Hi Anil, These are very important suggestions for our future strategic planning --- Please add these suggestions to our strategic planning page here:
http://www.wikieducator.org/WikiEducator:WikiEducator_3.0 You're right there is a growing need for additional tutorials on helping newbies with questions like where to start a new page --- we've made a humble start here: http://www.wikieducator.org/Wikieducator_tutorial/Developing_a_teaching_resource but still lots of room for improvement and additional resources we can develop to help newbies in becoming part of our community. We definitely need to improve our structure and categorisation of content in the wiki. We've made a start with the content info box template -- but this is still prototype and we need to test its functionality. Once we've tested and refined this template, we'll need to develop supporting tutorials on its use. See, for instance: http://www.wikieducator.org/Wikieducator_tutorial/Developing_a_teaching_resource/Inserting_an_Infobox We're hoping to include improved content listings using portal pages for the School sector, Higher Education, TVET and professional development, see for example: http://www.wikieducator.org/Portal:Primary http://www.wikieducator.org/Portal:Secondary http://www.wikieducator.org/Portal:Higher_Education .. etc. However -- we still need to implement this properly. I really like the idea of a monthly newsletter -- and it would be great if we could identify a group of volunteers to assist with compiling a community newsletter. A while back we introduced a page starting to plot different roles in the community -- perhaps we need to revisit and improve this concept. All ideas welcome: http://www.wikieducator.org/Wikieducator_Roles Thanks Anil -- great suggestions. Lets get them implemented. Cheers Wayne On Mon, 2008-12-08 at 08:57 +0530, aprasad wrote: > Dear Dr. Wayne, Randy and other friends, > > Connecting to an earlier thread about the urgent requirement of > teacher education in ZA, we have to offer support officially. Before > that we require some urgent and very basic preparations. For example, > WE has now a very good repository of learning content…but as pointed > out by many earlier, collaboration happens seldom. In our L4C > Workshops we have to give greater emphasis on the best wiki practice > on 'where to start a new page?' Now it is time to take this vital > structural issue seriously. We have to take special care to avoid the > situation wherein valuable content lay scattered, and we move towards > creating another wikipedia, rather than learning content supportive to > QFs and Curricula. A monthly e-News letter to introduce major events, > new projects and higlighting the progress in existing projects may be > started to facilitate collaboration. > > > > Another thing we should do is to keep panels of WEs with specific > experience and aptitude that can help us in the event of WE taking up > projects officially. There should be a system to enlist names and > other details voluntarily by members and a verification process to > ensure the reliability. Online Volunteering project of UN > http://www.onlinevolunteering.org/en/index.html and Professional > Educational Organization International http://www.peoi.org/ are doing > the same successfully for years. > > > > These aspects may be examined for incorporating in Phase 3 of WE that > is being developed. > > > > -- > Warm regards > > Anil > http://wikieducator.org/User:Anil_Prasad > http://wikieducator.org/India > http://wikieducator.org/Qualification_Framework > http://wikieducator.org/Qualification_Framework/Professional_Education/Management/MHRM > > Skype: apletters > > > On 12/8/08, Wayne <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Hi Randy, > > Good thinking Randy --- there are many strategic elements in > your post, which I think we need to incorporate into our > evolving strategy for the future: > > http://www.wikieducator.org/WikiEducator:WikiEducator_3.0 > > Thinking about Professional Development, clearly this is an > important node for development. Thinking about the value > proposition, there are two important reasons why an OER > approach to professional development makes so much sense: > > 1) Almost every tertiary education institution has a > professional development unit -- yet in my experience most are > not adequately resourced in terms of staff or budget to do > what needs to be done on campus. > 2) An OER approach to professional development should > theoretically be less threatening to institutions testing the > OER waters because PD courses for academic staff are not > necessarily courses on which institutions compete with each > other. > > Back in the early conceptualisation phases of WikiEducator > (i.e. before we moved to a hosted server solution) -- on 19 > March 2006 I set up a PD development node on WE envisioning > rapid growth > > (http://www.wikieducator.org/index.php?title=Professional_Development_(eLearning_and_Instructional_Design)&oldid=1807 > ) -- However, I suspect that the idea was premature and poorly implemented > :-), especially given that at the time we only had 10 registered accounts! > (Wow -- can you believe that we're nearing the threshold of 7000 users!) > > So I thinking the timing is right to progress this further. > > With reference to your suggested refinements on the L4C > initiative -- again the timing is just right from a strategic > point of view. The current iterration of L4C will run to 30 > June 2009 -- as determined by our external funding support > from Hewlett. We need to start thinking about where we take > L4C in the future --- and I really like your ideas for > refocusing and reconfiguring the initiative. > > I'd be keen to hear what folk think? How should WE provide > support for capacity development in the future? In what ways > can we improve on our current approaches? > > Cheers > Wayne > > > > > > On Sun, 2008-12-07 at 09:10 -0800, Randy Fisher wrote: > > > Hi Everyone, > > > > Great dialogue.....I've been sleeping on this thread here, > > reflecting on conversations that I've had with Nellie, Maria > > and several L4C students, and what's becoming clear, is that > > Professional Development is an essential 'branding > > opportunity' for WikiEducator. On WE, we have so many > > projects and activities, it's easy to get lost in the > > fog.... (so a bit of a ramble coming up here - I'm not as > > eloquent as Leigh or Wayne... :-) > > > > I'm thinking back to my economic development days, and how > > can we 'package' what we have in a way that's appealing to > > educators - who may or may not know about open education. > > I'm also thinking about institutions' perennial quest to > > teach their teachers new stuff - which is great, but it's > > for the masses, not customised to the indivdual interests of > > teachers.... > > > > So, I'm thinking.... why not a process of "you scratch my > > back, I'll scratch someone else's itch". (Note, I didn't say > > "you scratch my back, I'll scratch 'yours'). > > > > The great thing about the WE community is that we have so > > many teacher-educators with so many interests (a > > network!)... The question is..., how can we leverage our WE > > Network in service of Teacher Educator's Professional > > Development? I'm thinking that it might make sense to go > > with a Centre of Excellence approach for Professional > > Development - to help us with branding and outreach to > > teacher educators in line with their own ProD interests, not > > just our wiki skills approach - (see what I've put up > > > > http://www.wikieducator.org/Professional_Development > > > > I'm also thinking that we have to change the L4C messaging > > around the requirements for the Learning Contract (i.e., in > > the 10-day or the 5-day courses) - put emphasis on what > > Learners have to Offer and Share with their Peers, in terms > > of something that they can Teach another Educator. (The > > emphasis on OER is great, but the reality is, that if you > > develop it on WikiEducator, it is an OER! :-) > > > > I think a subtle yet important shift in emphasis could help > > us convey our value proposition, particularly those > > teacher-educators who want to learn new skills. Of course we > > want them to develop OERs in our community, but first things > > first - let's have them share something easy, something > > they're comfortable with, and something they can "teach" > > others in our community .... > > > > Your thoughts, feedback? > > > > - Randy > > > > > > > > On Sat, Dec 6, 2008 at 2:06 PM, Leigh Blackall > > <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > > And of course, anyone is free to participate in the > > 2 teacher training courses we have on Wikied already > > (though they are designed for higher education > > practitioners who have ready access to the > > Internet). > > > > * Flexible Learning > > * Online Facilitation > > > > These 2 courses run twice a year, and informal > > participation is welcome for anyone anywhere. I am > > continuously looking for ways in which formal > > tuition and assessment can be made entirely free, > > but at the moment I can only offer informal > > participation for free. What's the difference? > > Personal learning support and a piece of paper at > > the end that says you are good to go to NZ > > standards. > > > > Shortly, we will have more of our teacher training > > courses available in this model, and many of the > > others may be more appropriate for secondary > > teachers and other practitioners who do not have > > ready access to the Internet. > > > > So, with more and more of these sorts of courses > > becoming available in all sorts of versions of FREE, > > I think teacher training in Africa could well be > > offered for free. > > > > > > > > On Sun, Dec 7, 2008 at 10:50 AM, Wayne > > <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > > Hi Randy, > > > > Teacher education is a huge challenge -- > > particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa. I think > > there are ways in which the WikiEducator > > community can help. > > > > A couple of thoughts - > > > > 1. With considerable surprise and > > celebration :-) -- I now see that the > > Teacher Education in Sub-Saharan Africa > > (TESSA) project is using a CC-BY-SA > > license!!!!! --- Previously they were using > > a non-free content license -- so it seems > > that some of the lobbying and noise has > > rendered positive results :-). > > > > See: > > > http://www.tessafrica.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3&Itemid=119 > > > > > I'll get in touch with the TESSA organisers > > and start exploring ways we can support > > TESSA in the achievement of their objectives > > -- for example, L4C training workshops in > > building capacity for content development. > > > > 2. Declan McCabe has pioneered and > > innovative model for student teachers to > > engage in OER content development. We can > > build on this experience in connecting > > teacher education institutions around the > > world --- mmm lots of potential here! > > > > See: > > > http://www.wikieducator.org/Biology_in_elementary_schools > > > > 3. Vincent Kiza, is a Ugandan teacher and > > serves on our Council. We should get in > > touch with Vincent for ideas. In fact, very > > soon Gayaza High School will be hosting a > > L4C workshop. Also, WhiteEagle from Germany > > (WE Council member) and Vincent are laying > > the foundations for the Center for > > innovative physics teaching in Uganda > > > (http://www.wikieducator.org/Ted/Project_Planning/Uganda ) > > > > I'm pretty sure that more ideas will emerge > > --- but we certainly have a few good leads > > to follow. Good thinking Randy! > > > > Cheers > > Wayne > > > > > > > > > > > > > > On Sat, 2008-12-06 at 12:51 -0800, Randy > > Fisher wrote: > > > > > Hi Everyone, > > > > > > I came across this news item (December, 2008) in > the Independent > > > Online, from South Africa) > > > > > > Teachers should be trained for free in order to > try to close SA's > > > current 20 000-plus teacher shortfall, the SA > Council of Educators > > > said on Thursday. > > > > > > "Considering the low levels of intake at > teacher-training facilities > > > and the high costs of training... the Council > calls for free teacher > > > training for all prospective teachers, with > immediate effect," said > > > SACE CEO Rej Brijraj on Thursday. > > > > > > Link: > http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=105&art_id=nw20081204165824720C518870 > > > > > > *** > > > > > > I have a few comments / questions: > > > > > > * What role could WikiEducator in addressing this > skills shortage in > > > general; and in particular with respect to > teacher training? > > > > > > * Do we have teacher training materials > available, or how can we > > > facilitate collaborative development of more? > > > > > > * I recall that our New Zealand colleagues are > interested in teacher > > > education, as is India's NCERT - > http://www.ncert.nic.in/welcome.asp > > > ~ who specifically is interested in teacher > training? > > > > > > * Please do share your ideas, thoughts and > suggestions... > > > > > > - Randy > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > -- > > > > -- > > Leigh Blackall > > +64(0)21736539 > > skype - leigh_blackall > > SL - Leroy Goalpost > > http://learnonline.wordpress.com > > http://www.wikieducator.org/User:Leighblackall > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > -- > > ________________ > > Randy Fisher - Change Management & Collaboration, Human > > Performance & Engagement, Sustainable Communities & > > Organizations > > > > * Engaging People in Teams, Communities and > > Organizations....and WikiEducator! > > > > + 1 604.684.2275 > > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > > http://www.wikieducator.org > > http://www.wikieducator.org/Community_Media > > http://www.wikieducator.org/User:Randyfisher > > > > * Cool WikiEducator Video on YouTube: > > http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tc9-CNlIqsY > > > > * Can You Do the Wiki-Wiki? > > http://www.wikieducator.org/Wiki_Wiki > > > > Skype: wikirandy > > > > > > > > --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "WikiEducator" group. 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