In my last post I described four types of learning analytics products. Here I’ll go into more detail around some of the VLE-based engagement reporting tools. These products for Blackboard and Moodle sit within the virtual learning environment (VLE/LMS), look at its data only, and provide simple indications of a student’s progress, raising flags when […]
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 […]
I’ve just had some interesting conversations at an event for new OU module chairs at Cranfield University after presenting on some of the possibilities of elearning for our students. One academic wondered how he could be expected to design courses for smartphones and tablets when the University was not prepared to buy him these devices […]
Year on year use of online assessment is nearly doubling here at the OU. In the last year around half a million quizzes were delivered to students in our virtual learning environment using a combination of the Moodle quiz engine and the University’s in-house OpenMark system. The use of the e-assessement tools for summative purposes […]
I’ve been getting a bit obsessed recently about the importance of annotation functionality, as a number of my long-suffering colleagues will testify. Here’s my logic: iPads and other ebook readers will increasingly replace paper Some learners, particularly children, will make the transition away from paper now very quickly and be happy to study considerable amounts […]
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 […]
£27.99 / $44.99 Packt Publishing A sample chapter is available. I was recently sent a copy of this book for review. First published in May 2009, Moodle 1.9 Multimedia is one of a series on the popular learning management system / virtual learning environment published by Packt which includes titles on Moodle administration and course […]
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 […]
At the Cottenham event last week there was a talk by Andrew Field who achieved the most amazing level of audience engagement I’ve seen in years. His philosophy is to trick students into learning by getting them to play online games, improving their minds in the process without even realising it’s happening. Field certainly achieved […]
Dan Leighton was waxing lyrical about the benefits of elearning this morning at a Moodle event for schools near Cambridge. He finds it particularly useful for seeing when his pupils have uploaded assignments. He demonstrated a neat use of Jing to record his voice and his mouse clicks while producing feedback for students on spreadsheet […]