Learning from open design: running a learning design MOOC

The OLDS-MOOC (http://olds.ac.uk) for learning design developed a project-based structure with alternative paths through the material. Running the course in the open led to fresh collaboration, demonstration of tools in action and interaction with enthusiastic learners.There were also strains in operating oand lessons to be learnt

Innovating for Learning: Designing for the Future of Education

Teaching has moved online as the world has moved online and learning is losing its sense of physical location with the availability of many different options from mobile to MOOC (Massive Open Online Course). The impact of online learning is not confined to distance learning; when a student attends a campus university they are now as likely to meet with their fellow learners virtually as face to face. The education sector has yet to fully adapt to what this means, and indeed there strong signs of a built in resilience from providers, employers and students themselves which may mean an apparent evolution is more likely than a revolution. At the same time, there are some quiet changes underway that mean we should be preparing to innovate for the revolution to come. Some of those changes are considered in work undertaken at The Open University that has been disseminated in a series of Innovating Pedagogy reports. These reports allow the academic authors to be more speculative than is usual practice and engage in considering the future, while remaining based on a view of what is happening in the sector. In particular they adopt a position focused on pedagogy that balances technology-based futurology that can dominate yet fail to resonate with those actually involved in the teaching process. The annual Innovating Pedagogy reports cover 10 topics each, with some deliberate overlap from year to year and development of themes that show innovations moving into teaching practice. This is illustrated by two cases, the impact of MOOCs and the application of learning design and analytics. The development of MOOCs demonstrates the value of reviewing pedagogy that aligns with technology. While the use of learning design and learning analytics demonstrates how improvements in the way we describe our learning processes and the way we understand learner behaviour is helping determine how choices in pedagogy impact on student satisfaction, progression and success

Fifth Canadian Armoured Division: Introduction to Battle

The Canadian government authorized the formation of 1st Canadian Armoured Division (CAD) early in 1941. It organized at Camp Borden in March and, redesignated 5th CAD, sailed for the United Kingdom in the fall. Originally its organization was based on two armoured brigades (each of three regiments, a motor battalion and a support group composed of a field regiment, a Light Anti-Aircraft (LAA) regiment, an anti-tank regiment and an infantry battalion). In light of operational experience with armour in North Africa the organization was subsequently changed; an armoured brigade was changed for one of infantry (three battalions), and the support group was modified to include two field regiments (one self-propelled) along with the anti-aircraft and antitank units. In addition, there were a motor battalion of infantry, a reconnaissance regiment, two Royal Canadian Engineer (RCE) squadrons and the usual support and administrative units. Once this phase of the division’s reorganization was completed, 5th CAD’s two brigades were 5 Canadian Armoured Brigade (CAB) (the Strathconas, British Columbia Dragoons, the 8th New Brunswick Hussars and the Westminster Regiment as a motorized infantry battalion), and 11 Canadian Infantry Brigade (CIB) (The Perth Regiment, the Cape Breton Highlanders and the Irish Regiment of Canada). The Governor General’s Horse Guards formed the reconnaissance regiment, and artillery support came from the 17th Field, 8th Field (Self-Propelled), 4th Anti-Tank and 5th LAA Regiments. Equipping the division was a slow, drawn out process. By the end of July 1942, 5 CAB had received only 40 per cent of its tanks, a motley mixture of American General Lees and Stuarts, along with a few Canadian-built Rams which were to be the formation’s main battle tank. Not for another year were sufficient Rams available to fill the divisional establishment and, as a result, training suffered. Individual and specialist training went on continuously, and some troop movement and range practice was possible, but the division itself did not take to the field until it participated in the Army-level Exercise “Spartan” in February-March 1943. Afterwards, units were introduced to infantry tank cooperation drills, but little emphasis seems to have been given the topic, and while the pace of training picked up it was intermittent. The division’s operational readiness remained questionable

Motivations for OpenLearn: the Open University's Open Content Initiative

This short paper is a contribution to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) expert workshop to help identify "motivations, benefits and barriers for institutions producing open educational resources". The motivations are examined by looking at the reasons behind the launch by the Open University in the UK of a web based collection of open educational resources, OpenLearn. OpenLearn launched on October 25th 2006 and reflects an initiative backed by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and the Open University to develop a learning environment (LearningSpace) and an accompanying educator environment (LabSpace) giving free access to material derived from Open University courses. There are of course many reasons for the taking part in open educational resources and so this paper considers motivations in community, organisational, technical and economic terms.The paper was initially prepared for the OECD experts meeting on Open Educational Resources 26-27 October 2006 in Barcelona, Spain

\u3cem\u3eA Canadian’s Guide to the Battlefields of Normandy\u3c/em\u3e by Terry Copp [Review]

Review of Terry Copp, A Canadian\u27s Guide to the Battlefields of Normandy. Waterloo, ON: Laurier Centre for Military Strategic and Disarmament Studies, 1994

A comparative study of high school commercial curricula with suggestions for reorganization

Thesis (M.A.)--Boston Universit

Exploring user types and what users seek in an open content based educational resource

The OpenLearn site is an example of an Open Educational Resource (OER) providing units for free study and for re-use under the Creative Commons license. The primary focus of the site is content but it also offers social tools such as forums, personal journals, presence, and videoconferencing. The content can also support interactivity such as quizzes, opportunities for reflection, and interactive diagrams. This paper discusses desirable attributes for a learning environment suited to OERs and considers OpenLearn in the light of the four types of learning focus suggested by Bransford et al (2002) namely: learner, knowledge, community and assessment centred. A study of user views of OpenLearn is reviewed using cluster analysis to identify possible user types. The needs of these user types are then considered with a focus on assessment issues and possible responses suggested in the case of OpenLearn to help bring in assessment to informal learning resources