We are pleased to announce the next Annual Technology Enhanced Learning Showcase Day will be taking place on the 6th July 2011. This is a day for you to discover good and innovative practice in the area of TEL which is taking place across the institution! Come and learn what your peers are doing, what they would have done differently and what they hope to do in the future and hear the student voice describing what they want as part of their Plymouth learning experience! Please visit the TEL Showcase Website for more information or to register for the event! If you have used technology to enhance your teaching we would love to hear about it so please email us! Whether you are happy to be a presenter at the TEL Showcase Day or be featured in our showcase website, we need to hear about the work you are doing so that we can all benefit from a community of practice and promote the University’s excellence in this field! Please also email us your ideas for what the Showcase Day should include and what you would like to take away from the day.

If you want an update on the University’s Open Educational Resources projects the project teams have just produced  a newsletter detailing activity and progress. Download the University of Plymouth’s OER Newsletter

This is the last chance to register interest in presenting at this event! If you have used technology to enhance teaching and would like to share your experiences with others at this event please email a paragraph about the work you have been doing to tel@plymouth.ac.uk by next Wednesday 15th June, so we can include it in the programme! Whether skeptic about use of technology in education, novice or expert, we hope everyone will come, be involved and be inspired by the innovative practice in the area of TEL taking place across the institution. This day will provide: Practitioner Experiences Practical Workshops Student Views and Expectations Details of Latest Developments and Available Tools Networking Opportunities Registration is required and free to staff. To register or for more information please visit http://www2.plymouth.ac.uk/telshowcase/

Bring back tech-y to a school near you with the Geeky Girl’s greatest hits list from Summer 2014. That’s right! This collection of blog posts includes some super cool edtech tools that are sure to add some engagement to classroom lessons, activities, projects and presentations. From web tools to infographics to app smashing ideas, there’s something for everyone regardless of your skill or comfort level! Be sure to hover over the interactive image below to reveal the "hotspots" containing 16 must-have digital resources. Your new tech crush is just a few clicks away! Click here to view a larger version of this interactive image. And one more thing: I created this interactive image with ThingLink. If you’re not familiar with this teaching and learning gem, then you don’t know what you’re missing. Check out a recent article featured in the Huffington Post highlighting the power of this tool in the educational setting here!

We need to make some urgent updates to our e-portfolio system PebblePad, which will require a short interruption to the service on Wednesday afternoon, the 12th of October from 2pm when e-portfolio.plymouth.ac.uk will not be available. We hope to resume service as soon as possible the same day however this may take a few hours. We are sorry for any inconvenience; if you have a session planned that is due to involve the e-portfolio system on Wednesday afternoon that can not be postponed please let us know urgently by emailing TEL@plymouth.ac.uk

A couple of queries about using Turnitin land in my inbox regularly so I thought a couple of short guides might be in order. The first is a reminder of how to set Turnitin assignments so that they are checked for originality against the Web and journals but not submitted to the Turnitin database. This is particularly useful for formative work with students, but it is also useful to be able to set this option when student work may contain sensitive or confidential information. Setting submission to Turnitin repository to off. The second guide covers managing the views you have of content matches in the originality reports. Whilst it is often the case that you only need to see the initial list of matching sources, sometimes, for example if there appears to be only one match, you may wish to ignore that match to view underlying sources. This is easy to do and can be done for single or multiple sources. Choosing to ignore matching sources.

The University has just released a set of mobile friendly information called Mobile With Plymouth University. Mobile With Plymouth University, allows students, both current and prospective, to access comprehensive information about Plymouth University. Mobile with Plymouth University is available from the iTunes (Apps are available for the iPhone and iPad) Android Market any mobile device with a web browser by going to mobile.plymouth.ac.uk Current features include: Access to student focused information to support your learning and your time at Plymouth University Open day information Search maps for buildings and locations, on and off campus Find out which Student Computing Rooms have free PCs and see which is the closest using GPS Search the contact directory Call or email contacts and add them directly to your address book Find Friends - use the Friend Locator to see where friends are and contact them to meet up. Receive University alerts and announcements. Live weather information Videos from the University Mobile access to your e-portfolio Receive the latest news and events from the University and Students’ Union. Soon to be accessible by Mobile with Plymouth University Search the Library catalogue View your Library loans New features, such as mobile access to timetables, are being planned for the future, and the Blackberry app will be available in the new year

The Plymouth App, Mobile with Plymouth University, now has the capability for users to search the Plymouth Library. The new Library icon will appear the next time Mobile with Plymouth University is started. This new functionality  of Mobile with Plymouth University allows users to view their library record and have access to: Items they have on loan Items they have requested Any outstanding library fines As well as accessing their library record, users can also search the library catalogue. Details on how to download  Mobile with Plymouth University can be seen in this earlier blog post.

Need some exciting and engaging nonfiction experiences for your elementary-age students? Then News-O-Matic, an iOS and Android app that covers relevant news of the day, just might be your answer! This super cool tool provides a combination of five current events stories covering the latest U.S. and international news, sports, science, arts, fun human interest stuff and more—all within a 100% ad-free environment. Each News-O-Matic article is accompanied with a wealth of rich media: Images, video clips, illustrations, interactive maps related to the story location, history-based timelines, puzzles, games, fun facts, a News Room for drawing or asking questions and audio support for challenging vocabulary as well as in-app audio playback of complete articles. All stories are written by journalists, award-winning K-12 writers and educational experts and then reviewed by a child psychologist prior to publication to ensure all content is age appropriate and emotionally safe. Sounds like a deal, right? Yeah, pretty much! Download the News-O-Matic app, select your subscription option (Yearly: $19.99; Monthly subscription: $1.99; Weekly: $0.99) or sign up for the free daily email delivered in PDF format right to your inbox. News-O-Matic also offers a School Edition that’s perfect for classroom use. Get all of the really great stuff previously mentioned plus a Teacher’s Guide which includes questions related to the text, suggested discussion prompts, several assessment questions correlated to the Common Core State Standards and graphic organizers. Check it out here. Classroom Connection: Bring the news to life in your classroom with News-O-Matic, an excellent resource for incorporating national and world news into the curriculum. What an awesome way to develop well-informed global citizens via real-world relevant reading assignments! The articles can also be used for class discussions as well as prompts for writing. In addition, educators can utilize News-O-Matic to inspire class projects in which students produce their own publications.

Access to a valuable collection of Plymouth student journals is available at https://studentjournals.plymouth.ac.uk which currently houses 3 eJournals consisting of: The Plymouth Student Educator, The Plymouth Student Journal of Health & Social Work, and The Plymouth Student Scientist. These journals are a key output of a HEFCE-funded project, to support and develop research informed teaching at the University of Plymouth. These e-journals seeks to make the research process more accessible and explicit, by highlighting examples of good practice from across the University. It also aims to support both staff and student involvement, by acting as a teaching tool for staff and as a vehicle to promote and share student research activities. It is hoped that the journal will encourage students to become more reflective and critical of their own research skills as they consider the work of their peers. The journal is set up so that readers do not have to register to access the full content.

To celebrate Safer Internet Day we present the movie ‘Facing the Consequences’ with added interactivity, enabled by Viewbix. Viewbix allows you to add a links to further information, in this case, Facebook’s Privacy Resources page. You can also add an RSS feed, in this example it points to Dan Schawbel’s ‘Student Branding Blog’; a QR code which links to further resources; TEL’s Flickr stream and even a Google map! These features are available with a free, basic account. Pro and Enterprise accounts are available at a cost which give you even more apps. The video can then be embedded into any web page, as below. Great for podcasting!

Skills, Challenges, and Trends in Instructional Design Infographic To keep up with the changes in the workplace and in order for learning professionals to be competitive in the evolving global workforce, instructional design (ID) must progress as current conditions evolve, challenges become more complicated, and new trends emerge. Have ID skills changed? What other competencies are needed to be successful in the profession? The Association for Talent Development has partnered with the International Association for Continuing Education and Training and commissioned Rothwell & Associates (R&A) to conduct Skills, Challenges, and Trends in Instructional Design research. R&A President William J. Rothwell of Penn State University led this research. The Skills, Challenges, and Trends in Instructional Design Infographic presents the most important tasks for Instructional Designers and the most often used design models. Top 5 Important Tasks for Instructional Designers 98% conduct needs assessment. 98% design a curriculum, program, or learning solution. 99% identify appropriate learning approach. 98% collaborate with stakeholders. 98% design instructional materials. Top 3 Design Models ADDIE Bloom’s Learning Taxonomy Kirkpatrick’s 4 Level of Training Evaluation Via: www.td.orgThe post Skills, Challenges, and Trends in Instructional Design Infographic appeared first on e-Learning Infographics.

The Horizon Report was established in 2002 as part of the New Media Consortium’s longitudinal research programme.  The annual report aims to identify emerging technologies which are likely to have a significant impact in teaching and learning.  The report is structured by looking at technologies which will be in widespread use by  "horizons" - hence its name.  These horizons are: Near term (within 12 months), mid-term horizon (within 2-3 years) and far-term horizon ( 4-5 years).  To view the full Report go to: http://www.nmc.org/  NB:  If you are not already a member, you will have to join the NMC (New Media Consortium). The 2012 Horizon Report has identified the following: Near-term horizon: Mobile Apps Tablet computing Mid-term horizon: Learning analytics Game-based learning Far-term horizon: Gesture-based computing The Internet of things For the full report and more information on both the methods used in the research and more detail about the technologies identified in each of the horizons, go to: http://www.nmc.org/publications/horizon-report-2012-higher-ed-edition NB: If you are not a member of the New media consortium, you will need to sign up to gain access. Near-term horizon: Mobile Apps - These are becoming more and more widely used in the HE forum and Plymouth University has embraced this trend and developed the Mobile with Plymouth University.  This is an app which allows students to gain information about university facilities and services, such as checking the availability of open access pcs. http://technologyenhancedlearning.net/mobile/ Tablet Computing - The Learning Technologies team has some iPads available for loan to staff and these have been proving popular.  One of the most innovative uses of them has been part of a Teaching Fellowship.  Illustrative Arts students use the iPads to create a drawing using an app called "brushes" which records as you are drawing.  The students can then play this back.  The pedagogic benefit is that it allows students to see how they construct their drawings which makes it easier to reflect on their drawing and illustrative techniques.  For more information on this check out the iPads, illustration and reflection website. http://technologyenhancedlearning.net/ipadsforillustration/ Mid-term Horizon: Game-based learning - the Horizon Report highlights game-based learning as an emerging technology which will see widespread adoption in the next two to three years.  A phD student created a game simulation for use in the immersive vision theatre, but it was not intended for use in teaching.  However, it has shown that this area has potential within the HE arena and it will be exciting to see future developments in game-based learning. Learning Analytics - this aims to build on the type of information which Google Analytics currently uses which will augment the power of data-mining tools in the teaching and learning sector.  These analytic tools will be capable of providing information on student engagement, performance and progress and this information could then in turn, be used to drive future curricula, teaching and assessment. Far-Term Horizon: The Horizon Report feels that the following will be widely adopted across the HE sector within the next four to five years: Gesture-based computing - involves controlling a computer with body movements or voice commands.  this has already had a popular reception in gaming and leisure use with tools such as the XBox Kinect and Nintendo Wii.  One of the potential benefits of using gesture based computing in education could be that of using a large touch-screen surface such as a desk or wall which would allow multiple users to interact and collaborate simultaneously.  The interface may also encourage student engagement. The internet of things - this is defined in Wikipedia as "uniquely identifiable objects (things) and their virtual representations in an Internet-like structure". Basically it is that information and systems have the potential to link and communicate with each other.   A video explains the internet of things (IOT) very well. Potential for education could be that information stored on smartphones or tablets could be shared with other devices and incorporate other technologies such as gesture-based technology and augmented reality.

Hey, edtech peops! Don’t miss your chance to learn how to leverage the power of ThingLink EDU in your classroom by participating in the upcoming ThingLink Interactive Images Slams. This series of webinars aims to provide educators with an opportunity to share, highlight and discuss ThingLink interactive images or video they have created and used with students of all ages. Discover the endless creative possibilities for enriching students’ enthusiasm for learning like never before through unique sessions featuring the work of fellow ThingLink-ers—including yours truly! Just hover over the image below to register for the first-ever ThingLink Interactive Image Slam and/or learn about how you can grab the spotlight! A huge shout out to ThingLink guru Susan Oxnevad for organizing these very useful professional development opportunities!

Teaching Tech to Teachers Infographic While classroom technology continues to grow in popularity, according to a survey conducted by GfK on behalf of Samsung Business, K-12 teachers are having trouble keeping up. By redefining professional development for the curriculum of the future, teachers will have the skills and resources necessary to help students thrive. The Teaching Tech to Teachers Infographic illustrates the survey findings and provides Samsung’s recommendations for improved professional development programs. Today’s Classrooms With Chromebooks, tablets, interactive whiteboards apps and more, technology is becoming an increasingly important part of today’s K-12 classrooms. School districts are rapidly adopting these new digital tools and teachers agree that making this transition is critical to improving learning outcomes: 81% of teachers agree that tech in the classroom enables students to get more hands-on experience during lessons. 90% of teachers believe that modern technology in the classroom is important to achieve success. Today’s Teachers However even with so much technology at their fingertips, K-12 teachers need help to effectively use these devices to motivate their students and enhance their lessons: 37% would "love" to use technology in the classroom but say they support they simply do not know how. Nearly one-third are not satisfied with the receive from their schools in integrating technology into the classroom (32"). 60% agree they would like to better integrate technology but need more training. Empowering Teachers Is The Key 91% of teachers feel access to up-to-date training on how to use technology in the classroom is important to achieving success in the classroom. 5 Steps to Teacher Tech Training Start with the basics: 38% of teachers feel that training on tech fundamentals would be most helpful - a feeling more pronounced among older teachers, ages 43+. Host PD days: 76% say they would value a dedicated professional development day, and 57% prefer for this to be in-person. Offer self-paced online training: Help teachers become more tech-savvy with insights that track their progress throughout the year. Build a community to share successes: 80% say it would be helpful to download pre-existing lesson plans that enhance STEM skills in a way that easily integrates tech. Create a tech support center: 70% of teachers surveyed claim they do not have a tech center that allows teachers to access resources they cannot access from their classrooms. Via: www.samsung.comThe post Teaching Tech to Teachers Infographic appeared first on e-Learning Infographics.

PebblePad3, due to be launched in July this year, combines Pebble+, a revamped version of the personal learning space we’re already using, with a new institutional environment, ATLAS, which replaces the current Gateway system to support active teaching, learning and assessment. There are also plans to launch a brand new Community/ Social space in 2013 , where users will be able to access a global resource centre across all institutions - resources being displayed in terms of popularity of use through users’ rating. PebblePad will now also be hosting the service which includes storing video - therefore there will no longer be an upload limit of 10MB per asset. Pebble+ Pebble+ has been completely redesigned as a website with the menus at the top of the screen. The ‘Create New’ menu has been condensed and includes the ‘Upload File’ option. There are a range of generic inbuilt templates for recording (action) plans, experiences and reflections. Templates, including forms and profiles, can now be created by all users and customised for different scenarios - you could create your own course ‘workbooks’. They can also now contain confidential fields, a requirement for many Health-related courses. You can also select from a range of banners to change the appearance of your template, or create your own. The end result looks less cluttered (and therefore more professional) than what is currently available. Templates can be ‘favourited’ and added to the ‘Create New’ menu. Other changes include the ability to submit ‘Assets’ directly to the VLE, although I’m not sure whether this would work with SharePoint. Also users can create extensible CVs through dragging chosen assets onto a Folio page (available in addition to the Webfolio) - this could be good for showcasing achievements using a range of media to illustrate, for example, the process involved to achieve The Plymouth Award. PebblePad+ is still Flash-based, although the back-end is ready to convert this to HTML5 when this has been standardised. Those accessing PebblePad via an iPhone or iPad will be directed to the mobile (HTML) version, which currently does 95% of what the Flash version can do.   ATLAS ATLAS is the new institutional workspace where students submit their assets for feedback, peer review and validation - it supports blind and double blind marking, moderation, external review and grading. It is HTML-based so can be accessed via any device. A typical Workspace (the new name for Gateway) contains 4 pages: - About, Submissions, Resources and Conversations. The old Gateway structure has been flattened and multiple assignments can now be submitted to one Workspace. Owners and tutors will be able to see all submissions to all Workspaces they are associated with through a new ‘Dashboard-like’ screen. Assignments can be ‘paused’, so that feedback can be given to a formative submission while the learner is able to carry on with the piece of work. Assignments can then be ‘played’ again to continue for submission to a summative assessment - this way a learner’s progress can be tracked throughout their course. Templates can be customised for feedback and feedback collections of common statements can be collated and reused. You can also now annotate directly onto submitted work. Institutional resources such as referencing guides can be hyperlinked. Conversations can be saved as assets, with all participants being anonymised. In response to meeting the new demands for auditing, there is much more recording available in ATLAS, including the performance of teaching staff.   In addition you can now create custom help sheets by selecting pre-defined areas within PebblePad Help in order to support introductory tutorials and/or specific tasks. Notifications in the future will be better as students will be able to select how they want to be notified - SMS, Facebook, Twitter and/ or email. All elements of PebblePad3 are designed to link to other systems - staff and student data, VLE, Facebook, Twitter, Blogger, Flickr and YouTube, enabling users to create and publish directly from PebblePad+.   Summer 2013 Rollout PebblePad3 will be rolled out during the summer. There will also be a masterclass at the VC’s Teaching and Learning Conference on the 28th of June, with workshops available shortly afterwards. If you would like to discuss how PebblePad could be used to support your curriculum, contact your local Learning Technologist. In the meantime, you can get more information, including videos of the new workspaces and features, from the PebblePad website.  

Need a cool tool to transform words into neat visuals? Then look no further than Quozio, a very user-friendly web resource that turns any quote into a nifty image. It works something like this: Just enter the desired text in the field provided followed by who said it in the next box then click the "Go" button. And boom—within a matter of seconds, an image is generated.  Next, scroll through the various styles available on the site and find the one that best matches your message. To save your masterpiece for use in print and digital projects, simply right click on the image and use the "Save image as" command. So, how much does Quozio cost? Ummm… It’s totally free so hopefully you’ll find some room in your budget for this tech gem! If you love the tool, then pay it forward by offering up some "web currency"—a Facebook like. Yep, show ‘em some love on all of your social networks. Do I need an account to use Quozio? Nope. Just have at it. No account, no sign-up, no email address required. However, if you do chose to create an account you can save your favorite quotes, share ‘em with your peops on Facebook, Pinterest, email and all that kind of cool stuff. As an added bonus, there’s even a Quozio bookmarklet which allows users to instantly create an image from any text that is highlighted on a web page. Check out my very first Quozio image shown below. Classroom Connection: Besides using quote images to pimp out your classroom with inspirational messages for students, there are a variety of really cool ways they can be utilized for academic purposes as well. Check out the following resource for a plethora of excellent suggestions: Ideas for Using Quotes in the Classroom. That said, whether you’re a teacher or a student, Quozio is an excellent tool for generating quote visuals. Be sure to visit the following blog posts that also discuss additional tools that can be utilized to create images: ReciteThis and QuotesCover.com.

Having recently attended an e-assessment workshop at Duchy College where I saw a presentation about using Xerte to create educational resources for students with learning difficulties, it prompted me to write about this excellent tool.  It has many benefits for the student which I will list in this article, but one of the best plus points for Xerte is that by using the online toolkit, anyone can create a resource which looks great, is very accessible and can be used as a formative assessment or revision tool. Xerte has been created by staff at the University of Nottingham and as it is an open resource, it is available to download and use free of charge.  The Xerte website has some excellent examples of the type of resource which can be created and you can download the online toolkit from there also. Creating accessible resources. The presentation at the e-assessment event was delivered by Lisa Featherstone of JISC TechDis.  Lisa has many years experience of working with students with learning difficulties.  Lisa demonstrated a Xerte object she had created with various learning difficulties in mind.  By selecting the link, you will be able to view the template. Xerte templates allow users to control the colours and font sizes by using the options shown at the bottom of the resource and can be resized by using the tools in the browser. Templates can be navigated by both mouse and by using keyboard commands.  There is also a text-to-speech interface available. Xerte objects can be created to suit all aspects of learning difficulties such as attention and memory recall, auditory, visual and motor.  The University of Nottingham has created an excellent template to show examples of this in action. Using Xerte to create revision tools Lisa Featherstone also demonstrated a learning object which showed an example of a revision tool. Xerte online toolkits lend themselves well to the creation of a self-contained revision/self-assessment package where key points could be displayed and a series of questions could be asked around the key points.  The points could also be summarised at the end of the template, allowing users to recap.  This resource can be used over and over by both academics/creators and students.  Xerte learning objects are accessible anywhere where users have access to a computer and an internet connection. Using Xerte online toolkits to create assessments The online toolkit can create a very effective assessment package which looks professional and is easy to use from a student perspective.  For formative assessment, it can be used in the same way as for the revision tool.  A content creator could add key points and demonstrate these by adding props such as video or audio content, images which can have features such as drag and drop added and creating a series of questions from multiple choice to text match.  For summative assessment, the same format would be ideal, but the only drawback is that Xerte online toolkits have no functionality for recording student activity or marks.  However, this issue can be worked around by linking the Xerte template to a QuestionMark Perception assesment from within the Xerte template.  Perception is currently the online assessment tool which is used at Plymouth University and is capable of recording student activity.  This has been done successfully by the Human Resources (HR) department at Plymouth University. They wanted to use Xerte to create  a high quality suite of resources for staff to access online around various HR policies and procedures.  The idea is for staff to access the resources and work through the Xerte templates, then answer questions at the end.  Because it is essential to achieve a certain score, the assessment at the end is linked to Perception and the mark is recorded and can be accessed by HR staff. Which disciplines are suitable for using Xerte? The answer to this one is, all disciplines.  The flexibility of Xerte templates allows resource creators to add and embed a variety of different features which can be tailored to suit the particular discipline.  For example, Arts could create a Xerte template containing images of famous paintings with accompanying information.  Hotspots could be added to the images allowing users to zoom in on a particular aspect of a painting. The University of Nottingham Medical School has been using Xerte to create a series of templates to assist students in principles of anatomy. If you would like any more information about using Xerte, please contact the Learning Technologies team.

As Quincy Jones once remarked, "I’ve always thought that a big laugh is a really loud noise from the soul saying, "Ain’t that the truth." That said, Edu-fun Friday is a series devoted to adding some humor to the lives of teachers who visit this blog. After all, there’s nothing better than ending the week on a positive note! Plus, do we have the best topics to provide us with some comic relief or what? Pretty funny! But why do I think this day is really coming…

Drag the map with your mouse. View in full screen by clicking on the icon Mindmapping: Mindmapping is really a graphical method of planning or taking notes. They can be really useful for brainstorming and planning content. They can also be used as a presentation tool at conferences - see Andy Black: ‘Mobile Learning & Online Communication’ MindMeister: As you can see above, a fully functioning MindMeister map can be embedded into a page and viewed in full-screen. Other good features… The ability to: preview external links with a thumbnail image when you rollover the icon add notes which can be viewed when you roll over the icon attach a file, such as a pdf, accessed via the icon (see e-Portfolio/ PebblePad) upload your own images or use the rather nice ones provided (shown above) link elements with a customizable arrow (see e-Portfolio > Webfolio) collaborate in real-time with a chat function (enabled when you click on a collaborator’s name) assign specific tasks to collaborators, listing priorities and due dates revert to a previous version if a mistake is made make live updates to your map when it has been published and embedded Create, edit and display on mobile devices - iPhone, iPad and Android - free to download from the App Store MindMeister Editing Screen This map has been created using a Basic (free) account which allows you to have 3 maps. Other paid options are available - this free version is very impressive! Can you recommend any other mindmapping software? What do you use them for?

Training and Enabling Franchisees Infographic Training and enabling your franchisees is essential to your company’s success. The Training and Enabling Franchisees Infographic provides 10 tips on how to train and enable your franchisees better. In this infographic you will learn how to get your franchisees to feel like part of the family, create content that works and how to better engage your franchisees! How to train and enable your franchisees better Introduce the parent company: Its culture, values, beliefs and war stories. Prepare franchisees to represent you with high fidelity. Create a culture of learning. Add development resources as circumstances demand. Google always thinks mobile first; the desktop is an afterthought. Provide an online, current operations manual written as if the franchise has no experience in the industry. Take advantage of peer-generated content. When people find something others need to know, they document it. Need to share it. Be spare. Less is more. Compress file drawers into job aids and a few pages. Shrink the lesson into small chunks. Take on major initiatives first. Then sell your success. Surprise your audience with news, convenience and utility. Support the workflow. Don’t add additional burdens. Design programs to be usable by as many workers as possible: iPhones, Androids, tablets and computers. Tell stories to create imagery, emotions and understanding of events. Via: www.litmos.comThe post Training and Enabling Franchisees Infographic appeared first on e-Learning Infographics.

‘eGo’ make the web work for you! from Flea Palmer Note: Presentation updated Feb. 2013 to reflect LinkedIn Profile changes and include Pinterest as a portfolio tool.. This new presentation was created in response to a graduate workshop I ran in collaboration with the Careers Department as part of their ‘Boost Your Confidence’ series of workshops. What attendees, who came from a range of disciplines, wanted to know was: how to manage a Public Facebook Profile how to use LinkedIn most effectively, and what should be included in a LinkedIn Profile This will form the basis of future workshops, referring to my own public profiles as working examples. It is also timely as this recent article, ‘Why a traditional CV isn’t always enough‘ (29th May 2012) from the Guardian illustrates. Here are some further resources you may find useful.. See Plymouth University’s Social Media Strategy and further advice documents. (University log-in details required) ‘Facebook for Beginners‘ - A general guide to using Facebook from mashable.com Get Started with LinkedIn - a series of videos from LinkedIn’s Learning Centre specifically for students. Guides are available for Job Seekers, Entrepreneur and more professions. 10 Tips to a More Professional LinkedIn Profile - Useful tips from hongkiat.com 8 Creative Tips to Help You Maximise Your New LinkedIn Profile Page for 2013 - advice from Neal Shaffer, President of Social Media Strategy Consultancy Windmills Marketing ‘Learn LinkedIn: how to build your living resume‘ - Download this booklet for free from makeuseof.com ‘Blogging for Teaching & Learning’ - A SlideShare Presentation/ Tutorial, by the South African Department for Education, with helpful explanations and tips Do you have any tips or links to resources that may be useful for recent graduates looking to develop their online presence?  

Last spring my Tech Club students wrote and produced a video about the importance of recycling in our school and submitted it to a contest sponsored by the Intermunicipal Relations Committee of Blair County. Not only did their work earn top honors in the local competition, but the winning video was automatically entered into the State Professional Recyclers of Pennsylvania FilmFest Contest for a chance to win statewide recognition as well as a cash prize. Well, the votes have been tallied and you guessed it: We recently received word that "The Monster Trash" won first place at the 7th annual competition which was held this past July in Washington, PA. How cool is that? Even better, the video will be used in future public outreach and educational programs around the state. When asked about the victories, Aubree Reiter stated, "I am very proud that the Tech Club won the video competition because I think our video really explained the point of the recycling contest." Fellow techie Kermit Foor added, "I think that out of all of the videos we have made, this one was the best one yet. We worked for many hours during and after school to make this video. Without the help of our teachers and friends, it would not have been possible." A shout out to my Tech Club crew—especially Aubree, Kermit, Alex, Blake, Corey and Quintin—for your dedication to this project. It’s proof that hard work really does get noticed and rewarded! I am beyond proud of your efforts, and you should be too! Be sure to check out "The Monster Trash" below. So, is that video just awesome or what? My most favorite parts are those in which these trashy students used stop animation to create various scenes! And yes—doing so was their idea! As I’ve previously mentioned—I love, love the skills my girls and boys continue to learn and/or hone as they create these kinds of projects! Can you say rigor, relevant and real-world? Does it really get much better than that? I don’t think so!

As I have mentioned in a previous post, I use Twitter on a daily basis as an excellent way of connecting to other Learning Technologists and educators across the globe.  I recalled seeing some tweets around using Google docs to create quizzes.  As someone who is very interested in all matters concerning e-assessment, I decided to look into this. What I discovered was that it is actually very simple to set up.  You create the quiz using a form template.  You can create multiple choice, multiple response, drop down list questions, along with a couple of others.  There are some limitations, one of the main ones being that you can’t add images, but this may be possible soon as Google is continually updating. The biggest benefit of creating a quiz with Google docs is that you can record students’ marks (which you can’t do with a lot of other free e-assessment software).  There are a couple of ways of doing this which involve having to create formulas in the spreadsheet, but there is another free tool accessible through Google Docs called Flubaroo, which automates the marking process. One of the things that the Google forms allows you to do is to embed your quiz into a web page, which makes it easy for your students to access.  you could embed the quiz into one of your module pages in the student portal, or you could embed it into a reusable learning object (RLO) such as Xerte. I was keen to pursue this avenue as I can see a lot of potential here.  Xerte is easy to use and it is possible to create a neat little teaching resource and you can embed your Google quiz at the end.  I have put an example together and the link can be found below. https://xerte.plymouth.ac.uk/play.php?template_id=758 I also intend to create training material detailing how to create the quizzes and how to generate reports.  This will be available as a downloadable document and a video. In the meantime, if anyone is interested in finding out more about this, contact the LT team. tel@plymouth.ac.uk