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Graduation 2008

Activity 25: Reflecting on openness

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Edited by Amanda Harrington-Vail, Tuesday, 10 June 2014, 14:10

This is my first attempt at an animated video. I used GoAnimate and attempted to upload it to both YouTube and Vimeo but was unfortunately not successful on this occasion, however when a TMA is not pressing I will work on it again because it was a useful exercise.

The video is 30 seconds long and includes animation, voice and text, its focus is on OER remembering that it's not just the financial aspects which often dominate thoughts (amongst other areas) but the consideration that is needed in regards to genuine openness and accessibility for all learners.

However upon testing it the following day I realise (gggrrr!) that it neither loaded or saved - despite signing in and constantly clicking save. As is often the case with learning design tools it takes time, patience and several attempts to get to grips with them, therefore I'll revisit this activity later on.

Until I complete and add my video I've written a slide show, which is openly accessible and searchable:

 

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1khtruNeYBIZsemW7ze9xaHgwysP5xcivgt5LhNSePDA

 

 

 

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Graduation 2008

Activity 22: An open education technology

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Edited by Amanda Harrington-Vail, Thursday, 24 Apr 2014, 14:27

Loic Le Muir (2005) discusses the willingness and openness of blog writers to communicate regularly on current issues for the purpose of collaboration and debate. RSS feeds are a way of notifying interested parties of new articles however Ingram (2011) suggests social networking is now the favoured medium, but this is really down to personal preferences. As an OU Tutor I find that links and embeds (known as ‘web 2.0’) make adding content such as YouTube tutorials, SoundCloud etc. to your tutor group forum easy to do and they are instantly accessible for students rather than them having to follow the link to its original source. Twitter and Facebook provide live updates for instant information on e.g. webinars so these can be discussed synchronously and questions asked of the speaker. For example MOOCs have been discussed in Twitter using specific hashtags. I use Twitter as an invaluable research aid. Unlike Facebook with Twitter you do not have to ‘friend’ someone but can follow and unfollow people you are interested in and contact them directly to ask questions (as I did this morning with Martin Weller). As for VLE’s it’s been interesting watching the OU’s Moodle transform as it adapts and progresses technologically over the years. An additional technology that is important for open education is website builders e.g. Google Sites so people with limited technological knowledge can set up their own site such as for hobbies and interests - I set up my Family Tree in 2004. This is a way to link to others and build understanding on specific topics of educational interest. Although these are often closed sites to protect identity they become open once contact has been made and an invitation is sent to connect. Genealogy is a popular interest and is of personal and social history educational value. Sites such as Tribal Pages and Ancestry.com provide free website builders that identify linked surnames so those with family trees on their site can choose to link up.

Ingram, M. (2011) ‘Sure, RSS is dead – just like the web is dead’, GigaOM, 4 January [online]. Available at http://gigaom.com/ 2011/ 01/ 04/ sure-rss-is-dead-just-like-the-web-is-dead/ (last accessed 22 April 2014).

Le Meur, L. (2005) ‘Is there a “blog culture”?’, Loic Le Meur, 5 May [online]. Available at http://loiclemeur.com/ english/ 2005/ 05/ is_there_a_blog.html (last accessed 22 April 2014).

 
 
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