Jisc is currently procuring the different elements of its architecture for a basic learning analytics system which we plan to make available to UK colleges and universities later this year. In this video I explain how it all fits together. The service will consist of the following components, and institutions will be able opt in […]
European experts came together last week in an icy Paris to review Jisc’s evolving architecture for learning analytics. The event at L’Université Paris Descartes was jointly hosted by Apereo and Jisc. Delegates included representatives from the Universiteit van Amsterdam, the Pädagogische Hochschule Weingarten in Germany, Surfnet in the Netherlands, CETIS and the Lace Project, as […]
Accessing online content and services has become a vital part of the OU experience. The virtual learning environment has been carefully designed over the last seven years and has some excellent features such as a custom-built forum tool and quiz engine. Meanwhile we have other systems such as StudentHome, Open Learn and Library Services, full […]
Fed up being force-fed a whole lot of stuff of no great interest to you in your university’s virtual learning environment? Want to view only the parts of most relevance to your own learning – and blend them in with your other interests such as news, weather and sports updates? The Open University is now […]
Our pilot roll-out of Google Apps is going well. To date we’ve invited 12,000 students and nearly 2,000 of them have signed up. At the moment it’s up to students what they do with the tools and we’re staying out. The possible uses for formal learning though are intriguing and I just had a chat […]
Much of the criticism levelled at virtual learning environments / learning management systems relates to the control of the environment by the institution rather than the learner. The individual student has minimal ability to upload their own content or to set up collaborative tools unless this has been pre-ordained by the institution. The argument goes […]
The Association for Learning Technology’s annual conference currently underway in Manchester included a well-hyped session called “The VLE is Dead”. The debate included a number of well-rehearsed viewpoints on both sides of the divide between those who would like to do away with institutional learning systems and those who see them as essential (if perhaps […]
A group of us met earlier in the year from my office and from Learning and Teaching Solutions at the Open University to discuss some of our ideas around the future development of our Moodle-based VLE/LMS. Out of this discussion emerge, I think, some principles which could be taken into account when looking at new […]
I’ve just been at a workshop with my colleagues Tony Hirst, Ross Mackenzie, Martin Weller and others looking at how the OU’s virtual learning environment could be enhanced by closer integration with other systems elsewhere. This could work both ways so that: Live data from other systems is integrated within OU course content, and OU […]
In the heart of downtown post-industrial Manchester, currently basking in sweltering Mediterranean temperatures, Blackboard is hosting its European Conference, BbWorld Europe ‘08. Michael Feldstein has described the attack on Blackboard’s market share from Moodle. Whether this has anything to do with the negative publicity surrounding Blackboard’s patents, reported on extensively by Stephen Downes and Jim […]