It is important to keep up to date with new developments in learning. This is particularly true of e-Learning. The growth in learning technologies and in the adoption of entertainment technologies for learning, such as MP3 players, means that the opportunities to support learning are increasing. People are finding evermore interesting ways to develop both formal and informal learning.

You can keep abreast of new methods of supporting learning in many ways. Joining an online interest group or mailing list is an excellent way to find out what’s new and also how effective different technologies are with specific groups. Communities of Interest are one of the best features of new communications technology. Peers share tips, offer advice based on their own experience and ask questions of each other. It’s rare to post a query to a keen online interest group and not get a reply or spark off a debate about the pros and cons of particular techniques. You can find out more about networks and new learning technologies on the JISC web site.

For serious learning technology users there is a fascinating study completed this year (2009) by the Open University – A Study into the Effective Use of Social Software by Further and Higher Education in the UK to support student learning and engagement.

Related Resources

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  JISC website
  

  JISC is funded by the UK HE and FE funding bodies to provide leadership in the innovative use of ICT to support education and research.

  http://www.jisc.ac.uk/whatwedo.aspx