Wednesday, December 07, 2005

eContent Online Content Cannot Remain Free. [Slashdot] the publishing industry is having difficulty with the transition from dead tree medium and distribution to the internet era - seems like the railroads passenger service missing out on airline travel passenger service because they could not look up from the tracks.  The publishers similarly misunderstand their opportunity to provide an experience to the reader rather than the opportunity of providing semantic materials printed on dead trees delivered somewhere near to the readers.  The dead tree based publishing business will continue just as the rail passenger service continues but only as an increasingly quaint tourist style experience of what it used to be like to live in the olden days. -- BL 6:52:58 AM    comment

learning Handbook of Enquiry and Problem-Based Learning. This online volume by the Centre of Excellence in Learning and Teaching, National University of Ireland in Galway, contains valuable chapters about the theory and practice of enquiry- and problem-based learning. Instructors in all fields will find the handbook useful but I also believe the approach is valuable for self-guided learners--both students in colleges and universities and solo learners. Students who are stuck in traditional lecture-based programs are especially in need of some perspective on how they can enrich their own learning. Several of the chapters include excellent web links to additional EBL and PBL materials. ______JH (Thanks to Stephen Downes for this resource.) _________ "Enquiry-based Learning (EBL) is used here as a broad umbrella term to describe approaches to learning that are driven by a process of enquiry. The tutor establishes the task and supports or facilitates the process, but the students pursue their own lines of enquiry, draw on their existing knowledge and identify the consequent learning needs. They seek evidence to support their ideas and take responsibility for analysing and presenting this appropriately, either as part of a group or as an individual supported by others. They are thus engaged as partners in the learning process." "Problem-based Learning is seen as a set of approaches under the broader category of Enquiry-based Learning. One of the main defining characteristics of Problem-based Learning, which distinguishes it from some other forms of Enquiry-based Learning, is that the problem is presented to the students first at the start of the learning process, before other curriculum inputs. Another defining characteristic of PBL is that in PBL tutorials students define their own learning issues, what they need to research and learn to work on the problem and are responsible themselves for searching appropriate sources of information." ______ Handbook of Enquiry and Problem-based Learning: Irish Case Studies and International Perspectives , Centre of Excellence in learning and Teaching. This comprehensive volume composed of about twenty individual essays not only offers a good grounding in enguiry and problem based learning but looks at them in practice, as each essay contains numerous examples and case studies. If you are interested in either approach to teaching and learning, then this volume is a must-read. Nice to see the free download and Creative Commons license, too. [] [Tags:] [] [Stephen's Web ~ by Stephen Downes ~ OLDaily RSS 0.91] [EduResources Weblog--Higher Education Resources Online] 6:41:27 AM    comment

video Greasemonkeying Google Video. There was great rejoicing at Macromedia when Google Video switched its player technology from VLC to Flash a couple of months ago. The move validated what the Macromedians had long been touting: the combination of the Flash 7 player and the FLV (Flash video) format makes a no-hassle playback solution for Windows, Mac, and Linux. And from my perspective, it's an opportunity to prototype some of my ideas about what the video web could -- and I argue should -- become. ... [Jon's Radio] 6:28:12 AM    comment

eLearning platform model Emory Chemistry Professor Offers Enhanced Podcasts. The Emory Wheel Online reports that Emory University chemistry professor Justin Gallivan is offering enhanced podcasts of his chemistry classes available free via iTunes. The article reports that in addition to audio, visual materials are available along with the podcast. A TA takes pictures of diagrams drawn on the blackboard, which are then included as part of the enhanced podcast. In fact, the podcasts are available via iTunes. Right now I’m listening to lecture 16, which was posted December 5, 2005. Static digital images are sync’d with the audio and appear in the album artwork window as the audio is playing. If an image is difficult to decipher, you can click on the image to see it in a larger window. This is a slightly different approach than that of Jean-Claude Bradley (Drexel U., also a chem professor), who for his iTunes feed intersperses PDFs in the RSS feed, which are then automatically downloaded by iTunes as part of the feed subscription. The PDFs include diagrams drawn during the lecture. Here is a link to his Chem 421 Organic Chemistry I lecture in iTunes.  [Syndication for Higher Ed]  --- this may be the birth of a new form of online education support to students -- BL 6:25:58 AM    comment