IT Skills - ICAICT404A Task 5 - Review one of the podcasting, vodcasting or screencasting tools

I chose a podcasting tool – Audacity – which was easy to download and free. It was really easy to use and I had a bit of fun with this task, once I got past my initial trepidation.

As you move the mouse around you get the little pop-up label for the various buttons, so there is no need to guess at functions. I needed to fix my microphone settings before I could start the fun of recording. Quality was pretty good considering that this is a free tool using an inbuilt mono microphone and it didn’t even skip a beat when I sang!

But when I went to save it in MP3 format, I found that I needed to download more software (thank goodness, also free open source software). So apart from hating the sound of my own voice, the tool worked really well. It was easy to use and produced a fairly good recording.

VERDICT – a good do-it-yourself tool for recording lots of things.

IT Skills – ICAICT404A Task 4 – Reviewing free on-line lessons or non-accredited courses

Lots of universities have free on-line courses, but often they are nothing more than the lecture notes being made available to all and sundry and the subject matter is a bit esoteric. So it was not just a case of finding any institution which offered free on-line courses but finding one that offered a topic or subject that I was interested in. So eventually I found five which looked promising and then spent the time to do at least do one lesson in each, and then to revisit each and log back in or find the same course. My experiences are detailed below.

 

http://alison.com/courses/Colour-Theory-for-Artists-and-Designers/content

The website has lots of ads down the right hand side which does overwhelm some of the content and is distracting. You also needed to sign up to do any of the courses.

The course I chose was mainly in the form of slides with many, many words and few graphics. The interactive graphic I looked at was pretty poor. However, the topic was covered well with clear outline of modules covered and you can exit and go back to it or even redo it. There was no testing of the subject before moving on to the next module.

I did encounter a few problems when returning to the site because the way to restart the course was not obvious but once I found out how, I could see my progress and move on to the next module in the course.

Verdict - NOT TOO BAD

http://www.openculture.com/free_french_lessons from which I selected

http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/french/mafrance/flash/#

Open Culture has links to hundreds of free on-line courses, so I decided to see about improving my French language skills.

There were lots of iTunes apps and some university level courses, but I thought the BBC course “Ma France” looked interesting. It consists of 24 video lessons as well as a range of activities to test your language skills. While the lessons are aimed squarely at tourists, the web site also offers syllabus details for teachers.

The two lessons that I watched proved engaging and you can get subtitles in both French and English if you had trouble following the video. You can also use the BACK button to repeat a sentence and each module offers a mini lesson for those without much time.

The Open Culture website was not awash with ads and I found the BBC course very easily. The course has its own homepage and was easy to navigate.

Verdict – FUN & USEFUL

https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/art-history

Khan Academy is a not-for-profit organisation offering free materials and resources for self-paced learning with an emphasis on Maths and Science. I decided to go with something I know a bit about and chose Art History.

At first glance, the Art History course looked comprehensive but I found as I checked it out that the amount of material in each module varied considerably. Many of the notes accompanying lessons within the modules seemed a bit light and the length and quality of the videos also varied. Some videos were lengthy conversations, while others were short and sharp. There was little interactive content.

I was a bit disappointed but I suppose for a beginner this would be all new and offer up lots to learn. Some of the individual videos within the modules might also be useful for serious students of Art History as the speakers in most cases are academics or critics.

Verdict - OK

http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/architecture/4-125-architecture-studio-building-in-landscapes-fall-2002/

http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/architecture/4-605-introduction-to-the-history-and-theory-of-architecture-spring-2012/index.htm

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is one of many well-known US institutions which offer free on-line courses.

Lots of the offerings were in very specialised subject areas like Aeronautics and Engineering so I thought I would go to a subject that I have an interest in – Architecture. I actually looked at two courses offered at undergraduate level and was not really impressed by either.

The first one offered audio/video lectures of not very good quality. Noise levels were often high and drowned out the speaker. The second course looked promising, but lecture notes were minimal and you obviously need to buy a textbook. If you were serious about studying the subject, you would no doubt download everything and buy the book, but I was unable to participate in this course.

I must say that I was disappointed with the offerings from such a prestigious institution, but perhaps other departments offered better resourced courses.

Verdict – NO GO

http://oli.cmu.edu/courses/free-open/anatomy-physiology/

Carnegie Mellon University offers fewer courses than others but they seem to have been tailored specifically for on-line use. Participants can sign in to keep track of their progress or can enter the course at any time.

The Anatomy and Physiology course that I looked at was very comprehensive. It looked at all of the major systems of the body over fourteen (14) modules. Interspersed amongst the notes are questions and activities which give real time answers and test your knowledge. The pages are clear and easy to read.

After my experience at MIT, Carnegie Mellon was a joy – it’s just a shame they don’t have more topics.

Verdict – A DEFINITE YES

WEBSITE NAME	Alison	Open Culture / BBC	Khan Academy	MIT Open Course Ware	Carnegie Mellon
WEBSITE LAYOUT (* poor, ***** great)	**	****	****	****	****
LESSONS (* poor, ***** great)	***	*****	***	*	*****
COVERAGE OF TOPIC (* poor, ***** great)	****	****	***	**	*****
LEVEL (Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced)	Intermediate	Beginner  to Intermediate	Beginner	Advanced	Beginner to Intermediate
RECOMMENDATION (* no, ***** definitely)	***	*****	***	*	*****
OVREALL RATING (* poor, ***** great)	***	****	***	*	*****

Task 3 - Continuing study or what to do after the Diploma!

It seems that the most prudent option is to go for an undergraduate degree, as most Diploma courses require you to have passed a Certificate IV in the same discipline. So to get a better (higher) qualification you would need the degree.

The obvious choices are further studies in library and information management, but I also found that the Bachelor of Arts at most institutions offers a wide range of subject majors and that Teaching degrees also offer areas of specialization which marry well with library qualifications.

Charles Sturt University – New South Wales

Bachelor of Information Studies

http://www.csu.edu.au/courses/undergraduate/information_studies/course-overview

This is the most popular distance education degree available to gain qualification as a Librarian. The course is six (6) years part-time with three (3) specializations available and attendance at an orientation conference. Students who have attained a TAFE Diploma in Library & Information Services will be exempted from one-third of the degree.

I chose this course because it is only available via distance education (online) and it is acknowledged as the leading course of its type in Australia. Many staff already working in libraries are doing this course.

Depending on your major, you could get work in many types of libraries. At the end of the course, graduates are eligible for professional membership of ALIA (Australia Library & Information Association).

Curtin University – Western Australia

Bachelor of Arts (Librarianship and Corporate Information Management)

http://www.open.edu.au/courses/arts/curtin-university-bachelor-of-arts-librarianship-and-corporate-information-management--cur-lib-deg-2013

This degree course offers a double major and is on offer through the Open Universities platform, with students able to pull in related electives from other institutions like Griffith University or Swinburne University. The electives include Cultural Studies, Social Sciences, Internet Studies and Business, making it possible to get a very specialized qualification.

I chose this course because of the flexibility offered by Open Universities and because this course concentrates on knowledge management and document management. Graduates could obtain work as librarians and archivists in both government and corporate sectors. The degree is recognized by ALIA, RIM (Records & Information Management Professionals Australia) and ASA (Australian Society of Archivists).

Curtin University – Western Australia

Bachelor of Arts (Internet Communications)

http://www.open.edu.au/courses/arts/curtin-university-bachelor-of-arts-internet-communications--cur-net-deg-2013

This Arts degree offers an interdisciplinary course covering social media, marketing, web production and lots more. As usual with most Open Universities courses, subjects can be pulled from other institutions to enhance and expand your chosen major.

I liked this Arts degree because together with the Diploma graduates become suitable candidates for working in any library, especially with the current reliance on social media, marketing and the internet. We are relying more and more on web-based technologies in all aspects of our lives and graduates of this course should never be out of a job.

Deakin University – Victoria

Bachelor of Arts (Literary Studies)

http://www.deakin.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0020/2855/arts-undergraduate-courses-2013.pdf

(page 14)

Deakin University specializes in off-campus studies and has done for a number of years. They offer another interdisciplinary Arts degree with majors including Language and Culture Studies, and Media and Communications, both suitable for library work.

I chose this course because of the opportunity to do a double major and because the Literary Studies major offers additional units in Children’s Literature. Depending on the major(s) chosen, graduates could obtain work in libraries or government agencies wanting specialists in CALD programs, marketing or children’s literature.

University of Southern Queensland

Bachelor of Education (Secondary)

http://www.usq.edu.au/handbook/current/edu/BEDU.html#programspecific.major.study

Not many institutions offer undergraduate courses in Education to online students, especially if you want to go into secondary teaching. USQ has a quite comprehensive offering with many majors available in areas like language, business, computing, to name a few.

I chose this course mainly because it was available for distance learning and a big plus was the many majors it offered. Together with the Diploma, graduates should be able to obtain a position as a Teacher Librarian. Teaching could involve something totally unrelated to library work, or could offer a sort of synergy, e.g.: Computing, Media or IPT.

Diploma 2013 – IT Skills 1 - Task 2

There were a few Australian Universities or TAFE colleges listed on iTunes-u, so finding five (5) was relatively easy. However some institutions had lots on offer but I could not open them. I chose the following because they had items which I could access fairly easily:

La Trobe University

Australian National University

Deakin University

Queensland University of Technology

University of Melbourne

La Trobe University

A link to “Australian History” at La Trobe was listed on the iTunes-u home page, so that was an obvious choice. On offer were 31 podcasts on various aspects of Australian history and I chose a 19 minute talk about “Melbourne Archaeology”.

The talk was focused on well-known areas of archaeological interest in the CBD and touching on the availability of sites as well as the cost in both time and money, and was both interesting and enjoyable.

Australian National University

From this University I listened to the first 10 minutes of an hour long podcast entitled “Open Access & the Future of Scholarly Communication: Dissemination, Prestige & Impact”, which is one of three lectures available under the “Education” banner.

I chose this lecture because open access is a hot topic at the moment and was surprised to see that the lecture was recorded in 2009. So obviously the topic has been around in universities for a while but only recently being discussed in public (radio, blogs, etc.).

Deakin University

I wandered around Deakin’s offerings before choosing a recording of a radio interview called “Facebook and the use of Social Media in classrooms”. The topic was well covered in the eight (8) minutes and the lecturer was articulate and emphasised the collaborative nature of social media.

Short, sweet and useful as an argument for using Facebook and other Web 2.0 tools in the classroom.

Queensland University of Technology

This university has the Australian Centre for Philanthropy and Nonprofit Studies which has both podcasts and transcripts of its podcasts on iTunes-u.  I listened to the first part of “ACPNS56 Givers and Regulators: Two sides of the fundraising coin”.

The two parts of the topic were slightly disconnected because we looked at Australian giving and Irish regulations. In total there were 61 podcasts which usually have two speakers, two parts to them and are definitely for the more serious student of philanthropy.

University of Melbourne

As a HSC student I used to attend Saturday morning public lectures at University of Melbourne, so this was an obvious choice. I had trouble accessing some lectures but eventually found one called “Integrated Design – a Holistic Approach and a Business Model” under the Dean’s Lectures banner.

This lecture looked at engineering advances which have made it possible for architects to design building structures not previously thought possible.  Quite interesting lecture on how architects work with various stakeholders.

Ratings

Institution	Overall Rating	Comments
La Trobe University	4.5 / 5	The link made it quick and easy to find a subject of interest on offer. There are many courses on offer including a lot about literature.
Australian National University	4 / 5	I found the topic fairly quickly and other disciplines offer more podcasts.
Deakin University	4 / 5	I had to do a bit of searching to find a topic of interest, but that says more about me! Lots on offer.
Queensland University of Technology	4.5 / 5	I particularly liked the transcripts on offer for all of the ACPNS podcasts. Only two faculties but a large amount of material on offer.
University of Melbourne	3.5 / 5	I was unable to open some of the lecture under other tabs when I first tried. Items in offer are mainly public lectures 3 – 5 years old.

Diploma 2013 – IT Skills 1 - Task 1

I chose five learning sites from Michele’s list, including one which I had accessed in the past – TedED. I used simple search terms or just clicked on subject indexes to find my choice of learning video.

http://teachertube.com/videos

This was easy to find and a simple search for French offered me several topics and I chose French Verbs. There was nothing to show which age group or class group the videos were aimed at – a case of hit or miss? Once you open the video, you can see the channel (e.g.: high school) and how long and other info.

The video I chose was “French Verb ending in review” which was useful with the teacher giving the rules in English and French, then students demonstrated uses of I, you and we with the appropriate ending. In just over 3 ½ minutes I was reminded of both the written form and shown how to use them. Very instructional.

Overall: 3.5 out of 5.

http://www.cosmolearning.com

The site was easy to find and offered a list of subjects on the home page – so I immediately went to the two (2) on offer under French. Disappointing that only two were on offer and guess what – both no longer exist!!

So try again with another subject – Architecture – and found a video on “Australian Landscape Architecture” which offered an overview of landscape and urban renewal projects in Australia. Obviously made to promote landscape architecture as a career, it had very good production values and highlighted a number of large scale projects. I enjoyed watching it.

Overall: 3 out of 5.

http://ed.ted.com/

I’ve listened to some talks on ted.com in the past and so I was looking forward to see what I might find on TedED.  Nothing on my chosen subject – French – but on the Subjects page there was an animation called “Why is there a “b” in doubt?”.

This was a great choice – 3 ½ minutes about the history of the word and its links to other words told using bright, simple graphics and clear explanations. It would appeal to both adults and children.

Overall: 4 out of 5.

http://www.academicearth.org/

This site is obviously for the serious student. On this site you can attend a whole series of lectures on a given subject, not just a five or ten minute take on the subject.  So using the Subject tab, I made my way to languages and again no French. So this time I chose a course in Old English from Oxford.

There was no obvious start button, but I just clicked on the image and was redirected to YouTube. I watched the first ten minutes of the 43 minute introductory lecture. The sound was a bit patchy and I would have liked a better view of the slides on the wall behind the lecturer, but I can see the attraction of attending lectures like this.

Overall: 3.5 out of 5.

http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/

Did I want the magazine, the TV station, the Australian website? – spoiled for choice and very slow to open when I found the right one. A search under “language” net mostly information about NG magazine releases in various countries – so not helpful.

I thought what was on offer under the Video tab was a bit superficial and lots of it very short . I eventually chose an interview about the threat to manuscripts in Mali and archeological sites in Syria, and I also looked at a couple of “critter-cam” clips.

I think this website is less about education and more about self-promotion, but kids would probably love some of the animal clips as they are short and some are fun.

Overall: 3 out of 5.

Ratings

Learning Site	Easy to Find	Easy to Use	Topic well Covered	Overall Rating	Ranking
Teacher Tube	3 / 5	4 / 5	4 / 5	3.5 / 5	3
CosmoLearning	3 / 5	3 / 5	3 / 5	3 / 5	4
TedED	4 / 5	4 / 5	5 / 5	4 / 5	1
Academic Earth	4 / 5	3 / 5	4 / 5	3.5 / 5	2
National Geographic	3 / 5	2 / 5	4 / 5	3 / 5	5