Catch of the Day: Wrasse poster wins a prize at ALDinHE Conference Southampton!

Very chuffed to have won a poster prize (at the ALDinHE Conference) promoting the new Wrasse website. It took a fair amount of time to design and create. All the design work was done in PowerPoint 2010.

What is Wrasse? Well, it stands for: Writing for Assignments E-Library. Its purpose is to help students understand what good academic writing is within the context of their discipline. This resource is on-line, so there are no barriers to learning internationally!

Wrasse has seen various forms of development since 2002, so the concepts have been well established. The interface has recently been improved but lacked a new hosting space. Since I took on support of Wrasse in November 2014 (kindly offered by John Hilsdon & Joe Allison),there has been a considerable amount of time, conversations and meeting to finalise the hosting.  This included the website developers (Yello Studio, Exeter) and systems experts here at Plymouth. Having Wrasse finally up and running, and winning a poster prize  has been a wonderful surprise.

We are currently looking to build the essay and report database so students have a much larger resource in which to benefit. I will add that this is not just a resource for Plymouth University but also for anyone wishing to support academic writing. Wrasse also features on the LearnHigher resources website. If you are interested in what we do in Learning Development at Plymouth University, or just interested in discussing Wrasse, please visit our external site.

In the limelight - could this be you at @Pelecon13 ...?

There are only a few weeks left to submit your 300 word abstract and get a taste of the friendly limelight Pelecon 2013 has to offer.   

It's a family affair
The Plymouth Enhanced Learning Conference is often praised for its "warm family atmosphere".
Hosted at Plymouth University, Devon, UK, it attracts learning professionals from across the globe.  You'll have the opportunity to explore, discover and discuss new approaches, new technologies and new ideas to enhance, enrich and extend professional practice.

Submit a paper
Pelecon welcomes papers, workshops, panels and symposia in any of the following areas, or associated topics:

• New and emerging learning technologies
• Classroom tools
• New pedagogies, theories and practices
• Mobile and ambient technologies
• Human computer interfaces
• Virtual and personal learning environments
• Social media and social networking
• Digital literacy
• Digital personal identity
• Personalised learning and personal devices

What does it take to submit?
It's all in a single click of an on-line submission form... Abstracts of up to 300 words for paper presentations, workshop sessions and panel discussions. Please indicate the aims of the paper, conference themes and the type of audience at which the paper is aimed.

Pelecon are accepting submissions until Friday 1st February 2013. Successful submissions will be notified by 15th February 2013.

To submit your papers head over to the Pelecon submission page.

The official launch video for the Hydrographic Academy

I finally got time to edit the footage I took for the official launch of the Hydrographic Academy. The Academy was very pleased to share the stand with the Marine Institute during the conference, with the launch being held at our industrial partners stand (Fugro).  This video shows some highlights at the both stands and clips around the conference, plus the speeches from both Andrew McNeill (Global Learning & Development Manager. Fugro), Barbara Bond (Pro-Chancellor, Plymouth University) and Dr Richard Thain (Project Manager, Hydrographic Academy).  All attendees were treated to a Plymouth Gin and tonic, to mark the occasion. More details can be found on the Hydrographic Academy Blog post 'Making a splash...'  Hope you enjoy the video.

Those interested in the technical elements of the filming.  I used a Canon 600D, 18-55mm lens throughout. The audio gain was set to manual and a Zoom H1 attached to provide stereo sound. All editing was performed in Adobe Premiere Pro CS5.5

Oceanology International 2012

Oceanology International 2012, a set on Flickr.

These photos were taken at the Oceanology International 2012. Which includes images of the vendor stands, the venue and also the Hydrographic Academy's official Launch.

www.oceanologyinternational.com/

Details on the Hydrographic Academy here:
www.plymouth.ac.uk/hydro

Distance learning: Presenting at Pelecon 2012 for the Hydrographic Academy project

As you know I have been working on the Hydrographic Academy (HA) project with a dedicated team to create TEL distance learning modules/programme for the hydrographic industry. I am pleased to announce that we have been given the opportunity to present at PELeCON (Plymouth e-Learning Conference) at Plymouth University (18-20th April 2012). This is Plymouth University's 7th e-learning conference which is known for drawing people from around the world into the ever growing field of Technology Enhanced Learning (TEL). The presentation is called:
“All hands on deck: Developing technology-enhanced distance learning for the marine industry”, a project ultimately all about team work. The presentation will provide a brief overview of the newly formed Hydrographic Academy; its intended student market; the constraints presented by their remote location; and the challenges of developing an ‘offline-course’ for the hydrographic surveying industry.

If you can make the conference, we would be pleased to see you there! Details on timings will be available soon via the PELeCON website.

7th eLearning Conference (PELeCON) Plymouth University

It's that time again, and the 7^th eLearning Conference will take place at Plymouth University between 18 and 20 April 2012. More information can be found on: http://www.pelecon.co.uk/

This is very much an international conference, drawing practitioners, teachers, learning technologists and all those working in the fields of technology to enhance learning from the far corners of the globe. Places are likely to go fast from precious experience. Dont miss out on the early bird discount for those quick to the post.

See the links on the top right of the main website for both attendees and vendors.

Those wishing to present, the deadline for the receipt of 300 word abstract proposals and titles: January 20th, 2012.

See you in April! :D

TEL at the Vice Chancellor's Conference

VC's Conference - 30 June 2010, a set on Flickr.

Just a few shots of the team at their stand for the VC Conference!