Rare Archival Footage of Marshall McLuhan
"This rare archival footage of McLuhan speaking to an ABC journalist on his visit to Australia was recorded on 19 June 1977 in Sydney.
ABC Archive notes: 'Canadian expert on electronic media, Marshall McLuhan, arrives in Australia to address a seminar on Australian radio. He advocates shortening of TV transmission time and better balance between TV, radio and press. McLuhan speaks about the effect of TV on children.'
From other sources we know that he was brought to Australia by Sydney radio station 2SM.
Sadly no record of the interviewer has been kept, though we think she has a New Zealand accent."
(ABC Radio National, Australia)
Fig.1 This rare archival footage of McLuhan speaking to an ABC [Australian Broadcasting Corporation] journalist on his visit to Australia was recorded on 19 June 1977 in Sydney.
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Simon PerkinsSHARE
Pearson launches their OpenClass learning environment
"Pearson today made a major move to increase access and collaboration in higher education by launching OpenClass. A key component of Pearson's vision to increase access, achievement and affordability, OpenClass offers institutions and instructors the ability to engage and interact with their students using the collaborative technologies that students are embracing - at no cost.
OpenClass is a new kind of self-service learning management system (LMS) delivered from the Cloud. It is easy to use and completely free. There are no hardware, licensing or hosting costs, thus enabling widespread adoption of new learning approaches that encourage interaction within the classroom and around the world.
'Now, educators and students are able to communicate and collaborate in new ways across institutions and around the globe - providing a richer, more personal and more connected learning experience. At no cost,' said Matt Leavy, CEO of Pearson eCollege.
OpenClass integrates seamlessly with Google Apps for Education™ and will be available starting this week in the Google Apps Marketplace™, Google's online storefront for Google Apps™ products and services. With single sign-on and a unified navigation bar, instructors and students can launch OpenClass from within Google Apps or access their Google applications from OpenClass. Launching OpenClass in the Google Apps Marketplace™ provides institutions with the easiest path to adoption and an avenue to reach institutions already familiar with the benefits of cloud-based solutions.
'We're excited to have OpenClass in the Google Apps Marketplace,' said Obadiah Greenberg, Google's Business Development Manager for Education. 'OpenClass is tightly integrated with Google Apps for Education, our free suite of communication and collaboration applications. Through the Google Apps Marketplace, schools will have access to OpenClass. We are happy to offer this complementary learning management system to the millions of students, faculty and staff already using Google Apps.'
'OpenClass has huge potential for higher education,' said Adrian Sannier, Senior Vice President of Learning Technologies at Pearson. 'OpenClass accelerates what technology will do for learning with a free, open and innovative platform that easily scales and lets students work via social media, with an intense focus on learning that elevates achievement.'
Pearson, working closely with its design partners, will rapidly advance the capabilities of OpenClass to leverage the rich data and social foundations of the platform and the ability to release new functionality frequently. Design partners include Abilene Christian University, Arizona State University, Central Piedmont Community College, West Virginia University at Parkersburg, Monash University, Kentucky Community & Technical College System, Rice University, the University of Wisconsin Extension and Columbia University. Many of these institutions are already teaching courses on OpenClass this fall.
'We truly believe that OpenClass is a disruptive technology for education,' said Kevin Roberts, Chief Planning and Information Officer at Abilene Christian University. 'Pearson's commitment to providing an open and free platform is monumental. The days of 'business as usual' in higher education are gone. OpenClass is a powerful tool to help us move forward into the connected, mobile and open world that we live in.'"
(Susan Aspey, Pearson press release 13 October 2011)
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Simon PerkinsSHARE
Personalising learning: learner-centred and knowledge-centred
"Personalising learning is... ...learner-centred and knowledge-centred: Close attention is paid to learners’ knowledge, skills, understanding and attitudes. Learning is connected to what they already know (including from outside the classroom). Teaching enthuses pupils and engages their interest in learning: it identifies, explores and corrects misconceptions. Learners are active and curious: they create their own hypotheses, ask their own questions, coach one another, set goals for themselves, monitor their progress and experiment with ideas for taking risks, knowing that mistakes and ‘being stuck’ are part of learning. Work is sufficiently varied and challenging to maintain their engagement but not so difficult as to discourage them. This engagement allows learners of all abilities to succeed, and it avoids the disaffection and attention-seeking that give rise to problems with behaviour.
...and assessment-centred: Assessment is both formative and summative and supports learning: learners monitor their progress and, with their teachers, identify their next steps. Techniques such as open questioning, sharing learning objectives and success criteria, and focused marking have a powerful effect on the extent to which learners are enabled to take an active role in their learning. Sufficient time is always given for learners’ reflection. Whether individually or in pairs, they review what they have learnt and how they have learnt it. Their evaluations contribute to their understanding. They know their levels of achievement and make progress towards their goals. Stimulated by How people learn: brain, mind, experience and school (Bransford, J. D., A. L. Brown, et al.)."
(Teaching and Learning in 2020 Review Group, 2007, p.6)
Bransford J.D., Brown A. L. and Cocking R. (eds.), How people learn: brain, mind, experience and school, National Academy Press, Washington DC, 2000.
1). Teaching and Learning in 2020 Review Group (2007). '2020 Vision: Report of the Teaching and Learning in 2020'. Department for Education and Skills.
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Simon PerkinsSHARE
