Fortnightly Mailing

Categories

  • ai-course (25)
  • Books (1)
  • General (3)
  • Guest contributions (46)
  • JimFarmer (6)
  • Lightweight learning (35)
  • Maths (1)
  • Moocs (32)
  • News and comment (411)
  • Nothing to do with online learning (49)
  • Oddments (102)
  • Open Access (7)
  • Resources (433)
  • Snippets (5)
See More

Archives

  • July 2021
  • April 2017
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • September 2015
  • August 2015
  • June 2015
  • March 2015
  • January 2015
  • November 2014

More...



  • © Seb Schmoller under
    UK Creative Commons Licence. In case of difficulty, email me.
  • Validate

"The Facebook" Kyle McGrath's August 2005 assessment

Kyle, whom I used to work with at The Sheffield College, reminded me today of an email she'd sent me in August 2005, with her assessment of "The Facebook". If you've got anything similar in your email archives, feel free to paste it in as a comment to Kyle's piece.

From: Kyle McGrath

Sent: 11 August 2005 00:51

To: seb@schmoller.net'

Subject: the facebook

Hi Seb,

Hope all is well with you...

I don't think you've mentioned *the facebook* yet in your fortnightly mailing? *the facebook* was brought to my attention a couple of months back by my niece, Sara, a high school Senior in N.Y. - headed towards SUNY Purchase as a freshman in September. Through *the facebook*, she has, over the past couple of months, already met the students that she will be living with and studying with in September, and they've formed a social community, and she is also in a developing learning community (of nerds)...

Not only do they know who is bringing the iron and who is bringing the ironing board - Sara tells me that they know a lot more interesting stuff that she's not prepared to divulge even to her favourite aunty.

FYI, the facebook concept is a development of the American high school Yearbook concept. The Yearbook is about who you are saying good-bye to (High School), whereas the Facebook has, over the past few years, been produced by some colleges to introduce (College/Uni) freshmen to each other.

I gather that *the facebook* serves both functions - Sara is in a community of people she is saying goobye to as well as in a community of people she is saying hello to.

*the facebook* doesn't translate particularly well to the U.K. - in America, kids normally have a firm College/Uni offer by April of their Senior year, so there is a six-month window for community building. Here, they dont' know until August (which, of course, sucks - what is going to happen to them between April and August, that is going to impact on their ability or aptitude?).

Nonetheless, from what I've seen *the facebook*, it is a shining example of how social networks can develop to support learning.

These days it takes a lot to impress me - and I'm impressed. http://www.thefacebook.com/

Kyle

[Used with the permission of the author]

Posted on 04/02/2014 in Guest contributions, Oddments | Permalink | Comments (1)

|

Clayton Wright's Educational Technology Conference Listing, January to June 2014

CRW_small
Clayton Wright - source

The 30th Educational Technology & Education Conferences Listing [28 kB DOC] has been published by Clayton Wright.

Here is Clayton's covering note to the list.

The 30th edition of the conference list covers selected events that primarily focus on the use of technology in educational settings and on teaching, learning, and educational administration. Only listings until June 2014 are complete as dates, locations, or Internet addresses (URLs) were not available for a number of events held from July onward. In order to protect the privacy of individuals, only URLs are used in the listing as this enables readers of the list to obtain event information without submitting their e-mail addresses to anyone. A significant challenge during the assembly of this list is incomplete or conflicting information on websites and the lack of a link between conference websites from one year to the next.  

An explanation for the content and format of the list can be found at http://newsletter.alt.ac.uk/2011/08/why-distribute-documents-in-ms-word-or-openoffice-for-an-international-audience/. A Word 2003 or an OpenOffice format is used to enable people who do not have access to Word 2007 (or higher version) and those with limited or high-cost Internet access to find a conference that is congruent with their interests or obtain conference abstracts or proceedings. 

Posted on 13/11/2013 in Guest contributions, News and comment, Resources | Permalink | Comments (0)

|

Clayton Wright's Educational Technology Conference Listing, June to December 2013

CRW_small
Clayton Wright - source

The 29th Educational Technology & Education Conferences Listing [1.1 MB DOC] has been published by Clayton Wright.

Here is Clayton's covering note (which I've taken the liberty of reproducing in full, with one small change at the end in the attribution of an article by Clayton that appeared in the Association for Learning Technology's Newsletter in 2011).

Conferences that May Be Worth Your Time

Frequently, I receive requests from those new to the field of educational technology to suggest conferences that would be worthwhile to attend. It can be a difficult request to fulfill as the response:

Continue reading "Clayton Wright's Educational Technology Conference Listing, June to December 2013 " »

Posted on 14/05/2013 in Guest contributions, News and comment, Resources | Permalink | Comments (0)

|

Ian Chowcat reviews (very favourably) Coursera's Modern and Contemporary American Poetry course

[This is a Guest Contribution by Ian Chowcat.]

When I first explored the Web back in the 1990s one of the greatest thrills I found was being able to virtually visit universities and courses across the world. Since then we have been able to download course materials and view lectures – the Open Culture site is currently listing over 700 free online courses. Now in the era of MOOCs more is promised: with unprecedented ease we can actually participate in courses run by universities the other side of the world. But can MOOCs really provide good learning experiences?

To sample MOOCs for myself I signed up for two courses from Coursera last autumn (being optimistic about course loads on top of full time jobs may well be a characteristic of would-be MOOCers). One, on models for making sense of the world, was enjoyable enough, with video lectures delivered in traditional style by a very engaging lecture, but it fell by the wayside as I became absorbed by my second choice: Modern and Contemporary American Poetry led by Professor Al Filreis of the University of Pennsylvania.

This is a cut-down version of an undergraduate course he runs. In ten exciting weeks we sampled key texts, mainly American, in modernist and post-modernist poetry, starting with Emily Dickinson and Walt Whitman and running right through the key movements until arriving at the daunting shores of contemporary language poetry, chance operations, conceptual poetry and the uncreative writing tendency stimulated by the web itself. I have no hesitation in saying that it was one of the greatest learning experiences I have ever had: I haven’t had so much fun, or felt that I learnt so much so quickly, since my BA over thirty years ago.

What made it so great? The huge passion and enthusiasm of Al Filreis himself certainly helped – passion both for the subject matter and for this way of teaching. The teaching method involved helpful short quizzes. There were four assignments, providing the chance to write brief critical essays and to try out some post-modernist poetic techniques for ourselves: these were peer marked so you also got the chance to read and comment on what other students were writing. The course forums were very lively, with 957,000 views of messages from the 36,000 students who enrolled on the course. Although the Coursera forum structure leaves something to be desired, nevertheless students across the world were hazarding their own interpretations of the poems, and passionate debates broke out whenever boundaries were being pushed further than some people could accept. There was also a Facebook page and twitter feed.

But for me what really clinched the course were the videos produced for each course reading – over 80 of them, with running lengths from nine to twenty-seven minutes. These weren’t lectures but guided discussions. In recordings of high technical quality Professor Filreis and a group of student Teaching Assistants conducted collaborative close readings of each of the texts. While the Professor nudged and cajoled, and only rarely rhapsodised, the students showed how sense and meaning could be made of even the most obscure pieces – and there were many of those in this course (Kenneth Goldsmith’s presentation as poetry of a transcription of everything he said for a week provoked the most virulent debates and was the breaking point for many. But then modernism was always meant to be about aesthetic appreciation of the everyday).

I am convinced that this was a course in which co-creation between students and pure peer to peer learning would not have sufficed: the forums and peer assessments were great vehicles for testing out our interpretative abilities, but in themselves would not have provided the grounding that was needed to make progress. Nor would lectures have done the trick. It was the vicarious learning involved in seeing students being guided to fumble their way towards sense-making that gave participants like me the encouragement that the enterprise was possible, and the tools for being able to go on independently both during and, crucially, after the course. Without this I would have been where I started: struggling alongside others in the same position to make any inroads on the seemingly impenetrable. Lectures would have provided guidance from someone who had been down this path over many years, but the real trick was to link the two: to show in practice how beginners could be guided to develop and use the necessary approaches for themselves, and in so doing to become engaged ourselves in interpretative activity.

As a result I feel whole new worlds of literature have opened up to me which were previously literally closed books.

While difficult texts have not become magically easy I can now see a path to understanding. The main downside has been the damage to my bank balance due to the compelling need to invest in several shelves of new books.

In the current ferment of debate over MOOCs many doubts are being expressed about their pedagogical model and their quality. All I can say is that here is one instance in which a MOOC provided the occasion for what I think was a first rate learning experience. Perhaps this model of vicarious collaborative learning is one that others could follow.

The course runs again this September: check it out if you have any interest in the world of experimental contemporary poetry. It’s currently free, of course, though if there had been a donation box on the way out I would gladly have paid. You can find an overview, with links to some other participant views, at https://jacket2.org/commentary/modpo-overview and there is a link there to the course home page where you can sign up.

Posted on 17/03/2013 in Guest contributions, Moocs | Permalink | Comments (0)

|

The end of the beginning? Guest post about the ESRC/EPSRC TEL programme by Richard Noss

IntroNoss

The Technology Enhanced Learning (TEL) Research Programme ends this year and a final public event showcasing our hardware, software, and thematic work is set for 6 November at the Royal Society (see www.tel.ac.uk). [The 17 minute documentary from the final public meeting is here.]

It’s an obvious time to assess where we are, where we started from, and where we are going. TEL was a result of 2003’s ‘consultation on e-learning’ and ‘An e-learning research agenda’ report calling for interdisciplinary research into technology’s potential for improving education. The programme initially formed part the Teaching and Learning Research Programme (which ended in 2010 - see www.tlrp.org).

Continue reading "The end of the beginning? Guest post about the ESRC/EPSRC TEL programme by Richard Noss" »

Posted on 05/09/2012 in Guest contributions, News and comment | Permalink | Comments (0)

|

Lessons from Finland – do comparisons help?

Opettaja 2008 B
Pasi Sahlberg Source

[This is a Guest Contribution by Andrew Morris of the Policy Consortium, an informal grouping of independent consultants to which I belong.]

Education in other countries sounds so much more interesting than our own! In Switzerland it’s the calibre of apprenticeships, in France the breadth of the Baccalaureat, in Scandinavia the quality of pre-school play. But as I see more and more examples used in political argument I begin to wonder how much we simply cherry pick from abroad to suit our pet criticism of the home system. Do we fall for the best features in other countries but fail to look at the whole, warts and all?

Continue reading "Lessons from Finland – do comparisons help? " »

Posted on 10/07/2012 in Guest contributions, News and comment | Permalink | Comments (3)

|

Sitting in a bar with a really smart friend. The ai-class: Notes from a Lab Rat

Guest Contribution by Rob Rambusch

ExLabRat_by_Ressaure
Picture by Ressaure (CC licensed)

Me: Test Subject

Rob Rambusch is a Project Manager for software development and implementation based in New York City. This was his first exposure to any class on Artificial Intelligence. He can be contacted at robrambusch [AT] gmail.com, or through Google+.

It: Experiment

"A bold experiment in distributed education, "Introduction to Artificial Intelligence" will be offered free and online to students worldwide from October 10th to December 18th 2011. The course will include feedback on progress and a statement of accomplishment. Taught by Sebastian Thrun and Peter Norvig, the curriculum draws from that used in Stanford's introductory Artificial Intelligence course. The instructors will offer similar materials, assignments, and exams."

Them: Experimenters

"Peter Norvig is Director of Research at Google Inc.  He is also a Fellow of the American Association for Artificial Intelligence and the Association for Computing Machinery. Norvig is co-author of the popular textbook Artificial Intelligence: A Modern Approach. Prior to joining Google he was the head of the Computation Sciences Division at NASA Ames Research Center."

"Sebastian Thrun is a Research Professor of Computer Science at Stanford University, a Google Fellow, a member of the National Academy of Engineering and the German Academy of Sciences. Thrun is best known for his research in robotics and machine learning."

 One Month Before: Preparation

I started working on the prerequisites in the month before the course began. I prepared for the class by learning Probability and Linear Algebra from Salman Khan at the Khan Academy website. I followed up by watching lectures on Linear Algebra by Gilbert Strang at the MIT OCW website. So even before the class began I had exposure to two common online teaching styles, the filmed lecture and the video tutorial.

Continue reading "Sitting in a bar with a really smart friend. The ai-class: Notes from a Lab Rat" »

Posted on 20/12/2011 in ai-course, Guest contributions, Lightweight learning | Permalink | Comments (1)

|

Apples, screwdrivers and desks: a comparative review of three Stanford free online computer science courses

Guest Contribution by Gundega Dekena

[Update posted by Seb Schmoller on 12 July 2012. Note that Gundega now works for Udacity, the company that developed from the AI course. Read how she became part of the Udacity team on the Udacity blog.]

Gundega Dekena is a self taught Linux administrator and web programmer, based in Riga, Latvia. She has been studying all three of the October to December Stanford online computer science courses in parallel - Introduction to Artificial Intelligence (AI), Introduction to Machine Learning (ML), and Introduction to Databases (DB) - putting her in a good position to compare and contrast them. Gundega can contacted at gundega.dekena [AT] gmail.com, or through Google+.

Overview

Comparing these three courses feels a bit like comparing apples, screwdrivers and desks, yet I see a lot of students doing that, usually without much thought about the differences. So, this is my look (from the perspective of a student) atthe things that can be compared, and that can be learned from all three courses, for the benefit of the next batch of courses that is going to come from Stanford next year.

Continue reading "Apples, screwdrivers and desks: a comparative review of three Stanford free online computer science courses" »

Posted on 11/12/2011 in ai-course, Guest contributions, News and comment | Permalink | Comments (7)

|

The future of VLEs (Virtual Learning Environments) in tertiary education - Guest Contribution by Jim Farmer

At Blackboard World on 13th July 2011, four publishers announced new products and new services:

  • Pearson integrates MyLab and Master learning services with the Blackboard Virtual Learning Environment (VLE). This integration gives faculty immediate access to tools, assignments and learning analytics based on their Blackboard logon and returns grades to Blackboard.
  • Cengage creates a deeper integration and full interoperability of Cengage Learning’s digital content through automatic sign-on and grade book integration. This added level of integration includes Web-services architecture (MindLinks). The partnership also includes integration of Cengage Learning’s MindTap program and MindTap applications.
  • Macmillan provides integration of Macmillan’s digital learning offerings and Blackboard. It automates automated access via Blackboard and upload of grades and performance data into Blackboard’s gradebook.
  • Wiley provides seamless access to Wiley’s learning content and tools. Wiley supports access via Blackboard credentials and automatically synchronize grades and other data with Blackboard.

Collectively these announcements suggest learning delivery services (LDS) as a more effective model for online learning than local delivery of static content , integration of the learning delivery and management systems and single sign on [SSO] for user convenience.

Continue reading "The future of VLEs (Virtual Learning Environments) in tertiary education - Guest Contribution by Jim Farmer" »

Posted on 06/08/2011 in Guest contributions, JimFarmer | Permalink | Comments (0)

|

NHS reforms - a view from the sharp end

A friend writes to me; and when I ask if can publish it anonymously, says  "yes, why not?".

The NHS: well, the Futures Forum report is submitted on Tuesday and the rumour is that Cameron and Clegg will make announcements very soon thereafter. Cameron's speech earlier this week was clearly, in my view, giving some ground. Competition only when it can be justified, emphasis on integration, other clinicians to be involved in commissioning, variable timetable for GP commissioning consortia to make the grade, A&E and 18 weeks targets effectively restored (and this should be milked by Labour as tantamount to acknowledgement of the huge achievement of eliminating waiting times). But - how will this be reflected in next week's announcement and then in legislative changes?

It's pretty clear from what I pick up that Cameron regrets having got into this mess - yet again, the Tories are not trusted with the NHS - and hasn't that been a political fault line for them time and again - his attempt to rehabilitate the Tories NHS position has now failed spectacularly - the question here is whether the electorate will remember. It's also clear that most of what they want to do simply does not need a 350 page bill - indeed, most of it could be achieved with little change to primary legislation.

Meanwhile, the financial/efficiency challenge gets tougher and tougher. It's not that there are no efficiency opportunities - there are, and they add up to many £ billions. But delivering them requires fundamental change, much of which needs to be led nationally (for example: changing GP contracts to make them accountable for the financial consequences of their clinical decisions, thereby creating the leverage to eliminate completely unwarranted variations in long term condition management, prescribing and referrals; facing up to the reality that greater centralisation of specialist services will be safer and more efficient - and hence accepting that this means some local hospitals will cease to have 24/7 A&E, full on paediatrics etc etc).

There is a real sense of fiddling while Rome burns - every ounce of our energy should be devoted to protecting patient safety, improving quality, securing efficiency - and yet we spend loads of time on so called "transition". But - a current saying is that too much tooth paste is out of the tube, and simply calling a halt a least some of the changes the Tories have launched is not feasible. But we could consolidate, and then focus on the real issues.

An interesting and potentially very important week or so ahead for the NHS.

Posted on 11/06/2011 in Guest contributions, Nothing to do with online learning | Permalink | Comments (1)

|

Next »

Recent Posts

  • A leaving speech
  • How algorithms manipulate the market
  • Clayton Wright's Educational Technology and Education Conferences, January to June 2016
  • Alphabet
  • Paul Mason's Postcapitalism - talk and discussion
  • FE Area Based Reviews should start by making an assessment of need
  • Citizen Maths - powerful ideas in action
  • Robotics - someone who ran DARPA's Robotics Challenge looks ahead
  • On the long-term future of artificial intelligence
  • A ten year old interview

Recent Comments

  • David Hughes on A leaving speech
  • Liz Perry on A leaving speech
  • Khaled on If ever you need a really comprehensive "title" drop-down
  • Mark Sosa on If ever you need a really comprehensive "title" drop-down
  • Richard Stacy on Video and Online Learning: Critical Reflections and Findings From the Field
  • Mike Jones on "The Facebook" Kyle McGrath's August 2005 assessment
  • G Kelly on Syria-related readings
  • Kris Sittler on Second report from Keith Devlin's and Coursera’s Introduction to Mathematical Thinking MOOC
  • Robert McGuire on Second report from Keith Devlin's and Coursera’s Introduction to Mathematical Thinking MOOC
  • Keith Devlin on Second report from Keith Devlin's and Coursera’s Introduction to Mathematical Thinking MOOC