Feed for content matching tag 'learning_platform'

real time or synchronous learning using video conferencing

deek — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 08:25:22 GMT

Hi, we are currently looking at employing video conferencing to teach "real time" to some of our dissaffected students. We have looked at webex, i-link and wiz IQ. Has anyone been through the process of choosing a web conferecing product to teach with? is anyone using a product they find particularly suitable?

thanks

What tools should teachers use for creating materials?

marshal — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 12:23:45 GMT

This is a very open sort of question - but it's one that probably needs considering. Let's assume that there will be some digital assets produced by teachers - along the lines of the sort of stuff in the Times Ed swappy thing - will we be suggesting teachers get down with SCORM for maximum swappability (possibly a good idea also in case their own school changes it's VLE or they want to take stuff to their next school) but possibly restricted creativity, or should they stick to the proprietary tools provided with each VLE? OR, is there something missing from the toolbox that we need to provide?

Marshal

VLEs and 2010 Are we getting it right?

mikeslvcf — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 15:03:30 GMT

I have just had a student in my room in our InitialTeacherEducation establishment asking me about a VLE she has been asked to do some work for in a Primary consortium.

I was dismayed to see that the VLE organisation and structure had been designed from the point of view of the teachers. I can understand the need for the teachers being able to find things but the structure was very traditional in approach (something teachers would grasp at once but children would have little appreciation of). If Primary schools are to have these tools we must be careful about our pedagogy. How these tools bring the learner into contact with resources and activities is of vital importance if we are to harness creativity rather that squeeze it out of the children. (Robinson,2006 TED). As the Primary Strategy seemed to be an attempt to bring back the good part about working in a themed way across disciplines (OK - through topics) it may make sence to structure a VLE in that way rather than using the old Hierarchy of Maths English,Science then Humanities,and the Arts. We want children to find things quickly and intuitively or they will quickly lose interest. If they dont want to use the VLE because they dont understand the "way that grown ups think" they will not get used and we will be left with an expensive experiment. Becta has an excellent document on VLE design and its function we would do well to revisit it.

LP Provider Comparison?

sgewaters — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 18:38:12 GMT

As a secondary school looking to get on board with a Learning Platform, is anyone aware (or able to create) a simple table which compares the various providers in a simple to access manner? HAving got fairly excited (and encouraged by our county) to go with Studywiz we then find that they may not provide all the features we were hoping for. Here's a comment from the EduGeek forum:

"I'd just like some comments from anyone who has StudyWiz.

Our authority is planning to use this and from what I've seen so far its a poor effort.

No live MIS integration - no updates for class lists (rotations etc.),
pupils won't have their timetable, parents won't be able to see
attendance etc.

No mark sheets

E-mail internal only - that might be OK for pupils but it means staff
will have to check two lots of mail. We can't get some to check one lot!

No web interface without paying extra

Getting documents into tasks seems to be a long winded process.

Overall the whole thing looks less than intuative and a lot of staff will just give up on it."

HELP

What benefits can learning platforms bring?

Andyt — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 11:16:25 GMT

Much discussion on learning platforms has focussed on technical issues or procurement that, whilst very important, can sometimes leave people more confused and disengaged from the process. In February a group a schools who have been using learning platforms for a little while came together to share the benefits for learning, teaching & management that they are getting from theis use of technology. A report of the outcomes from this event is available in the documents area.

The outcomes and benefits have not been verified or analysed in any great detail but it would be very useful to hear what community members have to say about the headlines. Questions that you may wish to consider could include:

Do you recognise some of theoutcomes and benefits?

Are you interested in knowing more?

Do the essential steps to success make sense?

If you attended the event you may wish to add to the conversation.

Single Learning Platform across an LA - Pros and cons?

sage — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 08:38:10 GMT

I can think of many reasons why a single LP is desirable LA-wide:

Easier collaboration between staff - subject/aspect networks Economies of scale in procurement
Relative ease of MIS integration
No problems of incompatibility between different LPs
Easier exchange of data and resources between schools
Single pupil login that is geographically agnostic
Easier/cheaper to support a single product
Support for community cohesion
Easier for LA officers to get to grips with one system
Pupil/teacher mobility
etc

Why, then, do schools still insist on 'going it alone'? Of course I think I know the answer to this one: "The LA's LP doesn't suit us. We like this one better. This one does this better. Ours is 'free'." etc.

So we engage all schools in the writing and production of an output spec prior to procurement in the hopes that it will be an opportunity for them to have their say on the exact features of the LP etc. However, I'm sure some will still go their own way.

Apart from involving them in the development of the output spec and 'selling' it with the bullets above, is there anything else that can be done?

Are you a 'maverick' school that has gone it alone in the face of the LA-wide platform? What was your thinking? What would have persuaded you to adopt the LA platform?

Can a multi-platform model really work? Can it work as well as a single solution?

Sorry for all the questions and any responses will be greatly appreciated.

Becta Evidence and Practice Competitive Grants

JasonDouglas — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 12:53:41 GMT

Becta Evidence and Practice Competitive Grants (up to £5,000)

Becta is seeking proposals from schools wishing to participate in Evidence and Practice projects focussing on effective use of learning platforms to improve assessment.

A limited number of grants of £5,000 will be made available via a competitive bidding process. The purpose of the grant is to support schools in focussing on selected areas of practice and impact, and in providing feedback to Becta. In particular, it is to be used for staff time in developing and participating in the project, and in producing the Final Project Report AND Case Study. Participating schools will be expected to participate in the Learning Platform online community too.

This Evidence and Practice competitive grant has been developed in partnership with the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA).

Interested? Complete the competitive grant proposal form and return to Jacqui Drudge at jacqui.drudge@becta.org.uk by 5pm Monday, 15 September 2008.

If you have any questions please contact Bernie Zakary on 024 7679 7230 or Ann Harris on 024 7679 7443.

Becta Evidence and Practice Competitive Grants

JasonDouglas — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 12:48:05 GMT

E-safety & filtering

lenand — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 10:03:39 GMT

We are piloting a VLE for vulnerable children, who may be excluded from school. The VLE is hosted externally and currently only available by the Internet. The children may come from any LA in the region and are expected to communicate to the VLE and other internet sites via home based broadband.

Is there any software that can be loaded onto a PC that can lock down a PC and route all internet traffic through LA filtering services (I know browsers can be configured to use proxies, but as far as I can see it could be overridden by a wise child)?
Is it possible to prevent the use of proxy by-pass sites?
I stumbled on http://www.filterguide.com/. Does anybody have good experience with any of these products?
We are also trialling the Securus e-safety monitor. It reports after the transgression. Could anybody who used this extensively give us the benefit of their experience?

We aren't looking on software as the total solution - it's just part of wider education in safe use if the Internet.

NetMedia's MyDesktop

Spadge — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 12:55:10 GMT

Hello everyone, this is my first ever posted thread so please be gentle with me!

My school has been offered NetMedia's MyDesktop from our LEA. So a group of us have been brought together to pilot the programme and see what we think of it. We are not yet at the stage of using it with our students, but hopefully by next week we will (on just one class each).

I was wondering if there was anyone out there who is currently using MyDesktop who could tell me your opinions, it's successes, it's short comings, and also if there is anyone out there who is having a huge amount of success with their VLE, which ever one it might be, could you tell me about that too. We really want to make an informed decision and don't just want to settle for one, when it might not be the best, or most user-friendly.

We have also looked at Frog and LP+, so if anyone has any valuable info on those, it would be very gratefully recieved!

I would much appreciate any responses at all, as this is something i feel we need to get right first time, so as not to put people off the idea of VLEs all together.

Thanks

Spadge

SCORM: How to share content between Learning Platforms

lenand — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 09:44:31 GMT

We have started Project Xeno for children with interrupted schooling - see project brief. It's a virtual school project covering the South East Region. I have proposed using the SCORM standard in line with recommendations from Becta. Because there are potential links with any school and possibly an e-Portfolio, we need to have interoperability between multiple learning platforms by importing and exporting SCORM packages.

However, SCORM does not seem to have the confidence of non-technical decision makers; and they sponsor projects! It has been said that normal teachers or learners cannot create SCORM packages from material they have produced themselves - they would have to pay an expert to do it. This really isn't an option with the sort of budgets we have.

I have only loaded one small SCORM package into Moodle, it worked. Has anybody got any experience to share about SCORM interoperability and advise where I should look for user friendly tools for exporting packages?

Do all Learning Platform suppliers provide SCORM functions?

Any references to successes or failures would be useful.

Effective use of learning platforms

Andyt — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 09:53:47 GMT

Imperatives, Drivers and Challenges; A study of schools implementing 'phase 3' learning platforms

RogBroadie — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 12:50:34 GMT