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Page 1: RSC East Midlands newsletter "intouch" - Summer 2005

Summer 2005 Volume 3 • Issue 3

the termly newsletter produced by RSC East Midlands

Welcome from the EditorHere at the RSC, we’re busy getting ready for the largest event we’ve held to date, the first

RSC East Midlands e-fair.

In this edition of In touch, Chris Hill, the RSC Manager divulges more information on the

e-fair, including details of the Keynote speakers, and some of the organisations who’ll

be contributing.

This month’s newsletter also includes articles from the DfES, UKERNA, the Higher

Education Academy and the East Midlands Science Learning Centre, as well as the regular

contributions from RSC staff. So, put the kettle on, sit back, and take a few minutes out to

catch up with this term’s ILT news for the East Midlands.

Rachael Stacey, e-Learning Advisor (HE)

Forthcoming

EVENTSApril7th The Learning Journey

13th Using ILT in ModernForeign Languages

14th Getting started with MS Producer

14th Learner Centred Process Review

21st Going further with ILT

26th Learner Centred Process Review

26th Assessment andCommunications for e-Learning

May3rd 17th Making Moving

Images Work

26th ILT in teacher Training

June23rd e-Fair

For further details see our websitewww.rsc-east-midlands.ac.uk

I N S I D ET h i s i s s u eWelcome

Course Genie: Issues arising from creatingyour own e-learning materials. Part one.

Support for E-Guides in the East Midlands

All the fun of the e-fair

DFES e-Strategy

JANET Network Reliability Study

The Higher Education Academy

Forthcoming events

Focus on: Science Learning Centre East Midlands

Hints and Tips: Creating online quizzes

IntroductionThe biggest change in working practice brought about by theintroduction of end-user content creation tools is that materials aredeveloped by tutors, rather than being produced to order by amaterials development team. CourseGenie is perhaps a more obviouschoice of content creation tool, because it integrates with MicrosoftWord by running a macro, and should in theory make life easier forteaching staff, because assuming they are familiar with Word, theydon’t have to be particularly competent at web programming andcontent packaging. There are however, numerous issues outside thetechnical domain which are raised when central control of theproduction of learning material is delegated to those who own thecontent. This article will attempt to address some of the majorbenefits and potential problems that may arise for a college whenattempting to do such a thing.

IssuesOne of the most pressing issues that could arise from such adevelopment is that the materials team will lose the uniformity oftheir materials. The potential is there for tutors to create contentwhich doesn’t reach the same standards as materials created forthem. Although this is a problem it can be successfully addressed in anumber of ways. Course Genie could be made a staff developmentpriority: plan training sessions before tutors create their first chunk ofmaterial; outline a structure to work with; and, assist in thedevelopment of good practice. Practically speaking, we could

perhaps set up a structure on the colleges’ VLE whereby teaching staffwould be expected to upload material in specific places. Forinstance, a course can be broken down into weekly chunks, and thenfurther still into course specifics and even templates. Assistance couldalso be given in the use of metadata. If all course materials arecorrectly indexed they will be more easily used and adapted by othermembers of staff. Content will also integrate seamlessly with pre-existing materials, and be more user-friendly to the student. It isimportant at this stage of planning, however, to be aware that if theproduction of materials is seen as being too rigid and structured staffmay feel that they don’t have ownership over their content, and mayeven feel that what they upload ‘won’t be up to standard’.

To combat this, one suggestion is to promote the idea of subjectspecific working groups, so that creation of materials can be sharedacross a department. Often content creation flounders whendevelopment within a subject is patchy, in that one or twoenthusiasts within a department create all the materials and sobecome reluctant to share resources. This is undesirable when weconsider that sharing is one of the most important ethosesunderpinning e-learning. The technology behind Course Genie cango a long way to resolving this issue, because teaching staff have theopportunity to convert existing electronic materials into interactivedocuments, and most will have something that they can publish. Thisbrings with a whole new set of issues which we will explore in thenext RSC newsletter.

Chris Bell, Specialist Colleges Advisor

intouch

What Issues Arise from giving Subject Specialists the

Tools to Create their own E-Learning Materials?

As part of the national network of ScienceLearning Centres, the Science Learning CentreEast Midlands has been providing aprogramme of innovative CPD for all thoseinvolved in science education, at all levels. Wehave provided courses for all those involved inscience education, from colleagues teachingearly years, primary and secondary to FE. Ourcourses also support technicians andclassroom assistants.

Science Learning Centrecourses have evolved anddeveloped from focus groupmeetings, discussion at eventsand meetings with individualschools & colleges. We areable to be both reactive andproactive, focussing on theneeds of colleagues across theregion. Reaction to our courseshas been extremely positive:

‘I have really enjoyed thecourse. I am taking someexcellent ideas away with me.One of the best courses I’ve been on. The styleand presentation was excellent. A veryvaluable day.’

‘As an NQT, I find these sessions very helpfulfor building on my current subject knowledgeand ways of teaching. As a supply teacher italso keeps me in touch with current issues?’

‘I will be teaching spectroscopy fromSeptember 2005 so this will be a good startingpoint for resources and teaching A2. A mostenjoyable day, thank you.’

In addition to our courses we havecollaborated with the DfES on a ‘ScienceTeaching Rave!’ aimed at KS4 and post-16teachers in schools & colleges. We are alsoproviding a day’s event ‘Chemistry: HandsFree & Hands-On’ for teachers and students ofpost-16 chemistry as part of the Aimhigherproject ‘Chemistry: The Next Generation’.Throughout 2005 we will be hosting events forLEAs, the Association for Science Education,

Royal Society of Chemistry andthe examination group OCR.

Our publicity is sent to schools &colleges across the region at thebeginning of each term. Look outfor the brochure and book early!

Drop-inEvery Tuesday evening from4pm until 6pm we have aninformal drop-in session basedat the Centre at the Universityof Leicester. These sessions areFREE - all we ask is that youcall us to let us know you are

coming! Come and view the latest scienceresources, try out software or refine your ICTskills with support from our ICT specialist.

To contact us about any aspect of scienceeducation and how we can help in yourprofessional development, [email protected], or visit our website atwww.le.ac.uk/slcem

Sue Bull, Science Learning Centre East Midlands

Hints and Tips:Many of you who have attended our ILT subject days have experiencedhow easy it is to create an online quiz. For those of you who haven’t, hereare some tips to get you started:

There are lots of packages available to help you build your quiz. By using theaction buttons option in PowerPoint you can create a simple interactive quizthat can be placed on your Intranet and used as a self assessment tool. Moreadvanced quizzes and exams can be created by using specialised softwarepackages, such as Quia, TOIA and Hot Potatoes.

With Quia, you can create 16 types of educational games and activities,quizzes with eight different question types, surveys and web pages. Thereare also around 2 million shared activities on the site, which can be useddirectly or modified to suit your own needs. Quia does require subscription(from US $49 - approximately £25 - for an individual licence).

http://www.quia.com

TOIA is an advanced online assessment management system, funded by theJISC Exchange for Learning (X4L) programme. TOIA can be used to createand share 9 different types of questions, including essay questions. TOIA isfreely available to all UK FE and HE institutions until August.

http://www.toia.ac.uk

Hot Potatoes is a suite of six authoring tools, which can be used to createweb-based exercises of several types, including multiple choice questions,crosswords and gap-fill exercises. If you work in a non-profit makingeducational organisation, and are prepared to share your exercises bymaking them publicly accessible, then you can use the software free of

charge. If you password-protect your exercises or distribute them only onan Intranet, you will need to buy a licence.

http://www.halfbakedsoftware.com

Creating an exercise using Hot Potatoes takes 3 steps:

1. Entering the data (questions, answers etc.)2. Configuring the output (instructions, button captions, appearance etc.)3. Creating web pages (compiling your quiz into HTML pages)

For example, to create a crossword exercise using Hot Potatoes, simply:

• Open the JCross program and give your crossword a title• Enter your letters in the grid by clicking on a square and typing a letter• Click the ‘Add clues’ button• Select an answer, type in a clue and click ‘OK’• Configure the output. Click Options>Configure output. The dialogue box

enables you to add subtitles, feedback etc, and change the appearance ofyour quiz

• Save your quiz• Create your web page. Click File>Create web page>Web page for v6

browsers, and your crossword is complete!

All of these packages come with detailed tutorials to guide you through thecreation of your quiz, so take a few minutes to read through and look atsome example exercises. In no time at all you’ll have made your firstonline quiz!

Rachael Staceye-Learning Adviser (HE)

Creating online quizzes

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Course Genie: Part one...

Science Learning Centre East Midlands

F O C U SON...

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intouchintouch

The study is set against a backdrop ofincreasing dependency on networkconnectivity, as seen by JANET organisations.It will seek to help organisations identify andunderstand the risks facing their networks andtheir connection(s) to JANET.

Results from the SuperJANET5 requirementsanalysis highlighted JANET reliability as anarea of growing importance, and whilst JANETdoes provide good reliability there is alwaysroom for improvement. UKERNA iscontinually striving to improve the reliability ofthe SuperJANET backbone and RegionalNetworks: one of the aims of SuperJANET5 isto reduce the number of single points of failurewithin regional networks and theirconnectivity to the SuperJANET backbone.

This study focuses on the edge of the networkas the final part of the delivery chain ofservices to end users.

The study will initially seek to conductinterviews with key staff from a range of JANETconnected organisations, in order to identifyand characterise the key areas of dependencythat organisations have on their local networkinfrastructure and their connection(s) to JANET.This information will help generate a widersurvey of JANET connected organisations. Theinformation gathered from interviews and thesurvey will be analysed to provide a summary ofthe approaches taken to risk management andstrategies currently in use to mitigate these risks.Detailed work will be undertaken with JANETconnected organisations and Regional Networks

to assess the effectiveness of current riskmitigation measures. Practical advice on therange of strategies for risk mitigation, includinga number of case studies will be produced.

If any organisations would like to take anactive part in the interviews, survey ordiscussions, please contact the author. If youreceive a request to take part in the study,UKERNA hopes you feel able to participate. ©JNT Association 2005

Henry HughesSuperJANET Development

Programme [email protected]

The DfES e-strategyOn 15 March 2005, the Department for Education and Skillspublished the e-Strategy ‘Harnessing Technology: Transforminglearning and children’s services’.

This strategy describes the use of digital and interactive technologiesto achieve a more personalised approach within all areas ofeducation. It is an ambitious strategy covering all sectors for the nextfive years and beyond.

The aim in five years time is to build the common ground that bringseducation to the critical baseline of being able to use the technologyeffectively. In ten years, building on the newfound capabilities ofour workforces, our newly skilled graduates, and our new appetitefor innovation, we could be anywhere - if we have the ambition andthe imagination to go there.

The strategy sets out to achieve four overarching objectives:

• transforming teaching, learning and child development, enablingchildren and learners of all ages to meet their highest expectations

• connecting with hard to reach groups in new ways• opening up education to partnerships with other organisations• moving to a new level of efficiency and effectiveness in

our delivery.

It is designed to harness technology to the needs of children, learners,parents, teachers, carers, employers and all our stakeholders. We areonly able to do this if we are clear about what we want as well whatwe need, and how by using ICT this will be achieved.

The e-Strategy also has the following six priorities:

• an integrated online information service for all citizens• integrated online personal support for children and learners• a collaborative approach to transforming teaching and learning• a good quality training and support package for practitioners• a leadership and development package for organisational

capability in ICT• a common digital infrastructure to support transformation

and reform

To find out more about the DfES e-strategy, see the summary on the RSC website, or download the full document fromhttp://www.dfes.gov.uk/publications/e-strategy/

Courtesy of the DfES website © Crown Copyright 1995 - 2005

Plans are now well advanced for thefirst East Midlands e-fair organised bythe Regional Support Centre.

It will be held at the main Kedleston Roadsite of the University of Derby on June 23rd2005, starting at 10.00am. The theme ismaking Information Learning Technology(ILT) normal - not an optional add on forenthusiasts, but a valuable tool for everyone.

Keynote speakers include Sal Cooke, Headof Techdis, and Alan Noble MBE, Head ofAdult and Community Learning forBuckinghamshire. There will be workshops,seminars and an exhibition, with somethingfor every role - teaching and learning,management, staff development, technicaland business support - and every sector theRSC supports - FE, Specialist and Sixth Formcolleges, Adult and Community Learningand aspects of HE.

Contributors include the biggest collectionof acronyms and initialisms ever assembledin the history of new technologies in the EastMidlands including: -

• regional organisations such as EMMANand EMBC

• JISC services such as UKERNA, Netskills,TechDis, OSSwatch, Techwatch, JISCCollections, Resource DiscoveryNetwork, TASI and JORUM

• national organisations such asNILTA/AoC, LSDA, FENC, the DfESStandards Unit, National LearningNetwork materials and the MicrosoftEducation Support Centre

You will be able to find out what otherlearning providers in the region are doing.

The ten East Midlands LSDA Q projects,which focus on developing staff skills, will bedisseminating at the e-fair. Amongst the otherprojects you can learn about are theNorthampton Transformation project, theTresham Exchange for Learning project andthe ACL learning platform projects, as well asdevelopments in specialist colleges. You willbe able to network with colleagues fromother learning providers, find out what worksfor them and learn from their experience.

All this - and it’s free. To book your place at the e-fair, visit the RSC website at www.rsc-east-midlands.ac.uk where youwill find more information. There is a guideto what the acronyms mean and the usefulthings the organisations do!

Although we may not shout about it, thereare many exciting developments takingplace in East Midlands learning providers asthe benefits of new technology areincreasingly realised. We have much tolearn from each other. The e-fair is an idealopportunity to do just that. Don’t miss it!

Chris Hill, RSC Manager

All the fun of the

Keynote SpeakerSal Cooke

Alan NobleMBE

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The Higher Education Academy

It was formed from a merger of the Institute for Learning andTeaching in Higher Education (ILTHE), the Learning and TeachingSupport Network (LTSN), and the Teaching Quality EnhancementFund National Co-ordination Team (NCT). The Academy waslaunched on the 14th October 2004.

The creation of the organisation has provided an opportunity toexplore new partnerships and working methods. The Academy aimsto foster closer collaboration with the JISC as part of a strategicalliance between the two organisations. JISC and the Academy havebeen initiating a number of joint activities to ensure effectivenetworking, collaboration and capacity building in the HigherEducation sector. Currently the JISC are funding a series of SubjectCentre projects to explore the issues around the sharing of resourceswithin and between disciplines.

The Academy is also looking specifically at ways to support staffinvolved in HE in FE programmes. The Academy subject centres arecurrently looking for case studies that illustrate good, innovativepractice in the delivery of HE in FE using e-learning. This willinvolve working through both the Academy Subject Centres and theRegional Support Centres.

For more information please visit www.heacademy.ac.uk. Forsupport on any aspect of HE provision and e-Learning, including theaforementioned case studies, please contact Rachael Stacey, the e-Learning adviser for HE at the JISC RSC for the East Midlands.

Liz PearceProjects Officer - e-LearningHigher Education Academy

The Higher Education Academy is a UK-wide organisation set up to support quality enhancement in teaching and the student experiencein higher education.

JANET Network Reliability StudyUKERNA has launched a six month study into network reliability, aiming to provide practical adviceon network infrastructure reliability for JANET connected organisations.

What support is available to E-Guides in the East Midlands?

As the E-Guides take on this significant task of cascading their skills andknowledge within their organisations support will be vital. The RSC EastMidlands will be working to support E-Guides in a range of ways:

• Advice and support with cascade plans• Staff development• Training and workshops• Advice and guidance• Help desk• Forums• Meeting senior managers to discuss ILT and e-Learning

Additional training days for E-Guides

As well as the full E-Guides training programme NIACE inconjunction with all Regional Support Centres across England areorganising 3 additional days of training for E-Guides. Each day willcover 3 topics:

1. Exploring Equipment

2. Creating interactive Content

3. Delivering the cascade training and sharing good practice

At the moment only 2 dates have been confirmed for the EastMidlands and they are April 5th and April 22nd. Details of the venuesand booking forms can be found at the Community ResourceWebsite, www.aclearn.net

Dates for the next round of E-Guide training

There are 2 more dates for the full E-Guide training programme in theEast Midlands so now might be the time to book your places and they are:

9th and 10th May Leicester

8th and 9th June Derby

4th July Regional day for both above events - Nottingham

We look forward to hearing from E-Guides in the East Midlands andworking with you to implement your cascade plans.

Sharon Hutchings ILT Adviser (ACL)

Support for E-Guides in the East Midlands

Since last Summer NIACE have been running the E-Guides

staff development programme. This has been designed to

support Adult and Community Learning staff in embedding

the use of e-learning across the curriculum with an overall

aim to “increase the use of e-Learning across the adult and

community learning curriculum through developing the skills

and knowledge of E-Guides to support colleagues in their use

of technology in teaching and learning.”


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