IPR Clearance – Just as we thought things were getting clearer and easier….

September 12th, 2008 by Peter Reed

it goes and gets messy again.
Although we have initially been given clearance (albeit verbal and informal) to use a myriad of materials/RLOs from various sources, it appears that when faced with a license agreement to sign, ‘rights holders’ (loosely termed) start to panic. More often than not, the people we are contacting don’t actually know what rights are attached to certain materials, and exactly who is responsible for signing any such agreement.

So, whilst we are still confident on getting formal approval, it looks like I will be chasing a few more people (whilst waving a license agreement form) :-)

Despite the frustrations, the processes we are going through are invaluable, and if e-Learning Reuse, or Sustainable e-Learning (as some commentators like to call it) is the future of learning and teaching, then we will hopefully be well placed to move forward throughout the institution and across the wider HE sector.

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Filter google searches by Usage Rights…

August 6th, 2008 by Peter Reed

I was doing a little bit of playing last night (sad, I know) but come across this new search feature in google, which allows us to search for content that is free to use, share and modify.
I done a quick search for dyslexia last night and came across tons of good stuff.

To do this search, go to Google and click on the ‘advanced search’ button. Toward the bottom of the page, there is a menu item that you can expand, called ‘Date, usage rights, numeric range, and more.’ Then you can use the ‘usage rights’ menu to get content that is more specific and more likely usable for the project.

Have fun

Peter

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Google Groups

July 25th, 2008 by Peter Reed

Back when we had the start-up event in Aston, we discussed having ‘critical friends’ for projects. The actual details of what projects actually needed was a bit blurry at that point, however we did manage to see some links with the SMILE project at Worcester.

Now that we are well underway with the project, we are starting to see the benefits of what the ‘critical friendship’ might bring to our project. Rather than critiquing content, we actually feel that just by having someone else to talk to (possibly about the difficulties in gaining copyright clearance and documenting RLOs) can be more effective for our project than anything else.

Enter Google Groups. Whilst we haven’t really played about with this to any great extent thus far, there are a number of obvious benefits that the platform brings e.g. secure environment for discussion, can post files, etc, etc.
We are now considering what benefits we might see from opening the group up to all of the RePRODUCE Projects. I wonder if JISC would be keen for something like this???

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Documenting/RLO Management

July 24th, 2008 by Peter Reed

Part of the many complexities (and headaches) around the myriad of RLOs, is the consideration of documenting and management.
We have decided to take a three-pronged attack to help us keep track of the RLOs (existing, externally repurposed, & new).

  1. High level document containing basic info i.e. existing, externally repurposed & new
  2. A more detailed filethat details dates for seeking clearance, documents communications with rights holders, meta-data, etc, etc.
  3. and an Object Profile for each RLO used, which challengingly (is that a word?) includes pedagogical rationales and the like. What have we let ourselves in for. Im just glad Lindsey is looking at this file :-)

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Moving forward…

April 30th, 2008 by Peter Reed

Last week’s meeting with Liam Earney from CASPER went as well as we had hoped. It seems we are in a similar position to many of the other institutions taking part in the RePRODUCE project. It was reassurring to know that we could answer many of Liam’s questions without great difficulty, and the points we raised were similiar to those of other projects.

After we met with Liam, the project team took some time to discuss and organise the module, taking a brief look at some of the existing content. Carol and I are meeting with Wendy later on today, in hope that we can fully plan out the first unit in the module. After our meeting we should be in a better position to understand how long it will take us to develop the module, and find and create reusable objects.

So, once again I am hopeful that the next blog posting is positive!!!

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CASPER and staffing updates

April 15th, 2008 by Peter Reed

A hectic schedule of late has affected my ability to blog, but nevertheless, I return!!!

CASPER are coming on the 23rd, a meeting we are very much looking forward to. We are hoping that it will provide us with some guidance and reassurance of the whole IPR issue. I guess its probably a good idea to have a meeting like this early on in the project to make sure we are on the right track, rather than wasting 6 months doing the wrong thing.

Also, we have recently appointed a 0.5 learning technologist – Carol Chatten, dedicated to the project. We highlighted this staffing risk and as a key factor in the project plan, so its reassuring to know we are on schedule, even at this early stage. The majority of team will be meeting shortly – the afternoon of our CASPER meeting actually.

So, if that goes according to plan, my blog posting will be positive. If not, perhaps it would be better not to blog ;-)

Until next time!!!

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Introduction to ReFORM

February 21st, 2008 by reform

The repurposing and reuse of learning objects is of particular interest to the JISC (Joint Information Systems Committee). Edge Hill University’s ReFORM project is one of 19 funded projects, focussing upon the (re)development of a module to incorporate Reusable Learning Objects (50% externally sourced and 25% internally sourced).

Our ReFORM project aims to redevelop an existing Professional Development 10 week, 15 credit, level 6 module, CPD304: Dyslexia and Specific Learning Difficulties (SpLD) in Higher Education – Support Issues. The revamped module, which will be included in the Faculty’s extensive traditional and virtual marketing and recruitment campaigns, is part of a suite of modules leading to the Edge Hill award of the Certificate of Professional development in Inclusive Learning Support in HE (Dyslexia).

The project will involve the repurposing of objects (drawn from Jorum and other credible sector sources) related to themes which are germane to learning support, such as writing, reading and memory, and (providing materials to bridge a current gap) the generation of new multimedia objects which focus on learners’ narratives relating to such themes.

This blog will serve as an ongoing reflective tool, with various members of the project team contributing. Further details can be found on the project website (currently under development. URL will be poste here soon)

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