Ed/Tech must-reads

Contribute to a study on language relating to hybrid, hyflex and online learning from University of Glasgow

Dr Emily Nordmann (Uni of Glasgow) has done some inspiring work on the use of video in Higher Education, so when I saw this call for people to contribute to her current research around terminology used in online learning, I had to share it. After all, is there anything that we like more about a great big discussion about the correct terminology to use in this field? Of particular interest to her are the terms hybrid, hyflex and blended learning.

So, because I have a newsletter and evidently way too much free time, here is my take. (There is a comments field below if you disagree).

Hyflex: Synchronous teaching activities where some of the cohort of learners are physically present and others simultaneously attend online. A highly difficult mode for educators best served by team-teaching

Hybrid / Blended learning: Generic, overused terms that mean very little beyond there is probably an in-person component and an online (usually self-paced) component. They don’t add a great deal to discussion of educational modes because, other than wholly online courses, there are virtually no situations now where a student will only study in time-boxed, in person classes with no engagement with other learning resources or learners online. Pretty well any kind of learning involves some mixture of these spaces, so can we just think of education as education, in the same way that we don’t talk about e-commerce any more. (Huh, evidently I had some opinions on this one)

Microsoft is bringing Python to Excel from The Verge

In spite of my Grad. Dip in IT (Software Engineering) - or probably because of it - I am not a coder. But I know enough nerds to know that Python is kind of a big deal and the fact that it will be possible to use it natively in Excel is even bigger.

JPG vs. PNG: Which is better? from TechSmith

This debate is up there with the correct pronunciation of GIF in meaningless but fun Internet pastimes. (It’s a hard G, like gift, don’t be a pedant, look at it for God’s sake).

In all seriousness though, this is a handy explainer of the key differences between two key online image formats. The compact JPEG or the feature rich PNG.