Making and sharing collections of resourcesImproving teaching and learning

through collaboration

2

Engage learners with visually arresting collections of resources that can be easily customised to suit learner requirements

How it works• Teachers, resource managers and others can

work independently and/or collaborate easily• Gather links to resources anywhere on the web

or desktop• Combine these links into “collections” of

resources which can be shared easily with colleagues...and students

• Presentation layer for students can be customised to enhance engagement, provide differentiation and elicit feedback

• Collections can be accessed on any platform (Moodle, intranet, website, Facebook etc.) or directly via the XtLearn platform itself

• Collections can be tagged and shared between “friends” or pooled into projects and shared with other providers.

This collection on Science consists of resources from the BBC and arkive.org. It uses the "tiled" layout option - one of three available which dynamically arranges the resources into columns.

This collection on Hairdressing consists of resources from various sites on the web including the NLN materials and was designed by RSC Eastern as an exemplar collection.

This collection on Geography contains videos from YouTube, regular web pages and PowerPoint slides.The resources are presented in “slideshow” mode .

What is proposed?

3

Easy to use...an engaging collection of resources can be crafted in minutes

Title and description chosen by teacher. Choose from a variety of background themes – or specify your own (accessible themes for learners with a range of learning disabilities are being developed via a project involving Techdis.)

Collect resources from anywhere on the web with just two clicks of the mouse:• web-

pages• Youtube• vimeo• tes

resources• BBC...and meld with your own documents• ppt slides• doc• pdf• pictures• etc.

Display resources as a list, tiled in columns or (as here) in slideshow mode .

Add annotations, instructions, scaffolding to guide students through your collection. Customise and contextualise resource titles

and descriptions to suit your students.

Get feedback from your students:• “like

buttons”• comments• ratings...and track student activity.

“Publish” collections anywhere your students want them:• moodle or other

VLE• intranet• web-site• e-mail• facebook.• blogs• eportfolios

What is a collection?

4

How to share?

Swap collections with friends and/or pool them for easy

access by the community.

Any subscribing provider or teacher can become part of

a project contributing

collections, sharing resources...or just

following the action!

5

Joint professional practice + on-going collaboration better engagement of students

Role of Collections within a provider or across a network of providers• Engages students

– Easy creation and customisation improves flexibility in delivering various curricula– Visual engagement can help with student retention– Personalisation helps to improve learning outcomes of

students with learning disabilities– Comments/input from students provides

valuable feedback loop. • Saves time, money and energy

– Easy gathering, collection and updating– Swapping ideas reduces duplication– Sustainable “freemium” model– Creates valuable and constantly updated

pool of resources.• Promotes professional development:

– Make teaching ideas explicit– Can swap, share and build on work of colleagues– Great way to organise CPD– Source of ongoing innovation and collaboration.

What are the benefits?

How much does it cost?

6

• Basic service is free• Optional upgrade to premium features• Premium service starter pack for £360 (5 users)• Huge discounts as number of users increases• Learner access FREE

Pricing model

7

For more information on how to become involved in Collections as part of your providrer improvement and/or professional development plans please contact :

1. Malcolm Bodley m.bodley@rsc-eastern.ac.uk and participate in a free exemplar sharing project...or

2. Rod Paley rod@xtlearn.net

User = free

• Gather and collect resources from any source on the web (up to 250 resources)

• Single file space folder just for thumbs (with 5MB limit)

• Simple annotation (plain text)• Standard set of learner

templates• Community sharing (private and

global)• Share links to collections on

other platforms.

User+ (users at an Org+ organisation...see opposite)

• Gather and collect unlimited resources from any source on the web • Personal file-space for adding own files to collections• Advanced text annotations (html with embedding)• Wide range of customisable learner interfaces (including own-brand)• Community sharing via projects• Copy and edit other users’ collections• Publish collections on any platform • Full reporting (including individual learner ID tokens) and time line view of collection life.

Org+:

• Organisational file-space (500MB)• Organisational sharing (using tags, sorting etc.)• Project pages for organising

collections for specific purposes (departments; management teams; CPD; parents) and by popularity, latest, alphabetical, author• Learner interface branding (custom made.)No of users £p month £p annum

5 30 36010 50 60025 plus 100 1200

Substantial early bird discounts available from January