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Giselle Ferreira

I joined the Open University in 1999 as a full-time member of the Department of Communication and Systems with a multidisciplinary background that includes studies in electronics engineering, music, systems theory and, more recently, education. I worked in secondary and post-compulsory education in Brazil for some years before moving to Britain, where I gained a DPhil at the University of York in 2000 for my work in the area of musicology of electroacoustic and computer musics. 

I truly am enthusiastic for Open and Distance Learning, and I’ve acted as an Associate Lecturer for a number of OU courses in Technology (now incorporated into the new Faculty of Maths, Computing and Technology) and Arts. My first association with the university was indeed as an AL, and I’ve also been a student with the OU, completing an MEd in 2005 that focused on educational research methods. I’m very proud of this achievement, perhaps more than anything else I've done – the experience has given me an entirely different perspective on learning, teaching, research, knowledge and, quite importantly, the ‘realities’ of being a student with an already full life.

I returned to my substantive post in the (then newly-created) Faculty of MCT in July 2008, following a 2-year secondment to the Institute of Educational Technology. During this secondment I was part of the Academic Team of OpenLearn, the OU’s Open Content Initiative.

I'm a member of the UK Higher Education Academy and part of the Technology and Education Research Group (TERG) based at the Department.
 

Teaching

I’m currently writing for the new level 1 course in ICT and Computing, TU100 My digital life and I’m also tentatively contributing to ongoing planning for future developments of the Relevant Knowledge Programme in the area of creative media.

These are some of the courses I’ve worked on previously:

  • T320 eBusiness technologies: foundations and practice
  • TA212 The Technology of Music and TA225 The Technology of Music
  • T209 Information and Communication Technologies: people and interactions (currently in its last presentation)
  • T171 You, your computer and the net (no longer in presentation)

As an Associate Lecturer I’ve worked on these:

  • A877 The Music Dissertation
  • A870 Postgraduate Foundation Module in Music
  • T171 You, your computer and the net
  • T223 Microprocessor-based computers (no longer in presentation)

Interests

Questions concerning the relationship between education, technology and politics emerged towards the end of my PhD research but developed, since then, from a few thoughts included at the end of the thesis to my broader area of research and scholarly interest. In short, I'm interested in the impact of Internet technologies on teaching and learning practices, with a special concern for Web-based tools and Open Educational Resources and Open Learning Environments.

I have a long-standing interest in the idea of ‘boundaries’, and I've been thinking lately about the impact of ‘open content’ on previously established boundaries between teacher/learner, formal/informal learning and content/presentation. There is a lot of food for thought here, with some very tangible implications and relevance to teaching and learning 'as is' and 'as may become'.

I also maintain an active interest in issues related to Open and Distance Learning in the subject areas of music technology (I am a member of the editorial board of the Journal of Music, Technology and Education) and ethics in technology.


Twitter updates

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To get in touch 

If you'd like to chat about things we may have in common or might like to do together, get in touch:

T.+44 (0)1908 659750
E. g.m.d.s.ferreira@open.ac.uk
Twitter: @gmferreira
Personal (a bit wacky ...) Blog: Boundaries Redrawn
Research Group Blog: TERG Blog

TERG has a network on Ning -  TERGOU Ning - where we exchange ideas on the uses of Web 2.0 in education also with colleagues in other institutions. Visit the site and join us!

Current projects

Using Open Educational Resources and Web 2.0 Tools to support Ethical Reasoning in ICS Project-Based Learning. Funded by the Higher Education Academy, Subject Centre for Information and Computer Science (Start: 1 December 2009). This is a collaboration with Tina Wilson from IET and counts on the support of OLnet. The project will explore the potential of Web 2.0 tools to support students engaged in project-based learning, and it will include repurposing the recently-published OER Introducing Ethics in ICS to create tailor-made materials aimed to encourage students to identify, engage with and discuss ethical issues that arise in their project work. Click here to see the project homepage on the ICS Website.

Achieving Transformation, Enhanced Learning and Innovation through Educational Resources in Design: ATELIER-D. Funded by JISC and led by my colleague Steve Garner from the OU's Design Group. We've got a project Website and a project blog.
 

Recently completed projects

A Framework for Teaching Ethics to ICS Students and Practitioners using Open Educational Resources. Funded by the Higher Education Academy, Subject Centre for Information and Computer Science. The proposal and report are available here. The main outcome of this project has been a (mostly) self-contained Open Educational Resources now published on OpenLearn both on the LearningSpace and on the LabSpace.

Communicating, learning and the in-between: a study on the impact of open-access, informal online learning environments. Funded by COLMSCT. The report will be published shortly and a link will be available on the executive summary page.
 

Selected outcomes 

See this page for a complete list.
  • (forthcoming) Ferreira, G. M. d. S. 'Two Case Studies on the Impact of Open Educational Resources'. To appear in International Journal of Learning.
  • (in press) Lane, A., Connolly, T., Ferreira, G. M. d. S., McAndrew, P., Wilson, T. (in press) ‘Reusing, reworking and remixing Open Educational Resources’. In W. Kinuthia & S. Marshall (eds.) Cases'n'Places: Global Cases in Educational and Performance Technology.
  • Ferreira, G. M. d. S., Roswell, J., Fisher, W. (2009) 'Exploring Web 2.0 to support online learning communities: where technology meets pedagogy'. Workshop to be presented at  the Interactive Computer-Aided Learning (ICL2009) International Conference. Villach, Austria, September 2009. Slideshow available here.
  • Ferreira, G. M. d. S. & Monk, J. (2009) ‘Using drama to introduce ethics to technology students and practitioners’. Poster to be presented at the 10th Annual Conference of the HEA Subject Centre for ICS. University of Kent, Canterbury, August 2009. Pdf of poster available here.
  • Ferreira, G. M. d. S. (2009) ‘Open Educational Resources and Teaching in the 21st Century: questions concerning authority’.  In Proceedings of the International Council for Distance Education Conference 2009 (ICDE 2009). Available online here.
  • Ferreira, G. M. d. S. (2009) Communicating, learning and the in-between: a study on the impact of open-access, informal online learning environments. The final report will be available shortly, but a draft is available here.
  • Ferreira, G. M. d. S. (2008) ‘Out with the old, in with the new? Questions concerning the role of the teacher in the 21st century’. Presented at the Online EDUCA Berlin 2008. Overview available online here ; extended overview here.
  • Monk, J. & Ferreira G. M. d. S. (2008) ‘Resources for an experimental course in ethics’. Poster presented at the Workshop on Philosophy and engineering WPE-2008, 10-12 November 2008, The Royal Academy of Engineering, London. Available online in WPE-2008 Abstracts Book (p.110) and here.
  • Ferreira, G. M. d. S. ‘What about the teacher? Open Educational Resources et al’ (2008). In Proceedings of the EADTU 2008 Conference (Poitiers, France, 18-19 September 2008) online here. Also available online here.
  • Schadewitz, N. Garner, S. & G. M. d. S. Ferreira (2008) ‘Utilizing FM Software in Collaborative Design-Learning’. In Proceedings of the HCI for Technology Enhanced Learning. A workshop at HCI 2008 ‘Culture, Creativity & Interaction’, available online here. Abstract available here.
  • Connolly, T., Ferreira, G. M. d. S. & Wilson, T. (2007) ‘Re-purposing for an open education repository: evolving roles, responsibilities and processes’. Proceedings of the ICODL 2007, Hellenic Network of Open and Distance Learning, Athens, Greece. Available online here.
  • Ferreira, G. M. d. S. (2007) ‘Contributing to an open resources repository: sharing and constructing knowledge and expertise across borders’. Proceedings of the ICODL 2007, Hellenic Network of Open and Distance Learning, Athens, Greece. Available online here.
  • Connolly, T., Ferreira, G. M. d. S., Webb, R. & Wilson, T. (2007) ‘Re-purposing for an open education repository: quality, quantity and processes’. Presented at the OpenLearn 2007 Conference, Milton Keynes, UK, 30-31 October 2007. Available online here.
  • Wilson, T., Webb, R., Ferreira, G. M. d. S. & Connolly, T. (2007) ‘Creating Open Educational Resources: a workshop’. Presented at the OpenLearn 2007 Conference, Milton Keynes, UK, 30-31 October 2007.  Available online here.
  • Ferreira, G. M. d. S. (2007) ‘Crossing borders: issues in music technology education’. Journal of Music, Technology and Education v.1 n.1 pp. 23-35. Available online in sample issue.
  • Ferreira, G. M. d. S. & Heap, N. (2006) ‘From print to Web: issues in re-purposing for an Open Resources Repository’. Proceedings of the European Association of Distance-Teaching Universities (EADTU) 2006 Conference, November 2006, Tallinn, Estonia. Available online here.
  • Ferreira, G. M. d. S. (2006) ‘Multidisciplinarity in practice: a reflection on consonance, dissonance, or perhaps, noise?’. International Journal of the Humanities v. 2. Available online here.
  • Salavuo, M., Ferreira, G. M. d. S., Unkari-Virtanen, L. (2006) ‘Kokemuksia oppimisalustaperusteisesta musiikinopetuksesta. Musiikkikasvatusteknologian käsikirja’ (‘Experiences with VLE-based music instruction’). In Ojala, J., Salavuo, M., Ruippo, M. & Parkkila, O. (eds.) Musiikkikasvatusteknologian (Handbook of Music Educational Technologies). Finland: Finnish Academy of Music.
  • Ferreira, G. M. d. S. (2005). ‘Theory, practice and the in-between: some thoughts concerning music, technology and education’. International Journal of Learning v. 11. Available online here. 
This one is a bit older but I'm quite fond of it (I'd probably change very little if I were to rewrite it):

Ferreira, G. M. d. S. (2003). ‘Music, Sounds, the Stradivarius and the Computer: a dialogue between the music-maker and the music-listener’. In John Monk and Rolf Hughes (eds.) Hybrid Thought. Department of Telematics/Metamorphosis, Centre for Writing and Performance Research, Milton Keynes/Stockholm. ISBN 0-9545593-1-2 & 978-0-9545593-1-1. A draft is available via this page.