What does the future hold?

"We have around 150,000 undergraduate and more than 30,000 postgraduate students. 10,000 of our students have disabilities." "More than 25,000 OU students live outside the UK." (The Open University, 2009,online)

It was the top rated university in 2006 according to National Student Survey
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/5277938.stm
"The OU uses a variety of methods for distance learning, including written and audio materials, the Internet, disc-based software and television programmes on DVD." and "A number of short courses worth ten points are now available that do not have an assigned tutor but offer an online conferencing service (Internet Forum) where help and advice is offered through conferencing Moderators." (ANON,2009,online)
Will there be a need for a physical presence in the classroom? "Scientists have developed technology to teleport holographs of teachers into the classroom." (BBC News, 1999 Online)
With the increasing violence in the classroom
"Pupils in state schools and colleges are becoming more unruly with one in 10 teachers saying they have been attacked and injured by violent pupils," warned the The Association of Teachers and Lecturers (The Guardian 2008 online)
We already have places like The Canadian Virtual University http://www.cvu-uvc.ca/ and Syrian Virtual University http://www.svuonline.org/sy/eng/
Is this the future?

ANON,(2009) Open University-Wikipedia [Online].Available:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_University

BBC News (1999) BBC News Education-'Virtual' Teachers could enter classroom 29 Dec 1999. [Online]. Available:http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/582475.stm

The Guardian (2008) The Guardian-Violence on the increase,teachers warn 17 March 2008 [Online].Available:http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2008/mar/17/schools.uk

The Open University (2009) The Open University-About the OU [Online].Available: http://www.open.ac.uk/about/ou/

Resource

"noun 1 (resources) a stock or supply of materials or assets that can be drawn on in order to function effectively. 2 (resources) a country’s collective means of supporting itself or becoming wealthier, as represented by its minerals, land, and other assets. 3 (resources) personal attributes and capabilities that sustain one in adverse circumstances. 4 an action or thing resorted to." (Compact Oxford English Dictionary,2009,online)
It is only natural with the continuing expansion in technology that there is a move away from traditional materials such as blackboard, pen and paper.
As Lisa Neal from elearn Magazine in the article, Predictions for 2006 states "we have seen the world of online learning change in many significant ways. Who in, 2002, envisioned the popularity of podcasts, wikis, and blogs?" (2005 online)
Today, in society, a high percentage of students aged 14-19 have grown up with ICT in the classroom, so rather than continue with old fashioned resources the teacher is having to adapt with the times. As long as we plan our teaching to include three senses-visual, auditory and kinaesthetic then we can cover all students preferred learning styles. With so much emphasis on integrating new technology and procedures we can not forget two important resources, the teacher and the student. "A teacher is now a facilitator: a person who assists students to learn for themselves." (Reece & Walker,2007,p.3)We need to find the correct balance between teacher, student and ICT to create a successful place for learning.

Neal,L (2005) Predictions for 2006 elearn Magazine. [Online]. Available:http://elearnmag.org/subpage.cfm?section=articles&article=31-1

Oxford English Dictionary 2009 [Online]. Available: http://www.askoxford.com/concise_oed/orexxsource?view=uk

Reece,I & Walker,S. (2007) Teaching, Training & Learning: A Practical Guide. 6th Ed. Tyne & Wear: Business Education Publishers Limited

USB sticks

The USB flash drive, for myself, is bordering on genius. A device so small yet capable of storing so much information. On some courses it is compulsory for the learner to have one. Personally I wouldn't leave home without one!, rather than carrying around books and paperwork from one classroom to the next, I can store students work and my own work/resources such as lesson plans and powerpoints. There are though increasing downsides to them. "USB memory sticks are helping to spread the Windows worm that has infected around 10 million computers worldwide, say security experts," and "is spreading at a rate of one million machines per day" (Beaumont, 2009 online). In the same article it continues "security experts say that the virus is being unwittingly spread by computer users who are using USB memory sticks. The virus is easily transferred from an infected machine to a clean machine if the same USB stick is plugged into each." This is a serious concern in the education environment if we think how many students and PCs are in the classroom now, but for sheer convenience, it is a more than useful device and even seen as a fashion accessory

Beaumont, C (2009) The Daily Telegraph [Online]. Available: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/scienceandtechnology/technology/microsoft/4322032/Windows-worm-being-spread-through-USB-memory-sticks.html

Stills Camera

In the right hands this resource can capture history, create works of art. The camera allows the student to express themselves through visuals, to capture emotion and confidence, without borders, another way to communicate.Digital stills cameras are often used in teaching media. In delivering video/film production the students use them for looking at locations,creating storyboards at the pre-production stage. During the filming stage photographs are taken for makeup/continuity and publicity. It is an important and enjoyable resource in my teaching.

Link:http://www.worldsfamousphotos.com/

Microsoft PowerPoint

It is a program used for presentations originally developed in 1984 for the Mac. Used by the business sector and more importantly for us, in education.They can be simple to use which in some eyes could be a bad point as teachers could use them for the sake of using them, if you rely on them too much the learner could lose interest, having too much info on them. Using another resource, the internet, to research this post I went onto www.answers.yahoo.com and typed in the question 'Would you say powerpoint is a good resource?' One of the responses was "I'm a student, so here's my viewpoint.
Personally i LOVE powerpoints. my teacher always used them to teach us and it really helped me. i think one of the advantages to using power point is you don't have to stare at a book all day and try to comprehend it. that was really hard for me. but when saw it on a screen and saw the process being revealed step by step it really helped me." (2009 online)
Used very often in college it allows music and video links to be added so its frequently combined with other resources. This is an example of how i've adapted a PowerPoint for a dyslexic student.From BBC Skillswise "Dyslexic learners may have problems tracking print and reading black print off a white page." (Farnfield,D 2003 online).

Farnfield,D (2003) BBC Skillswise Teaching dyslexic learners in adult Basic Skills classes [Online]. Available:http://www.bbc.co.uk/skillswise/tutors/expertcolumn/dyslexia/index.shtml


Yahoo answers http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=ApmJm9w9CN0EfVmWeiuncGUjzKIX;_ylv=3?qid=20090129073325AAO7Xzl

VLE

“A virtual learning environment (VLE) is a software designed to support teaching and learning in an educational setting” (ANON 2009 online)
It is run over the internet and is a system which teachers can put their resources on and for students to access and upload their work. On it there is information such as course syllabus, up to date course info, previous lesson re-caps, support and discussion rooms. At Shipley College we use a system called fronter, where as at Bradford College we use Moodle.Bad points I've encountered can be extremely slow and confusing to navigate when it is working, costly to run E.g. training of staff/learners.

ANON (2009) Virtual Learning Enviroment-Wikipedia,the free encyclopedia. [Online].Available: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtual_learning_environment

Disabilities

A major advantage of online learning is that it “can be an open door for those with restricted mobility or difficulty in accessing in accessing buildings. E-tivities provide opportunities to ‘travel’, meet and learn with others with comparative ease.” (Salmon G 2003,p.183)
With a lot of my students having learning difficulties such as dyslexia, it is easier for them to work with computers than paper-based writing because of tools such as spell check. Gilly Salmon in e-tivities (2003,p.184) backs this up, “mistakes in typing or spelling are not important with e-tivities. It’s the thought or contribution that counts!”

Salmon, G. (2003) e-tivities: The Key to Active Online Learning. London: Kogan Page