Workshop by Rebecca Galley & Nick Freear at the Staff & Educational Development Association (SEDA) annual conference, 17-18 November 2011. We talked about the open-source CloudEngine project, and it's relation to the JISC OULDI project.
Create, Collaborate and Curate: working and supporting 21st Century learners.debbieholley1
This talk will explore potential ways forward in terms of thinking about how we can reconceptualise materials for the digital age. Open Educational Resources (OERS) offers the affordances for us to create, individually or in groups and to share our artefacts for reuse and repurpose; digital tools can assist us in collaborations across the world, or even just across our own campus. Curating of our own work as well as that of our students can offer affordances of building profiles for different stakeholders in the learning process (for example, librarians, learning technologists, ALS as well as language experts) and by sharing we develop more collegiate ways of working. With modelling the good practices we want our own learners to embrace, we can overcome the challenges of the ‘new’, while retaining and valuing our existing evidence based teaching. The work of Lev Vygotsky frames this approach, and offers insights into how technology can mediate and enhance the ‘more capable peer’role in developing materials for use by, and with, our students.
Create, Collaborate and Curate: working and supporting 21st Century learners.debbieholley1
This talk will explore potential ways forward in terms of thinking about how we can reconceptualise materials for the digital age. Open Educational Resources (OERS) offers the affordances for us to create, individually or in groups and to share our artefacts for reuse and repurpose; digital tools can assist us in collaborations across the world, or even just across our own campus. Curating of our own work as well as that of our students can offer affordances of building profiles for different stakeholders in the learning process (for example, librarians, learning technologists, ALS as well as language experts) and by sharing we develop more collegiate ways of working. With modelling the good practices we want our own learners to embrace, we can overcome the challenges of the ‘new’, while retaining and valuing our existing evidence based teaching. The work of Lev Vygotsky frames this approach, and offers insights into how technology can mediate and enhance the ‘more capable peer’role in developing materials for use by, and with, our students.
This is a presentation by the Division of Information and Technology Studies, Faculty of Education, The University of Hong Kong. Advances in information and communication technology, especially the rapid developments in social technology such as wikis, blogs, social bookmarking, etc. have opened up new opportunities as well as challenges to education in schools as well as human resource development and training in public and business sectors. In the seminar, a group of experts introduce recent developments in learning technology and how these have been applied in different educational and human resource development contexts internationally and locally.
A module map is use in planning a course module. It is a succint vision of the planned course, including brief descriptions of key components of a course or module.
Biological screening of herbal drugs: Introduction and Need for
Phyto-Pharmacological Screening, New Strategies for evaluating
Natural Products, In vitro evaluation techniques for Antioxidants, Antimicrobial and Anticancer drugs. In vivo evaluation techniques
for Anti-inflammatory, Antiulcer, Anticancer, Wound healing, Antidiabetic, Hepatoprotective, Cardio protective, Diuretics and
Antifertility, Toxicity studies as per OECD guidelines
Honest Reviews of Tim Han LMA Course Program.pptxtimhan337
Personal development courses are widely available today, with each one promising life-changing outcomes. Tim Han’s Life Mastery Achievers (LMA) Course has drawn a lot of interest. In addition to offering my frank assessment of Success Insider’s LMA Course, this piece examines the course’s effects via a variety of Tim Han LMA course reviews and Success Insider comments.
Read| The latest issue of The Challenger is here! We are thrilled to announce that our school paper has qualified for the NATIONAL SCHOOLS PRESS CONFERENCE (NSPC) 2024. Thank you for your unwavering support and trust. Dive into the stories that made us stand out!
2024.06.01 Introducing a competency framework for languag learning materials ...Sandy Millin
http://sandymillin.wordpress.com/iateflwebinar2024
Published classroom materials form the basis of syllabuses, drive teacher professional development, and have a potentially huge influence on learners, teachers and education systems. All teachers also create their own materials, whether a few sentences on a blackboard, a highly-structured fully-realised online course, or anything in between. Despite this, the knowledge and skills needed to create effective language learning materials are rarely part of teacher training, and are mostly learnt by trial and error.
Knowledge and skills frameworks, generally called competency frameworks, for ELT teachers, trainers and managers have existed for a few years now. However, until I created one for my MA dissertation, there wasn’t one drawing together what we need to know and do to be able to effectively produce language learning materials.
This webinar will introduce you to my framework, highlighting the key competencies I identified from my research. It will also show how anybody involved in language teaching (any language, not just English!), teacher training, managing schools or developing language learning materials can benefit from using the framework.
Embracing GenAI - A Strategic ImperativePeter Windle
Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies such as Generative AI, Image Generators and Large Language Models have had a dramatic impact on teaching, learning and assessment over the past 18 months. The most immediate threat AI posed was to Academic Integrity with Higher Education Institutes (HEIs) focusing their efforts on combating the use of GenAI in assessment. Guidelines were developed for staff and students, policies put in place too. Innovative educators have forged paths in the use of Generative AI for teaching, learning and assessments leading to pockets of transformation springing up across HEIs, often with little or no top-down guidance, support or direction.
This Gasta posits a strategic approach to integrating AI into HEIs to prepare staff, students and the curriculum for an evolving world and workplace. We will highlight the advantages of working with these technologies beyond the realm of teaching, learning and assessment by considering prompt engineering skills, industry impact, curriculum changes, and the need for staff upskilling. In contrast, not engaging strategically with Generative AI poses risks, including falling behind peers, missed opportunities and failing to ensure our graduates remain employable. The rapid evolution of AI technologies necessitates a proactive and strategic approach if we are to remain relevant.
Acetabularia Information For Class 9 .docxvaibhavrinwa19
Acetabularia acetabulum is a single-celled green alga that in its vegetative state is morphologically differentiated into a basal rhizoid and an axially elongated stalk, which bears whorls of branching hairs. The single diploid nucleus resides in the rhizoid.
The Roman Empire A Historical Colossus.pdfkaushalkr1407
The Roman Empire, a vast and enduring power, stands as one of history's most remarkable civilizations, leaving an indelible imprint on the world. It emerged from the Roman Republic, transitioning into an imperial powerhouse under the leadership of Augustus Caesar in 27 BCE. This transformation marked the beginning of an era defined by unprecedented territorial expansion, architectural marvels, and profound cultural influence.
The empire's roots lie in the city of Rome, founded, according to legend, by Romulus in 753 BCE. Over centuries, Rome evolved from a small settlement to a formidable republic, characterized by a complex political system with elected officials and checks on power. However, internal strife, class conflicts, and military ambitions paved the way for the end of the Republic. Julius Caesar’s dictatorship and subsequent assassination in 44 BCE created a power vacuum, leading to a civil war. Octavian, later Augustus, emerged victorious, heralding the Roman Empire’s birth.
Under Augustus, the empire experienced the Pax Romana, a 200-year period of relative peace and stability. Augustus reformed the military, established efficient administrative systems, and initiated grand construction projects. The empire's borders expanded, encompassing territories from Britain to Egypt and from Spain to the Euphrates. Roman legions, renowned for their discipline and engineering prowess, secured and maintained these vast territories, building roads, fortifications, and cities that facilitated control and integration.
The Roman Empire’s society was hierarchical, with a rigid class system. At the top were the patricians, wealthy elites who held significant political power. Below them were the plebeians, free citizens with limited political influence, and the vast numbers of slaves who formed the backbone of the economy. The family unit was central, governed by the paterfamilias, the male head who held absolute authority.
Culturally, the Romans were eclectic, absorbing and adapting elements from the civilizations they encountered, particularly the Greeks. Roman art, literature, and philosophy reflected this synthesis, creating a rich cultural tapestry. Latin, the Roman language, became the lingua franca of the Western world, influencing numerous modern languages.
Roman architecture and engineering achievements were monumental. They perfected the arch, vault, and dome, constructing enduring structures like the Colosseum, Pantheon, and aqueducts. These engineering marvels not only showcased Roman ingenuity but also served practical purposes, from public entertainment to water supply.
Palestine last event orientationfvgnh .pptxRaedMohamed3
An EFL lesson about the current events in Palestine. It is intended to be for intermediate students who wish to increase their listening skills through a short lesson in power point.
Operation “Blue Star” is the only event in the history of Independent India where the state went into war with its own people. Even after about 40 years it is not clear if it was culmination of states anger over people of the region, a political game of power or start of dictatorial chapter in the democratic setup.
The people of Punjab felt alienated from main stream due to denial of their just demands during a long democratic struggle since independence. As it happen all over the word, it led to militant struggle with great loss of lives of military, police and civilian personnel. Killing of Indira Gandhi and massacre of innocent Sikhs in Delhi and other India cities was also associated with this movement.
Francesca Gottschalk - How can education support child empowerment.pptxEduSkills OECD
Francesca Gottschalk from the OECD’s Centre for Educational Research and Innovation presents at the Ask an Expert Webinar: How can education support child empowerment?
Francesca Gottschalk - How can education support child empowerment.pptx
Cloudengine at SEDA 2011
1. CloudEngine: Creating networks for professional development and research Presentation Cloud: cloudworks.ac.uk/cloud/view/5937 Dr Nick Freear (n.d.freear@open.ac.uk) Rebecca Galley (r.galley@open.ac.uk) The Institute of Educational Technology, Open University, UK. #sedaconf16
7. Design methodology ‘ the fluid, empathetic, dynamic, environment-responsive, future-orientated and solution-focused nature of design’. Kelly et al. (2008, p.5) Design-based research approach (DBR)
Comments? http://cloudworks.ac.uk/cloud/view/5100 Presentation license: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ This presentation will review the development of the open source CloudEngine software and provide an update on the prototype site Cloudworks CloudEngine: http://getcloudengine.org CloudEngine Demo: http://dev.getcloudengine.org CloudEngine blog: http://cloudengineblog.wordpress.com OULDI blog: http://www.open.ac.uk/blogs/OULDI Project mailbox: cloudworks@open.ac.uk Who else? Juliette Culver – Lead/ original developer (on maternity leave) Gráinne Culver – OULDI project lead Rebecca Galley – Open University Learning Design Initiative (Project Officer) Richard Lovelock – Cloudworks/ CloudEngine developer
What and who is FLOSS? A useful aside for end-users… Don’t conflate free software with free beer (low-cost at point of download is a nice side-effect!) Helen Beatham’s keynote was very interesting, but IMHO was wrong to mention open-source and amateurs… For example, check out the list of affiliations for Moodle contributors – http://moodle.org/mod/cvsadmin/view.php?cid=1 Where Steve Jobs (RIP) was a poster-man for the digital revolution, and enriched by it, Dennis Ritchie (9 September 1941-12 October 2011) of AT&T/Bell Labs was an unsung hero – C is pervasive or influential in Linux, Windows, Mac OS X, mobile phones, networking, embedded systems… (with C++/ Objective C)…, See Time O’Reilly and others’ commentary – http://radar.oreilly.com/2011/10/dennis-ritchie-day.html
A formal 'mission' would be: Develop software to make creating social web sites easier Keep the essence of Cloudworks Keep it small and lightweight Make it flexible, extensible, usable, accessible. What CloudEngine is not: Not a 'Swiss army knife', eg. a general purpose Content Management System/ CMS. Not a desktop tool!
Technical Uses PHP 5 and MySQL Built on CodeIgniter MVC framework - lightweight, easy to learn Prefers Apache and mod_rewrite Clean URLs Uses jQuery, Tiny MCE editor, Mollom anti-spam oEmbed for embedding GNU Gettext for localization Configurable REST API, internationalization, moderation… Built with accessibility & standards in mind
Development of the site began with a clear statement of the problem we were trying to address and the outline of some broad principles 1. Low barrier to entry – imperfect is OK! 2. Folksonomies not taxonomies 3. Tool-agnostic 4. People-orientated 5. Open 6. Link with communities, rather than replace 7. Recognise role of learning technologists and other mediators 8. Encourage discussion of learning design problems 9. Recognise ownership issues 10. Release early, release often
(Slide by Rebecca.) DBR - An iterative cycle of rapid prototyping, user testing and adaptation Development of the site began with a clear statement of the problem we were trying to address, and a proposed solution which drew on ideas of mediation and activity theory for designing object oriented sociality (see Conole and Culver, 2009; Bouman et al, 2007; Engeström, 2005). We then began an iterative cycle of development and evaluation. Many of you will already be familiar with the prototype site – Cloudworks...( next slide)
and a proposed solution which drew on ideas of mediation and activity theory Jyri Engström http://www.zengestrom.com/blog/2005/04/why-some-social-network-services-work-and-others-dont-or-the-case-for-object-centered-sociality.html http://annlytical.com/phd/2011/6/23/engstrom-2005.html Cloudworks has been developed in order to support these social, collaborative and dialogic design processes - throughout development we have drawn considerably on the work of Engestrom, Dron and Anderson, and Bouman. Firstly, the site is essentially object-centred rather than ego-centred in nature. Engestrom focuses on the notion of social objects, saying that: The term 'social networking' makes little sense if we leave out the objects that mediate the ties between people. Think about the object as the reason why people affiliate with each specific other and not just anyone... And goes on to argue: “ The fallacy is to think that social networks are just made up of people. They're not; social networks consist of people who are connected by a shared object.”
And for designing object oriented sociality (see Conole and Culver, 2009; Bouman et al, 2007;). We then began an iterative cycle of development and evaluation Core to this approach are a number of assumptions which come from Bouman et al. Firstly, that the system needs to accommodate both the evolution of practices and the inclusion of newcomers. Secondly, that individual identity is important so there needs to be a mechanism to enable the development of identities. Thirdly they argue that people are more inclined to use software systems that resemble their daily routines, language and practices than to adopt whole new concepts, interfaces and methods. And that metaphors and structures that mimic real life practices are likely to be more successful
Development of the Alpha Cloudworks prototype in Drupal February 2008 Launch of the Beta Cloudworks prototype in CodeIgniter July 2009 Release of CloudEngine free and open source software October 2010 A place for sharing and discussions learning and teaching ideas Application of the best of Web 2.0 practices Launched July 2009 Over 4000 registered users Over 95,000 unique visitors (on average over 1000 unique visitors a week) – as of mid-June 2011. Cloudworks is a social network specifically aimed at supporting sharing and dialogue between educators, technologists, strategists and policy makers. New pedagogies and innovative use of technologies seem to offer so much in terms of providing new, exciting educational experiences for learners. However taken as a whole, the majority of educational offerings are still based on fairly traditional approaches, with a primary focus on content and assessment of outcomes, delivered via traditional didactic approaches. Educational innovations in both pedagogical approaches and innovative use of technologies remain the remit of educational innovators or early adopters It is important not to underestimate the barriers which are not just technical, but also pedagogical and organisational in nature. As part of the OULDI project we have conducted many interviews with teachers working in HE and they tell us for example: [there is a] “problem of doing something new (for example, oral assessment). Innovation is encouraged in the university but systems are quite set in their ways.” They often mention a lack of time or lack of skills or that they receive not support or rewards for using technologies. There is an inherent tension between the pressures of excelling in research versus promoting innovative approaches to learning and teaching. Teachers lack the necessary new forms of digital literacies needed to make effective use of new technologies, and some have concerns as to whether or not these new technologies are indeed any better than existing approaches They tell us that what they want are case studies, other practitioners to talk to and discuss ideas with - and it is this need that Cloudworks hopes to address.
We argue that existing frameworks designed to examine and support activity in primarily closed online communities, whilst relevant, do not sufficiently enable us to describe and explain the activity patterns and behaviours we are seeing in this open space. We propose that the CIF can be used to observe and capture the development of productive open communities (i.e. to explore how far cohesive, productive groups can be said to be emerging or not) and also help focus future development of the platform, and provide guidelines for community support. Our interest is in supporting the process of development of weak ties between groups to the stronger more cohesive ties that can be seen to emerge from repeated and iterative collaborative activity that happens within, across and between more established communities. Our framework focuses on supporting 4 aspects: Firstly Participation – Encouragement and support for a core group of participants, who contribute regularly and in encourage the engagement and activity of others. Strategies to engage or ‘nudge’ participants to make repeated contributions. Ways of prompting people to contribute into the wider Cloudworks space and draw others back to the designs. Identification of the special roles participants can take on and understanding of the hierarchical structures which we can see are effective in promoting and supporting collaborative activity. Secondly Cohesion – Providing a space that fosters professional and friendly discussion which encourages new, and perhaps inexperienced, visitors to participate. A space where people show a willingness to listen and learn from others. Thirdly Identity – Support for communities in establishing a shared vocabulary and phraseology. A place where participants can start to feel a sense of belonging, or sense of ‘us’. And finally, Creative capability – Ensuring that visitors to the site understand the purpose of what they are doing. Are helped to develop the skills they need to participate in the space. Feel drawn to participate and get involved. A framework so that they feel able to share experiences from a variety of different contexts, contradict and challenge assumptions and establish and articulate links between concepts and ideas?
We then began an iterative cycle of development and evaluation Screen-shot from, http://cloudworks.ac.uk/cloud/view/5426 OU embeds, http://freear.org.uk/content/ou-embed-proposal OU player, http://freear.org.uk/content/ou-media-player-project Also new Embeds for Timetoast (timelines), Cacoo (collaborative diagrams), Github Gists… Embed Javascript, http://embed.open.ac.uk/scripts/jquery.oembed.js Builds on “MALT Wiki” prototype - http://maltwiki.org/ TODO Embeds for CompendiumLD / SVG – with OULDI/ Andrew Brasher Embeds for Mathtran, Cohere, Google Docs/ Spreadsheets, MIT Scratch ... Search fixes/ usability enhancements – Richard Lovelock, Direct messaging – Richard Lovelock,
Screen-shot from blog-post by Richard Lovelock, http://cloudengineblog.wordpress.com/2011/05/27/search-usability-enhancements/ Search – before… BUG - some searches failed – eg. “Events” All results were listed – the screen-shot above has the annotation “Very large page to scroll through”! No indication of relevance/ score, how results were ordered etc. Usability testing showed that people didn’t concentrate on the top few results – influence of adverts/ Google sponsored links??
Search enhancements – after… Performance fixes – fixed the bug for searches like “events”, Usability enhancements – shorter lists, tabs, Uses SimplePager, http://www.geckonewmedia.com/blog/2009/8/20/simplepager---jquery-paging-plugin--updated Browser plug-in By Richard Lovelock (and Nick Freear) Screen-shot, http://cloudworks.ac.uk/search/result?q=JISC
HTML5 – form usability, http://cloudworks.ac.uk/auth/register Benefits: Browser performs error-handling, without Javascript, Simple new attributes, type=email|url|date …, required, pattern, placeholder … Consistent error handling, eg. type=email Consistent error reporting – accessibility/ usability, Consistent Javascript/DOM API. … In supporting browsers/ with HTML5 emulation. Examples: <input type=&quot;email&quot; required placeholder=&quot;you@example.org&quot; ../> <input type=&quot;password&quot; name=&quot;confirm&quot; oninput=&quot; setCustomValidity( value!=password.value ? 'Error, the passwords should match' : '' )&quot; ../> Works best in: Opera 9.6+ Firefox 4+ Half a job - Webkit: Safari Chrome TODO: Form coverage Date/ time fields HTML5 form emulation – for older browsers, MSIE 9, Webkit etc.
Messaging Private, direct To multiple participants By Richard Lovelock
Roadmap – code development Roadmap – community/ sustainability Potential internal uses: Curriculum Business Model site Knowledge Network “replacement”
ROADMAP Search enhancements – Done. Messaging – Done. HTML5, forms – Started. More embeds – LAMS, Prezi, Google Spreadsheets, OU player (OU embed/ oEmbed). Improved project site. * Pluggable authentication? * Extensions, integrations, API, RDFa… You help decide! Ideas for integration - consume feeds, data etc. Eg. integrate with Moodle....?
(Slide by Rebecca) A rigorous programme of user testing and feedback, and usability and accessibility audits, have informed the development of support and guidance materials which happened in parallel with the technical development - and include videos, presentations and documents aimed at supporting activity and collaboration on the site. Most of this support and guidance is underpinned by research and has been empirically tested. We believe many of our findings are transferable to other open network platforms and the Cloudworks guidance and support has been designed so that it can be easily repurposed to support activity on any CloudEngine community.