Discover JISCProject
Maria NearyACL Essex
Bob ReadACER
Background to the project
• Further Education and Skills: Development and Resources Programme;
• Funding for new learning resources, methods and expanding opportunities in post-16 learning across the UK;
• £1.35 m of funding;
• 32 projects with over 90 partners.
Discover JISC
• Funded by BIS
• Programme managed by JISC Advance
• Project managed by JISC TechDis
• Partner driven project: The partner providers were drawn from across the FE & Skills sector
Partners
East Riding Council Adult services
Karten Network
UK Online Centres
Derwen College
Weston College
Myerscough College
North East Autism Society Thornbeck
East Durham College
ACER
Essex Adult Community Learning
JISC Techdis
– JISC Techdis is the leading UK advisory service on accessibility and inclusion;
– JISC Techdis is one of eight complementary, advisory services which was co-ordinated by JISC Advance, created to provide inspiration and advice to support the innovative use of technology within the education, business and community sectors;
– JISC Advance was a not-for-profit company financed by grants from the UK funding councils for further and higher education.
Objective of the project
The objective of the project is to build a community of excellence in inclusive practice based on a greater understanding of JISC and its resources and the skills to optimise their use and development.
Rationale
Lack of awareness of how JISC resources, services or Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) can be fully utilised to support inclusive learning;
Skills sets of practitioners is variable and may be a limiting factor in the exploitation of digital resources;
Many resources were not created with the FE and Skills sector in mind.
Three Strands
1 – Accessible Technologies/
Free and Open Source Software (FOSS)
2 – Staff Training Materials
3 – Curriculum Pathways
How we got involved!
Face to Face: Residential meetings
Online Collaboration: Google group
Virtual: 10 weekly 5-minute missions Range of Webinar sessions
Phone: Support from key TechDis staff
Individual: Action plans
• 30 assessors working nationally
• 1:1 workplace visits
• Equine Studies, Animal Care,
Floristry, Business Admin, Customer Services
• contextualised e learning resources that embed L1 & 2 Functional Skills in authentic and motivating ways
KEITS
Create A Safe Environment
Mucking Out
Bedding Materials
• a specialist training provider based in Norwich, Norfolk
• Foundation Learning programmes covering creative arts, media and graphics, music and sports and healthy lifestyle.
• explore use of e learning tools for use in the delivery of Functional Skills sessions at Level 1 & 2
Broadland Council Training Services
• Techdis Toolbox• different types of mind mapping tools• text to speech software• screen casting • QR codes• online sticky boards like Padlet and Lino it • use of Audacity to record & edit audio• converting workbooks into digital resources on the web
Other e learning tools BCTS found useful -
Adult Community Learning Essex
Looked at Accessibility Technologies and Free and Open Source Software to create a bank of exemplars for entry level Foundation Skills learners which draws on the skills, information and techniques explored within the various strands of the project.
Entry Level 2: Literacy
Created a Scheme of Work for use in Entry Level 2 Skills for Life Literacy classes (covering 6 sessions).
Created 6 weekly lesson plans.
Embedded assistive technology and free software identified as a result of the project.
New Website Coming!
A Discover JISC project website is planned to be launched by the end of November 2013.
The site will include:
•Content for Teaching•Teaching Techniques•Case studies from project partners
New Resources
Partner providers have also fed into the creation of new TechDis resources. There are five titles:
•Introduction to Accessibility and Inclusion •Built-in Accessibility •Accessible Documents and Presentations •Delivering Accessible Digital Learning •Assistive Technology in Learning and Teaching
http://www.jisctechdis.ac.uk/techdis/resources
