Archive for the ‘technology’ Category
The future of ICT in education
Posted on: December 22, 2011
I must admit that the idea of watching a 20 minute video on YouTube is not something that I relish undertaking, but this particular video caught my eye as something that could be very interesting. I was right. It was well worth the 20 minutes spent watching it and I found it extremely thought-provoking. Just where is technology and the internet taking us? How will our use of technology impact on our lives over the next 10 to 15 years? What impact does this have on education?
I’m currently in the process of writing (yet again) the ICT and e-Learning strategy for our school. It’s such a difficult task because of the ever-changing nature of ICT and technology. I have written it at least three times now and find that now I’ve watched this video, I’m going to change it yet again.
Technology is ubiquitous and, undeniably will become even more so over the next few years. I personally believe the challenge for education now is not to provide the latest technology, but to provide the infrastructure and associated safe systems to make the technology work for every pupil regardless of how they prefer to learn. Whilst I was growing up I was taught that the definition of “church” was not the building, but the collective congregation of people turning up to worship. Could a school be defined in a similar manner? If the pupils bring the technology and resources then it isn’t the building and its physical resources that define “school” it’s the people, the interactions and their dissemination of knowledge. When we truly are using mobile technologies, then learning can take place anywhere and at any time either singularly or within groups. (Let’s not forget the benefits face-to-face social learning will always provide).
Education may have a long way yet to go to meet this vision. The frustration arises in the realisation that the technology is not far off already being there.
So my challenge now is; if this truly is the future of education, how do I write a strategy to meet and deliver it?
iPad Lessons – File Storage
Posted on: November 12, 2011
- In: M-Libraries | technology
- 5 Comments
We’re learning lots of lessons about our iPads even before we have released them into the wild within our libraries. The concept is good. We want our students to use the iPads creatively and for research as an alternative to the limited number of computers we have in the library. We want to stimulate thought and reflection through using innovative and interactive apps. We want to engage the more kinesthetic learners who need to touch and experience learning through activity. All this is great, but what it comes down to is that iPads are more geared to personal usage than for loaning within libraries.
Our biggest problem is saving student work. Just how do we so it so that they can collect their work whilst on a PC later? We have not got the facilities to reset the iPads back to our standard build after every loan (we have too many libraries and would need a Mac Mini per library), therefore we are restricted in what we can provide. Most apps insist on individual user details being saved within the actual settings of the iPad. We really don’t want students to be having to set up the iPads every time they borrow them and we really don’t want to have to manually wipe the settings every time. The ideal scenario is for a student to create something and click on a button that asks them to login and then sends the files to their own personal file storage accessible anywhere.
The share options provided within the productivity apps we are using (Pages, Keynote, Photos etc…) really limit what is possible. We’re investigating whether we can save to the SharePoint MySite using WebDAV, but, although it can be done, each student will require their own individual URL and it still doesn’t look possible to upload a picture. Even Outlook web access doesn’t work as it’s not possible to attach a file!
This is a real headscratcher this one. Any ideas?
I haven’t gone away…
Posted on: October 16, 2011
It my seem like I have done, but I promise that I haven’t. I’ve been getting involved in many initiatives which have taken up a considerable amount of time, but I’m going to get blogging again soon. This coming week I’ll be visiting a number of colleges around the South East of England and am hoping I can share some of the work they are doing with you. I’ve also been leading on a project to introduce iPads into the library that I manage and creating lots of QR codes to further promote usage of our online resources. I will be discussing all this at the upcoming UKSG Conference in Manchester in December. http://www.uksg.org/event/FE081211
I’ve also been doing some work for JISC TechDis on their TechDis Essentials project. More details at: http://blog.jisctechdis.ac.uk/?p=670
Hang on in there and there’ll be a full blog post coming soon.
So, how do you get students and staff to remember their ID card for use in the library, well you use it for as many important things as possible!
I’ve just returned from visiting the Richard Rose Academy in Carlisle: a new purpose-built school which opened earlier this year. The thinking that has gone into the planning for the building is obvious and is seemingly reaping rewards.
Technology is all over the place but used appropriately. For example, when we arrived at the school we were greeted with a touch screen computer asking for our names and where we were from. It then took a very bad picture, logged us as being on the premises and printed us a visitors pass. Apparently if the fire alarm had gone off whilst we were in the building this system would automatically produce a list of who it thought was in the building presumably accompanied by said awful photograph! Much more efficient than wading through piles of the traditional paper-based visitors pass books.
So, getting back to ID cards, just what can you link to the same ID card as the library system? Well, firstly the student attendance system. When they get to the school, students and staff swipe in to register their presence in the building. Students can then go into the main area of the building and add money to the card to use for their refreshments whilst they are on the premises (or they can add money online through the “Parent Pay” system or even Paypal!). Those with “free” lunches get a credit on their account every day which is automatically debited if not used and cannot be accrued. These cashless systems are all part of encouraging students to take responsibility for their economic wellbeing. Parents can even see what their children have purchased through the system during the day to keep an eye on their junk food intake!
So what else, well when they want to borrow a laptop they are available from the laptop lockers controlled by their (guess what!) ID cards! When the ID card is swiped, the lockers open the door to the laptop that has the most charge in the battery. Swiping the card again opens the same door for the student to return the laptop. Printing is also monitored and controlled through the cards as is access to certain areas of the building using an Access Control system and the disabled lifts are also activated by the ID cards.
Without an ID card it would be extremely difficult to get anything done within this academy.
There is still no guarantee that students will display their cards whilst they are on the premises though!
- In: eBooks | technology
- 1 Comment
A colleague asked me a little while ago about the use of the Amazon Kindle eReader within academic libraries. They’d heard that there may be legal issues surrounding its use and the use of digital content purchased from Amazon.co.uk and the UK Kindle Store.
So, I got in touch with Amazon Customer Services:
“If a library had purchased Kindle readers using their own account for loaning (on a non-commercial basis) to borrowers, are they licensed to also permit access to the ebooks purchased from the Kindle store that have been registered and downloaded onto these devices through the library’s Amazon account?”
You’d have thought this one would be easy to answer. It wasn’t. The problem lies with the fact that, unless specified, Amazon are not selling you the digital content (books, newspapers, magazines, journals, blogs, RSS feeds, games) they are licensing it to you for personal and non-commercial use. This means that you do not have any ownership rights to the content.
Can I loan out Kindle eReaders within my library?
The good news is that you can. The Kindle is the property of whoever purchased it and therefore can be loaned to whoever you wish.
Can I loan out content purchased from the Kindle Store and Amazon.co.uk in my library?
When I first started writing this blog my answer was no. The Terms of Use state that publishers grant a licence for downloaded content to be used solely for personal, non-commercial use and it cannot be leased, rented or sublicenced to any third party. Therefore any content purchased from the UK Kindle Store and Amazon.co.uk cannot be used in a library environment because this is not personal use. However, I have since been in touch with Amazon Customer Services again to clarify and they state the following:
“Kindle devices with Kindle content already loaded on it can be loaned to your students if you wish.”
It sounds promising, but the email goes on to caution:
“Because the purchase and download of digital content from Amazon.co.uk, including content from the Kindle Store, is associated with the Amazon.co.uk account used to make the original purchase, you would need to ensure that the Kindle is constantly registered to the same Amazon account to view the Kindle content on it.
Unfortunately, there is a deregister option on the Kindle device itself, which is easily accessible by all who use the Kindle device. This could mean that the Kindle is constantly being registered to different accounts. Transferring the content such as Kindle books and software which may be on the Kindle in an unauthorised fashion would be in breach of the Terms and Conditions of use.
How do Amazon know how I am using the content?
Well, read on through the Terms of Use (replicated below).
“The Software will provide Amazon with data about your Kindle and its interaction with the Service (such as available memory, up-time, log files, and signal strength). The Software will also provide Amazon with information related to the Digital Content on your Kindle and Other Devices and your use of it (such as last page read and content archiving). Annotations, bookmarks, notes, highlights, or similar markings you make using your Kindle or Reading Application and other information you provide may be stored on servers that are located outside the country in which you live. Any information we receive is subject to the Amazon.co.uk Privacy Notice. Personal information transferred to countries outside of the European Economic Area, if any, will be transferred in accordance with the Amazon.co.uk privacy notice located at www.amazon.co.uk/privacy and as permitted by applicable data protection laws.”
If Amazon analyse this stored information, library usage would become quite obvious due to the erratic usage patterns. If you were found to be in breach of the Terms of Use, your access to the Kindle service and content will be revoked.
So my recommendation here is: If you are going to loan Kindle eReaders within your library, remove all licensed content from them.
What else do I need to be aware of?
The Kindle uses the Amazon 1-Click ordering system which cannot be removed. This system enables any user to instantly purchase additional content from Amazon using the default payment card assigned to the Amazon account that the Kindle is registered to. Therefore, students shopping in the Kindle Store on the device could easily make unauthorised purchases.
Recommendation: Investigate whether the credit card details can be removed from your library Amazon.co.uk account and, in turn, are removed from your Kindle/s
Amazon Terms of Use
If you would like more detail about how the Kindle can be used, then the place to start looking are the Kindle Licence Agreement and Terms of Use.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/help/customer/display.html/ref=hp_rel_topic?ie=UTF8&nodeId=200501450
Future?
I’ll leave you to make your own conclusions from the quote below:
“Currently we do not have a program specifically for library lending of e-books.” Amazon Customer Service”
Update 25th October 2010
The Amazon Kindle team have posted the following to their blog:
“…later this year, we will be introducing lending for Kindle, a new feature that lets you loan your Kindle books to other Kindle device or Kindle app users. Each book can be lent once for a loan period of 14-days and the lender cannot read the book during the loan period. Additionally, not all e-books will be lendable – this is solely up to the publisher or rights holder, who determines which titles are enabled for lending.”
This obviously raises quite a few questions, but as yet there is no further detail.
Also, my colleague Karl Drinkwater from JISC RSC Wales highlighted a blog post he’s created which further discusses DRM and licensing problems with eBooks. http://blogs.rsc-wales.ac.uk/lr/2010/09/15/e-books-on-the-agenda-an-update/
19th Century Classics on Kindle
Posted on: March 2, 2010
- In: eBooks | technology
- Leave a Comment
The British Library and Amazon have recently announced a new agreement to make 65,000 of their 19th Century literature titles available free-of-charge through the Amazon Kindle Store. I see this partnership as a big step towards the Kindle becoming the eReader of choice within the UK. Have a look at the press release at:
http://www.bl.uk/news/2010/pressrelease20100223a.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+BritishLibraryPressReleases+%28British+Library+Press+Releases%29
Recently we’ve also seen the release of the Kindle app for iPhone and iPod Touch and also the Kindle software for PCs. Take a look at:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html/ref=sv_kinc_8?ie=UTF8&nodeId=200127470
For the CoFHE NW AGM we focussed on assessing learners needs and how libraries can resource their learning styles. Based on scenarios, the attendees discussed the current challenges faced by libraries in meeting evolving students needs and then moved on to discuss how technology could potentially help. Over the next few blog entries I will focus on each scenario and the comments received during the session.
Learner Seven: Lauren
Lauren learns from listening and talking with friends. She enjoys reflecting on their opinions and how they differ from her thoughts.
She is a quiet individual and often prefers time to herself – usually, if the weather is fine, outside. She gets a lot of work done when she is “shut off from the outside world”.
Comments
The biggest challenge for a library to respond to Lauren’s needs was how to attract her to the library. There was felt to be a need for promotion and additional digital materials/resources purchased such as eBooks, online videos and eReaders. In addition provision of removable media to enable Lauren to put resources onto her own equipment was seen as key.
Colleagues discussing this learner felt that there was a need to extend the current laptop loan system they have. At present they do not permit laptops to leave the library and this was seen as a barrier for learners that preferred to work in the sunshine (ahem!). Extending the laptop loan and also investigating the purchase of 3G dongles to give access to the internet anywhere would really benefit learners such as Lauren and purchasing plans are now available to make this a distinct possibility.
For the CoFHE NW AGM we focussed on assessing learners needs and how libraries can resource their learning styles. Based on scenarios, the attendees discussed the current challenges faced by libraries in meeting evolving students needs and then moved on to discuss how technology could potentially help. Over the next few blog entries I will focus on each scenario and the comments received during the session.
Learner Six: Gemma
Gemma prepares for college by reading at home. She finds it easier and more relaxing than college. She visits the Library regularly to search for the articles she needs online and then prints them out to take home with her. The amount of paper she collects does worry her.
On her drive home she reflects on her day and what she has learnt which she then jots down when she returns home.
Comments
The group working with Gemma felt that there was definitely a need for more user education – particularly to cut down on the amount of paper she was using. I would start asking why this learner is not aware of the current library services. Is there a need her for more appropriate marketing of the library services (Library staff working smarter not harder comes to mind here). There is a need to investigate why Gemma is not aware that she could possibly download resources whilst working at home. Is she aware of the VLE or does she find using it a problem? What about developing online tutorials and audio materials for her to listen to.
My personal thoughts are also that this learner would benefit from recording technology. The library could loan out digital recorders so that Gemma can record her thoughts on the way home so that she doesn’t “lose” any of her reflective work.
For the CoFHE NW AGM we focussed on assessing learners needs and how libraries can resource their learning styles. Based on scenarios, the attendees discussed the current challenges faced by libraries in meeting evolving students needs and then moved on to discuss how technology could potentially help. Over the next few blog entries I will focus on each scenario and the comments received during the session.
Learner Five: Jonathan
Jonathan likes variation in the types of physical environments in which he studies dependent upon his mood and the work he has to do. He finds a relaxing environment conducive to learning, and so long as noise and activity isn’t intrusive, he chooses to learn anywhere. He’s regularly seen studying whilst having a coffee in McDonalds.
Four times a week he visits the gym and whilst cycling and running takes the opportunity to read his course notes.
Comments
Jonathan’s needs are more than just appropriate media and technology. He needs a variety of physical learning environments available to him depending on his mood and what work needs to be done. These spaces could be provided throughout the college grounds. The challenge for the library is knowing what space is available for learners and to provide resources for the learner to be able to use in these environments. Therefore mobile provision is the key here. iPod Touches preloaded with material, eReaders, digital cards loaded with material that can be used on his own equipment. Audio resources such as podcasts and audio transcriptions of key materials could be extremely useful for learners of this type.
For the CoFHE NW AGM we focussed on assessing learners needs and how libraries can resource their learning styles. Based on scenarios, the attendees discussed the current challenges faced by libraries in meeting evolving students needs and then moved on to discuss how technology could potentially help. Over the next few blog entries I will focus on each scenario and the comments received during the session.
Learner Four: Peter
Peter is studying on an Exercise and Fitness diploma. He finds it difficult to learn from books and prefers to see new concepts visualized in either a drawing or an animation.
He learns a lot from hands-on activities and getting actively involved in the subject.
He often learns from watching TV programmes and videos and seeing things in real life.
Comments
Arguably Peter is the most difficult student to resource in a typical library environment. Someone who prefers to be active is not suited to the kind of spaces most libraries tend to provide. So how can we provide resources for Peter? This scenario provided some really interesting ideas. How about having a television in the library showing the sports channel and current tournaments such as the World Cup and Wimbledon? All you need is the television and wireless headphones (admitedly the football may become a little bit noisy so care must be taken here). In addition some book suppliers are now providing tactile books such as the Football one shown here. http://www.murraybooks.com/football.php Videos are excellent for this kind of learner. Think how you could include YouTube and other sources of streaming video into the library environment.
There’s also plenty of scope for incorporating new technologies. Think about introducing the Nintendo Wii with Wii Fit into the library. Perfect for learning about health and fitness. Loan out Flip Video cameras for learners to create their own materials and to film sporting activities. Consider augmentive technology such as Second Sight on the PSP. http://www.connectededucation.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=153 which could be perfect for studying aspects of the human body.
Providing a library service for a learner of this type needn’t be difficult.
