To activate all one-click web links throughout the magazine please log in to SET and access your interactive digital edition of inTuition.


learningTECH


A chance to teach and learn for free in community initiative


By Staff Reporter


In an education and training sector awash with prescribed course content, standards, assessment criteria and measurable outcomes, the idea of allowing everyone – students and teachers alike – to create their own courses runs counter to the grain. But Peter Shukie, the digital education lead at Blackburn College, believes that his community open online courses (COOCS) offer a democratic and accessible alternative for people to teach and learn for free. Peter, a runner-up in the


Technologist of the Year Awards 2018 run by the Association for Learning Technology, says: “COOCS are a development from the massive open online courses (MOOCS) that have been around for a few years now. But, unlike MOOCs, anyone can create a course. It is up to them to consider


what quality means for their course and to become more responsible for deciding quality in collaboration with others.”


The COOCs website (see below) offers information and short courses across a range of disciplines from the arts to social studies, philosophy and sport. Peter’s teacher education students at Blackburn use the site, helping them to reflect upon the potential impact of their teaching. Peter has been experimenting with interactive essays which allow students to write more creative essays containing video content and other material and links. A small grant from the Higher Education Funding Council for England helped Peter and his learners trial and develop interactive essays and to present their findings at conferences. Visit https://www.coocs.co.uk


IT


IDEAS By Geoff Rebbeck


Peter Shukie is an education studies lecturer and the digital education lead at Blackburn College.


Doodle is a tool for arranging meetings, but it’s great for fixing up tutorials too. The tutor sets up the available days and times and invites learners by automated email to pick what suits them. Students just choose a slot to make their tutorial appointment. Others can see what slots are already selected and then choose theirs. This is a great way to turn a management tool into a tutorial appointment tool. Kahoot has a very American design and look, but is easily adaptable over here. Students in a class respond to multiple-choice options on their mobile device screens. These are summarised in real time on the board. The class result, anonymised or named, can be shared back with everyone in the room. This is excellent as a fun knowledge checker, for more serious formative assessment or checking recall at the end of class. Presenters can use it to share in real time the opinion of a larger class of students or general audience. It requires mobile devices to be out, but helps show students where devices add value in classes. Most people go to a search engine and put in a term or idea and hope the browser will return exactly what’s required. Consider giving students a list


Tony Gilbert is assistant curriculum manager, computing, business, travel and hospitality, at New College Swindon. He is a Member of SET.


New College Swindon is one of 11 colleges in the UK that have just been awarded the title of Microsoft Showcase College. The award is made to colleges to show that they are pioneering Microsoft technologies to enhance teaching, learning and assessment. Some of the technologies demonstrated and used at New College include rolling out Office 365 for every student, and students and staff using Microsoft Surface touchscreens in the classrooms. The college also uses Skype to encourage distance learning on courses and Microsoft Sway for presentations. Using Microsoft products has allowed learning to be more accessible and inclusive, and promotes collaboration between learners and staff. Providers awarded the title can collaborate with other Microsoft partners, share good practice internationally, have access to resources and offer consultancy work to other education and training providers.The other 10 FE providers becoming Microsoft Showcase Colleges are: City of Westminster, Cardiff and Vale, Derby, Exeter, Grimsby Institute, Heart of Worcestershire, Milton Keynes, Richmond Upon Thames, Trafford, Weston. To apply to become a Microsoft showcase provider visit https://education.microsoft.com/school-leaders-toolkit/programs


of search commands to narrow things down. Using the + and - keys adds or removes elements. Adding ‘and’ ‘or’ achieves what the words suggest. Adding key words in front of a search, such as ‘site’, or quotation marks around a search, gives a specific return. Every browser provides a downloadable list that can be printed for easy learning. Using the web with more alacrity is a good employability skill.


Geoff Rebbeck is a further and higher education teacher. He is an award-winning expert in e-learning and is a Fellow of SET. Visit Geoff’s website at goo.gl/Rbf9TX


inTUITION ISSUE 34 • WINTER 2018 31


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40