I really enjoyed this article. Although it looks at recasting students as researchers and even fellow teachers (through shifting authority towards them) at its core the article centres upon the learning benefits associated with the student creating the educational content.

“We know much more than our students do. But they also know much more than we do. When we renounce our own exclusive status as erudite experts, placing our students in the role of teachers and ourselves in the role of students, not only do we model for them the benefits of life-long learning, but we allow them to experience firsthand what every seasoned teacher already knows: If you really want to master a subject, teach it. While direct responsiveness to student input might not be practicable or indeed advisable in all teaching situations, instructors can find many ways of granting increased intellectual authority to their students, even in large, highly structured lecture courses.”

The 7 principles are:

1. Relinquish Authority
2. Recast Students as Teachers, Researchers, and Producers of Knowledge
3. Promote Collaborative Relationships
4. Cultivate Multiple Intelligences
5. Foster Critical Creativity
6. Encourage Resilience in the Face of Change
7. Craft Assignments That Look Both Forward and Backwards

I do recommend looking at the paper which describes how they achieve each of the above principles.

Web Link

Thanks to Peter Giles.

http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid271543545/bctid422563006

you-need-to-know-about-dist-video.ppt

you-need-to-know-about-second-life.ppt

By philippothen

“The proceedings of the 2006 JISC Online Conference Innovating e-Learning 2006: Transforming Learning Experiences were published today as freely available e-books.

Theconference, based around themes of work in the Pedagogy and Innovation strands of the JISC e-Learning Programme, took place in March 2006 in an asynchronous online conferencing environment, bringing together over 400 participants from 16 countries.

The three themes of the conference were:The proceedings of each theme have been assembled into e-books of the same name and can be downloaded free of charge

• Designing for Learning – exploring how practitioners design learning activities in a technology-enabled context

• Learner Experiences of e-Learning– introducing JISC-funded research into learners’ experiences of technologies in learning

• Innovating e-Learning Practice – covering innovative uses of mobile and wireless technologies, design of physical learning spaces, and applications of games technologies in teaching and learning

The proceedings of each theme have been assembled into e-books of the same name and can be downloaded free of charge. Academic papers and summaries of the discussions are included. Presentations and multimedia exemplar resources associated with each session can be accessed online via web links given in the text.

The e-books can be downloaded in either an A4 or A5 format, enabling users to print out the proceedings, or to read them onscreen.

Conference organiser, Geoff Minshull of Direct Learn, sees the e-books as a valuable record of contributions made to the conference. “However,” he points out, “e-books cannot replace the thrill of taking part in an international conference, or of contributing to debates as they take shape in the company of colleagues from across the e-learning community.”

For further information onInnovating e-Learning 2006: Transforming Learning Experiences,please visit Conference proceedings .”