The Learning Exchange

The Learning Exchange A national learning object repository for social work education

Scotland-wide collaboration

SIESWE is an association of all nine universities offering social work education in Scotland

Established in 2003 during the Scottish Executive reform of social work education

Funded by the Scottish Executive to promote transformational change in social work education & training

Learning technology team responsible for the e-learning element

Role of the learning technology team

Repository management & development

Content creation, repurposing & licensing

User engagement, involvement & community development

Learning technology team

Learning Technology Manager NEIL BALLANTYNE

Knowledge & Information Manager IAN WATSON

Knowledge & Information Assistant ELLEN DALY

Multimedia Developer PAUL HART

Multimedia Designer IAN PHILLIP

Web Applications Programmer LESLEY DUFF

Strategist: learning & communities MADELEINE SCLATER

Learning objects

“… the fundamental idea behind learning objects is that instructional designers can build small (relative to the size of the entire course) instructional components that can be reused a number of times in different learning contexts.”

Wiley (2002, p. 4).

What’s a RLO?

Re-usable, accessible and adaptable

Small chunks of learning material that can be easily updated

Easy to blend with other resources whether digital or traditional

Adaptable to meet demands of local curricula

Designed to be used on a range of platforms

Cost effective

Examples of learning objects

Multimedia simulations and case studies

Web pages

Quizzes

Animations

Video clips

PowerPoint presentations

Word documents with learning activities, handouts, reading lists, etc.

Images, e.g. graphs, diagrams, photos, etc.

Content from blogs, wikis & podcasts

Learning Exchange

The Learning Exchange is a

‘ walled garden’ with controlled

access for registered users

Restrictions required to safeguard material of some ‘third party rights holders’; and to protect some sensitive material

But some content will be open access

Logon entering your user name and password Search for content using the browse tree … or use the search box Learning resources listed on right

Road map 2006 2007 2008 Learning Exchange Scottish Universities access 2009 Scottish colleges access Social work agencies NHS (Scotland) Learning Exchange Company Other users?

The skill of the teacher

“ It is not the objects that form a coherent course but the skill of the teacher in supplying a structure, a set of activities and occasional course-specific material that act as the ‘glue’ to tie together the entire course.”