Well I know where I am going, 'to the cloud', and with the seal of approval from the OU I know I have made the right decision. Yes I will populate the college Moodle system but wherever possible I will be linking out to resources that are available elsewhere. My motivation is one of reliability as I don't think the college knows what it is doing with the VLE which by the way is now an Enhanced LE for some reason.Only this week I have seen a branding imposed on all my pages I have lost 20% of the page to a Banner fine on the home page but every page? The banner also wraps on larger pages so the fancy pointless log appears again on the right hand side cut in half. This is ridiculous and forums are no longer working so I can't even voice my feelings any more. So do I care.
In contrast the OU would have discussed these changes and offered an opportunity to share ideas and offer alternatives, I live in hope.
My teaching material will be moved to my own platform and linked back in so I guess I am all for PLEs and free use of web 2.0 applications. Most learners that take the time to experince them realise their use very quickly but the barriers to the applications presented by the college muffle their enthusiasm.
My reaction is simple, 'How long are you going to be in the confides of the college and its restrictions'?
I know for assessment I will have to move it inside the wire but teaching resources need to be where they are accessible. I also refuse to accept that some of the tools I use should not be shared with learners who despite what some colleagues think are actually quite hungry for them.
In years to come I am sure I will be glad that I made this decision especially when the colleg realises they have to open up the route to the internet in a less restrictive way.
1 comment:
I have been to a briefing this week that told us we were moving from Blackboard to a new VLE designed by our American owners called 'classroom of the future'- I kid you not. My mind thinks immediately of the ill fated UK e-University. I asked if we would be able to create bespoke courses. I was told 'of course; there is a great flexibility within the templates'. I guess not then :-)
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