Welcome to the penultimate edition of NewsFeed for the year 2005.
Herein, as always, you'll find news of the latest development in
e-learning resources, techniques and training to help you enhance
teaching and learning. Here you'll find news of the latest JISC
initiatives, news of new forms of communication set to become a fixture
in education in the coming year and even news from beyond this mortal
coil. As always, we welcome feedback on NewsFeed (or any RSC service
you may have used) through the RSC website.
Tuesday 6th of December and already a quarter of the days of Advent have come and gone. Six of the doors are open and the goodies are there for the taking. So if you haven't yet checked out the RSC Advent Calendar what's keeping you? Open the doors and you'll find the riches of the JISC and its services revealed day by day. And if new pointers to useful resources aren't enough then visit the site, solve the Yuletide riddle and you could win a shiny new MP3 player. To view the Advent Calendar, point your reindeer to: http://www.rsc-ne-scotland.ac.uk/advent/
JISC has funded a partnership led by EDINA to scope and build a demonstrator portal for media and still images - including those licensed for the JISC community, those available 'free' on the internet, and those generated within the academic and publicly- funded community. For more information go to: http://edina.ac.uk/projects/vsmportal
JISC and Thomson Gale have announced an agreement to make available to the academic community a new online resource, The Shakespeare Collection. The most comprehensive and authoritative online resource for scholarly research on Shakespeare and his works, It includes a wide variety of sources, from the First Folio to the present day. It includes the complete series of Arden Shakespeare, folios, quartos, historical texts, prompt books, journals, biographies, reference works and images. It is a research database that offers an unchallenged breadth of information for studies in English Literature, Renaissance, History and Performance Studies, containing detailed criticism and commentary and providing the wider cultural and historical context. For more information contact: Philip Pothen (JISC) on 020 7848 2935/07887 564 006 or p.pothen@jisc.ac.uk
Although around £130m of public money has been spent on the creation of digital content since the mid- 1990s, public sector digitisation programmes have been unstructured, piecemeal and fragmented according to a new JISC report. So says a report published today, which calls for "a dynamic response" The report, commissioned on behalf of JISC (Joint Information Systems Committee) and CURL (Consortium of Research Libraries in the British Isles) and based on research undertaken at Loughborough University, also recommends the creation of a UK- wide strategy to avoid the duplication, gaps in provision and lack of coordination that have hampered public sector efforts in this area. However, the report also points to the "phenomenal" growth in the "richly detailed and flexible material" that publicly-funded digitisation programmes have been responsible for in the last ten years. "Digital resources are now available to enrich educational experiences at all stages of the learning journey," says the report, "from formalised lessons in the primary classroom to the lifelong learner's casual browsing at home." More at:
http://www.jisc.ac.uk/parkinson.html
New JISC guidelines on information security and safety have been issued to all UK colleges and universities. These are aimed at helping educational institutions reap the benefits of ICT while protecting themselves, their staff and students from online threats which can be greatly reduced by taking appropriate precautions. Calling for each college and university to adopt an institution- wide approach to protecting the integrity of information systems and the safety of their users, JISC’s ‘security toolkit’ will help institutions and individuals assess the extent of the risks they face and ensure these are minimised. To access the publications, please go to:
http://www.ucisa.ac.uk/ist or http://www.jisc.ac.uk/misuse.html. Publication of these materials follows the launch of the Government’s “Get Safe Online” campaign in October. For further details of this please go to: http://www.getsafeonline.org
The JISC invites tenders to conduct a review of emerging interoperability standards and development activities of e-Research tools and applications; and to provide ongoing guidance to current and future development activities within the JISC Virtual Research Environments programme to ensure a high level of interoperability.
Funding of up to £200,000 is available for this study, inclusive of VAT, if applicable, and all travel and other expenses. The deadline for proposals is Monday 23 January 2006.Further information, including the full Invitation to Tender can be found at the following URL: http://www.jisc.ac.uk/index.cfm?name=funding_eresearchtools
Microsoft Research has announced a 1.2 million dollar Digital Inclusion funding opportunity for academic researchers, enabling expansion of computing technology to better serve social and economic challenges of underserved communities. For full details see: http://research.microsoft.com/ur/us/fundingopps/
The education system "should be reversed to conform to the learner, rather than the learner to the system", says a new think- tank report. The report from Demos and Nesta Futurelab says digital technology can help towards a flexible system which will create more "empowered and engaged students". The report proposes a "learner's charter" which would give students the right to be taught as an individual and to have more responsibility for how they are taught. http://www.nestafuturelab.org/research/personalisation/report_01.htm
The first comprehensive overview of the income and expenditure of full-time students in FE and HE across Scotland has shown that the average income, expenditure and debt of Scottish students is lower than that of their counterparts in England and Wales. Scottish students graduating in 2005 had £2,740 less debt than comparable students studying in England or Wales. For further information: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/News/Releases/2005/11/24102207
Live8 organiser Sir Bob Geldof has revealed his contempt for e-mails, blaming them for tying up people's time and stopping genuine action He told a recent conference in London that e- mails "give a feeling of action, which is a mistake".. Sir Bob believes that the "doing" part of a job is proportionate to the amount of e-mails you ignore. "E-mails get in the way of serious consideration of what you want to do," An ill- considered email can destroy a deal and Geldof said he dreaded seeing lots of e-mails in his inbox, as they imposed an agenda on him, disrupting his own plans for the day. His message to delegates at the conference in the Brick Lane area of London was blunt. "Don't do e- mail." More at:http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4440768.stm
The perfect gift for the geek who has everything. Motorola, a company that has pioneered many Bluetooth innovations, including the wireless crash helmet, now offers RAZRWire shades. At its most basic, this is a pair of really cool Oakley sunglasses, which come in black, silver or gold, accompanied by a dedicated mini Bluetooth adaptor that snaps on to their frame. Although looking faintly ridiculous the glasses are said to be really comfortable to wear, as the frame, not your ear, takes the weight of the unit. Once you have connected the headset to the frame you simply position the earpiece and away you go. Get you head round this at:http://technology.guardian.co.uk/weekly/story/0,16376,1648839,00.html
The explosion of new web services - such as 'blogs' and 'wikis' - has led many to believe that the internet is now entering a second phase. It's finally beginning to resemble a truly interactive learning tool, says Stephen O'Hear in a Guardian article. Read the full piece at:http://education.guardian.co.uk/elearning/story/0,10577,1642281,00.html
The excellent resource for accounting, economics and business studies – BizEd – has also provided a clear and effective introduction to this subject. Listen to podcasts – and have a go yourself – by visiting their BizEd at:http://www.bized.ac.uk/homeinfo/podcasting.htm
Two new search engines allow users to search for podcasts by keyword to single out audio that suits their interests. Podzinger and blinkx scour audio content for keywords by translating the audio into text and creating an index for quick searching.
Ricky Gervais, the comedian behind The Office and Extras, is returning to radio with a weekly show that will only be available as a podcast through the Guardian Unlimited website. The first of 12 weekly shows will be available on the GU website from Monday December 5 th. Check it out at: http://www.guardian.co.uk/rickygervais
Podcaster Version 1 is new tool that allows anyone to easily create and manage podcasts and enhanced podcasts. It can import an impressive number of different types of files and turn them into podcasts or enhanced podcasts. Then just click the 'Publish ' button, to make them available for all to see and listen to. Podcaster can be found at http://www.kudlian.net/products/podcaster
Thursday, 8 th December, sees the web and particle physics equivalent of Live 8, as scientists and computing pioneers from around the world hook up for a 12-hour live webcast. The headline acts include Stephen Hawking, Nobel laureates Leon Lederman and Murray Gell-Mann and web founding father Tim Berners-Lee. The webcast, called Beyond Einstein, is one of many events this year to mark the centenary of Einstein's theory of relativity. Alongside E=mc², there will be discussion of gravitational waves, the search for the Higgs Boson and the mysteries that still linger behind Einstein's work. http://beyond-einstein.web.cern.ch/beyond- einstein/
Netvibes enables the user to create a personal web- based home page, which you can access from anywhere. It's extremely easy to use, and easy to add content of interest. Check it out at: http://www.netvibes.com/
British gravestone inscriptions online. The National Archive of Memorial Inscriptions containing 70,000 inscriptions and 100,000 names from over 200 cemeteries is now available. There are plans to expand the project considerably in the future. There is a cost to get information from the site but searching is free. http://www.memorialinscriptions.org.uk
'The number u are calling knows ur waiting...' Fears of being buried alive have prompted an increasing number of people to take their mobile phones to their graves, according to an Irish undertaker. Many believe modern technology could save them from dying if they have been mistakenly pronounced dead. However, relatives are encouraged to turn the phone off or put it on vibrate mode in case it goes off during the funeral service.
Some insist the phone is turned off so that if they do wake up they will have battery power when the phone is turned on again. One undertaker said: "This is despite the fact that there is more chance of them being taken up into space by aliens than waking up." http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/4417760.stm
Historic recordings of poets such as Tennyson, Yeats, Kipling, Betjeman and Sassoon are being made available through a new online initiative. The Poetry Archive also aims to ensure current leading English- speaking poets are recorded reading their own work for future generations.
The free archive has been created by UK Poet Laureate Andrew Motion and recording producer Richard Carrington. Listen now at:http://www.poetryarchive.org/poetryarchive/home.do
Among the National Library of Scotland’s greatest treasures are the earliest surviving detailed maps of Scotland, made by Timothy Pont over 400 years ago, in the 1580s. Now you can view these online at:http://www.nls.uk/pont/
If you tire of looking at maps of Scotland then you could try dropping in on our friends in the South. Images of Ye Olde England can be viewed in a new online image resource for England's history provided by English Heritage.http://viewfinder.english-heritage.org.uk/
Launched in October, Ask Butler is not a distant cousin of Ask Jeeves, but a searchable database of e-learning ideas and tools. searchable e-learning in action database. It can Searched via: ILT Staff development events, resources, and e-Learning in action. The pilot for the project runs until December 13 th and during this period feedback is sought on experiences using the database and how it can be developed in future. Pop the question at:http://www.learningtechnologies.ac.uk/ask/
The Walter Scott Digital Archive is an Edinburgh University Library online resource created in the university’s Special Collections Division. It is designed around the extensive Corson Collection of Walter Scott material and in time this website will become the main source of information on the life and work of Sir Walter Scott on the web http://www.walterscott.lib.ed.ac.uk/
An exhibition and events programme exploring the Second World War in Scotland, Their Past Your Future Scotland, will bring together people of all ages to learn about the impact of Second World War on Scotland. http://www.scotlandswar.info/
A new version of the open-source web browser Firefox is now available for download, just over a year since the first release arrived. This new version of the software is said to be faster, more stable and offer a host of new features. http://www.pcpro.co.uk/news/80932/firefox-15-released.html
News of a new type of training event - strictly for Staff Development Officers.You will almost certainly have heard of the e-Olympics, you're College may even have hosted one. Now at the JISC Regional Support Centre for Scotland North & East - working closely with the Professional Developers Network we aim to give you a close up look at the machinery which powers this very successful event as well as the opportunity to create shared induction resources.
These courses and others are listed on the Scotfeict website which also lists other staff development opportunities for FE staff within Scotland. Nationwide training opportunities are available on the NLN events database.
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