Alternative to iPad

I have been lucky enough to have worked with iPad for sometime and I really would be lost without it. However this I feel is a really good alternative and at a fraction of the prize . The 7inch Android 2.1 Scroll Multi Touch Screen Tablet for £159.00 has many of the features of i pad. These include touch screen, landscape and portrait mode. The tablet has a built in web cam and speakers so you can listen to music, watch videos and view photos. The best part for me is the capacity to be able to add your own peripherals be2 x USB ports for adding your own e.g. external Hard drives.-- HDMI out for connection to a monitor or HD ready TV so you can view your movies on the big screen.-- Micro-SD slot – so you can expand the storage of your device up to 32 GB as you fill it up with movies, games, music & photos.

Take a a look at http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=506956&C=brilliant1&U=xmas%20promo%202010&T=android%20tablet%20SL&gclid=CJ6kkf6l86UCFQse4QodXlXzoQ

Alternative to Delicious

There are rumours that Yahoo may be with drawing the free social booking marking site Delicious it may be worth taking a look at another alternative if the rumours turn out to be true.This in itself is a lose to the e -learning world if the rumours turn out to be true you might want to take a look at is Mister Wong.

Mister Wong is very similar to Delicious you import your bookmarks from Delicious into Mister Wong and you can use public book marks and create books. MR Wong will allow you to translate in some different languages. One of the Pros for Mister Wong is that the navigation is really simple to use. http://www.mister-wong.com/

This may be an alternative however it may be the case that if enough people Twitter or Facebook against the lose of Delicious Yahoo may continue the service.

Are you blogging?

Well after a couple of years of blogging, I now feel that I am able to reflect on this and say that on the whole it has been a positive experience and a learning curve.

For the first time user, choosing a blogging service could be tricky as their are a few to choose from. However Blogger has been very simple and straight forward. Customising gadgets such as email subscription or links to You Tube could not be easier. The best part for me is that you can get an answer to a problem really quickly either through Blogger itself or from the many forums that are available to post a question to online.

So the benefits to me as an e-learning advisor incluide being able to post out information quickly and hit a lot of people at one time. Filter news to what I feel is suitable and relevant.

The downside sometimes I feel that it's a bit quiet and I would like more feedback from the audience. There is obviously the time issue but so far the time spent writing the blog is well worth the effort.

So the big question is would I use this with my leaner's? Well the answer is easy Yes!. Blogging could of helped me within a Learning Provider in so many situations these include:

• Keeping in touch with mobile learners ( learner's within the workplace)
• Area for the learners to talk to me outside of the classroom
• Revision
• Reflection
• News items
• Problem solving

These are just a few of the advantages can you think of any more?

Using technology to increase community engagement and development

The Learining and Skills Improvement Service are offering grants of up £5000 to community to engage to learning providers to pilot the development of technological mechanisms in order to engage with the wider community to gain an understanding of their needs and aspirations. This is not about working with existing learners, but about engaging with those who may feel that the provider ‘is not for them’ and to understand the reasons why.
The provider should have a proven history of using technology and wish to build and extend current practice in order to further their links with the community. The closing dates for applications is the 3rd of December. To find out more information go to http://www.lsis.org.uk/WorkingWithLSIS/Opportunities/funding-Opportunities/Pages/default.aspx

Wordle

I came across Wordle through another blog the author describes them as "Word clouds are fantastic and often quite beautiful ways of presenting information"

This could be useful way to present a large amount of text in a pictorial way. You could also use them to collate and store text.

However for a dyslexic learner they may not be that easy to understand.

To generate word clouds from text you can use http://www.wordle.net/create – it’s free and fun. If you want to save your word cloud to use in a presentation or document, just do a screen print and then edit it down to the size you want in Paint or any other simple graphics package.

Innovation Funding from LSIS

The fourth round of innovation funding opened on the 01 September 2010 and closes on the 29th of October 2010. The funding is open to organisations in England whose primary function is as a provider of further education and training. Eligible providers will be organisations funded by the Young People’s Learning Agency (YPLA) or Skills Funding Agency (SFA) and subject to inspection by Ofsted. The only eligible Higher Education Institutions are those with learning and skills provision funded by the SFA and subject to inspection by Ofsted.
Bids, for up to a maximum of £50,000, will be invited from consortia of provider organisations for projects which are genuinely innovative and which have the potential to significantly enhance the practice and performance of the learning and skills sector. LSIS will particularly welcome bids from providers working through cross-sector and extra-sector consortium arrangements. Bids from individual provider organisations will not be accepted in this funding round.
LSIS will continue to encourage innovative bids on a variety of topics that address the strategic priorities of the sector. However, for this funding round we will particularly welcome consortia bids that address specific issues and problems in defined locations - based on the principles of Total Place*

More information on the Innovation funding can be found at http://www.excellencegateway.org.uk/fif

iPad

I may be have been bitten by the i Pad bug, however so far I can't find anything that I dislike. Earlier this week I attended the Techshare conference at the ICC in Birmingham this was primarily regarding Accessibility issues. However the iPad was very alluring, the presenter Robin Spinks from the RNIB highlighted all the advantages these include :

• Portable
• Light weight
• High quality LED
• Fast Processor
• Touch Screen
• Virtual Keyboards

On closer inspection today I find you are able to carry out normal every day tasks like email, Internet use, playing games reading e-books I am also able to use the notes apps for very basic word processing. Robin described the i pad as a 'tool to share' as the iPad is very engaging and most definitely for content consumption. The question that Robin left us with is it a replacement for the Netbook on reflection I would probably say that the Netbook and the I pad are similar but definitely different . The iPad has a lack of expandability, you cant upgrade the iPad in any way and very poor for content creation.
However having said all of that the iPad is a different experience to the Netbook, i feel immersed in the graphics and believe that this is a different experience to any laptop, or net book

BECTA

Disappointed to hear that BECTA will close this is in my view is the origins of where we all started with e -learning, we have been through lots of really useful projects with BECTA and achieved so much. Starting with Ferl and the ILT champions,the Ferl Practitioners Programme, TENS projects and more recently the Generator self assessment tools.

I hope that this work isn't forgotten and we continue to carry on the e-learning work. I wish all the BECTA staff luck with their new careers

Second Life

I have been told so much about Virtual Worlds that I thought I would try this for myself. With some hesitance as I was struggling to see the relevance for my work. Fortunately I have been partly converted, this is due to a virtual training and tour which was arranged by colleague Jane Edwards AKA Lady Jane Plympton. The tour of Virtual Ability Net really helped me to visualise how a virtual world can make a difference to the life's may people. The guide and Director of Virtual Ability Alice Krueger, Gentle Heron in world told us her story. Second Life has opened many doors in society that would not of been possible in my 1st life. Being part of a community and not being judged or having any restrictions has made my life more bearable. Virtual Ability Island provides the home for our new resident orientation and training, developed for people with disabilities or chronic illnesses. Here, new residents can learn Second Life® fundamentals in an accessibility-friendly environment, and existing residents can receive ongoing training and information about health-related issues and support groups. This island was created through a partnership with the Alliance Library System.I am still learning about Second Life I can see that the positives out way the negatives and hope that others have the opportunity to take a tour. The possibilities are endless especially if you’re working in education. Take a look at Virtual Ability at http://virtualability.org/default.aspx

Discover 'e'

2010 is RSC WM’s annual on-line event.

This year we will be celebrating 10 years of working with the post 16 learning and skills sector in stimulating and supporting innovation with e-learning and technology.
Information:
To mark 10 years of the West Midlands Regional Support Centre, Discover e-2010 has brought together case studies from across the post 16 learning skill sector which will “tell” and “share” how learning providers have progressed and applied technology to support teaching and learning. Guest speakers from further and 6th form colleges, HEI’s, specialist colleges, adult and community and work-based learning, will provide ‘live’ online presentations to explain how their organisation has used technology to improve the quality of teaching and learning for students / learners. Discover e-2010 will be interactive so delegates will have an opportunity to discuss and post questions to guest speakers as well as interact with other delegates.

Theres still time to book a place http://info.rsc-wm.ac.uk/events/event_details.asp?eid=524

My Study Bar

The latest addition to the Edu Apps suite is MY Study Bar, this is intended to make the learner independent and can easily be run form a USB stick to allow the applications to be portable. The main difference from the Access Apps is that there are fewer programmes making it even easier to puts a whole range of individual and essential tools at your fingertips. Together, these have been designed to support the complete study cycle from research, planning and structuring to getting across a written or spoken message. MyStudyBar has 6 sections; each has a drop down menu offering personal choice, flexibility and independent learning, particularly for those learners who require additional strategies to support their learning. With over 15 apps to choose from

To download your own copy of My Study Bar go to http://www.rsc-ne-scotland.ac.uk/eduapps/index.php

E- learning and CPD

Can e-learning inform CPD, whilst on my visits to Learning Providers I am constantly being told that budgets have been cut for staff development and that CPD is now mostly internal with training being delivered by members of staff .

Staff development with e learning now requires you to be update with every piece of technology, know how to use all the latest gadgets and somehow pass this information to all of my colleagues regardless of whether they require the information or not. Can e-learning be a focus for CPD and can I make difference with my constant battle to know !more e stuff!

I came across a document on the e- learning centers website, that has helped me to re -think if how e- learning can be a driver for CPD and does being reflective make things 'better'. Even though Jim Floods article was written in 2002 this still seems really poignant for me today. He highlights some of the problems faced in Colleges in 2002 and I only have to think about our own journey we have travelled at the RSC to see that answer to the questions as Jim states is 'YES'

Our online conference in May this year focus on the journey of the RSC and Learning Providers over the last 10 years. This conference will show some effective practice and startling journeys keep a look on our website for the conference details.

LSIS Leadership Toolkits

LSIS have a new set of toolkit specifically for senior mangers in Adult and Community Learning, Work-based Learning and independent Specialist Colleges. The resources are suite of interactive resources which are free of charge. They address a range of issues such as preparing for inspection, keeping up to date with policy and funding issues, strategic planning and focusing on staff development for organisational improvement.

New to the resources is a reflective log and notepad functions a allow for staff to record their learning which can contribute towards their 30 hours of Continuing Professional Development.

Gaining access to the courses may help you share ideas communicate with other senior managers and to identify best practice. You may have to email the course leader for a enrolment key to gain access to the courses .

Happy New Year

Well its a bit late however I hope that 2010 brings you all good luck.

Since the start of the year there's a topic which keep popping up on email lists and in the office. This being Generator. This seems to be very popular with Senior Managers, you can register for a Generator account at http://www.generatorfeandskills.com/. You will need to allocate a primary user for your learning Provider this is a management role. Once you have signed up with Generator this will allow you complete a review this can either be a quick or full review

Generator is a powerful and flexible tool which can be used:
collaboratively across teams, departments and sites
to inform planning
to support management information systems
and even to benchmark your organisation across the sector.

Generator provides us with the strategic framework to review the college’s technology capability in three themes:
Engaged and Empowered Learners
Enhanced Learning Experience
E -Confident and Effective Provider

After a very successful training session this week at the Science Park I feel that the take up of the Generator will get more over the coming months as this will provide the learning providers with good feedback to start analysing their own results. If you would like help with Generator please contact Allen Crawford-Thomas by email at A.crawford-thomas@rsc-wm.ac.uk and he will be willing to discuss this in greater detail.