Happy New Year to all our readers!
Another year begins and here is the first issue of Newsfeed of 2006 to light the darkness. Herein you’ll find the usual mix of information and useful facts, news of what’s happening in the near future and what’s just over the horizon. As always we’ve tried to provide something to interest everyone and, as always, we welcome feedback on NewsFeed (or any RSC service you may have used) through the RSC website.
In its first major announcement of the year on the 11 th January, JISC ( The Joint Information Systemjs Committee) announced that the contract to supply the next-generation computer network linking all UK education and research had been awarded to MCI. The £29 million contract to upgrade JANET – the Joint Academic network - will see an increase in network capacity from 10Gbit/s, eventually rising to 40Gbit/s. With network traffic on JANET rapidly increasing, a new fibre network with nationwide coverage is needed to ensure that UK education and research continue to reap the benefits of Information and Communications Technology (ICT). This will ensure network capacity continues to remain well ahead of demand for the foreseeable future. For over twenty years, JANET has provided the foundation upon which, firstly, higher education and research, and latterly, further education and the schools sector, have engaged with ICT. This engagement has seen a far-reaching transformation in learning, teaching and research in these sectors, built upon one of the fastest, most secure and most resilient education and research networks in the world.
Building on work already carried out by the JISC and others in the area of e-Learning, JISC is now keen to develop further the community’s understanding of the principles that inform the design of effective learning activities involving the use of technology. The new Design for Learning programme of work will use outputs from previous activities and will be informed by what is know about effective pedagogic practice.
JISC invites proposals for up to six projects implementing and evaluating tools and systems that support design for learning in a range of contexts; a project to develop a range of models of practice; a project to develop a prototype online planning tool to guide practitioners in designing effective and pedagogically sound learning activities; and a project to provide pedagogic and technical support to the other projects within this programme.
Funding of up to £480,000 is available and the deadline for receipt of proposals is no later than 1.00 pm on Friday 24 February 2006. Projects are expected to last between 8 and 24 months and should start no later than 1 May 2006.
The full circular and briefing note can be found on the JISC web site.
This report takes a longitudinal perspective comparing the use of Virtual Learning Environments between March 2001, March 2003 and March 2005 for Higher Education in the United Kingdom. It records the results from a national survey, undertaken by JISC and UCISA ( University Colleges and Information Systems Association) into issues relating to the acquisition, use and support of VLEs in Higher Education. Full details of the survey.
One of the major events in the JISC calendar – the JISC Annual Conference –takes place this year at the International Convention Centre, Birmingham on Tuesday 14 th March 2006. Go to the JISC Conference 2006 website for full programme details and to book your place.
Innovating e-Learning 2006 is an online conference running from Monday March 27th, 2006, to Friday March 31st, 2006. It will be of interest to all those interested in the development of sound pedagogical uses of learning technologies: practitioners, e-learning coordinators and managers in further and higher education, researchers, learning technologists, and staff developers. The conference is based around the three themes of:
A feature of the conference is the opportunity for staff working within FE and HE to submit material which illustrates some aspect of the three conference themes. All submissions that meet the selection criteria will be hosted at the conference. Further information on the open call and an online form for expressions of interest can be found at:www.jisc.ac.uk/elp_conference06_opencall.html
Expressions of interest must be received by 31 January 2006 while the final date for submission of content will be 3 rd March 2006.
Legislationb relating to technology and education is becoming more detailed and complex with each passing day. JISClegal is the specialist legal advice service which can help to keep you up to date on all of the pressing legal issues which affect FE and HE. The latest newsletter (Dec 2005) from the service is now available at:http://www.jisclegal.ac.uk/newsletter_05-12.html (Apologies for the tinsel – definitely the last until next December)
The TrustDR – trust digital repositories project - has been funded by the Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC) in the UK for a two-year period as part of the Digital Repositories Programme. The project is to examine the practical and legal issues in setting up digital rights management systems (DRM) in repositories of learning objects. IPR (Intellectual Property Rights) is a controversial legal area which grows ever more complex and which is particularly tangled when viewed in the context of repositories.How can the education sector take full advantage of the new digital media and technologies without having to pay huge cost in terms of administration, legal fees and insurance? This project is seeking to find out and you can learn more at:http://www.uhi.ac.uk/lis/projects/trustdr/
TONIC is an interactive and clear introduction to the Internet, the web and much more. It’s simple to use, concise and free! Aimed at students, TONIC provides an overview of a range of topics, including:
And TONIC doesn’t need to be completed in one session - students' progress is automatically tracked so they can return to the materials time and again and work at their own pace. Each section also features a self-evaluation quiz.
To view the course go to the Netskills web site at: http://www.netskills.ac.uk and follow the link to TONIC.If you'd like to know more about TONIC or would like a leaflet about the course, please contact Netskills via email:enquiries@netskills.ac.uk
The 27 th of January 2006 sees the 250 th anniversary of the birth of the great composer. To mark the event the British Library is offering access to Mozart’s music diary online. The diary gives access to 145 of Mozart’s compositions and net users will have the chance to enjoy some of his most rarely performed music. The diaries can be found in the Turning the Pages ™ section of the British Library website which also features the chance to virtually turn the pages of Leonardo’s scrapbooks or the Lindisfarne Gospels. 15 rare online publications have something for everyone at: http://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/ttp/ttpbooks.html
Visitors to the British Library site can now also browse a hi-tech version of Mozart's Verzeichnuss aller meiner Werke (Catalogue of all my Works).
House filling up with books you’ll never read again? Then have a look at this site. You can use it to swap your old books for new ones and it's completely free:http://www.readitswapit.co.uk/
Yellow pages in French. Allows you to zoom in on streets in some French cities, and see photographs of those streets and buildings. Useful in language learning or cultural studies, peut etre? http://photos.pagesjaunes.fr/
The simplest and the cheapest (free!) way of finding a telephone number from your desktop:http://www.thephonebook.bt.com/
From the BBC: "Do you need help in making the web easier to use? This site explains the many ways you can change your browser, computer, keyboard and mouse settings to make the web more accessible for you": http://www.bbc.co.uk/accessibility/
Good News: Leapfrog, the fastest growing toy company in history, has invested a cool $100 million in developing an astonishing piece of technology, the Fly – a $99 pen that teaches. Proving that the pen is still mightier than the sword, this device can be used as calculator, a portable language lab, even a recording studio (comes with headphones). For more information have a look at the product web site at http://www.flypentop.com , which is a thing of beauty in itself and not to be missed.
Bad news: The Fly pen won’t be on sale in the UK until 2007
Denim clothing company Levi Strauss has designed a pair of jeans able to control a wearer’s Apple iPod. To be launched in August, and costing approximately $200 (£114) the jeans will have an iPod remote control and docking station fitted in the pockets, and come complete with attached headphones. No more sitting in the bath until they’ve shrunk to the correct size then?
For the first time in its history BBC News is opening its archives to the UK public for a trial period. You can download nearly 80 news reports covering iconic events of the past 50 years including the fall of the Berlin Wall, crowds ejecting soldiers from Beijing's Tiananmen Square and (incredibly!)behind-the-scenes footage of the England team prior to their victory over West Germany in 1966. You can download the clips, watch them, and use them to create something unique - potentially a great resource for online learning materials development. Find out more on the BBC News website. http://www.bbc.co.uk/calc/news/
Networkshop is an annual conference organised by UKERNA 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 aspects of networking. Networkshop will take place from 4th to 6th April at the University of Hertfordshire and booking for the event is now open. Details at:http://www.ja.net/services/events/networkshop/Networkshop34/index.html
As part of the JISC Exchange for Learning (X4L) Programme the RDN (Resource Discovery Network) Virtual Training Suite has launched a new eLearning tutorial for ESOL students designed to help them develop Internet research skills. The tutorial offers free advice on using the Web to help with:
The tutorial offers a simple step-by-step approach with quizzes and interactive exercises to lighten the learning. The tutorial is designed to be picked up and used by ESOL tutors and students across the UK and can be accessed from:http://www.vts.rdn.ac.uk/fe/tutorial/esol/
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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