Manchester Metropolitan University

Nuala Byrne, an ex-colleague from MMU Cheshire who now works at the University of Nottingham, has told us about this extensive resource which includes video clips of lecturers talking about their teaching, discussion papers and suggestions. Topics include “How do you ensure everyone’s participating in practicals?“, “Student roles in small groups“, “Evaluation of distance e-learning programmes” and many more. Well worth a look. (See also our own ‘showcase’ of staff talking about their practice if you haven’t already looked at it),

There is a new WebCT module (fresh off the press) called an Introduction to courseGenie.

CourseGenie is designed to take the pain out of web page design, particularly preparing materials for WebCT. It is licensed for campus wide use and works within the familiar comfort zone of Word.

The course includes step by step instructions on screen with printable versions to download if you prefer.

If you want to be among the first to spot the deliberate mistakes, please contact Anita Gill on A.Gill@mmu.ac.uk with your username and you will be given access.

I enjoyed this article in the ‘Dangerous Discussions’ series over at the TLTP website , A Course is not a Pizza“. The main point of the article is that a course is a lot more than the sum of its parts, and that sharing course materials is not ‘putting your course online’ or ‘giving away your job’, but a valuable activity which can benefit us all.

There is only limited information about this available at the moment, but the Education Subject Centre, ESCalate, has just announced a conference on The First Year Experience in Continuing Education which will be held at the University of Stirling from 24-25 April 2006. Apparently there will be two themes:

Pedagogic and Support Issues for Retention
&
Effective Institutional Strategies for Retention

More information from

Blackboard, which is WebCT’s principal rival in the elearning market, has announced that it is buying WebCT. I don’t really want to go into more detail here and now, but it could have an impact on our elearning activity at MMU, so I wanted to flag it up. If you have any questions about it, email or leave a comment.

Apologies for the length of this post, but there doesn’t seem to be a website for it, so I’m copying the whole email. Pity about the short notice. This may be of interest to anyone who has considered using video, photos or audio in their courses.

Finding and Using Audio-Visual Media in Further and Higher Education
Tuesday 18th October 2005: 10.30am – 4.30pm
Venue: BUFVC, 77 Wells Street, London, W1T 3QJ

Presented by BUFVC specialists Luke McKernan, Sergio Angelini, Murray
Weston, Billy Hooke and Markeda Cole.
The course programme offers:

* Practical sessions on the use of audio-visual media in Further and
Higher Education
* An exploration of forms of delivery of audio-visual media – film,
video, DVD, audio, CDs, streamed/
downloadable media
* An insight into the processes of recording of television and radio
programmes off-air under licence
* An understanding of UK copyright with an explanation of exceptions -
includes a question and answer session
* A look at BUFVC services such as HERMES, TRILT and the Moving Image
Gateway, and how they are of value
to Further and Higher education
* Information on using the Internet to access moving image resources

Participants will have the opportunity to view the BUFVC’s facilities and
network with colleagues from other institutions.

This course is suitable for a general audience of those involved in teaching
and learning processes. It will be of particular interest to teachers,
researchers, librarians, audio-visual and IT service providers in further
and higher education institutions.

Course registration fees including sandwich lunch:
Standard Charge: £120
Discount rates for staff in BUFVC member institutions
Standard Services Ordinary member: £102.00
Premier Services Ordinary member: £84.00

All charges include VAT at the standard rate. Bookings will be accepted (i)
accompanied by payment in advance by cheque or credit card, or (ii) when
accompanied by a signed official order.

Cancellations will not be accepted less than 14 days before the course date.
Bookings with payment or credit card details should be sent to:
Nancy Prall, Courses and events, BUFVC, 77 Wells Street, London W1T 3QJ
Fax: 020 7393 1555 pa@bufvc.ac.uk

2nd November 2005 – Crewe Campus

Invitation to all Academic and Academic-related Staff

MMU Cheshire’s Third Learning and Teaching Conference is to be held on 2nd November, at Crewe Campus. All academic staff and related colleagues are invited to attend.

Professor John Brooks will be giving the keynote address ‘The Autonomous Learner’. MMU Cheshire’s Dean, Dennis Dunn will give the welcome and set the conference in the MMU context.

The programme below shows that as well as time for the whole conference to address the key issues that we face in Learning and Teaching, much of the day is, again, devoted to a wide range of parallel sessions which will give us the opportunity for smaller group discussions. Points from these sessions will be fed back to the whole conference in the afternoon.

click here for Registration Form (Word doc)
Please return all registration forms by e-mail to a.j.bailey@mmu.ac.uk or by internal post to Alison Bailey, CSI Southfields Bungalow, Alsager Campus.

Abstracts received to date (Word docs):
Tom Bell

Pete Cuthbert
Susan Curtis
Robert Graham
Kathryn Kinmond/Lisa Oakley
Mary Issitt
Heather Leach
Jie Liu
Nick Lund/Maggie Watkin
Jo Moores/Trish Belfield
Ken Parsons
Jonathan Pitches/Chris Broomfield
Dave Webster
Joss West Burnham/Kerri Tomkinson

Programme:

JISC have launched a new guide called Innovative Practice with e-Learning which covers mobile and wireless elearning. There is a PDF file which covers the topic in 64 pages as well as some short planning tools which you can download.