Gráinne Conole is currently Professor of Learning Innovation/Director of the Beyond Distance Research Alliance  (BDRA) at the University of Leicester.  She gave a talk recently in Sydney entitled ‘Examining the Impact of E-learning on the traditional role of a University’.   She is of the belief  that Learning Management Systems (LMS) are not ‘dead’.  It is interesting to see that the University of Leicester’s survey reveals that their LMS (Blackboard) is being used mainly as a content repository.    However, in my previous role  supporting schools in their use of an LMS  over a period of seven years, I have seen some schools move away from using an LMS solely as a content repository.  Many have seen the potential of using their LMS for collaboration and communication and have used a variety of tools such as blogs, wikis and discussion forums to enhance learning and teaching.  These tools have not only been used within their own school but have enabled collaboration and communication with other schools in Europe and beyond.  What will these students expectations be when they begin university?  Perhaps it all comes down to usability.  As we move towards a new iVLE I thought the slides from Professor Conole’s talk might be useful.

If so, you may be interested in an open meeting for CAL to discuss the iVLE 2.0 project currently underway at the University. This meeting will bring together colleagues from the project team and e-learning support staff to provide an update on the project to date and to answer your questions.

The meeting will take place on Wednesday 7^th March from 1-2pm in room 126, Lecture Room 2, Arts.

In eLearnCAL we have always viewed Turnitin as an additional tool for academics to aid in the detection of plagiarism.  Plagiarism detection software will never replace a the human element of detection, well not in the forseeable future anyway.  From experience we know some of the limitations of Turnitin such as detection of quotes and how this conflicts with some school policies of using single quote marks.  There are of course many options in Turnitin that can be set to filter out any obvious sections such as the bibliography and small common phrases.  However, the onus rests on the academic to review the originality report and make the final decision.

This a very interesting article with some interesting comments, you can find it here on the Times Higher Education site:

Use of Turnitin software does not deter cheating, study finds, Claire Shaw 19 January 2012

Don’t forget our Turnitin training this week on Wednesday at 12-1pm in G42 – email to book

Listen to the short video conversation which discusses ‘mobile learning as a tool for inclusive practice that will benefit both disabled people and the wider community of learners’ (TechDis, 2012)

A podcast and a transcript of the video can be accessed from the  JISC TechDis website.

“We are committed to making the best education in the world freely available to any person who seeks it. We envision people throughout the world, in both developed and developing countries, using our platform to get access to world-leading education that has so far been available only to a tiny few. We see them using this education to improve their lives, the lives of their families, and the communities they live in.”

Access the courses here: http://www.cs101-class.org/hub.php

Prof. Thrun’s is also offering free Computer Science courses on his own site: http://www.udacity.com/

eLearnCAL is pleased to announce the Spring Training Series 2012, for academic and support staff.  Training will take place on Wednesdays at 12.00-13.00 in G42 (Arts).  Eight independent sessions will be delivered covering:

• Turnitin
• WebCT
• Wimba Voice
• PowerPoint
• Working with Video
• Blogs
• Wikis
• Working with Audio

To book a training course simply email elearncal@contacts.bham.ac.uk.

For a timetable and information on the subjects please see here: 2012 Training Series Timetable

The new year also brings change to eLearnCAL.  As most of you will know, Bill Miller is leaving CAL to go back to the Centre for Learning and Academic Development (CLAD) and will be working with the Colleges of Engineering and Physical Sciences (EPS), and Medical and Dental Sciences (MDS).

Marios Hadjianastasis has also left us to join the Academic Practice Team in CLAD.  Marios will be working with the AP team in supporting teaching development based on current pedagogical trends.

Both Marios and Bill have provided a monumental amount of support for CAL for four years and have proven to be very popular with staff.  They have been influential with regards to teaching and learning practices, bringing pedagogy and technology together to enhance the student experience; they will be sorely missed.

I hope you will all join me in wishing Marios and Bill all the success and happiness in their new roles.

Seasons greetings!

Movie Maker can be downloaded from Microsoft: http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?id=34

As well as our introductory workshop on Movie Maker there are plenty of online forums for more advanced editing such as Windows Movie Makers, a great site packed with lots of useful resources and 182 video related tutorials (at time of writing).

It’s fair comment – and I really like that kind of responsiveness from Panopto, too!

It seems there’s a problem when you try to use both powerpoint AND record screen, in that Panopto doesn’t like it one bit and decides to not show either…

Ollie has suggested that, in the absence of any sensible suggestions from Panopto, the best idea is to only use one or the other – ie, untick the choice of powerpoint or screen in the Panopto recorder, as highlighted in the image below:

I’ll keep you posted on further developments…