Learner Response Systems

Learner Response Systems are becoming more popular with Learning Providers. The Resposne Systems are an excellent way to bring your lesson to life in a meaningful way. The RSC will be running a Leaner Response System workshop on the 29Th of April. You will be able to take part in assessments and create your own assessment or generally just look at a few of the systems available. The Project Manager for the REVEAL Project will be avaialble to discuss the use of these systems in education and give you some advice and guidance on useful resources.

To book on the workshop take a look athe following link http://info.rsc-wm.ac.uk/events/event_details.asp?eid=360

QIA Case Studies

Kirsty Hill, our Information Officer for the QIA has been gathering e-learning case studies from the West Midlands area for the past six months. The purpose of the case studies is to highlight good practice with e-learning from across the country. The focus of the case studies is best e-learning practice in the context of the main three strands of the

National Improvement Strategy:
Improving teaching and learning
Improving responsiveness to learners
Improving institutional effectiveness

What I like about theses case studies is that they seem to show a cross section of e- learning some can be easily replicated and seem to have made a difference in the classroom.

One of idea is from New College Worcester who have developed the use of MP3 in Science. Take a look a the case study http://excellence.qia.org.uk/page.aspx?o=161649.

We seem to have a wealth of good practice in the West Midlands area, which remains hidden. During my time in the classroom, I realised that the simplest ideas were usually the most successful. I can remember thinking at the time that the Ferl database was really useful things have progressed since then but having a resource to draw on to show good practice was often the inspiration i needed to

If you have a project which you would like to share with the community please let me know. Kirsty would be pleased to publish your case study. All other case studies can be found at http://excellence.qia.org.uk/page.aspx?o=161649

E- Portfolios

There has been tremendous debate regarding the use of e-portfolios within education, the use of e portfolios is raising questions which can only be answered with time and experince. Many questions I have heared being disscused include:

How would I use e portfolio to commuincate with my learner?

Will other e- learning tools do the same job?

Are e- portfolios a priority?

Becta state 'Priority 2 of the e-strategy is to 'ensure integrated online personal support for learners'. There is an action to 'provide a personalised learning space for every learner that can encompass a personal portfolio', and a milestone to make a 'personalised learning space with the potential to support e-portfolios available to every school [and college] by 2007-08.'

This is an interesting statement however for practitioner’s to see the real value of the e portfolio then we need more positive examples of how they are being used. Here are a few examples to have a look at.

http://efoliomn.com/index.asp?Type=B_BASIC&SEC=%7B7C6E76E5-3711-46DC-A7D3-43DF8E09581C%7D

If you have any examples of how e portfolios are being used, please add a comment to the blog and let the region share your experiences.

Blogging Made Easy

If you are looking for help and inspiration in creating a blog, Commoncraft have created a video to help people understand why you might use a blog and how it works. A blog is a excellent way to support learners throughout a course with extra information or to help to reinforce the learning.Here are some links which will help you undersatnad the basics of blogging.


http://education.guardian.co.uk/appleeducation/story/0,,1682441,00.html

http://www.build-your-website.co.uk/Blogging/index.htm

http://www.problogger.net/archives/2006/02/14/blogging-for-beginners-2/

Free Software to help with Accessibility issues

Earlier this week I attended a training session with TechDis, the session focused on 'Free' Assistive Technology Software. This software may be useful for learners with different learning styles and specific learning disabilites. Take a look at the following link.

Stickies

Really useful for making notes, reminders and organisition.Stickies will allow the learner to customise the colours fonts and backgrounds. Great for collecting information to use within an assignment.Take a look at http://www.stickiesforwindows.com/

Staff Development and Assisitive Technology

Accessibility Essentials 4 'Making The Most of PDFs' is now available from TechDis. This Accessibilty Essentials guide makes it easy to create accessible PDFS. Using some of the techniques described i the guide will help a range of different learners to be able to access content.There are many potential benefits to using PDF'S in education. These include offering a high quality reproduction of print, an easier way to navigate through the document, reflow of text and being able to alter the colour and the contrast. PDF are often used for Learning Provider’s prospectus, curriculum resources, and policy and procedures documents. If you would like to know more about creating accessible PDFs take a look at the following link. http://www.techdis.ac.uk/index.php?p=3_20