We just launched Mahara for IT4ALL: http://mahara.integrating-technology.org
You are invited to join and develop your professional/personal e-portfolio.

Now I want to share the course description and objectives.

M4T- Advanced Workshop Syllabus (M4T)  

Goals

Description

This intensive, four-week-long workshop is designed to provide you with the environment where you will apply your skills and knowledge in theoretical and practical aspects of online learning and teaching with Moodle Learning Management System. By successfully completing the program you will be ready to facilitate professional development programs and workshops using Moodle. In the workshop, you will be using online learning pedagogies and best practices, you will explore latest research and publications about Moodle, study new developments in Moodle "industry" and collaborate with colleagues on the latest issues and current research in distant learning and teaching with LMS.

Format & Workload

This workshop includes asynchronous (via Moodle) and synchronous (via WiZiQ) components. You are expected to be active at least 10 hours a week exploring and reflecting on theoretical and practical aspects of online instruction (facilitation) and learning (individually and in teams).

Context

Expected Learning Outcomes

By the end of the workshop you will:

• Examine the latest publications on the issues of distance, BOL education and teaching with LMS/Moodle and provide critical analysis of theoretical and practical aspects of the field research about workshop topics.
  
• Make informed decisions about suitable educational pedagogies for online/blended learning courses
  
• Use Moodle and Web 2.0 tools to create an interactive learning environment and to collaborate and create team documents
• Add  a variety of Moodle resources to your program/course
• Select/Create and use a diverse arsenal of Moodle activities including plugin modules (e/g.,: Lesson, workshop, Sloodle, mobile, and Webquests)
  
• Critically reflect on your own and others' work and provide constructive feedback for program/course improvement
• Design and develop a Moodle Professional Development Program/course in conjunction with team members/or individually based on a constructivist/connectivist pedagogy
• Schedule and lead using synchronous, live WiZiQ or other web-conferencing platforms to promote the topics of innovative learning and teaching in your PD program.
  

First, I want to share the rubric for this blog:

Rubric for Blog’s Design, Reflections & Comments

Use this rubric to guide you as you engage in reflection both in writing your own blog and in the comments you provide to the members of your learning community in class and in group.

                Name:                                                                       Semester:                                           Course:

Hi, when I worked at Surrey University, I worked closely with the Robens Centre on some online collaborative activity looking at online communities and wikis. They are a small team - absolutely totally lovely people, they are interested in using online social networks and like advice from others on how best to use them.

They have a request at the moment to help set up an online social 'area' for colleagues involved in water pool treatment - who would like an area where they can connect and have discussions. 

Would anyone be interested in taking this on as a small project in the next few weeks ? 

I don't know if it would lead on to other opportunities, but it is a possibility due to the nature of the environmental health work that they do across the world - where experienced professionals may not be physically located in the same areas.

I would be very happy to connect you directly with them if so, please let me know asap, thank you !

So here I am on my holidays, and I've been catching up with housework, family, friends and the accounts. I've even had time to give an on-line session through wiziq on Shakespeare. I am interested in the Blended Learning and Project based learning. I have been reading about  Century Learning by Elena Silva a report funded by the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation. She is a senior policy analyst for Education Sector an independent think tank that challenges conventional thinking in education policy. Their commitment is to achieving measurable impact of innovation in education and reforming things like assessment and curriculum.

"The initiative seeks to strengthen
public education by examining key elements of accountability,
for instance, who should be responsible for student success and
how they should be held responsible. Our work seeks to build
on the strengths of current school accountability systems, more
fully and effectively measure the depth and breadth of students’
educational experiences, and encourage educators, parents,
policymakers, and the larger public to pursue educational equity
and excellence for all students."

Quotes like the following " The intellectual demands of 21st
century work, today’s leaders say, require assessments
that measure more advanced skills, 21st century skills.
Today, they say, college students, workers, and citizens
must be able to solve multifaceted problems by thinking
creatively and generating original ideas from multiple
sources of information—and tests must measure
students’ capacity to do such work." get us thinking about the future of education. Silva mentions various frameworks developed by various agencies but states:" The framework with potentially the widest reach is that of the Definition and Selection of Competencies
Project, created by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), an organization of 30 industrialized nations. This framework describes
a set of key competencies—for instance, the ability to consider the wider context of decisions and actions—that marry the need for basic literacy with essential deep conceptual understanding. This framework helped to define OECD’s long-term strategy for
assessing competencies of young people, including its development of the PISA." The International Baccalaureate Organization is given consideration as providing an approach that seems a better fit with the aim of retaining more students through to tertiary levels.

Its an interesting read and there are some interesting findings regarding the best way to promote authentic learning from students. It also explores the question of how we get better value for money from changing approaches to standardized tests. The title Measuring Skills for the 21st Centuryby Elena Silva. I found it on one of my many random searches of the net. So if you're interested its out there.

Open source web applications surround us, and are transforming education in traditional as well as online schools.  I wonder if this concept will ever truly take hold of educators?  It has been my experience that either the lack of confidence, or ego, plays to big of role with teachers and hinders the whole idea that pushes open source education to the forefront.  Comments, or just rambling?

I happen to love art and art history. I put on my blog (I am not sure that is the right place?) a short course about the famous Cave of Lascaux. 

If I get feed back from people who want more I will spend some time posting another short course. If I do not hear from anyone I will stop for now. If anyone has suggestions please let me know. 

I will be going to Istanbul as a mentor for the delegates representing Hawaii in the 5th World Youth Congress. So my reaction time might be a bit slow.

Always interested in opinions about what works and what does not.

Aloha from Katherine Bolman

Hi friends,

Some days ago I found the unpleasant news that I can't embed Youtube videos in my blog "Aula de Lingüística"  (http://auladelinguistica.edublogs.org) in Edublog, unless I upgrade to "Pro".  I don't understant very well the reason Edublogs facilitators gave for this :