elearning_label_higher_education
Free Online Open Day webinar on UK Master’s degree in International Tourism, Hospitality or Sports Management at Bournemouth University
Join this Free Webinar to learn more about UK Master’s degree in International Tourism, Hospitality or Sports Management at Bournemouth University. You can join live and ask questions, or register to received the recording.
Open Educational Resources: The value of reuse in higher education
The report “Open Educational Resources: The value of reuse in higher education” outlines the range of online resources that are being used and how, when, where and why they are being incorporated into learning.
In 2010, the Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC) commissioned the University of Oxford to undertake a study to assess the impact of the use of OER in the UK higher education sector. The OER Impact Study ran from November 2010 to June 2011. This report is a summary of the findings of the research, written primarily for teaching staff and those supporting curriculum delivery processes who may not have considered the potential value of OER before.
The approach of the study was broad and highly qualitative; focusing on what motivates the reuse (or rejection) of digital resources found on the web, and exploring factors that staff and students value in educational content, such as provenance, quality, context and format.
The report begins by highlighting some key themes of the use and reuse of OER. It then outlines the study’s findings of current practice within the sector and suggests some of the attributes of educational content that are most valued by stakeholders in a range of contexts. It also describes approaches taken by staff when searching for educational content online and some of the ways in which they incorporate resources into the curriculum. The report concludes with the study’s recommendations around enhancing teaching practice, supporting learners, improving services and further research.
SPARC
The Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition (SPARC) is a library membership organisation that promotes expanded sharing of scholarship.
SPARC believes that faster and wider sharing of outputs of the research process increases the impact of research, fuels the advancement of knowledge, and increases the return on research investments. Hence, the coalition is promoting changes in both the infrastructure and culture needed to make Open Access the norm in scholarly communication.
Developed by the Association of Research Libraries, SPARC activities aim to advance acceptance and long-term sustainability of an open system for scholarly communication, with a primary focus on advancing open-access models for publishing and archiving the results of scholarly research.
The three key programme areas of the coalition are:
- Educating stakeholders about the problems facing scholarly communication and the opportunities for change;
- Advocating policy changes that advance the potential of technology to advance scholarly communication and that explicitly recognize that dissemination is an essential, inseparable component of the research process;
- Incubating real-world demonstrations of business and publishing models that advance changes benefiting scholarship and academe.
Membership in SPARC currently numbers nearly 800 institutions in North America, Europe, Japan, China, and Australia.
À propos MOOC: EU2C - the European Union explained
À propos MOOC: CIFE in cooperation with the Jean Monnet Chair for Political Science of the University of Cologne would like to develop web-based online courses on the EU. Have a close look here.
CIFE in cooperation with the Jean Monnet Chair for Political Science of the University of Cologne would like to develop web-based online courses on the EU.
Have a close look at https://moocfellowship.org/submissions/eu2c-the-european-union-explained-by-two-partners-cologne-and-cife Find the green "Abstimmen" (vote) button and CLICK.
We are applying for technical support to create a web-based online course on the EU.
The more clicks, the better our chances! Thanks for your support!
Memorandum of Understanding OCWC ICDE 2013
The OpenCourseWare Consortium (OCWC) and the International Council for Open and Distance Education (ICDE) signed on 8 May, 2013 a Memorandum of Understanding between the two global associations.
The signature took place during a ceremony at the OpenCourseWare Consortium (OCWC) Global Conference 2013 at Bali, Indonesia.
With this agreement, ICDE and OCWC enter into closer cooperation in recognition of their mutual interest in expanded access to high quality higher education through open and distance education.
Both parties undertake to explore opportunities in the following areas:
- Mutual promotion of activities.
- Joint regional conference.
- Explore a joint initiative to support policy discussion and development facilitating open and distance education at governmental and institutional levels.
- Joint membership services.
- Opportunities to have synergy in projects, for example in giving attention to and promote "flagship projects".
eLearning Africa 2013 – Séance plénière d’ouverture
Apprentissage & innovation : dans le “Cloud” et sur le “Ground” avec l’esprit Ubuntu. Présidée par l’Honorable Ministre Joel Kaapanda, la séance plénière d’ouverture eLearning Africa 2013 verra les interventions de Mark Kaigwa, Stewart van Graan, Bobana Badisang ainsi que du Professeur Sugata Mitra et du très honorable Docteur Hage Geingo
Pour en savoir plus sur cette séance plénière d’ouverture, rendez-vous à l’adresse suivante : http://bit.ly/lVioqv
eLearning Africa 2013 - Opening plenary
Learning & innovation: In the cloud and on the ground with a spirit of ubuntu. Chaired by the Honourable Minister Joel Kaapanda, the eLearning Africa 2013 opening plenary will feature experts Mark Kaigwa, Stewart van Graan, Bobana Badisang, Prof Sugata Mitra and the Right Honorable Dr Hage Geingo
To know more about the opening plenary, please visit the following address: http://bit.ly/lVioqv
Yishay Mor “Are MOOCs really as adequate to open up the educational scene as they seem to promise?”
“MOOCs and Beyond” is the title of issue number 33 of eLearning Papers, a quarterly online magazine published by the European Commission. Guest edited by Dr Yishay Mor, Senior Lecturer in Educational Technology at the UK’s Open University, he believes the publication is coming out in an “incredibly timely” moment, at a point when “we are getting over the initial excitement about MOOCs [Massive Open Online Courses] and people are trying to get a more critical view” about them.
In a podcast interview given to eLearningeuropa.info Dr Mor expresses his wish to contribute with this special issue to “open up the discussion about MOOCs” and have a conversation started about questions that are currently on the table, such as “are MOOCs really adequate to open up the education scene as they seem to promise?”.
This new eLearning Papers offering shows the wide array of formats MOOCs can take. However, Mor points out that there are still several barriers for participation: basic access (not everybody has a broadband connection) and cultural barriers (some people are not comfortable using means such as blogs or chats). MOOCs generally seem to assume “people are comfortable with a variety of technological tools and channels”, and this is not always the case.
Nevertheless there is no doubt that “MOOCs do open up the educational scene. They have the potential to democratize education further and open up the scene in a different way: anyone with something to say can run a MOOC.”
The “possibilities are there for democratization and increase access, but the barriers are still there and we have to think hard about this”, stresses Dr Mor, who recommends “MOOCs and Beyond” to educational practitioners interested or intrigued about this phenomena, university administrators, higher education institutions considering to step into this area, and policy makers, who should remain vigilant and not feel tempted to stop investing in universities because of these online courses. “Both, higher education institutions and MOOCs have their purpose. The two should synergise in various ways. And in order to understand the relationships between both it is good to read this special issue of eLearning Papers”, he recommends.
Five new partners join the FutureLearn MOOCs platform
Five new partners are joining FutureLearn, the first free, open, online platform for courses from multiple UK universities and other leading organisations.
Launched in December 2012, the latest five partners to join the project are: the British Museum, Loughborough University, University of Sheffield, University of Glasgow and University of Strathclyde. Each of these institutions is committed to providing engaging and entertaining courses through the platform, which with these new additions has now a total of 24 partners across the UK.
“We are committed to removing the barriers to education by making learning more accessible, inspiring and useful to people, no matter what stage of life they are at. These partnerships will enable us to open up access to the best academics from world-class universities and cultural institutions and deliver new forms of social learning at large scale”, said FutureLearn CEO, Simon Nelson.
King’s College London, University of St Andrews, The British Library and the British Council are among the members of the platform, founded by the Open University.
The first tranche of FutureLearn MOOCs will be launched throughout 2013.
MOOCs and disruptive innovation: Implications for higher education
The opportunity that Massive Online Open Courses (MOOCs) offer for cost effective massification of learning has generated significant interest from governments, higher education institutions (HEI) and commercial organisations. A growing number of HEI have been involved in experimenting with MOOCs for the purposes of expanding access, marketing and branding, as well as the potential of developing new revenue streams. The motivation for some MOOC providers is a philanthropic one and for others a business proposition. However, in both cases, there is the challenge of finding a viable business model that allows for sustainability of MOOC provision.
This paper will use the theory of disruptive innovation (Bower and Christensen, 1995) to examine MOOCs development and how their approach could be used to help institutions explore innovative approaches for teaching and learning and to develop new business models in order to gain competitive advantages in the education market. MOOCs provide institutions with a vehicle to think creatively and innovatively to explore new business models and flexible learning paths in HE provision. However, there is a need to rethink current higher education structures and policies and working practices that obstruct innovation. This includes funding arrangements and the ability to disaggregate teaching from assessment and accreditation for differential pricing and pursuit of marketing activities.