OPENING SESSIONS

Opening Speech by Guest of Honour

Professor Lee Sing Kong, Director, NIE

Keynote Speaker 1

Suan Yeo, Head of Education (APAC) Google

Keynote Speaker 1

Brant Knutzen, Learning Designer, Faculty of Education, University of Hong Kong

Concurrent Session I

Read storify here

Google is focused on enabling educators to share and collaborate with one another through open online web tools. As the world becomes more mobile, so will the need to access information anytime, anywhere, and on any device. Suan focuses on Google Apps, Search Education and YouTube.

Google Edu Apps are open tools that educators can use to efficiently monitor students’ learning (survey, graded quiz), promote open learning amongst students (collaborative notes), communicate with students and their parents (class website), and collaborate with colleagues (SOW, lesson plan).

Two new Moodle custom forum plugins were introduced. The Participation Forum plugin automatically sets up “semi-private” small group discussion areas, gives task design instructions to maximize social construction of knowledge, and dynamically generates a rating of participation based on student contributions. Moodle is an open source LMS.

The Participation Map plugin is a learning analytic for evaluating student group collaboration in an online discussion forum. It creates a graphical display for visual feedback to the students and teacher, and statistical analysis for comparing groups and overall forum effectiveness. Moodle is an open source LMS.

OPENING SESSION II

Read storify here

Simulations in virtual worlds can enhance knowledge retention, promote problem-based learning, and increase learner engagement. NIE has adopted Open Wonderland as a virtual-world platform to be tested with select schools in 2013. More about this open source toolkit for collaborative 3D virtual worlds in the presentation.

Reflecting on the alignment between the affordances of iTunes U and the consequent design considerations for a Geography lesson, the presenter discussed the benefits, challenges and opportunities of using this open platform learning tool, framed within the context of the classic media debate.

Presenters described how the blended version of Communication Skills for Teachers course was delivered using Moodle, an open source alternative LMS. They also shared the rationale for using Moodle and its key features, as well as learner and instructor feedback on the experiences with Moodle and Blackboard NG9.

Ever wondered if you should use the work of others in your own products? How do you attribute these resources? How can you share educational resources openly while protecting your rights? Find out more about Open Educational Resource and Creative Commons (CC) and a new way of using and sharing resources.