Welcome to the latest edition of Newsfeed, designed to bring you up-to-date information on the current issues relating to the use of ICT for teaching and learning. As always, we welcome feedback on NewsFeed (or any RSC service you may have used) through the RSC website.
An agreement between JISC and Channel 4 Learning makes available a new collection of films which bring to life Shakespeare's plays and shed light on staging Shakespeare productions for screen and stage. Not previously available online, the films will support media studies, English literature, theatre studies, the performing arts and creative industries by bringing award-winning programmes to the desktops of all in FE and HE free of charge. More details on the JISC website.
With more than 50 Open Source Initiative (OSI) approved licences that meet the 10 criteria of the open source definition, how do you decide which licence to use? Rowan Wilson of OSS Watch might be able to help. Rowan has written a suite of briefing notes on five of the most popular licences. In straightforward language Rowan explores the history and key features of the GNU General Public License (GPL), GNU Lesser General Public License (LGPL), Mozilla Public License (MPL), Modified BSD License (BSD), and the Apache License. Visit the OSS Watch site for more details.
The first of the new Round 4 NLN Materials are reaching their final testing stages. This round of materials has been developed specifically with the Adult and Community Learning (ACL) sector in mind, but will also be available to the FE community. Topics include ESOL, Family Learning, Learning to Learn and Modern Languages.
Using the NLN Materials – A Practical Guide. This new guide is available online to help tutors around the UK make the best use of the e-learning materials that are offered free through the National Learning Network programme. The guide can also be downloaded and hosted locally on college systems.
"The successful integration of an open source Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) in Deeside College as a result of using the NLN Materials". This case study reports on the ongoing successful integration of an open source VLE at a college in North Wales. The catalyst for this success has been the NLN Materials.
1st November, Reading 2005 – The Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA), in partnership with Microsoft, is inviting teachers in Scotland to apply for cash grants of up to £2000, to aid the innovative use of ICT in the classroom and increase support for teachers already using ICT. The project is a result of the Memorandum of Understanding signed between the Scottish Qualifications Authority and Microsoft in June 2005 and has been created to encourage the innovative use of technology in the classroom.
SQA and Microsoft offer press release (Microsoft Word document 72KB)
The much anticipated report by Sir Andrew Foster, formerly Controller at the Audit Commission, was published on the 15th November 2005. The report analyses the current state of FE colleges and has set out sixty recommendations for changing what Foster describes as the "middle child of education". Further details and a link to the report can be found on the Ferl website.
The OU's expertise in supported distance learning has always meant it being a leader in developing the best technology to support its students. Now, The Open University's Learning and Teaching Office has started a new programme worth nearly £5 million to build a comprehensive online student learning environment for the 21st century.
The development, which will first appear in May of 2006, and be fully operational for February 2007 courses, will see the largest use of Moodle in the world. Moodle is a free, Open Source software package course management system used by educators to create effective online learning communities. Read the Moodle press realease.
AbilityNet provide a number of very useful fact sheets which are now available on-line. The factsheets contain a wealth of information on a variety of issues such as:
The fact sheets are in Adobe portable document format (PDF) to ensure a quick download and consistent printing. These are to be found on the AbilityNet website.
A template for quickly adding multiple choice questions to any PowerPoint presentation. We've all seen examples where you have a hyperlink to a separate correct or wrong slide but this allows individual feedback per question and per answer. It uses custom actions to provide multiple choice functionality inside PowerPoint. - (Only works in versions from PowerPoint XP onwards). Download the PowerPoint template from the Tower Hamlets College website (login as guest when prompted).
The Beta version of Googles massive project to catalogue and index the content of five of the world's best Libraries is now available. Listed on Google Book Search . You can view the entirety of public domain books or, for books under copyright, just a few pages or in some cases, only the title's bibliographic data and brief snippets. You can also search for more information within that specific book and find nearby libraries that have it There is some debate and legal wrangling between some publishers and Google over the extent of the service... but I think we have the potential of a really cracking research tool here.
The JISC Regional Support Centres for Scotland are running a joint Moodle Awareness event at the West of Scotland Science Park in Glasgow on December 12th. The purpose of the event is to bring together educators in Scotland who want to know more about Moodle, an Open Source Virtual Learning Environment or VLE. Further information on the event and booking arrangements are available on RSC Scotland South & West's events pages.
SFEU is hosting the sixth annual conference and awards on Wednesday 30 November 2005, at the Radisson SAS Hotel, Glasgow. For more visit SFEU's website.
Staff supporting WebCT in Scotland and Ireland are invited to the 5th meeting of the Celtic WebCT Users Group at Aberdeen University on the 2nd of December 2005.
Richard Burrows from WebCT will provide an update on recent developments. Stephen Bruce from Napier University and staff from Nottingham University will be discussing the implementation and support for WebCT Vista 4.0 and Campus Edition 6. Stephen Vickers will talk about sharing the preparation of staff development/training materials for Campus Edition 6. There will also be three case studies on the use of WebCT for enhancing learning. For more information and to book a place please go to the Celtic WebCT site.
The full listing of all the workshops currently being run by both RSCs in Scotland is available at:
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.
Unsubscribe - email support@rsc-ne-scotland.ac.uk
Regional Support Centre Scotland North and East
Helpdesk 0131 315 7674
www.rsc-ne-scotland.ac.uk
Regional Support Centre Scotland South and West
Helpdesk 0141 558 4098
www.rsc-sw-scotand.ac.uk