Monday 18 January 2010

Creating E-Resources with Xerte

Free face to face and online training in how to use Xerte to create electronic resources.

There are lots of tools available that can be used for creating e-learning content but these days the one I seem to be increasingly asked about is Xerte. This is a free toolkit that can be used for creating e-resources that are accessible AND interactive. Xerte seems to be a popular choice for providers wanting to create electronic resources that can sit within other platforms (such as Moodle), or can be delivered as standalone learning activities.

If you haven’t yet seen Xerte but are keen to know more about how it can be used for easily creating electronic learning resources, take a look at the ‘Learning Object Demo’ that’s available on the main Xerte website (There is a link half way down the right hand side of the page). This second example also shows a number of the of all the standard page types you can have in a Xerte object.

This month and next we will be running two free staff training sessions at Wolverhampton Science Park, showing learning providers how to use the tool.

In addition, as part of their support for the rollout of Xerte, JISC TechDis are now running a series of free online training sessions on the last Friday lunchtime of every month. These webinars are also a great opportunity, as each bite sized session supports just one aspect of using the tool, they’re free to attend and there’s no need to leave your desk. The full programme for their online tutorials can be found online.

To read more of Wobble click here.

Flexibility and Innovation Fund - Round 2

More funding for Work Based Learning providers to support their e-learning development.

LSIS have recently opened the second of three bidding rounds for its Flexibility and Innovation Fund. In this, Learning and skills providers can bid for funding of up to £90,000 for projects which are ‘innovative and which have the potential significantly to enhance the performance of the sector’. Bids can be submitted by providers individually or in groups.

For ideas of what has been successful previously, see this complete list of the 31 projects that were successful in a previous round. You can also read brief outlines of their projects there too. The deadline for this second round of bidding is 19 February 2010. You can get full details plus application forms, guidance notes etc on the Excellence Gateway.

To read more of Wobble click here.

Friday 15 January 2010

Moodle and e-Portfolios – Try Before you Buy

RSC West Midlands can now offer you your own externally hosted, learning platform for free, for a six month trail period. What better way than to try before you buy?

An increasing number of learning providers are now using e-learning platforms and e-portfolio systems, with this number growing as providers realise the many benefits that they offer. (This includes the ability to share resources online, access documents 24/7, offer learners the chance to present evidence electronically, and more).

To support this growing area of e-learning, Kevin Brace has set up a West Midlands based initiative which now offers work based learning providers (amongst others) the chance to use one or more of five open source e-learning platforms/e-portfolio systems completely for free. In simple terms, this is a chance to ‘try before you buy’; it offers a great opportunity to try out some of this very popular software before you commit to either securing a hosting arrangement of your own, or to buying commercial systems for your e-learning.
As part of the project, the following hosted e-learning platforms are now available for you to trial (with complete functionality). Applicants can choose to pilot one, two, or all of these platforms simultaneously.

Providers will be able to access the hosted e-learning platform for a period of six months during which time they will also receive the help of selected members of the RSC team for getting the system up and running. In return, Kevin would appreciate a short evaluation highlighting the benefits/shortfalls of each platform piloted.

Interested applicants should get in touch with Kevin Brace who can be contacted by email.

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