elearning_label_schools
iSpot
iSpot is a website aimed at helping anyone identify anything in nature. It has been developed by The Open University (UK) and is part the Imperial College’s Open Air Laboratories.
Schoolfy - a classroom management system for educators
The Schoolfy classroom management system builds upon social-networking technology to facilitate teacher planning, support online grading and enhance educators' time management.
The Schoolfy platform has been in development for more than two years and caters to the diverse needs of educators of all kinds, from school teachers to university instructors and corporate trainers.
This new social network’s technology is integrated with a wide range of tools that save time and reduce paperwork. Tasks such as assigning students to small groups and collecting dues for field trips become streamlined and digitized. Educators can also make their worksheets interactive; students can complete worksheets online and receive feedback in digital form.
The technology will be made available to the public during the summer of 2013. Educators are now invited to register for Schoolfy during the pre-launch.
Pebblegogy
Bridging the gap between technology and learning, “Pebblegogy” is a book aiming to help tutors and learning designers who use the PebblePad online platform to create meaningful activities that will support their curricula.
“Pebblegogy” is addressed to those new to PebblePad who want practical guidance in making best use of this personal learning space. For those who are already experts, the book offers a rich source of inspiration for designing engaging and motivating learning experiences with PebblePad.
PebblePad has now been used for over eight years by over 100 organisations, and the second half of the book presents a rich collection of learning designs resulting from the contributions and collaborations of more than 40 practitioners from the UK and Australia.
A companion website provides a wealth of further information such as activities and presentations. Each of the activities described is accompanied by guidelines usage covering, for example, tutor complexity, student’s ability to use PebblePad, and recommended number of students participating.
Wisdom of virtual worlds and augmented reality
A group of Finnish experts are developping a practical open guide for those who are interested in using virtual worlds and augmented reality technologies.
The wiki-book "Wisdom of virtual worlds and augmented reality" (only available in Finish), tries to answer common questions such as “how can we get started on virtual worlds and augmented reality?” and “how should they be used?” The book aims to highlight the different perspectives and applications of these technologies, in learning environments, in organisations and even as business and marketing tools..
Ancient History Encyclopedia
Ancient History Encyclopedia is a non-profit educational website founded in 2009 aiming to provide the best ancient history information on the internet for free.
With in-depth definitions, high-resolution illustrations, a broad range of articles, searchable timelines, interactive maps and a continually updated catalogue of books, the Ancient History Encyclopedia envisions itself as a guardian and supplier of exceptional resources, enhancing the public's knowledge of the ancient world.
All content materials on this Open Education Resource are reviewed for quality assurance before publication. A group of expert volunteers, many of whom are experts in their respective fields or pursuing advanced studies, peer-review the content of the website to ensure quality.
Media & Learning Conference 2013 announces first line-up of keynote speakers
The organisers of the Media & Learning Conference, have announced their first line-up of keynote speakers: Beeban Kidron, Renee Hobbs, Sian Bayne and Aidan Chambers. The theme of this year's conference, which is supported by the MEDEAnet project, is Media Education and Literacy: Equipping Learners for Open, Creative Learning Futures.
This year’s event, taking place on 12-13 December in the Ministry Headquarters in Brussels, will feature Film Director Baroness Beeban Kidron who has spent the last 30 years working in feature film, television drama and documentary film and and is co-founder of the education charity FILMCLUB, the largest cultural programme in UK schools, with over 7,000 film clubs engaging over 220,000 children and young people each week.
She will be joined by Prof. Renee Hobbs who is an internationally recognised authority on digital and media literacy education. Renee is Professor and Founding Director of the Harrington School of Communication and Media at the University of Rhode Island, USA. As the Founder of the Media Education Lab she develops programs that advance media literacy education through scholarship and community service.
Dr. Sian Bayne is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Education whose research is focused on the many ways in which the digital changes and challenges education with a focus on distance education, higher education, MOOCs and museum learning.
The fourth keynote that was announced is Aidan Chambers, well known British author of children's and young-adult novels who has launched his own app Tablet Tales, with which he is beginning to explore the effect on his own work of writing for the iPad.
The conference theme is at the heart of what will be a unique programme exploring the role of creativity and innovation in education and training against the backdrop of dramatic change in how, where and what learners learn.
Registration for the Media & Learning Conference is now open and the deadline for submission of ideas for the conference is 1 June 2013. You can find out more from the conference website.
Media & Learning 2013 is organised by the Flemish Ministry of Education and Training and media company ATiT, in collaboration with the European Commission Directorate-General for Education and Culture.
International Children's Digital Library (ICDL)
The International Children's Digital Library (ICDL) is a research project funded primarily by the National Science Foundation (NSF), the Institute for Museum and Library Services (IMLS), and Microsoft Research to create a digital library of outstanding children's books from all over the world.
Launched in 2002, the award-winning collection's focus is on identifying materials that help children to understand the world around them and the global society in which they live.
The materials in the collection, all presented in the original languages in which they were published, reflect similarities and differences in cultures, societies, interests, and lifestyles of peoples around the world.
At the end of the initial research period, it is anticipated that the ICDL collection will include approximately 10,000 materials in at least 100 languages.
Ultimately, the Foundation aspires to have every culture and language represented so that every child can know and appreciate the riches of children's literature from the world community.
Joel Josephson talks in a TEDx event about the Creative Classroom and other EU education projects
Joel Josephson was invited in April 2013 to give a talk at a TEDx event in Tel-Aviv (Israel), organised by the Kibbutzim College of Education. This British consultant is involved in changing education with holistic projects funded by the European Union.
In his TEDx conference Mr Josephson spoke on the possible future shape of education as a Creative Classroom and how some of the EU Lifelong Learning Projects (LLP) he has initiated or is involved in are using the arts and music to achieve future learning strategies.
Open Tapestry: make your own teaching units by selecting available OER
Open Tapestry is an online educational/ training tool that leverages open education resources to aid in teaching and learning. Instructors can use it to deploy courses through the Open Tapestry platform or through their own website.
Open Tapestry can easily be integrated with anything (any LMS, Google Docs, interactive tools) and provides a scalable search and recommendation engine, where instructors can connect with colleagues and find relevant content.
The platform aims to make finding teaching and training materials simple and reduce the costs associated with assembling instructional content.
SpeakApps OER
SpeakApps Open Educational Resources (OER) consists of a set of online tools for practising oral production and interaction when learning foreign languages.
The SpeakApps openly licensed tools are directed at different types of activities and are suitable for all students, regardless of the level they have reached in a particular language.
The platform's OER repository allows teachers to find a growing amount of activities and experiences to be carried out in their classrooms. Moreover, and since the repository is build in a wiki environment, users are able to actively contribute to the project by modifying and adapting activities to their needs.