Futurelearn could get to BETT later, what age is a student?

The Open University was at BETT with a stand, but not much info on Futurelearn. Maybe this will change when it comes out of beta. Maybe the university aspect is still thought of as marginal or universities like to keep the HE tech as a bit of a mystery.

But on the Futurelearn blog it is reported that Sixth Form students visited Reading University after a course on how to program a mobile game. So it may turn out that several courses are of interest for schools.

There is also a post about a course on the new computer curriculum. Intended for teachers but maybe parents would be interested.  It could be that some moocs will not need to be monetised but will be part of continuing education over a range of ages.

The Cambridge University Press / OCR model is not yet noticed much in the talk about moocs in general.

Business Schools at Learning Technologies

I am still working through the content collected at Learning Technologies and BETT. Previously I wrote about the question from John Burgoyne about whether business schools consult with the newer style web companies. He states quite clearly in the latest version of a Managers Guide to Self development that he thinks such things do not happen. What I noticed at LEarning Technologies was that two business schools were there. Cranfield concentrated on executive development. Virtual Ashridge seemed to have a wider scope and a platform that could be used by client organisations.

I don't know if they consult more widely but I got the impression that web companies would feel quite comfortable about how they approached their situation. At some point they must have gone through some process that allowed them to offer the new services online.

Coaching was also available from the Institute of Continuing Education at Cambridge. There is an online version but it won't count towards a credit on the main course. Not really massive or open. The charge is in the low hundreds of pounds and there are just over twenty places. So the model of tutor support can continue. The "MOOC" is taking many forms but it is continuing to gain ground.

Also Wiley had a bookshop promoting The Leadership Challenge. John Burgoyne thinks that leadership may be coming to an end as an academic topic, but there is no sign of a lack of interest from publishers for management. There is even a workshop coming up in March to support the books, just over a thousand pounds for two days.

I can understand why Neil Selwyn and others are concerned about the commercial direction of some aspects of e-learning. ( see links from previous post ) . But I'm now getting ready for IPEX and trying to link a print trade show to shows about learning. There is enough dynamic now to establish some practice around digital technology. Some of it is not related much to universities but this is partly because they don't  yet use it as much as they might.

Not sure how to put this. I still can't find anything about the HE Tech thread at BETT. Maybe there will be a journal article within the next 18 months or so. Usually if the European Commission fund research it will be published eventually. But so far this is not convincing as an approach to social media.

Fifth Floor , BBC World Service, mix with YouTube for complete tracks

As mentioned previously I often find that the BBC World Service will send me back to sleep in the middle of the night, UK time. Also as previously I regret the loss of the World of Music show. I think this was to save money on paying for licences to broadcast full tracks. Mark Coles continues to load a weekly show onto Mixcloud but this is not quite the same. 

Last night the Fifth Floor played four tracks from Brazil, or rather four short extracts. I guess this is allowed as news reporting or something. There is a clip on the website but no download yet for the complete show. I have copied out some text and tried it in YouTube

Super violão mashup by Lucas Santanna

http://youtu.be/wkEy3wUQd10

; Balboa da Silva by Bixiga 70;

http://youtu.be/UoO_FEZ5lSU

 O Inimitável by Mestre Vieira;

http://youtu.be/R9tsnbBzjuo  not right one

 and Galera da Laje by Gaby Amarantos and Maderito o Alucinado

http://youtu.be/8KTqZR14hoc

suggest you check to find some more

So what is this "cheesy disco" ? Sounds like it might work on the Wild Show, Phonic FM on Thursday mornings. We have an OFCOM licence and are pay for Performance Rights. Benefit coming up soon, by the way.

I think it is in April that the BBC licence fee will take over the costs of the World Service. If us in the UK, speaking for myself, have any say in the matter I think music must be fairly central so bringing back the World of Music is a priority. Maybe there are some performers who would welcome the promotion enough to supply sampler sounds without involving a major label. Worth exploring maybe.

There must be some alternative to the Fifth Floor having a major global research facility and then just playing clips so short that dance is not possible.

YouTube clip from Wild Show, flipped TED - #TEDf

I have loaded an extract to YouTube from yesterday's Wild Show. Just under 15 minutes as that is my limit. The MOOC content is somewhere in the middle. I am allowed to rave on but Chris and JD keep the talk various. 

More about the "flipped TED" , the main new item I think. There is a TEDx of which there have already been two in Exeter and the third is in March. I'm not sure what a flipped TED would be like but I'm sure this is worth exploring. there could be some conversation in the studio or we can link to mp3 and edit a sample as time allows. Other spinoff could take various forms.

The hashtag could be #TEDf

I expect this is already happening. If you know of a flipped TED somewhere else please let me know. More later if we work something out in Exeter.

MOOC update, BETT and LearningTechnologies

Back in Exeter checking out links for what was missed at BETT and Learning Technologies. Still can't find anything on the report from LSE. But there are some blog posts found through Learning Technologies.

The conference at Olympia ended with MOOCs and there are some clues as to what might have been said. Donald Clark on Plan B posted a guide to the MOOC scene in December. He also wrote about corporate MOOCs . Crispin Weston wrote on Jan 23rd about "Unlocking pedagogical innovation" . 

The central challenge to face modern education is how to handle scale. Ever since Socrates, more than 2,000 years ago, we have known how to teach small groups of students through a process of continuous dialogue with an expert tutor. But the Socratic model has never met the need of modern societies to educate the many and not just the few.

fair comment. I think the Olympia session would have been constructive.

Another interesting comment in the conclusion

After decades of bumping along the runway, the ed-tech aircraft is finally looking as though it might have what it takes to get airborne. But if the UK schools sector is to play any significant part in influencing that transformation, then it will need to demonstrate considerably more ambition, imagination and capacity for self-criticism than has been evident of late; and the Department for Education will need to offer considerably more proactive (though not prescriptive) leadership than it has been prepared to offer so far under this government.

This could have been said at BETT. Michael Gove seemed very sure that MOOCs are doing so well that government should keep out of the way. Not sure how this will work out. The first post by Donald Clark above shows he is not entirely convinced about Futurelearn as a platform. What was said at BETT in the HE Tech event is still a mystery if you just search online, as is the LSE report funded by the EU.

Meanwhile Google has announced there will be several videos from the talks on their stand over the next few weeks. The MOOC related content they associate with will be relatively easy to discover.