Learn 4 Life

Desktop Broadcasting of Second Life with TwitCam - “Inside Broadcasting”

Here’s another first from Learn 4 Life. Using Twitcam to Broadcast out Second Life from your desktop. Simple blocky but effective if you use a tripod and don’t move your avatar around too fast.

In this broadcast I even managed to stream in a video into Second Life on a media player. The sound is superb but the video being shown comes across as stills but then my broadband connection can only take so much through my Mac.

Oh an I forgot to add I was also talking to Chris Smith @shamblesguru on Skype as well on voice - go and play. A whole new Inside / Outside broadcast model. Voila!

Interview with Joe Wilson over Gmail video; London to Glasgow and back again…

Joe Wilson, Head of New Ventures at the SQA - NB - video interview at the bottom of the blog

I recently interviewed Joe, whose new job is Head of New Ventures at the SQA. Joe looked a bit quizzical when I referred to the New Generation User Skills Report at the beginning of the interview but was too polite to correct me. It is, of course, the Next Generation User Skills report and I have blogged about this previously.

The gmail connection held up well and I appreciate someone as busy as Joe making time to give this interview with all the inherent risks and glitches that can happen over a live connection. (note: I did use the wonderful Levelator to re-level the sound because of the discrepancies in volume - try it it works wonderfully.)

Genesis of the NGUSR, Diva Project and Curriculum for Excellence

He talks about his background at the awarding body, his experience of using mutlimedia as a lecturer in a college for 20 years and how that helped him review the landscape for a User Skills Report. As well as the NGUSR he also outlines various initiatives like the Diva Project in Scotland and how he has worked with vendors but also how the NGUSR will feed back into the Curriculum for Excellence. His remit now extends to adults and lifelong learning as well which is what Learn 4 Life coverage is all about!

GLOW and dynamic curriculum

He also talks about GLOW and his vision of communities of practice, directories of subject specialists and a more dynamic curriculum development; the system being changed by the deliverers - one of the things I hinted at in asking Norbert Pacheler at the end of the film in my previous blog. One of the joys of my job is seeing how research, practice and trends all seem to be leading to change in various areas and the research coming out does seem to be backing up Joe’s vision. Interviewing people in the learning landscape at many levels does help give an insight into the learning maps that might evolve.

Google and vocational spaces

He is also looking at using Google in the vocational space in Scotland and e-portfolios - his work with the vendors in the Diva Project has proved a good grounding in this. He also shared his idea of how Scotland might use content in all sorts of different way with various stakeholders. Exciting stuff and Scotland has the added advantage of Glow that can hold and disseminate this, something that can’t be done in England as there is no pan-VLE like it. That is going to be a big challenge in the future.

Work based learning

I really wished I had talked to him more about work based learning but no doubt he will be blogging about that at his excellent Experimental Blog. I really would like to thank him once again for just giving me a taster of his vision for learning in the future.

Education and learning need people like Joe and as an addendum I spotted him lurking at the bottom of the EdTechRoundup FlashMeeting this Sunday and I know how busy he is! How many other policy makers would take the time out to gather intelligence about grass roots teacher innovators like this. He has my immense respect.

Click To Play

Please do check out the links in this blog and reflect how we would go forward in England in the light of what is so much innovative practice in Scotland. As Joe said - they do also have their own unique challenges but it was a fascinating 20 minutes. As part of my broadcasting plan/ personal professional development for 2009 I hope to do more of these mini insights into the world of policy makers in the future - watch this space…

Digital Literacy - On the Agenda at Last

Can you imagine teaching Digital Literacy using a chalkboard like this

Photo attribution aidan.expedition’s remasterfed Einstein photo on Flickr under this CC Licence

Anyone who reads this blog on a regular basis knows that I constantly monitor any references to Digital Literacy in the blogosphere and further afield. One of the recent tools I have been using to gather attention or smart focus on those two little words has been Tweet Beep, this alerts me via email to any mention of that phrase - I like to see who is micro-blogging, Tweeting, talking about this topic and any references to research that might be current. It winnows out the wheat from the chaff that comes out of the constant stream of information that is the Twitterverse and delivers the results right to my door in the form of choice tweets in an email.

One such one was this:

Joe Wilson's Twitter on NGUS

I follow Joe Wilson on a regular basis on Twitter and we have had some banter back and forth but I also follow nearly 600 hundred other people as well and sometimes I miss the nuggets that come out of this particular river of info. Tweet Beep helps me pan for gold and in this case it certainly filtered out a very rich seam indeed.

The Next Generation User Skills Report was commissioned by Joe - it is a pretty substantial piece of research just published and I consider it to be one of the most important documents to come out about Digital Literacy in the UK. It is a “must read” for anyone interested in our future.

Quite simply, what it does is examine the idea that there is a productivity gap in the Scottish workplace that Higher Order ICT skills could help close. Ostensibly this is a document produced for the Scottish Qualifications Authority but it is extremely pertinent to the UK as a whole and examines developments in US, Europe and the rest of the UK. It looks at defining a basic set of skills (Next Generation User Skills) and identifying the gaps that exist in provision in the run up to 2013. It doesn’t set out to attempt to solve how to do this but is a very thorough analysis of the lay of the land at the moment.

I particularly liked the fact that, together with a project in Yorkshire and Humber, they were able to break down and map those gaps in provision against existing qualifications, awards and pedagogy in the UK and see how that might project against possible needs of employers and other stakeholders- at last - some informed vision but it isn’t prescriptive in any way.

I also love the fact, unlike a lot of BECTA publications which have a lot of slick photos and very little thought about deep content, this publication has a lot of very simple diagrams, charts and visual representations of data that are right to the point - that’s a big plus.

There’s a lot of variety in there with a lot of thought going into visual representation especially with clear colour coding and shading but it’s not overly slick -  and design doesn’t overwhelm content.

You are also presented with open questions in the form of prompts for writing at the end of the report to enable you to reflect on the content in the light of the research - this worked for me - it made me actually think about/ make notes on what I had read. I have rarely seen so much thought put into the way information is presented.

So we are encouraged to think about Employability & workplace skills, pedagogy, qualifications, identity, informal learning, digital citizenship and a host of other variables – and reflect on what are needs in terms of filling the shortfalls by 2013, through the focus of IT & digital literacy skills. The way ICT is mapped onto the curriculum is very well covered and the suggestion is that ICT is no longer a discreet skillset to be taught, once ubiquity of conditions for learning with ICT becomes the norm, seems an obvious outcome.

I’m not going to go into any more depth because I haven’t the time here to precis the whole thing. Instead - download it from here and do that yourself now - it’s a 57 page PDF document but I repeat it is one of the best pieces of analysis of the Digital Literacy Landscape I have read in recent years.

It’s timely and it sparks a debate about where we go from here. At last someone has done the groundwork to prepare authoritative reflection on systemic and cultural change in this area.

If you are a policy maker in the UK and you do not read it - you will be seriously uninformed.

David Kay, Bob McGonigle, Walter Patterson  and Barbara Tabbiner have done an excellent job here.

Download and read it now!

Learn 4 Life Island in Second Life

Learn 4 Life now has its own Island in Second Life on the Main Grid. We are already taking orders from CLCs, schools and other innovators who want to join us in a high profile initiative.

Want to be part of the first wave - get in touch for rates and consultancy.

Learn 4 Life branches out into Second Life

Our office in Second Life at Education UK. http://slurl.com/secondlife/Education%20UK/224, 127, 21

FUTURE LEARNING

Learn 4 Life has always been at the forefront of Innovation in Education, as well as offering free podcasts and videos about teaching and learning in innovation in ICT in the UK and abroad, we are now branching out into providing services in Second Life.

PARTNERSHIPS

Initially we will be interested in partnering with anyone interested in getting effective and workable pedagogies off the ground through blue sky research and development. After this phase we will be putting our expertise into making solid practical applications that work for schools, universities and the wider educational and home communities. We will be actively lobbying for mainstreaming these and combating ignorance about the virtual world environment.

If you are an educational professional, organisation or researcher who has some experience of working in distance learning and Second Life and want to partner up in mutually interesting and exciting developments please get in touch by clicking on the SURL above and teleporting to our offices and leaving a calling card or emailing us at the address below.

We believe that part of the personalisation agenda can be met through Virtual Worlds either through Continuous Professional Development for your staff or through visionary strategic management of compelling distance learning. We believe this technology will be mainstream in a few years and our aim is to bring an awareness of the possibilities to full time education - here and now.

BROADCASTING OPPORTUNITIES

We have now started to broadcast from within Second Life in the form of on-demand vodcasting and podcasting. We have beaten most of the main media companies to the post here and we are always on the lookout for new, highly innovative but effective projects to film and podcast. Please get in touch if you have an idea or project you’d like us to look at or want to sponsor our film season. We have already had a keen interest from partners wanting to sponsor films.

CONSULTANCY

On the basis of this we are now offering consultancy for rapid developments and builds in Second Life. Want to know what Second Life is all about? We can offer courses tailored to individuals or organisations by experienced educational professionals. Look out for our Wiki resources.
TALKS

Does your organisation need an insight into the virtual world or a forward look into 21st Century learning - book us for a presentation or talk.

VIRTUAL EDUCATIONAL BUILDS

You have BSF (Building Schools or the Future) but do you have flexibility of completley different environments for learning? Want to make the equivalent of a City Learning Centre or a LA CPD virtual infrastructure or even a School on the Main or Teen Second Life Grid? We can help make that a reality? You don’t need massive building costs to make that happen but you do need vision and the will to try something different for the 21st Century.

Need a secure virtual staffroom or senior management meeting place for Headteachers and other staff over a large geographical area? Then contact us.

DISTANCE LEARNING

International School that needs a space for parents and pupils to keep in touch with family and friends? Email us.

TRAINING

Need training for your staff in the basics of Second Life or a virtual space where staff can come and learn about skills needed for distance learning - then email us below? We’ll be happy to offer consultation and help getting you “in-world” safely and securely with the minimum of fuss?

In another country and are interested in setting up distance learning courses using Second Life - what are the latest developments and technologies? - Then come see us.

University or e-learning specialist? Do you want a crash course in SL - contact us - we will find colleagues that work in your area that can help.

BUSINESS TO BUSINESS

Need a presence in Second Life and need a quick and informed guide to how to get a presence and a start-up in-world. Just get in touch.

COMMERCIAL BUILDS

Educational Commercial Firm - want a SL presence - you’ve come to the right place - contact us for a meet in RL or SL.

CONTACT

Whatever your needs please contact us and why not join our group ‘Learn 4 Life’ in Second Life to see developments while you are at it.

for more contact info see here.