tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13712738494640553172024-03-13T04:45:45.158+00:00Digilab blogDon't subscribe to any blogs yet, but wonder if you should? Not sure what Second Life is, or what social networking means? This could be the blog for you. The Digilab blog aims to discuss current themes and trends in eLearning in down-to-earth language that's easy to follow.Digilab bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07183112439591133075noreply@blogger.comBlogger23125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1371273849464055317.post-42900088842674421632011-04-19T11:36:00.000+01:002011-04-19T11:36:09.868+01:00Calling all game players, from Angry Birds to WoWWhether you only play something like Angry Birds on your phone every now and again, or you regularly pull all-nighters playing Call of Duty, do please help with Jo's PhD by completing the survey linked below.<br />
<br />
<b>What do people get out of playing games?</b><br />
<br />
<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:TrackMoves/> <w:TrackFormatting/> <w:PunctuationKerning/> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:DoNotPromoteQF/> <w:LidThemeOther>EN-GB</w:LidThemeOther> <w:LidThemeAsian>X-NONE</w:LidThemeAsian> <w:LidThemeComplexScript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:SnapToGridInCell/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules/> <w:DontGrowAutofit/> <w:SplitPgBreakAndParaMark/> <w:DontVertAlignCellWithSp/> <w:DontBreakConstrainedForcedTables/> <w:DontVertAlignInTxbx/> <w:Word11KerningPairs/> <w:CachedColBalance/> </w:Compatibility> <w:DoNotOptimizeForBrowser/> <m:mathPr> <m:mathFont m:val="Cambria Math"/> <m:brkBin m:val="before"/> <m:brkBinSub m:val="--"/> <m:smallFrac m:val="off"/> <m:dispDef/> <m:lMargin m:val="0"/> <m:rMargin m:val="0"/> <m:defJc m:val="centerGroup"/> <m:wrapIndent m:val="1440"/> <m:intLim m:val="subSup"/> <m:naryLim m:val="undOvr"/> </m:mathPr></w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" DefUnhideWhenUsed="true"
DefSemiHidden="true" DefQFormat="false" DefPriority="99"
LatentStyleCount="267"> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="0" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Normal"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="heading 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 7"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 8"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 9"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 7"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 8"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 9"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="35" QFormat="true" Name="caption"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="10" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Title"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" Name="Default Paragraph Font"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="11" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtitle"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="22" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Strong"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="20" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Emphasis"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="59" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Table Grid"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Placeholder Text"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="No Spacing"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Revision"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="34" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="List Paragraph"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="29" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Quote"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="30" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Quote"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="19" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtle Emphasis"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="21" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Emphasis"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="31" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtle Reference"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="32" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Reference"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="33" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Book Title"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="37" Name="Bibliography"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" QFormat="true" Name="TOC Heading"/> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style>
/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-priority:99;
mso-style-qformat:yes;
mso-style-parent:"";
mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin:0cm;
mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:11.0pt;
font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri;
mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast;
mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri;
mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;}
</style> <![endif]--> <br />
<div class="MsoPlainText">Hello</div><div class="MsoPlainText"><br />
</div><div class="MsoPlainText">I'm a final year PhD student in IET looking at involvement and learning in digital games. In the last few years, games appear to have exploded in to the mainstream. So in addition to the more traditional first person shooters and adventure games, we now have families playing together on the Wii, not to mention people playing Farmville on Facebook and Angry Birds on their mobile phones. My research aims to further our understanding of how and what we learn from our involvement with games by considering exactly what it is we seem get out of our game-playing experiences.</div><div class="MsoPlainText"><br />
</div><div class="MsoPlainText">If you’d like to help me out with my study, please click the following link to fill in my questionnaire: <a href="https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/involvement_games">https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/involvement_games</a>. </div><div class="MsoPlainText"><br />
</div><div class="MsoPlainText">It’s about different kinds of game-play activities– so whether you only play something like Angry Birds on your phone every now and again, or you regularly pull all-nighters playing Call of Duty, do please fill it in. I’m interested in getting as wide a range of responses as possible, so feel free to pass this on to anyone you know (over the age of 18 and in the UK) who might play games. It should take about 20 minutes to complete. Your participation would be much appreciated.</div><div class="MsoPlainText"><br />
</div><div class="MsoPlainText">Many thanks</div><div class="MsoPlainText"><br />
</div><div class="MsoPlainText">Jo Iacovides<br />
</div><div class="MsoPlainText">PhD student</div><div class="MsoPlainText">Institute of Educational Technology</div><div class="MsoPlainText">The Open University</div><div class="blogger-post-footer">www.open.ac.uk/digilab</div>Keren Millshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00873563419208530317noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1371273849464055317.post-87919459035096773702010-10-08T14:48:00.000+01:002010-10-08T14:48:54.373+01:00Invitation to OU staff to attend a discussion on Gaming Research on 21 OctOn Thursday, 21st October, Jo Iacovides (IET) and Marian Petre (Computing) are hosting an informal discussion on gaming research, with the aim of getting people from the OU who are interested in the area to meet up. Whether it’s using games for learning, considering game design, using gaming as a medium for understanding strategy or interaction, or anything else game-related, it would be great to hear from you.<br />
<br />
The meeting will be in Room 1, Jennie Lee Building, at 14:00. During the session, everyone will be asked to introduce themselves and their interests in brief, before the floor is opened to more general discussion. Are there any topics you’d like to cover, or questions you’d like to pose? Feel free to help shape the discussion.<br />
<br />
If you’d like to join us please, send email I.Iacovides[at]open.ac.uk to confirm, along with a couple of sentences which describe your specific interests.<br />
<br />
If you’re interested but can’t come on the day, please send us a couple of lines of description anyway, because we would also like to compile an informal ‘directory’ to help people plan future discussions.<br />
<br />
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to get in touch.<div class="blogger-post-footer">www.open.ac.uk/digilab</div>Keren Millshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00873563419208530317noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1371273849464055317.post-71341551007657392732010-03-04T12:59:00.001+00:002010-03-04T13:45:40.291+00:00Pearson to offer academic texts on iPad?<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Pearson Education <a bitly="BITLY_PROCESSED" href="http://www.pearsoned.com/press/2010/02/09/pearson-launches-first-iphoneipad-applications-for-home-office-computer-users-and-it-professionals.htm">have announced</a> the launch of their first set of apps... for <a bitly="BITLY_PROCESSED" href="http://www.apple.com/uk/ipad/">Apple's iPad</a>.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a bitly="BITLY_PROCESSED" href="http://mms.businesswire.com/bwapps/mediaserver/ViewMedia?mgid=214986&vid=4&download=1" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://mms.businesswire.com/bwapps/mediaserver/ViewMedia?mgid=214986&vid=4&download=1" /></a></div><blockquote style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Pearson offers free reader Apps that contain one sample chapter from various best-selling Pearson books, and allow customers to purchase the remaining chapters through a convenient “in-app purchase” feature. And for those IT professionals interested in pursuing certifications there are a growing list of Apps to come from Pearson, in areas such as CCNA®, CompTIA® and more.</blockquote><br />
It's good to see a publisher of academic texts offer content in this way. Hopefully others will follow suit, and offer texts in a range of formats for use on a variety of ebook readers.<br />
<br />
For a full listing of FREE downloads, search Pearson Education in the iTunes Store or visit <a bitly="BITLY_PROCESSED" href="http://us.lrd.yahoo.com/_ylt=Ap5xJXYW2Kzp0SwBPfHO5s_jba9_;_ylu=X3oDMTE2c3UwdGRiBHBvcwM1BHNlYwNuZXdzYXJ0Ym9keQRzbGsDd3d3aW5mb3JtaXRj/SIG=173q2v5lg/**http%3A//cts.businesswire.com/ct/CT%3Fid=smartlink%26url=http%253A%252F%252Fwww.informit.com%252Fiphoneapp%26esheet=6172672%26lan=en_US%26anchor=www.informit.com%252Fiphoneapp%26index=5%26md5=591782039de16c31d4d04a6fde788a18" onclick="javascript:pageTracker._trackPageview('/outbound/article/http://us.lrd.yahoo.com/_ylt=Ap5xJXYW2Kzp0SwBPfHO5s_jba9_;_ylu=X3oDMTE2c3UwdGRiBHBvcwM1BHNlYwNuZXdzYXJ0Ym9keQRzbGsDd3d3aW5mb3JtaXRj/SIG=173q2v5lg/**http%3A//cts.businesswire.com/ct/CT%3Fid=smartlink%26url=http%253A%252F%252Fwww.informit.com%252Fiphoneapp%26esheet=6172672%26lan=en_US%26anchor=www.informit.com%252Fiphoneapp%26index=5%26md5=591782039de16c31d4d04a6fde788a18');">www.informit.com/iphoneapp</a>.<div class="blogger-post-footer">www.open.ac.uk/digilab</div>Keren Millshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00873563419208530317noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1371273849464055317.post-77473742263352626712010-02-18T16:21:00.000+00:002010-02-18T16:21:53.653+00:00JISC Digital Media: Free Online Surgeries<a bitly="BITLY_PROCESSED" href="http://www.jiscdigitalmedia.ac.uk/">JISC Digital Media</a> are offering the the UK Further and Higher Education community free online support regarding the creation, use and management of any aspect of digital media for teaching and learning.<br />
<br />
They are providing fortnightly one-hour online help and support sessions to answer any queries you have regarding digital media.<br />
<br />
Join them any time between 1.30pm and 2.30pm every other Wednesday - see the planned schedule on <a bitly="BITLY_PROCESSED" href="http://www.jiscdigitalmedia.ac.uk/surgery/">their website</a>.<br />
<br />
<blockquote>Queries regarding any aspect of still images, moving images (including video), audio and how they can be used for teaching and learning are welcome. We will answer technical, workflow-related or general queries, and there is no limit to the number of queries that can be asked. No query is too simple to be explored.<br />
<br />
An archive of questions and answers from each session is made available to support others in the community.<br />
<br />
Some scheduled sessions will have themes and include short presentations by members of the service followed by question and answer time.</blockquote><br />
The next sessions are<br />
<ul><li>Uses for digital media in a VLE - 24 February 2010</li>
<li>Considering the mobile platform - 10 March 2010</li>
<li>Using screen capture software - 24 March 2010</li>
<li>Good practice - storing digital media files - 21 April 2010</li>
</ul><div class="blogger-post-footer">www.open.ac.uk/digilab</div>Keren Millshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00873563419208530317noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1371273849464055317.post-46755540279492048712009-10-13T10:01:00.006+01:002010-03-29T09:50:29.072+01:00Web 2.0 tools for communicating with studentsThe Digilab team was asked by the <a bitly="BITLY_PROCESSED" href="http://www2.open.ac.uk/ousa/">Open University Students' Association</a> (OUSA) to run an introduction to Web 2.0 tools to help them review their communication strategy. As there is such a vast number of Web 2.0 tools available, we chose to concentrate on those the <a bitly="BITLY_PROCESSED" href="http://library.open.ac.uk/">library</a> is already using to engage and interact with our customers.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">1. Facebook</span><br />
<a bitly="BITLY_PROCESSED" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuNQmJsHqJ2JlfkNwTBFdpjL3fk_7QHeB8Bp9NX2ROKIMzEQLi0clophnEUWOyk5fUGDncPwbEQYrB3WnvhGd7Pp7FX5uGVOmBoBRmkBZxHBl0vKDlrv4IKWCL7E4ndDp1bjPfkVKyRRI/s1600-h/Library+Facebook+header.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5392013342273362130" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuNQmJsHqJ2JlfkNwTBFdpjL3fk_7QHeB8Bp9NX2ROKIMzEQLi0clophnEUWOyk5fUGDncPwbEQYrB3WnvhGd7Pp7FX5uGVOmBoBRmkBZxHBl0vKDlrv4IKWCL7E4ndDp1bjPfkVKyRRI/s320/Library+Facebook+header.JPG" style="cursor: pointer; float: right; height: 88px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 320px;" /></a><br />
The Open University Library's <a bitly="BITLY_PROCESSED" href="http://www.facebook.com/reqs.php#/pages/Milton-Keynes/The-Open-University-Library/57072763224?ref=ts%20">facebook page</a> was one of our first forays into experimenting with Web 2.0 tools. We wanted to know if our users would engage in conversation with us, and have found that many of them do. Facebook's 'Insights' tool (only visible to the page administrator) also helps to track what attracts people to the site and what discourages them from following us.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">2. Twitter</span><br />
The library uses <a bitly="BITLY_PROCESSED" href="http://twitter.com/OU_Library">Twitter </a>to ask questions of our users, or to share amusing stories that might not be considered appropriate for the website.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">3. The <a bitly="BITLY_PROCESSED" href="http://www.open.ac.uk/blogs/LibraryNews/">Library News</a> Blog</span><br />
The Library News blog is used for more formal news and announcements and feeds into the home page of the <a bitly="BITLY_PROCESSED" href="http://library.open.ac.uk/">library website</a> as well as the library's Twitter and Facebook accounts.<br />
<br />
<b>4. You Tube</b><br />
The Library has its own <a bitly="BITLY_PROCESSED" href="http://www.youtube.com/user/OULibrary">You Tube account</a>, which we use for fun or experimental videos which may not be suitable for sharing through the Open University's main <a bitly="BITLY_PROCESSED" href="http://www.youtube.com/ou#p/p">You Tube channel</a>, which is where our more polished videos are available.<br />
<br />
<b>Linking it all together</b><br />
There are several common features shared by many Web 2.0 tools, which make them all the more powerful for reducing the number of places you need to edit, whilst expanding the number of potential delivery mechanisms for that content.<br />
<ol><li>Most of these tools provide an RSS feed which allows your readers to subscribe to the content you post, and allows you to feed the content into other sites.</li>
<li>Many also provide a "widget" or "badge" which provides you with some html code you can use to pull the feed from that tool into a blog or website - these can usually be found under 'settings' on the site you want to take the feed from.</li>
<li> Media sharing sites, such as Flickr, You Tube or Slideshare, also usually provide "embed" code which allows you to insert photos, videos or other media into your website or blog post in a way that enables people tp watch it without leaving your site.<br />
</li>
</ol><div class="blogger-post-footer">www.open.ac.uk/digilab</div>Keren Millshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00873563419208530317noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1371273849464055317.post-31000345345936114702009-09-07T09:40:00.003+01:002009-10-13T12:24:38.676+01:00ALT-C Plenary talks available to view in Digilab, 8-10 SeptemberSeb Schmoller, Chief Executive of the Association for Learning Technology (ALT), has issued the following invitation for people not attending <a href="http://www.alt.ac.uk/altc2009/">ALT-C</a> this year to watch the keynote speakers - Martin Bean, Michael Wesch, and Terry Anderson via Elluminate.<br />
<br />
The <a href="http://altc2009.alt.ac.uk/talk/by_track/493">ALT-C Plenary talks</a> will be displayed on a large screen in Digilab for group viewing.<br />
<blockquote>We will be making all keynote and most if not all invited speaker sessions from next week's <a href="http://www.alt.ac.uk/altc2009/">ALT Conference</a> available over the Web in real time, and as archived files, from http://elluminate.alt.ac.uk/.<br />
<br />
Those participating remotely in the keynote sessions will be able to submit questions online.</blockquote><br />
<br />
The keynote speaker schedule is:<br />
* <a href="http://www.alt.ac.uk/altc2009/keynotes.html#wesch">Michael Wesch</a>, Assistant Professor of Cultural Anthropology at Kansas State University, Tuesday 8 September, 09.25 to 10.25 UK time;<br />
* <a href="http://www.alt.ac.uk/altc2009/keynotes.html#bean">Martin Bean</a>, Vice-Chancellor Designate of the Open University, Wednesday 9 September, 11.55 to 12.55;<br />
* <a href="http://www.alt.ac.uk/altc2009/keynotes.html#anderson">Terry Anderson</a>, Professor and Canada Research Chair in Distance Education at Athabasca University, Canada - Canada's Open University, Thursday 10 September, 11.55 to 12.55.<br />
<br />
For the timings and details of the invited speaker sessions consult go to the schedule at http://altc2009.alt.ac.uk/talk/by_track/493.<br />
<br />
<blockquote>If you intend to joining us, do not leave setting up your system until the last minute, and consult Elluminate Help - http://elluminate.alt.ac.uk/help/public_help.help - if you need it.</blockquote><br />
<br />
For a URL version of Seb Schmoller's email go to http://tinyurl.com/mk7ceg<br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.alt.ac.uk/altc2009/">ALT Conference</a>, 8-10 September 2009</span><div class="blogger-post-footer">www.open.ac.uk/digilab</div>Keren Millshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00873563419208530317noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1371273849464055317.post-47384133596291364662009-02-04T09:58:00.003+00:002009-02-04T10:10:55.995+00:00BBC News: Video game helps with fire drill<a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/em/fr/-/1/hi/technology/7867861.stm">Video game helps with fire drill</a><br /><p></p><blockquote><p>Researchers at Durham University have modified a video game to simulate fire scenarios for training purposes.</p><p>The team used The Source Engine, the 3D game engine used to drive Half-Life 2, and created a virtual model of one of the university's departments. </p><p>Developers plan to use it to examine people's behaviour in a fire and to train people in good fire practice. </p>The simulator can be adapted to mimic the interior of most buildings, although modification will be needed. </blockquote><p>Full story:<br /><a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/em/fr/-/1/hi/technology/7867861.stm">http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/em/fr/-/1/hi/technology/7867861.stm</a><br /></p>This is an interesting example of the way games can be used for practical elements of teaching. In combination with motion-based controllers such as the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wii_Remote">wiimote</a>, they could really change the way we offer some aspects of distance education. How about a virtual chemistry lab, for instance?<div class="blogger-post-footer">www.open.ac.uk/digilab</div>Keren Millshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00873563419208530317noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1371273849464055317.post-22429757333515053372008-10-03T16:56:00.002+01:002008-10-03T17:02:45.640+01:00Digilab improvement work 7th to 9th October 2008<p>Digilab users please note that the Digilab will be unavailable from <b>Tuesday 7th to Thursday 9<sup>th</sup> October</b> due to improvement work being carried out. </p> <p>Some cables and equipment will be replaced, making the room potentially unsafe while the work is carried out. Once the work is complete the projector and its control screen should be easier to use.</p><div class="blogger-post-footer">www.open.ac.uk/digilab</div>Keren Millshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00873563419208530317noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1371273849464055317.post-88919731817155252132008-01-22T10:07:00.001+00:002009-10-13T11:27:41.540+01:00Training From America's Army Game Saved a Life<i>"Most people who play the United States Army's freeware FPS sit through training simulations so that they may be able to get into the action and rack up some kills. The medic skills learned in the training allow you to heal teammates in the game, but it seems that they also <a href="http://blog.wired.com/games/2008/01/americas-army-t.html">apply in real life situations.</a> According to Wired and the America's Army forums, 'a North Carolina man who saw an SUV flip and roll on a highway last November was able to provide medical aid to the victims with skills he learned from the America's Army."<br />
<br />
From <a href="http://games.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/01/20/1741234">Slashdot</a><br />
</i><div class="blogger-post-footer">www.open.ac.uk/digilab</div>Keren Millshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00873563419208530317noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1371273849464055317.post-61723015438566558682008-01-18T16:48:00.000+00:002008-01-18T16:50:30.126+00:00Surgeons are using the Wii to prepare for surgery<div class="mxb"> <div class="sh">From the BBC:<br /><br />'Wii warm-up' good for surgeons </div> </div> <span style="font-size:85%;"> <!-- S BO --> <!-- S IIMA --> <table align="right" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="203"> <tbody><tr><td> <div> <img src="http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/44315000/jpg/_44315216_wiiap.jpg" alt="Nintendo Wii" border="0" height="152" hspace="0" vspace="0" width="203" /> <div class="cap">Wii players use a wireless wand that detects acceleration in three dimensions</div> </div> </td></tr> </tbody></table> <!-- E IIMA --> <!-- S SF --> <b>Playing computer games such as the Nintendo Wii can improve a surgeon's performance in the operating theatre, a US study shows. </b> </span><p> <span style="font-size:85%;">Only certain games are effective - those requiring delicate movements. </span></p><p> <span style="font-size:85%;">The fine hand control required to play these games acts as a warm up and hones scalpel skills the Banner Good Samaritan Medical Centre team claim.<br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size:85%;">Full article at <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/7193588.stm">http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/7193588.stm</a><br /></span></p><div class="blogger-post-footer">www.open.ac.uk/digilab</div>Keren Millshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00873563419208530317noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1371273849464055317.post-70257045663881965732007-11-06T09:54:00.000+00:002007-11-06T14:19:22.342+00:00Learning design as aspirin for the web 2.0 headacheMartin Weller has written an <a href="http://nogoodreason.typepad.co.uk/no_good_reason/2007/11/learning-design.html">excellent post</a> on this, and explains his ideas far better than I can.<br /><br /><blockquote>The whole web 2.0 thing represents something of a problem, or headache if you will, for higher ed. On the one hand we can see how enthusiastic people are for it, and how it genuinely creates user participation, community, and quality content. All things we'd like to have in higher ed. And on the other we cherish lots of aspects of higher ed that seem at odds with it, such as the quality assurance of content, careful support and structure, hierarchical structures, etc.</blockquote><div class="blogger-post-footer">www.open.ac.uk/digilab</div>Keren Millshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00873563419208530317noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1371273849464055317.post-4912536339252831952007-09-07T14:06:00.000+01:002007-09-11T14:22:17.707+01:00Student expectations of technologyJISC have just released the results of a <a href="http://www.jisc.ac.uk/publications/publications/studentexpectations#downloads">study</a> they commissioned to find out what digital natives expectations are of the use of technology in university teaching.<br /><br /><ul style="margin-top: 0cm;" type="disc"><span><li class="MsoNormal" style=""><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;"><span style=";font-family:Arial;" lang="EN-US">65% ‘regularly’ use social networking sites, such as Facebook, MySpace or Flickr (females more than males - 71% and 59% respectively) and only 5% ‘never’ use them<o:p></o:p></span></span> </li><li class="MsoNormal" style=""><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;"><span style=";font-family:Arial;" lang="EN-US">A quarter (27%) ‘regularly’ use wikis, blogs or online networks<o:p></o:p></span></span> </li><li class="MsoNormal" style=""><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;"><span style=";font-family:Arial;" lang="EN-US">Very few ‘regularly’ take part in an online community, for example a ‘virtual world’ such as Second Life (8%)<o:p></o:p></span></span> </li><li class="MsoNormal" style=""><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;"><span style=";font-family:Arial;" lang="EN-US">62% agree with the statement ‘</span></span><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;"><span style=";font-family:Arial;" >I expect IT to play a much bigger role in my learning than it does now’ </span></span><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;"><span style=";font-family:Arial;" lang="EN-US">with regard to their time at university, although qualitative insight suggest that perhaps it’s not clear to them how<o:p></o:p></span></span> </li><li class="MsoNormal" style=""><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;"><span style=";font-family:Arial;" lang="EN-US">Of those who have at least begun the process of preparing for university application 50% have looked at or asked for information about the types of IT provision<o:p></o:p></span></span> </li><li class="MsoNormal" style=""><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10;" lang="EN-US" ><span style="font-size:100%;">Of those who had looked at or asked about IT provision 42% said that there was more IT provision than they expected.</span> <o:p></o:p></span></span></li></span></ul>Personally, I'm not sure how to interpret that. Just because students use Facebook, doesn't necessarily mean they want their university to use it to communicate with them. Similarly perhaps their lack of social attachment to Second Life would make them more willing to enter it as a learning space.<br /><br />Their conclusions are very interesting:<br /><p style="text-align: left;"></p><blockquote><p style="text-align: left;"> The traditional methods of teacher/pupil learning seem neither hierarchical nor outmoded to them. They see personal, face to face interaction as the backbone of their learning. It would be interesting and relevant to carry out a similar study with first-year undergraduates, who have begun to appreciate the many different ways learning can happen at university, to see if opinions differ significantly and if the potential for <acronym title="Information and Communications Technology">ICT</acronym> is more easily understood once they have ex<span class="BreakOutBox"></span>perienced the different teacher-learner relationships of university. </p> <p style="text-align: left;"> The audience for our research thinks that technology should: </p> <ul><li> <div style="text-align: left;"> support established methods of teaching and admin </div> </li><li> <div style="text-align: left;"> act as an additional resource for research and communication </div> </li><li> <div style="text-align: left;"> be a core part of social engagement and facilitate face-to-face friendships at university </div> </li></ul> <p style="text-align: left;"> These principles run across all groups identified in the online research. Those who are leading edge users or have high use of <acronym title="Information and Communications Technology">ICT</acronym> at school are perhaps more technology savvy and open to its use, but they do not want technology to encroach on their learning or social experiences. </p> <p style="text-align: left;"> Fundamentally, this age group suspects that if all learning is mediated through technology, this will diminish the value of the learning.</p></blockquote><p style="text-align: left;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: left;">For more on Facebook see the <a href="http://blogs.open.ac.uk/edit/mt-search.cgi?IncludeBlogs=1149&search=facebook">OUseful</a> and <a href="http://nogoodreason.typepad.co.uk/no_good_reason/facebook/index.html">Ed Techie</a> blogs.<br /></p><div class="blogger-post-footer">www.open.ac.uk/digilab</div>Keren Millshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00873563419208530317noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1371273849464055317.post-16612895925046920332007-09-04T10:28:00.000+01:002007-09-04T10:30:53.710+01:00International M-Libraries Conference - Only 4 weeks to close of registration<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;">Only 4 weeks to <a href="http://library.open.ac.uk/mLibraries/registration.htm">register</a> for the First International M-Libraries Conference, registration will close on September 30<sup>th</sup>. This conference is being hosted at the Open University in Milton Keynes on <span style="font-weight: bold;">13</span><sup style="font-weight: bold;">th</sup><span style="font-weight: bold;"> and 14</span><sup style="font-weight: bold;">th</sup><span style="font-weight: bold;"> November</span> in collaboration with colleagues from <st1:placename st="on">Athabasca</st1:PlaceName> <st1:placetype st="on">University</st1:PlaceType> in <st1:place st="on"><st1:country-region st="on">Canada</st1:country-region></st1:place>. The aim is to focus on work being carried out around the world to bring library resources and services to people via mobile phones and other handheld devices.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;">The conference website is at <a title="http://library.open.ac.uk/mLibraries/" href="http://library.open.ac.uk/mLibraries/">http://library.open.ac.uk/mLibraries/</a>.<br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><strong>Keynote Speakers: </strong><br /> <br /> <span style="font-size:100%;"><strong>Joan K. Lippincott</strong><strong> (</strong><a href="http://library.open.ac.uk/mLibraries/keynote_speakers.htm#1">biography</a><strong>) </strong>- Coalition for Networked Information, US<br /><br /><strong>Dr Agnes Kukulska-Hulme</strong><strong> (</strong><a href="http://library.open.ac.uk/mLibraries/keynote_speakers.htm#3">biography</a><strong>) </strong>- Open University, UK<br /><br /><strong>Dr. Mohamed Ally (</strong><a href="http://library.open.ac.uk/mLibraries/keynote_speakers.htm#2">biography</a><strong>) </strong>- Athabasca University, Canada </span> <br /> <br /><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><div class="blogger-post-footer">www.open.ac.uk/digilab</div>Keren Millshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00873563419208530317noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1371273849464055317.post-2658340889978549442007-09-03T14:56:00.001+01:002009-02-04T10:30:47.709+00:00A library team's DigiQuest<span style="font-weight: bold;">DigiQuest: The dash for the cache! by Juanita Foster-Jones</span><br /><br />Take your mind back to 25 July… a wet, grey day. This was the day the Strategic and Service Development team had our “DigiQuest” away day, although we didn’t go very far as we held<br />it in Digilab. Forget your flipcharts, brainstorming and post-its, this was an awayday with a difference. It had gadgets and gekos, pink pigs and pictures and most important of all caches with stashes and prizes!<br /><br />There was a serious point of the day, which was getting to grips with the emerging technologies we’ve got in Digilab. The theme for the day was “Navigation”, and SSDG was divided into 4 teams to explore navigation within a specific context:<br /><ul><li>Mobile learning ,</li><li>Virtual immersive, </li><li>World Gaming ,</li><li>User generated content.</li></ul><span style="font-weight: bold;">So where do gekos, pink pigs and pictures come into it?</span><br />Well the Garmin geko is the GPS device we used on our geocache treasure hunt. We had to solve clues to find an expert to interview on our subject, and further clues to find tokens stashed in caches which were cunningly hidden around campus by other members of Library staff. It wasn’t as easy as it sounds . The pictures we took using the various devices we had – smart phones<br />& digital cameras, and we also used the devices to record the interviews. This all had to be put<br />together into a presentation in the afternoon. However, to further challenge us we had to create our presentations on the macs in Digilab, using Keynote software and include images and audio from the day. Overall we met the challenge and actually had quite a few laughs on the way. Perhaps what was most revealing was learning more about the team.<br /><br />Lets not forget the pink pigs...<br />the lovely sweets that we all gromphed to keep the adrenalin running.<div class="blogger-post-footer">www.open.ac.uk/digilab</div>Keren Millshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00873563419208530317noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1371273849464055317.post-30884895912129669272007-09-03T14:21:00.000+01:002007-09-03T14:56:39.131+01:00What's in a DigiQuest?<p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><span style="font-size:100%;">Digilab is now offering staff development activities for Open University staff as part of the service. These activies are intended to encourage hands-on exploration of educational technologies for staff who haven't used them before, or who have only used them to a limited extent. We aim to help attendees come away feeling more confident about their understanding of the technologies and their ability to use them.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: arial;">We offer two types of activities:</p><ul><li>Digiquests, which are intensive sessions lasting half a day or a full day,</li><li>Digibytes, which are light touch introductory sessions lasting half an hour to an hour<br /></li></ul><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: arial;"><b><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Aims of a Digiquest</span></b><b><span style="font-size: 18pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></p> <p style="font-family: arial;" class="MsoNormal">To</p> <ul style="font-family: arial;"><li>increase awareness and confidence in using the technologies in the Digilab</li><li>consider their potential for use in delivering learning activities</li><li>foster teambuilding across development areas</li></ul> <p style="font-family: arial;" class="MsoNormal">by</p> <ul><li>“hands on” discovery of Digilab based technologies</li><li>Investigating navigational issues related to an assigned technology related topic</li><li>Creating “byte sized” multimedia presentations incorporating user generated content</li></ul> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: arial;"><b><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Resources available to attendees</span></b><b><span style="font-size: 18pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></p> <ul><li><span style="font-size:100%;">a Facilitator</span></li><li><span style="font-size:100%;">Geocache Treasure hunt (1GPS enabled device per team)</span></li><li><span style="font-size:100%;">Digilab PC & Apple iMac based applications </span></li><li><span style="font-size:100%;">Experts and Information Packs</span></li><li><span style="font-size:100%;">Technologies attendees can use to record interviews and experiences related to the issues under investigation</span></li><li><span style="font-size:100%;">Sweeties for necessary fortification and brain fuels</span></li><li><span style="font-size:100%;">Each other!</span></li></ul> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size:180%;"><b><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Theme for the day</span></b></span><b><span style="font-size: 18pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></p> <p style="font-family: arial;" class="MsoNormal">The theme for the day can be negotiated. Themes need to be common to all types of technology being investigated, such as navigation. The chosen theme will run through both the Geocache treasure hunt exercise and the afternoon activity.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: 36pt;"></span><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">What do attendees have to do?</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18pt; text-indent: -18pt; font-family: arial;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="">1.<span style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Attendees will be required to solve some clues and locate hidden caches on campus containing special tokens assigned to their team. The first cache is their ‘treasure hunt’ expert. At each cache attendees must collect each token as attendees need to surrender these in the Digilab when their team has completed the hunt. Tokens will be traded for information to help the teams complete the afternoon’s activity. Last team to empty a cache must bring the cache stash box back with them. Attendees will need to capture through stills, video and/or audio content:<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 72pt; text-indent: -18pt; font-family: arial;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="">a.<span style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 12pt;">the short interview attendees have with the team’s ‘expert’ <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 72pt; text-indent: -18pt; font-family: arial;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="">b.<span style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 12pt;">attendees and their team mates discovering each cache and its token<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18pt; text-indent: -18pt; font-family: arial;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="">2.<span style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 12pt;">After lunch attendees will spend time investigating navigational issues around the specific theme and<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 72pt; text-indent: -18pt; font-family: arial;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="">a.<span style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 12pt;">technologies that have been assigned to the team. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18pt; text-indent: -18pt; font-family: arial;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="">3.<span style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Attendees will need to <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 72pt; text-indent: -18pt; font-family: arial;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="">a.<span style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 12pt;">do some research using the information pack and case studies attendees traded their tokens for<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 72pt; text-indent: -18pt; font-family: arial;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="">b.<span style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 12pt;">assess and record what attendees think are the key navigational challenges for users in using their assigned technology<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 72pt; text-indent: -18pt; font-family: arial;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="">c.<span style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 12pt;">create a 5 minute multimedia presentation of your findings using Apple iMac based Keynote presentation software in the Digilab. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="font-family: arial;" class="MsoNormal"><o:p> To arrange a DigiQuest for your team, please email digilab@open.ac.uk<br /></o:p></p><div class="blogger-post-footer">www.open.ac.uk/digilab</div>Keren Millshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00873563419208530317noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1371273849464055317.post-75905888987280251752007-07-10T17:05:00.000+01:002007-07-13T11:28:11.552+01:00iTunes U - proprietory or open?<span style="font-size:100%;">I've just been to a talk about podcasting by someone from the Higher Education branch of Apple Europe, arranged by the Maths & Computing Faculty.<br /><br />One of the big questions the talk answered for many Open University staff is who has control of the content? It turns out that </span><span style="font-size:100%;">iTunes U, as used in the US, is not a hosting service, it’s a subscription model, i.e. it provides the RSS feed for your podcasts and acts as an advert for your university. This means that universities</span><span style="font-size:100%;"> host their own content, and retain control of it – iTunes just provides a way for people to find and access it. <o:p></o:p><br /></span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;">Institutions publishing their content through iTunes U have a choice to have both public content and walled garden, authenticated content.<br />As a case study, Berkeley university in Canada were one of the first to adopt iTunes U and<span style=""> </span>the speaker estimated that <st1:place st="on"><st1:city st="on">Berkeley</st1:city></st1:place> content is 60/40 or 70/30 public/private. He didn't have actual figures. Their public content has been enormously popular - they have </span><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" >3.5 million users worldwide, even though they only have about 22,000 students.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" >Lyon 2 in France are using text-to-speech software to podcast journals and other archive content which they are in the process of digitising.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;">So, should the OU be podcasting? Well, yes, but only where it's appropriate. We've been making audio content for years, this is just a different way of delivering it. 'Quick and dirty' podcasts can be used to update students about news that's relevant to their subject, or to bring them the voices of practitioners in their field. Or more polished podcasts could be used to deliver the kind of audio content we already provide at the right time in the course.</span></p><span style="font-size:100%;">Of course, now what we need is a clear, coherent solution which makes it easy to create, store and publish podcasts, and there are a number of teams across the university working towards this goal.<br /></span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div class="blogger-post-footer">www.open.ac.uk/digilab</div>Keren Millshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00873563419208530317noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1371273849464055317.post-69541673643012271412007-07-03T15:02:00.000+01:002007-07-03T15:19:10.105+01:00Recently Martin Weller and Tony Hirst ran a workshop in Digilab on Academic blogging, explaining how they both feel that writing and reading blogs has helped them in their work.<br /><br />Martin wrote about the workshop on his own <a href="http://www.typepad.com/t/trackback/846386/19115730">blog</a>, so you can see his thoughts on the value of academic blogging, and his slideshow, <a href="http://www.typepad.com/t/trackback/846386/19115730">here</a>.<br /><br />I found it very interesting that <a href="http://ouseful.info/">Tony</a>, <a href="http://nogoodreason.typepad.co.uk/no_good_reason/">Martin </a>and <a href="http://memex.naughtons.org/">John Naughton</a> (who was also at the workshop), all had different reasons for blogging, and different views about their intended audience. Tony blogs for himself, as a way to keep track of interesting thoughts or work that he might want to revisit later. Sometimes his thought process his helped along by comments from those who read his blog, but he doesn't always write with his readers in mind. John sees blogging as an extension of his work as a journalist, so he does have think about his audience when he's writing, and Martin tries to stick to the subject of edcuational technology, so his audience are his fellow practitioners.<br /><br />Tony and Martin recommend that new bloggers try to write 20 or so posts in their first month, to "find their voice" and get accustomed to the process before they start publicising their blogs. After that, it's up to you how often you write new posts, although obviously if you make them too infrequent your readers may lose interest.<object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="https://s3.amazonaws.com:443/slideshare/ssplayer.swf?id=61253&doc=th-ou-shalt-blog1291" height="348" width="425"></object><div class="blogger-post-footer">www.open.ac.uk/digilab</div>Keren Millshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00873563419208530317noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1371273849464055317.post-71740523942817947722007-06-05T17:12:00.000+01:002007-06-05T17:17:32.804+01:00Shakespeare in Space?The University of Ontario have <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/lifestyleMolt/idUSN2728340620070427">developed a video game to get children hooked on Shakespeare.</a><br /><br /><blockquote>While zapping enemy spaceships players have to help recover the stolen text of Romeo and Juliet by memorizing lines from the famous play, learning facts about Shakespeare's life and devising synonyms and homonyms for parts of the text.</blockquote><br /><br />Hmm. It doesn't sound very engaging to me, but it would be interesting to see it in action.<div class="blogger-post-footer">www.open.ac.uk/digilab</div>Keren Millshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00873563419208530317noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1371273849464055317.post-51056317657184660222007-06-05T10:23:00.000+01:002007-06-05T10:45:31.814+01:00Facebook - an educational tool?When I first signed up to <a href="http://www.facebook.com/home.php?">Facebook</a>, only a few weeks ago, I found the interface a little annoying, because they wanted me to fill in my favourite books, and upload my photos all over again. Why would I want to do that when my photos are already on <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/penga_librarian/">Flickr </a>and my favourite books are already on <a href="http://www.librarything.com/catalog.php?view=Digilab&shelf=list">LibraryThing</a>?<br /><br />Now, <a href="http://www.facebook.com/home.php?">Facebook </a>is letting it's users write <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/API">APIs</a> (application programming interface) which, means that these problems have been solved. I can now pull my photos and other information into my Facebook profile using RSS feeds. I can even share YouTube videos and other media using Splashcast.<br /><br />One of the things I like about Facebook is the privacy it affords, as opposed to <a href="http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=135611133">MySpace</a>, which is visible to anyone.<br /><br />Martin Weller has written an interesting post about <a href="http://nogoodreason.typepad.co.uk/no_good_reason/2007/06/what_does_the_f.html">Facebook as a learning environment. He says</a><br /><ul><li><br /></li><blockquote><li>Technology acts as a pull factor - I've gone back to Facebook because I wanted to see what new widgets they had (I added in the LastFM one). This demonstrates something I was talking about with the <a href="http://openlearn.open.ac.uk/">openlearn</a> guys last week, that is by doing fun stuff with technology you drive traffic to your site from the users of that technology who are keen to see how it is being used. In educational terms this means doing fun stuff with educational content so that people want to see what you've done with Google maps, or twitter say.</li><li>The social network is the starting point - rather than content being the main focus and creating a network around this, Facebook demonstrates that the network is the key asset, and then you add value to this.</li></blockquote><li><br /></li></ul><div class="blogger-post-footer">www.open.ac.uk/digilab</div>Keren Millshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00873563419208530317noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1371273849464055317.post-51357548083015045492007-05-30T00:32:00.000+01:002007-05-29T16:33:25.195+01:00Virtual worlds, real learning?<span style="font-weight: bold;"><blockquote>The <a href="http://www.eduserv.org.uk/foundation/symposium/2007">Eduserv Foundation 2007 symposium</a> attempted to look past the hype surrounding virtual worlds such as Second Life and evaluate whether they offer real opportunities for learners at UK educational institutions.</blockquote></span><br />There are some very interesting talks about the pros and cons of using Second Life and other virtual worlds for learning and teaching from this symposium, which are <a href="http://www.eduserv.org.uk/foundation/symposium/2007/presentations">available from the Eduserv website</a>.<br />http://www.eduserv.org.uk/foundation/symposium/2007/presentations<br /><br /><a href="http://www.eduserv.org.uk/foundation/symposium/2007/presentations/macleod">Hamish MacLeod's presentation</a> about the University of Edinburgh's use of Second Life shows why they found Second Life more flexible than other worlds.<br /><br />If you're wondering what Second Life is all about, this symposium will give you a good introduction.<br /><br />For more about what the OU is doing, see the <a href="http://schome.open.ac.uk/wikiworks/index.php/Second_Life_sitemap">Schome wiki.</a><div class="blogger-post-footer">www.open.ac.uk/digilab</div>Keren Millshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00873563419208530317noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1371273849464055317.post-76894737899568767512007-05-22T10:14:00.000+01:002007-06-05T10:20:02.733+01:00Are you connected?There was an interesting article in the Guardian last week, comparing different social networking sites, such as Facebook, MySpace, Bebo and Second Life. Facebook is similar to friends re-united, in that it allows you to search for your friends using their email address, name, or you can look people up by town, school or organisation. This is all very well and I have found old friends that I'd lost touch with. One thing that annoys me about it is that it asks you to enter favourite books, films, music into your profile, but doesn't let you pull this information in from www.librarything.com or other sites where you may have already set up this type of list.<br /><br />MySpace does allow you to pull information in from other sites, but doesn't give you the privacy that Facebook does (in Facebook you can choose who can see which bits of info), and doesn't help you find lost friends in the same way. It does seem to work for making new contacts as people come together around similar interests, and has been very popular with up and coming bands.<br /><br />I haven't tried Bebo, myself, but it sounds like fun as it as a white board your friends can draw on.<br /><br />If you're a latecomer to social networking - this might be worth a read:<br /><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/g2/story/0,,2080312,00.html">Guardian, 16 May 2007 Are you connected? </a><div class="blogger-post-footer">www.open.ac.uk/digilab</div>Keren Millshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00873563419208530317noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1371273849464055317.post-11805900270142451842007-05-16T18:13:00.000+01:002007-06-05T10:21:21.069+01:00PSPs in EducationI attended an interesting talk in FELS (the Faculty of Education and Language Studies) today about the use of the PSP (PlayStation Portable) in education. The talk was given by Mike and Chris from ConnectED.<br />(If you haven't come across the PSP before, it's worth exploring. It's not just a handheld game console. It's also a versatile media player which can connect to the internet through any wireless network.)<br /><br />Often one of the first things people complain about when they see a PSP is the lack of a keyboard, but Chris made an interesting point that no handheld device is really suitable for high volumes of text entry, so in a way this is an advantage as it encourages you to move away from text-based learning content.<br /><br />Some interesting points about PSP:<br /><ul><li>More than 2 million PSPs are owned by 8-18 year olds in the UK (that's 20% of school children).</li><li>From September 2007 it will be capable of video conferencing.</li><li>The PSP supports file upload and download. This can be managed from a PC with media manager.</li><li>It links into the PlayStation3<br /></li></ul><ul><li>2 million + are owned by 8-18 year olds<br /></li></ul><div class="blogger-post-footer">www.open.ac.uk/digilab</div>Keren Millshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00873563419208530317noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1371273849464055317.post-88513147125636609802007-04-24T14:09:00.000+01:002009-10-13T11:28:53.895+01:00Do schools (& universities) today kill creativity?<span style="">Is the whole point of the public education system to produce university professors?</span><br /><span style=""><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 255);">Sir Ken Robinson makes an entertaining (and profoundly moving) case for creating an education system that nurtures creativity, rather than </span><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 255);" class="invisible" id="alldescr"><b></b></span><span id="wholedescr" class="visible"><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 255);">undermining it. Robinson is author of "Out of Our Minds: Learning to be Creative", and a leading expert on innovation and human resources. (Recorded February 2006 in Monterey, CA. Duration: 20:03) - More TEDTalks at </span><a style="color: rgb(51, 102, 255);" href="http://www.ted.com/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://www.ted.com</a><br /><br /></span></span><embed style="width: 400px; height: 326px;" id="VideoPlayback" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://video.google.com/googleplayer.swf?docId=-4964296663335083307&hl=en-GB" flashvars=""></embed><br /><br /><div class="larger_display_type"> <p><span style="font-size:85%;">TED stands for<strong> Technology, Entertainment, Design.</strong> It started out (in 1984) as a conference bringing together people from those three worlds. Since then its scope has become ever broader.</span></p> </div> <p><span style="font-size:85%;">The annual conference now brings together the world's most fascinating thinkers and doers, who are challenged to give the talk of their lives (in 18 minutes).</span> </p><div class="blogger-post-footer">www.open.ac.uk/digilab</div>Keren Millshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00873563419208530317noreply@blogger.com0