Time races onwards, and we’re at the last NewsFeed of 2004 already! In festive spirit, we’ve mixed our usual range of online news with five carefully selected and placed ‘Xmas Crackers’. Just like the real thing, each one of these contains a gift, in this case a link to an internet resource we think is especially interesting or attractive. Surrounding these crackers on the table are a selection of other online news items.
We start off with reminders about our online Advent Calendar and the RSC’s groundbreaking Image Engine project, then move on to feature a host of items including spyware, Freedom of Information, Scottish learning accounts and updated online resources. Let us know what you think by giving us feedback on NewsFeed (or any RSC service you may have used) through our website at www.rsc-ne-scotland.ac.uk/about/contact.php.
Until next year - A Very Merry Xmas from everyone at the two JISC Regional Support Centres, and Best Wishes for the New Year!
Only eleven more windows left to open in the RSC Scotland North & East's online Advent Calendar, as we head towards the holidays and Xmas! Each day either has a mystery question for our competition, concealing the clues needed to win our aptly-named Advent MP3 player/recorder, or it will give you an image and a link to one of the range of services which JISC and the RSC offer to support colleges in the use of ICT for teaching and learning. Three out of the original six mystery questions have now been revealed – so remember to go to the RSC’s website each day to check the calendar for the rest at http://www.rsc-ne-scotland.ac.uk/advent!
In the last issue of NewsFeed, we featured the Image Engine, the innovative new project looking at all aspects of the use of images in teaching and learning currently underway through RSC Scotland North & East. This takes teaching staff on a journey of online discovery, starting from creating and manipulating original digital images, and going on to weave these together into meaningful, interactive learning resources and reinforce them with appropriate assessments. The project will run in two phases, from January and from April next year, and money is available through the eMerge initiative to second participants from their home colleges for one day a week across a twelve-week period. Invitations to participate are now being extended to ALL 25 COLLEGES in our wide area from Borders to Shetland. If you would like to be considered for this dynamic and practical project, please get the support of your local staff development officer and make your application through the RSC’s online application form at http://www.rsc-ne-scotland.ac.uk/ie/ie_appform.php
More information on the Image Engine is available at www.rsc-ne-scotland.ac.uk/ie where you can see some of the resources which the intial participants created. You can also see a picture of the group who completed the first phase of the project by going to our advent calendar at http://www.rsc-ne-scotland.ac.uk/advent/
If you’ve ever wondered what 'conceptual' art is all about (and who hasn’t, at some stage), have a look at the Tate Galleries' interactive online guide to Modern and Contemporary Art. With content drawn from all four of the Tate’s main galleries, this allows users to explore the relationship between art and seven thematic areas including politics, materials or storytelling. It's an interactive and involving introduction to the topic, and well worth a look. Go to http://www.tate.org.uk/ita/index.jsp to register for the course itself, and http://www.tate.org.uk/home/default.htm for the main Tate site.
‘Spyware’ is the term used for software which installs itself on the user’s computer (usually without the user asking for it) and which then tracks what he/she is doing in some way. This clearly has some alarming implications, and there have been several cases of criminals using spyware to secretly direct users’ computers to pornographic websites, or expensive direct dialing phone numbers. Evidence is emerging, however, that some users (particularly students) are intentionally installing such applications on their machines in return for ‘free’ software, usually file-sharing applications. There has been particular concern over an application called Marketscore, which advertises itself as an ‘internet access accelerator’, but which routes all online traffic from subscribers through its own servers, monitoring it in order to create (and sell) research reports on internet ‘trends’. Concerns over network security are increasingly leading educational institutions to block access to network services for students whose machines have this application loaded - however, removing such software can be problematic once it has been installed.
For more background on this issue, go to Wired magazine.
An education perspective on the problem is available at http://www.nwfusion.com/news/2004/1130univestrug.html
For a recent example of the criminal use of this kind of application, go to The Guardian’s website at http://www.guardian.co.uk/online/story/0,3605,1363815,00.html
The Scottish Executive is to re-launch the ILA scheme designed to encourage adult learners back into education. The scheme, which has guarantees of funding until at least 2008, will initially offer learners on incomes of less than £15,000 a year funds of up to £200 to help them pay for courses to improve their career opportunities. The initial scheme will be extended in 2005 when funding of up to £100 will be offered to learners (regardless of income) who want to enrol in courses of ICT learning up to SCQF Level 5 or equivalent. The original ILA scheme run by the Department for Education and Skills was closed in November 2001 after allegations of widespread fraud and abuse. The Executive have promised ‘new, robust measures’ to prevent this happening again.
Full details of the new initiative are at http://www.scotland.gov.uk/News/Releases/2004/12/13095939
HMIE Scotland have published a revised version of 'Using ICT in Teaching and Learning', one of a series of 'self-evaluation' guides intended to help schools work systematically to improve their performance but which also provides a lot of information and advice which is transferable to the FE sector. The guide is available as a pdf file, and contains an especially useful section on ‘Self-Evaluation in Practice’ which can easily be adapted to provide a template for auditing ICT embedding in the FE curriculum. The Inspectorate also have a particularly useful ‘Good Practice’ area of their website which has a section devoted to case studies drawn from previous FE inspections.
The report can be accessed at http://www.hmie.gov.uk/documents/publication/hgiosict.pdf
The case studies can be found at http://www.hmie.gov.uk/hmiegoodpractice/Materials.aspx?theme=2&topic=9
An interesting report on trends in student internet usage has been produced by Columbus State University. Although based on research in two specific regions of the USA, the findings in areas such as internet security, policy dissemination and comparative methods of internet access are of obvious relevance to FE in this country. Conventional wisdom has it that we in Britain are 5-10 years behind the Americans in our use and adoption of internet-based technologies. Read the report and judge for yourself if this still holds true!
The Scottish Library and Information Council (SLIC) has received funding from the Scottish Executive Digital Inclusion Unit for a project which will equip 2000 learners with new skills. The project aims to improve learner's Information Handling Skills, ICT Skills and Customer Care Skills, which will improve their knowledge and employment prospects. SLIC are keen to work with the Further Education community across Scotland on this project.
The project will start in January 2005 and continues until June 2006. If you are interested in taking part, please contact Hazel Lauder, Network Officer, SLIC. E-mail h.lauder@slainte.org.uk Tel 01698 458888.
Forget Graham Norton and the Top 100 comic moments on TV – here are TWENTY Top 10s in eLearning, covering everything from e-learning to collaboration. What are the most common mistakes when buying a VLE? What are the most common errors people make when designing e-learning material? What are the Top Ten benefits from using all of this e-learning stuff in the first place?
Follow the Xmas Cracker link to find out : http://www.epic.co.uk/content/resources/white_papers/top10s.htm
While we’re on the subject of Top Tens, the word ‘blog’ has been identified by a US dictionary as the top word of 2004, a place earned by being the most looked-up word in the Merriam-Webster online dictionary. What were the rest? You’ll have to click on http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/4059291.stm to find out!
Evidence has emerged which suggests that men who use their laptops literally may be storing up health problems for themselves. The high surface temperatures generated by prolonged laptop use lead to corresponding rises in ST, which - without going into unnecessary details – is definitely Not A Good Thing. Concerned users should rush to The Guardian’s article, where they will find a complete diagnosis.
The JISC Collections Team is responsible for creating and maintaining the online resources which JISC offers to the FE and HE communities. It is very concerned that the resources which are made available are what education wants, rather than simply being what is available at the time, and to help ensure this it relies on advice from eight Working Groups, which cover distinct areas of the curriculum. It now wishes to extend the work of these groups by establishing a series of complementary ‘virtual’ subject-based advisory groups. These will use online discussion forums to provide advice to the Collections Team in the specified areas. Membership is open to all those within further and higher education who are willing and able to provide advice within a relevant subject area. Further details can be found on the JISC website at http://www.jisc.ac.uk/coll_vsag.html.
NESTA FutureLab have an interesting 'Map of Creativity', which showcases more than 400 innovative web-based educational projects from around the world. The map has a dynamic, interactive interface which allows the projects to be searched by topic, age and geographic location. The Map was produced by the Next Generation Foundation, a not-for-profit organization which is the brainchild of the Chief Executive of the famous Danish company LEGO.
Go to http://www.nestafuturelab.org/showcase/show_other.htm to access the Map of Creativity. Lego bricks you'll have to provide for yourself, unfortunately!
AirFortress is a Layer 2 Wireless LAN security solution from Fortess Technologies which will be the subject of a presentation from Phil McGurk of Langside College next February. If readers are interested in attending, please contact Phil directly on 0141-272-3715 or by emailing pmcgurk@langside.ac.uk
Networkshop 33 will be held in Manchester from 22 nd to 24 th March 2005. Aimed at network managers and technical staff from the JANET community, the conference provides a forum for discussion on the latest network technologies and brings together expertise from all the fields of networking. Funding is available to allow FE College staff to attend at a discounted rate. This rate is only available on bookings made before 01-February-2005, so readers should book as early as possible to benefit from this discount.
Further details on the conference are available at http://www.ja.net/conferences/networkshop/index.html
The BBC’s website is justifiably famous as the most visited site in Britain – there really is something for everyone here, from the replayable delights of internet radio, to the cornucopia of extra information available to underpin the broadcast schedules. From this Aladdin’s Cave, NewsFeed has picked out the Bite Size Revision section from BBC Education Scotland to feature. Revision material and online assessments are available for twelve Standard Grade and eight Higher subjects, all presented in a bright and attractive interface. Added to this are a useful ‘Ask the Teacher’ section, with archived responses of FAQs, and a ‘Hot Links’ area which directs students out onto the net itself in a structured way. Who knows where the BBC will be in 2005, so let’s use it before we lose it! Bitesize revision is at http://www.bbc.co.uk/scotland/education/bitesize/index.shtml - but make sure you check out as much as you can of the rest of the site too!
Know UK have added Dorling Kindersley’s Financial Times World Desk Reference to their publication list. This profiles all 193 of the world’s nations, and provides facts, statistics, maps and diagrams for each. Categories are standardized throughout, so cross-country comparisons can easily be made, and the resource will be updated quarterly to ensure its accuracy. Go to http://www.knowuk.co.uk/goHome.do for more information.
The Freedom of Information comes into effect next month (January 2005). The Act gives a general right of public access to all types of recorded information held by public authorities which include schools, colleges and universities. While it brings a number of important benefits, such as greater openness and accountability for publicly-funded organisations, it brings responsibilities too. In an article on the Learning and Skills Council web site, Steve Bailey, JISC Electronic Records Manager, talks about the Act and what it means to institutions, and offers some brief guidelines on what institutions can do before January to ensure they are ready to meet the new responsibilities and opportunities the Act brings. For the full article, please go to: http://senet.lsc.gov.uk/features/december2004feature6.cfm
JISC offers regular funding opportunities across both FE and HE, generally by calling for project proposals which tie in with work areas identified by the various JISC Committees. You can check these opportunities, or look at the work of completed projects, on the JISC website at http://www.jisc.ac.uk/index.cfm?name=funding
Transparent, accessible government moves three steps closer with these useful sites. What has your MP been up to? - How much are their expenses? - What percentage of parliamentary votes did they attend? Recent statements in parliament? Last rebellion against the party whips? Check out their performance, and add your contributions to discussion lists on recent debates and written parliamentary answers at http://www.theyworkforyou.com/ . Someday all democracy will work this way!
Who is your MSP? Use your postcode to find your representative at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/msp/index.htm. Then join in the debate on issues of the day such as windfarms or private prisons by going to http://www.communitypeople.net/interactive/. To identify your MEPs, consult the European Parliament’s website at http://www.europarl.org.uk/uk_meps/membersmain.htm.
'Middleware' is a term used to describe the process of helping institutions to connect people with resources. Core Middleware is defined as the central services that are essential to middleware as a whole, which are authentication, authorisation, directory services, and identifiers (for example, the ATHENS service widely used in FE and HE at the moment).
The JISC has issued an invitation to UK further and higher education institutions to become early adopters of the next generation of tools to manage access to online resources. Funding of up to £50,000 is available to each participating institution over a one-year period between March 2005 and April 2006. The deadline for the submission of proposals is 10 th February 2005. Further details can be found at http://www.jisc.ac.uk/index.cfm?name=funding_circular11_04
JISC offers regular funding opportunities across both FE and HE, generally by calling for project proposals which tie in with work areas identified by the various JISC Committees. You can check these opportunities, or look at the work of completed projects, on the JISC website at http://www.jisc.ac.uk/index.cfm?name=funding
OASIS (Organization, Access, Storage, Integration and Sharing of electronic resources) is a new set of e-learning activities funded through the eMerge programme, and run by the two Scottish RSCs and the SFEU. Three OASIS courses are being offered to colleges in January 2005 at special subsidized eMerge rates of £50 per day :
A course designed for complete beginners to Heritage which provides a comprehensive introduction to the system : Tuesday 18 th January in the RSC Curriculab at Edinburgh’s Telford College.
Designed as a follow-on to the introductory course above, this moves on from the basics to look in more detail at enquiry, circulation and editing, amending and set-ups within cataloguing : Wednesday 19 th January 2005 in the RSC Curriculab at Edinburgh’s Telford College.
Note : Participants can attend BOTH of the above days for a combined price of £95
This conference provides an opportunity for institutions who are implementing portals as a means of accessing information to meet one another, to discuss and share ideas, and possibly to collaborate on future developments : Thursday 20 th January 2005 in the Stirling Management Centre.
For further information on these courses, or to book a place, please go to the RSC website at http://www.rsc-ne-scotland.ac.uk/training/.
A full listing of all the workshops currently being run by both RSCs in Scotland is available on the training sections of the RSCs' websites: RSC Scotland North and East and RSC Scotland South and West
These courses and others are listed on the Scotfeict website at: www.scotfeict.ac.uk/events which also lists other staff development opportunities for FE staff within Scotland. Nationwide training opportunities are available on the NLN events database at www.nln.ac.uk/events