Under the microscope
Digital's role for teaching, learning, assessment, inclusion (and exclusion) has been thrust under the microscope in 2020.
Last year, internet access, devices, tools and platforms were revealed as essential infrastructure. Our dependency on digital and data for culture, communication, collaboration was laid bare.
Privatisation and enclosure are not solutions. Handing education over to commercial actors, Silicon Valley platforms or the next big technology fad would be another sad spill-over from the mess of 2020.
"E" is no longer a novelty for a critical mass of teachers, academics, learners, and students.
Educators need to look to 2021 as the time to imagine, influence, and improve the digitalization of education for public good.
Plain Language Multilingual Glossary
I've been working as a mentor for Matilda Smith on a glossary in a
project initated by Open Education for a Better World (OE4BW).
The glossary contains law terms with explanations in Plain Language
in English, Afrikaans and IsiXhosa.
Matilda has met with a brief and developed a table containing
initial legal concepts in English with translations available in
Afrikaans, isiXhosa and plain English.
Read More
CC Certificate Course
I've been awarded a scholarship to the June 2020 Creative Commons
(CC) Copyright Course
During my collaborations with clients on both an implementation
level and an enablement level, I am a consistent advocate for open
licenses. I often find myself recommending CC licenses as a viable
alternative to copyright as this framework has relevance and comes
with the potentials to add greater value to the work being done. I
use CC with clients, both the operational level, to help the people
I'm working with to understand copyright issues and alternative
means to manage their creative outputs. And at a policy level,
giving guidance about suitable versions of the license for the
institution.
Time Management
One of the more complex challenges associated with digital, is
managing the many competing and shifting priorities that face remote
students.
Logistical considerations such as class size, venues and timeslots
are usually confirmed and published in the academic calendar. When
online, a clear and (preferably) consistent schedule or timetable
that compliments the academic calendar is also necessary. When
learning is behind a screen, a timetable adds rhythem to a flexible
day and communicates the many course-related events that need to be
juggled and priorized by the off-campus student, who is attending to
multiple responsibilities.
Down for Maintence
Yes, you can see. Things are in a bit of a muddle at the moment.
I moved my website to a new service provider, messed up my blog and
decided that this would be a good time to improve the site's look
and feel.
Poor timing.
Sorry about the inconvenience.
SA Covid-19 Portal
You can find trusted sources of information at the South African Covid-19 portal*.
Pleased to support the communication of credible sources of
information about Covid-19. Little puzzled why the pandemic
communications portal has chosen "sacoronavirus.co.za"*.
If you want to reduce the likelihood of increasing the information
disorder amid the pandemic, then wouldn’t it make more sense to
distinguish between governmental and commercial sources of
information?
* "sacoronavirus.gov.za."
Covid Teaching
Online education is not the same as Covid teaching, and a
distinction between the two needs to be drawn.
In the middle of a crisis, it can be hard to imagine what good
online education looks like. Isolation, uncertainty and stress makes
us revert to digital twins, like Zoom. Many of the initial
mitigation steps taken by management, administrators and educators
to respond to the circumstances have been heroic. However, our
current short-term emergency efforts are, at best, a rapid response
to a set of immediate circumstances.
I do not want to be the source of unsolicited advice. But I do want
to share some ideas that go beyond Zoom. Over the next couple of
weeks, I’ll be posting some of these ideas here.
Visits to Yangon
I'm working with Montrose
to co-author an ICT textbook, intended to improve the Myanmar
pre-service teacher education system.
Ready for Work
Pleased to be working with Pretoria University on a programme
entitled "Ready for Work". The online course aims to develop
student’s essential workplace skills as they think about their
employment future.
"Open education for an open future”
Was fortunate to attend OE
Global in Milan in November 2019
Empty promises
Edtech shininess is often style without substance. Pretty interfaces,
buzzwords and glib methodologies are to show, sell and ship.
