OPLS blog

CASPAR, or Computer Assisted Self and Peer Ratings, is a project we have been watching for some time now out of the Centre for Excellence in Media Practice (CEMP), Bournemouth University, UK.

It’s a tool for evaluating both the process and outcomes of group work in media projects and has a particular focus on assessing individual performance within the group.  Understanding what contribution an individual has made within a collaborative piece of work is a major challenge for both teachers and assessment bodies, so this is one approach worth investigating further.  Watch the video for more info.

When following the link to CEMP, check out their other projects too.  There’s some interesting work that focuses on the application of new technologies, whilst at the same time demonstrating pedagogical principles in action.

Some extraordinary work has been done recently by Richard Allaway, Jim Williams and Natasha Winnard on a wiki to support the new IB Diploma Geography guide being launched in February next year. Drawing on their considerable experience in the subject, they have put together an outstanding resource structured around the forthcoming syllabus content. Full of web links, textbook references and the application of geographical skills, the wiki is constantly being updated as Richard et al come across new resources on the web.

How does it work? Well, they all have Delicious accounts and as they come across something useful on the web, they simply tag the resource using a previously agreed taxonomy and it automatically displays on the wiki via RSS. Thus a web link for Disparities in Wealth and Development could be tagged with ibgeog2009 and disparities_indicators or disparities_patterns for example.

It demonstrates the enormous power for social constructionism that wikis have and also how communities of practice can take a basic document like a subject guide and add real value to it for themselves and others. I encourage you to take a look when you have time, and if you’re a geography teacher, you can suggest resources or discuss an issue with them too. I’m sure they’d love to hear from you.

To all music teachers and musicians out there. Would you or your students like to be part of the world’s first online orchestra?

YouTube are inviting musicians from around the world to audition for the YouTube Symphony Orchestra. “Your video entries will be combined into the first ever collaborative virtual performance, and the world will select the best of you to perform at New York City’s Carnegie Hall in April 2009.”

A fascinating development. If there is a school district or authority out there that is still preventing access to this extraordinary site, send them the link.

Thank you all for your patience while we were working on an effective commenting solution.

We think we have got there now, so please feel free to leave reflections/opinions/ideas etc wherever appropriate.

The OPLS team.

Although “best of…” posts tend to appear reasonably frequently, the good ones are worth their weight in gold. Here are a couple of blog posts summarising the best Web 2.0 applications of 2007, in so far as they relate to teaching and learning, and as proposed by Larry Ferlazzo and Silvia Tolisano:

Larry Ferlazzo’s best Web 2.0 applications for 2007

Langwitches best web 2.0 applications for elementary school

You are, of course, free to agree or disagree.

Please note that these were shared via the Classroom 2.0 network on Ning.

In an interesting postscript to my previous entry, The Million Book Project, an international venture led by Carnegie Mellon University in the United States, Zhejiang University in China, the Indian Institute of Science in India and the Library at Alexandria in Egypt, has completed the digitization of more than 1.5 million books, which are now available online.

Though Google, Microsoft, the Internet Archive and recently Amazon have all launched major book digitisation projects, the Million Book Project represents the world’s largest, university-based digital library of freely accessible books. At least half of its books are out of copyright, or were digitised with the permission of the copyright holders, so the complete texts are, or eventually will be, available free.

It’s another great initiative and one to continue watching.