jisc rsc sw newsletter issue 19, june 2011

20
RSC Newsl etter 2 12 13 16 - 17 FREE Major Summer Event S&B Automotive Academy Win Major Award 1 e-books Increase Availability of Library Resources 3 JISC RSC CSS Survey Mobile Apps and iPad Streamline Support 4 - 5 What is eSafety, Why Do It? 7 Triumphant Technologies RSC SW Online Events 8 - 9 ACL Funding 10 In this issue... Regional Events Integrating Social Media in Education 11 Equality Through Technology Managing and Syncing Mobile Devices 13 BCE JISC Support 14 Share, Debate, Create Using Cloudworks Facebook Debate Refreshing New Look For Excellence Gateway £6.5 Million Announced For Universities 15 Stimulating and supporting innovation in learning Issue 19 Jun 2011 18 19 6 Welcome to Issue 19 of the JISC RSC SW newsletter JISC RSC South West Announce FREE Major Summer Event The JISC Regional Support Centre SW warmly invites you to a lively and fastpaced day of 'turbotalks' centred upon the use of technology in education. The programme for the day will incorporate four simultaneous streams of concise, rapid presentations lasting no more than six minutes each. The entertaining format of this event promises to captivate and inspire attendees! Focusing on successful and innovative use of technology within teaching and learning, this event provides an excellent opportunity for staff to disseminate, share and discuss their Technology Enhanced Learning (T.E.L.) experiences. There will also be ample networking opportunities for delegates to discuss issues of common interest and learn from each other in true collaborative spirit. Audience This highly informative event is aimed at Senior Managers, Practitioners, Trainers, Support Staff and all IT enthusiasts involved in teaching and learning within FE, HE, ACL, WBL, Specialist Colleges and Partner Organisations. More Information To book your place please click here , early bookings are recommended. To get involved in preevent discussions around this event and access all the resources and information, please join our Ning social network. This is the JISC RSC SW’s private network for all our supported providers and contains a whole host of useful areas of interest. http://jiscrscsw.ning.com We also have a dedicated webpage available by following this link Access the programme by following this link Please do not hesitate to contact us at: rscadvice@rscsouthwest.ac.uk with any queries. #turbotel Image by Robert thivierge 15th June, South Bristol Skills Academy

Upload: jisc-south-west-midlands

Post on 09-May-2015

1.973 views

Category:

Education


3 download

DESCRIPTION

JISC RSC SW Newsletter Issue 19, June 2011

TRANSCRIPT

Page 1: JISC RSC SW Newsletter Issue 19, June 2011

RSC Newsletter

2

12

13

16 - 17

FREE Major Summer Event S&B Automotive Academy Win Major Award

1

e-books Increase Availability of Library Resources

3

JISC RSC CSS Survey Mobile Apps and iPad Streamline Support

4 - 5

What is eSafety, Why Do It?

7

Triumphant Technologies RSC SW Online Events

8 - 9

ACL Funding 10

In this issue...

Regional Events Integrating Social Media in Education

11

Equality Through Technology Managing and Syncing Mobile Devices

13

BCE JISC Support 14

Share, Debate, Create Using Cloudworks Facebook Debate Refreshing New Look For Excellence Gateway £6.5 Million Announced For Universities

15

Stimulating and supporting innovation in learning Issue 19 ‐ Jun 2011

18

19

6

Welcome to Issue 19 of the JISC RSC SW newsletter JISC RSC South West Announce FREE Major Summer Event The JISC Regional Support Centre SW warmly invites you to a lively and fast‐paced day of 'turbo‐talks' centred upon the use of technology in education. The programme for the day will incorporate four simultaneous streams of concise, rapid presentations lasting no more than six minutes each. The entertaining format of this event promises to captivate and inspire attendees! Focusing on successful and innovative use of technology within teaching and learning, this event provides an excellent opportunity for staff to disseminate, share and discuss their Technology Enhanced Learning (T.E.L.) experiences. There will also be ample networking opportunities for delegates to discuss issues of common interest and learn from each other in true collaborative spirit. Audience This highly informative event is aimed at Senior Managers, Practitioners, Trainers, Support Staff and all IT enthusiasts involved in teaching and learning within FE, HE, ACL, WBL, Specialist Colleges and Partner Organisations. More Information To book your place please click here, early bookings are recommended. To get involved in pre‐event discussions around this event and access all the resources and information, please join our Ning social network. This is the JISC RSC SW’s private network for all our supported providers and contains a whole host of useful areas of interest. http://jisc‐rscsw.ning.com We also have a dedicated webpage available by following this link Access the programme by following this link Please do not hesitate to contact us at: rsc‐advice@rsc‐south‐west.ac.uk with any queries.

#turbotel Image by Robert thivierge

15th June, South Bristol Skills Academy

Page 2: JISC RSC SW Newsletter Issue 19, June 2011

2

S&B Automotive Academy Success at IMS Global Learning Impact Awards 2011 S&B Automotive Academy, based in Bristol have won a Bronze award at the annual IMS Global Learning impact Awards. These awards are designed to recognize those initiatives which have the greatest impact on the use of technology worldwide in support of learning. Finalists are selected to showcase their developments at the annual Learning Impact conference in Long Beach, California, where a panel of global experts determine the winners, which are categorised as Platinum, Gold, Bronze and Silver. S&B Automotive Academy were presented with 2 duplicate awards, one being presented to recognise the sponsor. Jon Winter, Managing Director of S&B Automotive has decided to award David Rowe of the RSC South West with the second duplicate award. This is in recognition of the support David provided during the bid writing process throughout the Jericho project’s. “I would really like to thank the RSC SW, particularly David Rowe for your help, this award is for you as much as it is for us. Without your help we would not of known about it and your bid writing skills have led to many successful funding bids.” ‐ John Winter, Managing Director S&B Automotive The Learning Impact Awards recognise both the product and service involved as well the exemplary real world implementers as both combine to create the “learning impact”. Therefore, submissions can be made by any product or service provider or end‐user educational institution or training provider. Submissions are made under any one of 19 Product categories or 9 Service categories. These are then compared to the 8 evaluation criteria areas: Access, Affordability, Quality, Adoption, Accountability, Organizational Learning, Interoperability and Innovation.

S&B Automotive Academy won the award for their highly innovative work with NetCam technology, which was the focus of two projects, generally know as the Jericho projects. Firstly their work with employers, apprentices and their awarding body the IMI, which has resulted in the practical application of NetCam technology i.e. carrying out remote competence assessments within the workplace via an internet connection without the assessor being present. In a second but parallel

development, NetCam technology is used to facilitate virtual workplace visits for Year 10 and 11 school pupils. These virtual visits allow real world two‐way visual and voice communication between employers, apprentices, managers and others and the pupils, without the need for the pupils to leave their classroom. The Jericho projects have not only streamlined assessment by providing assessors and apprentices the technology to communicate in real‐time, but they have also enabled the whole process to be much more efficient. By using net cam’s in the workplace S&B Automotive Academy is seeing notable efficiency savings: • Fuel savings for visiting remote apprentices • Co2 emissions, cutting the carbon footprint • Considerable time savings In fact S&B have a target of cutting their carbon footprint by 20% this year. They are also very keen for other sectors to embrace a similar model of delivery, which they feel could be very important during the difficult economic times. S&B would like to thank all those organisations who have supported these developments, including members of the Jericho project, members of the Western Training Provider network and LSIS who have supported the development through a successful application for funding under its Innovation funding programme. S&B would also like to thank the JISC Advance Regional Support Centre South West and David Rowe its e‐Learning Adviser for Work‐based Learning, for the invaluable support and assistance with both the Jericho project and the IMS Global award application process.

Excellence Gateway: S&B Automotive Case Studies S & B Automotive Academy: Development of partnership VLE to support vocational training and learning Thanks to funding from a Learning Innovation Grant, S & B Automotive has enabled the development of a network‐wide virtual learning environment (VLE) – known as the Hive, to be implemented across eight learning providers. This has enhanced teaching resources and the learner environment, and essentially enabled greater collaboration between the providers. Read more about the case study by following this link S&B Automotive Academy: Webcam technology streamlines work‐based assessment and cuts costs S&B Automotive Academy has developed a seamless and interactive online system for remotely assessing its apprentices on‐demand. The system utilises state‐of‐the‐art video technology deployed at workplaces throughout the UK, which links into the Academy's virtual learning environment (VLE). It has successfully gained Learning Innovation Grant 5 (LIG 5) funding to develop the technology, which is already cutting down travelling costs for assessors, as well as saving time and contributing to a substantial reduction in their carbon footprint. Read more about the case study by following this link

Page 3: JISC RSC SW Newsletter Issue 19, June 2011

e-Books increase access and availability of library resources Jolanta Peters, Research & Libraries Services Manager at Somerset College, has pioneered the introduction of Amazon Kindle e‐book readers for the College library. Not only has this enhanced the availability of reading resources, but it has also given technology students better access to library resources. With the Kindle devices technology students can ‘virtually' carry many books at the same time, which ordinarily would be very difficult or not possible due to the heavy weight of the books. The library at Somerset College provides a diverse range of books and learning resources. Some of the books for certain subjects are very thick and heavy, which means that they are unwieldy for many students. Some are too big to loan out because many students have trouble carrying and transporting them, with certain types of books being reference only. This not only restricts access to the books, but also the availability of them because the library in some cases only has one copy of the book. Jolanta decided that the library could benefit from using e‐books, after a colleague suggested that they could use mobile devices in the library. Once the library had purchased the Kindle devices, staff within the Technology department provided Jolanta with lists of technology book titles that they needed, specifically related to the course materials the students required for their courses. When Jolanta had added all the e‐books to the Kindle devices she handed them out to technology staff and students to trial and use straightaway. What is almost instantly apparent from the feedback Jolanta has received is the fact that the Kindle e‐book readers have really helped to open up reading materials for technology students. They have also enabled the students to devote more time to reading and, in fact, surprisingly made reading more accessible for many students who do not get on well with reading traditional paper‐based books. In physical terms the Kindle weighs in at only 289.2 grams, about the weight of a small paperback book. If you think that the Kindle can potentially store up to 3,000 titles on one device that is like having a library in your pocket. At the moment the devices being loaned out to the Technology department have around ten titles stored on them, which in comparison to physical books still means a difference in weight of a couple of stones and more! For dyslexic students the Kindle has a text enlarging function, so the letters and words can be made much bigger on the screen. There is also a text‐to‐speech function included. Another benefit of the Kindles is that the screen does not glare like an iPad, for example. This means that the reader's eyes will not tire in the same way. They also have very good battery power and can last without a charge for up to and over a month. Find out more by reading the full case study on the Excellence Gateway website by following this link

Jolanta's advice for other learning providers interested in using e-books within their libraries:

“Not to just buy any books that are suggested, it is good to follow reading lists so that you know the material will be relevant for the students.” “Libraries should seek the support of tutors to provide relevant reading lists if the materials are course‐related otherwise they might be providing materials that will not be used.” “Look at which supplier you want to use. Amazon is very good in terms of prices and the range of books available, if you use another supplier you might find that the range of course materials are not as good.” “We are now looking at working with other College departments to try and develop more interest, as we can see that the use of Kindles growing, this would potentially be of great benefit for the College as a whole.”

Useful links

Somerset College website View Somerset College's external Learning Resources Catalogue. Somerset College's Scoodle (Moodle VLE). For more information about this case study, email the author Matt Ewens at mattewens@rsc‐south‐west.ac.uk

3

Page 4: JISC RSC SW Newsletter Issue 19, June 2011

4

JISC RSC Customer Satisfaction Survey - JISC RSC UK statement The JISC RSC Customer Satisfaction Survey confirms the significant benefit the JISC RSC network brings to the sector nationwide. Three areas of support ‐ improving the learning experience, advice on staff development and optimising shared services ‐ were identified as being the most valued, demonstrating that the JISC RSC network is responding to the current issues and challenges facing the UK‐wide community. The results highlighted an overall customer satisfaction rate of 87%, with no less than 50% of respondents declaring themselves ‘very satisfied’ ‐ an outstanding result ‐ and many respondents stating that the support that they received from the JISC RSCs couldn’t be found anywhere else. Tracey Boston‐Townsend, Operations Director for JISC Advance and heading up the strategic direction of the JISC RSCs said: “This survey is just one example of the many ways that we measure the impact of our work. The results reinforce and confirm our service is valued and useful across the community and will help us to continue to deliver relevant information and advice to keep the sector better informed for the future.“ The survey was conducted by LISU, a national research and information centre based in the Research School of Informatics and the Department of Information Science at Loughborough University. JISC RSC support was clearly valued; many stated that the support they received from

the JISC RSCs couldn’t be found anywhere else. To quote: “Very valuable support which I couldn't source elsewhere.” “If it wasn't for the JISC RSC, I wouldn't have half the knowledge or the ability to support the staff at the learning provider that I work for. The JISC RSC has been invaluable.” “Always ahead of the game with new ideas and projects and provides training which is hard to find anywhere else.” “Always ahead of the game with new ideas and projects and provides training which is hard to find anywhere else.” Other RSC‐UK findings E‐communication was the most popular method of engaging with JISC RSCs, with 93% of customers using this method and 63% frequently. The greatest satisfaction was had from engaging at face to face events and meetings with 95% satisfied or very satisfied. Satisfaction with all means of communication was high. More than 90% customers were satisfied or very satisfied with Forums and Networks and e‐communications. Staff development was the topic area most used at present and most often mentioned for further support in the future. E‐learning, VLEs and strategic planning had multiple mentions for future support.

About the survey The survey questions were developed by JISC Advance in consultation with selected representatives from the JISC RSC network and LISU. The survey was administered online over three weeks during March 2011. The survey went out to approximately 13,000 recipients, with an overall response rate of 13%. We went out to a wider remit of contacts than on previous surveys. This time, all JISC RSC contacts in learning providers were asked to contribute regardless of whether they had engaged with us once or had an established relationship with the JISC RSC. Due to this methodology, results cannot be directly compared with previous Customer Satisfaction Surveys. A variety of roles were represented in the survey with the largest categories being Management and Leadership (23%), Learning Resources (20%) and Teaching (16%). Recipients were from a wide range of FE learning providers: FE Colleges, Sixth Form Colleges, Higher Education Institutions, Work Based Learning, Adult & Community Learning, Independent Specialist Colleges, local authorities, apprenticeship providers plus a small number of recipients came from the HE Sector. More than half of all respondents were from FE Colleges.

Page 5: JISC RSC SW Newsletter Issue 19, June 2011

JISC RSC South West regional CSS A total of 94 responses were received from customers of RSC South West, representing a response rate of 18%. Overall findings show that customers are very satisfied or satisfied with the services we provide, with no negative responses.

JISC RSC SW CSS What category of learning provider?

What does your role involve?

5

Page 6: JISC RSC SW Newsletter Issue 19, June 2011

6

Mobile apps & iPad streamline support Martial Bugliolo has successfully used RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feeds to synchronise an iPad so that it aggregates all his students' digital sketchbooks. This has enabled him to employ a much more streamlined approach to delivering teaching and learning support for his students. The iPad and iPhone applications have really made it possible for him to move his teaching practice into a truly innovative and refreshing digital era. Martial wanted to see how he could use mobile technologies and modern devices like iPads to help enable his students to progress more fluidly with their studies and provide a platform that could enhance formative and summative assessment. Martial also wanted to utilise something that would give him a better way to monitor student progress. He looked into the possibilities of using RSS feeds with Google Reader (an RSS reader) and then, when the iPhone/iPad came into the market, Martial discovered many new applications and RSS readers that were available to use with these devices. It was at this point that Martial realised that he would be able to sync his students' digital sketchbooks through an iPad and be able to almost instantly see when his students had submitted new work. Once his students have submitted a blog post with their work, or as part of a project related to a module, Martial can monitor their activity in real time through his iPad. All Martial needs to do is copy the website address, which contains the RSS feed for the student's blog, and add the address to a new feed within the Acrylic reader application. The program then immediately syncs to the student's blog and all Martial needs to do is use the intuitive ‘drag and drop' features, which he controls with his fingers directly on the screen to navigate and access the student's work. “It’s like having their sketchbook on your table all the time” ‐ Martial Bugliolo, Course Leader for Diploma in Interactive Media & Game Arts Through the digital sketchbooks, Martial has undoubtedly provided the students with better access to resources and their work, as well as enhancing his own teaching practice. The digital sketchbooks have improved many areas as a whole: • peer assessment; • self‐assessment; • formative assessment; • summative assessment; • streamlining the delivery of coursework and access to resources; • assessors realise real‐time and cost savings; • students have an e‐portfolio of work they can access after they leave College; and • the students' work does not need to be printed out. Ultimately, Martial has employed a more blended learning approach to help his students, which is providing them with additional e‐learning support. This suits their learning needs, as some students work better individually as opposed to working in groups. Developing the digital sketchbooks through blogs has provided the students with a platform they can access and use through their own mobile devices. Find out more by reading the full case study on the Excellence Gateway website by following this link

Supporting media: Videos Martial demonstrating an iPad with RSS feeds ‐ follow this link to watch the video Video of Martial demonstrating LAN School to monitor student screen as well as adding interactive quizzes on the Universal subtitles website ‐ follow this link to watch the video Syncing student blogs with RSS feeds through innovative mobile applications and ipad devices, part 1 on the Universal subtitles website ‐ follow this link to watch the video Part 2 of the video ‐ follow this link to watch the video Useful links

Plymouth College of Art Acrylic reader for the iPad ‐ the website for aggregating RSS feeds Google Reader ‐ a free RSS reader for mobile devices LAN School software website Blogger ‐ free blogging website Information about the Pulse reader on the Apple website For more information about this case study, email the author Matt Ewens at mattewens@rsc‐south‐west.ac.uk

Page 7: JISC RSC SW Newsletter Issue 19, June 2011

What is e-safety and why should we do it?

JISC RSCs have a new e‐safety online resource to support providers across the Learning & Skills sector in developing and implementing good practice and appropriate e‐safety procedures. An increasing demand for cost effective, responsive, differentiated educational opportunities and the inclusive potential of personal technology, mean that teachers are employing an every larger range of technologies and online social tools to reach and engage learners; often using their own personal devices. Managing and monitoring access to content and online behaviour has become central to

teaching and learning delivery. Although there are many resources being developed to aid this, e‐safety cannot be managed in the post‐16 sector in the same way as it is managed in schools. In fact, the issue of staying safe online is only one factor in the increasingly complex environment of online delivery. In the L&S sector the variety of activities, diversity of age and ability of learners, as well as the range of teaching and learning delivery methods employed in FE, WBL and ACL mean that staying safe online has to be a two‐way process. Both learner and provider have responsibilities to fulfil. That is why we have used the term e‐responsibility to define the RSC approach. As with every‐day life the key to staying safe online lies in raising awareness, improving skills and in encouraging an understanding of the implications of unsafe or irresponsible behaviour. Staff and learners must be enabled to act to protect themselves, each other and the provider organisation. The JISC RSC’s have compiled an online resource which brings together the best existing strategic and operational resources. It aims to address as many variables as possible but will need to be supplemented by your own specific experience, knowledge and context. In order to share this expertise you are encouraged to give feedback. You will find links to the best resources for raising awareness and planning e‐safety which will support a range of roles across the sector. They include resources for self‐assessing personal and organisational risk, raising awareness and skills with learners and staff as well as advice on meeting legal and inspection requirements. The Regional Support Centre in your area will be able to support your organisation directly to make good use of this resource as a strategic tool; to assess your current e‐safety practice and to develop the necessary skills and resources that will enable legal compliance, help meet inspection requirements, and identify and manage risk appropriately. They will be able to offer both strategic and practical support and respond to specific sector and regional issues. We can offer: • Workshops on e‐responsible behaviours • Guidance on using the online resource for staff development • Help in assessing your practice in e‐safety • Formal and informal CPD opportunities

If you would like to know more visit: https://eresponsibility.pbworks.com or get in touch with your JISC Regional Support Centre

Publications Updated Accessibility Kits The accessibility kits have been updated recently with new equipment. To find out more please follow this link to view the flyer Or directly view the list of equipment by following this link

Archived JISC RSC SW Newsletters Issue 17 Follow this link Issue 18 Follow this link

5 Ways to Use Your RSC Find out how the JISC RSC SW can help you Follow this link to view

Best of the NING Our Ning social network is continuing to develop, and for those practitioners that are unable to access the resources, here is a roundup of the best of the Ning Follow this link to view To access all our publications please visit our Issuu account by following this link To access all our presentations and publications, please follow this link to our Slideshare account

7

Page 8: JISC RSC SW Newsletter Issue 19, June 2011

8

Triumphant Technologies for Testing Times: An RSC South West Online Seminar Series - June 2011 Over the course of June, the JISC Regional Support Centre South West will present a variety of online seminars focusing on how Teachers and Support Staff have effectively integrated technologies into their practice. These will cover a large variety of topics, some explicitly technological, whilst others focus on the processes and procedures which have underpinned the successful incorporation and development of new approaches. All of the sessions are free to attend, and as they will be facilitated via the RSC’s web conferencing software, you can participate from anywhere with an internet connected PC. Each session will last a maximum of 45 minutes. Spaces however are very limited, so if you want to attend, early booking is recommended. There are a few more sessions in prospect, and once I have details of these I will circulate information about them. You can book online for any of these sessions at the JISC Regional Support Centre Website: BOOK BY FOLLOWING THIS LINK 9th June, 2pm Vicki Weavers ‐ Weston College Using the VLE standards as a College wide Quality Improvement Tool Through the development of a set of standards, Weston College has improved the quality of its Moodle virtual learning environment (VLE) course provision. Weston College has had a VLE since 2003. In August 2007 it went live with Moodle as its preferred VLE, developed, hosted and supported in‐house. In the first year of cross‐college deployment, Moodle was well adopted without any particular pressure on staff to achieve specific targets. The new system, in comparison to its former VLE, was seen as intuitive and there was a general level of enthusiasm from staff to receive staff training. ILT enthusiasts were used as champions of the new VLE, developing and sharing good practice. A student and staff Resources User Group was established to feedback on the new VLE and guide its early development. The VLE standards were devised to set a minimum expectation for online provision to ensure that all learners on full‐time courses had a corresponding VLE course. The aim of the standards was to provide and facilitate exemplary course provision through dynamic materials and e‐learning resources. Every course must be at Bronze standard and yearly targets are set for the achievement of Silver/Gold standard courses. Vicki was instrumental in devising and implementing this pioneering system, and she will discuss her experiences. 9th June, 11am Patrick Kelly (Assistant Director, Learner Development) and Deborah Peat Open University Blended Student Support ‐ making effective use of online resources (Information, Advice and Guidance) The Open University uses a blend of media to provide information, advice and guidance and student support. We still use print, the telephone and some face‐to‐face contact but almost all students are now online and this has opened up lots of new ways of communicating with and supporting students. These include online resources to support induction and study skills, timely communications at key points during study, support forums, careers IAG, and resources to support disabled students. We have only made limited use of social media so far but think there is huge potential to encourage peer group support and foster the development of learning communities. Patrick and Deborah will be over‐viewing the OU experience, and will be very interested in hearing about your Institutional experiences.

Event Dates 3rd June, 11am Martial Bugliolo (Course leader for Diploma in Interactive Media & Game Arts/Design for Games BA (Hons) Coordinator) Plymouth College of Art Enhanced access to resources through RSS feeds syncing with student Blogs and utilising Mobile Technologies and iPads This session will focus on the use of hand‐held/portable technology such as iPad, iPhone and Android devices to support students' experience. Martial will also be sharing the results of his research during the last 12 months, regarding new apps and software management. There will also be an opportunity to look at the latest mobile technologies and apps for education and as well as keeping the focus on how learning technology can be linked to the curriculum. For more information on Martial’s work at Plymouth College of Art in advance of the session, go to: http://www.excellencegateway.org.uk/page.aspx?o=316573 8th June, 11am Max Sauter Bridgwater College Mobile Learning with Foundation Degree Students This session will look at a number of ways that different mobile technologies can be used to engage students higher order analytical skills. These will enable students to develop specific skills required for Higher Education via the use of mobile technologies to make accessible and different for students.

Page 9: JISC RSC SW Newsletter Issue 19, June 2011

9

20th June, 11am Sue Lewis (Support for Learners Project Coordinator) and Elaine Fisher (Lifelong Learning Manager) Western Vocational Lifelong Learning Network/LifePilot Supporting progression from vocational pathways to higher education level study through online tools providing Information, Advice and Guidance An opportunity to learn more about online tools developed through the Western Vocational Lifelong Learning Network that support those with vocational experience and qualifications in starting their journey to higher education level study. The session will briefly show the WVLLN site’s Staff Room and then take you through the Lifepilot website ‐ which provides IAG to vocational adults. The Lifepilot site offers information, tools and stories to help adults take the first step towards higher education level study ‐ even if they are starting with few qualifications. The site, currently South West wide, receives more than 1500 visits a month and 98% of those surveyed say they have found something useful in the site, 100% say it is interesting and useful and 94% say it is inspiring. 21st June, 11am Rebecca Galley (Curriculum Design Project Officer) and Nick Freear Open University ‐ (Institute of Educational Technology) Cloudworks and CloudEngine: Open, participatory and social software for discussing and sharing ideas and resources in education Cloudworks is a specialised social networking site for sharing, debating and co‐creating ideas as well as designs and resources for teaching, learning and scholarship in education. Central to the development of the site has been the belief that one of the key challenges in encouraging more innovative learning design and better use of technologies is getting educators to share designs and ideas. The site is based around the idea of "social objects" surrounded by a social space for discussion. These social objects can be cumulatively and collectively improved. The site has been co‐funded by JISC and The Open University, and has ca.4000 registered users and visitors from 165 countries (Feb 2011). Recently (October 2010), the code behind Cloudworks was released as free and open source software under the name 'CloudEngine'. The CloudEngine software has been built with accessibility in mind. It is lightweight and enables communities to easily and quickly set up their own social networking site with all the functionality of Cloudworks. This presentation will outline the rationale which has informed the development of both Cloudworks and CloudEngine, and will provide an overview of how they work and the benefits they can be seen to offer learning, teaching, research and other communities. 23rd June, 11am Alex Di‐Savoia (Lecturer) University College Falmouth Intellectual Property Rights for Educational Environments: Enhancing learning development resources for shifting pedagogies In a climate in which HEIs are exploring alternative modes of curriculum delivery, learning developers are having to respond to the needs of learners engaged in distance and blended courses. For some institutions this requires a reappraisal of how learning development resources are developed, accessed and shared. This session explores how the sharing and repurposing of learning development resources may be underpinned by a greater understanding of IPR and licensing. In 2009 JISC/HEA launched a series of projects to develop open educational resources (OERs). A shared concern was the complex issues related to lack of understanding of IPR and the variety of institutional practices relating to the ownership of teaching and learning materials. Those involved in developing learning for open release often found the task of copyright clearance daunting and in some instances this affected the pedagogic structure of the on‐line resource (McGill et al 2010). This session explores the development of a JISC/HEA funded project to develop an introductory module that builds awareness of aspects of intellectual property rights (IPR) and copyright for learning development resource design. It is intended to offer CPD for learning developers and academics responsible for designing on‐line resources. The session will use a quiz to explore participants' perceptions of IPR. It will explore how awareness of copyright issues at an early stage of resource design informs the way in which content may be developed and/or repurposed support on‐line, blended, distance and open education learning.

29th June, 11am Bex Ferriday ( Lead Teacher (ILT)) Cornwall College Teaching Digital Literacy: Real Skills, Virtual World We live in an increasingly digital world; people need to use computer technology in everyday life to develop new social and economic opportunities for themselves, their families and their communities. Therefore, being digitally literate is not simply a case of being Information Technology Adept', but more about feeling confident in communicating using a range of digital technologies. As participation in virtual worlds gives users access to a range of literacy practices I was interested to discover whether digital literacy skills would be honed by an online cohort of trainee teachers spread across Europe whose only relationship with one another would be within the parameters of 'Second Life' and through their avatars' (their on‐screen characters). This seminar will provide some of the answers! If you have any enquiries please email: rsc‐advice@rsc‐south.ac.uk

Page 10: JISC RSC SW Newsletter Issue 19, June 2011

Who can apply? The Adult and Community Learning Fund is open to learning providers in England regardless of whether or not they currently receive funding for IACL directly from the Skills Funding Agency Adult Safeguarded Learning (ASL) budget. However, providers not currently in receipt of direct funding from the Skills Funding Agency will be expected to involve in their project a partner who is already directly funded by the Skills Funding Agency from the ASL budget. These potential partners include almost all Local Authorities and many Further Education colleges in England. How to apply Applications should be made online by following this link by 12 noon on Friday 10 June 2011. A full prospectus is available online. If you have any questions about the Fund, please check online first. If you cannot find the answer to your query, please email: [email protected] , where your question will be dealt with within three working days. Unfortunately, NIACE will not be able to deal with questions by phone and cannot enter into any correspondence once the closing date for applications has passed. When can projects start? If you are successful, you can start your project as soon as possible after you have been notified by Friday 22 July 2011, and by 1 September 2011 at the latest. All projects receiving funding must have completed activity by 31 March 2012.

10

ACL Funding Organisations from across England can bid for their share of £2.25 million from the Adult and Community Learning Fund for new and imaginative adult and community learning opportunities that engage and motivate, in particular, disadvantaged adults. The maximum amount for any bid is £75,000 and the minimum is £10,000. The Adult and Community Learning Fund, administered by NIACE on behalf of the Skills Funding Agency, will contribute to the Government's aspirations for Informal Adult and Community Learning (IACL). The Adult and Community Learning Fund can support a wide range of projects and activities in England ‐ though all of them should deliver learning to adults. Projects will need to demonstrate the role adult learning plays in the achievement of a range of the Government's wider social policy goals. In addition all projects will be expected to develop robust measures to demonstrate their impact and outcomes for learners and communities. Key themes of the Adult and Community Learning Fund The following are important themes in Adult and Community Learning Fund activity and NIACE will look favourably on projects that exemplify one or more of these key themes in applications: • support for civic engagement and community decision making; • support of better mental or physical health; • support for enhancing financial capability; • involvement and enhancement of both volunteers and the engagement of voluntary

organisations; • widening access to digital and other important skills; • building stronger families; • connecting non‐formal learning opportunities with formal learning, and • opportunities for individuals and communities to develop social and economic

independence. What sort of projects can be funded? Although it's not an absolute requirement to meet all of the criteria below we will look favourably on projects that: • widen participation in learning for adults • contribute to the reinvigoration of IACL by developing innovative and effective approaches

to engaging learners and supporting their learning journey • involve partnership working • are sustainable • have wider benefit or impact • exemplify one or more of the key themes listed above • encourage progression for learners • encourage those learners who are able to do so to contribute to the costs of their learning

either financially or in‐kind. Projects will be expected to deliver direct benefits to adult learners and potential learners. In this context the term 'adults' refers to anyone aged 19 or over.

Page 11: JISC RSC SW Newsletter Issue 19, June 2011

Regional Events Cont…. Supporting progression from vocational pathways to higher education level study through online tools providing Information, Advice and Guidance Date: 20/06/2011 Location: Online Price: FREE Starts: 11.00am until 12 noon Book by following this link An Introduction to Instructional Design for eLearning Date: 21/06/2011 Audience: This workshop is aimed at anyone with an interest in the design, development and delivery of online learning materials, particularly teachers, lecturers and trainers wishing to investigate the production of online learning, or review the effectiveness of their existing online learning materials. This workshop will also benefit current instructional designers who have no formal training. Location: 8‐10 Berkeley Square,Bristol University Price: £165 Starts: 10.00am until 4.00pm Book by following this link Cloudworks and CloudEngine: Open, participatory and social software for discussing and sharing ideas and resources in education Date 21/06/2011 Location: Online Price: FREE Starts: 11.00am until 12 noon To find out more view the flyer by following this link Book by following this link

11

Regional Events Enhanced access to resources through RSS feeds syncing with student Blogs and utilising Mobile Technologies and iPads Date: 03/06/2011 ‐ Location: Online Price: FREE ‐ Starts: 11.00am until 12 noon To find out more view the flyer by following this link Book your place by following this link Mobile Learning with Foundation Degree Students Date: 08/06/2011 ‐ Location: Online Price: FREE ‐ Starts: 11.00am until 12 noon To find out more view the flyer by following this link Book your place by following this link Blended Student Support ‐ making effective use of online resources (Information, Advice and Guidance) Date: 09/06/2011 ‐ Location: Online Price: FREE ‐ Starts: 11.00am until 12 noon To find out more view the flyer by following this link Book your place by following this link Using the VLE Standards as a College wide Quality Improvement Tool Date: 09/06/2011 ‐ Location: Online Price: FREE ‐ Starts: 2.00pm until 3.00pm To find out more view the flyer by following this link Book your place by following this link Turbo T.E.L. (Technology Enhanced Learning) ‐ * JISC RSC Major event * Date: 15/06/2011 Audience: This highly informative event is aimed at Senior Managers, Practitioners, Trainers, Support Staff and all IT enthusiasts involved in teaching and learning within FE, HE, ACL, WBL, Specialist Colleges and Partner Organisations. Location: South Bristol Skills Academy (City of Bristol College) Price: FREE Starts: Registration from 10:00am, starting at 10:30a until 4.00pm To find out more view the flyer by following this link View a copy of the programme by following this link Book you place by following this link Facing up to Facebook: Issues for the uses of Facebook with 16‐19 year old Learners‐ A research based exploration Date: 10/06/2011 ‐ Location: Online Price: FREE Starts: 1.30pm until 3.00pm Book your place by following this link

Page 12: JISC RSC SW Newsletter Issue 19, June 2011

12

Integrating Social Media in Education - What is social media? In the past, going back before the internet really took off to before the 90’s we would perhaps look other sources such as libraries to provide us with the necessary knowledge through books and publications. Social media did not really exist in the same capacity and teachers primarily used a blackboard to write on when presenting their information to their students, who would have to write down lecture notes in workbooks or on paper contained in folders. Nowadays social media is used for so many things, even to provide important services to locate loved ones in the advent of terrible natural disasters such as the Japanese Earthquake. Google Person Finder provided a service to do just that, and it helped so many people. Of course this was blogged about numerously across the world, Tweeted and shared by people until news hit the major radio and television services, who reported on the service Google had provided ‐ with they themselves Tweeting the news and so the cycle of social media really has propelled news and information at a very rapid rate. In fact the dimensions of teaching are evolving rapidly as technology and mobile communication devices become more advanced. Now we can use social media to provide an extended teaching and learning experience as well as enable students to self‐learn and communicate better than they have ever been. But more importantly students are being given a much more equal playing field when it comes to learning because with social media they can: • Share content with their friends and family • Work in their own time • Communicate much more easily through mobile devices and the internet • Teachers can provide more support materials in the form of blogs, video tutorials, podcasts,

forums and even online conferencing support. • Resources are available from VLE’s and websites 24 hours a day • Web 2.0 ‐ interactive content and web 3.0 ‐ semantic technology to track what you like Why Use Social Media? With social media you can effectively channel content easily, online and share this content using a variety of means. Students are so engaged in new technology, particularly mobile technology. To most students mobile technology is something they are very familiar with. By enabling mobile technology in the classroom and bolting into that network of cogs social networking you can deliver and receive content almost instantly by using RSS (really simple syndication) feeds. These can be linked to an RSS reader like iGoogle, which will automatically update content as it comes in. What else is good about using social media: • Teachers can monitor progress in real time • Mobile devices can access resources • RSS feeds can provide auto‐updated content • QR codes can link directly to media • Analytics can be used for embedded media • Videos/Audio can easily be integrated into website/VLE's • Resources can be stored online • Teachers/assessors can communicate to students remotely through online conferencing • Courses and sessions can be recorded to avoid repetition • Resources can be more inclusive and accessible • Time and money can be saved! Why not try using social media? Why not start by using our social network? http://jisc‐rscsw.ning.com/ By Matt Ewens

RSC South West RSS feeds... Keep informed about the latest developments and news through our RSS feeds. Feeds are available for our news and events pages here: www.rsc-south-west.ac.uk To subscribe, click on the RSS feed icon from the home page and then select the subscribe link. The RSC South West have also created RSS feeds for all their web 2.0 channels through our Ning social network. Access these below:

RSC South West eNews The eNews has evolved!! The RSC South West is now using JISCMail newsletter templates to produce better quality eNews. To subscribe, please email ‘subscribe’ and contact details to rsc‐advice@rsc‐south‐west.ac.uk

Page 13: JISC RSC SW Newsletter Issue 19, June 2011

RSC South West Team

Manager John Mckenzie Administrator/ Event Coordinator Jan Holt eLearning Advisers Dan McCaffrey David Rowe Julia Taylor Lyn Bender Noel Davis Tracey Morris David Bevington Information Officer Matt Ewens Contact: Tel: 01752 587031 Email: rsc‐advice@rsc‐south‐west.ac.uk JISC Regional Support Centre Southwest University of Plymouth, Babbage Room 316 Drake Circus Plymouth. PL4 8AA Phone: 01752 587031 Email: rsc‐advice@rsc‐south‐west.ac.uk

13

Equality through technology Technology offers us some real opportunities to deliver more inclusive teaching and learning. Learners with all levels of ability, studying all kinds of subjects can benefit from easier, less‐restricted access to course information, improved availability of resources and flexible delivery via a VLE or personal device. Current financial constraints make remote access to online resources and tutors more cost effective for both learner and provider. The recent Equality Act, SED and the inspection requirements for Equality and Diversity (Ofsted limiting grade) mean that good inclusive practice that can really impact on recruitment, retention and results is merging with the legal responsibility for equality of provision. JISC TechDis have produced guidance on making the Single Equality Duty meaningful and Improving the 3r’s through Technology. Organisations can begin the process with a free online self‐assessment of their inclusive practice. The JISC RSC SW offers support with embedding inclusive practice and your RSC SW advisors can help you get started. The RSC Inclusion offer includes information and advice on the four key areas that will help providers identify and embed good practice across the organisation. RSC SW will be delivering a series of online webinars that cover the 4 key areas of delivering equality through technology throughout the summer and Autumn terms starting on the 26th of May: • Assessing and Monitor your Inclusive practice • Creating Accessible Learning Resources and making good use of the VLE • Providing wide access to assistive technology and promoting learner independence and

involvement • Recognising and investing in Staff skills in supporting learners The webinars will be publicised via the inclusive learning mailing list and the RSC SW Inclusivity NING group where there will be pre‐event information and discussion. The sessions will be re‐corded and made available as part of the RSC Inclusivity offer. If you would like more informa‐tion, to join the NING or mailing list or if you would like to discuss the self‐assessment process please contact juliataylor@rsc‐south‐west.ac.uk

Managing and Syncing Mobile Devices, Practical Solutions to Volume Purchasing The app store has a ‘US’ App Store Volume Purchase Program, with the aim being to provide educational institutions to purchase iOS apps in volume and distribute the apps to their users. This has brought about some issues of ownership with regard to the devices themselves as well as usability issues and syncing to iTunes accounts. Some colleges have tried to get around the ownership issues and problems with installing apps on multiple iOS devices by providing their students with iTunes gift cards, so that the students can buy the apps through their own iTunes accounts to install on their college iOS devices. However all the apps are linked to all the students’ accounts and in theory are not ‘owned’ by the college even though the college owns the iOS device. One way would be to sync all the iOS devices with a single iTunes account, except according to the terms of use you are not legally allowed to. If you have a class set of devices then in theory you "need" individual iTunes accounts for each device.

Page 14: JISC RSC SW Newsletter Issue 19, June 2011

14

Business and Community Engagement: How can JISC support Institutions? Knowledge transfer, innovation and employer engagement are high on the Government's agenda for economic prosperity and quality of life and are major drivers for strategic change in educational institutions. JISC supports colleges and universities in the strategic management of relationships with partners and clients external to the institution, and in managing the associated activities and services, such as knowledge exchange and workforce development. In the present (and likely future) economic climate, the propagation and development of these new revenue streams is likely to becoming increasingly significant, and JISC have developed a plethora of resources to support these Institutional developments. The benefits of effective business and community engagement include a more highly skilled workforce, a more efficient, dynamic and sustainable economy and a more cohesive, knowledge‐enabled society. Institutions’ external partners encompass the private and public sectors, the third sector and the wider community. Business and Community Engagement (BCE) combines knowledge transfer and exchange with employer engagement, the latter supported jointly with e‐Learning. Through their cross‐cutting work, JISC helps develop synergies and efficiencies between institutions’ strategies, systems and processes to enhance their ability to manage and deliver these activities ‐ and the related services ‐ in an innovative and sustainable way. Some of the “highlight” JISC resources you may want to avail yourself of include: JISC InfoNet Infokit: Embedding Business and Community Engagement …or 'Embedding BCE' for short, was a project commissioned to investigate the integration of BCE functions within further and higher education institutions. BCE is not something new to further and higher education. It's an integral part of what the sector aims to achieve and links very closely with both 'Learning and Teaching' and 'Research'. Findings from this resource are based upon work carried out within our five partner institutions. This resource distils the learning from working with each of our five institutional partners and provides: • Resources to review business and community engagement activities within your own

institution • An explanation of barriers/issues associated with business and community

engagement activities within further and higher education It includes a “Diagnostic and Self Evaluation Workbook” designed to help educational establishments to review and evaluate the extent to which Business and Community Engagement processes and strategy is embedded within the mainstream activities of the institution. http://www.jiscinfonet.ac.uk/bce/embedding‐bce JISC InfoNet Infokit: Using Collaborative Online Tools for Business and Community Engagement Collaboration is at the heart of Business and Community Engagement (BCE), manifest in three dimensions: within institutions (across disciplines and functions), across institutions, and between institutions and external partners. While effective and sustainable collaboration requires initial (at least) face‐to‐face contact, the vast majority of BCE collaborative work is heavily dependent on virtual collaboration through email, telephone or online tools and resources. In a severely time‐constrained and information‐heavy environment, it is critical that tools that enable collaboration are simple to use, with minimal risk and mutually convenient. Web technologies, in particular, offer exciting opportunities to meet these needs.

Useful websites Pearltrees Pearltrees is a great way of quickly storing interesting web pages. It also has a useful plugin for Firefox. With Pearltrees you can also link to other related trees. It is interactive and easy to use and the RSC SW’s own Pearltrees account may be a good starting point. Please visit the following link

Huffduffer This is a useful website that allows you to huff‐duff audio files easily, creating podcasts. The huff‐duffed audio have their own RSS feeds and can be subscribed to i‐Tunes. The audio podcasts can also be tagged. Please follow the following link to find out more

Hashtags.org This is a useful website to find out about whether a hash tag is being used by someone on Twitter. It also provides statistics about the tags. Please follow the following link to find out more

Paper.il This website will create an entire publication based on your Twitter list! It is easy to use and is a much more visual way to get the most out of Twitter. Please follow the following link to find out more Why not subscribe to the JISC RSC SW Paper.il publication, follow this link to view

Page 15: JISC RSC SW Newsletter Issue 19, June 2011

15

Share, Debate and Create on Cloudworks Cloudworks is a specialised social networking site for sharing, debating and co‐creating ideas as well as designs and resources for teaching, learning and scholarship in education. Central to the development of the site has been the belief that one of the key challenges in encouraging more innovative learning design and better use of technologies is getting educators to share designs and ideas. The site is based around the idea of "social objects" surrounded by a social space for discussion. These social objects can be cumulatively and collectively improved. The site has been co‐funded by JISC and The Open University, and has ca.4000 registered users and visitors from 165 countries (Feb 2011). Cloudworks is a site for finding, sharing and discussing learning and teaching ideas, experiences and issues. The aims are to: • enable people to find, share and discuss learning and teaching ideas • connect people with similar educational interests through social networking • provide inspiration on designing learning activities and developing resources • showcase the work of individuals and communities who want to reach existing but also new

audiences • provide a place for different communities to discuss, collaborate and aggregate relevant

materials, ideas and designs • encourage sharing, especially among people who have not shared learning and teaching

ideas and experiences before. Unlike many existing educational repositories, the emphasis is on building a dynamic collection of ideas and experiences; via a variety of educational content (learning designs, case studies, resources and tools) plus active discussions about the use and effectiveness of this content in different contexts. The voice of users of the site, their experience, reviews and reflections on the content of the site is a central feature. Visit the Cloudworks website by following this link

Create you own social website based on Cloudworks code Recently (October 2010), the code behind Cloudworks was released as free and open source software under the name 'CloudEngine'. The CloudEngine software has been built with accessibility in mind. It is lightweight and enables communities to easily and quickly set up their own social networking site with all the functionality of Cloudworks. The target audience is practitioners in HE and FE, although the site may also be of interest to other formal and informal educational sectors. Cloudworks is being developed by the Institute of Educational Technology at The Open University. It is part of the Open University Learning Design Initiative (OULDI) project and is funded by both the Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC) and The Open University.

BCE Engagement: How can JISC support institutions Continued… The Trialling of Collaborative Online Tools for BCE project aimed to enhance and empower BCE collaboration among practitioners, between institutions, and between institutions and external partners, through the testing and piloting of selected web technologies, tailored as appropriate, in specific BCE collaborative contexts. 8 trials took place in a variety of different BCE contexts, and the results informed the development of this InfoKit. http://www.jiscinfonet.ac.uk/infokits/collaborative‐tools There are a plethora of other BCE resources available under the umbrella of the JISC Advance services; for a further exposition, look here: http://www.jiscadvance.ac.uk/external‐engagement Alternatively, if you want to personally discuss someof the issues and ways in which JISC can support, please contact the JISC RSC South West HE eLearning Adviser Dan McCaffrey directly: danmccaffrey@rsc‐south‐west.ac.uk or 07834 678160

Page 16: JISC RSC SW Newsletter Issue 19, June 2011

16

Facebook Study: Cornwall College Cornwall College were recently allocated some funding from LSIS (The Learning and Skills Improvement Service) to research the efficacy of Social Networks, explore the benefits and address the concerns of using Facebook with students aged 16‐19, to look at how Facebook pages and groups can be used within teaching and learning, to provide information regarding one particular ‘hot potato’ – namely the befriending of students ‐ and to examine learners’ attitudes towards using Facebook. Case studies featuring local examples of Facebook within Cornwall College and it’s feeder schools further contextualise the information contained in the briefing paper. These are chronicled below. Kym O’Mara, a Sport and Public Services lecturer based at Cornwall College’s St Austell campus is one of the administrators of a page on Facebook set up specifically to communicate with learners. She says: “The primary use of our Facebook fan page was to communicate with Cornwall College students and in particular, sports students about sports fixtures and events. The page is linked directly to our Sport Google site and updates appear on the fan page via a social RSS feed. The secondary benefit is the updates appearing on the “News Feed Wall” of our fans, which friends of fans will see this then acts as a marketing tool.

As we have created a ‘Fan Page’ and not a group or a new profile we are not befriending students, giving them access to any of our personal profiles or displaying any photos other than those we have control over uploading. We monitor the page on a regular basis to oversee what is being posted and by whom, anything inappropriate is immediately deleted. We can assess through Google Analytics that the days of peak traffic for our website (Weds/Thurs) coincide with the Facebook updates being posted with traffic being redirected from the fan page to our website, thus proving it working for the purpose intended.”

Joshua Manfredi and Sam Bennetts are regular users of the page. They say: “the Facebook page is a great thing to have. We can look at pictures from events and fixtures, check sports results, and as we spend a fair bit of time on Facebook anyway, page updates instantly appear on our Facebook pages and via RSS feeds. It’s really easy to use and a good way to talk to other course members and our tutors.” Hazel Selley works at Cornwall College’s Newquay campus and teaches, among other things, Animal Science, Diversity, Classification and Evolution and Genetics and Reproduction in Aquatic Organisms. She started using Facebook when she realised that her learners were far more likely to respond to her via the social networking site as opposed to via email, realising the need to go to where her learners were. She uses the Cornwall College Diversity, Classification and Evolution page on Facebook as a ‘virtual information point’ or notice board, posting information about room changes, course changes, lecture dates, and any other course‐based reminders that, usually, would be emailed to her learners. She also adds links to websites of interest and has uploaded a wealth of films from the BBC that link explicitly to the page’s subject area. Importantly, Hazel also uses the page to expand upon the content covered in lessons. Other members of Hazel’s department have signposted their own students to the page and have expressed an interest in setting up their own qualification themed areas on Facebook. “When you are on a long plane journey, you turn off your phone ‐ and, to an extent, switch off your life ‐ for 8 hours. As soon as those hours are over and you have left the plane, you can switch your life back on again. For many children, school is the place where they turn their life off for eight hours every day.”

Tutorials Pearltrees Basic Overview

Explaining how to use Pearltree Click here to watch the video How to create Twitter lists and Paper.il publications This video shows you how to create a Twitter list and how to use a list to create a paper.il publication, which automatically creates for you everyday. Click here to watch the video Plain Text Feature in Ning This video shows you how to use the plain text feature in Ning to remove text formatting Click here to watch the video How to embed Slideshare presentations into Ning Using the embed code to add presentations to your websites Click here to watch the video

Page 17: JISC RSC SW Newsletter Issue 19, June 2011

17

Continued…. This quote, paraphrased from an American student, had real resonance for Tony Bird, Director of Communications and Simon Elliot, Director of Digital Technology from Mount’s Bay School in Penzance. Through a number of observations: amongst them that students have Facebook installed on their mobile phones, yet Internet access to the social networking site is blocked in many schools, and that younger people just don’t engage with email ‐ so the need is to communicate with and engage students “where they are at”, as opposed to assuming that they will come to you. “Use the skills they already have ‐ don’t fight against them”, says Simon. Tony echoes this sentiment: “Stop banning ‘stuff’ ‐ we need to go to where the learners are!” As a result of their observations, Simon and Tony decided to set up a page for the school on Facebook. As Tony says: “It felt like something we needed to do.” The page is used as a virtual noticeboard and a place to share the school’s successes, announcements and day‐to‐day images and information regarding ‘what’s going on’. The intended audience are both students and, importantly, their parents who both Tony and Simon feel should be as informed about the daily running of the school as the students and teachers . Mount’s Bay School aren’t using Facebook as a Virtual Learning Environment, but as a way of breaking down barriers between learning and interaction ‐ making learning more of a two‐way process. The school hasn’t carried out any formal research into the effectiveness of the page as this is still very much the start of their journey into using Facebook. However, anecdotal evidence does more than suggest that there is in improvement in learner engagement. Finally, addressing fears of misuse, Tony asks the simple question: “How can you teach students the rules of IT appropriately if you don’t let them experiment?” The paper contains a lot more useful research and information, including guidance on generating Institutional Policies in relation to Facebook usage for 16‐19 year old learners and an analysis on student outcomes and Learners Attitudes to using Facebook and other social networks.

Facing up to Facebook: Issues for the uses of Social Networks with 16-19 year old Learners At 1.30pm on Friday 10th June Cornwall College and the JISC Regional Support Centre South West are hosting an a webinar (a live on‐line briefing and discussion) on Using Facebook to Improve Student Outcomes in the 16 ‐ 19 Phase to discuss the findings of this report. The webinar is free ‐ it is part of a Cornwall‐based Learning and Skills Improvement Service (LSIS) Improving Teaching and Learning Through Technology Project. The webinar will explore the benefits and obstacles to using Facebook, look at a number of case studies from Cornwall as referenced previously, and discuss a draft of a model 'safe use' policy. A briefing paper, cases studies and the draft policy will all be available for download before the event. To participate in this webinar you will need a computer with internet access and speakers or headphones. The seminar will obviously be of particular interest to Colleges (and schools) with 16‐19 year old students. You will need to reserve your place using the online booking system at: http://www.rsc‐south‐west.ac.uk/index.php?p=14

Mobile Apps Google Launches Movies for Android Google has unveiled Google Movies for Android, a new app that allows users to rent and play movies on their tablets or phones. Read more by following this link Android@Home Lets You Control Your Lights & Appliances Wirelessly Google has just unveiled the Android@Home framework, a set of protocols for controlling light switches, alarm clocks and other home appliances through any

Android device. Read more by following this link Google release Google Translate for iphone: http://bit.ly/g8Fr1n Sneak Peek Screenshots of Moodbile mobile app for Moodle http://goo.gl/fb/ShoLW iPhone, iPad and iPod touch Apps for (Special) Education Visit the link to view Mobile Air Mouse ‐ iPad app This great app allows you to control your computer screen using an iPhone or iPad Watch the demo video on YouTube Photosynth Capture 360 panorama's on your iphone: http://bit.ly/jx8X52

Page 18: JISC RSC SW Newsletter Issue 19, June 2011

18

A refreshing new look for the Excellence Gateway The Excellence Gateway homepage has had a major redesign! Although this is a temporary arrangement while they carry out a complete ground‐up rebuild of the whole site, we would agree the refreshed homepage is a big improvement. The reasons behind the changes The changes have come as a result of extensive research and consultation with professionals from across the sector including partners and providers. What are these changes? The Excellence Gateway homepage is more engaging, interactive and easier to use. It has five pathways to key content and highlights the most popular resources on the Excellence Gateway. So how does this affect you? These changes do not affect the service, resources or tools currently available on the Excellence Gateway; and they have simply been refined on the homepage to make the site work better for you and help you find what you're looking for. Visit the new Excellence Gateway homepage Case Studies and Good Practice Evidence As part of the improved developments with the Excellence Gateway homepage, they have created a new Good Practice Evidence area under the Looking for... section. Within this new area they have included valuable case studies from a number of sources, including the Ofsted Good Practice Database, research resources, Skills for Life, Making use of safeguarding training, ALP: Learning Innovation Grant Exemplars and much more. Please follow this link to access the Good Practice Evidence webpage The JISC RSC sourced case studies can be found within this new area and also within the landing page of the 'Teaching and Learning' pathway. To access this area select 'Teaching and Learning' and in the third box headed 'Using Technology' you will see that the first link in this box points to the RSC case studies. Please follow this link to access the Teaching and Learning pathway

Post Event Webinar Resources 01.06.11 ‐ Using the VLE, Digital Media and Mobile Devices to Support Higher and Further Education Learners Watch the full video here 16.05.11 ‐ Inclusive Learning Online Update Watch the full video here 16.03.11 ‐ Data Mining ‐ Informing your Decision Process Through Better Business Intelligence Listen to the podcasts by joining our Ning here 25.03.11 ‐ Specialist Colleges Forum Watch the full video here 26.01.11 ‐ LRC Online Update Watch the full video here 13.12.10 ‐ Using Technology in New Builds to Inform, Inspire and Engage Watch the full video here 01.12.10 ‐ Learning Resources Online Update Watch the full video here 07.12.10 ‐ Inclusive Online Update Watch the full video here 06.12.10 ‐ Bridgewater College mLearning Watch the full video here 01.12.10 ‐ Specialist Colleges Forum Watch the full video here

Page 19: JISC RSC SW Newsletter Issue 19, June 2011

£6.5 billion announced for universities and colleges in England HEFCE will distribute £6,507 million to 130 universities and higher education colleges, and 124 directly funded further education colleges, for the academic year 2011‐12 The main elements of the grant are: £4,339 million for teaching £1,558 million for research £150 million for knowledge exchange £30 million for moderation funding to smooth significant year‐on‐year reductions £223 million for earmarked capital grants £207 million for special funding. Key points HEFCE has concentrated on supporting a smooth transition in 2011‐12 to the new funding regime in 2012‐13 when more funding will be routed to institutions via the student loans system widening participation and improving student retention have been prioritised by maintaining funding in cash terms for these elements of teaching funding funding for research is being allocated more selectively by prioritising internationally excellent and world‐leading research knowledge exchange funding is being maintained in cash terms, and incentives to increase interaction with business are being increased by concentrating funding on the most effective performers. To read the full story please visit the HEFCE website by following this link

JISC RSC SW Pearltrees Why not have a look at the JISC RSC SW Pearltrees page? This has a large host of information and useful website that are easy to view ‐ connect and share!

Access our Pearltrees by following this link `

19

Career Learning, Information, Advice and Guidance (CLIAG) LSIS, in partnership with providers, has developed a new section on the Excellence Gateway to help staff to develop the skills and knowledge necessary to provide career learning, information, advice and guidance (CLIAG) for learners. The new section offers easy access to a range of useful publications and guidance including continuing professional development materials. It also provides information to help people plan, manage and develop their careers. Visit the CLIAG section of the Excellence Gateway

Twitter Tips The JISC RSC SW has been using Twitter for roughly 6 months now and it is already proving not only a very useful communication tool, but as a way of highlighting resources and syncing up to other web services using RSS feeds ‐ for example Google reader. We can also embed our own activity of tweets within our social network, which is another useful feature to keep our network of providers up‐to‐date. With additional online services such as the Hashtags.org website, we can also quickly check to see if certain hash tags are being used by others and check our own statistics for our own hash tags, which are quite an important part of Twitter as a whole. Twitter is also a great communication tool and used well, you can mention users via adding their address before a tweet, by simple using the @ symbol. Twitter etiquette is another important aspect, making sure that users who re‐tweet your own posts are thanked and appreciated. This encourages a good collaborative spirit and engages with people, who are more likely to see value with your feeds.

Page 20: JISC RSC SW Newsletter Issue 19, June 2011

20

Notes Make notes of things that you have seen in this newsletter that you may want to follow up • Websites • Contacts • Things to find out more about

Great Educational Tweeters! Steven.W.Anderson ‐ web20classroom Martin Hawksey ‐ @mhawksey Pete Cashmore ‐ @mashable ACLjohn ‐ @ACLjohn Craig Mills ‐ @rscnescotland C4LPT: Jane Hart @C4LPT Julia Ault ‐ @juliadesigns LSIS ‐ @LSIS_Updates BBC Education ‐ @BBCeducation JISC RSC YH ‐ @JISC_RSC_YH NIACE ‐ @NIACEHQ Excellence Gateway ‐ @egateway JISC Digital Media ‐ @jiscdigital JISC Legal ‐ @jisclegal Paul McKean ‐ @MoodleMcKean Aneesh Bhat ‐ @aneesh_bhat Paulo Simoes ‐ @pgsimoes Meg Wilson ‐ @iPodsibilities Brian Kotts ‐ @briankotts