning in tertiary education the conference has three themes to be addressed through keynotes, case studies and structured discussions.

1. Assessment and the first year experience
2. Great designs for assessment
3. Institutional strategies (designs) for assessment

Topics include: "A Wikied Assessment Strategy", "Using wikis for summative and formative assessment", "Collaborative Assessment Using Clickers", "Formative assessment in a professional doctorate context: developing identities as researchers", and much much more.

This looks like a very interesting event, so if your interested in Assessment, it may well be worth signing up for. But get in quick registration closes on the 18th of May.

Click here to register

JISC Online Conference: Innovating e-learning 2007

This years Jisc Online Innovating eLearning conference will be held from the 11th - 14th of June(2007).

At a cost of £50, this jammed packed conference sounds like its full of interesting topics, including personal technologies, e-portfolios, blogging and lifelong learning.

Innovating e-Learning - Institutional Transformation and Supporting Lifelong Learning

"The conference focuses on the potential of e-learning in transforming practice within institutions and in supporting lifelong learning. The keynote presenters will offer a rich variety of perspectives on these two themes:

Theme 1: Institutional transformation Day 1: Terry Mayes, Emeritus Professor, Glasgow Caledonian University, and Day 2: Dr John Guy, Principal, and Dr Mike Docker, Director, ICLT, the Sixth Form College, Farnborough

Theme 2: Supporting Lifelong Learning, introduced by Robin Mason, Professor of Educational Technology at The Institute of Educational Technology, The Open University

The concluding presentation will be given by Oleg Liber, Professor of e-Learning and Director of the Research Centre for Educational Technology and Interoperability Standards (CETIS), University of Bolton.

As well as these keynote presenters, we have several other papers and sessions which we think will make for an exciting and useful programme. The full programme (and booking information) can be seen at:

www.jisc.ac.uk/elp_conference07

As last year, the conference will be open for a week for pre-conference reading, from the 4th June. The conference itself will run from 11-14 June and will then remain open for viewing for a full month, until 15 July."