eLearning in East Lothian (and beyond...)

Office 2010 Materials

Stuart Hiles — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 20:14:25 +0000

For those of you within schools converting across to Microsoft Office 2010, I have introduced some great online courses that cover:

Office 2010 New Features
Outlook 2010
Word 2010
Excel 2010
PowerPoint 2010
Access 2010

It can be daunting migrating to new software – but don’t panic as the courses are rich, engaging and cover everything you need to find you way around the products! They cover the basics as well as more advanced functions – so something for everyone.

There are also printable guides which will be available to download.

Courses are free and can be accessed from LearnNet, ELC’s online learning system at www.elcelearning.net.

Let me know what you think!

Learn To Game

Stuart Hiles — Wed, 05 May 2010 08:41:20 +0000

The eLearning Alliance and JISC ran a joint event called Game To Learn last Friday (30/05/10) (www.gametolearn.org). This was held at the University of Abertay’s new impressive “White Space” The main themes of the conference were:

How games can transform learning
Gaming for Health
Why businesses can’t ignore the computer game
Delivering your message through computer games

Derek Roberston from Learning & Teaching Scotland gave a superb overview of the Consalrium site he has been working on, which aims to introduce games into the classroom. If you haven’t seen it, take a look at it – some fantastic resources and examples of where this approach has been used successfully.

Adrian Hon has worked with Channel 4 Learning and created the impressive Smokescreen Gamewhich teaches kids about online privacy and safety in a really engaging and interactive way. This is impressive work and I’d recommend that you take a look if you are a teacher and/or parent.

Euan Mackenzie from Edinburgh-based company 3MRT was typically contrversial on the subject of using games in business (and in schools). Their approach is to ensure that their games are validated through scientific study – with all of the media attention on brain training recently and whether it is effective or not, this was very topical! They have created an award winning game / tool called InQuizitor which has been proven in schools to aid the retention of information, and help children learn in a way they find fun. The Herald published an article on how their tool improved results in a maths class in Livingston. Take a look at their site for more info.

For me, the most powerful presentation was from Dr Pam Kato, currently working at the University Medical Center Utrecht in the Netherlands. She received funding from the founder of eBay to create a game to help kids suffering from cancer to understand their condition, the drugs and medication and it’s side effects. The aim was to encourage them to be proactive about their condition and ensure they took their medication regularly. The game was a “shoot ‘em up” on the Xbox / Playstation and clinical trials demonstrated a positive impact on the study group. Very humbling stuff when you see elearning used effectively in this context.

eLearning ‘Guru’ Donald Clark (Plan B Blog) created a stimulating debate as he spoke about kids’ attitudes to learning (and his kids’ attitudes!) and how the way they learn is evolving, but our education systems aren’t keeping pace. He cited research into the (lack of) impact of interactive whiteboards and how the current education system is a legacy of the Victorian era, not reflecting how society works or leveraging the tools to support children. Where technology has been used, it has been ‘tokenistic’ and not validated – again using Brain Training and it’s use in schools as an example.

There were also hand-on sessions throughout the day, and Microsoft came along to demonstrate their ‘Ribbon Hero’, which aims to make learning about Microsoft Office fun. Unfortunately this seemed to go horribly wrong as they struggled to get their heads around it and had to ask the audience for assistance. A number of excellent demonstration of virtual worlds in elearning in the context of Leadership, the use of Wii Fit for rehabilitation and much more.

All in all a superb day. The only regret?

It would have been fantastic to have a some ELC teachers / Heads along.

Maybe next year…?

Check out the photies here.

eLearning – the “rich” relation???

Stuart Hiles — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 13:58:56 +0000

Dubious about elearning?

eLearning is often viewed at best as a compromise, at worst as ineffective. Often incentives or “business benefits” such as reduction in costs, reaching a wider audience, consistency, easier to manage, centralisation of resources, easier to support, compliance etc. are quoted as a way of selling the approach. More alarmingly, some in the business perceive these to be the the primary outcomes. Some view it as an unwelcome threat to the traditional way of learning, and for some educators - their jobs!

Whilst it is true that elearning has the potential to deliver these benefits, in my experience few of these are realised. The outcomes of any learning intervention have to be focused on and address the needs of the learner. All learners are individuals. Where there is a successful outcome for the learner then fantastic. If we can also demonstrate one (or all) of the above additional benefits then we are truly on to a winner. I’ve been a trainer for 20 years and now manage ELC’s elearning system, LearnNet (www.elcelearning.net). I find that elearning doesn’t necessarily save me time – I’m just delivering and supporting users in other flexible ways. Yes, there are business benefits to be had, and I can demonstrate tangible business benefits for ELC in many areas, before I even get started on the carbon footprint argument,

…but come on, in the real world, we all know that face to face wins out over elearning, right???

The key findings below are an extract from the largest meta analysis undertaken to date comparing face to face interventions with elearning and “blended” (mixed) approaches. The report entitled, “Evaluation of Evidence-Based Practices in Online Learning: A Meta-Analysis and Review of Online Learning Studies” was undertaken by the US Department of Education and analyses around 1,000 separate studies, many of which included K-12 (Primary & Secondary education).

Ready to dispell some myths???

Key Findings

Students who took all or part of their class online performed better, on average, than those taking the same course through traditional face-to-face instruction

Instruction combining online and face-to-face elements had a larger advantage relative to purely face-to-face instruction than did purely online instruction.

Most of the variations in the way in which different studies implemented online learning did not affect student learning outcomes significantly.

The effectiveness of online learning approaches appears quite broad across different content and learner types.

Elements such as video or online quizzes do not appear to influence the amount that students learn in online classes.

Online learning can be enhanced by giving learners control of their interactions with media and prompting learner reflection

You can view the full report at http://www2.ed.gov/rschstat/eval/tech/evidence-based-practices/finalreport.pdf

OK, so what does this mean for how we teach adults and children and embrace technology?

Reflect, discuss, blog…

——–

Visit LearnNet, ELC’s free Virtual Learning Environment at www.elcelearning.net

You can log in to the evaluation account using teachme as the username and teachme as the password.

If you’d like your own account then contact us on corphsd@eastlothian.gov.uk 01620 827868.

Brave New Words

Stuart Hiles — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 09:30:06 +0000

Brave New Words!

Surpsingly, bearing in mind my work and interests- this is my first blog! So uncertain of the protocol of such things, thought I’d start off by taking the opportunity to introduce myself, and my blog!

I work within ELC’s Corporate Health, Safety & Development Team, within HR. The 2 strands of work I am involved with are Business Improvement (Project Management and Process Mapping / Improvement) and elearning – using technology to assist and support learners. I would describe myself as a Learning Technologist and love exploring the wide variety of tools that can be adopted to support learners – but always conscious that the technologies should be supporting and not leading i.e. the focus should always be on the learner and their individual needs and outcomes.

David Gilmour and I caught up on Friday. I’ve been meaning to speak to him for some time (years), but never got round to it. I’ve been aware of EduBuzz and have followed a few blogs, but was amazed at just how active the community is, and how valuable a resource this is to those that actively use it, and those that follow it.

I’m particularly interested in Open Source (free) stuff and the value this can add – to individuals, the organisation and the wider community. I manage LearnNet, ELC’s elearning system (www.elcelearning.net) which uses the Moodle open source Virtual Learning Environment. This system is hosted externally and can be accessed by all staff connected to the web. It is used to host a wide range of courses and materials which are freely available to staff; covering areas such as IT, Project Management, Health & Safety, Equalities & Diversity.

Thought you may like to take a look, so you can log in using the evaluation account to take a look around. Use teachme as the username and teachme as the password.I introduced Moodle back in 2004 – we were the first Scottish Local Authority Council to do so Corporately, and I’d be particularly interested in comments / feedback. If you’d like to use it for your own personal development then please contact the team on corphsd@eastlothian.gov.uk 01620 827868. Remember, it’s a free resource.

I am also actively involved with the eLearnign Alliance (www.elearningalliance.org), a Not For Profit membership organisation that represents / supports elearning in the NHS, FE/HE, Scottish Local Authority (SLA) and Public Sectors, and I chair both the SLA group and what we’ve called the SuperSIG, comprised of the chairs from the other SIGs. As ELC are members of the eLearning Alliance we get discounts on the networking events, workshops and conferences (check out www.gametolearn.org for details of this year’s conference, which may be of interest).

I think there is lots of potential for awareness raising, to make better use of current resources, to explore what other organisations are doing and to become involved with the elearning community. Some of you may be interested in developing your own elearning to support teaching / teaching practice . So, what can you expect from my blog?

More on LearnNet, Moodle, the Technology Playpen (www.techplaypen.net), Open Source and supportive technologies
News on what happening in the SLA, FE/HE, NHS and wider community
Exploring the potential for involvement within Education
Events that may be of interest
How to use simple tools to develop your own elearning.

Hope you find it useful…

(err, was that OK?)