CEDICT: Communication, Education and Development using ICT

Open Educational Resources: Conversations in Cyberspace

2009-06-26T09:17:00.000-07:00

UNESCO releases new publication on open educational resources
26-06-2009 (Paris)

UNESCO has released its first openly licensed publication. Open Educational Resources: Conversations in Cyberspace brings together the background papers and reports from the first three years of activities in the UNESCO OER Community. Access the online edition – or buy the book! Education systems today face two major challenges: expanding the reach of education and improving its quality. Traditional solutions will not suffice, especially in the context of today's knowledge-intensive societies.

Open Educational Resources (OER) offer one solution for extending learning opportunities. The goal of the OER movement is to equalize access to knowledge worldwide through sharing online high quality content. Open Educational Resources are digitalized materials offered freely and openly for use and reuse in teaching, learning and research.

Since 2005, UNESCO has been at the forefront of building awareness about this movement by facilitating an extended conversation in cyberspace. A large and diverse international community has come together to discuss the concept and potential of OER in a series of online forums.

The background papers and reports from the first three years of discussions are now available in print. Open Educational Resources: Conversations in Cyberspace provides an overview of the first steps of this exciting new development: it captures the conversations between leaders of some of the first OER projects,and documents early debates on the issues that continue to challenge the movement. The publication will provide food for thought for all those intrigued by OER – its promise and its progress.

Open Educational Resources: Conversations in Cyberspace is UNESCO's first openly licensed publication – an indication of the commitment of the Organization to the sharing of knowledge and the free flow of ideas.

Purchase the print edition

Access the online edition

Bridging the Knowledge Divide

2009-06-21T14:37:00.000-07:00

Bridging the Knowledge Divide: Educational Technology for Development
Edited by: Stewart Marshall, The University of the West Indies; Wanjira Kinuthia, Georgia State University; and Wallace Taylor, The University of the West Indies.

In many international settings, developing economies are in danger of declining as the digital divide becomes the knowledge divide. This decline attacks the very fabric of cohesion and purpose for these regional societies and causes increased social, health, economic and sustainability problems.

This book, the first volume in the book series “Educational Design and Technology in the Knowledge Society”, discusses how educational technology can utilise ICT to transform education and assist developing communities to close the knowledge divide. It provides a comprehensive coverage of educational technology in development in different professions and parts of world.

The book provides examples of best practice, case studies and principles for educators, community leaders, researchers and policy advisers on the use of educational technology for development. In particular, it provides examples of how education can be provided more flexibly in order to provide access to hitherto disadvantaged and under-represented communities and individuals.

OASIS: A sourcebook on Open Access

2009-06-15T16:48:00.000-07:00

With the growing interest in Open Access (OA) worldwide comes the increasing demand for training, knowledge development, and skills for the implementing of OA repositories and OA journals, the twin routes for making research results openly accessible.

OASIS aims to provide an authoritative ‘sourcebook’ on Open Access, covering the concept, principles, advantages, approaches and means to achieving it. The site highlights developments and initiatives from around the world, with links to diverse additional resources and case studies. As such, it is a community-building as much as a resource-building exercise. Users are encouraged to share and download the resources provided, and to modify and customize them for local use.

The concept of an OA resource arose because much ‘spreading the word’ activity (currently at least) is carried out by a core set of individuals who are invited to travel to address audiences or carry out training activities on all continents. This is reasonably effective on the local level at which it operates, but is costly for both trainers/speakers and participants, and the one-size-fits-all approach that necessarily has to be adopted is not the most effective way of educating and informing. Thus the current model for disseminating reliable and authoritative information about Open Access is unsustainable, is not effective on the large scale and is overly-onerous on the individuals concerned. The information needs of the scholarly community worldwide can better be addressed by the provision of an authoritative and informative resource on Open Access, delivered in various formats that accommodate the needs of all constituencies.

Objectives

The online content is intended to provide training and resources for anyone or institutions who wish to provide open access to their research publications. The objectives are:
• to increase the number of trainers and centres of expertise worldwide
• to expand the knowledge base of open access implementation
• to share resources and best practices
• to demonstrate and record successful outcomes of OA around the world

Key Characteristics of OASIS
• Open to any users
• Open to contributions from diverse practitioners
• Modular approach for content development to enable additions
• International cooperation
• Expert coordination and editorial team

An online education resource center

2009-06-03T16:29:00.000-07:00

AcademicInfo is an online education resource center with extensive subject guides and distance learning information. Its mission is to provide free, independent and accurate information and resources for prospective and current students (and other researchers).

AcademicInfo was founded in 1998 by Mike Madin, a librarian coordinator, and is now maintained by multiple contributors.

The site currently features over 25,000+ hand-picked resources and the website is updated on a daily basis.

Project Gutenberg

2009-05-31T16:07:00.000-07:00

The mission of Project Gutenberg is simple:

To encourage the creation and distribution of eBooks.

This mission is, as much as possible, to encourage all those who are interested in making eBooks and helping to give them away. Project Gutenberg is powered by ideas, ideals, and by idealism. Project Gutenberg is not powered by financial or political power. It is powered totally by volunteers.

Project Gutenberg is not in the business of establishing standards and are happy to bring eBooks to readers in as many formats as volunteers wish to make. In addition, they do not provide standards of accuracy above those as recommended by institutions such as the U.S. Library of Congress at the level of 99.95%.

While most of the eBooks exceed these standards and are presented in the most common formats, this is not a requirement; people are still encouraged to send eBooks in any format and at any accuracy level and they ask for volunteers to convert them to other formats, and to incrementally correct errors as times goes on.

There are over 28,000 free books in the Project Gutenberg Online Book Catalog. Over 100,000 titles are available at Project Gutenberg Partners, Affiliates and Resources.

The project wants to provide as many eBooks in as many formats as possible for the entire world to read in as many languages as possible. Thus, they are continually seeking new volunteers, whether to make one single favorite book available or to make one new language available or to help us with book after book.

Everyone is welcome at Project Gutenberg.

Everyone is free to do their own eBooks their own way.

Open University (UK) new website and new units

2009-05-12T12:43:00.000-07:00

New website on climate change

OpenLearn has seen over 4.5 million people take advantage of free education since it was launched in October 2006. Now the Open University is launching a new learning website later in 2009. They are looking for people with an interest in climate change to help test the prototype. If you'd like to help out, sign-up here.

New Units on Open Learn

Recent study units include:

Geometry

Numbers

Tapping into mathematics

Diagrams, charts and graphs

Social work learning practice

Meeting minority needs

Homelessness and need

Care transactions

Children's participation

Experiences of assessment

LETS: A community development

Health is everywhere: unravelling the mystery of health

An introduction to biological systematics

Social marketing

Effective ways of displaying information

Managing to meet service users' needs

Becoming a critical social work practitioner

Understanding cardiovascular diseases

Registered users will need to be logged in to access their personal myLearningSpace and use the free learning tools. Non-registered users will need to register. Registration is completely free and makes no future requirements of you. You can find out more information on the Getting Started page

The Open Science Directory

2009-05-04T05:43:00.000-07:00

Access to scientific literature is very important for the scientific work in developing countries. As a result of different projects a large collection of e-journals is now available for researchers in developing countries. The number of Open Access Journals is growing steadily as we can see in the Directory of Open Access Journals. Major UNO organizations like WHO, FAO and UNEP have their specific programs for the scientific institutions in low-income countries. Finally a lot of universities, institutes and other organizations are supporting access programs.

All these programs and projects have their own website and/or search engine. IOC/IODE, with the support of EBSCO and Hasselt University Library, is creating a unique access point to all the journals contained in the different programs - the Open Science Directory.

The Goals of the Open Science Directory are:

To create a global search tool for all open access and special programs journal titles.
To enhance the access of these collections by creating direct links to the journals and their articlesincluded in this A-to-Z-list.
All information about the included journal collections is available at the websites of the included projects. These websites are directly accessible from the Open Science Directory.
The Open Science Directory will not replace these programs. Also the different programs have their own regulations and eligibility conditions. As a interested user, you or your institute will have to register on their sites if you want to make use of special programs like HINARI, AGORA, INASP-PERI, OARE, eIFL and eJDS.

Content:

About 13000 scientific journals are now available in the Open Science Directory. When all the special program journals are included, the Open Science Directory will contain more than 20000 titles.
Open Science Directory contains collections of Open Access Journals (e.g. Directory of Open Access Journals) and journals in the special programs (Hinari, Agora, OARE). Other programs will be added in the near future: INASP-PERI, eJDS.

The WWW Explained in Plain English

2009-05-01T10:23:00.000-07:00

As an educator, I often need to be able to point people to good, clear explanations of new ICTs. Here's another excellent resource from CommonCraft. In the following video, Lee LeFever gives a short explanation of what makes the World Wide Web work: browsers, packets, servers and links.

JISC e-Learning Pedagogy programme

2009-04-28T18:29:00.000-07:00

The Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC) is funded by the UK HE and FE funding bodies to provide world-class leadership in the innovative use of ICT to support education and research. JISC funds a national services portfolio (e.g. JANET) and a range of programmes (e.g. Use of Technology to Support Admissions to HE) and projects (e.g. Google Generation project).

One programme of particular interest is the e-Learning and Pedagogy Programme. Its activities are broadly grouped under two themes:

Designing for Learning (with a practitioner planning focus on e-Learning) explores 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. Read a detailed overview of these activities, together with commentary on how the outcomes and recommendations are being taken forward, in Designing for Learning: An update on the Pedagogy strand of the JISC eLearning programme [Word]
Understanding my Learning (with a learner reflection focus on e-Learning) explores the learner perspective on e-Learning. This 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. Read more about the background and rationale to Understanding my Learning [Word]

Creative Commons Open Ed

2009-04-25T16:42:00.000-07:00

Though people and projects across the OER community frequently work together, there is no single "community" to join. Creative Commons has now created an "Open Ed" site for the Open Education Community.

The site invites you to feel free to sign up for an account on the site and edit wiki pages of interest, as well as joining the listserv. Or browse the other projects and participate there.

There is a section for the "Open Ed Community" where you can share information of interest to the community, as well as identify and coordinate with peers and collaborators from across this international movement. There is a also section specifically for "Teachers", that tells you about producing, using and finding OER; a section for "Learners", that covers using finding and participating in OER creation; and a section on how to "Find OER".

Vol 5, Issue 2 of IJEDICT published - free, open access

2009-04-22T07:08:00.000-07:00

Vol. 5, No. 2 (2009) of International Journal of Education and Development using ICT has now been published online at http://ijedict.dec.uwi.edu/viewissue.php?id=20

The articles are available online as free open access.

Editorial
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Technology integration and adoption in education and the community
Stewart Marshall, The University of the West Indies, Barbados, West Indies
Wal Taylor, The University of the West Indies, Barbados, West Indies
http://ijedict.dec.uwi.edu/viewarticle.php?id=734

invited articles
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Educational Development in Kenya and the Role of Information and Communication Technology
Wanjira Kinuthia, Georgia State University

Refereed Articles
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Action research practices and media for development
Jo Tacchi, QUT
Marcus Foth, QUT
Greg Hearn, QUT
http://ijedict.dec.uwi.edu/viewarticle.php?id=560

The conditions and level of ICT integration in Malaysian Smart Schools
Wan Zah Wan Ali, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Malaysia
Hajar Mohd Nor, Ministry of Education, Malaysia
Azimi Hamzah, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Malaysia
Nor Hayati Alwi, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Malaysia
http://ijedict.dec.uwi.edu/viewarticle.php?id=618

A Problem-based approach to accounting education: Pragmatic appraisal of a technologically enabled solution
Carla L Wilkin, Monash University
Phillip A Collier, University of Melbourne
http://ijedict.dec.uwi.edu/viewarticle.php?id=658

Analyzing the usage patterns and challenges of telecenters among rural communities: experience from four selected telecenters in Tanzania
Wulystan Pius Mtega, Sokoine University of Agriculture
Andrew Watson Malekani, Sokoine University of Agriculture
http://ijedict.dec.uwi.edu/viewarticle.php?id=625

Development and validation of a computer instructional package on electrochemistry for secondary schools in Nigeria.
Oloyede Solomon Oyelekan, University of Ilorin, Nigeria
Adekunle Solomon Olorundare, University of Ilorin, Nigeria
http://ijedict.dec.uwi.edu/viewarticle.php?id=677

Research in Progress
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Data Completeness Analysis of Malaysian Educational Management Information System
Azlinah Mohamed, Universiti Teknologi MARA
Nik Abdullah Nik Abdul Kadir, Ministry of Education
May-Lin Yap, Universiti Teknologi MARA
Shuzlina Abdul Rahman, Universiti Teknologi MARA
Noor Habibah Arshad, Universiti Teknologi MARA
http://ijedict.dec.uwi.edu/viewarticle.php?id=477

From the Field
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Brazilian Teachers’ Agency in a Web-based U.S. Reform Project
Eduardo S. Junqueira, Universidade Federal do Ceará
http://ijedict.dec.uwi.edu/viewarticle.php?id=617

e-Education Systems Implementation Success Model
Saadiah Yahya, associate profesor
http://ijedict.dec.uwi.edu/viewarticle.php?id=601

Project Sheets
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The Computers for Education Forum COF (www.cof-cameroon.ning.com): Working with 57 rural schools (Ngoketunjia, North West Region, Cameroon)
Tamara R Palamakumbura, Partners for Community Development Initiative (PCDI)
http://ijedict.dec.uwi.edu/viewarticle.php?id=684

Literature Reviews
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Growth and Improvement of Information Communication Technology in Kenya
Gatana G Kariuki,
http://ijedict.dec.uwi.edu/viewarticle.php?id=667

Effective Technology Integration: Old Topic, New Thoughts
Bude Su, CSU Monterey Bay
http://ijedict.dec.uwi.edu/viewarticle.php?id=620

New issue of IJEDICT published - Vol 5, Issue 1

2009-04-20T08:05:00.000-07:00

Vol. 5, No. 1 (2009) of International Journal of Education and Development using ICT has now been published online at http://ijedict.dec.uwi.edu/viewissue.php?id=19

The articles are available for access and download free of charge.

Editorial
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Special Issue on Problem Based Learning and ICT
Stewart Marshall, The University of the West Indies, Barbados, West Indies
Wal Taylor, The University of the West Indies, Barbados, West Indies
http://ijedict.dec.uwi.edu/viewarticle.php?id=699

Guest Editorial
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Innovation of Problem Based Learning through ICT: Linking Local and Global Experiences
Lone Dirckinck-Holmfeld, Aalborg University, Denmark
http://ijedict.dec.uwi.edu/viewarticle.php?id=682

Refereed Articles
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Managing the gap between curriculum based and problem based learning: Deployment of multiple learning strategies in design and delivery of online courses in computer science
Ann Bygholm, E-learning lab, Aalborg University
Lillian Buus, E-learning lab, Aalborg University
http://ijedict.dec.uwi.edu/viewarticle.php?id=267

From the Field
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Tele-collaborative projects in Brazilian Schools
Miriam Godoy enteado, State University of São Paulo, Brazil
http://ijedict.dec.uwi.edu/viewarticle.php?id=251

Multicultural and Creative On-line Learning
Katherine Judith Goodnow, University of Bergen
Verónica Córdova Soria, Universidad Catolica Boliviana
http://ijedict.dec.uwi.edu/viewarticle.php?id=266

A learner-centered approach with the student as the producer of digital materials for hybrid courses
Anna Escofet, University of Barcelona, Spain
http://ijedict.dec.uwi.edu/viewarticle.php?id=262

Open Access Week, October 19 – 23, 2009

2009-04-18T08:50:00.000-07:00

Washington, DC – March 5, 2009
To accommodate widespread global interest in the movement toward Open Access to scholarly research results, October 19 – 23, 2009 will mark the first international Open Access Week. The now-annual event, expanded from one day to a full week, presents an opportunity to broaden awareness and understanding of Open Access to research, including access policies from all types of research funders, within the international higher education community and the general public.

Open Access Week builds on the momentum generated by the 120 campuses in 27 countries that celebrated Open Access Day in 2008. Event organizers SPARC (the Scholarly Publishing & Academic Resources Coalition), the Public Library of Science (PLoS), and Students for FreeCulture welcome key new contributors, who will help to enhance and expand the global reach of this popular event in 2009: eIFL.net (Electronic Information for Libraries), OASIS (the Open Access Scholarly Information Sourcebook); and the Open Access Directory (OAD).

“I’m participating in Open Access Week again this year because I want to shed light on the tremendous potential of Open Access,” said Allyson Mower, Scholarly Communications & Copyright Librarian for the University of Utah’s Marriott Library. “People searching for information usually consume whatever is readily available. Open Access ensures that quality information is at people’s fingertips.”

“eIFL.net works to make intellectual outputs of developing and transitional countries more visible and more easily accessible,” added Rima Kupryte, Director of eIFL.net. “We believe that Open Access contributes to improved education, teaching, and research, and accelerates innovations and economical developments in these countries. Open Access Week is a great opportunity to promote Open Access globally.”

This year’s program will highlight educational resources on Open Access that local hosts can use to customize their own programs to suit local audiences and time zones. OASIS will serve as the centerpiece of the 2009 program, delivering resources for every constituency and every awareness level. The Open Access Directory will again provide an index of participants on five continents, as well as their growing clearinghouse for all OA resources. Through the collaborative functionality of the two initiatives, OA videos, briefing papers, podcasts, slideshows, posters and other informative tools will be drawn from all over the Web to be highlighted during Open Access Week.

The organizers will also work with registrants to develop a variety of sample program tracks, such as “Administrators’ introduction to campus open-access policies and funds,” “OA 101,” and “Complying with the NIH public access policy” that take full advantage of available tools. Participants are invited to adapt these resources for local use, and to mark Open Access Week by hosting an event, distributing literature, blogging — or even just wearing an Open Access t-shirt.

“After the success of last year’s Open Access Day, we’re delighted to be co-organizing the first ever Open Access Week with our fellow collaborators, again in conjunction with the anniversary of one of our flagship journals,” said Peter Jerram, CEO for the Public Library of Science. “We ask our supporters to celebrate the fifth anniversary of PLoS Medicine by spreading the word about Open Access and getting involved in the week.”

“There’s no more certain sign of the momentum behind Open Access to research than an annual, global celebration of this scale,” added Heather Joseph, Executive Director of SPARC. “Occasions like this are the best possible way to attract attention from busy faculty members and administrators, and to demonstrate the widespread appeal of Open Access. It’s SPARC’s pleasure to be working with our partners to realize the event once again this year.”

For more information about Open Access Week and to register, visit http://www.openaccessweek.org.

WikiEducator Teacher Education Portal

2009-04-16T07:13:00.000-07:00

Just recently there was another step forward in the OER movement. The new WikiEducator Teacher Education Portal which was launched on April 4, 2009 received a very encouraging response in the Commonwealth and beyond. Within 36 hours, over 312 educators in over 26 countries registered to be part of this collaborative effort. Additional teachers/countries are expected to come on board in the coming days and weeks.

Comments from the Ministry of Education in Trinidad & Tobago such as "...once again COL has provided a forum for collaboration...we can recall Trinidad and Tobago has benefited from WikiEducator training courtesy of COL over the past few years.....as a Ministry we take advantage of this opportunity to have our teachers collaborate to develop content, lesson plans....We have more than 100 teachers who participated in WIKI training last year...how can we build on this" and...the National University of Samoa commented that "this is a very useful and important resource and forum....It welcomed their staff to take relevant information to support their own work but also to make contributions to WikiEducator".

The WikiEducator Teacher Education Portal aims to provide teachers with a platform to share knowledge, to develop content specific to their needs, to benefit their teaching experience and/or to use in their classrooms, share ideas, collaborate on projects, and hold professional development workshops.

Educators are invited to join this Portal/forum in this major collaboration campaign, to create open educational resources that not only benefit themselves but also their own environment as well as others, by moving closer together and collaborating in subject areas of mutual interest, to develop open educational resources (OERs) on Wikieducator directly.

A new OER initiative in Africa

2009-04-05T10:30:00.000-07:00

Educational institutions in developing countries generally do not have the finances for large scale development of course materials, but if all the institutions contribute a bit and share in the development of materials, then big strides can be made. This is the philosophy of Open Educational Resources (OER).

Here is a new OER initiative in Africa and this is what their website has to say:

OER Africa was launched as an innovative new project, under the auspices of the South African Institute for Distance Education (SAIDE).

This pan-African project is headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya, and envisioned to play a leading role in driving the development and use of Open Educational Resources (OER) within higher education across the African continent.

OER Africa was established in the firm belief that OER has a powerful positive role to play in developing and capacitating higher education systems and institutions across Africa. This conviction is matched by concern that – if the concept and practice of OER evolves predominantly outside and for Africa – then African higher education will not be able to liberate its potential for itself. Thus, OER Africa has been set up to ensure that the power of OER is harnessed by Africans for Africans by building collaborative networks across the continent. The premise of OER Africa is that it will facilitate the aggregation of information and human expertise that produces knowledge – an activity which can either be individual, or inter-institutional. In order to continually test this premise, OER has not only developed an action research Agenda, but also sought the counsel and support of an Advisory Group of experts in various aspects of higher education.

Seed funding has been provided by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, a Foundation which has successfully supported the development of a number of open educational resources initiatives such as the MIT OpenCourseWare in the United States.

Free e-book on Mobile Learning

2009-04-04T08:35:00.000-07:00

"Mobile Learning: Transforming the Delivery of Education and Training", edited by Mohamed Ally, has just been published by Athabasca University as an e-book under the Creative Commons license.

I regard myself as a fairly early adopter of technology, but for a variety of reasons I have never moved to adopting mobile technology in education and training. It's hard to believe that the first book on mobile learning was actually published four years ago and of course there were journal articles and conference presentations before then. Since then, many applications have been created for mobile devices, including ones for education and training.

In this book, Mohamed Ally has collected thirteen chapters on current research initiatives and applications of mobile technology in learning.

More details at:

http://www.aupress.ca/index.php/books/120155

The free e-book is available as a PDF file (4.4 MB) from:
http://www.aupress.ca/books/120155/ebook/99Z_Mohamed_Ally_2009-MobileLearning.pdf

ICT Development Index compares 154 countries

2009-04-02T14:24:00.000-07:00

Continuing the theme of Tuesday's blog, today's blog is also about connectivity. The International Telecommunication Union (ITU)'s new ICT Development Index (IDI) compares developments in information and communication technologies (ICT) in 154 countries over a five-year period from 2002 to 2007.

The Index combines 11 indicators into a single measure that can be used as a benchmarking tool globally, regionally and at the country level. These are related to ICT access, use and skills, such as households with a computer the number of Internet users; and literacy levels.

The Index identifies the most advanced countries in ICT as from Northern Europe, with the exception of the Republic of Korea. Sweden tops the new Index, followed by Korea, Denmark, the Netherlands, Iceland, and Norway. They are followed by other, mainly high-income countries from Europe, Asia, and North America. Western and Northern Europe and North America are the regions with the highest IDI scores, and most countries from these regions are among the top twenty ICT economies. Poor countries, in particular the least developed countries, remain at the lower end of the index with limited access to ICT infrastructure, including fixed and mobile telephony, Internet and broadband.

Globally speaking, most progress has been made on ICT access, which includes fixed and mobile telephony, Internet bandwidth, and households with computers and Internet. In terms of ICT use, which includes the number of Internet users, fixed and mobile broadband, progress has been much slower. In particular broadband, a more recent technology, still has to take off in many countries.

For further details of the full report, see the ITU press release on their website:

http://www.itu.int/newsroom/press_releases/2009/07.html

High bandwidth connectivity in developing countries?

2009-03-31T06:56:00.000-07:00

Assistant Professor Vivek Pai and his research team at Princeton University have developed HashCache, a highly efficient method of storing frequently accessed Web content on a local hard drive instead of using precious bandwidth to retrieve the same information repeatedly. This reduces the cost of networking, and enables small computers such as those used for the One Laptop Per Child project to access high bandwidth content. It also enables classes of students who are likely to be accessing the same content to do this cheaply and quickly.

More details are given in the video:

http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid1827871101?bctid=9866407001

In this video, Vivek Pai talks about the new technologies that could help make Internet access available to people in remote areas, especially in the developing world — where network access may be available only intermittently or with low reliability.

Social Networking revisited

2009-03-27T06:30:00.000-07:00

I can't believe that when I blogged about social networking websites on November 3rd, 2007, I didn't take that opportunity to include one of those wonderfully simple videos by Lee LeFever.

Anway, rather belatedly, here it is:

And here is another one - this time about Twitter - which is a sort of blend of micro-blogging and social networking, based on the question: What are you doing now?

And here's a video from KMBC TV News:

Survey of ICT and Education in the Caribbean

2009-03-26T02:41:00.000-07:00

Survey of ICT and Education in the Caribbean, Regional Trends and Analysis (Volume 1)

Download volume 1 (1034 KB) This Survey provides a general overview of current activities and issues related to ICT use in education in individual Caribbean countries and territories. It is intended to address the information needs and interests of donor organizations as well as Caribbean education policymakers, strategists, and implementers.

The Survey of ICT and Education in the Caribbean is intended to meet the need for a comprehensive representation of the current state of ICT use in education in the Caribbean. It focuses on the region's small island developing states (SIDS) so as to maximize understanding of areas of commonality in terms of scale, economic factors, and other conditions.

The study addresses:

The state of policy and planning
Current usage of ICT in the primary, secondary and tertiary systems
Pre-service and in-service TPD
Critical challenges

You may also be interested in:

Survey of ICT and Education in the Caribbean (Volume 2): Country Reports

Background on this survey project is available at: www.infodev.org/en/Project.8.html

Country reports include: Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Aruba, Barbados, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Dominica, Grenada, Jamaica, Montserrat, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, Turks and Caicos Islands, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Unveiling the "Sixth Sense"

2009-03-24T09:10:00.000-07:00

At the MIT Media Lab's new Fluid Interfaces Group, Pattie Maes researches the tools we use to work with information and connect with one another. This demo -- of research work spearheaded by Pranav Mistry -- was the buzz of TED**. It's a wearable device with a projector that paves the way for profound interaction with our environment. Although it is not much to do with community development yet, I wanted to include it in my blog because I am sure there will be development applications in the future - and anyway - it is fun.

More details at http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/481

** TED -- stands for "Technology, Entertainment, Design". It started out (in 1984) as a conference bringing together people from those three worlds. Since then its scope has become ever broader. The annual conference now brings together the world's most fascinating thinkers and doers, who are challenged to give the talk of their lives (in 18 minutes).

Education for a Digital World

2009-03-21T19:30:00.000-07:00

Education for a Digital World: Advice, Guidelines, and Effective Practice from Around the Globe
Co-published by BCcampus and Commonwealth of Learning, 2008

Digital information technologies are transforming the way we work, learn, and communicate. Within this digital revolution are new learning approaches that transform hierarchical, industrial-based models of teaching and learning.

The creation of this book employed the very principles it espouses. It embodied a forming relationships model, and the sharing of ideas to produce new thinking model. A unique interactive, collaborative research model based on the formation of online relationships among 50 contributors from around the world representing research, administration and business communities. The development of the book demonstrates the powerful opportunity afforded by online technologies in this digital revolution era.

PDF FORMAT COMPLETE PUBLICATION

Education for a Digital World (8MB PDF)

PDF FORMAT IN PARTS

Education for a Digital World part 1 (1.2MB PDF)

Education for a Digital World part 2 (3.2MB PDF)

Education for a Digital World part 3 (1MB PDF)

Education for a Digital World part 4 (1MB PDF)

Education for a Digital World part 5 (1.8MB PDF)

Education for a Digital World contains a comprehensive collection of proven strategies and tools for effective online teaching, based on the principles of learning as a social process. It offers practical, contemporary guidance to support e-learning decision-making, instructional choices, as well as program and course planning, and development.

Practical advice, real-life examples, case studies, and useful resources supply in-depth perspectives about structuring and fostering socially engaging learning in an online environment. A plethora of e-learning topics provide insights, ideas, and usable tools. Tips and evidence-based theory guide administrators, program and course developers, project teams, and teachers through the development of online learning opportunities.

Education for a Digital World is an indispensable guide, resource, textbook and manual for policymakers and practitioners in developing and developed countries.

More details from the COL website.

ALISON* Free Global Learning

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ALISON* is a free online learning resource for basic and essential workplace skills. It provides high-quality, interactive multimedia courseware for certification and standards-based learning.

ALISON's misson is to use its learning platform to provide free education for all around the world, thereby creating a more equitable and sustainable global society.

ALISON believes that all certifiable or standards-based learning for every subject can be made available for free online, and in this way make article 26 of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights (which states "Everyone has the right to education. Education shall be free...") will become a reality.

Currently it provides online education in:

Digital Literacy & IT Skills
Enterprise & Business Skills
Financial & Economic Literacy
Health & Safety & Compliance
Health Literacy
Leadership & Management Training
Personal Development & Soft Skills

* ALISON stands for "Advance Learning Interactive Systems Online".

The Theory and Practice of Online Learning

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The Theory and Practice of Online Learning, second edition

Edited by Terry Anderson

May 2008
Softcover
978-1-897425-08-4 (SC)

May 2008
E-Book
978-1-897425-07-7 (e-book)

Copyright: This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License. It may be reproduced for non-commercial purposes, provided that the original author is credited.

Athabasca University Press is pleased to announce the publication of the 2nd edition of the Theory and Practice of Online Learning edited by Terry Anderson. This 2nd edition and its individual chapters continue to be freely available online under a Creative Commons license. The 2nd edition is also available in print for a purchase price of $39.95 Canadian, or you can download the eBook free of charge.

In the second edition, every chapter in the widely distributed first edition has been updated, and four new chapters on current issues such as connectivism and social software innovations have been added. Essays by practitioners and scholars active in the complex, diverse, and rapidly evolving field of distance education blend scholarship and research; practical attention to the details of teaching and learning; and mindful attention to the economics of the business of education.

About the Author

Terry Anderson is a professor and Canada Research Chair in Distance Education at Athabasca University. He has published extensively in the area of distance education and educational technology.

Table of Contents

FRONT MATTER

TABLE OF CONTENTS

FOREWORD TO THE SECOND EDITION

INTRODUCTION

PART I: Role and Function of Theory in Online Education Development and Delivery

Chapter 1. Foundations of Educational Theory for Online Learning

Mohamed Ally

Chapter 2. Towards a Theory of Online Learning

Terry Anderson

Chapter 3. Situating Prior Learning Assessment and Recognition (PLAR) in an Online Learning Environment

Dianne Conrad

Chapter 4. Understanding e-Learning Technologies-in-Practice through Philosophies-in-Practice

Heather Kanuka

PART II: Infrastructure and Support for Content Development

Chapter 5. Developing an Infrastructure for Online Learning

Alan Davis, Paul Little & Brian Stewart

Chapter 6. Technologies of Online Learning (E-learning)

Rory McGreal & Michael Elliott

Chapter 7. Characteristics of Interactive Online Learning Media

Patrick. J. Fahy

Chapter 8. “In-Your-Pocket” and “On-the-Fly:” Meeting the Needs of Today’s New Generation of Online Learners

Maureen Hutchison, Tony Tin & Yang Cao

Chapter 9. Social Software to Support Distance Education Learners

Terry Anderson

PART III: Design and Development of Online Courses

Chapter 10. The Development of Online Courses

Dean Caplan & Rodger Graham

Chapter11. Value Added – The Editor in Design and Development of Online Courses

Jan Thiessen & Vincent Ambrock

Chapter 12. Making Relevant Financial Decisions about Technology in Education

David Annand

Chapter 13. The Quality Dilemma in Online Education Revisited

Nancy K. Parker

PART IV: Delivery, Quality Control, and Student Support of Online Courses

Chapter 14. Teaching in an Online Learning Context

Terry Anderson

Chapter 15. Call Centres in Distance Education

Alex Z. Kondra, Colleen Huber, Kerri Michalczuk & Andrew Woudstra

Chapter 16. Library Support for e-Learners: e-Resources, e-Services, and the Human Factors

Kay Johnson, Houda Trabelsi & Elaine Fabbro

Chapter 17. Supporting the Online Learner

Susan D. Moisey & Judith A. Hughes

Chapter 18. Developing Team Skills and Accomplishing Team Projects Online

Deborah Hurst & Janice Thomas

Basics of what to look for when buying a computer

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Here's another excellent video by Lee LeFever of CommonCraft. This one explains the basic parts that make computers work: hard drive, RAM and micro-processor.

And here's a slightly more in-depth view of how these parts relate to what to look for when buying a computer: