Hi All,

An interesting new Open Source Education website in the US has emerged, the K12OpenSourceClassroom has an excellent news section and the beginnings of a Moodle, Forum and Gallery.

Pure on-line learning isn’t working as well as we (or at least I) hoped it would.  So I decided to merge on-line and “offline” learning by creating an app that allows a teacher to record a pupils piece of physical work (drawing, writing, sculpture etc.), grade it then send it up to their e-portfolio.  All from their mobile phone, using free and open source and open source software.

Classdroid is very much in its infancy as an application and the likelihood is we will maintain a free/light version whilst working on a premium version.

The idea came from working in primary schools during art lessons and running a school blog service at the same time (Primaryblogger).  The mash up is obvious and feels natural.  It saves the need to pick up a digital camera, copy the file to the computer, upload it, type in the pupils name etc.  Now its done with just 3 clicks on the device and boom, job done.

 ULCC hosts MaharaUK 10 conference

From http://day.scratch.mit.edu/

Vital, a joint Open University / e-Skills project addressing teachers' CPD needs funded by the DCSF are inviting contributions of CPD resources for a new Open Course Movement initiative.

Built on open source platforms Moodle and Drupal, the Vital site provides a range of online CPD materials related to the use of technology in schools as well as acting as a hub for other training providers. Project director Peter Twining describes the Open Course Movement as being "to course materials what the Open Source Movement is to software." He says,

The OCM aims to enable ICT CPD providers (and others) to collaborate on the development of course materials which will be available on a Creative Commons licence. The benefits of this will be:

• reduced development costs for individual ICT CPD providers
• enhanced quality of course provision through the pooling of expertise and staff time in developing the materials
• greater consistency of ICT CPD provision across the country
• greater pool of high quality ICT CPD resources available for everyone to use (on a Creative Commons licence)

This sounds like a great opportunity for teachers and others in the open source community to work together to develop Moodle courses to share their insights and experiences of technology in education, either focussing on the use of particular applications to support or extend learning, or addressing broader issues.

Community members and visitors who are using Moodle in their schools or authoties might be interested in presenting a paper at April's UK Moodle Moot in London. The Moots are friendly gatherings with a stong culture of learning from and sharing with fellow delegates from all sectors of the UK Moodle community, and it would be great to have a strong representation from schools at this year's moot.

From imoot.org

Paul Haigh, assistant headteacher (specialisms and innovation), describes how open source has provided a 'virtual school' for all the stakeholders at Notre Dame High School in Sheffield. Notre Dame is one of a number of schools using open source to have gained the prestigious Becta ICT Mark, and this year it went on to win Becta's Excellence Award for Best Whole School in Yorkshire and Humberside.

Here's what Becta have to say about the school:

Notre Dame is a Catholic secondary school with a diverse intake, with triple specialisms in technology, humanities and leading edge. It fosters an outstanding culture of innovation in its use of ICT across the whole school community. This is at the heart of its vision, and is driving the school forward both in the cycle of continuous improvement, and in the excellent progress made by students in developing and applying their ICT skills. Notre Dame also has a good reputation for collaboration and sharing ICT practice through its various activities with national organisations.
Notre Dame's virtual school is an excellent example of its innovative use of ICT to support personalised learning. This flexible and bespoke resource has improved communication between students, staff, parents and governors and incorporates Web 2.0 technologies such as blogging, secure voting and live feeds. The content includes revision resources, teaching tips and e-safety advice. A dedicated innovation team supports these developments, and crucially empowers all teachers to share and develop their ICT skills through formalised curriculum innovation responsibilities.
A further strength at Notre Dame is its effective and efficient use of electronic data. The school follows the data management mantra of 'enter once, use many times' and has sophisticated electronic assessment systems, including a management information system that supports data collection, collation and storage. Parents have full access to their children's data in a Real Time reporting system that exceeds the expectations on the Online Reporting targets for schools.