Kaleidoscope | introduction:
"Kaleidoscope is a Network of Excellence which brings together European teams in technology-enhanced learning. Its goal is to integrate 76 research units from around Europe, covering a large range of expertise from technology to education, from academic to private research. altogether, it is a community of more than 800 researchers in 23 countries which have joined in their efforts to develop new concepts and methods for exploring the future of learning with digital technologies.
In the 21st century European knowledge-based economy, learning is mobile, social, and multicultural. Kaleidoscope places the learner at the centre of a multidisciplinary research perspective, with theoretical foundations in the cognitive and learning sciences as well as in computer science and technology design. The network also has a strong practical orientation, aimed at increasing innovation and competitiveness, and generating new forms of cultural and learning experiences."
Thursday, July 21, 2005
Monday, July 18, 2005
Online Article - elearnspace. Connectivism: A Learning Theory for the Digital Age
elearnspace. Connectivism: A Learning Theory for the Digital Age:
"Behaviorism, cognitivism, and constructivism are the three broad learning theories most often utilized in the creation of instructional environments. These theories, however, were developed in a time when learning was not impacted through technology. Over the last twenty years, technology has reorganized how we live, how we communicate, and how we learn. Learning needs and theories that describe learning principles and processes, should be reflective of underlying social environments. Vaill emphasizes that “learning must be a way of being – an ongoing set of attitudes and actions by individuals and groups that they employ to try to keep abreast o the surprising, novel, messy, obtrusive, recurring events…” (1996, p.42).
Learners as little as forty years ago would complete the required schooling and enter a career that would often last a lifetime. Information development was slow. The life of knowledge was measured in decades. Today, these foundational principles have been altered. Knowledge is growing exponentially. In many fields the life of knowledge is now measured in months and years. Gonzalez (2004) describes the challenges of rapidly diminishing knowledge life:
“One of the most persuasive factors is the shrinking half-life of knowledge. The “half-life of knowledge” is the time span from when knowledge is gained to when it becomes obsolete. Half of what is known today was not known 10 years ago. The amount of knowledge in the world has doubled in the past 10 years and is doubling every 18 months according to the American Society of Training and Documentation (ASTD). To combat the shrinking half-life of knowledge, organizations have been forced to develop new methods of deploying instruction.”"
"Behaviorism, cognitivism, and constructivism are the three broad learning theories most often utilized in the creation of instructional environments. These theories, however, were developed in a time when learning was not impacted through technology. Over the last twenty years, technology has reorganized how we live, how we communicate, and how we learn. Learning needs and theories that describe learning principles and processes, should be reflective of underlying social environments. Vaill emphasizes that “learning must be a way of being – an ongoing set of attitudes and actions by individuals and groups that they employ to try to keep abreast o the surprising, novel, messy, obtrusive, recurring events…” (1996, p.42).
Learners as little as forty years ago would complete the required schooling and enter a career that would often last a lifetime. Information development was slow. The life of knowledge was measured in decades. Today, these foundational principles have been altered. Knowledge is growing exponentially. In many fields the life of knowledge is now measured in months and years. Gonzalez (2004) describes the challenges of rapidly diminishing knowledge life:
“One of the most persuasive factors is the shrinking half-life of knowledge. The “half-life of knowledge” is the time span from when knowledge is gained to when it becomes obsolete. Half of what is known today was not known 10 years ago. The amount of knowledge in the world has doubled in the past 10 years and is doubling every 18 months according to the American Society of Training and Documentation (ASTD). To combat the shrinking half-life of knowledge, organizations have been forced to develop new methods of deploying instruction.”"
Online Article - Learning Development Cycle
Learning Development Cycle:
"Instructional design (ID) serves only a small part of the entire learning experience. The pace of information development exceeds courses as the primary delivery mechanism of learning, challenging established ID. Alternatives to courses, like learning networks and ecologies, are developing as an informal learning approach. Designers and organizations receive substantial benefits to acknowledging informal learning, and initiating a focused design approach. Effective learning design must recognize different domains of learning. Learning Development Cycle attends to four broad learning domains: transmission, emergence, acquisition, and accretion. Designers focus on different objects during the design process, in order to meet the intended learning goals. Design objects include: instruction, fostering reflection and critical thinking, creating access to resources, and networks and ecologies."
"Instructional design (ID) serves only a small part of the entire learning experience. The pace of information development exceeds courses as the primary delivery mechanism of learning, challenging established ID. Alternatives to courses, like learning networks and ecologies, are developing as an informal learning approach. Designers and organizations receive substantial benefits to acknowledging informal learning, and initiating a focused design approach. Effective learning design must recognize different domains of learning. Learning Development Cycle attends to four broad learning domains: transmission, emergence, acquisition, and accretion. Designers focus on different objects during the design process, in order to meet the intended learning goals. Design objects include: instruction, fostering reflection and critical thinking, creating access to resources, and networks and ecologies."
Sunday, July 17, 2005
JISC - Effective Practice with e-Learning
Effective Practice with e-Learning:
"Effective Practice with e-Learning
The guide ‘Effective Practice with e-Learning’ is built around a sequence of ten case studies illustrating practitioners’ solutions to day-to-day challenges.
Launched at the Learning Journey Conference in Wolverhampton on 18 October 2004, ‘Effective Practice with e-Learning’ is available in both print and on an accompanying CD-ROM. This first publication from the e-Learning and Pedagogy Strand illustrates some of the key implications in designing for learning for practitioners in the UK post-16 sector and offers an insight into how e-learning can be integrated into established practice to benefit both learners and practitioners. Five of the ten case studies are illustrated by video clips to provide visual evidence of the challenges and benefits experienced in a variety of contexts across the sectors.
A PDF copy of 'Effective Practice with e-Learning' can be downloaded here (485 KB).
The Effective Practice Planner can be downloaded here. (Word document)
The Effective Practice Evaluator can be downloaded here. (Word document)"
"Effective Practice with e-Learning
The guide ‘Effective Practice with e-Learning’ is built around a sequence of ten case studies illustrating practitioners’ solutions to day-to-day challenges.
Launched at the Learning Journey Conference in Wolverhampton on 18 October 2004, ‘Effective Practice with e-Learning’ is available in both print and on an accompanying CD-ROM. This first publication from the e-Learning and Pedagogy Strand illustrates some of the key implications in designing for learning for practitioners in the UK post-16 sector and offers an insight into how e-learning can be integrated into established practice to benefit both learners and practitioners. Five of the ten case studies are illustrated by video clips to provide visual evidence of the challenges and benefits experienced in a variety of contexts across the sectors.
A PDF copy of 'Effective Practice with e-Learning' can be downloaded here (485 KB).
The Effective Practice Planner can be downloaded here. (Word document)
The Effective Practice Evaluator can be downloaded here. (Word document)"
JISC - Key Outcomes
Key Outcomes:
"e-Learning and Pedagogy Key Outcomes
Designing for Learning
This page highlights a selection of key documents and reports from the first phase of activities under the Designing for Learning theme of the e-Learning and Pedagogy Strand as at the 10th September 2004. A detailed overview of all the strand activities together with commentary on how the outcomes and recommendations from completed activities may be taken forward is contained in ‘Designing for Learning: An update on the Pedagogy strand of the JISC eLearning Programme’ ."
"e-Learning and Pedagogy Key Outcomes
Designing for Learning
This page highlights a selection of key documents and reports from the first phase of activities under the Designing for Learning theme of the e-Learning and Pedagogy Strand as at the 10th September 2004. A detailed overview of all the strand activities together with commentary on how the outcomes and recommendations from completed activities may be taken forward is contained in ‘Designing for Learning: An update on the Pedagogy strand of the JISC eLearning Programme’ ."
Project - e-Learning Pedagogy Home Page
e-Learning Pedagogy Home Page:
"The JISC Learning and Teaching committee is funding a new e-learning Programme to run until August 2007. The overarching aim of the e-Learning Programme is to improve the quality of e-learning across the post-16 and higher eduaction sectors. The Programme focuses on four areas: e-learning and Pedagogy; Technical Framework and Tools for e-Learning; Innovation and Distributed e-Learning. This new programme offers practitioners the opportunity to be closely involved with its future development. Through extensive consultation with practitioner communities representing the post-16 sector and HE community, the activities and outcomes from the e-Learning Programme will be refined and developed accordingly. The e-Learning Programme Focus site provides further information and news about this programme.
e-Learning and Pedagogy activities are being broadly grouped under two themes, ‘Designing for Learning’ (with a practitioner planning focus on elearning) and ‘Understanding my Learning’, (with a learner reflection focus on elearning). The first theme, ‘Designing for Learning’ is exploring the process of designing, planning, sequencing or orchestrating learning tasks which may include the use of e-learning tools. Outputs from this theme will help practitioners to make effective decisions about the use of e-learning, and will help to support the effective design and use of learning design tools. A detailed overview of these activities, together with commentary on how the outcomes and recommendations are being taken forward, is contained in ‘Designing for Learning: An update on the Pedagogy strand of the JISC eLearning Programme’ .
The second theme, ‘Understanding my Learning’, is exploring the learner perspective on e-learning. This new theme of activities focuses on issues such as perception, participation, the value and meanings learners attach to e-learning opportunities, and learner differences. Outputs from this theme will help to inform all those involved in the support of student learning with ICT, and to promote the development of effective environments for learning. The background and rationale to Understanding my Learning is now available."
"The JISC Learning and Teaching committee is funding a new e-learning Programme to run until August 2007. The overarching aim of the e-Learning Programme is to improve the quality of e-learning across the post-16 and higher eduaction sectors. The Programme focuses on four areas: e-learning and Pedagogy; Technical Framework and Tools for e-Learning; Innovation and Distributed e-Learning. This new programme offers practitioners the opportunity to be closely involved with its future development. Through extensive consultation with practitioner communities representing the post-16 sector and HE community, the activities and outcomes from the e-Learning Programme will be refined and developed accordingly. The e-Learning Programme Focus site provides further information and news about this programme.
e-Learning and Pedagogy activities are being broadly grouped under two themes, ‘Designing for Learning’ (with a practitioner planning focus on elearning) and ‘Understanding my Learning’, (with a learner reflection focus on elearning). The first theme, ‘Designing for Learning’ is exploring the process of designing, planning, sequencing or orchestrating learning tasks which may include the use of e-learning tools. Outputs from this theme will help practitioners to make effective decisions about the use of e-learning, and will help to support the effective design and use of learning design tools. A detailed overview of these activities, together with commentary on how the outcomes and recommendations are being taken forward, is contained in ‘Designing for Learning: An update on the Pedagogy strand of the JISC eLearning Programme’ .
The second theme, ‘Understanding my Learning’, is exploring the learner perspective on e-learning. This new theme of activities focuses on issues such as perception, participation, the value and meanings learners attach to e-learning opportunities, and learner differences. Outputs from this theme will help to inform all those involved in the support of student learning with ICT, and to promote the development of effective environments for learning. The background and rationale to Understanding my Learning is now available."
Project - The e-Framework for Education and Research
The e-Framework for Education and Research:
"The e-Framework is an initiative by the U.K's Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC), Australia's Department of Education, Science and Training (DEST) and partners to produce an evolving and sustainable, open standards based service oriented technical framework to support the education and research communities.
The e-Framework supports a service-oriented approach to developing and delivering education, research and management information systems. Such an approach maximises the flexibility and cost effectiveness with which systems can be deployed, both in an institutional context, nationally and internationally.
The e-Framework allows the community to document its requirements and processes in a coherent way, and to use these to derive a set of interoperable network services that conform to appropriate open standards. By documenting requirements, processes, services, protocol bindings and standards in the form of 'reference models' members of the community are better able to collaborate on the development of service components that meet their needs (both within the community and with commercial and other international partners). The 'e-Framework' also functions as a strategic planning tool for the Collaboration Partners."
"The e-Framework is an initiative by the U.K's Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC), Australia's Department of Education, Science and Training (DEST) and partners to produce an evolving and sustainable, open standards based service oriented technical framework to support the education and research communities.
The e-Framework supports a service-oriented approach to developing and delivering education, research and management information systems. Such an approach maximises the flexibility and cost effectiveness with which systems can be deployed, both in an institutional context, nationally and internationally.
The e-Framework allows the community to document its requirements and processes in a coherent way, and to use these to derive a set of interoperable network services that conform to appropriate open standards. By documenting requirements, processes, services, protocol bindings and standards in the form of 'reference models' members of the community are better able to collaborate on the development of service components that meet their needs (both within the community and with commercial and other international partners). The 'e-Framework' also functions as a strategic planning tool for the Collaboration Partners."
Tuesday, July 12, 2005
Online Journal - International Journal of Education and Development using ICT
International Journal of Education and Development using ICT:
"The International Journal of Education and Development using Information and Communication Technology (IJEDICT) is an e-journal that provides free and open access to all of its content.
IJEDICT aims to strengthen links between research and practice in ICT in education and development in hitherto less developed parts of the world, e.g., developing countries (especially small states), and rural and remote regions of developed countries. The emphasis is on providing a space for researchers, practitioners and theoreticians to jointly explore ideas using an eclectic mix of research methods and disciplines. It brings together research, action research and case studies in order to assist in the transfer of best practice, the development of policy and the creation of theory. Thus, IJEDICT is of interest to a wide-ranging audience of researchers, policy-makers, practitioners, government officers and other professionals involved in education or development in communities throughout the world.
IJEDICT comprises: a 'research articles' section for academic, peer-reviewed articles; a 'studies from the field' section for edited (but not peer reviewed) case studies; a 'project sheets' section for brief dedscriptions of relevant project; a 'notes from the field' section for working papers, and other commentaries on relevant topics; and, a 'book/media review' section for book, software and other media reviews."
"The International Journal of Education and Development using Information and Communication Technology (IJEDICT) is an e-journal that provides free and open access to all of its content.
IJEDICT aims to strengthen links between research and practice in ICT in education and development in hitherto less developed parts of the world, e.g., developing countries (especially small states), and rural and remote regions of developed countries. The emphasis is on providing a space for researchers, practitioners and theoreticians to jointly explore ideas using an eclectic mix of research methods and disciplines. It brings together research, action research and case studies in order to assist in the transfer of best practice, the development of policy and the creation of theory. Thus, IJEDICT is of interest to a wide-ranging audience of researchers, policy-makers, practitioners, government officers and other professionals involved in education or development in communities throughout the world.
IJEDICT comprises: a 'research articles' section for academic, peer-reviewed articles; a 'studies from the field' section for edited (but not peer reviewed) case studies; a 'project sheets' section for brief dedscriptions of relevant project; a 'notes from the field' section for working papers, and other commentaries on relevant topics; and, a 'book/media review' section for book, software and other media reviews."
Monday, July 11, 2005
Center for Academic Transformation Articles
Center for Academic Transformation Articles:
"The following articles have been chosen to serve as a source of expertise and support for those in higher education who wish to take advantage of the capabilities of information technology to transform their academic practices."
"The following articles have been chosen to serve as a source of expertise and support for those in higher education who wish to take advantage of the capabilities of information technology to transform their academic practices."
Monday, July 04, 2005
Organization - HEFCE
HEFCE:
"Working in partnership, the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) promotes and funds high-quality, cost-effective teaching and research, meeting the diverse needs of students, the economy and society."
"Working in partnership, the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) promotes and funds high-quality, cost-effective teaching and research, meeting the diverse needs of students, the economy and society."
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