Contributions are from teachers and others with many and varied backgrounds although, I guess, they all have something in common – using Twitter to gather information and ideas.

Ian Addison describes this idea perfectly – “One of the huge powers of using Twitter is to crowd source. This involves someone chucking out an idea, letting others add to it, watching it develop into a monster and then bringing it all together into something useful.”

Another ‘crowd sourced’ book available for free download is edited by Tim Handley, a teacher who has just finished his PGCE. He asked people to share thoughts and tips to support training teachers. The book isn’t just for PGCE students but anyone training to become a teacher, in fact there are are many tips for experienced teachers as well.

The book includes usefulvery information about the course and university life, posts from a variety of blogs as well as over 200 tweets of tips and ideas.

The book can be purchased as a printed copy or downloaded as a free PDF from here http://bit.ly/pgceguide.

If you’re just downloading, it would help Tim if you supported the promotion of the book – he has some advice  at http://bit.ly/pgceguide and he will be pleased with your support.

A popular element is a page curl and there is an excellent video by David Anderson that not only shows you how to make a page curl element in a PowerPoint slide but also demonstrates some useful techniques that you may not be aware of. For example, did you know that you can turn a straight-sided triangle into a triangle with curves? Watch for the technique in this video.

Here’s my attempt below.

When you watch the video you might miss an important step if you’re using PowerPoint 2007.

When you draw a shape and right-click the shape, you might find that the option to ‘Edit Points’ is not in the context menu as shown in the video. To rectify this, select the shape you created, click the ‘Format’ ribbon.

If ‘Edit Points’ is greyed, click ‘Convert to Freeform’ and ‘Edit Points’ will be available and you can make all those adjustments mentioned in David Anderson’s video.

Have fun!

He states that there are 8 drivers for this change, he says:

1. There is a strong imperative for continuous learning – the world is changing so fast that we need to continually update our knowledge, skills and productivity.
2. Natural learning is a process. It is not a series of events.
3. Most learning occurs outside formal learning settings anyway.
4. The vast majority of learning is social, even without us focusing on it.
5. A lot of existing formal learning practices are ineffective and inefficient. Filling heads with knowledge has little to do with real learning.
6. People learn better when they’re in charge of their own learning. Guidance helps, command-and-control doesn’t.
7. There’s an inherent inertia in formal learning approaches. It takes time and effort to design, develop and deliver learning content.
8. Cost. Informal and social learning approaches are invariably cheaper, more effective and better received than their formal counterparts.

Despite all of the above, formal learning will undoubtedly continue to be very important in a few areas such as compliance and onboarding/induction.

Maybe these points do have relevance in schools. We’re all agreed that the world changes at a fast pace and wonder how our formal education, sybllabi and exams, will keep pace or perhaps this model is now becoming obsolete?

Learning is a natural process – do we hinder that natural process by placing obstacles and time-related ‘hurdles’ in the way of learning in favour of identifying snapshots of achievement throughout our lives such as SATS, GCSE, Diploma, Degree and vocational qualifications.

Much of what I know in my professional life does not derive from formalised learning but from research and talking to other people – I suspect the same can be said of many young people if you consider the entireity of their learning and not just the learning that occurs as a result of school.

Gradually we’re beginning to realise that maybe the ‘what we learn’ is becoming less important (and relevant) and it is more about ‘how we learn’ that is going to ensure we are all effective in our work and participation in life.

Anybody who works in schools, supporting teachers  in the evolution of their pedagogy as they grapple with how to use a learning platform, will agree with many of the points made by Charles. Formalised learning and the teaching of teaching ensures that many teachers rely on a process and are, at first, unable to grasp the potential of approaches to learning that are different from formal schooling.

Successful teachers come in all disguises, inspirational teachers are not disguised – their approach to learning is similar to yours and mine. Maybe the points that Charles makes are more valid than we give credit.

Easy to follow, these tutorials will are ideal for teachers ‘dipping their toes into the water’ for the first time or for experienced teachers wanting to improve their skills. The use of audio, moving image and video in a learning platform such as Moodle enhances the learning experience for all students and these tutorials will help you find resources in the appropriate formats for you to use them effectively.

Using audio resources in Moodle

Using audio resources in Moodle is simple – choose audio files that use the ‘mp3′ format and Moodle will recognise the mp3 file and automatically provide a player so that the playback of the mp3 is simple for students.

How do I know that an audio file is in mp3 format?

The audio file will be named with a filename and an extension in this example format – soundfilename.mp3. Any audio file with ‘.mp3′ after the filename is an mp3 file.

How to use mp3 files in Moodle?

Upload your mp3 file to the filespace in your Moodle course and link to it using the ‘Link to a file or web site’ resource and choose the file you uploaded. Automatically, Moodle will include a player so that your students can use the player to play, pause and stop the audio. If Moodle does not automatically include the player, contact your Moodle Administrator to rectify the problem.

Using video resources in Moodle

The simplest video formats for Moodle are ‘swf’ or ‘flv’. There are other formats that can be used but they rely upon the student having the correct plugin for their browser. Also, your Moodle Administrator needs to ensure that the correct plugin or filter for Moodle has been added to Moodle so check with the Administrator to find out what formats can be used. You should be able to use swf and/or flv formats at the very least.

How do I know that a video file is in swf or flv format?

The video file will be named with a filename and extension in this example format – somevideo.swf or somevideo.flv. Any video file with ‘.swf’ or ‘.flv’ after the filename is a video file that can be used in Moodle without the student needing an additional plugin for their computer.

How to use swf or flv files in Moodle?

Upload your swf or flv file to the filespace in your Moodle course and add it to the approriate activity – you should be able to select an SWF or FLV activity from the activity list.  Automatically, Moodle will include a player so that your students can use the player to play, pause and stop the video.

Alternatively, you can just link to the video file in a similar way as you link to an audio file described above. This will work but you will have little control over the video – the video will just load and play when the link to it is clicked.

If Moodle does not automatically include the player or have an appropriate activity, contact your Moodle Administrator to rectify the problem.

What next?

Try the tutorials, they’re easy to follow and not time-consuming – ideal for a busy teacher!

This survey at http://e-learningindicators.flexiblelearning.net.au/survey_results_all.htm is the fifth annual national survey adn the results of previous surveys can all be see from the above link.

The results that interest me are those specifically related to employers and the Vocational Educational and Training (VET) teachers and trainers.

35% of employers use e-learning for training and two-thirds think that e-learning is a flexible and efficient traiing method, and would recommend it to their employees and to other employers! This is a startling statistic given that this information is about training in the work place.

87% of teachers and trainers said they used ICT and nearly 60% said that e-learning has made learning more interesting and engaging for their students and more than half said that e-learning improved their teaching!

90% of students would like at least ‘a little’ e-learning in their course.

If a similar survey were completed in our schools, I wonder what the results might be? Is this a time when so many aspects of our education system coming under review when such a survey might prove to be  valuable source of information?

Do our schools have a similar or greater commitment to e-learning that Australian employers, do our teachers make similar use of e-learning in their courses?

And where do our students stand on this issue? Should we ask them?

Most teachers tend to use a word processor, such as Microsoft Word, to create resources for the classroom. However, most word processors are pretty limited in the sort of functionality needed for use with a learning platform.

Sure, you can create diagrams, insert pictures, add text and, if you’re skilled, you can achieve a great deal but word processors tend to be limited in their output and PowerPoint has a number of outputs that fit very well for use within a learning platform.

PowerPoint also has excellent drawing tools and so creating good-looking diagrams is very easy and you can use the presentation in your lessons in the classroom more easily than using a document from a word processor.

Ok, I’ll admit it, I like using PowerPoint, I’m probably a fan – there I’ve said it – I like PowerPoint. But it’s not because I slavishly follow whatever PowerPoint puts in front of me – it is because PowerPoint has the tools that I need to build effective e-learning resources that I can use in a learning platform like Moodle.

Here’s an example. I was helping to re-create an existing work sheet that had intitially been produced using Word. The diagram was simple and the page layout was OK but it lacked something, some excitement I guess. So I set about recreating the diagram in PowerPoint, why? Well, the drawing tools are great but it was the output that interested me.

The whole project was to produce a Book resource for Moodle. I needed the diagram as part of a page I was creating in the Book. So, why use PowerPoint? It’s because you can output a slide as an image or the whole presentation as a series of images. To include the diagram I just needed to output the slide as an image and upload to the page in the Book. Nice and simple, no need for additional image creation/conversion software.

That’s just one reason why I like PowerPoint. Anybody else out there willing to share?

A simple add-in to PowerPoint enables a more flexible approach to presentations than the linear format that we almost always adopt. It’s one of those things that while powerPoint can be a very powerful presentation tool, it does expect you to work and present in one way.

Here’s a short presentationby @articulatef introducing pptPlex that shows you how pptPlex might make presentations a little more fun!

Interested? You can go to OfficeLabs find out more, view videos and download the add-in here -> http://www.officelabs.com/projects/pptplex/Pages/default.aspx

In the video, Helen Legomski of St. Peter’s High School in Stoke-on-Trent highlights some of the features of a learning platform and the benefits for her as a teacher. Helen has lead the introduction of a learning platform in her school and understands the difficulties that teachers face including a learning platform within their normal everyday work.

Helen highlights some of the benefits of using a learning platform she has experienced.

As members of NAACE, Jeremy and Ian are very pleased to be part of an organisation that is leading the way. Although you have register or be a NAACE Member, completing courses and accumulating 30 hours of credits will help you achieve the NAACE Online ICT Diploma.

Current available courses are:

• Assessment of ICT in the Primary Phase
• Assessment of ICT in the Secondary Phase
• Developing Higher Order Thinking Skills Utilising ICT
• Embedding e-safety in the Curriculum (short course)
• Embedding e-safety in the Curriculum (long course)
• Exploring Digital Media
• Finding Digital Resources
• High Interaction, Reflection and Peer Assessment Through Online Forums
• ICT Subject Knowledge in QCA Primary Framework
• Modelling and Models for Learning
• Using ICT in Innovative Ways
• Web 2.0 Visual Learning Collaboration Tools (Primary)

Many more details are availabale at http://www.ictcpd4free.co.uk/ including an information booklet.

Mary says, “It’s the learning designer’s job to get the conversation started, to provide interesting activities for the group when conversation flags, and to make sure the interactions between participants stay productive. The learning designer facilitates the social learning experience in much the same way as a meeting facilitator guides a face-to-face meeting, and can even use some of the same techniques.”

Replace the phrase ‘learning designer’ with ‘teacher’ and it’s a challenge for everyone preparing or creating resources and actvities in schools.

Ensuring that your school learning platform does not become a file repositiory for Word documents and PowerPoint presentations is not easy for the lone enthusiast but by working in small groups, teachers can evolve their pedagogy to create exciting resources and actvities.

The three questions in Mary’s article are good discussion points to challenge hard-pressed teachers to re-evaluate their resources and activities and ensire their suitability for the online learning environment.

• Can learners participate in the learning environment at their own level of expertise?
• Will each learner have a lot of opportunities to participate?
• Could the differences between the particpants be a source of reciprocal growth?

Using a learning platform is so rewarding and time-saving for both teacher and student and these challenges ensure we give of our best to all our students.