The book was distributed free to schools in that region, but was available for the princely sum of £15 beyond the region. I am not sure if there are any copies left! It went quite fast, and YHGfL will have any spare copies if there are any to be had. I do have a reference copy in the office, mind you!
The MIS integration is an interesting point - the fact is that it will be a requirement from 2010 and so can't be ducked... only postponed. I would suggest the integration is thought about now if anyone is wanting to be ahead of the game.
The thing with all VLEs that seems insurmountable is that they are all tending towards being 'walled gardens', and there are good reasons why they were established in that way. Simply using Facebook as a VLE is almost a viable solution, except that you are only really establishing your own garden, albeit a lot more adaptable than most (lower walls?). I don't think it is a bad option - far from it - but essentially it is the same thinking as before and this needs challenging, IMO. Ask yourself what the VLE is all about - is it a safe haven for children to explore online communications and activities, or is it a place where assessment artefacts can be brought together for the ease of the teacher who has to mark them all? Is it something else?
I think the best approach is not to specify that the learners *must* occupy a specific space (no matter how popular it is at the moment), but to specify that certain activities need doing instead. Leave the learner to select (perhaps with guidance) the best platform for them to do it, and the best tools to suit the way in which they want to approach the task. Let them decide where to hold discussions, who to invite, where to keep a portfolio, how best to share it and so on. Many will gravitate towards tools like Facebook, others towards spaces like Think.com, MySpace, Bebo, or any other. Many will start in one place and move to others, some will stay fixed in one spot.
Throughout all of this we have to understand the issues of child protection and the diligence we need as educators to ensure the safety of our students. But far from walling them in, I am more in favour of teaching them how to be safe and how to make appropriate choices. This is a tall order for some children and schools, of course, and a perilous path to take in many ways, but ultimately a better one, I think.
The VLE operated in such a way then only needs to be the space for the teachers to collect together the work they need to assess. It can hold a copy of the syndicated feed (as Wordpress currently does) and thus it can be backed up and kept as long as it needs to be, avoiding situations that befell the BBC Jam site, for example. The last thing you'd want is for your students to have worked hard in a space only to find it closed down overnight before they had a chance to rescue their data!
Imagine the situation extended further still, with the teachers also electing to use systems they are familiar with, too! How much more personalised that would be, if not somewhat anarchic, of course.
In short, (and a fine time to use that phrase after all this typing) one size doesn't fit all, and never has. Why now try to find a one size solution like Facebook? It's not a bad fit, as you have pointed out, but is it really the best way forward? The answer to that for some (including your good self) may be a hearty 'Yes'... for others it will not be so. Ultimately, it is a decision for you, your learners and your school to make - I'd be happy to help you make the best choice (my usual fee, plus expenses, you understand...:-))
Hal
The book was distributed free to schools in that region, but was available for the princely sum of £15 beyond the region. I am not sure if there are any copies left! It went quite fast, and YHGfL will have any spare copies if there are any to be had. I do have a reference copy in the office, mind you!
The MIS integration is an interesting point - the fact is that it will be a requirement from 2010 and so can't be ducked... only postponed. I would suggest the integration is thought about now if anyone is wanting to be ahead of the game.
The thing with all VLEs that seems insurmountable is that they are all tending towards being 'walled gardens', and there are good reasons why they were established in that way. Simply using Facebook as a VLE is almost a viable solution, except that you are only really establishing your own garden, albeit a lot more adaptable than most (lower walls?). I don't think it is a bad option - far from it - but essentially it is the same thinking as before and this needs challenging, IMO. Ask yourself what the VLE is all about - is it a safe haven for children to explore online communications and activities, or is it a place where assessment artefacts can be brought together for the ease of the teacher who has to mark them all? Is it something else?
I think the best approach is not to specify that the learners *must* occupy a specific space (no matter how popular it is at the moment), but to specify that certain activities need doing instead. Leave the learner to select (perhaps with guidance) the best platform for them to do it, and the best tools to suit the way in which they want to approach the task. Let them decide where to hold discussions, who to invite, where to keep a portfolio, how best to share it and so on. Many will gravitate towards tools like Facebook, others towards spaces like Think.com, MySpace, Bebo, or any other. Many will start in one place and move to others, some will stay fixed in one spot.
Throughout all of this we have to understand the issues of child protection and the diligence we need as educators to ensure the safety of our students. But far from walling them in, I am more in favour of teaching them how to be safe and how to make appropriate choices. This is a tall order for some children and schools, of course, and a perilous path to take in many ways, but ultimately a better one, I think.
The VLE operated in such a way then only needs to be the space for the teachers to collect together the work they need to assess. It can hold a copy of the syndicated feed (as Wordpress currently does) and thus it can be backed up and kept as long as it needs to be, avoiding situations that befell the BBC Jam site, for example. The last thing you'd want is for your students to have worked hard in a space only to find it closed down overnight before they had a chance to rescue their data!
Imagine the situation extended further still, with the teachers also electing to use systems they are familiar with, too! How much more personalised that would be, if not somewhat anarchic, of course.
In short, (and a fine time to use that phrase after all this typing) one size doesn't fit all, and never has. Why now try to find a one size solution like Facebook? It's not a bad fit, as you have pointed out, but is it really the best way forward? The answer to that for some (including your good self) may be a hearty 'Yes'... for others it will not be so. Ultimately, it is a decision for you, your learners and your school to make - I'd be happy to help you make the best choice (my usual fee, plus expenses, you understand...:-))