2013 in Review

Waterlogue  App One of this year's discoveries 

Some quick reflections on 2013   ( 2012 , 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008  etc ) . A lot of this year has been spent trying to push on with the new while getting bits of the system to understand and hold on to the best bits of some of our legacy projects. In everything it is all about communication at all levels. If anything the ever increasing flow of great ideas across education just highlights more how structures and hierarchies need to change to become much more open.  We are still trying to do the same things with new technology plugged in - we are not yet confident enough to really use it to fundamentally change how we do things for learners - and this needs system change and open minds across the educational system.

This year started with an interview for the Times Educational Supplement talking about some of the big changes that are coming and then filled out with usual range of practical projects to support learners.

1. International Articulation work took me to Istanbul and some other exciting places. The work here helps students doing HND and other awards move around the world and cements the international value of our qualifications for Scottish learners. This will open up the doors of more European institutions to Scottish learners  in the coming year.

2. We spent some time looking at the appetite of colleges , schools and training providers in Scotland for more support in direct delivery to learners . There will probably be more developments too here next year
With common units across Scotland there is so much more we could be doing collaboratively in schools , further education and into the workplace - there is huge potential for much greater flexibility for learners.

3. Open Badges .. and finally .. after almost two years of pushing policy changes through system we were able to say some sensible level headed things about the benefits of open badges . I think many folks are just beginning to understand the potential here for learners and there are still some challenges too to be ironed out around display etc

4. Open Educational Resources . Have to thank the on-going support of JISC , ALT , CETIS , RSC Scotland , College Development Network  and many others for helping to open up the policy debate around open educational resources in Scotland . ( It should not be a debate - we should have some national policies here) Special thanks to Lorna Campbell  of Cetis for going  extra mile on this.
We have made some tangible progress . The Open Scotland event was very successful and we suceeded in getting all the right agencies along and engagement from policy makers . Please follow the blog and join ALT and the join our Scottish sig .  I will be moving this debate on again in coming year supporting organisation of both ALT-C 2014 and OER14 

5. I usually get to meet most of the folks with interesting content or ideas for education - this year a lot of these meetings were with different groups trying to get more programming into schools one way or another - robots , gamification , computational thinking . All good stuff but was clearly the year of computing panic across UK . I hope for sake of learners and teachers this gets more coherent next year. At qualifications end the new national 4 and 5 awards in computer science should be able to embed most of this - badges and some other developments should help further down schools.

6. In the evenings and quite a lot of evenings this year I played my part in merging three Glasgow colleges to become Glasgow Clyde College. I am currently chair of the college's learning and teaching committee - having been through the pain of merger and of  regionalisation, next year we will all be looking for the dividends that the new regional structures should give Colleges across Scotland.

And looking on across next year - Early in the new year folks will come to realise how useful the new Glow with Microsoft 365 built in will be for teachers and learners.  In the spring there will be more active debate and finally some action around digital participation across Scotland. By summer the new National 4 and 5 qualifications will be in place for all learners across Scotland . In the autumn and beyond we will see if all the work done to support volunteers , stewarding , security , broadcasting , catering , customer care and more for the Commonwealth Games  Glasgow 2014 delivers the legacy it promises and we will too find out where Scotland's destiny lies 

Over year too I expect to see more coherent attempts by a range of agencies to open up data in Scotland in a way where learners can finally track their own learner journey and they can see potential value of different courses in supporting their journey.

Some observations on my own use of technology this year

Blogging less and less and using twitter more and more
I miss Google Reader , found Digg Reader as replacement but use it less that I thought
Probably picking up more info from Twitter than from RSS Feeds ?
I like my tablet for consuming information and taking notes in meetings .
But I still need a computer -lap-top or desktop to be really productive
I bid farewell to my corporate blackberry and hello to a new shiny Sony Xperia and apologies to all who keep getting twitter invitations  and reminders to join me on twitter from my new phone - still haven't figured out how to switch these off

Finally thanks to my team and all those in SQA for continuing to support me and give me the opportunity to explore new ventures . Thanks too to all of you and all the folks in my broader personal learning network across Scotland , UK and beyond for all the great ideas and support over the year.

2014 will be a great year for global learning - Happy New Year when it comes -

#GLOW New GLOW

Just had a poke about new look Glow now with added Microsoft365
This is looking like the amazing platform - that Glow always had potential to become
Well done folks !

Don't know what GLOW is find out here

#OpenScotland from #EADTU Conference from @LornaMCampbell

EADTU Conference - Open Scotland from LornaMCampbell

Re-posting this excellent presentation from Lorna Campbell here to get more folks to consider the policy gap that does exist in Scotland around promoting a culture of developing , sharing and re-using open educational resources across all of  public education.

Will stick it up too on SQA intranet - it is a handy over view of what is happening across Scotland in terms of opening up education. 

So SQA and #Openbadges What does that Really Mean ? #Mozfest

 In has taken a longer gestation period than I expected it to - but that is sometimes simply the nature of something worthwhile - but finally and with  the support of a number of colleagues from across  the SQA we had a paper accepted and approved by the necessary committees and we can move ahead in supporting #openbadges.

The press release came out two weeks ago and generated quite a lot of twitter traffic and a lot of emails too.
I thought it was worth setting out just what has been agreed.

I am speaking to Mozillians on Wednesday night and on Saturday I am a guest at Mozfest in London to speak to some of the many English based awarding bodies on the national approach we are taking to #Openbadges in Scotland.

I hope too to meet some other national awarding and accreditation bodies from around the world and compare notes on their approaches to #openbadges

We already have generated a lot of interest from corporate sector and from a number of professional bodies who are interested in our approach from across the UK.

Here is substance in terms of press release -

 Over the last two years we have been in dialogue with the Mozilla Foundation.

The Scottish Qualifications Authority supports the concept of Open Badges and is working in partnership with the Open Badges in Scottish Education Group  to support the adoption of Open Badges across a range of sectors.

We believe that the infrastructure promotes and supports greater flexibility for learning and the recognition of achievement.

Within the national context we believe that Open Badges have the potential to: accredit significant small steps in a learner’s journey from informal learning to formal certification,  offer recognition for the achievement of single competencies and outcomes,  provide recognition for chunks of learning or performance smaller than would normally be recognised in national certification and national credit rating systems and that badges can  be used towards accreditation of prior learning where appropriate.

 In an organisational context: We will explore the adoption of Open Badges as part of the recognition that we can offer teachers and appointees through our SQA Academy Courses We will explore the possibilities that Open Badges offer in terms of digital certification in the future.

Random Thoughts on Opening Up Education from #NAACE12

listen to ‘Interview with Joe Wilson @joecar at #Naace12’ on Audioboo

Found this interview from last year - thanks @eyebeams

Innocents Abroad

Photo of EBS Choir Singing on Thursday Evening - thanks to @Finnfield for image 

It is tough sometimes being an innocent abroad even an informed innocent. Last Tuesday evening I ran across Taksim Square , Istanbul , in a rush to get to the first of two evening receptions where my aim was to network like mad for Scottish education. As the second function was being hosted by Universities Scotland I had my kilt on.

My guide to the city was the usual hastily grabbed map from the hotel lobby affixed with two biro crosses by the concierge. Yes,  I have all the gadgetry but sometimes even in London I can't get a GPRS signal. Darkness was falling. I was running , running late and overheating. When I got to the far side of Taksim Square and met the first row of police, I realised immediately that something was amiss . I realised too that the phalanx  was quite large and blocked my planned route up and through Istiklal Street .

This was where the comedy started. As I stood studying my map looking for an alternative route around the roadblock,  a friendly, helpful policeman studied my predicament too and then pitying a sweaty foreigner , in a dress, with a map wholly inadequate for navigating the medieval back streets of Istanbul , he allowed me through the police lines.  I strode on up Istiklal Street - it is really beautiful.  I met another row of policemen , used sign language to explain that their colleagues had let me through and they waved me passed too and I climbed on,  past tables full of diners.

My thoughts were now on  white or red ? , sneaking a cigarette before I made my entrance and what gastronomic delights lay ahead. This was the first night of the conference and I was hoping for Baba Ganoush,  Kofte Kebabs , steaming bowls of aromatic couscous and other Turkish delights.  I now too had the perfect excuse for arriving my usual ten minutes or so late.  So intent was I on my own musings that I hardly noticed that the street was busier now , even crowded. Quite a lot of nice smiling students poked some well meaning fun at the alien figure in the kilt striding up through their midst.

I was now at the top of Istiklal Street and within half a mile of my final destination, only a few junctions and two more turns to navigate and I would be at the British Embassy.

I am not sure when I noticed the immoveable shield wall. But it was suddenly right in front of me. You instinctively know when presented by authority's sternest face that negotiation here would be futile . As I turned smartly on my heels to find a lane or an alleyway to allow my continued progress. I noticed that some of the students I had just passed appeared now to be in some kind of fancy dress. As I squeezed passed them , my pace quickened  as I noticed they were actually pulling up ultra style scarf face masks and some of them had unmistakably either gas masks or some other sort of full head hood to protect you from chemical weapons. I was now jogging to get away from this potential confrontation.

Then all hell broke loose.

I did not need to look around to know that the riot police were charging down the hill . I was now a sprinting man in a kilt doing my best to negotiate a rapid descent down a poorly lit cobbled  street. The steps outside basement bars and restaurants now threatened broken limbs,  as some of the swifter protesters elbowed me in our shared eagerness to keep away from and ahead of the riot police.

Probably, just at the moment as I heard things being fired at us and ricocheting off the buildings around us , a well lit lane with some alarmed looking diners appeared to my left . I pitched down this, was quickly identified as a hapless tourist and was ushered into the bar with the other startled guests .

The shutters came down and the streets filled with shrieks and tear gas.
http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/news/academics-caught-up-in-istanbul-protests/2007299.article

And now I know basement bars are not good places to hide from tear gas.

Postscript - That evening I was just in the wrong place at precisely the wrong time - the following evening I traveled the same route for dinner at the British Consulate without incident .

I actually thought that the police were letting me through as I was heading away from any trouble spots.

 Istanbul is one of the largest cities in the world at almost 14 million and while like any city you have to keep your wits about you I would have no hesitation in going back and taking my family with me  , the folk are friendly and the glimpses I caught of the ancient city were spectacular. When I finally got some,  the food too as might be expected is exceptional.

The Changing Face of Social Media

When I started blogging regularly in 2000 I knew that social media or social publishing was the future for most things. But it would take a long time for the world to catch up.

When I moved from the Scottish Further Education Unit to the Scottish Qualifications Authority in 2003.  I was not really surprised by the high degree of suspicion around things like blogs and then things like twitter .

Even though I have always made it clear that I used these things in an unofficial capacity.  I had to go with SQA's then CEO's blessing to our Scottish Govt sponsoring department to get permission to blog in any capacity. 

I was not doing it to be subversive but simply to reach the parts of the world that a more official means never really reaches - perhaps that is subversive. I was pleased too to see schools and what was then Learning and Teaching Scotland staff getting the blogging bug.

I have to say everyone in the end was always reluctantly supportive of what I was doing usually when I pointed to who and where we were generating business through my use of social media - but there was always, a sometimes silent  majority and sometimes some quite vocal and threatening pokes, usually from other agencies,  that would have quite liked a bit less blogging and tweeting from my direction .

The world has changed - I enjoyed reading our organisation's  latest social media metrics report this month.

·         Within those authors directly referencing SQA, we are encouraged by the continual engagement created by Joe Wilson and Tahir Mohammed, with both authors continually growing their following and becoming authoritative voices in the education sector.

Yes we do social media metrics now -  and  we now have an organisational social media policy.

I hope that means that New Ventures and innovation is getting a bit closer to the heart of what we do and not that I am now being overtaken by events.

If you are a lone educational blogger or twitterer in your organisation - keep the faith and keep sharing - it really will be alright in the end.

I would still like to see a much longer list of SQA staff on this list and I think that many other public organisations have a long way to go too.

#altc2013: Building New Cultures of Learning

Every year  I meet lots of people having either that ICT eureka moment or being stuck with some challenge that other folks in a different education sector figured out a while ago.

The ALT Conference is a great opportunity to both have your own eureka moment and to solve that technological hang up that is stopping your learners and your institution making progress.  In this most exciting of all learning frontiers.

The 20th annual conference of the Association for Learning Technology
will be held at the East Midlands Conference Centre, University of
Nottingham from 10-12 September 2013. This year the conference
features keynotes from Stephen Downes, Wendy Hall and Rachel Wenstone,
as well as special events to mark the 20th anniversary.

Late registration will be open until approximately two weeks before
the conference so book now to avoid disappointment! If you are an ALT
member you are entitled to a 20% discount on all conference fees.
Register via http://goo.gl/6SK67

Open Badges Scotland and SCOOB Group #openbadges

Really just using a range of vehicles including my own blog to promote membership of the Scottish Open Badges Group.

See communication below from Grainne Hamilton JISC Regional Support Centre Scotland

Over recent months there has been increasing interest in the digital, standards-based, open accreditation framework called Open Badges http://openbadges.org/. The Open Badges Infrastructure, which is being developed by Mozilla and shaped by an international community of people interested in accreditation, can be used to issue, display and earn digital representations of awards. A number of high profile organisations, educational institutions and communities such as NASA, Microsoft, De Paul University and the City of Chicago are already using Open Badges to reward and recognise hard and soft skills, achievements, attributes, contributions and so on.

In Scotland, interest has been growing in the opportunities afforded by Open Badges to augment traditional accreditation routes. A recent Jisc RSC Scotland event, the Open Badges Design Day, provided an opportunity for people to work with the Mozilla Badges and Skills Lead to consider the framework and possible badge-based pathways to learning. At this event, there was consensus that it would be useful to bring together interested parties to identify areas where Open Badges could add value to education in Scotland and to co-develop such badges.

The Jisc RSC Scotland has, therefore, convened the Scottish Open Badges (SCOOB) Group, which has met once and agreed that members will perform an overview and mapping function of Open Badges developments in Scotland, set up a number of sub-groups to jointly take forward specific areas of Open Badges work (to be agreed) and consider and develop badge pathways. The group hopes that through the input of representatives from a variety of educational institutions and agencies in Scotland, we will be able to consider synergies between different stages on a learner's formal and informal learning journey and contribute to the development of a badge eco-system within Scotland.

We want to ensure a broad representation on the SCOOB Group and sub-groups and would like to hear from anyone in Scottish education interested in joining them.

To note interest in becoming a member or if you would like more information about the kinds of areas the sub-groups might cover, please email openbadges@rsc-scotland.ac.uk. Please include a list of any particular areas of interest you have regarding Open Badges.