Web2rights

Last week we ran an e- safety course with Jisc Legal. This looked at how learning providers may be at risk from inappropriate conduct and content on their systems and increasingly legislation is in place to protect individuals.

The session raised lots issues which aren't always obvious like slander, copy right for re- purposed materials. They have some excellent information available flow charts and diagnostic tools allow learning providers and tutors etc. to assess and avoid any risks . The video is also very enlightening especially if you are using Second Life The website address is http://www.web2rights.org.uk/

E -BOOKS

JISC E-books have a collection of free E books for FE . This collection of approximately 3,000 e-books is part of the E-Books for FE project . These books have been selected by the community through consultations with FE staff. The list is very impressive and includes titles for the following subjects :

Arts and Humanities
Business Management and General
Education & Childcare
Health & Life Sciences
ICT
Literature & Literary Studies
Travel & Tourism
Key Skills including Maths
Science & Engineering
Social Sciences and Vocational

The books will support NVQ'S and Diplomas and A level studies and GCSE'S . To take advantage of these books which are free to FE go to http://www.jisc-collections.ac.uk/catalogue/ebooksforfe/how_to_subscribe

Learning Technologies Forum

Earlier this week I took part in a Learning Technologies event. This was a really useful event with lots of ideas on how to make the most of Web 2.0 and technology. Kevin Brace showcased several Web 2.0 technologies one that took my eye was Ether Pad this is a Word Processor that will allow several people to work together in real time. This would be really useful for group work, sharing of ideas and long distance meetings.

This has the potential to be very cost effective and efficient. At present the free edition of the Ether pad will allow up to 16 people to work collaboratively. The only down side I can see to the free edition, is that there is no access controls to your Ether Pad so the only form of security is to keep your url safe.

Take a look at http://etherpad.com

A Tool Kit for 2010

A interesting article appeared in the E-learning Age Magazine this month entitled 'A toolkit for 2010'. The author, Jane Hart, shares the top 10 tools e-learning tools as recommended by professionals from around the world.

The first to mention is Prezi http://www.prezi.com/.

This is a excellent presentation tool that is really useful for dynamic lessons, discussion's and presentations. It moves away from the normal PowerPoint and really allows you to be creative. This definitely deserves to be top of the list in my book. The Flash based app lets you zoom in and out of presentations, add links videos maps i,ages. The best bit yes it's free !

Read the rest of the article on the following link. http://www.elearningage.co.uk/magazine/janehart.aspx