Open Eye: New Technology And The OU - Traditional or modern methods - avoid the pitfalls in producing learning materials

THREE OU workshops being held in March will interest teachers, lecturers and others who produce materials for learning - whether using traditional techniques or taking advantage of the latest technology.

The three workshops cover copyright, learning materials and the use of audio and video in a learning context.

The fee for each of these events is pounds 195, but there is a 10% discount if you book more than one place on this or any of our other workshops or courses.

Dealing with copyrights

If you're producing learning materials, you may well want to draw on other people's work. But how to do so without infringing their rights?

This workshop explores the practicalities of rights clearance as a core part of the production process. This is your opportunity to discuss your own specific rights problems with experienced practitioners.

The course is designed for anyone engaged in the acquisition, creation, presentation and distribution of educational materials - particularly those whose work uses materials taken from other sources.

Subjects will range from issues surrounding photocopying and simple video recording through to the more complex rights issues cast by the new and emerging digital technologies.

The workshop will offer practical insights into the key issues. Copyright: what it protects, how it can be used without clearance; collective licensing: CLA and CLARCS licensing arrangements; rights: how they differ from copyright; broadcast and audio visual clearances; computer-based systems and multimedia: what makes it so different?

Workshop leaders are Richard McCracken, rights manager at the OU, and Madeleine Gilbart, his deputy. Both have considerable experience in the clearance of rights across the entire range of media.

Each delegate will receive a copy of Buying and Clearing Rights: Print, Broadcast and Multimedia .

Date and venue: 16 March, OU Training Centre, Milton Keynes.

So you've written some learning materials. Now you want to know how they shape up. How might they be improved? Why not bring them along to this workshop and find out?

The course is for writers and editors who want friendly and constructive comments about their learning materials and compare their approaches with those of colleagues in other organisations.

The workshop should help you to clarify what teaching techniques you are looking for in open or distance learning materials.

It will also improve your ability to develop effective learning materials by sharing the experience of commenting on other people's materials, considering others' comments and receiving comments on your own materials.

This event will also address ways in which critical commenting might be developed as a stage of materials development in your own organisation.

The workshop leader will be Ellie Chambers, Senior Lecturer in Educational Technology.

Date and venue: 17 March 1999, OU Training Centre, Milton Keynes.

Many media are available for use in open or distance learning. After print, audio and video are probably the two most-used media. But which media might best meet your learners' needs? And how might they best be combined?

This course is for teachers, trainers, managers and course developers concerned with choosing and using media in open or distance learning systems.

The workshop should help you to evaluate the advantages and limitations of some of the most commonly available learning media. Delegates can observe and discuss how audio and video have been used in some sample teaching sequences.

Some criteria for choosing media will also be examined, along with ways you might use audio or video (along with other media) in your own teaching. The course will also help you to make more effective use of whichever media you choose.

The workshop leader, Adrian Kirkwood, has lengthy experience of all phases of course development from planning to evaluation, but use of media is his specialism. Each workshop member will receive a copy of Rethinking University Teaching by Diana Laurillard.

Date and venue: 18 March 1999, Institute of Educational Technology, Walton Hall, Milton Keynes.

For further information or to book a place on any of these workshops please contact Brenda Parish: phone 01908 653055, fax 01908 654173, or e-mail b.m.parish@open.ac.uk.