Irish Learning Technology Association

It's that time of year again, when we here in ILTA begin to get very excited about the upcoming EdTech 2010 conference. We'll be in Athlone Institute of Technology this year on May 20th - May 21st 2010, and the call for papers has just been announced. The conference will examine the theme of e-learning in a time of change. There will be practitioner, research and pecha kucha (short, focused, quick-fire presentations) threads. We invite papers on learning technologies for challenging times, informing policy and strategy, industry/work based learning, sustainable models of innovation, and technology-enhanced learning and society. The deadline for the submission of abstracts is the 22nd of February 2010.

We are also delighted to announce the launch of the 2010 Jennifer Burke Award for Innovation in Teaching and Learning. ILTA and DCU sponsor an annual award in memory of Jennifer Burke, a well known and highly regarded friend and colleague, who the Irish Learning Technology Community lost in June 2007. The award recognises and rewards innovative practice in Irish Teaching and Learning, and in particular aims to reflect and remember Jenn’s vibrancy, creativity, energy and passion for learning. DCU and ILTA are now inviting nominations for the 2010 Award.

Dublin City University's Learning Innovation and Knowledge Research Centre is coordinating a series of FREE online seminars on using digital content for education. This is known as the 4C Initiative. The seminars are delivered by leading international experts on digital content in education. Starting with "An Introduction to Open Educational Resources and Where to Find Them Online" by Neil Butcher (OER AFRICA) on 4 February 2010, seminars will be delivered online every Tuesday and Thursday at 1500 GMT.

Other seminars include:
  a. Finding Open Educational Resources on Google
  b. Evaluating & Downloading Learning Objects, Images, Audio, Video, Reference Content & Lesson Plans (1 session per topic)
  c. Open Source Software for Education
  d. Using Interactive Whiteboards in the Classroom
  e. Using Learning Objects, Images, Audio, Video, Reference Content & Lesson Plans in the Classroom (1 session per topic)
These free online seminars are part of the 4C Initiative (www.4cinitiative.com) and through funding provided by The Nominet Trust (www.thenominettrust.org.uk) and Cambridge University Press (http://4cinitiative.com/?page_id=206) 

For more general information on the project please see www.4cinitiative.com or contact Neil Bruton (project coordinator).

The UK Higher Education Academy has just published a new book entitled Transforming Higher Education Through Technology Enhanced Learning (December 2009).

The book has its genesis in the e-learning Benchmarking & Pathfinder Programme led by the Higher Education Academy from 2005-2008. It is available both in conventional printed and digital formats. The UK HEA web page contains details about both.


It should prove an interesting read for ILTA members.

Download available from: UK HEA website

ILTA member, Heather James, has been trying out the beta release of DrupalGardens and thinks it holds alot of potential for people working in third level educational institutions. It is a drag and drop micro-site builder - using it you can easily make your own website, make it look the way you want it to... and choose to have it hosted or export it, and install it on your own host. You can even do domain mapping so it will look like it's hosted at your own institution. It is built on Drupal 7- and the new user interface has some major improvements... so nice to use! The beta edition will be opening to a wider audience in the spring. Heather recommends you sign up soon and get on the list to be informed of the upcoming release.

Hopefully we'll hear more about DrupalGardens from Heather, in the near future!