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

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

Organize your thoughts, tasks, inspirations, ambitions and so much more.If you’ve ever made a list, torn a page from a magazine or bookmarked a Web page “for future reference,” Ript is the tool for you. It puts the “fun” back in functionality, so you can get more done, in less time… with less stress.

Rip just about anything.

Part scrapbook, part “to-do” list (or to-buy list), Ript mimics the actions of ripping, piling and arranging scraps of information. If you can see it on your computer, you can “rip” it. Simply drag and drop images and text from the internet or your computer and arrange them however you please — making it easy to compile, print and share your handiwork.Ript can be downloaded from http://www.ript.com/, give it a try and see how it makes your life a little easier.

Thanks to Leia Fee, Swansea ITeC for sharing this useful resource. 

Thanks to the informative and entertaining Ewan McIntosh’s Edublog I spent a large part of yesterday “playing” with slideshows using a package called Animoto. With minimal effort from the user Animoto takes your photos, mixes them with music and some technical know how to produce a professional looking video.

In the words of the Animoto team “Animoto Productions is a bunch of techies and film/tv producers who decided to lock themselves in a room together and nerd out.

Their first release is Animoto, a web application that automatically generates professionally produced videos using their own patent-pending technology and high-end motion design.”

Once you produce your video you can chose whether to send it to a friend or post/embed it into a web site. The clip below was embedded into my YouTube account and onto the Mumbles Yacht Club web site.

“How can this help the work based learning sector?” I hear you cry. It’s true that standard photographs will satisfy evidence requirements. However, just think what this can do to increase the motivation and engagement of the learner – I know how much fun we have had with it in the office!!

[youtube]Aus36D-kZNU[/youtube]

Every once in a while you come across a web site that captivates you and offers many everyday teaching and learning solutions. The Centre for Learning and Performance Technologies is such a site. Its creator Jane Hart is a well-known name in the e-learning world both in the UK and internationally. She has a long track record of helping business and education understand how new technologies can be used for formal learning as well as to improve job and business performance.

The Centre for Learning & Performance Technologies provides a number of resources, consultancy services and workshops to help you understand more about how Web 2.0 technologies and tools are creating a new approach to learning (in both in education and the workplace learning) known as Learning 2.0 or Social Learning.

The site can be found at http://www.c4lpt.co.uk/index.html

How many times have you attended a course where you have been told exactly how to do something but seen little evidence of instructors actually practising what they preach? At Swansea ITeC, Leia Fee has been pioneering an approach to training that both practices what it preaches and embraces the evolution in teaching and learning tools – namely Web 2.0 technology. In Leia’s words, “teaching IT by using IT as used in the real world.”

For the last year Leia and her colleagues have been developing a Blog that assists both formal and informal communication with trainees (http://www.swansea-ITeC.co.uk/traineenews).

Traditionally blogs are seen as on-line journals but their format and a little creative thinking lends them to being a dynamic “web site” capable of being updated and contributed to frequently. The blog contains news stories, achievement recognition, links to resources, policies and, every tutor’s dream, notification that certificates have arrived and are ready for collection, as well as many other features. Setting the blog as the organisation’s homepage also ensures that staff and trainees are kept up to date with the latest news and events.

Due to the success and enthusiasm surrounding the project, the use of Blogs has now been incorporated into the learner experience. Working on group and individual tasks, trainees are expected to create a blog on a topic of their own choice. Whilst one would expect such a task to meet ICT key skills criteria learners also have to work collaboratively, communicate effectively and reflect on their own learning in order to successfully complete the task.

Multi-use of open source (free) Web 2.0 technologies provides an integrated approach to learner development and progression while catering for a wide range of learning styles. For example trainees who have a visual learning style enjoy using bubl (http://bubl.us) to brainstorm or plan their projects whereas the reflectors prefer written feedback utilising a combination of annotating software and web mail.

Using a variety of packages opens the minds of the trainees to a wealth of tools, innovations and resources that go beyond the boundaries of Office applications normally used in IT training and electronic communication.

Chatting with Leia and looking at work produced by the learners identified clearly a number of positive aspects of developing and using a blog. “A large percentage of our trainees have English as a second language. Blogging improved literacy levels due to the ability to edit posts as well as promoting a range of transferable skills such as word-processing and graphics manipulation. Handing ownership of the learning process to the trainees also greatly enhanced independence and group cohesiveness. At Swansea ITeC we are convinced that the quality of the learners’ work has improved.”

This article was taken from the RSC Wales Work Based Learning Spring 2008 Newsletter. If you are a WBL practitioner and would like to receive regular copies of the newsletter please email a.dacey@swansea.ac.uk to be put on the mailing list

I received an email from a colleague today containing a link to an article by Dan Cobley entitled Wales takes on the world. How the internet is changing small business

The article caught my attention for several reasons. Firstly its opening lines refer to the historic Swansea-Mumbles train, the route of which I walk frequently and can also see from my office window. The article states that this worldwide innovation paved the way for the economic transformation of Britain. It commends the success of current “young” businesses that have embraced the technological transformation and use the power of the internet to overcome traditional barriers such as logistics and limited advertising budgets. The internet has levelled the playing field offering a worldwide audience to all and not just the big players.

We can compare using technologies for commerce and staff development to Chung’s (2005) view on e-learning development – with leaders, learners, teachers, organisations making the best use of tools that were previously not readily available or affordable. I can’t help comparing the Swansea-Mumbles train to Web 1 technology – a great innovation that paved the way for the greater interaction of Web 2.o

The above article was published in http://itwales.com/997507.htm

CHUNG, Q B (2005) Sage On The Stage In The Digital Age: The Role Of The Online Lecture In Distance Learning The Electronic Journal of e-Learning, Vol 3 Issue 1