play think learn

Becta has just published the final report of a research project that myself and Cathy Lewin managed last year, which looks at the different ways in which online learning was being implemented in schools and FE colleges in the UK and their impact.

The project used a literature review and key informant interviews to identify eight case study institutions where different models of online learning were successfully being implemented. In-depth case studies in each institution (including interviews with learners, staff and parents as well as observations of the learning environments) allowed us to examine the different ways in which online learning was being used, develop a framework for analysing different implementations, and consider the benefits and limitations of different models.

Four ‘typical’ models of online learning were identified:

• Fully online – structured online resources, activities and communication.
• Independent study – extensive online resources and limited tutor support.
• Added value – predominantly face to face, with supporting online activities and resources.
• Flexible integration – timetabling to allow a mix of chunks of online learning time coupled with chunks of traditional classroom teaching and learning.

Although this blog is primarily about games and learning, I do like to include some posts on more general e-learning topics now and again. Here are some e-learning resources that I’ve found over the last few months.

• Free book on Mobile Learning: Transforming the Delivery of Education and Training (pdf), edited by Mohamed Ally from Athabasca University, Canada.
• Guardian report on the Digital Student.
• The Handbook of Emerging Technologies for Learning, by George Siemens and Peter Tittenberger from the University of Manitoba.

Excellent resource produced by the iCamp project, aimed at providing an overview for Higher Education practitioners considering using social software to support teaching and learning.

This guide has broken social software down into the areas of communication, publication and sharing, collaboration, self-organisation of learning, social networking and Internet searching, with examples of popular applications in each category. A nice, straightforward introduction for beginners. With lots of pictures.

Okay, this isn’t anything to do with games, and I can only tenuously link it to e-learning but I think it’s an excellent example of the power of the user-generated web and rich media to engage others, share concerns and drive political debate.

My friend, Richard Hall, has started a video diary as a means of reflecting on his disillusionment with football (although don’t worry, if like me you have no interest in football whatsoever - this isn’t really about football). He says “this video is the opening salvo of a season-long project looking at whether football is redeemable for me.” I look forward to the next installment.

Big congratulations to my friend Keith for managing to put together a symposium with the acronym LICK. Result, mate.

To be fair though, apart from the obvious comedy value in the name, the Learners In the Co-creation of Knowledge Symposium does look like it will be an interesting event.

I was down in London yesterday for the final meeting of the Pathfinder projects. After two hours of being talked at in the morning I was beginning to think it was all a bit of a waste of time, but fortunately the afternoon changed my mind. This was the chance for some of the projects to talk about what they had achieved in more detail, and was really inspiring.

I was particularly impressed by the work that has been going on at Gloucestershire University on digital storytelling. This looks like a fantastic way of supporting students to get their ideas across in an engaging and effective manner. There’s a great set of resources on storytelling on their site too.

Read a really interesting post on formal and informal learning and the impact of social networks on Sarah Robbins‘ blog.

The slideshow is well worth a view, particularly the exploration of the differences between what university education and social networks provide, and new conceptions of the role of the teacher in Higher Education:

• teaching students to learn in an information economy;
• guiding students to shape their own paths;
• enabling students to access professional networks;
• modelling lifelong learning practices;
• relating as a more experienced community member.

I wholeheartedly agree with Sarah’s analysis, but feel - from my experience with both university staff - that we are still a long way away from this being an accepted model. I think that true teacher commitment to this paradigm is essential for its success - but this re-framing of role and loss of control clearly isn’t easy. I am really interested in ways to get lecturers to think about re-conceiving education - and ways to create the autonomous teacher as well as learner.

This is the first of several postings that have been sitting in my drafts folder from before I went on holiday…

It’s been a mad couple of weeks, with very little time to sit down between meetings, never mind think about blog postings. However, I had the fortune to be travelling from Birmingham to Manchester earlier this week in the company of Andy Black - if you’re ever looking for some inspiration or cool tools, he’s the man to talk to.

Three of the gadgets that he pointed out to me are:

• Scrapbook - a FireFox extension for managing collections of web links, which lets you download whole web pages (including links) and view them offline.
• ScribeFire - another Firefox extension, this time an integrated blog editor.
• Google spreadsheets have a new sharing option so that you can simply create a web form that is linked directly to the online spreadsheet.

Last week I attended an e-learning symposium at De Montfort University, focusing on the use of web 2.0 technologies. I was very impressed with the level of staff enthusiasm and innovation and the way in which new technologies are being used creatively by staff throughout the university. It is very refreshing to see an institutional culture of embracing a range of different technologies rather than being wedded to a single monolithic learning environment.

An excellent opening keynote was given by Lawrie Phipps from the JISC on learner expectations and technology, which raised some very interesting ideas around web 2.0, connectivism and the rhizomatic model of collaborative communities. I’ve seen several different definitions of ‘web 2.0′ but I particularly liked the simplicity of Lawrie’s definition of ‘web 2.0’ as “anything that’s new and interesting and users want to use”.

I was down in London last week, with my colleague Cathy Lewin, to present the interim findings of another project I’m involved in. The Models of Innovation in Learning Online (MILO) project is looking at the different ways in which online learning is being used in schools and colleges (Key Stage 3 and 14-19). Grainne Conole wrote a nice blog post about the event.