A number of you may well have tried to locate a link that you know you have seen in one of our eMagazines; short of opening each eMagazine in turn this can be very, very annoying!

To reduce the stress levels I've been able to share these very links with you all, using only2clicks.

Only2clicks allows users to create online, their favourite links sorted under Tabs; in this case I've produced 17 tabs one of which is labelled New. During any month I will not only add links to the eMagazine but I will also add them under this 'New Tab'. You therefore have the choice of keeping up to speed daily. When the eMagazine is published I will then distribute them under the other 16 tabs.

Note: Take a look at the Publication Section of this eMagazine for a link to the latest eBook on only2click.

To visit the shared links go to http://www.only2clicks.com/pages/acljohn/ or use the live pages below...

For those who haven't noticed, there's a new trend in online fiction marketing--giving the fiction away online. Case in point: Every single short-fiction nominee for sci-fi's 2008 Hugo Award is available free online, and TechRepublic have got the links. 

Find out more at http://blogs.techrepublic.com.com/geekend/?p=1264. 

The Telegraph have come up with A guide to the world of blogging mums that includes...

• Judith O'Reilly, who landed a £70,000 deal for the book of the blog that started it all. "Just how grim can it get up north? Very. One woman's lonely journey into the Northern heartlands."

Find out more and/or visit the listed blogs at http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/main.jhtml?xml=/education/2008/05/10/fabloggerslist.xml.

Or go to http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/main.jhtml?xml=/education/2008/05/10/fabloggers.xml where Tamsin Kelly meets the blogging mothers who are finding fame, fortune and self-fulfilment by chronicling their experiences online.

In 1975, Kodak released the world’s first digital camera prototype, a clunky-looking device that used casette tapes as the medium to store pictures.

See the Camera and read more at http://www.geeksaresexy.net/2008/05/08/worlds-first-digital-camera/. 

Or visit the home page of the blog at http://www.geeksaresexy.net/. 

An Argentinian Blog which, although I can't read it, I find very clever. Perhaps it is the ex-maths teacher or the artistic side of me that it appeals to! See for yourself at http://logologos.blogspot.com/.

One of my favourites is...

Open Culture explores cultural and educational media (podcasts, videos, online courses, etc.) that’s freely available on the web, and that makes learning dynamic, productive, and fun. They sift through all the media, highlight the good and jettison the bad, and centralize it in one place.

Visit Open Culture at http://www.oculture.com/. 

Not being a language/English expert, I didn't know that there were...

• Repeating reduplicatives
• Rhyming reduplicatives

and

• Vowel change reduplicatives

Find out for yourself at http://www.dailywritingtips.com/reduplicatives-and-their-meanings/.

I do however know that this blog has provided lots of resources for practitioners and learners across many curriculum areas.

Visit the DailyWritingTips Blog at http://www.dailywritingtips.com/.

Wednesday June 18^th 2008 9.30 - 3.30

1 Day event including lunch & refreshments - Cost £50 per delegate

Location: Blackpool And The Fylde College

You are invited to an event run in partnership by Blackpool and The Fylde College and Intellident, one of the leading suppliers of self-service systems based on Radio Frequency IDentification (RFID) and barcode technologies.

Blackpool and The Fylde College has recently opened a newly refurbished Learning Resource Centre for 14 - 19 students called The Loop. The centre is designed to provide different kinds of study environments for students and has been planned around the introduction of self-service systems.

Keynote speaker will be Les Watson. Now an independent consultant, Les was formerly Pro-Vice Chancellor of Glasgow Caledonian University where he developed a series of extremely innovative learning environments starting with a student internet café and culminating in the Saltire Centre.

Other speakers will include Fiona Emberton of Embervision and Tony Coffield from CuriousOranj. Fiona has a retail and library background and is a specialist in RFID planning and roll-out including necessary culture changes. CuriousOranj design hotels, clubs and bars as well as libraries. A recent project has been at Anglia Ruskin University. Former projects include the Saltire Centre, The Loop and many public libraries.

The day will include tours of The Loop and the opportunity to talk with The Loop team and will end with a general discussion on library design.

Please follow the attached link to online registration

http://www.intellident.co.uk/en/4.00/sm_LOOPopenday.php

Full details from

Chris McAllister, Head of Learning Resources, Blackpool and The Fylde College

cmca@blackpool.ac.uk

01253 352352

The ALP is hosting a Provider of the Future LIG Funding event,17th June 08 at the International Conference Centre,Birmingham to...

• highlight LIG 4,
• inform interested parties of the new criteria and process of application and
• raise awareness of other funding and services available for the sector.

The event is free to attend but numbers are limited and only available on a first-come, first-serve basis. If you would like to find out more or to make a booking please visit: www.national-training.com/lig4event

If you are trying to make your website or blog more accessible, look no further than this compilation with 100 tools, tips and tutorials.

Go to http://whdb.com/2008/100-killer-web-accessibility-resources-blogs-forums-and-tutorials/ to find out more. 

Note: If you don’t have a clue about the issues that surround Web site accessibility, then this list will help you to become well acquainted with the issues involved in this movement.

The categories are in alphabetical order...

•  Accessibility Sites
• Blind and Partial Sight Users
• Color Blindness
• Deaf Users
• Epilepsy
• Forums/Mailing Lists
• Readability
• Simulators
• Tools
• Tutorials
• Validation - Accessibility
• Validation - Other

 

Page2RSS helps you monitor websites that do not offer RSS feeds.

• Enter the page you want it to monitor and let Page2RSS convert it to an RSS feed.
  Once the feed is ready simply open your feedreader and subscribe to it.
• From now on you will be able to track webpage updates directly from your feedreader.

Add Page2RSS bookmarklet to your browser toolbar.

• Clicking on that button will create a Page2RSS feed for the page you are currently viewing.
• This is an fast and easy way for you to create RSS feeds for pages you are currently surfing.

Find out more by going to http://page2rss.com/.

PDFescape is your free, online PDF...

• reader,
• editor,
• form filler, &
• form designer.

Open your PDF files on the web without downloading or installing any software.

With PDFescape, you can fill in PDF forms, add text and graphics, add links, and even add new form fields to a PDF file.

Best of all, it's Free!

Try it out at http://www.pdfescape.com/.

A free service for sharing PowerPoint presentations on the web. Practitioners and Learners alike can publish their slideshows. Membership is free.

User's SlideBoom presentations can be viewed by millions of Internet users or just by colleagues and/or Learners – it’s up to the user. With SlideBoom you can also embed a PowerPoint presentation you like directly into content of your blog or web site or ePortfolio.

The social facilities of SlideBoom also lets you, comment and rank presentations.

Go to http://www.slideboom.com/ to find out more.

Interesting web-service Down For Everyone Or Just Me helps you find out whether the website you’re trying to access is actually down or blocked by one of the filters from your network.

Next time you see a Youtube, Gmail or any other popular is down simply go to the DownForEveryoneOrJustMe.com and check it out.

• Type in the address of the website you want to check,
• click on “just me?” button and
• it will instantly tell you whether it’s really down or just you.

Try it out at http://www.downforeveryoneorjustme.com/.

Source: http://pcweenies.org/.

Source http://geekandpoke.typepad.com/. 

So what celebrity do you look most like? CelebretyMatchUp face recognition allows you to quickly find out if you have a celebrity look-a-like.

• Choose your gender
• Upload your photo (preferably with your full face) and
• hit “browse”.

Shortly after, you will be presented with a bunch of celebrity photos that share common face features.

Try it out at http://www.picitup.com/picitup/match_start.jsp.

Sometimes, a screwdriver simply isn’t enough to open computer boxes!

First signs of a Geek?

See more pictures and videos at Fugly.

Wherever you plan on traveling next, I'm off to California to my son's wedding, make sure to visit DontForgetYourToothbrush.com. This handy website lets you easily create a printable holiday checklist of the items you plan to take with you.

The website is very straight forward.

• Sign-up and login
• Choose the type of holiday you’re planning and
• Check off the items you need; no typing involved however If the item you need isn’t listed you have the option to add it manually.
• Set planning reminders to be sent to your email inbox.
• When your list is ready you can print it out and use it for packing.

Try it out at http://www.dontforgetyourtoothbrush.com/.

 

What would you expect a Geek to do when they are in trouble when swimming?

Go to http://www.umsl.edu/~sauterv/analysis/graphics/comics/jargon/pic17917.jpg to find out!

Please share any videos you make...

Inches or centimetres? 

Stansted Airport, London. 7 hidden cameras. 14 undercover actors. 1 unexpected performance...

 

WHEREWEDOWHATWEDO is a community-built visual database of the spaces in which we spend our days, nights or both doing whatever it is we do.

"While it may not be the freshest idea in the attic, we thought it would be a fun project to work on during down time. As well as we wanted to give this interesting and slightly voyeuristic concept a place all its own. So... there you have it."

Go on add your space at http://www.wherewedowhatwedo.com/. 

CustomGuide have released some Quick Reference Guides for Microsoft, Mac and Adobe products.

These printable quick references are free to use, distribute, and share!

• Distribute them within your organization.
• Forward them to staff/learners with support issues.
• Post them on your organization's VLE/Website/Intranet.
• Use them in classes and/or for staff/personal development.

Download or view them at http://www.customguide.com/quick_references.htm.

Computer Education Training and Tutorial features a new, gateway site to free computer and I.T. educational and training resources on the web. computer education, computer online training, computer training.

To find out more go to http://www.intelligentedu.com/. 

Good-Tutorials is a comprehensive source for web design and photography tutorials.

Thousands of step-by-step tutorials for...

• Photoshop,
• CSS,
• Flash,
• HTML,
• Adobe Illustrator,
• Java,
• JavaScript,
• Maya,
• Photography,
• PHP,
• Ruby,
• Ruby on Rails and
• 3ds Max.

Go to http://www.good-tutorials.com/ where you can...

• Search for turorials or browse by category.
• Sort tutorials by date, rating, number of saves, comments etc.

howtogimp, is a site dedicated to bringing together a whole library of news, tutorials, blogs and downloads to help you learn and use GIMP a free graphic application.

Go to http://howtogimp.com/index.php to find out more for yourself.

howtogimp is a community submission site so if you have anything that fits into the site you are encouraged to add it.

To make the learning process as efficient as possible, these OpenOffice tutorials are full-motion movies that feature graphics, text and narrated audio. These courses were developed especially for the web. Find out for yourself at http://www.learnopenoffice.org/tutorials.htm.

If you’re looking to teach yourself music theory and/or find resources for music theory learners, then head over to http://musictheory.net/.

Go to http://www.sthelens.ac.uk/ecpd/lister/index.htm or use the live link below...

TechTutor.TV offers free video tutorials on a wide range of applications.

The tutorials on Photoshop–from layers to blends–are particularly good.

TechTutor.TV offers free video tutorials on many other applications, including...

• After Effects,
• DreamWeaver,
• Adobe Premiere and Illustrator,
• InDesign,

and many more.

Find out more at http://www.techtutor.tv/.

Full Web Building Tutorials - All Free
At W3Schools you will find all the Web-building tutorials you need, from basic HTML and XHTML to advanced XML, SQL, Database, Multimedia and WAP. 

Go to http://w3schools.com/ to find out more. 

A Cool£4m For Learning Innovation Grant (LIG) The Association of Learning Providers (ALP) have released a further £4m capital funds to support the Work Based Sector in making the best use of technology and elearning in supporting the growth of Apprenticeships and Train to Gain programmes. For more details take a look at the ALP Newsletter at: http://alp.qia.oxi.net/files/downloads/Upload_Documents45/ASLP_Summ_spring08.pdf

In which you will see that the ALP is hosting a Provider of the Future LIG Funding event on 17th June 2008.

The ALP website can be visited at - http://www.learningproviders.org.uk/index.html.

 

A study of the effective use of social software by Further and Higher Education in the UK to support student learning and engagement

The  (JISC) wishes to commission a study of the effective use of social software by Further and Higher Education in the UK to support student learning and engagement.

The main deliverables of the study are 8-12 case studies and a final report with recommendations, intended to inform staff delivering higher education to students in Higher Education institutions or Further Education Colleges and the JISC executive. The report and case studies are to be delivered to JISC in January 2009.

Up to £40,000 (including VAT and expenses) is available for the study over a six-month period (July 2008 – January 2009).

Tenders should be submitted no later than 12:00 on Friday 6 June 2008.

The full text of the Invitation to Tender can be found at the following link: http://www.jisc.ac.uk/fundingopportunities/funding_calls/2008/05/socialsoftware.aspx

...as a learning technology professional

CMALT is Certified Membership of the Association for Learning Technology, a national, cross-sector accreditation scheme developed by ALT in 2005.

Applying for CMALT involves creation and peer assessment of a portfolio of evidence against a set of core and specialist areas defined as central to the role of a learning technologist.

Until 31st July 2008, staff working in UK HE and FE (including Adult and Community and Work Based Learning) are eligible to register for CMALT at a preferential rate of £47.50. This 50% reduction on the CMALT fee is part-funded by a grant from the Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC).

During June and July, the ALT are running regional support workshops to help individuals and organisations interested in getting CMALT recognition of their learning technology professional skills and experience. These events are supported as part of the JISC funded scheme for CMALT applications.

The workshop will be an introduction to CMALT. It will be suitable for people who have never thought about CMALT before, as well as for anyone who has already made a start on producing an application. The workshop will be run on open, participative lines, with plenty of opportunity for questions and discussion.

Please visit the ALT website at www.alt.ac.uk for full details about CMALT itself and CMALT workshops: http://www.alt.ac.uk/cmalt_workshop.html.

Dates and venues offered are:

• 2nd June University of Manchester
• 9th June Aberystwyth University
• 12th June University of East London
• 24th June Glasgow Caledonian University
• 2nd July (tbc) Oxford Brookes University
• mid-July Northern Ireland tba

For informal enquiries...

...please contact Dr Jay Dempster, Consultant to ALT and CMALT's Certification Manager by email jay.dempster@alt.ac.uk or phone 0845 159 0065.

• Adults 'dropping out of learning'
• Adults with autism to be audited
• Child web-safety guide launched
• Expert says txt is gr8 4 language

Thousands of adults targeted by government skills-boosting schemes have dropped out of evening classes, a survey of 5,000 people suggests.

Those in the lowest income groups have been hit the hardest, with the share of skilled manual workers on courses falling by a fifth to 33% in one year.

Read the full article at http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/7396956.stm. 

For the first time the government is to calculate the number of adults with autism in England.

Announcing the £500,000 project, Care Services Minister Ivan Lewis said autistic adults are too often abandoned by health and social services.

Read the full Article at http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7389228.stm. 

New teaching resources aimed at helping primary school children surf the web safely have been launched.

Figures from regulator Ofcom suggest 500,000 five to seven-year-olds are allowed to go online unsupervised.

Read the full Article at http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7389584.stm. 

Or visit the resources at http://thinkuknow.co.uk/5_7/. 

A linguistics expert has rejected claims that texting by mobile phone is bad for language and literacy skills.

Professor David Crystal argues that such condensed messages enhance and enrich language skills.

He called it an "urban myth" that school work was riddled with text speech, and said in fact students knew when to use it in the right context.

Read the full article at http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/north_west/7410201.stm. 

• Ask and your wish might be granted
• College concern over Train to Gain cash
• Don't restrict access to learning for all
• Enough of an obstacle
• How plumbing killed off pilates
• NEET - not in education, employment or training
• Poetry and history for hard men
• Popularity of foundation degrees is growing
• Skills update
• The art of being virtual
• Web 2.0: boon or bane for universities?
• Why the future's green for IT

Bosses in all sectors will soon need a good business reason for refusing staff requests for training. Peter Kingston reports

Read Peter's article at http://education.guardian.co.uk/further/story/0,,2281022,00.html?gusrc=rss&feed=8. 

If learning is so important to the health of communities and of the economy, why is there so much less of it about, asks Alan Tuckett

Read the full article at http://education.guardian.co.uk/further/opinion/story/0,,2280996,00.html?gusrc=rss&feed=8. 

We have never been so challenged and regulated, says Jon F Baldwin

"Governing bodies, local authorities, government departments, students, parents, Uncle Tom Cobley and all can - and do - express views on the operation of universities. Somehow we find a way of meeting every challenge, trial and popularity contest."

Read the full article at http://education.guardian.co.uk/higher/comment/story/0,,2276703,00.html?gusrc=rss&feed=8. 

For some the advantages are limitless but the very strength of the technology also poses inherent risks. Harriet Swain weighs the pros and cons in an article found at http://education.guardian.co.uk/link/story/0,,2279249,00.html?gusrc=rss&feed=8.

Call for evidence on lifelong learning, crime & social exclusion

Crime costs us all, financially and emotionally. The victims and their families suffer, and the public costs of maintaining a swelling prison population are huge. Those who offend are often in effect excluded from normal economic and social activity, after they have served their sentences. We know that many people who engage in criminal activity have low levels of educational achievement. A very high proportion of prisoners have basic literacy and numeracy problems, which make it very difficult for them to reintegrate.

The connections between educational failure on the one hand, and criminal and anti-social behaviour, with its risk of social exclusion, on the other, are strong but also complex. Lifelong learning - the provision of learning opportunities for adults at all levels - has a significant role to play in addressing this major theme: in helping to prevent criminal behaviour , to enable people to take up productive lives and to enable an informed public debate on dealing with crime issues.

This is why the Inquiry into the Future for Lifelong Learning (IFLL), sponsored by NIACE, is putting out a public call for evidence on lifelong learning, crime and social exclusion.

With a Board of Commissioners chaired by Sir David Watson, the IFLL was launched in September 2007 and will report in June 2009. Experts from government, business, academia, trade unions, public service, providers and the voluntary and community sector, as well as learners, are brought together to identify a broad consensus for the future direction of adult learning policy in the UK. (For detail see www.lifelonglearninginquiry.org.uk).

The Inquiry looks at the critical issues that face our society in coming decades, and identifies how adult learning can equip us to meet these challenges. A number of specific themes provide a focus for the work, around which we are issuing calls for evidence. Interested individuals and organisations are invited to submit written evidence on lifelong learning, crime and social exclusion by 12^th June 2008.

Tom Schuller, Director of the Inquiry, comments: "Crime is an area where we can reasonably expect adult learning to make a big difference, but we need to understand the issues better. Imprisoning people is a huge cost to society, and crime wrecks many people's lives. We are calling both for empirical evidence on what works, and for rigorous thinking on possible ways forward."

The Inquiry invites submissions that address the following questions:

• What does the evidence tell us about the relationship between lifelong learning and crime and social exclusion?
• Where are the gaps in evidence in relation to this theme?
• What key messages for the Inquiry we should extract?

In particular,

• What modes of education have been proven effective in reducing recidivism and/or producing long-term effects on criminal activity?
• What categories of criminal behaviour are most open to educational treatment, and how might this be developed?
• What kinds of infrastructural development are needed to strengthen the part lifelong learning plays in combating social exclusion?

Further information about the Commission of Inquiry is available from www.lifelonglearninginquiry.org.uk

At this stage we take a broad view of what constitutes evidence. It might include research evidence; information about your organisation/learning provision; or personal or organisational experience or views about the issues connected with this theme etc. It would be helpful, however, if you could indicate what sort of evidence you are submitting.

Evidence should be submitted to lifelonglearninginquiry@niace.org.uk

This is a public call for evidence. Recipients of this notice are encouraged to draw it to the attention of others who may wish to submit evidence to the Inquiry.

• Growth in students on Foundation degrees is on track
• Healey confirms TUPE protections for staff moving to new Unitary Councils
• New guidance for work based learning providers
• Ofqual to review reliability of assessment system

...to meet Government target

The growth in the number of students studying on foundation degree programmes is on track to meet the Government target of 100,000 by 2010, according to a report published on 6 May 2008 by HEFCE. Read the full article at http://www.wired-gov.net/wg/wg-news-1.nsf/lfi/DNWA-7EDHDX

Local Government Minister John Healey, on the 7th May 2008, published the framework - regulations and guidance - which the Government intends to put in place for the transfer and appointment of staff to the new unitary councils.

The framework, centred on the Government's commitment to TUPE protection for staff transferring to the new unitaries, also makes clear that councils should take full advantage of their new start to bring in fresh blood to their senior management teams so that the best people are in place to lead and manage the new flagship councils. Read the full article at http://www.wired-gov.net/wg/wg-news-1.nsf/lfi/160625

LLUK has launched new guidance for work based learning providers in England to explain the government reforms to the training and qualifcations of teachers, tutors, trainers and instructors. Read the full article at http://www.wired-gov.net/wg/wg-news-1.nsf/lfi/DNWA-7E9JEM

Ofqual has formally launched, announcing a new programme of work to look at the reliability of assessment. Read the full article at http://www.wired-gov.net/wg/wg-news-1.nsf/lfi/DNWA-7EPHSE or visit the Ofqual website at http://www.ofqual.gov.uk/.

Links to the University of Pennsylvania’s 60-Second Lecture Series to partake of some knowledge.

• Here you will find videos of faculty members from the School of Arts & Sciences attempting to tackle a topic in roughly 60 seconds.
• The writer of the article found that...
  ..."the knowledge that will stick with me has more to do with how the content there is delivered. The site really provides a nice little laboratory for what works and what doesn’t when trying to deliver brief, high impact content"

Read the full article at http://blog.missiontolearn.com/2008/04/6-online-presentation-tips-from-60-second-lectures/ and/or follow the link to the 60-second Lecture Series.

Go to http://www.teachertube.com/view_video.php?viewkey=de9da6da41723b5ab427 or watch the video clip below...

 

 

OVGuide (Online Video Guide) aggregates, ranks and sorts online movie and video sites by categories.

Features:

• Browse sites by
  
  • name (A-Z Site Index),
  • recently added,
  • popularity.
• Browse sites by category: TOP 100, Video Blog, Education, Sci/Tech, Lifestyle, Health/Fit etc.
• See ‘Top Full Length Movie/TV Searches’ or ‘Today’s Most Popular OVGuide Sites’.
• Search for full-length movies on all free movie websites at the same time.
• Check out top site searches.

See for yourself at http://www.ovguide.com/index.html.

Or look at the Education sites at http://www.ovguide.com/education.html. 

A site which allows parents and teachers to set up their own channels and share videos; for ages 6 months to 6 years and above Videos are collected from Youtube, but are shared through the Totlol community site so there's no danger of your young learners clicking through to something unsuitable.

A good place for family learning practitioners to start looking or get younger learners and/or their parents in the habit of looking for good, safe, educational content.

Go to http://www.totlol.com/index.php to find out more. 

Clay Shirky at Web 2.0 Expo SF 2008

If I had as many pounds as the times practitioners say...

• I don't have the time!
• Where do you find the time?

etc. then I would be a rich person!

This talk by Clay Shirky is about where people find the time to work on things like Wikipedia.

• Would you like to have access, from any PC, to your Bookmarks?
  
• Would you like your learners, whenever they have access to the internet, to have access to "Course Bookmarks" / "Useful Links" etc?
  
• Would you like to establish Communities of Practice (CoPs) within your organisation where colleagues/members etc would be able to add and/or share Bookmarks (which they will also be able to access when and where ever they have access to the Internet)?
  
• Do you find that you have so many bookmarks that it is difficult to locate specific links quickly?
  
• Do you know instantly, when you see a website, that you have clicked the wrong bookmark?
  
• Would you like to place your existing bookmarks/URLs etc. under different tabs or under a number of tabs (duplicates) and/or share some or all of them with colleagues/learners etc?

If the answer is yes to one or more of the above questions then only2clicks may provide the solution for you!

This new eBook can be read/downloaded from the RSC Northwest's eBook Library at http://www.rsc-northwest.ac.uk/acl/BookCase/library_section7.htm.

Other eBooks in the library can be accessed from the home page at http://www.rsc-northwest.ac.uk/acl/BookCase/library.htm.

 

This supplement is designed to give a broad overview of the issues and process of preparing funding bids.

This eMagazine Supplement will focus on the key questions that will help learning providers...

* ...appraise their ideas,
* ...understand better what they are hoping to achieve and then
* ...think about how they demonstrate to a potential funder that they match their criteria.

This report is based on many discussions at conferences, workshops, forums etc., and with partner organisations; between a broad range of participants that included colleagues, trainers, practitioners, funders, advisers, managers, inspectors and many others.

It has been designed to help support learning providers to prepare proposals that have the best opportunity to be successful not only in achieving funding but also the intended aims.

Go to http://www.rsc-northwest.ac.uk/acl/eMagArchive/index.html to view this and previous eMagazine Supplements.

Note: the zipped Bid Writing eXe file is available for download, for inclusion on Learning Providers VLEs, IMS, Websites etc. from the zipped eXe Library at http://www.rsc-northwest.ac.uk/acl/ZippedeXeLibrary/zippedeXelibrary.htm.

LLUK has launched new guidance for work based learning providers in England to explain the government reforms to the training and qualifcations of teachers, tutors, trainers and instructors. Download the pdf version at http://www.lifelonglearninguk.org/documents/fewr_guidance_for_wbl_providers_220408.pdf.

The guidance has been created in partnership with the Association of Learning Providers (ALP), the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills (DIUS), the Institute for Learning (IfL), the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) and Standards Verification UK (SVUK)

Hard copies are available through the Information and Advice Service, http://www.lifelonglearninguk.org/2852.htm, or by calling 01787 884087 (ref FEWR WBL 0408) for multiple copies.

Note: This is possibly one of the slowest web sites.

"A few years ago, you couldn’t go to an education conference without hearing all about learning styles (Auditory, Visual, Tactual, Kinesthetic & Verbal). Now it’s as though it never happened – conferences are all talking about personalisation, policy and practitioners. Even though it’s no longer trendy, there are plenty of people still working on improving learner engagement in education through developing a better understanding of the influence of learning styles, and how they can be exploited."

Read the full article at http://blogs.msdn.com/ukfe/archive/2008/05/06/learning-about-learning-styles.aspx and/or download the publication at http://download.microsoft.com/download/5/9/8/5984cf15-8832-4d4b-912f-f1a86d55ff91/OneNote%20and%20Learning%20Styles%20pamphlet.pdf.

The Guardian's new step-by-step guide to the university application process...

Read more at http://education.guardian.co.uk/university2009/story/0,,2281005,00.html?gusrc=rss&feed=8. 

The Ministry of Defense has just released the documents after keeping them top secret for decades.  They contain data detailing strange lights in the sky and other unusual phenomenon observed by both the public and government officers.  The records date from 1978 to 2002 and will be available for no charge only for this month.

Inside the PDF files, they are very large, you will find a wide range of materials from...

• newspaper clippings to
• stacks of police reports and odd letters, some of which are near-impossible to decipher. 

Many of them describe detailed contact with extraterrestrial life.  

An interesting archive that’s sure to stir up plenty of discussion.

Available at http://ufos.nationalarchives.gov.uk/. 

I found the "Mission to Learn" website early last month, and read an article that is not only insightful, but also illustrates why advancement of learning approaches is not only good for us as individuals, but also essential for the future of our planet.

The article I'm referring to is "26 Learning Games to Change the World" written by Jeff Cobb.

If you have the urge to see what sorts of educational games might be out there that are geared towards making a difference in the world, this is an article you should make every effort to read.

You will find...

• browser-based free games,
• desktop-based free games,
• and desktop-based "fee" games

If you want to see what's happening in the area of immersive simulations, you may find this article of real value. Go to http://blog.missiontolearn.com/2008/04/learning-games-for-change/ to find out more.

I think this speaks for itself. Search by region, category, type, full-time, part-time, permanent etc. A good place to start at http://www.jobsearch.co.uk/. 

Nik Peachey has come up with yet another gem! Visit his Learning technology teacher development blog for ELT at http://nikpeachey.blogspot.com/2008/05/goolge-maps-for-directions.html to read his thoughts about...

"how we could use this 'real world' tool (Google Maps) to help our EFL students and to develop their abilities to give and understand directions".

Includes a flash video tutorial. 

How sex and health education can be done well: short videos, based on a mainstream TV programme

Note: - The information provided on the embarrassing bodies website (including any NHS Choices medical information) is for use as information or for educational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional medical care by a qualified doctor or other qualified healthcare professional. Channel 4 do not warrant that any information included within this site will meet your health or medical requirements. This Embarrassing Illnesses site does not provide any medical or diagnostic services so visitors to the site should always check with a health professional if they have any concerns about their health.

• Play the Ultimate Boy Challenge at http://www.channel4embarrassingillnesses.com/ultimate-body-challenge/.

or

• Search embarrassing bodies conditions at http://www.channel4embarrassingillnesses.com/mmtemplates/searchconditions.php.

Find out what else is available at http://www.channel4embarrassingillnesses.com/.

This course, designed for US diplomats to achieve proficiency in Spanish, is comparable to the first year of a USA college-level Spanish course. The course heavily emphasizes word and phrase structure for those looking for a more grammar based approach to the language.

For more details and to download, go to http://thelanguagechronicle.com/.

Matthew McClintock maintains manybooks.net as a service to the internet community at large; take a look at http://manybooks.net//.

Musopen is an online music library of copyright-free (public domain) classical music.

The aim of the website is to give classical music fans free and legal access to their favorite music. Visitors can...

• Search,
• Browse,
• Listen,
• Download and
• Share classical music for free.

Artists include...

• Bedřich Smetana,
• Frédéric Chopin,
• Johann Sebastian Bach,
• Johannes Brahms,
• Ludwig van Beethoven,
• Pyotr Il’yich Tchaikovsky and
• Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

If you like classical music, this website is for you.

There also profile pages for each composer and information about each track.

No sign up or registration required.

Find out more at http://www.musopen.com/. 

Just one of the Hot Topics on this forum which produced a number of resources. I'll let you judge which of them have real and/or potential use for you or your learners...

I've bunched them at http://linkbun.ch/bu1. 

 

A new interactive map from the Oxford DNB, letting users find people who have contributed to the history of their local area and/or across Britain.

The Oxford DNB is a collection of  biographies of the men and women from around the world who shaped all aspects of Britain's past.

You can use the map to find people who have helped shape your local area.

As well as figures of national and international importance, the Oxford DNB includes hundreds of ‘local heroes’ deserving of wider recognition. To read more about people near you go to http://www.oxforddnb.com/public/localheroes/.

Find others who shaped your local area using the People Search option. Here you can discover people by county, town, or even street.

For the People Search go to http://www.oxforddnb.com/search/people/index.jsp. 

Some video clips on the Vimeo Arts & Crafts Channel that may be worth more than a brief look...

Go to http://www.vimeo.com/artists to see for yourself. 

A service free of charge from Microsoft lets students and lifelong learners tour the night sky using high-resolution images from the world's best land- and space-based telescopes.

Read the press release at http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/2008/may08/05-12WWTPR.mspx or go to http://www.worldwidetelescope.org/ and find out for yourself.

As many of you know, Flickr is an online managment and sharing application. It enables practitioners and learners to organise photographs and send them to colleagues, assessors, verifiers, peers, trainers/teachers/etc. Joining Flickr is free. Professional accounts are also available for those who wish to add and display high volumes of photos; Learning providers may wish to open curriculum accounts.

Learners and practitioners can also do wonderful things with photographs like...

• creating an ID badge or
• making a map or
• making a jigsaw.

Big Huge Labs offer a selction of Flickr toys, games and utilities for learners and practitioners to explore.

Ideal for...

• learners of all ages;
• family learning where they can make magazine cover, create a school badge or make an inspirational and motivational poster for classrooms.

Creativity should be a part of learning and we should enable learners to let their creativity flourish by providing them with different contexts for their learning. Flickr is a small part of Web 2.0 which could be used to motivate learners and enable them to work within an environment familiar to them.

Why not go and take a look for yourself at http://bighugelabs.com/flickr/.

Here is my first attempt at using Mosaic Maker: click on the link to see the full size mosaic...

1. Carving at Withnell Fold, 2. Aluminium Clown, 3. Golden Man, 4. National Wildflower Centre

And my Press Pass...

And places I've been...

 

 

DoppelMe is an online avatar builder. It takes you through a series of menus to pick clothing and accessories and hair and so on, and presents you with a picture built up from these parts. The results are more cartoony than realistic but the service is free.

Go to http://www.doppelme.com/.

As usual I couldn't resist having a go...

The DAISY Consortium (http://www.daisy.org/) was set up to help those with visual impairment (or ‘print disabilities’) to access digital content easily, and enhance their use of the materials. Microsoft have been working with DAISY to develop a Word plug-in which allows Open XML documents to be translated into DAISY XML, which has become a globally accepted standard for digital talking books – for example, it’s used by the RNIB’s Talking Book Service.

Note: DAISY stands for Digital Accessible Information System, which lets you work with digital content in many ways, synchronising audio with display output, generating braille versions, or allowing text to speech conversion.

The free Word Add-In has now been released, and adds a “Save as DAISY XML” option to the Word menu.

• The convertor is released as an open source project, and can be downloaded from the Open XML Community site.
• The beauty of this software is that it makes a specialist facility available within the core of Office – offering a broader reach for solutions that help visually impaired learners.
• It makes it easier for all staff in a college to be able to prepare materials in a way that could be used by all learners.
• The Save as Daisy XML function works with Word 2007, Word 2003 and Word XP.

Visit http://www.openxmlcommunity.org/daisy/ to find out more and/or to download the Add-In.

This website is dedicated to languages. The navigation bar on the top helps you to quickly jump to other sections of the website...

For example, by clicking...

• Dictionary: You can search hundreds of thousands of words for your desired translation.

• Test & Train: You will be taken to a section that contains quizzes on many different themes to help users learn and study foreign languages.

• Participate: bab.la, an interactive language portal, invites everyone to participate. Users can help by suggesting their own translations, verifying translation suggestions from other users or creating their own language quizzes.

• Register: Users can enjoy the advantages of signing up. For example, they can enter your own translations or verify other suggestions more quickly.

Take a look at http://en.bab.la/.

Have you seen and/or tried out Live Search Maps? Have you tried the Bird's Eye View feature?

If not, or it was some time ago, it is worth taking a look. The .avi video below is my first effort; produced using Live Search Maps and Camstudio (both Free)

Download/view Work.avi

Or go to http://maps.live.com/.

NinjaWords is an online dictionary which claims it is "… fast like a Ninja."

Ninjas are three things:

1. They're smart
2. They're accurate
3. They're really fast

Ninjawords is based on these principles.

Give it a try at http://ninjawords.com/.

Some tips to use it even faster

You can compare definitions by looking up many words on the same page.

• Type them one by one and hit enter, or type them all at once in the search box, separated by commas.

 

Penzu is a very easy way to keep a journal on the web.

To begin, simply start typing on the pad.

Register and/or try it out at http://www.penzu.com/pad.

Thanks to Jane Hart, http://janeknight.typepad.com/pick/, for bringing this to our notice.

Powerset is one of the first attempts at creating a semantic web search (i.e. using natural English). Watch the video demo embedded below to see how this works. At the moment it only works as an interface for Wikipedia, but for many this is what makes it really interesting. One of the faults of Wikipedia is the interface, layout, and search function, Powerset improves all of this. 

Powerset Demo Video from officialpowerset on Vimeo.

Visit http://www.powerset.com/ to try it out yourself.

These downloads are ideal for class work or revision and are specifically designed to work with projectors, interactive whiteboards and tablets.

Download complete games packs Intermediate/GCSE

• Spanish,
• German or
• French

Also ideal for those wish to create a range of activities for their website or classroom.

Download and try them out yourself from http://www.spellmaster.com/.

Omnisio lets you select clips from videos you find on YouTube and other video sites, and easily post them on your profile page or blog.

Even better...

...you and your learners can add comments directly in the video!

...with Omnisio you make and share your own shows by assembling clips from different videos.

Do you have a video and some powerpoint slides that go with it?

With Omnisio you can show them both side-by-side - synchronized - and give your learners/colleagues/delegates/etc a rich and interactive experience!

Go to http://omnisio.com/ to find out more.

Screen capture to show how data bars can be used in Excel (Office 2007)

View or download

John Sheesley's article recognises, admittedly from a business point of view, that...

"Flash drives have presented security problems for IT for some time now based on their ability to store and make portable gobs of your sensitive corporate data. It’s not just flash drives either. Any device, such as digital cameras or iPods, that can store data and connects to USB present a method for people to remove data from your organization."

"The question for IT leaders however, is what to do about flash drives and other USB storage options. Do you allow them in your organization or do you block them? And what are the implications for blocking USB?" 

Read the whole article at http://blogs.techrepublic.com.com/decisioncentral/?p=107&tag=nl.e112.