An interesting alternative to using PowerPoint which is well worth looking @ and was used to very good effect at Mike Kelly’s recent presentation on ePortfolios is Prezi.
I’ve opened up an account – and have been testing it recently.
One immediate benefit is the opportunity to get away from linear delivery which is somewhat enforced by the structure of PowerPoint.
The Learning and Teaching Day held last week @ LCF was extremely enjoyable and informative. The only downside was that there were so many interesting sessions and you cannot be everywhere @ once! (Need to work @ cloning myself! :-))
I managed to be at an interesting and entertaining presentation by Lindsay Jordan which was originally entitled ‘5 Quick Wins’ but was re-titled ‘2 1/2 Quick Wins’ due to the available time being cut 😉 Lindsay covered the use of online video, blogging and some social media in an entertaining and involving way to show was can be and is being done in this area in UAL.
This was swiftly followed by David Sims and Darren Raven from LCC who described and showed how blogs are being used as a PPD Tool by students – their informed enthusiasm and obvious expertise was infectious as was the impressive quality and variety of student blogs shown.
Mike Kelly’s presentation on an ePortfolio platform currently being tested by CLTAD / UAL was also very interesting and proved very popular with the audience – who now look forward to the pilot being rolled out.
Paul Lowe’s presentation on the ‘Learning Studio’ introduced UAL’s ‘MyCPD’ tool to his audience, as well as the concept of the ‘Learning Studio’ as a ‘Community of Practice’ for those working with eLearning tools in UAL. This was an enjoyable session which was interactive and collaborative from the start.
I also hear a rumour that further details and materials from some of the day’s presentations will be made available online soon …
Very much looking forward to the Learning and Teaching Day tomorrow which is being held at LCF. There are many exciting and informative workshops on the programme and the only downside is having to be selective – can’t be in all of them! ;-(
An interesting video dealing with the use of copyrighted digitised media in education – the opportunities and threats from the artists and educators points of view. This appears to be a balanced and informative film which also mentions Creative Commons licences. And if you are interested in knowing more about Creative Commons licences check out http://creativecommons.org/
A new piece of free software to help students and universities manage academic references more easily has been developed by the Open University and its partners.
Funded by JISC, and made in collaboration with RefWorks, the web-based research management, writing and collaboration tool, the OU has developed MyReferences which is part of the Technology Enhanced Learning supporting Students to achieve Academic Rigour (TELSTAR) project.
John Jackson 