Show and TEL

I spent some time at the University of Plymouth's Technology Enhanced Learning Showcase today, which featured the best of a number of in-house led initiatives in e-learning. The event was the third Plymouth has held and was well attended by many academic and support staff. I went to a couple of sessions on podcasting and digital identity, which were short demonstrations of what lessons have been learnt so far during research and teaching fellowship activities. The digital identity session for example, covered not only how we represent ourselves in virtual environments, but also discussed acceptable use of personal content, protection of personal data and issues of privacy. We also talked about 'netiquette' - acceptable behaviour in online environments, and how people use Facebook and other social networking tools appropriately and innapropriately, and the implications.

These were by no means the only sessions on offer. There were also rolling presentations throughout the day on personal response systems (voting), computer aided assessment, plagiarism detection, Open Educational Resources, iTunesU, online submission systems, digital repositories, e-portfolios, learning through mobile devices, learning and communicating at a distance, and our own in-house development we call UpMedia. There is so much going on down here in Plymouth, it's difficult to keep up with it all, but try we must.

For a complete overview of all the learning technology and technology enhanced learning initiatives here in Plymouth, visit the TEL website. It's full of information, and also houses all of the learning technologists' blogs. You can also visit the MyBrand site for more on digital identity

Image source

Show and TEL by Steve Wheeler is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

One Foot in the grave

I'm in Swansea today, and tomorrow I will be an external examiner for a PhD viva on e-learning at the university here. I'm looking forward to it, as I always do when I meet and talk to people who are as passionate as I am about learning technology.

But some quite co-incidental things have just happened. I travelled up from Plymouth to South Wales this morning, and arrived to hear the sad news that former leader of the Labour Party Michael Foot had just died at the age of 96. Now the co-incidence is not that I joined the University of Plymouth in '96, nor is it that 96 happened to be my average speed on the M4 today (look, I'm only kidding, OK?). No, the strange co-incidences are that firstly, Michael Foot was MP for Plymouth before losing his seat and then coming to South Wales to become MP for Ebbw Vale (the exact same journey I just made on the morning his death is announced - spooky or what?). Secondly, I sat and had coffee this morning with a colleague in the Isaac Foot restaurant (named by the University of Plymouth in honour of Michael Foot's father, Isaac Foot, who was a prominent politician and reformer, and champion of the poor in the first part of the last century. And lastly, Isaac Foot is remembered for rebuilding the Elim Chapel in Notte Street near the Barbican - where I was dedicated when I was a few weeks old.

I admired Michael Foot's subversive, radical approach to life. It's one I adopt myself in my own life, particularly in my research - take nothing for granted, question everything, don't accept that the status quo is the only way it should be done. Foot went out on a limb (excuse the pun) several times to stand up for his beliefs, and was ridiculed and praised in equal measure. He was even criticised for wearing a donkey jacket on one formal occasion. He was a champion of among other things, the campaign for nuclear disarmament (for which he arguably lost 1983 general election in a heavy defeat, receiving a mauling from the Iron Lady), the Miners, and the National Health Service. I like a man who sticks to his guns.

Just one more 'footnote' if I may - Foot was also a passionate supporter of Plymouth Argyle Football Club (Going down, going down...), and many a time I would see him and say hello to him at the matches, home and away. He was hailed as the Green's number 1 supporter but that couldn't have been true. There is only one number 1 supporter of course, and that's me.

Image source

Learning without limits

The 5th Plymouth e-Learning Conference is just around the corner, but there's still time to register at the early bird rate (until 5th March). The theme for this year's event is 'Learning without Limits' - anytime, anyplace learning. The conference will address the growing number of contexts in which learning can take place, and how technology is playing its role. PeLC10 will take place on April 8-9, 2010 in the iconic Roland Levinsky Building on the main University of Plymouth campus. We will focus on the challenges and opportunities brought by formal and informal learning, social networks and personal technologies, mobile learning and innovative on-campus education, virtual and real teaching & learning scenarios, and how teachers and learners are harnessing the power and potential of new and emerging technologies. Our two keynote speakers are Josie Fraser and Donald Clark - the conference website holds further details of costs, joining instructions etc.

I have been ploughing through the review comments over the past few days, and looking at some of the fascinating paper proposals, workshops, demonstrations and debate abstracts. Topics include: emerging learning technologies, classroom learning technology such as Interactive Whiteboards, personal learning environments, new pedagogies and practices, mobile learning, voting systems, 'Twitter is Dead' (what, surely some mistake here?? - Ed), collaborative content management, teaching in Second Life, using e-portfolios, a wide rage of Web 2.0 tools, Social Networking in education, Digital Literacy, Digital Identity, and a host of other e-learning topics. There will be about 70 papers, workshops and other presentations throughout the conference, more than enough to captivate even the most demanding of conference goers.

Our conference dinner will once again be held on Thursday evening in the National Marine Aquarium, in spectacular surroundings, with a backdrop of shark tanks in the Atlantic Reef. There are only 110 places for this event, and tickets are going fast, so book as soon as you can! As part of the evening, there will be welcome drinks, a bar open until late, goodie bag, and an all evening exclusive run of the entire aquarium - one of the largest in Europe. Other featured activities during the conference include demonstrations of the University of Plymouth's Immersive Vision Cinema and Virtual Dentistry/Medicine displays. There are also fringe events planned and as usual, the Pelican Fringe Website for you to join with live streaming from the event.

Already delegates from over a dozen countries have registered for the conference, and most will be attending for both days (above is a picture of delegates registering on day one of PeLC09). We hope to see you at the conference, which if it's anything like last year's event, will be memorable, stimulating and exciting.

Taking steps

It's jolly decent of the IGI Global folks to promote my blog and academic profile right here on their home page. Several of my chapters have appeared in recent IGI books, and I'm getting some visitor traffic from their website direct to my blog now. They have an acceptable (won't scare the kids or evoke emetic responses) picture of me up on their site, and a nice resume of my academic activities. I would like to point out one thing however. My workplace - the University of Plymouth - is not located in the USA, it's in England.

When I went to the USA for a trip about 10 years ago, a young lad asked me where I was from. I said 'Plymouth.' 'Gee', he replied, 'is your home town named after the one we have in Minnesota?' 'Er...', I said, slightly nonplussed, 'I think Plymouth, England was first by one or two years...'

Look, if you're ever in my neighbourhood, I will take you to the very spot where the Pilgrim Fathers set sail for the New World in the Mayflower in 1620. Well I would, if I was of the female variety. (It's no more than a mile away from where I'm sat typing this. It's in the ladies toilet of a Barbican pub about 30 metres back from the so called Mayflower Steps). The picture above is of the fake steps, which were put there to thrill the tourists. They can't possibly be the original steps, because back in the time of the Mayflower, the water was several metres back from where it is today. All that remains of the original steps (so I am told) is a flagstone on the floor of the ladies lavatory in the Admiral MacBride pub.

See? You get an education coming to this site! Oh, and by the way.... this is my 500th blogpost. Ain't I the busy one, huh?

Image source

The boy done good

One of my third year students, Dan Kennedy, has had his first article published in a new journal. The Plymouth Student Educator, a peer-reviewed online journal has been created to showcase the best of University of Plymouth students' work. Students need to score more than 70 for their assignments to be even considered for review, and then their work must go through just as vigorous a process of scrutiny as they would if they submitted their work to any other academic journal. Dan's article is entitled: 'Virtual Learning Environments (VLEs): here to stay, or on the brink of demise?' It is a provocative take on the current state of play of the VLE, and he comes to some interesting conclusions. Here's the abstract:

Virtual Learning Environments (VLEs) are popular with many educational institutions, ranging from primary schools to universities. This paper is meant as an introduction to VLEs and the pedagogical issues surrounding them. It explores what they are, as well as the benefits and potential problems arising from their use. Recent literature and personal blogs are used to understand how the VLE as a concept is understood. The role of the VLE appears to be changing. Most students’ proficiency in using the internet productively has increased dramatically; Web 2.0 tools have provided further ways in which to engage and communicate with students. Indeed, these tools are being bolted on to VLEs in an attempt to exploit this, with limited success. Some are promoting Personal Learning Environments (PLEs) instead – a personal construct taking advantage of a range of tools to benefit ones own learning. Educators and institutions that are either using, or considering implementing a VLE in their teaching will find this paper especially useful.

Reference: Kennedy, D. (2009) Virtual Learning Environments (VLEs): here to stay, or on the brink of demise? The Plymouth Student Educator 1, (1), 53-61

I'm very pleased for Dan. The boy done good.

Image source

Atlantis rising

There is still time to submit a 300 word abstract for the Plymouth e-Learning Conference - deadline is 30 November, but time is running out. We have had some interesting proposals so far under the theme of: 'Boundary Changes: Redefining Learning Space'. The keynote speakers are already booked, and we are working on a spectacular conference dinner too. Several attractions are already planned during the event including special sessions in the Virtual 3-D Immersion Cinema on the university campus.

There is also at least one special track planned - it will be reserved for the students of the Atlantis University Project - an Erasmus funded transnational computer project which involves students not only from my own Faculty of Education, here at the University of Plymouth, but also from the University of Applied Sciences, Darmstadt, Germany, the Institute of Technology at Tralee, Ireland, and the Warsaw Institute of Technology, Poland. The Atlantis students are doing some very interesting research and development into areas such as collaborative content management and online shared learning spaces. They will be presenting several papers showcasing their work (some of them are pictured above in February, on the beach near Dingle, Ireland). Slots for other special tracks, panels and symposia have also been reserved. All you need to do is contact us at the conference website above, and propose the session, with a title, list of speakers and a chairperson. We will do the rest.

And so, in the words of the sublime but slightly rediculous Delia Smith "C'mon - let's be 'aving you!"

This won't hurt a bit

I am in the process of ditching 10 years or more of accumulated junk from my office prior to our move across to the new Rolle Building, here on the main Plymouth campus.

You know what it's like - you come across something and think, shall I throw it out or shall I keep it? Well, I came across some old medical terms in some handouts from my days in the NHS and nurse training which I thought were interesting... So I'm throwing them out, but keeping them at the same time, because they now appear here on my blog...

Benign ... what you are after you be eight
Caesarean Section ... A district in Rome
Congenital ... friendly
Denial ... A river flowing through Egypt
Dilate ... to live longer than anyone else
Morbid ... a higher offer
Nitrate ... higher than the day rate
Node ... was aware of
Protein ... in favour of young people
Tumour ... an extra pair
Urine ... opposite to 'you're out'
Varicose veins ... veins which are very close together

There are some more which are just too darn rude to post on this very nice and inoffensive blog, but it makes you wonder. If that's the kind of handout they were giving out in the nurse training programmes, no wonder the NHS is in the state it's in...

Letting our hair down

We all enjoyed a great day out yesterday at the Faculty of Education Degree Award Ceremony for University of Plymouth students. As in previous years, the ceremony took place in the beautifully atomospheric Exeter Cathedral. We all processed in to the grand strains of the huge cathedral pipe organ. It was a spectacle indeed. Sadly, this will be the last time we hold the Degree ceremonies here, as the Faculty of Education moves to the main Plymouth campus next month.

Still, it was good to recognise the work of our students over the past 3 or 4 years, as they each stepped up to receive their degree certificates from our Dean, Professor Michael Totterdell. Some of my B.Ed (Hons) Primary ICT Specialist pathway students were there (pictured above), as were several others whom I have had the pleasure teaching over the last few years. They will now go off to their new jobs to start their teaching careers, and I wish success to them all. It was also a time for the staff to let our hair down a little, and spend some fun time together at the end of a very busy and challenging academic year. I was accompanied by my wife, Dawn, (pictured with me left) who is a lecturer in the department and met up with most of the teaching staff who had turned out for this splendid occasion.

The BBC EastEnders actress Pam St Clement (Pat Butcher) was present to add a touch of colour to the proceedings. She used to be a student at Rolle College (a former incarnation of the Faculty of Education at Exmouth campus) where she qualified as a teacher. She was there to receive an honourary doctorate for her services to entertainment and education. Next year we will be conducting our Degree Awards Ceremony at another historic location - on Plymouth Hoe. It will all take place in a huge marquee, and I hope it's anchored down well - the winds are strong up there at this time of the year. And I don't know how on earth they will manage to get a full sized pipe organ into the tent...

Devon cream tea (calorie free)

Here are some more reflections on the Plymouth e-Learning conference.... Besides a large contingent of Plymouth bods, it was great to see people at the conference from Edinburgh, Salford, Chichester, Norwich, Swansea, Coventry, Leicester, Bournemouth, Staffordshire, Exeter, Gloucester, Cumbria, Portsmouth and DeMontfort Universities (and I have probably forgotten several others). The presenters were professional and polished in their delivery, and the audience was smart and tech-savvy, asking some pertinent and searching questions. Throughout the day, our learning technologists and other volunteer helpers slaved to keep the event on track, running around fixing technical issues before they became disasters, folding and stuffing (delegate folders mind), answering questions, running errands and generally making themselves useful.

The catering was also pretty darn good. Lunch was excellent. I have to own up - On a whim I organised an afternoon Devon cream tea for 80. I have a confession to make. I informed the conference in my opening speech that at the University of Plymouth clotted cream and scones was calorie free. I lied. It's packed full of wicked, naughty things, but I don't care (and neither did the delegates, many of whom wandered around oblivious with cream all over their faces). Mark Stiles lamented: (and I quote) 'it's impossible to eat this with a beard!' Another delegate was overheard saying: 'you wouldn't get this at my university!' Cream tea aside, it was a very successful day, with plenty of useful dialogue around usability issues, access, interoperability, intellectual property, copyright, sustainability, social interaction, professional mentoring, semantic web applications, ethics, innovation, policy, widening participation, and of course most importantly ... learning.

We are going to do it all again next year on 23-24 April. It will be bigger and better. We will have a social event, and two keynote speakers. A larger programme with plenty of interactive demonstrations. A book is planned (this year's 2008 event has already been spoken for - the best papers will go into an edited volume entitled: 'Digital Learning, Repurposing Education'. The editorial board is being chosen as you read this. Oh ... and we will have Devon Cream Tea again. I promise.

Whose Sandpit and Whose Toys?

We're all set for the Plymouth e-Learning Conference tomorrow at the University of Plymouth. The weather here in Plymouth is glorious today with clear blue skies and a very comfortable temperature of 16 degrees. Mark Stiles will be presenting his keynote tomorrow, so for those who can't make it to the event, here's an extract:

Whose sandpit? Whose toys?

The need to repurpose education in the face of a changing world offers those working with technologies to support and enhance learning a range of opportunities hitherto unknown. The range of technologies is bewildering with social and mobile technologies, personal web-based tools and corporate systems all having things to offer. However who chooses the systems in any given context is also changing fast, with agendas like life-long learning and work-based learning introducing ever more stakeholders into the learning experience, and individuals being increasingly able to "opt-out" of using institutional systems.

How will institutions cope with this "new world" where not everything is under the control of the institution and increasingly both staff and students can "do their own thing"? A conflict of control between the individual and the corporate is growing, and the danger of innovation being stifled by the drive for "corporate regulation" is very real. The answer will be found in policies - but what policies are needed and who will frame them?

No doubt several people will blog about the event, and I may even Twitter some of my own comments during the day, if I can find space to draw breath....

Plymouth e-Learning Conference

There's still time for you to submit a paper or workshop proposal for the Third Plymouth e-Learning Conference. Deadline for submission of abstracts (200-300 words) has now been extended to 31st January. The themes of the conference and paper submission details can all be found on the conference website. The keynote speaker for this year's event which will take place in Plymouth on 4th April, is Professor Mark Stiles from Staffordshire University.

It's a small and intimate conference, but in previous years has attracted delegates from all over the UK and farther afield, who were willing to engage in lively debate and explore new territories around e-learning. The event will take place in the stunning new Roland Levinsky Arts Faculty building (pictured) and there will be a large space available for exhibitors and vendors. I hope to see you there, but get your proposal in soon!

High level talks

I'm sat in an office on the top floor (18th) of the Attenborough Building, here in the heart of the University of Leicester. There are spectacular views over the city from up here, or there would be if I could see past the scaffolding and netting that is covering most of the building. Leicester is suffering from the same syndrome as many other universities throughout the UK at the moment. It seems that every university I visit is in the process of being rebuilt, refurbished or repurposed. The University of Plymouth is probably the university with the most building at the moment. Millions have been spent in the last 2 years to create buildings on the main campus so that we can 'pull our horns in' and close down all our external sites. Anyway, back to Leicester...

I'm here as guest speaker for the Beyond Distance Research Alliance - an influential group of academics and professionals from several UK universities who meet to discuss research around e-learning, distance education and learning technology - the group is led by Professor Gilly Salmon. She will be at the talk, as will Professor David Hawkridge, whose work I read during my teacher training days. In my seminar today I will be presenting some recent research I have been doing with my team on wikis as collaborative learning spaces. I've also promised to briefly discuss Second Life as a 3D wiki - but I won't give too much away, as I'm saving the best for Online Educa in Berlin next month. I don't think I have ever given a talk at so rarified an altitude, although my trip to the skyscarpers of Frankfurt a few days ago gave me some useful training...

Second Life in Education

A really useful wiki has just been brought to my attention (thanks to George Roberts and Stephen Downes - who are as ever vigilant). It's called Second Life in Education, is managed by Jo Kay (avatar pictured) and Sean Fitzgerald and does exactly what it says on the tin - it provides a fairly comprehensive list of projects that have an education or training focus in Second Life. I say 'fairly comprehensive', because it's not exhaustive of course - the University of Plymouth Sexual Health SIM isn't featured yet, but I hope it soon will be. I have just posted a message to the wiki discussion board attaching the URL for the project blog.

Second Life sexual health seminar takes flight

Our University of Plymouth Second Life project is going from strength to strength. This week we held our first live seminar on sexual health, entitled 'Broken Wing, Learning to Fly', which was a great success. Around 20 avatars were present at some point during the hour long event, and the average was 14. This is the first of a series of seminars we will be holding in the near future, all designed to raise the awareness of young people about contraception, safe sex and sexually transmitted diseases. The full report including several snapshots taken during the event is available on the project blog now.

If you haven't visited our Second Life project on Education UK island yet, please do - we think you will find it a breath of fresh air... Let us know what you think by taking the special quiz/survey on the site.