Some Highlights
Torn Fields – war poets 1914-1918 The OUCS Secondlife island is currently host to an immersive learning environment modelled to simulate areas of the Western Front 1914-18. Into this environment a range of digitised archival materials from the major poets of the First World War. Visitors to the model are given a unique immersive experience where they can explore a training camp, dressing station, a trench network and No Man’s Land. The terrain is waterlogged and difficult to navigate, rife with rats and littered with poppies. Moving nearer to the front line the clamor of shell blasts and artillery fire becomes louder and louder.
Working with local WebLearn coordinators and e-learning champions, LTG offers just-in-time training sessions which are tailored to the specific needs of a department.
“It was great that you could come to help on Tuesday, the session was one of the most helpful workshops that I have ever attended. I am sure [ we] will all be using WebLearn for teaching this term. We are glad that the OUCS is willing to run such practical workshops.”
On Friday the 2nd of October LTG’s Peter Robinson gave a talk entitled “A Pocket University: Open Content and Mobile Technology” to educators, managers, and learning technology evangelists at the Royal Geographic Society in London as part of the Future of Technology in Education 2009 Conference (FOTE’09). Pete described the changes wrought in Oxford with the advent of podcasting, iTunes U, open content, mobile portals, virtual Sheldonian theatres and more. To see and hear the talk yourself, please visit the FOTE website at http://fote-conference.com/fote09-talks/
The Learning Technologies Group aims to:
- develop, support and maintain WebLearn, the University's Virtual Learning Environment;
- write guides to inspire innovative use of information and communication technologies;
- promote best practice in devising and supporting learning activities;
- design, organise and provide classroom-based and on-line IT literacy courses;
- conduct research to investigate the objectives laid out in the OUCS five-year plan;
- organise events, workshops and conferences relating to current research projects;
- develop, support and maintain the University podcasting service.
If you are interested in any of the above, or have a general question about using technology in teaching and research, please contact us.