Author Archives: greig

Flipped Lectures

By greig Posted on February 21, 2012 | 1 Comment

The use of technology has the ability to change how traditional face to face lecture sessions are conducted. In what has become known as “flipped classrooms”, students prepare for lecture time by viewing short video lectures before class, while lecture time is devoted to exercises and discussions. These short video lectures can either be created by the lecturer or by simply linking to an existing video. It is hardly a new concept, as many lecturers have always prescribed pre-readings for students. The distinction is that many more types of resources can be used. The pre-lecture resources can vary from videos, audio podcasts, simulations and online quizzes.

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Posted in: Use of ICTs in Education

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Supporting Online Learners at UNISWA

By greig Posted on December 9, 2011 | Leave a comment

Saide presenteCourse Participantsd the Supporting Online Learners (SOL) course using a blended approach for 30 academics from a variety of departments at the University of Swaziland (UNISWA). The course was presented face-to-face on the university campus for 2 days and then continued online for 3 days. The academics were highly motivated and eager to learn about open learning, e-learning, web conferencing and how to support online learners. Valuable support was provided by members of the university’s Institute for Distance Education (IDE).

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Posted in: Open Educational Resources, Use of ICTs in Education

Open Learning Principles

By greig Posted on November 29, 2011 | 26 Comments
Saide promotes the use of open learning. Key principles for open learning are:
  • Learning opportunity should be lifelong and should encompass both education and training;
  • The learning process should centre on the learners, build on their experience and encourage independent and critical thinking;
  • Learning provision should be flexible so that learners can increasingly choose, where, when, what and how they learn, as well as the pace at which they will learn;
  • Prior learning, prior experience and demonstrated competencies should be recognized so that learners are not unnecessarily barred from educational opportunities by lack of appropriate qualifications;
  • Learners should be able to accumulate credits from different learning contexts;
  • Providers should create the conditions for a fair chance of learner success.

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Posted in: ODL General

Makerere University investigates use of ePortfolios

By greig Posted on October 27, 2011 | 1 Comment

Makerere University in Kampala, Uganda, is one of the leading Higher Education Institutions in the East Africa region. They are also one of the participating universities in the Partnership for Higher Education (PHEA) Educational Technology Initiative (ETI). They are undertaking three projects with the aim of promoting the use of  educational technology for teaching and learning. As part of the university’s move from teacher-centred to student-centred learning, there has been a motivation for the use of portfolios to deepen learning through reflective thinking, authentic assessment and to monitor progress. I spent a day with the project team of the “ePortfolio” project who are looking at the feasibility of adopting and rolling out the use of electronic portfolios at Makerere and other participating universities. The project aims to survey staff and students regarding policies, infrastructure, knowledge and attitudes as well as to survey ICT capacity.  The project team (a mix of academics and students) have created a prototype (see picture below) to be used in a pilot for the College of Health Sciences. The pilot will be run early next year.

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Posted in: Use of ICTs in Education

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Looking for new solutions or fresh ideas – try Brain Writing…

By greig Posted on October 19, 2011 | Leave a comment

Most people are familiar with brainstorming. Well, “Brain Writing” is a similar process used to get those ideas flowing. What is different about it, is that each person writes down their ideas, passes them onwards, then uses those ideas to trigger new ones. Saide used this technique internally to generate ideas on how to improve project management. Try it out for yourself…

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Posted in: Project Management

Happy World Teachers’ Day

By greig Posted on October 5, 2011 | 1 Comment

World Teachers’ Day is held annually on 5 October to celebrate the essential role of teachers in providing quality education at all levels. It also commemorates the anniversary of the 1966 signature of the UNESCO/ILO Recommendation Concerning the Status of Teachers.

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Posted in: Teacher Education

YouTube supports teachers

By greig Posted on September 23, 2011 | 2 Comments

On Wednesday Youtube launched a site aimed at supporting teachers: YouTube Teachers. The aim is to help teachers use Youtube as an educational tool with support around creating videos, lesson plans etc via a teacher community. This now joins the existing Youtube EDU.

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Posted in: Use of ICTs in Education

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