So, its official - " “On average, students in online learning conditions performed better than those receiving face-to-face instruction.” (New York Times). This was taken from a recent report by SRI International for the American Department of Education. It covered a range of education from schools (K-12 in American!) to colleges and even military training and shows improved test performance from those students who used online material at least some of the time.

Now, of course, exam results are not the be all and end all of education but they do give some form of benchmark to compare the learning outcomes of those students who use online tools and those that do not. I also think that the when the benefits of social learning (global audience, social interaction, peer review, etc) are involved in addition to the typcial learning systems' more local user base then the gains could be even greater.

The report does suggest that we may be at a real tipping point in the takeup of online education as more research evidence points to its value. I particularly liked the quote from Philip Regier (Dean of Arizona State University's Online and Extended Campus program). As this article puts it:

Mr. Regier sees things evolving fairly rapidly, accelerated by the increasing use of social networking technology. More and more, students will help and teach each other, he said.

 

Yesterday the NEN reporter prize winners were interviewed by Russell Prue on the E2BN stand at BETT2010.  Then they receive their prize Laptops from Niel McLean on the NEN stand.

This video was taken on a small VADO camera in High Definition. The two clips were stitched together in quicktime then uploaded to via the Collaborative Video tool. Once uploaded it was embedded into this blog page. Enjoy....

Web cam recording from BETT show E2BN stand (J56).

Happy New Year to you all and I hope you have managed to get back to school now. This week I'll be a the BETT show in London's Olympia - if you are coming then please visit the E2BN stand (J56).

And isn't this just a fantastic image?

I read this brief comment in the TES (December 11th, p4):

Updating Facebook and blogging may provide educational benefits for children, according to research published by the National Literacy Trust. The charity surveyed 3,000 young people in England and Scotland about their attitudes to writing. Children who were involved in blogging enjoyed writing more, with 57 per cent saying they liked writing in general compared to 40 per cent of those who did not have a blog. Similarly, 56 per cent of those who had a social networking profile thought they were good at writing, compared to 47 per cent of those who did not. The report was published in collaboration with Everybody Writes, a project run by Booktrust and the National Literacy Trust.

So I found the original report (pdf): it goes into considerable detail but the most interesting from LL4Schools’ point of view are the following from the Executive Summary:

75% of young people said that they write regularly. Technology-based formats were most frequently written. For example, 82% of young people wrote text messages at least once a month, 73% wrote instant messages (such as messages on AIM or MSN), and 63% wrote on a social networking site. Of non-technology based writing, 77% wrote notes or answers in class or for homework at least once a month followed by 52% writing notes to other people.(my emphasis)

and

56% of young people said they had a profile on a social networking site, such as Bebo or Facebook. 24% said that they have their own blog. While frequently vilified in the media as ‘dumbing down’ young people’s literacy, this research shows that technology offers different writing opportunities for young people, which is seen in a link between blogging and (self-reported) writing ability and enjoyment of writing. For example, young people who write on a blog were much more likely than young people who do not write on a blog to enjoy writing in general (57% vs. 40%) and to enjoy writing for family/friends in particular (79% vs. 55%). Young people with a blog (61%) as well as young people with a profile on a social networking site (56%) also displayed greater confidence, believing themselves to be good writers. Blog owners and young people with a social networking profile were also more prolific writers than their counterparts. They held more positive attitudes towards writing and computer use, and viewed writers more favourably.(my emphasis)

So while young people are very interested in and enthused by having a profile on, and writing for, a social networking (SN) site many of these sites are blocked within schools. This is not the place to rehearse the arguments for and against filtering these sites: suffice it to say that at the moment and, I would suggest, for the foreseeable future the safety concerns around these “open” sites will prevent their widespread use for teaching and learning within the classroom.

This report does, however, provide a powerful argument for the way of working that SN sites provide - if a safe and controlled platform can be found.

The term social learning network (SLN) is, I would suggest, a better name for a social networking site which is focussed on the learning potential of this way of working with web2.0 tools and easy interaction and sharing with others. And it does, perhaps, avoid the negative connotations of the usual term.

I, of course, contend that LL4Schools is such a safe SLN: we are open only to registered schools and create all the accounts on demand so know who all the users are. We also do not lay claim to the users private social networking activities: we would expect many of our users to have accounts on the main SN sites and to use them in their social lives. LL4Schools is a way for schools to access the power of the Social Learning Network with all their pupils without the risks inherent in the less educationally oriented sites.

This is the key: the LL4Schools platform has all the possibilities of global audience, social networking (user groups, friends) but it also has granular access control of information posted to the it and the users (both pupils and staff) can be assured that all its members are validated and traceable.

If you have come here and are not a registered school why not sign up for the free service? We'll also be at the BETT2010 show (on E2BNs stand - J56) next month so please drop by for a demo.

Today this site was moved to a new server with a new operating system and the newest version of PHP. This means that we can now run the Kaltura video plugin. If you are registered with LL4Schools log in and go to "Collaborative video" in the Tools menu.

If you are not yet registered you could try it out by registering for free on the LL4Education site - it is running exactly the same software.

So what is Kaltura? Kaltura provides video streaming services to, amongst others, wikipedia. The plugin here allows you to upload video, audio and pictures (to make a slideshow) which can then be embedded in blog posts, wiki-pages, your own website, etc. You can even edit the movie online. The video is transcoded into flash so there should be few compatibility issues with most browsers. If you can view TeacherTube or YouTube video then you can view Kaltura ones.

Below is a movie I have just created by uploading four pictures and adding a few transition effects between them.

If you make video with your students then why not try this out - you can even share the video with users in another country and edit online. The beauty of this is that once it is uploaded it is available from anywhere - even for editing! Think of the possibilities for sharing with schools abroad. Or posting video clips when you are on a school trip abroad. Now you can easily post a test blog or a vodcast (video-podcast) - the plugin allows you to upload a web-cam feed directly into the Kaltura site. So, as long as you have an internet connection, you can talk live to camera.

I've just been watching this video of Ken Robinson - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yJAL21IE9fY - about the importance of finding the thing you are interested and passionate about. How can the education system help students of all abilities to discover their true passion? There is a very interesting section (about 30 minutes in) about how the thing you are good at is not necessarily what your passion is: just because you have a talent does not mean that this will be your passion. And, alternatively, what you are passionate about will not necessarily make you wealthy.

He is a very good speaker and is well worth listening to - you may not agree with everything he says but it is certainly thought provoking.

I went to a gig yesterday! Now this is not my something I do often and I went because one of the stand-ups was the son (stay with me!) of my Garage mechanic who has looked after my car for more years than I care to remember. The theatre was small and the audio a bit too loud but it was sold out and packed with the friends and family of the performers and had a really good, partyish atmosphere.

And I must say it was very well worth going - they were all young, enthusiastic and talented.

The comedians are still at or just out of Uni. Collectively they are "Short Circuit Comedy" and, of course, have a facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=22947997192). Paul Longley (son of said mechanic) also has his own (http://www.facebook.com/paul.longley1).

The second half was a pop group called "The Theory of Six Degrees" and were excellent - all good musicians, the act was very together and polished. They are on MySpace (http://www.myspace.com/thetheoryof6degrees). What was so remarkable about the group was how young they were - the bassist just 12! Such talent.

So why am I writing about them here? Not just because they are using social network to promote themselves and not just because they are young per se....

A little digression - I've just finished reading Malcom Gladwells book "Outliers" (http://www.gladwell.com/outliers/index.html) which is a facinating read about how the outliers in our society (like Bill Gates, for example) have got where they have. Is it just innate talent, hard work, would such talent always "rise to the top" as we tend to think? Or were there special circumstances that let them succeed while others with just as much talent do not?

One chapter was called "The 10,000 hour rule" (http://www.gladwell.com/outliers/outliers_excerpt1.html)

And this is where it ties up with the gig - I was struck while watching them how these guys, and perhaps particularly the pop group, were already racking up time towards their 10,000 hours to become "expert" and ready to grasp any opportunities that may come their way. And the evident support and encouragement from firends and family was clealy there and going to be a great help to these kids in achieving their aims.

Is now a good time to be setting out? Is this a time when the technologies available to young (and old for that matter!) performers will make it easier to be noticed in the talent pool or harder? I don't know how it will pan out in the end either in general or for these comedians and muscians in particular but I wish them all the luck in the world...