Cristina on twitter posted a quite interesting Leonardo project concerned with e-learning in connection with internships in higher education.

Tags: e-learning | informal learning

After 'The Sounds of the Bazaar' and 'The Dragons Den' it is time to branch out and make other types of programmes as well.

JISC has commissioned a pilot of a new programme, 'The e-Learning show'. The pilot programme will be broadcast this upcoming Thursday, 21 May at 1800 UK Summer Time, 1900 Central European Summer Time.

The following blurb provides the rundown for the show:

“Thursday, 21 May sees the pilot programme of a new JISC live internet radio programme, ‘the e-Learning Show’. The programme is based on issues raised at the recent JISC Lifelong Learning Symposium.

These issues include how university and college cultures need to change to support work based learning, who the new students are and what are their needs, how e-Portfolios can be used both for recording learning and for providing information, advice and guidance and the use of mobile technologies.

The programme considers both current and emergent practices in elearning and the development of policies to support such practice.

The programme will be presented by Graham Attwell and guests include Derek Longhurst from Foundation Degree Forward, Clive Church from Edexel, Lucy Stone from Leicester College, Tony Toole from the University of Glamorgan, Bob Bell, HE in FE consultant for the northern region, Sandra Winfield from Nottingham University and Rob Ward from the Centre for Recording Achievement

The programme will also feature a live panel. with the opportunity for listeners to skype or email their questions and comments and their will be a live chat room for listeners.

To listen to the programme go to http://radio.jiscemerge.org.uk:80/Emerge.m3u [This will open the LIVE radio stream in your MP3 player of choice.]

You can take part in the chat room at http://tinyurl.com/sounds08 (hosted by Cristina Costa). Just add your name and press enter - no password required.

If you like to send us questions for the panel in advance of the programme, email Graham Attwell - graham10 [at] mac [dot] com or skype Graham (skype ID: GrahamAttwell)

Although the programme is based on developments in the UK many of the issues to be discussed on the programme will have relevance for listeners interested in the use of technologies for learning wherever they are.

Tags:

While reading the activity reports I noticed that in ICOVET we have practiced a wide range of methodologies when we transfer the ICOVET approach into groups. The setting in groups is a special situation. I see we need supplemental methods for groups to introduce, to sensitise, to cooperate, to interact … The methodologies for groups should lead the individuals to communicate and to activate.

I like the practice of IDEC to give examples of professions and roles of persons. Everybody has an imagination what does a nurse or a sales people. I think it is a good idea to explain the way of discover the own skills and abilities.

The partners in Austria and Britain and me too have adapt the ICOVET instrument to groups of young people. What do you think about the idea to collect all that additional methodologies in order to provide a pool of proved practices to combine the ICOVET approach for groups?

Tags: group methods

Yesterday I came across this project and I thought it was a brilliant initiative. I now feel I need to share it here with you.

Hull Children’s University is a great example on how informal learning, close mentoring and fun are essential to encourage our kids (our future) to acknowledge their own potential and thus be motivate to learn and develop their own skills and competencies. It is initiatives like that will challenge our young kids in a positive way and pass on the message that they too can have a bright future ahead of them... that they too will haev a chance in the job market…that they too have something to contribute to society, even if that is not what school results may suggest or what might be insinuated by their family background.

As it says in its website The Children's University is an innovative and dynamic project that raises children's self-esteem, achievements and learning aspirations through the delivery of out of school hours literacy focused programmes.

The project started in 1997 and aimed ‘to provide out of hours, extra learning activities and experiences for youngsters aged 7 to 11 years. It initially targeted pupils in the 20 schools which were ‘bottom of Hull Primary Schools league tables’ for attainment. Since then it has developed and partnered around 45 Hull Schools offering exciting learning experiences with a difference, filled with fun and delivered with energy, to youngsters from all backgrounds and with varying abilities, aged 7 to 14 years’.

 

Adobe Flash Player not installed or older than 9.0.115!

 

As part of this initiative a lot of effort is put on the mentoring component, not to mention the innovative strategy. Learners are engaged in a very personalized and innovative way and that is the magic of this project. Education can indeed change people, boot their condfidence, give them purpose. But for that to happen the way we approach education needs to change too. The kids of today are so willing to learning as those from the past generations – they just require different ways of being engaged and mentored.

This is indeed a project to follow!

Tags:

The coming weekend sees the third Educamp conference at Ilmeneu in Germany http://tinyurl.com/cw2tkm . The Barcamp type conference will focus on Corporate Learning 2.0 and E-learning 2.0 in schools or universities including the use of e-portfolios, digital games and virtual worlds in education or the trends of mobile and micro-learning.

In line with the idea of a BarCamp, everyone is invited to propose their own topics for discussion around education across different sectors.

Ilmenau is not the easiest place to get to! And there are many great events being held at the moment. But, if you cannot attend in person, ‘Sounds of the Bazaar’ will be broadcasting a live radio programme from the conference on Saturday 18 April at 1200 Central European Time, 13.00 BST (check your local time here: http://tinyurl.com/dj4wnq ).

Helen Keegan will be co-hosting the programme with Graham Attwell.
Cristina Costa will be in the chatroom: http://tinyurl.com/67aj94 (no password needed) , and Dirk Stieglitz will be testing out our fabulous new mixing deck!

To listen to the programme just click here http://tinyurl.com/6df6ar and the stream will open in your MP3 player of choice. And of course we will release the podcast of the programme as soon as we can.

 

Just join us and take part in interesting discussions independently where you are! ;-)

Tags:

with Barbara Dieu as the main speaker. Meet us at the Elluminate platform in Learning times (you need to sign up to Learning times first = free account) The event will take place at 20:00 GMT (check your local time here) If you have not used Elluminate before, you are recommended to read a few short instructions here. This is both a chance to hear a very experienced speaker and become acquainted with one of the best platforms of its kind on the Internet. For technical reasons It is recommended that you arrive 15-20 minutes early.

 

Tags:

Tags:

Lately, I have been reading some of the European Comission reports of the current educational situation. Similar conclusions have been drawn from all the studies I have been reading. The recent European studies reveal that Innovation in learning through ICT is still not sufficiently present as part of the European Educational Systems, despite the fact that bigger budgets have been available, and that many institutions are already embracing the new technologies...Netheless...this effort has not always been successful.

The main findings that support this statement say that the Educational systems are still struggling to keep up with the real-life business and public services’ models, which have embraced the use of information and communication technologies in a more pragmatic, and thus efficient way.

The integration of ICT in Education requires changes at the pedagogical, technological and organizational settings, and this isn’t allegedly fully embedded in the organizations’ strategy. Finally, these studies recognize the importance of ICT in bridging between formal, informal and workplace learning; hence supporting lifelong learning in a more meaningful way.

I would also like to stress the fact that the EU has declared 2009 the European Year of Creativity and Innovation, which ties in well with the the IPTS policy brief on ICT for Learning, Innovation and Creativity ‘s recommendations (http://ftp.jrc.es/EURdoc/JRC48707.TN.pdf )

I would really like to know more about our points of views concerning this. Probably some examples too. It's important we share what we are doing in this field - how we are innovating learning, and consequently teaching/and training to make it more appealing to our learner audience.

Tags: iconet

ICONET CASE STUDY

Cartoon Planet as part of Salford Young People’s University

(micro-reflection through digital cartoons)

It was on that note that we hosted the first ICONET workshop during the SYPU 2008, here at the University of Salford.

The workshop meant to involve the young learners in an exciting journey through theirs and their peers skills and help them realize of their own strengths and abilities in a rather relaxed and exiting way. The motto of the SYPU is to introduce pupils to the academic live by exposing them to a wide range of approaches. The aim is to motivate these young people to consider higher education and/or further education as a possible future learning path. It is also the purpose to convey the message that learning can be creative and fun, and that recognizing their skills can also be beneficial in the long run.

So above all, the purpose was to give students a good time while engaging in serious reflection. To achieve that we create a set of micro-activities (to better capture their focus) which we invite them to take part in – engaging them in group and peer work, and always providing support and devoting attention to the pupils needs and requests.

The section below, briefly describes the workshop activity. (Full report coming soon)

Background

The Salford Young People's University (SYPU) is a Summer School Programme for 11-16 year olds. SYPU is a free one-week residential and provides a first-hand experience of life at the University, with an opportunity to meet current students and lecturers. SYPU is a community outreach initiative with is aimed at youngsters who would not tend to go to University.

Description of activity

2 hour face to face workshops were planned and carried our by the researchers/tutors. The workshops were two fold and were organized around activities that were supposed to be fun and stimulate active participation.

The first part of the workshop aimed at guided group reflection about pupils’ strengths and skills. Tutors also helped pupils to understand and use specific phrases which described their skills in a more CV orientated language.

The second part of the workshop was ICT based – students were taken to the computer lab where they were asked to (re)create themselves online, as avatars, and describe their skills while using voice and text.

The avatars were later published and presented to the rest of the class at the end of the workshop

Some Remarks

Above all, this pilot project has given us the knowledge about the young people’s reactions when exposed to such activities.

From the spoken feedback we received from the pupils themselves, and the mentors and coordinators who spent more time with the pupils, the Cartoon Planet sessions were successful and they seemed to have pleased the young participants. Comments such as “this is fun”; “now I can use this skills in my CV” are regarded as important feedback.

Pupils reported to have enjoyed the way the topic was presented to them and the way they were asked to explore their skills. The micro activities helped motivate the pupils’ involvement in the workshop. It also allowed learners to learn a bit more about themselves which they engaged in this micro-reflection exercise.

It is our impression that both parts of the workshop seemed to have played a vital role in the success of the session.

The personalized mentoring and constant support provided by tutor to the small group of young people, as well as the freedom they were granted to collaborate with each other while trying to explore their skills seem to have helped to spark up their motivation and active involvement in the workshop.

The fact pupils were allowed to use computers to freely create their own avatars appealed to their creativity and proved to be a positive exercise which helped reinforce what they had learned on the first part of the session.

The below cartoons were examples used by the workshop facilitators to help students realize how they could express and share their skills with others, according with the activities they had previously engaged in.

Tags:

This entry provides information about work being undertaken through the ICONET project in the UK. The UK partners are Pontydysgu and the University of Salford. We will be reporting on the first pilot in the near future.

Enterprise – Entrepreneurial Skills
The Entrepreneurial Skills module is a core module for Level 1 degree students taking BSc Acoustics, BSc Computing, BSc Video Production, BA Advertising, BSc Physics, and BSc Multimedia at the University of Salford. The module introduces the students to theories of entrepreneurship through a series of seminars, which are run alongside weekly practical workshops where students apply theory to a range of real-world situations where the emphasis is placed on work and business-related skills and employability. As part of this module students are required to complete a weekly Personal Development Journal, where competencies gained through workshop participation are coded according to behavior and skills. While this is a useful exercise in terms of encouraging students to reflect on their learning, the emphasis is very much based on the acquisition of formal competences. It is proposed that the ICONET tool be integrated into the Entrepreneurial Skills module at the curriculum level (student n=160), in order to recognize informal learning competencies alongside those which are assessed and formally recognized within the institution, taking a web 2.0 approach such as a blog-based ePortfolio.

Outreach - Salford Young People’s University
The Salford Young People's University (SYPU) is a Summer School Programme for 11-16 year olds. SYPU is a free one-week residential and provides a first-hand experience of life at university, with an opportunity to meet current students and lecturers. SYPU is a community outreach initiative with is aimed at youngsters who would not tend to go to University.
The Year 8 SYPU Summer School is funded by Aimhigher Greater Manchester. A limited number of places are given to specific schools within Greater Manchester who are participating in the Aimhigher scheme. The available courses centre around three areas: World of Sport, Performing Arts and Media, and Art and Design.
The Year 10 SYPU Summer School is funded by the Higher Education Funding Council and the European Social Fund. It offers residential Summer School places to young people across the North West region. The available courses centre around four areas: Science and Engineering, Radio and Journalism, Project Management, and Health and Social Care.
All participants on the courses visit Salford Quays Water Sports Centre on the first day for an afternoon of team building games. In the evenings there are sessions led by students providing a chance to find out what they get up to in their spare time, including: a disco, a gig night, Karaoke, DJ workshops, art and design activities, drama workshops, sports tournaments and a "Graduate-in-Style Ball". Current students and staff also provide tips about how to survive on a student loan and choose the best course to study.
It is proposed that the ICONET be incorporated into both Year 8 and Year 10 Summer Schools. Currently, participants are required to keep a daily journal in order to keep a record of competencies they have gained/developed through their chosen courses. This is currently paper-based, but it is anticipated that the ICONET tool be adapted to a web 2.0 platform where participants use blogs to reflect on their experiences and competences, incorporating multimedia elements and linking to their fellow participants. There is also the possibility of adapting the ICONET tool into a hands-on creative medium, such as a jar which can be filled with representative items and covered in labels and post-it notes, which gives the participant an opportunity to have fun in the creation of a ‘learning artefact’ which they can take home and display.

Tags:

Im Juli 2008 ging die Webseite "Netzwerk Informelle Kompetenzen" online. Die Webseite wurde von p&w praxis und wissenschaft entwickelt und fungiert als Informations- und Kommunikationsplattform des Leonardo da Vinci Projekts ICONET.

Eine Besonderheit besteht darin, daß die Partnereinrichtungen Design, Struktur und Inhalte der Webseite je nach Bedarf zielgruppen- und länderspezifisch anpassen können. Durch einen durchgängig modularen Aufbau, den intelligenten Einsatz neuer Open-Source-Technologien und strikte Einhaltung des W3C-Standards können Form und Inhalt praktisch unbeschränkt lokalisiert und im Rahmen eines einzigen Content Management Systems (CMS) abgebildet werden.

Im Ergebnis konnten die Entwicklungskosten sowie der Administrationsaufwand deutlich reduziert werden.

Tags: