1. Shells and Widgets
Lars Ingesman, UNIC
September 6, 2012

2. iTEC - Designing the future classroom
Resources: a Key Issue
Resources are central to teaching and learning
There is an ever growing number of resources accessible on the web – content and tools
Resources are typically found in different places and often require different usernames etc.
We need to make it possible and easy for teachers to integrate the resources needed in the environments they use
One of the key issue that iTEC tries to find a solution to: resources
iTEC - Designing the future classroom
September 2011

3. iTEC - Designing the future classroom
What is a Shell?
A shell is just another word for a system that allows us to create a tailored learning environment that includes all the resources needed for a given set of learning activities
The shells that we are going to present today are:
Promethean: ActivInspire and Planet
SMART: Notebook and Exchange
dotLRN
Moodle
There is nothing mysterious about a shell
iTEC - Designing the future classroom
September 2011

4. iTEC - Designing the future classroom
Shells and widgets
Web page approach Link 1: Link 2: Link 3: Link 4:
Web site 1
Login
tool & data
interface
Shell approach
Login
Menu/navigation
Tool: Facebook
Tool:…
Web site 2
content
interface
GeoGebra content
Image bank
YouTube video
Data store
etc…
iTEC - Designing the future classroom
September 2011

5. iTEC - Designing the future classroom
Widgets
A widget is a standardized way of ‘packaging’ a resource so that the user does not have to worry about formats or different (and usually complex) ways of integrating resources into their shell. A key part of the iTEC vision is to have a widget store that will allow users to find and easily integrate widgets into their own shell environments.
iTEC - Designing the future classroom
September 2011

6. iTEC - Designing the future classroom
Now to the shells!
WEB:
The work presented in this presentation is partially supported by the European Commission’s FP7 programme – project iTEC: Innovative Technologies for an Engaging Classroom (Grant agreement Nº ). The content of this presentation is the sole responsibility of the consortium members and it does not represent the opinion of the European Commission and the Commission is not responsible for any use that might be made of information contained herein.
iTEC - Designing the future classroom
September 2011