top elearning tools for african higher education

Top eLearning Tools for African Higher Education

Greig Krull

Cloud Computing in Higher EducationSunninghill, Johannesburg28 August 2014

Agenda

Context – Drivers and Constraints

Key Trends and Challenges

Technology Outlook

Top Free Learning Tools

Principles for Success

Discussion

Context: Motivation and Constraints

Take a quick poll: What motivates and constrains

you?

Trends and Challenges

Global Trends and Challenges

The NMC Horizon Report: 2014 Higher Education Edition

Growing Usage of Social Media

Integration of Online, Blended & Collaborative Learning

Expanding Access

Low Digital Fluency of Staff

Keeping Education Relevant

Moving to the cloud?

Image: Vanguard Visions [CC-BY]

• Driven by end of useful life of current solutions

• Hosted vs buying hardware & maintenance & support

• Monthly cost vs time to achieve ROI

Stern (2014)

Constraints for Cloud Computing in Africa

Ghandi (2014)

• Rural areas still outside coverage areas• Cost of access is high• Energy still a problem

Rapid internet access growth, but

• Comparatively low speeds• Costly

Mobile broadband readily adopted, but

Lack of available local content

Technology Outlook

Institution Strategy

Programme & Course

Design

Staff & Student Digital Literacies

Staff & Student Support

Applications

Hardware / Devices

Network

Physical Spaces

Educational Technology Stack

Adapted from Marquard (2013)

Consumer Technologies

The NMC Horizon Report: 2014 Higher Education Edition

Digital Publishing

Mobile Phones

Tablets

Wearable Technology

3D Printing

Social Media

Internet Technologies

The NMC Horizon Report: 2014 Higher Education Edition

Cloud Computing

Internet of Things

Quantifiable Self

Digital Strategies

The NMC Horizon Report: 2014 Higher Education Edition

Bring Your Own Device (BYOD)

Flipped Classrooms

Gamification

Digital Identity

Digital Storytelling

Learning Technologies

The NMC Horizon Report: 2014 Higher Education Edition

Badges

Learning Analytics

Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs)

Open Educational Resources (OER)

What are your top learning tools?

Take a quick poll: What is

your TOP learning tool?

Top 20 Tools for Learning in 2013© 2013 Centre for Learning & Performance Technologies

Top 20 Tools for Learning in 2013© 2013 Centre for Learning & Performance Technologies

Need for Internet Access

Use of Non-Educational

Apps

Rise of Social Media

Open Technologies

Free and Open Source Software

Strandberg [CC-BY-SA]

• Lower-cost technology options

• Able to use and/or modify the code

Free and Open Learning Tools

Watson (2014)

Benefits

• Free • Familiar• Easy to Use• Automatic upgrades

Drawbacks

• Lack of integration• Record of data• Lack of institutional

support• Privacy Concerns

Platforms

Content Curation

Polls / Quizzes

Collabora-tion

Blog & Microblog

Social Networks

Multi-media

Sharing

Virtual Meeting Rooms

Free / Open Source Learning Tools

Adapted from: Cavazza, Social Media Landscape [CC-BY-NC-SA] http://www.flickr.com/photos/fredcavazza/2564571564/

1. Virtual Learning Environment: Moodle

• Access to resources• Submit assignments• Discussion forums• Tracking & reporting • Alternates: Sakai, Canvas,

Edmodo, ClassroomImage: Unknown (PD)

2. Blogging: Twitter

• Keep up to date• Share links /

resources• Communicate • Feedback• Alternates:

Blogger, Wordpress

Image: Search Engine People Blog (CC-BY)

3. Social Network: Facebook

• Create groups• Join groups• Interact• Share links &

resources• Alternates:

Google+Image: Simon (PD)

4. Multimedia: YouTube

• Watch how-to videos

• Create own tutorials

• Alternates: Vimeo, Slideshare, Soundcloud, Flickr

Image: Schäfchen (CC-BY-SA)

5. Virtual Meeting: Skype

• Live meetings• Presentations• Screensharing• Alternates:

Google Hangouts, Zoom

Image: Jones(CC-BY)

6. Collaboration: Google Drive

• Share documents

• Collaborate• Create forms• Alternates:

Dropbox

7. Curation: Scoop It • Bookmark sites or articles• Categorise information• Share• Alternates: Diigo, Delicious

Image: Coelho (CC-BY)

Principles for Success

Do you have a plan or strategy for using learning technologies in your learning?

Fryer (CC-BY)

Academics - Where to start?

Start slowly

Select tools best aligned to outcomes & activities

Become familiar with the tools before use

Allocate sufficient time to orient students

Provide ongoing supportWatson (2014)

ICT Infra-structure & applications

Connectivity / Internet Access

Programme& Course Develop

(Open) Licencing of Resources

Capacity Building

Quality Assurance

Change Manage-

ment

Leadership areasto address In alignment with: Vision / MissionStrategic Plan

Quiz: Best Learning Tools

Test your knowledge in a quick online

quiz

Thank you

greigk@saide.org.za

greigk_za

Greig Krull

Discussion

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License.

www.saide.org.za

References• Centre for Learning & Performance Technologies (2013)

Top 100 Tools for Learning 2013• DHET (2014) White Paper for Post-School Education and Training.• Ghandi, E (2014) ICTs, public access and the African Internet Governance Forum.

Association for Progressive Communications.• Isaacs, S and Hollow, D (eds) (2013) The eLearning Africa 2013 Report, ICWE:

Germany.• Johnson, L, Adams Becker, S, Estrada, V & Freeman, A (2014) NMC Horizon Report:

2014 Higher Education Edition. Austin, Texas: The New Media Consortium.• Marquard, S (2013) Educational Technology Stack.• Saide (2013) Considering Mode of Delivery in Education• Stern, A (2014) The Pros & Cons of Cloud Server Hosting in Education Verticals • University of New South Wales (nd) Selecting Technologies • Watson, K (2014) Learning To Teach Online Videos College of Fine Art, University of

New South Wales.