In my last post on the demise of Twitterfountain, I mentioned Twitterfontana as an alternative well worth taking a look at, but sounding a note of caution about over-reliance on any free Web 2.0 services as they can (and do) disappear overnight. The next day I received an email from Jaap Roes, one of the developersRead more
The expert Twitterati amongst you may have come across the Twitterfountain service, which enabled you to create an animated stream of tweets featuring a specific hashtag, against a backdrop of images found with a particular tag on Flickr, with the tweets updated in realtime. This was great for conference sessions, or even for teaching, asRead more
Have you ever wanted to enhance your PowerPoint images? PowerPoint 2010 contains simple tools to help you do just that. The following is a short clip which demonstrates a selection of the tools:Read more
This is a Dutch software app which claims to do much the same as TurnItIn (TII), only cheaper. A trial was set up whereby 20 files which had already been passed through TII were put through a demo version of Ephorus. The results: • The Ephorus demo account that was being used only checks againstRead more
If, like me, you were a teenager in the 1980s, chances are you’ll remember the BBC Micro and the Sinclair Spectrum. These were ‘home computers’ that encouraged a generation of pallid adolescents to try their hand at programming, leading pretty much directly to the British games industry becoming one of the country’s biggest export earnersRead more
Ian Jones and Lara Alcock in the Mathematics Education Centre recently undertook an innovation designed to assess undergraduates’ conceptual understanding of mathematics. Undergraduates first sat a written test in which they had to explain their understanding of key concepts from the module. They then assessed their peers’ work online using an approach called Adaptive ComparativeRead more
A JISC study has found that learners develop a variety of digital literacies often through a social trial-and-error process, without the direct support or advice of their educational institutions. Ben Showers, JISC programme manager, said, “By understanding and recognising students’ hidden behaviours and motivations, JISC is in a position to help universities and colleges developRead more
The ViTAL (Video in Teaching and Learning) group are holding their next webinar on Wednesday 6th June. Details below. There have been a number of ViTAL webinars this year, focusing on lecture capture, and they’ve been well worth (virtually) attending. Video and OER/OEP (Open Educational Resources and Practices) Date: Wednesday 6 June Time: 13:00 – 14:00Read more
This message has just been posted to the JISC Announce mailing list by Martyn Harrow, the new Chief Executive, and marks the end of an era for JISC, at least in terms of the way funding is distributed. Below you will find one funding call, which represents the end of our funding programme for theRead more
Felipe Iza uses Learn Quiz for formative assessment with Loughborough University first year Electronic, Electrical and Systems Engineering students. He and his colleagues introduced a series of formative assessments throughout the course of their module designed to motivate and provide feedback to students, and to keep the module tutors informed of progress. Using Learn, theRead more