Just a brief post to let you know that your RSC Wales WBL team will be demonstrating the new online Leadership and Management toolkit at NTfW Regional meetings during December and early in the New Year. 

The Toolkit was developed by the Learning and Skills Improvement Service in conjunction with the Welsh Assembly Government and the support of RSC Wales.

Those of you who attended the NTfW Conference at the Celtic Manor recently will have had the opportunity to view and sign up for the toolkit. Further information and a link to the toolkit can be found by clicking here.

Can Welsh WBL Providers feature as prominently as last year?

Becta has launched the exciting Next Generation Learning Awards: Technology Excellence in FE & Skills.  Now in their second year, they will look to reward all types of learning provider in the FE and Skills sector and seek to identify those across the whole system who are fully confident in the use of technology.

Not only will the awards celebrate the success of those in the FE and Skills sector who are using technology to transform their organisations and the experiences of their learners, they also offer the opportunity for winners to share their excellent practice.

A really exciting element in the Next Generation Learning Awards is the Furthering my learning Award – an award nominated by learners for organisations and institutions who are using technology to improve the experiences of their learners.

The awards are now open for entries and full details and an entry form are available on the Becta website.  The deadline for entries is 19 October 2009.  For more information, including case studies of last year’s finalists, go to www.becta.org.uk/nextgenerationlearningawards, ring 0800 877 8777 or email nextgenerationlearningawards@becta.org.uk

Sugata Mitra’s “Hole in the Wall” experiments have shown that, in the absence of supervision or formal teaching, children can teach themselves and each other, if they’re motivated by curiosity and peer interest.

In 1999, Sugata Mitra and his colleagues dug a hole in a wall bordering an urban slum in New Delhi, installed an Internet-connected PC, and left it there (with a hidden camera filming the area). What they saw was kids from the slum playing around with the computer and in the process learning how to use it and how to go online, and then teaching each other.

In the following years they replicated the experiment in other parts of India, urban and rural, with similar results, challenging some of the key assumptions of formal education. The “Hole in the Wall” project demonstrates that, even in the absence of any direct input from a teacher, an environment that stimulates curiosity can cause learning through self-instruction and peer-shared knowledge.

Watch the video at http://tinyurl.com/5m7yfs

I have been asked several times recently to recommend a suitable text to speech system. As with most multiple solution systems each have advantages and disadvantages and choice is largely dependant on the requirements of the user. Speech synthesis is not a new technology and has been in existence since the late 1950’s with the first complete text-to-speech system being developed in 1968. A typical text to speech reader is NaturalReader by NaturalSoft

The quality of a speech synthesizer is judged by its similarity to the human voice and by its ability to be understood.

NaturalReader is a Text to Speech software with natural sounding voices. This easy to use software can convert any written text such as MS Word, Webpages, PDF files, and Emails into spoken words. NaturalReader can also convert any written text into audio files such as MP3 or WAV for your CD player or iPod.

Typical advantages of this type of system are;

1. Allows learners to listen to notes, text books etc ……. listen to your chosen written material anytime, anywhere.
2. Facilitates Education …. highlights each word as it is read. This helps those who have learning difficulties improve reading , comprehension , and spelling skills.
3. Avoids eyestrain from too much reading.
4. Learn English or other languages … provides multiple language voices: English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Swedish, and Arabic.
5. Make proof reading effective … hearing your own work in a natural sounding voice allows much more effective proofreading compared to visual proofreading
6. And so much more … prepare for speeches by hearing your work read aloud, listen to e-books or e-material during your commute, amuse children by letting your PC read stories to them, help seniors or those with vision problems.

The package comes in three varieties, Free, Personal and Professional. I have only tested the Free version. Once installed you are presented with a simple floating toolbar which enables you to start or stop the process.

To see a demonstration of this product visit http://www.naturalreaders.com/index.htm

Access Apps is an initiative supported by the JISC Regional Support Centres and JISC TechDis. It consists of over 50 open source and freeware Windows applications, running from a USB stick. AccessApps provides a range of solutions to support writing, reading and planning as well as sensory, cognitive and physical difficulties.

For more information, please visit http://www.rsc-ne-scotland.ac.uk/accessapps  

The electronic version of an article published in JISC Inform can be viewed here http://www.jisc.ac.uk/publications/publications/inform24.aspx#accessibilityfiles

Sun shining, boats on the water and not a cloud in the sky…. If not the start of summer, then certainly a fabulous Spring Day.

On that note welcome to the Spring 2009 Edition of WBL Wales. This issue, which can be viewed in full here, is packed full of useful tips, information and forthcoming events.  There is also a review of Embracing Innovation, the first RSC Wales Conference for the Work Based Learning sector in Wales.

Embracing Innovation generated a lot of positive feedback in terms of raised awareness of technologies that assist with accessibility and inclusion.  To that end this issue of WBL Wales looks at a number of established technologies and how they can be utilised to address issues of inclusion.

In early March RSC Wales delivered two ILT Strategy Development Workshops.  Feedback indicates that these events were successful not only in terms of developing strategic thinking but also in introducing a range of free, portable tools that can assist with the planning and development processes.

In the true spirit of collaboration the Celtic Camel project is now available for the Work Based Learning sector to benefit from.  The opportunity now exists for providers to share experience, best practice, and information related to the management and delivery of effective teaching and learning across the Celtic nations of the UK.

Since the last edition of WBL Wales, your RSC team has been working closely with NTfW to develop a new Communications portal (NTfW Moodle) that is available 24 hours a day from any device with an Internet connection. The Moodle not only allows members to access documents but also to contribute to discussions, consultations etc via Forums, enabling efficient two-way, sector –wide communication. Further information can be found from ntfw@ntfw.org

The first RSC Wales e-learning conference for the work based learning sector, Embracing Innovation, took place on 25^th March at the Village Hotel, Swansea. 

Delegates travelled from all over Wales to be treated to some excellent presentations and workshops as well as being plied with copious amounts of coffee and snacks, not to mention the excellent lunch!

The day started with the inspiring Key Note speech, From VLE via PLE to SLN, by Jane Hart of the Centre for Learning and Performance Technologies (www.C4LPT.co.uk) who described the journey from one-way passive e-learning to the utilization of Social Networking applications allowing socialisation and personalisation of learning.

Delegates were introduced to a wide range of software applications and communications platforms as well as some startling facts on how computers and other mobile technologies are being used by the modern learner.  Within the next three years school leavers will never have known the World without the Internet!

The Web 2.0 workshop, which was facilitated by Swansea ITeC, gave delegates an opportunity to experience how Web 2.0 technologies are being used in a Work Based Learning setting, in particular, maximising the use of Blogs as an information sharing and general communication tool, both for learners and managers. Further examples were given of collaboration using shared online mind mapping tools and a free application that allowed you to collate images and text from web sites.

The e-portfolio workshop gave an opportunity for delegates to meet industry standard leaders who are involved in the development and supply of E-Portfolio systems specific to Work Based Learning. Structured in an open access environment, delegates were able to engage with a number of vendors, seek answers to key questions and make appointments for further consultation. Delegates particularly liked …“The excellent way in which the exhibitors were included as “workshops” and not the traditional “coffee break” time “to view”

The Accessibility strand was facilitated by Alistair McNaught from Techdis and concentrated on the plethora of tools available to support teaching and learning. The focus of the workshop was to present materials in a variety of formats thus enabling learners to choose whatever  style suits them. Delgates found the “workshop was great some really good ideas for dynamic learning content that I am hoping will be very useful to us.”

The National Training Federation Wales used the Conference to introduce its newly developed Moodle to the membership and share with them their hopes and aspirations for future developments. Delegates actively participated in discussing the way forward in terms of communication and collaboration in order to raise effectiveness and quality.

You can view Presentations and Conference Information by visiting http://moodle.rsc-wales.ac.uk/embracinginnovation

With less than 2 weeks to go before the inaugural RSC Wales Work Based Learning Conference at the Village Hotel, Swansea I want to take the opportunity to remind you of the excellent work that Jane Hart and the Centre for Learning and Performance Technologies are doing. The website, http://www.c4lpt.co.uk is one of the world’s most-visited and most popular learning sites on the Web

Jane will be delivering the Key Note at our conference and will be contributing to the Web 2.0 workshop during the day. Details about registering for the conference can be found at, http://admin.rsc-wales.ac.uk/events/.

On March 25th 2009 JISC RSC Wales is holding its inaugural Work Based Learning Conference. The guest speaker at this conference is Jane Hart, the celebrated Social Media and Learning Consultant.

At the recent Learning Technologies Conference at Olympia Jane along with fellow consultants were asked to consider the following questions:

• Why is it a good time to talk about e-learning?
• Who do you need to involve to make e-learning happen?
• What kind of project should you start with?
• What are some practical topics on engaging learners?
• What are the obstacles and how do you over come them?
• If you learned one thing about making e-learning happen in organisations, what it is it?

Their responses have been turned into the Learning Technologies Green Room: Take a visit and see the answers that Jay Cross, Laura Overton, Clive Shepherd, Don Taylor (the conference chair) and Jane Hart had to say. Jane is on the laptop at the right-hand end!

http://www.kineo.com/demos/Ufi_Demo/launch.html

All too often we hear stories of disaffected young people who appear to lack the motivation to learn, seeing it as not reflecting real life or their needs.  The major strengths of Work Based Learning include it’s relevance to every day life and the opportunities it provides to young people to successfully take part in the world of work and reap all of the benefits that brings. The following article was supplied to me by the Military Preparation College and is an example of how relevant and contextualised learning can indeed change lives.

From teenage tearaway to regimented role-model, 15-year-old Emily Edwards from Newport is almost unrecognisable as the girl she was just over a year ago. Joining the Military Preparation College has certainly changed Emily’s life.  The combination of practical activities and contextualised, relevant classroom study provided the motivation for Emily to succeed and is now planning a career in the Royal Engineers as a carpenter.

A variety of Key Skills, including IT and working with others have provided Emily with a number of transferable skills that will help her in the world of work. 

Her most recent project involved creating and delivering a PowerPoint presentation to a live audience, including John Griffiths AM, requiring both accuracy and confidence.