Digital Signposts

Measuring the Educational Value of Digital Resources

Image (background) credit: Mockney Rebel   CC Licence: BY-NC-2.0

I have been thinking about the value the educational community and learners gain from using digital resources, especially those targeted for educational.  In the visualisation above, I  have extrapolated, which possible  actions or behaviours by educators might be of most benefit for learners, (and other educators). You may wish to suggest others in the comments, or even disagree with the model; I would really welcome your thoughts and feedback on this.

How one can use a resource will be determined by the terms and conditions of the resource's licence.  The example below is typical of  licensing offered by many, (educational), content providers.  

The first two conditions, attribution and non commercial use, are fair, reasonable and make sense,  because they allow modification and remixing; but the last element precludes using the resource at anything other than an individual level, or at best within an institution. Such content may still have a great deal of value for an individual, but it stops there, as it cannot make full use of the educational affordances of digital technologies. Some other resources are even more restrictive; allowing no modifications,  their terms often state they can only be printed or used offline. These will have little or no value within a digital content ecosystem.

Whilst it is understandable that some content providers may wish to protect content they have created or acquired, this should be seen against the exponential growth of openly accessible resources; Wikipedia, YouTube, Science Commons and Encyclopedia of Life are just a some of the many examples. This past year has also seen clear move towards OER, (Open Educational Resources) with many initiatives  at both individual and institutional level. 

A number of potentially significant developments are taking  place, Khan Academy is planning to crowdsource resources created by teachers around the world and invite them  to add content to its portal  and make it available through the Khan Academy’s noncommercial public domain licence.  On another front, Pearson, one of the worlds largest educational content providers will make some of its content available  through an API which will  hopefully be developed as valuable educational materials as discussed  recently by John McLear.

 

BETT07 - Out and About

With not much time to get out and about amongst the stands, what made BETT for me, this year, was the good number of blogs tagged with BETT07,  as suggested by Ewan and  the very informative blogs by Merlin John and Martin Jack that made it possible to plan and keep a finger on the  pulse of the show. Some of the seminars are now available, as podcasts, for those who missed them or were unable to get tickets.  Leon Cych's vlog is full of fascinating reports and interviews which will  help sustain the atmosphere of the event, long after the last stand has been dismantled.

Indeed, all these sources have contributed  in providing a better  picture of some of things going on behind the scenes.  I am  sure there must be more that I have missed so please add any suggestions as a comment.

Finally my award for the most original stand must go to  MirandaNet. I could kick myself for forgetting to photograph it before leaving, but perhaps Christina might be as kind, as to oblige, and send one on  that I can add to this post, as (my) words can't do it justice.

5 things you may not know about me

I've been tagged by Tom in the ever expanding blog tag game. So here is my list of 5 things you may not know about me.

1. Music. Like Tom, I also enjoy playing guitar and am currently experimenting with songwriting. I am now back again, (see 3 ) at the Otley Folk Club, possibly one of the best folk clubs in the country featuring top international artists alongside brilliant local talent. I note with great interest that quiet a few of us taking part in  this game play music. Perhaps it is time to get a bloggers band together (possibly an online virtual band or jam session).

2. Art School has been the greatest influence on my development; firstly Carlisle College of Art & Design 1966-68, then Hornsey College of Art 1968-71. Many of the educational ideas we now debate on our blogs were already in place in the art schools at the time. It is no accident that art schools during the late fifties and sixties spawned  a wealth of creativity whose influences are still being strongly felt. So thanks to all those from those days, including those whose advice I didn't appreciate at the time.

3. New Man. My old hips were replaced with new ceramic and metal ones last year, and now a source of great hilarity as they set of the airport metal detectors. The first hint of a problem was a slight twinge whilst ascending the Storr in Skye in 1997. I have been able  to resume all my former activities including (1 ) and (4 ) as well as hill walking. So unreserved thanks go out to Dr Mitchell and all the nurses and staff at Harrogate and District Hospital.

4. Birdwatching! .. or ornithology to use the posh word.  I am a  BTO licensed bird ringer which means I can catch  birds and place small metal rings on their legs. This gives a great insight into their movement and lives. I am currently training Sean whose blog explains it all. Sean is also a first class bird photographer.

5.  I visit Moniaive regularly. Moniaive is a small village, with a good collection of  eccentrics, hidden away in South West of Scotland.  Most of my friends from the village now live away in far flung places such as Australia, Glasgow, Edinburgh and London, but always return for Hogmanay and the New Year festivities, (which can last for days). I will be packing some coal, a guitar, and a wee dram shortly...

My turn now ... so the following are IT

Gareth
Katie
Steve
David
Joe

TeachMeet 2006 - A day (and night) trip to Glasgow

Presenting Jumpcut, online video editing, at Teachmeet06.
Photo credit: David Noble 

Just back from TeachMeet 2006, I always enjoy a trip to Glasgow and this was no exception.  It proved to be a fanatastic opportunity to meet up with educators who are influencing the future of learning in Scotland (and further afield).

The inspirational presentations covered a range of topics, Christine McIntosh talked about   blogs being used to support creative writing by individual students,  Kate & Sean Farrell introduced  Second Life as a powerful learning tool, Immersive Education demonstrated the creative potential of  Media Stage. David Muir's humorous and creative look at online photo sharing was motivational whilst Ollie Bray had some neat tips for using Google Earth in the classroom, so it was fitting that the event was Skypecast around the globe to Australia, New Zealand and Canada. Ewan and his colleagues should be congratulated for putting it all together. The wine was excellent and there was plenty of it to refresh body and mind.

I was very interested to to read a comparison between this event and a more formal event 'Glow'  (which I didn't attend).

The evening concluded with a meal, wifi and more, friendly discussion at the Goat. By the end of the evening I was  I was lucky enough to quickly get  a taxi to stay with friends where I was forced to drink another bottle of wine - as they say "when in Rome ;-) "

Arriving back home in Otley and checking the emails that had landed whilst driving the 220 miles I found a posting to the NAACE listserve by a friend and colleague Leon Cych, with paragraphs that seemed to echo many of the themes from TeachMeet.

"it is about user participation and not a static pre-defined resource. ...wouldn't it be better just to hand pupils a digital camera and get them to upload images via a Learning Platform from home or school - isn't that so much richer - isn't it much more relevant? If a school were to have a mechanism whereby the whole community could upload images wouldn't that be a more involved process - especially if staff and children acted as responsible moderators?"

"they provide an environment involving students in a more compelling co-operative system of learning and not just fed resources or access to resources. If the content is created/ generated by them, they will engage more and if they transgress or are dysfunctional in their use of these new systems it's no different to doing that within the classroom in fact if they do do that, they "are" doing it within the classroom - in fact it's easier to pinpoint and deal with

Hows that for reinforcement?

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