Week 1 - Activity 1 (Opennes in Education)

Week 1 - Activity 1

Blackboard collaborate
So... This Blackboard collaborate Java installed and audio set up okay. Opps, did the V11 and not the V12 by mistake, so doing it all again. That seemed to work. So, how do I know when a live session will take place? Having a go with the link gave:

Session Name OPEN EDUCATION DISCUSSION
Session Type NONE
Hosted By Ou-Events
Session Starts Mar 25, 2013, [Mon] 06:00 PM Western European (WET, Europe/Ireland/Dublin)
Session Ends Mar 25, 2013, [Mon] 11:00 PM Western European (WET, Europe/Ireland/Dublin) May
Join Session Mar 25, 2013, [Mon] 05:00 PM Western European (WET, Europe/Ireland/Dublin)
Version 12 Session Access RESTRICTED
Recording Mode MANUAL
Recording Access RESTRICTED

So in Thailand that's (using the Time Zone Converter) Mar 26, 2013, [Tue] 12:00 AM Thailand (ICT, Indochina/Thailand) Can join 1 hour before.
Ah.. During my full teaching day although might be able to do 30 mins during lunch break. Will set it up at school and see if I can join for 40 mins on the day.

Having got to this point in the set-up I wonder what problems people may have experienced with tech issues. Also, I wonder if using Linux or Mac is easier or more tricky. I didn't see Linux mentioned for the BB although it runs on Java so should work.

Twitter
Okay, I need to dust off my Twitter account and see if I can search on #h817open
Found my old twitter account (Dabr_BKK) and password (the usual with a number on the end) Hmm. Twitter is being a twit and not recognizing my password nor letting me reset it, with the error: "Sorry! We couldn't verify that this user requested a password reset. Please try resetting again." after following a link in an email to reset the password. Will try for 3rd time, if that fails will make new account. The key is to user the twitter username and not the email address for the password reset request. So, now for a quick search on #h817open.

Badges
Just figured out I was in HTML editing more on the blog, thought it looked a bit odd. Why did it go there by default. Badges look like worth signing up for. Even if I don't actually earn any!
Anther username... err, I'll use my twitter one again. What do I put for institution? The one I work at or the one these badges are awarded from? Go for my work one. Use same password as twitter.
Lost my Open Education page in a cloud of badges. Here's a tip, copy and paste current URL to blog before I fall asleep and leave:
http://www.open.edu/openlearn/education/open-education/content-section-1.3

OER understanding: to get this badge you need to complete Activity 7: Exploring OER issues in Week 2 of the Open Education course. Okay, I see that badge on the cloudworks site.

Participants must complete Activity 7 (Exploring OER issues) of the open course H817open. They need to submit the URL of their blog post as evidence, and this will be checked by a member of the course team. If the evidence provides a satisfactory response to the activity, the badge is issued.

What happens if I Apply for the badge. Okay, it want's a blog URL, so I'll come back to that later.

Other badges:
MOOC understanding: to get this badge you need to complete Activity 14: Comparing MOOCs in Week 4 of the Open Education course. You will need to blog your solution to this activity,

Open Education course completed: to get this badge you need to have acquired both the previous badges and completed Activity 25: Reflecting on openness in Week 7 of the Open Education course.

They, at first site, seem worth doing as part of the course. What on earth they are useful for I don't know, not sure I will stick 'em on my CV. Still you never know. "they do not carry any formal credit in terms of The Open University, nor are they proof you have studied the Open University Masters-level course H817 Openness and innovation in elearning and the badges are not subject to the same rigour as formal assessment, but they can be a useful means of demonstrating participation." (http://www.open.edu/openlearn/education/open-education/content-section-1.3)


SOB, blue screen of death just now. Open everything up again. 1:00am, might call it quits for tonight. At least all the browsers (I have IE 10 and FireFox open) restore. Saves a bit of time.

1.4 Flavours of openness
http://www.open.edu/openlearn/education/open-education/content-section-1.4

I think I will post notes for each Activity otherwise the posts will become too long. So this concludes the Week 1 - Activity 1 post. I got a fair bit done, set up a few accounts, got the BB audio setup, although will need to do that at work also. Will take a quick look / download at Activity 2 reading.