Nook

The battle is on in the land of the ebook readers (ebooks are digital versions of paper books), Amazon released the Kindle and now American publisher Barnes & Noble has unveiled the Nook.

One thing you couldn't say about the Kindle is that it pushed boundaries, it read ebooks and that's all. Not so with the Nook.

First of all it runs Android, Googles' mobile operating system, Okay so that may not set your world on firew. This is understandable but think of it this way an ebook reader (or a book for that matter) has one function - to display books. The Nook can do this, surf the web and has the ability to extend its functionality via its support Android Apps Store. I don't know about you, but I struggle to justify a £156 device that just does one thing (no matter how good it is), the Nook may offer the extra functionality that will make me pull the trigger on ebook readers....

The ICT Bill of Rights

I've been thinking, well scratch that the team has been working flat out on the finishing touches to c_space, our staff and student vle/intranet.

If you're a regular reader of this blog you'll know I've been working on a section (once known as seeSpace), called c_live which is a brand new concept for the College. c_live is a new area on our vle that is the first step in changing how our students view what a vle really is and gives educators an idea of what can be created in browser.

For those who don't follow this blog (shame on you!), c_live gives all students persistent, pervasive access to a range of tools and services they have not had available to them before.

For too long the answer to many of educations problems has been to grab a box off the shelf and make it fit the need, this is not only a self defeating exercise but it also makes it harder for the learner to use. I say this as that more often than not the user will have to click through to find the system, log on and only then get to do what they aimed to do in the first place!

So what should we be doing?

Make the system easier to use and ensure that its provides the information that students want.

Simple eh?

To this end, when our new VLE seeNet launches the VLE will be broken into four main areas:

myInformation:

• The current week view of their scheme of work
• A weekly view of their tutorial
• Upcoming assessments reminders
• Up to date attendance data
• Timetables
• Email with 25 gigabytes of storage
• Most recently set targets in their ILPs

Learning Resources:

• Online databases of curriculum resources
• Library catalogue and resources
• Key skills and functional skills materials
• Study skills, literacy and numeracy resources
• Interactive learning resources
• The Learning Resources Pool, which currently contains over 3000 staff authored curriculum resources

Student Information:

• Student policies and procedures
• Equality and diversity resources
• Health and safety information
• JobShop vacancies

C_space:

• Online forums, (in which last year students and staff posted over 25000 messages in 1023 topics in 24 forums)
• Student Blogs, that can be shared with all student and staff with a click of a button.
• A student noticeboard that allows students to inform students and staff of events
• A feature to allow Student Council members to publish their own content that is shown direct to all students via c_live
• seeLinks - a pervasive bookmark creator that will enable students to bookmark key websites and have them available where ever they are
• seeK - a tool modeled on Twitter which will allow students to share updates regarding their work and collaborate both with staff and students
• seeNotes - an in browser notepad providing students with a personal space for them to post notes, reminders or even a shopping list to seeSpace
• An RSS feed aggregator allowing students access to the latest news and information
• Weather updates! (one of the largest requests from students)

All that from just a browser, available inside and outside of College.

So how does the ICT Bill of rights come into it? (Apart from being a rather catchy title...)

VLE's have in one form or another been around since the early nineties and yet they're still finding their feet, I suppose, you could say that they're running to stay still. I feel that this is in part to do with how they came to be and the damaged that caused, the hyperbole created inflated user expectations and the resultant dismay has had lasting repercussions.

And the fact that application and service development within education was in its nascent form.

It's not been possible with the available technology to give students what they need.

The ideas have been there, blogs, wiki's, collaboration, sharing, giving students the ability to talk back; but the technology has always been the millstone dragging the system down.

Until now...

With c_space we can guarantee the following:

• Students can know what is happening with their College life at any time, day or night
• That every student will be able to have a blog, just by opening the browser
• That students can have bookmarks, and take them with them
• That students can share links with their friends and peers
• That Teachers can share important documents without having to use email
• That students can get to the information and resources quickly and easily
• That students can access all of this via a single sign on process

It sounds simple, but think about it, this isn't miriad of different applications, this is one system.

And this is just the beginning.

Vive La Revolution!

Doctor in the House

Whilst at ota09, one of the sessions I joined was hosted by the NHS and discussed how they wanted developers to create web apps/widgets that use NHS data. Examples that were thrown around included suggest a medication, in conjunction with a major pharmacy or store, so far so good.

But following on from my discussions yesterday of how to make a VLE more relevant to Students, could we reposition the VLE as not just a learning tool but one to help in general?

We've already started with the creation of seeSpace onto our VLE, which gives Students access to Forums, personal blogs, Notepads, Twitter Style communications tools that give Students the ability to comment and a whole lot more.

But lets take it a step further, what if we could enhance our VLE by creating an application/service that could help Students find answers to questions they'd rather not ask someone face to face?

It may be slightly pie in the sky at the moment but if we could create an application such as that, it would really change how we view VLEs.

I'm hoping to meet with the session leaders in the next month to discuss what we can do, my first, my first idea is a postcode search based 'Find my GP/NHS Clinic'.

Exciting times.

Don't believe the hype?

So many questions and so few answers....

How indispensable is the VLE? Or more the point, how can we make VLE the defacto tool for education? Do we really need to, will it happen organically or will another platform march in and change the game? Are we reinventing the wheel once again?

What's the solution?

In all honsety there is not a silver bullet that will make a VLE essential for everyone as by its very name it's a learning tool and we all learn differently. Which leads me to 'Personalisation', this is the latest buzz word in education and I'm a big fan.

I should say I'm a fan of the concept and not the name, in that as it is a current ICT buzz word, it will be forever be perceived as another in a long line of fads within education and thus enthused, rubbished and abandoned in fairly short order.

But if we ignore the hype surrounding personalisation and look at what it wants to achieve:

• Moulding the tool or the environment around the user,
• Making the users experience unique
• Giving users the ability to share and comment

We can see that it is something to get excited about

Catch 22 then? we can't get excited about something, without damaging it? (Perhaps an e-learning observer effect?

Well, not quite what we can do is work damn hard to ensure that we under promise and over deliver. Whilst observing current trends, but at the same time not being restricted by them.

Over the Air

I went along to Over The Air on Friday at Imperial College London. For those unfamiliar, OTA is an on going mobile development conference/hackathon that invites all developers regardless of platform to come together to discuss the state of the mobile platform.

It was also my first ever mobile development conference and it was certainly a relaxed one. For example for the keynote addresses instead of chairs we sat on multi coloured bean bags!

Combined with the free coffee, it made for a very pleasant experience!

The keynote speakers were:

• Rick Fant, head of Internet Discovery at Vodaphone,
• Caroline Lewko, mobile entrepreneur
• And someone from the BBC, whose name escapes me at the moment.

The main theme running through the keynotes was how we as developers should be creating platform independant applications called widgets. Widgets are typically written in Javascript, although you can utilise most languages, the benefit is that with one code set you can run your app/widget on multiple devices, increasing your userbase exponentially.

Aside from widgets, App stores, Monetising your product, Cloud computing and a large debate on Platform independence vs native code.

A natty OTA bingo card was also created:

There were a range of different sessions throughout the day, one of the more interesting ones was led by Henny Swan from Opera on the accessibility features of the upcoming HTML 5 and how we as developers can better code our web/mobile applications to support users with an impairment.

The final session I was able to attend (although I had to leave mid way to catch the tube), was run by the NHS and featured discussion on their API and getting access to their data. I mentioned to the session leaders that the College would be interested in creating web apps to support our students.

More than one way to joint a chicken

The BBC visited the College yesterday to look at the increased enrolment in education and how we're using award winning technology to really enhance the Student experience:

The BBC were particularly impressed with our innovative Kitchen Recording System developed in conjunction with Impact that creates video resources to aid Catering Students. Ron Wyatt-Goodwin (the chef featured in the video), Head of Commercial Catering & Operations Division said that the new system helped Students who are reluctant to ask the lecturer to repeat parts of lesson, allowing them to work through the technique at their own pace.

The other major benefit Ron identified for the system is that the resources produced are videos, meaning that they can be replayed and reused as many times as the Student or Lecturer needs, ensuring that learners get more out of a session and Lecturers can spend more time supporting Students in class.

Ron also said that giving the Students the option of watching and reviewing videos before, during and after a session gives them the ability to visualise and practice techniques, leading to a demonstrable increase in first time pass rates.

It also saves quite a lot of chickens.

Leading from the front

Most VLE's aren't what you'd call aesthetically pleasing, I suppose the best way to describe them would be.... functional.

I believe that this is mostly due to the way that the VLE has developed, incrementally and with a great focus on keeping it the same. I feel that a lot of VLE developers stick the mantra that 'Big change causes big problems', in that making radical shifts in design or functionality can alienate users and make the transition period hellish, forever tarnishing the reputation product.

And whilst that is true, we must remember that the first bite is with the eye or to modify an another cliché, all users judge a book by its cover, Students are even more design focussed than ever before.

So how do we respond as developers? With Varying shades of grey.

If the aim of ICT is to engage the user, why is it that most educational software looks so bad?

Of course the function of the software is paramount but we also need to realise that our user has changed and that their expectations of what software should look like have radically altered.

I'm not advocating BOLD FLASHING COLOUR SETS THAT MAKE YOUR EYES BLEED, instead we should focus clean looking, intelligently designed layouts that enhance the content.

Are we missing a trick by designing the way VLE's look?

Who are we developing for? Students

Who develop the VLE? Staff

Who provides feedback? Staff

Seeing a pattern here? If VLE's are for students why are staff designing them? I'm not talking about a simple student consultation process, I think we should get students designing the look of our intranet.

Where else but in education can you have access to hundreds of developers, graphic artists and designers chomping at the bit for industry experience?

Students get a VLE that looks good, the designers get experience and accreditation and we as developers can ensure that we have the best VLE possible as it led not just by students ideas but by their actual hard work.

Now this isn't just a flowery idea, I'm actually putting this into practice. A games development student has come forward wanting to work on our new version of seeNet and so he is going to design the look and feel for seeSpace.

That's how we at South East Essex College aren't just talking about changing ICT, we're pioneering the use of student led design over large scale projects.

VLE's for Students, By Students.