NewsFeed | RSCs Scotland
Fortnightly bulletin from the Scottish Regional Support Centres
29th August 06
Well, another summer has come and gone… phew, what a scorcher…and now it's back to the challenges and enduring delights of a new academic session. This first NewsFeed of 2006-7 contains the usual careful mix of news and views from the world of Information and Learning Technologies, opening with a digest of the JISC news you might have missed over the summer. Welcome back!
As always, we welcome feedback on NewsFeed (or any Regional Support Centre service you may have used) through the RSC websitet.
1. ETNA draw winner announced!
Thanks to all our readers and colleagues who took part in the ETNA 2006 (Enhanced Training Needs Analysis) survey at the end of last term. The level of response was excellent and gallons of midnight oil are currently burning to analyse a mountain of data and produce the ETNA report to be published in the Autumn. Meanwhile, one lucky respondent wins the digital camera offered as a prize for the first name out of the ETNA hat. Take a bow, Chae Howie, of Aberdeen College. The camera will soon be on its way to you.
2. JISC latest news
Intute
If you never got in the habit of using JISC'’s Resource Discovery Network (RDN) for finding quality resources to support teaching or research, then it’s too late to acquire the habit now! The old RDN has now been reformed, revamped and relaunched as the new JISC Service: Intute. Whether your field is science and technology, arts and humanities, social sciences or health & life sciences, you’ll find a lot of value in this free online service which gives access to the best web resources in these areas. Subject specialists select and evaluate the resources contained in Intute, writing high quality descriptions of their content. If you’re teaching or researching in UK further or higher education, you can be confident in the quality and relevance of Intute and its database (113494 resources).
JISC Collections Catalogue of Online Resources
The latest version of the JISC Collections Catalogue of Online Resources is now available. These are resources that JISC has licensed for the UK further and higher education sectors and in some instances research councils.
JISC draft strategy
JISC's draft strategy 2007-2009 is being issued for formal consultation. Have a look and have your say (by deadline of 25th September) by going to the JISC website.
JISC Capital Programmes 2006-7
To see the sorts of things that JISC will be funding over the 3 years from April 2006, see the overview on the website of the JISC Capital Programme. Calls for project proposals go out in Sept 2006 and April 2007. For more precise information about the main strands of each Programme phase, consult the Capitals Programme Roadmap. Please note that, due to funding considerations, some funding calls will be directed at colleges and universities in England only (though some partnership with Scottish institutions may be possible).
The roadmap for the Capital Programme outlines the calls for project proposals that are planned for release in April 2006, September 2006 and April 2007. The roadmap is subject to change and the approval of JISC sub-committees. It will be kept up to date to reflect the Capital Programme's planning. Approximate funding available is the overall amount of funding budgeted for the call and does not indicate the funding limit per project.
E-Learning Programme searching for case studies
Educational Games. Are you using educational games with your students? If you or your colleagues are using games innovatively in your practice, please contact Dr Sara de Freitas and tell her your experiences. Sara is conducting research in this area for the JISC e-Learning Programme and urgently needs case studies of practice in the post-16 sector to illustrate innovative uses of learning with games. These will be published in a JISC report towards the end of the year.
e-Assessment. The next e-Learning Programme Effective Practice guide. 'Effective Practice with e-Assessment' should be available towards the end of the year. JISC is looking for examples of practice where institutions have been making significant use of e-assessment (diagnostic assessment; formative (low stakes) or summative (high-stakes), or have invested in an e-assessment centre. Ros Smith is currently searching for case studies of effective practice in e-assessment and the impact of large scale e-assessment on institutional procedures and teaching and learning practice. Any case studies will form part of a forthcoming publication. Please send examples to ros.smith@gpisolutions.co.uk.
The previous Effective Practice with e-Learning Guide.
New courses from Netskills
Netskills announce 5 new workshops for autumn 2006/7:
- Blogs, Wikis and Social Networking
- Effective e-Learning with Moodle
- Problem Based e-Learning
- Dreamweaver: The Essentials (2-Day workshop)
- Qualitative Data Analysis using N6
In addition, Netskills continue to offer their full range of e-learning workshops listed on the Netskills website.
e-Portfolios
JISC infoNet - e-Portfolios infoKit. e-Portfolios have the potential to allow learners greater control over their learning, to support learning and promote deep learning. Try this new infoKit.
Educause Report on e-Portfolios. Essential reading for those new to e-portfolios, this report by George Lorenzo and John Ittelson gives definitions of e-portfolios and examples of use, including student, teaching and institutional e-portfolios. The report also highlights key issues for institutions. Read the Educause report on e-Portfolios PDF (1.07 MB, opens a new window).
3. Och aye the new – digital Scottish news
Scottish Schools Digital Network set to GLOW
The proposed electronic network designed to link up all of Scotland’s schools and formerly known as the Scottish Schools Digital Network (SSDN) changed its name to ‘Glow’ on August 18th. Ultimately Glow will digitally link Scotland's schools, connecting over 800,000 teachers and pupils safely and securely. No other country's education system will have such a nationwide intranet. More news on SSDN developments.
Highland History Archive
Documents relating to the Highland Clearances and other papers dating from before the Battle of Culloden will be housed in a new archive centre. The Heritage Lottery Fund has awarded a £4.3m grant towards the cost of the £10.2m project and construction of the Highland Archive Centre on a site near the Floral Hall, Inverness, will begin next year for scheduled completion in 2009. Mair…lots mair on the BBC website.
Smoke used to get in your eyes
Tobacco Information Scotland (TIS) is a new initiative from the ASH Scotland Information Service. Working with key partners, ASH Scotland developed TIS to provide the best possible gateway to smoking and tobacco-related information in Scotland.
Dr Livingstone, I presume?
Livingstone Online provides unique insights into the medical and scientific work of the missionary doctor and African explorer David Livingstone (1813-1873).
4. Moving Image Gateway
The Moving Image Gateway (MIG) is a new service from the BUFVC (British Universities Film and Video Council) that collects together websites that relate to moving images and sound and their use in higher and further education. There are some 600 sites on the MIG database at present, and it continues to grow at the rate of ten per month.
5. Seek and ye shall find...search engine snippets
Cookin' with Google
Cookin' With Google allows you to provide a list of ingredients (what's in the fridge?) and get back a list of recipes that Google finds for you.
Study Buddy
Study Buddy is a free search engine built for school homework.
6. This digital isle
Online usage figures
A recent survey suggests that Britain's 10 million broadband users spend an average of 23.5 hours online each week, equivalent to 50 days of the year. Service comparison firm USwitch.com said the survey of 15,323 people revealed that 87% shopped online and 78% did their banking via the web. However, recent research from regulator Ofcom indicated that broadband users spent just 12 hours online a week, claiming just 12% of users spent more than 25 hours a week online. For more information, stay online and go to the BBC website.
Britain's digital tribes
Households in Britain can be classified into 23 "e-types" depending on their access to technology, say researchers. E-types include mobile explorers, the e-committed and rational utilitarians. The researchers, from University College London (UCL),have assigned a classification to every postcode in Britain and claim that the resulting profiles could be used to inform future policies on access to digital technology in the UK. "'We're all digital now" says the BBC report.
7. Open Source Software (OSS) latest
In spring 2006, OSS Watch surveyed ICT Directors at colleges and universities across the UK and the final report is now available. Key findings include:
- 77% of colleges and universities report that they regularly explore open source options in procurement exercises
- 56% of further education colleges reported use of Moodle, an open source course management system
- 100% of institutions provide Internet Explorer on their Windows desktop PCs, yet 68% now also provide Mozilla Firefox
- there is no clear leader amongst Content Management Systems (CMS) with more than 29 different solutions being used by respondents
- cost continues to be the principal driver in reasons for considering OSS
The full OSS Watch report and executive summary
8. Training opportunities from the Scottish RSCs
RSC North & East
- 26th -October: Blogs, Wikis and Social Networking
- 27th October: Writing for the Web
RSC South & West
- 4-8 September: Managing and Maintaining a Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Environment (5 days)
- 3rd October: Writing for the Web
- 4th October: WebPages from Scratch
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.