[English] Re: Re: The Learning Federation

stephen at melbpc.org.au stephen at melbpc.org.au
Thu Jun 12 13:36:55 EST 2008 

Janny writes,

> I'm just wondering why these materials are only made available in
> 'apple' dedicated formats and not set up in ways that are accessible 
> using the whole range of mp3 players so on.  Are there not more generic
> formats available?  Janny 

The seven Australian universities who have released learning etc materials
have done so in normal mp3 format, and so any mp3 player should in theory
play them. However, they do suggest Quicktime or iTunes, and both are free.

Here's what Swinburne University have recently made available for download:

Latest Podcasts at: http://podcasts.swin.edu.au/

 May 29, 2008 Create a Flash Web Gallery - Part 1 
 May 29, 2008 Chips to mimic body environment for stem cell growth 
 May 29, 2008 Sports Statistics and the Sports Tipping Business 
 May 29, 2008 Future CDs: nanotechnology and petabytes of information 
 May 29, 2008 Intro to the Flash Sound Object - Part 4 

Many universities world-wide are releasing their course content (usually in
mp3 format) to the world. Eg Harvard have all (?) lectures available online
to anyone to download. In my opinion, the TLF could collect such worldwide
uni learning objects, and make them available for Australia in one place so
we don't all have to download these LOs from whereever-uni worldwide. 
 
Thanks Jill for posting Stuart's email here also. They copy that I posted
here last night is a little hard to read with the usual line length issues.

Cheers,
Stephen

> Quoting stephen at melbpc.org.au:
> 
> > Hi all,
> > 
> > Thank you Stuart, and Rob, and all who replied, for your thoughts.
> > 
> > Seems to be 'all or nothing' for The Learning Federation. Either it's
o> ne
> > of a few 'ultimate' Aussie school providers of Learning Objects or a
wh> ite
> > elephant. Now, I don't know, but even with forthcoming web2 resources
(> well
> > done Stuart!) is TLF missing the bus regarding .au ed-resource
philosop> hy?
> > 
> > For example, seven Aussie Universities have announced they are making
> > learning object-like content available, in normal mp3/mp4 format
suitab> le
> > for iTunes etc distribution, and any number of universities worlwide
ar> e
> > doing the same. Australian TLF repositories of current and future world
> > university LOs would be :-) Surely then an ultimate Aussie ed-resource!
> > 
> > Have TLF missed the bus re copywrite concerns, and so not have au-uni
L> Os?
> > 
> > I don't know, I've only seen the first half dozen TLF LO examples, made
> > available to the public four years or so ago. Apparently like many
othe> rs
> > on this, the main Australian Teacher's emailing list. But, I DO know
th> at
> > teachers creating their normal day-to-day class curriculum materials
mo> st
> > often make the very best LOs ever, anywhere, for Aussie kids!
> > 
> > If TLF/EdNA does an EduMail/VITTA itapps community thing across all
Aus> sie
> > schools, and so offers curriculum ed communities (preferably by email)
> AND
> > a central gateway to current/world-uni/au-teacher-written Learning
Obje> cts
> > then I believe the TLF would be a world-state-of-the-art gov-ed
resourc> e.
> > 
> > Thank you Stuart for your work with the TLF interpreting gov
legislatio> n
> > into a visible and viable (if seldom seen:)
national-digital-ed-resourc> e.
> > 
> > Some well-judged further gov legislation might easily make our Aussie
T> LF
> > into a world state-of-the-art ed-community and one-stop school LO
resou> rce!
> > 
> > 
> > The Swinburne University media release this week: "Swinburne is one of
> > seven universities in Australia and New Zealand to begin using
Apple’> s
> > content distribution system, iTunes U on the iTunes Store.
> > 
> > iTunes U is currently used by educational institutions in North America
> > allowing them to distribute audio and video content for free to
student> s
> > and the general public. Users can download the content to their Mac or
> PC,
> > transfer the information to their iPod or MP3 player and listen to or
v> iew
> > it anytime, anywhere.
> > 
> > Initially, Swinburne’s presence on iTunes U features cutting-edge
res> earch
> > conducted at the university, short films produced by students from
> > Swinburne’s Film and Television school, previews of stereoscopic 3D
m> ovies
> > produced by the Centre for Astrophysics and Supercomputing and
> > introductory lectures in public relations writing ..
> > 
> > The seven Australasian universities now on iTunes U in the iTunes Store
> > are the Australian National University, Griffith University, Swinburne
> > University of Technology, University of Melbourne, University of New
So> uth
> > Wales, and the University of Western Australia along with Otago
Univers> ity
> > in New Zealand.
> > 
> > To visit Swinburne on iTunes U, go to
http://podcasts.swin.edu.au/itune> su/
> > To download the free iTunes software, visit www.apple.com/itunes "
> > --
> > 
> > 
> > Our teaching colleague Rob <Costello.Rob.R at edumail.vic.gov.au> writes,
> > 
> > > I was talking with a professor of education yesterday who wondered if
> > > they would cull the large number of obvious duds (he thought his uni
> had
> > > also paid for access to these)
> > >
> > > He wondered, though, if the motive would be to keep them in - since
> > > large number of learning objects would sound better when presented to
> > > the funding bodies etc
> > >
> > > today, I had to leave a class -  I left them going on with a
commerci> al
> > > software product, which they love, and which is very successful - as
> > > discussed on this list - in a way that I don't think I could have
don> e
> > > with those objects
> > > (certainly not without some hours filtering through and writing more
> > > linking curriculum etc)
> > >
> > >
> > > > -----Original Message-----
> > > > From: oz-teachers .. On Behalf Of Tait, Stuart
> > > > Sent: Wednesday, 11 June 2008 5:31 PM
> > > > To: Professional community for teachers
> > > > Subject: Re: [Oz-teachers] The Learning Federation
> > > >
> > > > Hi
> > > > My name is Stuart Tait from Curriculum Corporation and I have
beenw> ith
> > > > The Learning Federation from its inception in 2001. Stephen and
oth> er
> > > > contributors have raised questions about TLF and I am writing
tores> pond
> > > > to some issues that have been raised.
> > > >
> > > > TLF is a project jointly funded by the Australian Federal
governmen> t,
> > > > each state and territory government and the New Zealand
government.>  It
> > > > is managed by Curriculum Corporation.
> > > >
> > > > Contributors have expressed concern over the cost and value of the
> > > > project. By June 2009 there will be over 8500 items of content
> > > available
> > > > free of charge to approximately 13000 schools across Australia and
> New
> > > > Zealand. The content has been developed primarily for years 1
throu> gh
> > > to
> > > > 10 across the curriculum. Australian and New Zealand Governments
ha> ve
> > > > therefore contributed the equivalent of $2.50 per student per year
> for
> > > > ongoing access to TLF content throughout the compulsory years of a
> > > > students schooling. (This assumes an investment of $123mil for
> > > > approximately 13000 schools with an average enrolment of 360
studen> ts)
> > > > This compares favourably to the cost of textbooks or other
educatio> nal
> > > > software.
> > > >
> > > > To support ongoing development TLF has been asked by governments to
> > > seek
> > > > licensing contracts overseas. TLF content, therefore, is not
availa> ble
> > > > as open source on the internet. See
> > > > http://www.thelearningfederation.edu.au/licence on licensing TLF
> > > > content.
> > > >
> > > > One of the issues facing Australian education is that the internet
> is
> > > > not free. The cost of download and copyright is the sleeper. The
> > > > Copyright Agency Limited (CAL) is responsible for collecting from
> > > > education departments payment for the "copying" and use of third
pa> rty
> > > > material. Many teachers would be familiar with annual survey on
> > > > photocopying within schools. Currently education departments pay
ov> er
> > > > $40 mil dollars per year to CAL for photocopying. CAL will also be
> > > > managing the Electronic Use Survey where teachers will be asked to
> > > > identify websites and digital content they have been using in
class> ..
> > > CAL
> > > > will collect on behalf of third party providers, a fee negotiated
w> ith
> > > > departments. This is enshrined within the Copyright Act. Hence,
> > > > departments are concerned that with increasing use of digital
conte> nt,
> > > > fees collected by CAL for content accessed by teachers and
students>  on
> > > > the internet is likely to exceed the amounts currently collected
fo> r
> > > > photocopying. Cognizant of this impact on costs to departments (and
> > > the
> > > > possible flow on to schools) TLF has negotiated all licenses for
th> ird
> > > > party material and therefore all TLF content is exempt from ongoing
> > > > collection by CAL.
> > > >
> > > > From the outset, TLF has been required by education departments to
> > > push
> > > > content out to jurisdictions who provide access for teachers within
> > > > their own systems. TLF content is therefore stored and managed in
> > > > repositories around the states and territories and New Zealand.
Thi> s
> > > > helps to limit download costs to schools by serving content up
thro> ugh
> > > > WANs and, in the case of NSW, caching locally at schools. This
> > > > distributed system provides greater flexibility for departments and
> > > > schools to manage and distribute the content. Schools can further
> > > limit
> > > > download costs by loading content onto DVDs or school intranets.
As>  a
> > > > consequence there are varied ways in which teachers and students
ca> n
> > > > access the content. See www.thelearningfederation.edu.au/access on
> how
> > > > to access TLF content.
> > > >
> > > > TLF has worked with education departments to develop
specifications>  to
> > > > ensure that there is consistent metadata for searching and browsing
> > > and
> > > > the way the software behaves for users. Given the content is used
> > > within
> > > > a range of environments and systems, the specification for
metadata>  is
> > > > far broader than the international standard, Dublin Core. This
work>  is
> > > > important because it allows departments and schools not to be
behol> den
> > > > to a particular vendor and allow schools to change content
manageme> nt
> > > > systems with relative ease. TLF specifications can be viewed at
> > > > www.thelearningfederation.edu.au/specifications . Included is a
too> l
> > > > that allows users to check their hardware and operating systems
> > > against
> > > > the TLF specifications.
> > > >
> > > > Contributors should be aware that TLF content consists of
interacti> ve
> > > > learning objects developed or licensed by TLF and digitized
resourc> es
> > > > sourced from over 26 cultural organisations. These digitized
resour> ces
> > > > consist of moving image, sound files or text files and have been
> > > > supplemented with information that provides teachers relevant
> > > background
> > > > information to enrich their lessons. These are very open ended
> > > > resources.
> > > >
> > > > An assessment of the quality of TLF content will often depend on
th> e
> > > > values people bring with their judgement and suitability for
> > > particular
> > > > learning purposes remains a decision for teachers. TLF consults
wit> h
> > > > many teachers and students when developing content. There have been
> > > > reviews of the project and TLF has gained international recognition
> > > for
> > > > quality. See www.thelearningfederation.edu.au/research
> > > >
> > > > TLF is just one part of exemplary use of ICTs in education. There
a> re
> > > > many teachers who are struggling with the array of tools and
softwa> re
> > > > available on the internet and their pedagogical application to
> > > teaching
> > > > and learning. To these teachers, TLF has opened the door to the
> > > digital
> > > > world by providing content designed specifically for Australian and
> > > New
> > > > Zealand education. TLF is currently investigating ways to leverage
> Web
> > > > 2.0 tools and is working with teachers to promote pedagogy which
> > > > effectively integrates TLF content with communication and social
> > > > community tools. Watch this space.
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > Yours
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > Stuart Tait
> > > > General Manager
> > > > The Learning Federation
> > > > Curriculum Corporation
> > > > Phone: +61 3 9207 9630
> > > > Mobile: 0405 150 206
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > -----Original Message-----
> > > > From: oz-teachers-bounces at rite.ed.qut.edu.au
> > > > [mailto:oz-teachers-bounces at rite.ed.qut.edu.au] On Behalf Of
> > > > stephen at melbpc.org.au
> > > > Sent: Sunday, 8 June 2008 10:37 PM
> > > > To: media at deewr.gov.au; Information
> > > > Cc: yr7-10it at edulists.com.au; english at edulists.com.au;
> > > > Oz-teachers at rite.ed.qut.edu.au; itapps at edulists.com.au
> > > > Subject: Re: [Oz-teachers] The Learning Federation
> > > >
> > > > The Hon Julia Gillard,
> > > > Minister for Education
> > > > & Deputy Prime Minister
> > > >
> > > > Dear Teaching Colleagues,
> > > >
> > > > Thanks for such thoughtful, professional comments via the four
> > > teacher's
> > > > email-lists to which this request for information regards TLF was
> > > > posted.
> > > >
> > > > Our governments are, and will, spend scads of money on education
> > > matters
> > > > for taxpayers (+?) .. and we need to get IT right. Here's what we
> > > think:
> > > >
> > > >
> > >
http://lists.rite.ed.qut.edu.au/pipermail/oz-teachers/2008-June/date.> htm
> > > > l
> > > >
> > > > http://www.edulists.com.au/pipermail/english/2008-June/date.html
> > > >
> > > > http://www.edulists.com.au/pipermail/itapps/2008-June/date.html
> > > >
> > > > http://www.edulists.com.au/pipermail/yr7-10it/2008-June/date.html
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > These urls are the four email-list Archives for this important
> > > > discussion.
> > > >
> > > > To assist important future deliberation on education matters, this
> > > email
> > > > is being sent to our Minister, TLF, the four lists, and also
> > > appropriate
> > > > others as important information from teachers+ regarding .au
> > > > e-education.
> > > >
> > > > By the way just adding my own thoughts, the best teacher-sharing
> > > > resource I have seen in years has been the edulists.com.au IT
> > > > Applications (itapps) teacher email list. It's for teachers of the
> > > > Victorian Year12 VCE subject.
> > > >
> > > > 98% of 860 or so Teachers of the VCE IT unit are members, including
> > > > State Curriculum managers, professional associations, examiners etc
> > > etc.
> > > > A high quality, instant-answer, whole-course-sharing, warm and
chat> ty
> > > > community.
> > > >
> > > > The Vic Gov and the relevant professional-association (in this case
> > > > VITTA) sponsor edulists.com.au so that free professional it-ed
teac> her
> > > > list email benefits all with wonderful
> > > > group-self-help-curriculum-advice-and-support.
> > > > And if you want all the resource-downloads everyone creates, join
> > > VITTA
> > > > :)
> > > >
> > > > This teacher sharing & support community has worked brilliantly for
> > > > years Complex Yr12 IT course requirement tasks etc are developed
as>  a
> > > > community when teachers download course items, add to them, and
upl> oad
> > > > them again.
> > > >
> > > > All this, an online-expert warm collegiate community and a
> > > > treasure-trove of all-top-quality teacher-shared resources if you
j> oin
> > > > the professional association, for 800+ teachers, and many kids,
cos> ts
> > > > maybe $2,000 a year.
> > > > (possibly one tenth the apparent cost of one single TLF learning
> > > > object:-)
> > > >
> > > > Many thanks to Barbara in the Oz-Teachers Archive for her summary
t> hus
> > > > far.
> > > >
> > > > One thinks we need to examine in close detail all fine collegiate
> > > > responses
> > > >
> > > > Cheers people
> > > > Stephen Loosley
> > > > Member, Victorian
> > > > Institute of Teaching.
> > > >
> > > > Nb: Announced this week we're spending $32 million on online
> > > > edu-curriculum
> > > >
> > >
http://mediacentre.dewr.gov.au/mediacentre/Gillard/Releases/Teachingf> ort
> > > > heD
> > > > igitalAge.htm
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > -- Original Email --
> > > >
> > > > Hi all,
> > > >
> > > > Trying to be as fair as possible, on an important issue.
> > > >
> > > > What are people's thoughts regarding The Le at rning Federation?
> > > >
> > > >   http://www.thelearningfederation.edu.au
> > > >
> > > > The group was set up in 2001, by all Ed Ministers for, "developing
> and
> > > > procuring online curriculum content specifically for Australian and
> > > New
> > > > Zealand curricula, and delivering it for free distribution to
schoo> ls
> > > ...
> > > >
> > > > The Initiative has delivered a valuable national asset that will
> > > > directly support the national curriculum and assessment agenda for
> > > > decades to come."
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > Hmm .. sounds good. But, their funding runs out next year, by which
> > > time
> > > > I believe they were meant to be self-funding. But on their website
> > > they
> > > > have a plan for considerably more *government* funding.
> > > >
> > > > Ok, so, a fair question is, what has been achieved? Are they worth
> it?
> > > > The answer to this question is crucial, because with a national
> > > > curriculum, the Learning Federation products may well be mandatory
> for
> > > > we teachers (?)
> > > >
> > > > According to my reading of their website they have received  $123
> > > > million over the previous seven years. And, in terms of
achievement> s,
> > > > they write:
> > > >
> > > > > By 31 December 2007 the project:
> > > > >
> > > > > * published over 6300 items of digital content ..
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > Hm, so .. that's $123 million .. divided by 6300 curriculum items.
> > > >
> > > > That's close to $20,000 for each single (eg, Flash) TLF curriculum
> > > item.
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > > * developed a content repository to facilitate content
developmen> t
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > Hm .. ok, a website ..
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > > * maintained extensive consultation networks and collaborative
> > > > processes
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > Hm .. how many colleagues reading this have been extensively
> > > consulted?
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > > * developed national standards and specifications ..
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > Hm .. there are already many standards eg, Dublin Core. We need
> > > another?
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > > * and systems to manage licensing and intellectual property for
> > > > content.
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > Hm .. so the companies etc paid to produce items sign a release
> > > > document.
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > Now, in March, the group put together a document "Sustaining
supply>  of
> > > > content for the digital education revolution. This paper details
th> e
> > > > sustainability of the Ministers' Le at rning Federation initiative
> > > > beyond
> > > > 2009 to provide content for the digital education revolution." In
h> ere
> > > > they put forward a number of options to the government for more
> > > funding.
> > > > These range from $5 million a year, for not very much at all, to
ov> er
> > > > $16
> > > > million a year for presumably much of the same.
> > > >
> > > >
> > >
http://www.thelearningfederation.edu.au/for_jurisdictions/feasibility> _an
> > > > d_p
> > > > lanning_reports/phase_three.html
> > > >
> > > > Colleagues. Now would be a great time to let people know your
> > > opinions.
> > > >
> > > > Our money, and profession, will be vitally involved  Is this good
> > > > enough?
> > > >
> > > > Speak up now, or it will assuredly be more of the same. Is it good
> > > > enough?
> > > >
> > > > Cheers people
> > > > Stephen Loosley
> > > > Member, Victorian
> > > > Institute of Teaching.
> > > > --
> > > >
> > > > Message sent using MelbPC WebMail Server
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > _______________________________________________
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> > > > oz-teachers at rite.ed.qut.edu.au
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