TEL-lingit like IT is

Kortext have released a report, University of the Future: Transforming learning and improving value ( here to go straight to the PDF ). Main finding, from "the UK's leading provider of digital textbooks and learning solutions" is, surprisingly - " 89% of students would be more likely to attend a university that enables online collaboration and note sharing and access to the latest editions of textbooks". I wonder where they might find a vendor for such a service...? OK. Way too much sarcasm. Let's unpack the report. To begin with, the report has been researched independently by 3GEM . I have no doubts as to the validity of the responses. The headline findings are also arresting at first glance - until you try to extend some of them... "69% say that getting core textbooks included in course fees would represent greater value for money." So, 31% believe that spending on texts in addition to course fees would not represent greater value...? ...

I was fortunate to attend BETT late last month. I missed the speakers, as I could only attend one day and my primary interest wasn't software or education systems. I was interested in hardware developments . These, I think, represent very significant shifts in contemporary TEL. About a decade ago I was, I admit, somewhat bemused by the interest in mobile technologies. I was interested in the work of Traxler  and Herrington & Herrington , but these were the days before the iPad, and touch-screen technologies were not ready for everyday consumers. Talk of mobile learning was restricted to media availability through iPods; text message; and IM. Tablet technology was in its early stages, and laptops were still very bulky. There was potential, but it was, at least to me, piecemeal and multi-device dependent. Oh, how things have changed. Yes, we have had the recent explosion in iPad and Android tablets. Mobile phones are now incredibly powerful by processor, RAM, storage, screen...

Interesting to see this report just released from HEPI , with a focus on the use of technology in support of campus-based education. The reports makes seven recommendations: Higher education institutions should ensure that the effective use of technology for learning and teaching is built into curriculum design processes. This should include consideration of win-win methods, which offer both improved outcomes and lower costs. To support this, the UK higher education sector should develop an evidence and knowledge base on what works in technology-enhanced learning to help universities, faculties and course teams make informed decisions. Mechanisms to share, discuss and disseminate these insights to the rest of the sector will also be required. Institutions that do not currently have learning analytics in place should give consideration to adopting it at the earliest opportunity. Education researchers should consider how the learning analytics big dataset can be harnessed to provi...

In my previous role I was responsible for the development of distance education courses in an institution exploiting Agile project management for its software development work. Note the capital 'A'; this was Agile as a noun, not as an adverb! Before I left, we had several important internal conversations about how Agile methodologies might apply to course design and development across what was a classically industrialised process. At the time we were working within the Scrum methodology, and we had successfully experimented with scrums, t-shirt-sizing and regular stand ups within our existing course development workflows.  In my current role I've maintained this interest in how Agile might be applied to course design and development. Module design here at the Open University continues to partner academics with TEL, editing, media development and project specialists. The multiple people involved lends things nicely to a team-based Agile approach. Both Open Polytechnic an...

The day began with a series of back-to-back keynotes; livestream here . Keynotes were all excellent and drew from their existing work: Paul Prinsloo's "The Increasing (Im)Possibilities of Justice and Care in Oopen, Distance Learning" drew on his and colleagues' IRRODL work Educational Triage in Open Distance Learning: Walking a Moral Tightrope and Big(ger) Data as Better Data in Open Distance Learning .  Isa Jahnke's "Studying Learning Expeditions in Cross Action Spaces with Digital Didactical Designs" from her book Digital Didactical Designs:  Teaching and Learning in CrossActionSpaces . Looks so good I bought it from Amazon...  George Veletsianos's "A Scholarly Life Online" drew from his own web site's  scholar's use of social media  (also, his keynote slides here ).  The first parallel session I attended was excellent, with two presentations. Kristie Naidoo from UNISA gave a presentation called "Integration of Learni...

Yes, another conference! I attended the EDEN Research Workshop mainly in my capacity as an Executive Member of EDEN, which is not to underplay the significance or relevance of the event to my work. And yes, Oldenburg is lovely. Day One The opening keynotes from Inge de Waard, Olaf Zawacki-Richter and Som Naidu were followed by a welcome from Otto Peters (yes, THE Otto Peters  - one of the theorists who shaped my understanding of distance education at the foundational level). Inge spoke from her research into lifelong learning and student-centredness. Her keynote "Self-determined Learning: Lifelong Learning in an Open Range or Fenced Land?" referred somewhat to some of her earlier work . Inge emphasised the importance of academics finding their voice; one key question she raised was, "Do all citizens, from birth, have the agency to self-determine their lifelong learning?" Olaf and Som presented based on their recent paper, " Mapping research trends from...

Research, research, research! If there's one thing I've enjoyed most about BERA 2016 it's been the clear focus on serious and rigorous research, right across the educational spectrum. This year was my first BERA, and I'll be prioritising it from here on as one to attend. The format was especially new to me. Less plenaries and many streams meant a lot of travel across the Leeds University campus. The breadth of options gave new meaning to the term 'multiple choice'! Sessions were generally excellent and thought-provoking. Sadly, I am unable to link to the abstracts of the sessions identified below. I do find it surprising that abstracts are not made publicly available! I'll limit myself to those presentations that I personally found noteworthy. Day One The first presentation I attended was Kate Litherland's  Sustainability in technologies for higher education - a review of the literature . Kate's presentation was a highlight for me, as it drew...