Summary

Join us to help figure out where the current capabilities (through Add-ons, Greasemonkey and Bookmarklets) for using Firefox as an "Educational Browser" stands now, and where it should go.

Proposed by Scott Leslie, Manager, Open Education, BCcampus - http://www.bccampus.ca and author of edtechpost http://www.edtechpost.ca/wordpress/ edtechpost@gmail.com @sleslie on twitter

What do you want to achieve? (goal)

This session has three aims:

1. identify existing add-ons and collections of add-ons that augment an end users learning through the browser
2. create working collections of these add-ons
3. identify the gaps - what are the functionality, which can be general or specific to a discipline or a site or content source, that can usefully and easily be added through a browser enhancement and that could become the target for future development funding.

Who should come? How many? For how long? (audience)

• People who like to customize their browser to augment their web experience; online learners; content providers; educational service providers; librarians
• As many as you like could come
• Two hours would be great

What will they do when they get there? (activities)

• Identify general types of browser augmentation for learning
• Identify (and create Collections of) existing methods
• Brainstorm gaps and possibilities
• Volunteer to help out longer term (if you are interested)

What will you / they have at the end? (outputs)

• Some Firefox Collections posted on the Mozilla site specifically identified as helping people learn online
• A clear set of needs (possibly split into different perspectives, i.e. by Discipline, by Site, by Institution, by Country etc) on browser methods that are essential for augmenting the learning experience but that don't yet exist

Additional Background and Context

The browser, as the ultimate place where content is rendered and over which the user has control, offers one of the best platforms on which to build a personal learning environment, one which brings educational encounters with both content and learners to *whatever the user is viewing at that time, regardless of initial intent.*

In many ways this is what has driven the Jetpack for Learning projects; yet even before these there were many plugins and other browser add-ons (bookmarklets, Greasemonkey scripts and toolbars) that helped end users augment their web experience with Open Educational Resources and other educational opportunities (e.g. http://www.edtechpost.ca/wordpress/2007/09/27/oer-client-tools/). And already, there exists in the form of Firefox Collections (https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/collections/) a simple way to create ready-to-download packages of add-ons that can educationally augment a users web experience.