Ian Hollis Arab Grid for Learning Presentation

(c) Confidential, Obeikan Research and Development

2009 - University of Cambridge celebrating its 800th anniversary


How we view the world has changed ...

World map commissioned by Henry VIII in 1507

The Internet, 2007


How we publish has changed ...

Manual process Digital process


…why we publish hasn’t changed

“There shall be in the University a University Press which shall be devoted to printing and publishing in the furtherance of the acquisition, advancement, conservation, and dissemination of knowledge in all subjects …”


Digital publishing is increasingly complex

• Technology- interoperability, accessibility, packaging, metadata, personalisation, DRM

• Business model – pricing relative to print/CDROM, open content initiatives

• Market readiness infrastructure, competence, access, funding

• Globalisation – pedagogical approach, country context, language


The 4C Initiative

• Developing a digital content supply network for education

• Connecting education to a billion digital resources in the next ten years

• Helping teachers and schools worldwide to collaborate

• Building local digital content publishing capacity worldwide


Global Grid for Learning Phase 1Web Service

Open Education Resources

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://moodle.org/images/moodle-logo-huge.jpg&imgrefurl=http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php%3Fd%3D76023&h=3893&w=15748&sz=2739&hl=en&start=1&tbnid=nyVjeGkm_wRrfM:&tbnh=37&tbnw=150&prev=/images%3Fq%3DMoodle%2Blogo%26gbv%3D2%26svnum%3D10%26hl%3Den


Who’s already involved?


Overview of Progress

2008• Over 1.25 million resources in Global Grid for Learning Library• Over 45 commercial content providers or rights organisations• Launched in North America and UK as SMART Learning

Marketplace

2009• Content service for teacher supply agency for access by 15,000

teachers• Global Grid for Learning Platform, in partnership with ASU

– Arab Grid for Learning, in partnership with Obeikan

– GGfL Ireland, in partnership with Irish Computer Society


Global Grid for Learning Phase 2


Arab Grid for Learning’s core objectives

• To provide & contribute to a wide range of learning opportunities in the Arab World• To support communities of teachers & learners• To provide systems enabling learners to plan, organise & review their personal development over a lifetime of learning• To link effectively with other ICT-based projects in the Arab World that impact on learners• To stimulate the development and use of suitable & appropriate educational content• To push forward the boundaries of best practice in learning technology provision, trying out and implementing new approaches in response to demand from the community served


Portal Services

• My Profile– End user profile – personal, professional, & security profiles

• My Apps– Collection of web-based tools for personal productivity, based

on Google Apps for Education

• My Content– GGfl Library, AGfL content, SSO

• My Courses– Sakai or Moodle LMS

• My Community– Suite of community & collaboration tools


Content Services

• Disaggregated Library Service– Disaggregated content service– English language version– Arabic language version (with localisation rights)– Usage based model

• Single Sign On Service– Single Sign On Access to existing web services

• Course Service– Authenticated access to courses via My Courses


Lessons Learnt

• Not all content travels well– Cultural sensitivity, especially image/photo library content– Guidelines for and automatic filtering against specific watch-list– Take-down procedure for offensive content– Arabic language metadata and localisation of assets

• Partnerships add value– But don’t under-estimate the overhead in stakeholder

management!

• Adoption doesn’t always mean usage– Awareness-raising exercise– Training of teachers in ICT skills


Richard HollisNew Enterprises Director

New Directions GroupCambridge University Press

[email protected]

