NewsFeed | RSCs Scotland
Fortnightly bulletin from the Scottish Regional Support Centres
21st November 06
Welcome to the latest edition of Newsfeed, designed to bring you all the latest news and information on educational technology, how it's being used on the planet and particularly on the best small country therein. This issue ranges across the spectrum from the nuisance value of SPAM to a questioning of whether technology should be applied to teaching and learning at all. Something for everyone then, as usual, and a particular welcome this issue to a clutch of new readers joining us for the first time from Inverness College. Welcome. (You'll have had your virtual tea…?)
1. JISC News
Web 2.0 what's it all about?
The media is awash with stories about blogs, wikis and social software tools such as MySpace and Frappr. But is it all just another craze, or do these services really have the potential to revolutionise online information and mark a new era for the web?
Netskills, the training organisation funded by JISC and based at the University of Newcastle, is running a series of workshops designed to answer these and other questions and to explore the advantages as well as the pitfalls of the new technologies. The workshops will look at the changing nature of blogging, the use of other social software such as wikis, MySpace and mashups, offering real-life examples of their use.
See details of forthcoming RSC training at the end of this issue for the chance to attend this course in Scotland.
Outputs of LEX study released
LEX a JISC-Funded Study into the Learner Experience of e-Learning has produced two new reports:
The LEX Report [PDF document 802 KB], 45 coherently-structured pages which concentrate on what makes an effective learner in an e-learning context/ What qualities do efficient e-learners have and what learning strategies do they adopt?
The LEX Guides [PDFdocument 457 KB] a set of short guides for the different main actors in e-learning - Learner, Author and Designer, Support Staff, Manager, Tutor, richly illustrated with quotes from the learners who took part in the study.
Digital Curation Centre funding to continue
JISC announced on the 17th of November that it has approved funding for the Digital Curation Centre (DCC) for a further three years from March 2007. The DCC has for the last three years provided a focal point for research, advice and support to UK institutions in the field of digital curation and preservation and in its next phase of development will build on its considerable achievements to date to provide a stronger service in support of research. For further information on the DCC and the forthcoming International Digital Curation Conference, please go to the DCC website.
JISC announces successful funding bids
JISC has announced the successful bids under the first round of funding of its capital programme. Representing an investment of nearly £5.5m, the 27 projects are being funded under the e-learning, e-infrastructure and repositories and preservation strands of the programme.
The first call under the programme – which represents a total investment of some £81m over three years – was issued in April of this year in response to which nearly 100 bids were received. A second call is currently issued, totalling around £15m of further funding.
2. Resources roundup
Moodle 1.7 released
On November 7, 2006 Moodle announced the release of version 1.7 of the popular open-source VLE platform with four major new features:
- new architecture for assigning people permissions
- XML database schema
- new admin interface
- unit testing framework
Details of these updates, as well as a host of smaller new fixes and features, are available from the Moodle site where the new version of the software can also be downloaded.
Video resources
You may well have heard of You Tube where videos can be lodged and viewed by the whole world. Problem is that the vast majority of the materials there is unsuitable for use in an educational context. Now there’s a new location which uses the same idea of sharing resources to make video resources available, many of which are practical and might find a space in the curriculum. See what’s on the shelf at VideoJug.
Skype 3 available
Skype is a little piece of software that lets you make free calls to anyone else on Skype, anywhere in the world. And even though the calls are free, they are really excellent quality. If you and your friends, family or business contacts are using webcams, you can also make free video calls. You can even call landlines and mobile phones at really cheap per minute rates (and there's no setup or subscription fee). Download the latest version of the Skype.
Visual search engine
Most readers will be comfortable with the concept of searching the web on the basis of matching up terms: you enter your chosen subject into Google or another search engine and the software goes off into the ether to find as many matches for your search term as it can. Now a new family of search engines is emerging where the subject of the search can be a picture or a shape rather than a word. ('Looks like' rather than 'sounds like'.) Experience the sensation for yourself by going like.com.
3. The good…the bad…and the ugly
Bloggeroonie!
The web's love affair with blogging shows no signs of abating according to the latest report from blog tracking firm Technorati. In its latest quarterly survey it reports that 100,000 new blogs are created and 1.3 million posts are made every day.
Spamalot more
Along with the rest of the world you will probably have experienced an upsurge in the level of spam you've received recently. This article from the Guardian provides some good background information on the reasons behind this growth, but alas no instant means of preventing it.
Data disasters
Data recovery company OnTrack publishes an annual list of the top ten data disasters encountered in the past twelve months. Examples in the 2006 collection include data corrupted by a decomposing banana and a laptop all but obliterated by falling from a moving helicopter. However, data is made of sterner stuff - all of it survived.
4. TASI
Digital camera advice
JISC specialist service TASI (Technical Advisory Service for Images) has just published two new FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) on digital cameras. Taking Care of your Digital Camera answers some common questions on cleaning and protecting cameras while Is There Still a Role for Film? looks at the advantages traditional film cameras can have over digital cameras in specific situations.
Metadata advice updates
TASI has also updated its advice documents on the difficult subject of Metadata and how it relates to visual images:
- Metadata Overview introduces some key concepts, looking at what metadata is and how it might be structured and stored.
- Challenges of Describing Images looks at why images might be harder to describe than other resources and suggests strategies for analysing them.
- Metadata Standards and Interoperability looks at some of the key standards being used to catalogue image collections
- Getting practical with Metadata suggests 12 steps to follow in developing metadata for an image collection
- Putting Things in Order Links to Metadata Schemas and Related Standards provides descriptions of 27 metadata schemas or related standards
- Controlling Your Language - links to Metadata Vocabularies provides more than 70 sources of controlled vocabulary (e.g. thesauri, subject headings).
Everything you need to know can be found at the TASI website.
TASI guide to TASI
A new guide provides an overview of the TASI Web site materials which staff wishing to use digital images within teaching and research materials will find useful. The guide includes pointers to documents and resources that will answer questions such as Can I create my own digital images from my own photographic/slide materials? And where can I source digital images suitable as academic resources?
5. Scottish Executive
New Minister
Deputy Justice Minister Hugh Henry has been appointed as the new Education and Young People Minister to replace Peter Peacock who resigned on the 14 th of November for health reasons. Mr Henry, 55, was born in Glasgow and was in local government from 1984 to 1999. He was leader of Renfrewshire Council for four years before being elected to the Scottish Parliament as MSP for Paisley in 1999. He is a Bachelor of Accountancy and a member of the Transport and General Workers Union. He is married with two daughters and one son.
Three new appointments to the SQA Board Announced
One of the last acts of the outgoing education minister was to appoint three new members to the Advisory Council that provides stakeholder advice to the Board of the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA). The three new members are:
- Alex Paterson: Director, Developing Skills - Highlands and Islands Enterprise
- Brian Lister: Chief Executive SFEU and Principal of Cumbernauld College
- Grant Ritchie: Assistant Principal Dundee College
The appointments will be for four years, from October 23, 2006 to October 22, 2010.
Free Computer Courses for all Adults in Scotland.
ALL adults in Scotland are to be offered free access to basic computing courses under an initiative to improve the nation's IT skills. Recent research published by the Scottish Executive showed that though 50% of Scottish homes now have internet access and 75% of jobs require some basic computing skills, 35% of the population does not have any digital literacy. Read a fuller article from The Herald.
6. Metadata Issues
More on metadata: please note this forthcoming event, of interest to cataloguers and metadata practitioners working with digital resources and institutional repositories.
Title: Metadata Issues for Scottish Institutional Repositories
Date: Monday 4 Dec 2006
Time: 14.00-16.30
Venue: Conference Room, National Library of Scotland, Causewayside Building, Edinburgh
Organisers: CIGS, CDLR, NLS
Registration: Email scotearl@slainte.org.uk with your name and institution.
More information about the event and venue
7. Food for thought
Coming towards the end of NewsFeed and time to take a thoughtful turn and consider a few of the weightier ideas in ILT which are current at the moment. The links in this section lead to joined up writing and thinking and more detailed reading:
Adding meaning and value to information
Those of us who manage written information therefore have a great challenge. How can we make what is written down more meaningful, more valuable? How can we make it "make more sense"? This article looks at ten principal ways to do this, complete with illustrations of the techniques and further discussion.
ILT: for or against
Here at the Scottish RSCs we're firm believers that new information and communication technologies provide vital tools to make teaching and learning more efficient and to enhance the educational experience. But, there are those who think differently. For a view from the other side of the technology debate have a look at Not OK computer - an article from the Education Guardian.
Ariadne 49: October 2006
Finally this latest edition of Ariadne magazine deals with a range of subjects from new forms of intellectual property licensing, to wikis, search engine and new developments in repositories. A winter night’s reading for information professionals can be accessed at:
8. Conferences and Events
Digital Curation Conference 2006
21st & 22nd November - Hilton Hotel, Glasgow. With a particular focus on Digital Data Curation in Practice this conference will address different aspects of the curation lifecycle including managing repositories, educating data scientists and understanding the role of policy and strategy. Digital Curation Conference 2006.
Scotland's Colleges Annual Conference and Awards: "Making a Bigger Difference"
Wednesday 29th November 2006 – The Hilton Hotel, Glasgow. The 2006 conference builds on themes currently being investigated through the Review of Scotland's Colleges set up to explore their role in the economic and social development of the nation. Early results are highly positive. Colleges do make a difference!
The master of ceremonies for the day is esteemed broadcaster and journalist Lesley Riddoch who will be presiding over a series of keynotes and panel sessions designed to deliver national and international perspectives. Find more details and book online at SFEU.
TASI Courses – a few places left
- 9th November 2006: Photoshop - Level I
- 10th November 2006: Photoshop - Level II
TASI (the JISC specialist service for images) is running a programme of training workshops aimed at those involved in image digitisation projects, those who wish to capture images and those who wish to use digital images in learning and teaching. More details and booking form on the TASI website
SLIC Conference: Sharing Vision, Planning and Practice
27th November 2006 - John Wheatley College, Glasgow. SLIC (Scotish Library Information Council) announces its first annual conference for FE which will bring together leading thinkers from across the UK in the field of knowledge management offering insight, vision and comment on current drivers for change influencing strategy and policy across the sector. More info and booking details from Slainte.
Discovery and Access: Standards and the Information Chain
7th December 2006 - Bonhill House, London. This seminar examines how participants in the information chain and their solutions vendors can use standards more effectively. What standards do libraries think are important for providing end-user services? How do publishers make business decisions about what standards to adopt? How are standards being used in new and innovative ways? Are there gaps that need to be filled, either in the standards or implementing them more effectively? How can stakeholders influence the future? Details and the chance to have your say at the UKOLN website.
Personalisation of Learning
8th December 2006 - Manchester Conference Centre
How can we put the learner at the heart of the educational system? Join us to explore different approaches to personalisation of learning with Prof. Oleg Liber, University of Bolton, and Mike Halm, Senior Strategist for e-Learning Technologies, Pennsylvania State University, USA. This one-day workshop held by the UK HE Academy costs only £50. Social dimensions of e-learning booking form (PDF opens in a new window).
9.Forthcoming training from the RSCs
RSC South & West
- 12 December: Film and Sound Online and Education Image Gallery
- 13 December: Creating Inclusive E-Learning Resources
- 19 December: eSkills for LRC Staff
- 17-19 January: Maintaining a Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Database
- 23 January: Design Solutions for e-Learning
- 24 January: Detecting and Deterring Plagiarism
- 30 January: Blogs, Wikis and Social Networking
- 31 January: Surviving Web Overload
RSC North & East
- 23rd November: Eduserv Chest Infrastructure Seminar (Leeds)
- 23rd November: Film & Sound Online and Education Image Gallery
- 7th December: Change Management
- 8th December: Project Management for the Education Sector
- 12th Dec 2006: Film & Sound Online and Education Image Gallery
- 14th December: Film & Sound Online and Education Image Gallery
- 16th January: Developing Problem Based e-Learning (Glasgow)
- 17th January: Effective e-Learning with Moodle (Glasgow)
The full listing of all the workshops currently being run by both RSCs in Scotland is available at: