Spring is just around the corner, the snowdrops are heaving their way through the frozen earth and the daffodils are waiting in the wings. Green shoots of technology are poking up all over the place as usual and - as usual - here at Newsfeed we've carefully combed the landscape for choice news and information on learning technologies and how we can use them to enhance learning and teaching. We pause for a moment to announce the winners of our festive competitions, then full steam ahead to an exciting programme including an e-Olympics event for staff developers and another e-Olympics for colleagues with an interest in accessibility.
As always, we welcome feedback on NewsFeed (or any Regional Support Centre service you may have used) through the RSC website.
Hot news for readers working in staff development. The Two Scottish RSCs, in conjunction with the Professional Development Community of Practise and SFEU are holding a special version of the highly successful e-Olympics in Edinburgh on the 22nd of February and 22nd of March. The focus of the event will be the creation of a shared set of online induction materials created by and for the colleges using the mapping methodology of the e- Olympics to create online learning sequences. If you've had an e- Olympics at your home College - or attended any of the previous national events - you'll know the value of this training and how productive it can be. Places are going quickly for this event so you'll need to act quickly to secure one of the few remaining places. More information and an online booking form can be found on the RSC Scotland North and East's training pages.
In the week which sees the opening of the 20th winter Olympics in Turin, NewsFeed is delighted to bring you advance news of the Second National Accessibility e-Olympics which will take place in Glasgow on the 30 th and 31 st of March, 2006. At this event, jointly developed by the two Scottish RSCs, the BRITE Centre and TechDis, we’ll look at the whole process of creating online learning sequences but with special attention to the design features which can be used to maximise accessibility for all learners. The two-day event uses the highly successful model of the e-Olympics to mix presentation and hands-on workshop sessions to make sure that delegates are fully engaged from the minute they leave the starting blocks until they cross the finishing line. Places at the first accessibility e-Olympics last year were snapped up very quickly and we’re sure they will be this time too, so for more information and to secure your place on the team go immediately to the Accessibility eOlympics booking page.
The Accessibility Update is a free e-mail newsletter providing information about resources to help make the computer easier to use with accessible technology solutions. Information about accessibility options in Microsoft products, accessibility resources, and assistive technology products compatible with the Windows operating system are provided in the newsletter which is emailed on the first Thursday of each month. Subscribe to the Accessibility Update
Windows-based PCs can be customised to meet the accessibility needs of a wide range of users simply by adjusting some of the options which are part of the operating system. Computers can be made easier to see, hear, and interact with. Visit Microsofts Accessibility site to find clear instructions on how to alter the Microsoft environment to meet the needs of specific users.
UDE Online supports educators and students in their teaching and study of universal design. Universal design is an approach to the design of all products and environments. The rationale of the design is that finished products should be as usable as possible by as many people as possible regardless of age, ability, or situation.
JISC ITT: Strategic Review of JISC Discovery Services. The JISC invites proposals to undertake a review of JISC resource-discovery services. The review has two purposes: to assess potential for convergence and economies of scale in the technologies used to deliver the services and to look at how the services may be enhanced with new technologies in order to support flexible integration across the services. The review should start in April 2006 and will deliver a final advisory report by the end of July 2006. The deadline for receipt of tenders is 1300 hours on Friday 3rd March 2006. Funding of up to £50,000 including VAT is available for the study. Further information including a full Invitation to Tender can be found on the JISC ITT site.
A new special issue of the online journal Educational Technology and Society has been published with a focus on 'Current Research in Learning Design' edited by Professor Rob Koper from the Educational Technology Expertise Centre of the Open University of the Netherlands. The aim of this edition is to provide an overview of current work in the area where major issues currently include:
a) the use of ontologies and semantic web principles & tools related to Learning Design;
b) the use of learning design patterns;
c) the development of learning design authoring and content management systems
d) the development of learning design players
The Freedom of Information Act (January 2005) poses significant new challenges to institutions and now JISC infoNet has created a Staff Developers' Pack designed to support educational institutions in their continued efforts to comply with it. The pack includes a CD- ROM for use in either half or full-day staff development workshops aimed at senior management of a university or college. The workshops should enable an organisation to identify key compliance issues raised by FOI.
The CD-ROM contains a JISC infoNet video, 'The Importance of Being Compliant', around which a presentation and number of exercises and activities have been devised. Supporting materials include templates, workshop leader's notes and sample answers to exercises. For more information and to order your free copy, click on the following link: FOI staff development pack
A special anniversary issue of Ariadne was published this week celebrating ten years since the first appearance of the online publication in 1996. Leading international figures in the digital library field have contributed to the issue, the 46th since it began. To access the decennial issue please go to : Ariadne
Issue 26 is available of the electronic newsletter from MIMAS (Manchester InforMation and Associated Services). This edition includes a report from the ESDS International Annual Conference, news of the JORUM Contributor service launch and much more.(Apologies for the Xmas bells gracing the web pages – celebrations are still underway in Manchester!)
The Plagiarism Advisory Service is delighted to announce that the 2nd International Plagiarism Conference will be held on 19–21 June 2006 at The Sage Gateshead. Since the first conference in 2004, there has been a growing acceptance of the need for institution-wide rather than individual responses to the problem of student plagiarism. The 2nd International Plagiarism Conference aims to highlight the many and varied approaches to the issue being adopted by universities and colleges both in the UK and further afield, providing delegates with many opportunities to explore the complex area of plagiarism. The conference venue, the Sage Gateshead, is a stunning new music centre on the bank of the River Tyne. You’ll find full details on the Plagiarism Advisory Service web site.
TASI (the JISC Technical and Advisory Service for Images) has released 4 new fact sheets focusing on the use of images in the following VLEs: Blackboard, Moodle, WebCT and Bodington. The fact sheets reveal the potential for using images, and also give important advice on locating and preparing them for online use and on copyright. Select the appropriate TASI information sheet for you:
Two further TASI info sheets cover the popular software packages Hot Potatoes and Quandary, produced by Half-Baked software. Hot Potatoes is a question generator while Quandary can be used to create online mazes. Together they help to inject the all–important element of interactivity into online learning sequences suitable for Web delivery or for inclusion within VLE courses. For more information and download details go to: halfbakedsoftware.com
The TASI Information sheets on the software are available:
As regular readers of NewsFeed will be aware, the 13th International Conference of the Association for Learning Technology, ( ALT C) is moving North of Hadrian's Wall later this year and will be held at Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh, between 5 th and 7 th September 2006. The theme of the conference is 'The Next Generation'. Programme and full details of speakers.
The closing date is 28 th Feb fr the submission of abstracts of short paper and 21st Feb for research papers. More information on this aspect of ALT C.
A new quarterly report on the world of blogs and blogging reveals that 75,000 blogs are created every day - one every second, and 13.7m bloggers are still posting three months after their blogs are created. The blogosphere (total blogging activity) is more than 60 times bigger than three years ago, and is doubling in size every 5.5 months, on average. Yet as everywhere on the net, the growth of a free resource brings problems - in this case spam blogs. About 9% of new blogs are spam or machine generated. But it's human events that occupy bloggers: the 7/7 bombings in London saw the highest number of human-generated postings for a sustained period, while Hurricane Katrina caused a sudden spike - abetted by huge volumes of spam.
Blogs are even created in Scotland and news this week from Bobby Eliot of SQA about two education-related blogs which are underway.
One relates to computing: SQA Computing blog and one relates to Scottish education in general:Scottish Education blog. Visit either site to read the blogs or to contribute
You can download Eclipse Crossword - free software to make crosswords.The software is easy to use and install and is supported by tutorials on the website where you'll also find examples of novel uses of crosswords in teaching and learning.
Yotophoto is a search engine for finding free-to-use stock photographs and images.
Findsounds is a free site where you can search the Web for sound effects and musical instrument samples.
This is a search engine for educational web sites only, a place where educators can find information without searching the entire Internet. Here you can locate original content including lesson plans, practical information for educators, information on how to integrate technology in the classroom, and articles written by education experts. Visit Education World.
The University of Edinburgh has launched a new MSc in e-Learning, which will begin offering places in September. This innovative, part-time programme will take place entirely online, offering professionals in post-school teaching and training the chance to undertake in-depth study of the ways in which digital technologies are changing how we teach and learn. Courses on offer include:
Two great NewsFeed festive competitions have now closed. The sealed envelopes can finally be opened and the winners revealed.
First, the winner of the Advent Calendar Competition 2005 held by RSC Scotland North & East is... Mr Garry Brindlay from Robert Gordon University, who wins an MP3 player.
RSC South & West held a prize draw for new subscribers registering to receive NewsFeed by the end of January which has been won by :
Congratulations to the three lucky winners of the New Subscribers to NewsFeed Christmas competition who each win a USB Flash Drive plus RSC Scotland South and West lanyard. Keep an eye on the post. They’ll be coming out to you by the end of the week!
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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