Thanks to Helen Davies of Swansea University’s e-learning team for drawing our attention to an ALT (Association of Learning Technology) event being held 0n 12-13 November in Nottingham, looking at “Successful deployment of networked handheld devices for learning and teaching”.

Facilitated by Prof. Gilly Salmon of University of Leicester this event is aimed at schools, colleges, universities, work-based learning, and community education.

There is no charge to attend. Overnight accommodation including dinner will be provided, and travel and cover costs within reason can be met for those taking part.  Because of anticipated demand and the wish to form a balanced group, you are invited to express interest by Friday 23 October, following which selected applicants will be invited.

This sounds like a fantastic opportunity for anyone interested in m-learning.

The Guardian recently published an article about the new International University of the People, which uses open-source technology, freely-available online resources and social networking tools to deliver its courses. The article notes the critical issues of student support in the online environment, assessment, cost and how to maintain quality. I was interested to read about the initiative, having taken part last year in the JISC Etutor project, managed by Prof. Tony Toole, which investigated some of the approaches now being tried by the UoPeople. (Findings of that JISC project and other materials are available on the project wiki).

As one commentator on the UoPeople has said, ”its success will depend on the quality of the academics behind it”.

The Academy’s Centre for Education in the Built Environment (CEBE) – which is based partly in Cardiff University and partly in University of Salford - is offering funding for innovative projects in teaching and learning. The deadline is Monday 2 November. More details are available here. The funding is open to individuals and collaborating groups within or across HE funded built environment schools or departments. Looking at the successful bidders last time round, there were several focussed on using technology in teaching, such as clickers or wikis.

Thanks to Matt Chilcott at University of Wales, Newport’s Institute of Digital Learning for sending details of a new production “Reclaiming King Arthur: the Legend in the Landscape”, featuring Dr Ray Howell who is using the digital media resource with his BA History students at Newport. Matt comments, “The use of the new media approach creates new audiences, both locally and internationally, in this instance to engage with the Welsh King Arthur to inspire visitors, both physically and digitally, to explore and appreciate the cultural and historical wealth of our country.”

Things have definitely moved on since my undergraduate days when I slogged my lonely way through difficult medieval Arthurian texts! Find out more and view the video on the University of Wales, Newport website.

RSC Scotland North and East run a Ning  for Accessibility and Inclusion, which is open to all. Ning is a social network allowing like minded people to exchange ideas and resources. There are currently over 250 members on the Inclusion Ning from the UK and around the world, from a variety of sectors.

Craig Mill, E-learning Advisor at RSC Scotland North and East and facilitator of the Ning, says:

“As access and inclusion lies at the heart of everything we do, people who do many different roles are finding it useful to get engaged on the forum with issues like assessment and accessibility, inclusive mobile learning and more.  It is also a useful arena in which to learn about and contribute to a range of inclusive e-learning related topics…you can dip in and out as suits you.”

I recently blogged about the shortlist for this year’s Times Higher Awards and now the winners have been announced. As I have been in Second Life mode recently, I was interested to see that a SL project, PREVIEW, has carried off this year’s JISC award. PREVIEW is based at St George’s University of London, and it’s about training paramedic students, enabling them to interact with ‘virtual’ patients and practise handover to the next stage of treatment (in the form of notes which they submit to their tutor as their assignment). Anyone who’s had a close brush with the emergency services will know how important are those minutes when the paramedics appear on the scene, so a learning experience which helps paramedic students do a better job has got to be a good thing. There’s a blog for PREVIEW which looks worth a read if you’re interested in SL for health science, medicine or problem based learning in general. There’s a JISC press release about the Outstanding ICT Initiative of the Year and the list of all the winners is available on the Times Higher site. Well done to the winners, commiserations to the other worthy candidates, and let’s see more Welsh universities in the running in 2010!

I’ve recently been getting to grips with Second Life: taking my first steps at moving and communicating, getting comfy with my ’home base’ in the RSC Wales Virtual Office, and stressing about the look of my avatar (all of which are apparently quite normal). I’m not a natural ‘gamer’, so I’m pleased when I can find a purpose to use a virtual world for something useful. Luckily a good reason has just come along: 9-15 November 2009 is Information Literacy Week in Second Life. I found out details of the event via one of Sheila Webber’s information literacy blog entries about SL, and on her Information Literacy meets Library 2.0 site you can find details of a Ning site devoted to IL week. Maybe see some of you at the event – you’ll need a SL avatar and SL installed on your computer to take part. While getting started in SL I’ve used two valuable resources: the support material in our RSC Wales Moodle and the advice available from Paul Andrews in the School of Health and Social Sciences, University of Wales Newport, on whose SL island we have our virtual office space.