Embedding e-learningIn this issue of intouch we haveseveral articles that look at how youembed e-learning across yourorganisation. Learners and staff needthe right skills, appropriate uses ofnew technologies need to be appliedand you need to be ready for what’son the horizon.

The way in which you’ll be inspectednow explicitly references e-learning,so there’s more incentive then ever tolook to see if you’ve successfullyembedded it.

intouchthe termly newsletter produced by RSC East Midlands Spring 2009 Volume 7: Issue 2

Stimulating and supportinginnovation in learning

Contents1 e-learning and inspection2 Regional News2 Future gazing2 e-fair 2009 update3 Embedding mobile

learning3 What is an eeePC?4 The mobile classroom4 What’s it like for the

learner? 5 Best practice around

the UK5 Resource Corner6 Hints & Tips6 Communications overview7 Focus On: Moodle

Review Service7 JISC news8 Gaining Informational

Skills8 Survey prize winner

Whilst references to the use oftechnology have been made in previousversions of the handbook there is nowmore explicit guidance on whatinspectors will expect to see.

In sections 257 and 258, headed E-learning,a clear explanation is given as to what isunderstood by the term e-learning, namely“learning facilitated and supported throughthe use of technology.”

It gives specific examples of what thelearning may involve including the useof technologies such as discussionboards, digital cameras, interactivewhiteboards and video conferencing.

Such a clear definition dispels the ‘myth’that e-learning can relate in theclassroom to simply using a PowerPointpresentation and projector. It is now amuch more inclusive use of thetechnologies that are currently available.

The handbook goes on to explain that“e-learning should form part of theoverall teaching and learning strategyfor courses” and that “there should beappropriate references to e-learning inschemes of work, lesson plans,assignments, course reviews and staffdevelopment plans.”

It clearly sets out the responsibility of allthose involved in the planning anddelivering teaching and learning toconsider the use of e-learning to

enhance delivery by improvingunderstanding and “skills andknowledge of the technology” to enrichlearning and maintain learner interest.

It states that inspectors will use anumber of criteria to make judgementsincluding the adequacy of resources, themonitoring of the quality andeffectiveness of e-learning and points tothe expectation that learners will haveopportunities “to use e-learning facilitiesoutside scheduled lessons.”

This is the explicit reference to e-learning;however there are many other referencesto the use of technology throughout thehandbook. Inspectors will makejudgements on teaching, learning andassessment and make graded commentsas they have done previously. Howeverincluded in these will be references onhow well learning resources, such astechnology, are used by teaching/trainingstaff as well as the learners.

What is also clear from the reviseddocument is that inspectors will expectto see that there is an overall strategyfor e-learning which is supported by thelearning provider’s senior managers.

If you are keen to find out more aboute-learning and inspection then why notattend the RSC-organised event on the9th February in Nottingham. Moredetails available on www.rsc-em.ac.uk

e-learning in newOfsted handbookThe Ofsted Handbook for inspecting colleges was updated in September2008 to incorporate guidance on the Framework for Excellence.

2

Regional NewsFeaturing the latest news on e-learning around the region from the Learning Providers that the EastMidlands RSC supports.

More mobile learning successA consortium of East Midlands collegeshas been awarded project funding ofapproximately £250,000 as part of thesecond round of MoleNet, the mobilelearning development programmemanaged by the Learning and SkillsNetwork (LSN).

Moulton College, Northampton Collegeand Tresham Institute submitted asuccessful bid to look at “Open AccessKey Skills”. The project will explore thedelivery and support of Key/Functionalskills using mobile technology, focussingon Skills for Life and ESOL. 14-19 andNEET (Not in Education, Employment orTraining) learners will also be involved.

Project outputs are due to be reported inSeptember 2009 and the RSC will behelping with the dissemination of these,as well as providing support for theproject where required. This is asignificant project for the region and wewould like to congratulate the projectteam on their success in securing funding.

Andrew Bailey, Learning TechnologiesManager and MoleNet Project Managerat Moulton College, expressed his delightthat they were “leading on this innovativestudy into the use of mobile technology inFurther Education. We are lookingforward to exploring how mobile accesswill impact on our learners’ experience.”

For more information on MoleNet,including access to Mobile Learningadvice and resources, visit the MoleNetwebsite www.molenet.org.uk.

EMFEC to host Reflect eventThe introduction of Reflect, the Institute forLearning’s (IfL’s) on-line CPD recording tool,poses a problem for staff developmentmanagers – how does it relate to existingways of recording and evaluating staffdevelopment activities? Does it inevitablycause duplication? Do you need twosystems? Can they be complementary?

The RSC is supporting the EMFEC StaffDevelopment Conference on Wednesday4th February where the use of Reflectwill be a major theme for the day.Michelle Jennings will contribute an IfLperspective and it’s a good chance tofind out what other regional providersare doing. For more information go towww.emfec.co.uk

We have run a number of workshops onwhat learning will be like in five yearstime and in November Gordon Millner,Advisor for Technical Infrastructure,contributed a picture of technologybeyond 2015 to the WestNottinghamshire College ManagementConference on environmental scanning.Tim Grant, Deputy Principal, thankedGordon for his “excellent contribution.”

Whilst he was in stargazing mode,Gordon made a note of sometechnologies which may not be so faraway. What is their potential aslearning tools? How about:

• Your fridge – automatically monitoringcontents use and re-ordering; checkinguse-by dates?

• Your bathroom mirror beinginteractive; checking your diary; tellingyou your appointments for the day?

• A PC as small as a mobile phonethat just docks into a wall-mountedTouch Screen?

• “Minority Report” surfaces?

• LED wallpaper signage – can adapt asthe space changes its purpose; canguide visitors; and give audio/visualcues for the disabled?

• Flexible large LCD touch screens and“curtains” curving around walls – forsignage; learning space interaction;or advertising?

• Bluetooth sensors that detect nearbymobile phones and providegreetings, messages, assignmentdeadlines, adverts dependant onwhose phone it is?

• A combined PC and projector that’s assmall as a pen?

• Web 4.0 providing the “learning web”,able to make decisions and learn fromall the different sensors that will beconnected to the Web?

Crystal ball timeIt’s our job in the RSC to keep up to date with technology – but weare from time to time asked to foresee the future, which is a bit moreof a challenge!

The main event in the RSC calendaris the e-fair, which will take place atThe Walkers Stadium in Leicester forthe second year running on Tuesday23rd June.

There will be the usual wealth of contentin relation to e-learning and the event isfree to all supported learning providers.

We’re pleased to announce that ChrisBatt OBE will be delivering the keynotepresentation, looking at the strategicvision for the future and what parttechnology will play in it.

Chris was formerly the Chief Executiveof the Museums, Libraries and ArchivesCouncil and was awarded the SundayTimes Internet Guru of the Year in 2003.

The event will feature a series ofworkshops, mini-presentations, a try-it-for-yourself zone and a general exhibitionarea. The themed area for this year willbe looking at Accessibility and Inclusion.

Bookings for the e-fair will open via theRSC website at www.rsc-em.ac.uk onthe 23rd April on a first-come, first-served basis.

e-fair 2009 news

3

Embedding mobile learninginto the ACL sectorDuring the summer of last year RSC East Midlands purchased a set ofultra-mobile laptops to distribute on long-term loan to the Adult andCommunity Learning (ACL) sector.

Representatives from providers acrossthe region met with RSC staff for ahandover session and introduction to thekit at the end of September.

Each provider chose a recipient from themost appropriate area of their service,with the exception of one authority whichdecided to run a competition for its staff.The entry with the most innovative ideawas chosen to use the laptop.

Providers are expected to report back onthe use of the technology and a forum

and wiki have been set up on the RSCMoodle for this purpose.

To date the laptops have been used to:record student progress usingphotographic evidence; demonstratesports techniques using video (a great hitwith students); completion of electronicInformation, Advice & Guidance (IAG)documents in clients’ homes.

The project will run until the summer of2009 when a summary of users’experiences will be produced.

The new devices have helpedNottinghamshire County Council’s Adultand Community Learning Service (ACLS)working in partnership with NorthNottinghamshire College (NNC),incorporate Information LearningTechnology into settings where it hasoften been lacking historically.

Melanie Hancock, Community Managerat NNC has been using the eeePC in anumber of different ways, both in and outof the classroom.

• Preloading the eeePC with contentsuch as images and film clips

• Capturing images of the class duringits duration

• Capturing film during the class andplaying it back for learners to see

• Showing learners who missed a classwhat was done in previous weeks

• Having resources and schemes of workeasily available to the tutor

Outside of the classroom, Melanie hasbeen using the eeePC on-the-go forgeneral purposes, for meetings and forevents. For example in team meetingsMelanie has been able to show other staffin her team how she has been using thedevice. This has generated discussion onhow else it could be used and the teamare constantly coming up with new ideas.

Melanie has found several advantageswith the device. “The size is great. I caneven fit it into my handbag! I feel saferwith the eeePC, as when you’re carryinga laptop everyone can see it – which canbe worrying when you are out at remotelocations in the evenings.

“Also in the ACL sector there is littletechnical support when you’re out andabout, so the simplicity of the devicehelps build confidence with staff.”

Alan Clark at ACLS was so impressed bythe progress made by Melanie and herteam that he investigated getting moredevices for other tutors. “The eeePC wassparking lots of ideas and everyone waswanting one, so in addition to the onedevice on loan we found a budget topurchase more from the service’s ownmoney, as we could clearly see theimpact they were having.”

More details on how the device isbeing used are available via a casestudy on the Excellence Gateway athttp://excellence.qia.org.uk.

The eeePC in action

RSC Advisor, Kathryn Robinson (centre) withAlan Clark and Melanie Hancock seeing howthe eeePC had been used in the classroom

What is anASUS eeePC?The eeePC is an ultra-mobile laptop.The ASUS 900 model is one of a rangeweighing less than 1 kg with a 23 cmscreen. It comes with the Linuxoperating system but can haveWindows XP installed as an alternative.

It has a 1.3M pixels inbuilt webcam, anSD/MMC card slot and microphoneand headphone ports.

Applications installed include: MSWorks, Moviemaker, Acrobat Reader8, Skype, MS Media Player and IE v6.MS Office does not come as standard,although, there is PowerPoint viewer.

The eeePC has a 4 GB Solid StateDisk (SSD) making it a robust piece ofkit with a fast boot up time. It isvirtually shock proof and gives outvery little noise.

Using a dongle, a USB plug-in toconnect to the internet, allows use inany location without the need forwireless network access. However thelaptop is Wi-Fi enabled and has anEthernet port.

As with many pieces of kit there arerestrictions too. The keyboard is only20.5 cm across compared with astandard one of about 28 cm.

It should be used as a secondarydevice rather than for prolongedperiods. Battery life is limited offeringa maximum of 2 hours continued useand opening multiple browser tabsmay affect performance.

The ultra-mobile ASUS eeePC can be used inlots of locations

4

The ‘mobileclassroom’ Bruce Sheeran from Care Training EastMidlands recently used his experiencefrom a previous career to develop aninnovative approach to a longstanding problem for work-basedproviders – namely how to providetutors with the facilities and resourcesthey would have ‘back at the ranch’.

Although you wouldn’t guess it, Bruceis a commercial airline pilot who, untila few years ago, flew regularly onlong haul flights. In this role hebecame accustomed to carrying hisworld in a pilot bag.

So when the challenge of how to bestequip his tutors came up, the idea wasborn – if you can live out of a pilotbag, surely you can deliver training inthe same way?

Bruce applied himself to the problemand began to source equipment thatwas both portable and small. Hefinished up with a laptop, dataprojector, e-beam (which creates aninteractive whiteboard on any wall),printer, scanner, remote mouse andspeakers – and they all fit into astandard pilot bag. The approximatecost of these is £2,000 to £2,500.

The system has been field-tested bystaff at Care Training and the responsehas been very positive. Bruce is nowin the process of putting togetheradditional sets.

Contents of the Mobile Classroom

A demonstration of the e-beam, which createsan interactive whiteboard on any wall.

What is it like forthe learner?What do your learners think of the technology you use withthem? Is it effective? How does the learner experience differfrom what you think it is? What access to personal technologydo they have? What can they access at home? Where couldtechnology help learning?

As part of our continuing developmentof new services, your RSC can nowsurvey the experience of technologyyou offer your learners. We tailor theSurvey to your needs, deliver it,analyse the data and report thefindings with recommendations.

The purpose of the Survey is to enablecontinued improvement. It reports onlearner perceptions, which do not alwaysreflect what is actually the case.However, learner perceptions alsoinfluence attitudes to learning andhence success and retention.

The Survey has been piloted at SouthNottingham College. Elaine Martin, incharge of Strategic Development:Teaching & Learning at the College,made a special point of getting back tothe RSC to say, “We are so pleased. Thisis of massive value in enabling us tomove forward and plan what to do.” Inparticular it was “the weight of informed,independent opinion brought by theJISC RSC that enabled the findings to beviewed with confidence”.

As we at the RSC would expect, theSurvey identified positive attitudesamongst the respondents to the use oftechnology as a learning tool. It alsoidentified a number of definiteopportunities for spreading practicevalued by the learners in one area acrossthe whole organisation.

The College has built on the Surveyoutcomes in a number of ways. Thereport has been used by both theSenior Management Team and theExcellence Team to inform action.Quotes are included in Self AssessmentReports, especially in relation to learnervoice and entitlement. It providesevidence to strengthen – and toquestion – current plans.

Elaine is considering repeating theSurvey annually to give a measure ofprogress. As the RSC carries out moresurveys in different learning providers, itwill be possible to benchmark againstother providers.

The main mode of delivery of thequestionnaire is on-line, but that wouldbias it against those learners who do notuse technology, so the South Nottinghamsurvey was available on paper too, withthe data inputted by the College.

Learner Responsiveness is one of thethree key dimensions of theFramework for Excellence. The LearnerQuestionnaire gives information onone key element of the learnerexperience, complementary to theLearning & Skills Council (LSC) LearnerViews Survey. If you are interested inthis service, please get intouch.

5

Best practice around the UKIn this edition of intouch our example of best practice followsthe theme of embedding e-learning by showcasing one of thecase studies on that topic from the Excellence Gateway website.

Burnley College: The e-Star programme– shining bright for staff ILT trainingThe challenge facing the College was togive far greater prominence to InformationLearning Technology (ILT), which hadpreviously been seen more as an add-onto teaching, so that it would become akey and integral part of teaching activity.

They wanted to ensurethat staff were up-skilled/re-skilled to takefull advantage of ILTbut also to ensure thatthe emphasis oncurriculum andimproving teaching andlearning remained.

The activityProposals went to theCollege’s ILT committeeto ensure buy-in andsupport at a senior levelbut were also taken tostaff for consultation.This included a proposalfor some mandatoryelements to the trainingto ensure that teaching staff met ILT skillscompetencies which were consideredessential for providing quality teaching.

To make the training relevant andmeaningful to staff, their managers andthe trainers, an audit for staff to measuretheir skills and competencies wasdeveloped, therefore enabling them toalso see their ‘distance travelled’ havingundertaken training.

At same time, the ‘e-learning star’ wasdeveloped, a visual representation of thetraining programme to make it easier forstaff to understand its various elementsand the increasing levels of competencyattached to these, and to give themsomething to ‘hang’ their ILT training on.

The training is designed to move stafffrom a basic ILT competency through tothe complexity of supporting andenabling their students in peer supportedonline interaction. Importantly the trainingis designed to not only provide staff withrelevant ILT skills, but to also get them toconsider the application of these in theirparticular teaching context.

The outcomesWhilst all the training materials for the e-Star programme are available online forCollege staff through the LearningPlatform, all the training is delivered face-to-face. Details of the training that hasbeen undertaken are also tracked througha database.

Managers are encouraged to attendtraining sessions, not only because theyhave teaching responsibilities, butbecause it also gives them a betterunderstanding of how their staff aredeveloping and it helps them make moreinformed decisions about which elementsof the e-Star programme are relevant fortheir staff.

The impactThe e-Star programme has become anembedded part of staff training within theCollege over the three years it has beenrunning, with over 2,000 individual trainingopportunities delivered. The programmecontinues to develop, with new elementsintroduced, or made mandatory, asrequirements have changed.

We hope that this might give you someinspiration about how to embed e-learning in your organisation. Ourthanks go to the Excellence Gatewaywebsite and RSC North West forallowing the reproduction of this casestudy. To view the full version of this casestudy and find links to other resources onthis topic we recommend that you visithttp://excellence.qia.org.uk.

Resource CornerNew Multimedia ResourceEDINA is a JISC-funded service thatprovides access to high quality onlineresources to support learning andteaching in UK further and highereducation. It has recently launched anew service: NewsFilm Online, whichis FREE to subscribers until July 2012.

NewsFilm Online is a collection ofover 3,000 hours of television newsand cinema newsreels taken from theITN/Reuters archive, covering theyears 1910-2007 and includingsignificant historical events such as theCrystal Palace fire, the first interviewwith Nelson Mandela, and the deathof Diana, Princess of Wales.

In addition to the video clips,resources such as running orders andscripts, images, background on newsfootage, and learning and teachingtools are available.

For more information on NewsFilmOnline and how to subscribe, go towww.nfo.ac.uk/description

Creating Learning ResourcesUsing Free ToolsRSC East Midlands recently ran awell-received workshop on CreatingLearning Resources Using Free Tools.From the vast array of freely availablesoftware, we focussed on just 6 of theapplications that are currently provingpopular in education.

Delegates found that all 6 of thepackages covered were easy to useand had many possible applications.Interestingly, the simplest one, Snippy,proved one of the most popular.

Snippy is a very simple tool that enablesyou to draw round anything displayedon your screen. It copies whatever youhave selected straight to the clipboard.You can then paste the image intodocuments and presentations.

You can find out more about thedifferent tools, including where todownload them and how to use them,on our Learning Platform, Moodle athttp://moodle.rsc-em.ac.uk – navigateto the relevant Events course.

The e-learning Star used for staff ILT training

6

Hints & Tips:Quick & Easy VideoVideo has many great uses in education,from producing engaging learningmaterials to capturing rich evidence ofachievement. Until recently, however,the time and skills needed to produceand edit your own video has been abarrier to many. Another problem hasbeen that video files can become verylarge – not ideal for use online.

The recent arrival of cheap USBcamcorders is changing this. Startingat around £30 each, these camcordersare robust, very simple to use andmake transferring your recordings toa computer as easy as using amemory stick.

Once transferred, yourvideo clips can beedited using WindowsMovie Maker or similareasy video editingsoftware. The quality isnot as good as aconventional camcorder

but the file sizes produced are muchsmaller, so clips can be made availableonline more easily.

RSC East Midlands have been using theBusbi/Disgo camcorder at recent videoworkshops where our learning providershave found them very easy to use andhave been inspired to start using videoin a range of interesting ways.

• Evidence capture• Assessment • E-portfolio• Group project work • Skills demonstrations • Video journal/diary • Making more accessible resources • Differentiating between preferred

learning styles

For more information on working withvideo visit our Moodle site athttp://moodle.rsc-em.ac.uk and lookat the Quick & Easy Video Productionresources. If you want to experiencethis first-hand, our Spring event isalready fully booked but there areplaces available on the workshop onApril 22nd in Leicester.

In the knowThe RSC has several different ways of communicating withcolleagues in the post-16 education and training sector. This is to raise awareness of the RSC and what we can offeryou; to disseminate relevant information; and to encouragegreater participation and collaboration in the region.

Regional Forums & User GroupsThe RSC facilitates a series of these inthe region as a way for people to shareideas with peers, build links to colleagueswith similar roles in other providers,explore issues of common concern, keepup-to-date with developments in thefield, and draw on the knowledge andexpertise of the network.

Each forum or user group has a differentstructure but they generally meet at leastthree times a year. Whilst we willcontinue to have face-to-face meetingswe plan to hold some online versionsusing new technologies.

Most of these forums/user groups havea dedicated email distribution list tosupport them.

JISC mailing listsWe facilitate a series of email mailing listsin the region in order to encourageknowledge sharing within the academiccommunity. To send messages (or posts) tothe mailing list you must be a member ofthe list. Once you’ve become a member aswell as receiving emails into your inbox, allthe messages sent are available to view viathe web at www.jiscmail.ac.uk and bylogging into subscriber’s corner.

These mailing lists are a good way topose questions and get feedback fromcolleagues in other learning providers.RSC advisors will also send news,resources and requests to the lists. Thereare also e-newsletters or e-bulletins thatare sent out on a monthly basis to someof these lists by RSC advisors. Details ofthe lists available are on our website.

WebsiteOur website at www.rsc-em.ac.uk is agood place to find out information aboutwhat’s happening in the RSC and as achannel to the various JISC services.There is also a news service, and in early2009 this feature will be expanded and anew RSS feed made live.

MoodleThere are various courses on ourMoodle, http://moodle.rsc-em.ac.uk, as starting points to find out more aboute-learning related topics.

Our learning platform is also the placeto find resources relating to the differentevents that we run and the forums thatwe facilitate. For some projects such asthe eeePC project (featured on page 3)we use the forum function withinMoodle as a communication tool.

RSC NewsletterThis edition of intouchis one of the three thatwe produce every yearat the beginning ofeach academic termoffering a mixture ofnews and features.It is available in both paper andelectronic formats.

If you have anycomments or suggestions on ourcommunications please get intouch.

Forums are a great way to find out what’shappening in the region

Delegates at the first Quick & Easy VideoProduction workshop finding out how easy it isto use USB camcorders

The vast majority of the feedback from

delegates described it as a very

successful and worthwhile event with a

massive 99% of those attending finding

it a good use of their time.The day ran more fluidly than previous

versions of the e-fair with visitors having

the opportunity to dip in and out of a

range of workshops, a mini-presentation

area, the general exhibition,a “Try if for Yourself” zoneand a mobile learning hub.Alongside these there were

two keynote speakershighlighting the latestdevelopments in e-learning by Sir David

Melville, Chair of LifelongLearning UK, and SteveMoss, Strategic Director(ICT) at Partnerships forSchools (PfS).

Visitors came from acrossthe post-16 sector includingFurther Education, Sixth Form and

Specialist Colleges, Adult andCommunity Learning, Work Based

Learning and Higher Education.For some regular visitors such as Penny

Bryant, e-Learning Co-ordinator for

Rutland Adult Learning Service, “it was,

as ever, an interesting and very useful

day. The ideas I’ve picked up from it will

keep me busy for weeks!”

For some visitors it was their first e-fair

and David Ward from WBL provider,

NETA described how he found “an

amazing amount of resources, websites

and new technologies. There was an

excellent presentation and explanation

given to me in the mobile learning hub.

I’ll be encouraging colleagues to come

with me to next year’s event.”David was also the winner ofthe prize draw and wenthome happy with a Toshibavideo camera, which hethought “would be veryuseful with WBLobservations once my skills

on the use of the equipmenthave been honed.”

Since the e-fair we havecollated lots of theresources that were on

show. So, if you want to seeany of the presentations and

get access to other resourcesthat ran as part of the event,

then please go to our Moodle site at

http://moodle.rsc-em.ac.uk.The feedback from visitors has

convinced us that the switch to the

Walkers Stadium was a popular choice,

therefore we are pleased to announce

that next year’s e-fair will be held

there again on Tuesday 23rd June.

Biggest e-fair yetThe 2008 e-fair took place at the end of the summer term at The Walkers

Stadium in Leicester and was the largest e-fair to date with a 50% rise in visitors.

Mobile LearningIn this issue of intouch we have

several articles that feature one of the

hottest topics in the region at the

moment - how can you make the most

of m-learning?We’ve got updates on what’s

happening in the region and beyond,

plus some practical advice on how to

start using it.

intouchthe termly newsletter produced by RSC East MidlandsAutumn 2008 Volume 7: Issue 1

Stimulating and supportinginnovation in learning

Contents1 Biggest e-fair yet2 Regional News2 RSC scores highly2 Technical support in the region3 WBL forum up andrunning

3 Building connections3 Adult learning goesmobile

4 MoleNet update4 e-learning begins at home5 Best practice around the UK5 Resource Corner6 Hints & Tips6 Using mobile devices

in e-portfolios7 Focus On: support forteacher training7 JISC News8 Sharing expertise8 Need a hand in promoting e-learning?

8 Top 10 mobile internet sites

David Ward from NETAreceiving his prize at the e-fair

Upcoming Forums:Accessibility and Inclusion2nd February

Adult and Community Learning (ACL)20th February

East Midlands Information Skills (EMIS)26th February

E-guides TBA

Information Learning Technology (ILT)31st March

Heads of IT29th January

Learning Resources26th February

Moodle Users Group27th March

New Build25th February

SharePointSummer term

Specialist Colleges2nd February

Technical10th March

Work Based Learning (WBL)20th February

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Focus On:Moodle Review ServiceIs Moodle living up to your expectations? If not, the RSC can helpyou review its use and identify ways to get more benefit from it.

Moodle has now become the VirtualLearning Environment (VLE) of choicefor many learning providers. Itsflexibility, relative ease of use and opensource licence has made it an attractiveoption for supporting teaching andlearning online.

Many organisations are finding,however, that their Moodle is primarilyused as a repository for learningmaterials and that these materials areoften rather “flat”, consisting mainly ofWord documents, PowerPointpresentations and web links. Whilst thiscan prove very useful, Moodle, as aVirtual Learning Environment, isdesigned to support a much richersocial form of learning.

Another issue for some learningproviders is that their Moodle has beenintroduced in a rather ad-hoc way,without much formal planning. It is notuncommon to find a Moodle that hasbecome fairly heavily used but which isstill managed and supported by one ortwo enthusiasts. Moodle use can also

be patchy, with extensive use by sometutors and very little by others.

With these issues in mind, the EastMidlands RSC has now introduced aMoodle review service. This service isintended to help you take stock ofwhere you have got to with Moodleand identify opportunities to makemore effective use of the platform.

The review normally takes half a dayand results in a short written report,summarizing the findings and offeringsuggestions and recommendations. Thereview process involves a combinationof user (including learner) surveys,interviews with relevant staff and a lookat your current Moodle installation.

The platform is considered in thecontext of your organisation as awhole, to ensure that anyrecommendations made reflect yourcircumstances, in terms of issues suchas: fit with your other online systems;staff availability for support anddevelopment; technical support andstaff development time.

The review is not judgmental, but isoffered as a supportive independentsnapshot, to help you identify areas ofopportunity and need.

A number of learning providers in theEast Midlands have already used thisservice and found it to be of value inhelping them to increase the use andeffectiveness of their Moodles.

This has included Further Education(FE) colleges, Adult and CommunityLearning (ACL) providers and theLeadership & Management Trainingpart of an FE college.

This Moodle review service is part ofour advice and guidance on embeddinga VLE. This wider service is available toall learning providers with a VLE,whether it is Moodle or one of the manyother alternative VLEs.

If you’d like to find out more aboutthis service then please get intouchwith Ben Williams on 01509 618116or ben.williams@rsc-em.ac.uk.

JISC newsFree Online AccessibilitySelf Evaluation service Growing out of a series of pilots and onlinediscussions with RSCs, JISC TechDis nowhave six role-related online self evaluationssuitable for a wide range of teachinginstitutions and learning providers. Foreach role, the self evaluations allowmanagers to explore the waysaccessibility/inclusion can be integratedinto mainstream teaching, learning andinstitutional processes.

The self evaluations are a very quick wayof getting a measure of the extent towhich good practice and reasonableadjustments have permeated anorganisation. Being role-focused it cangive specific practical suggestions to thepeople with the responsibility andauthority to make things happen.

Throughout the first half of 2009, JISCTechDis is holding a series of online events.To sign up for any of the national events goto http://tinyurl.com/td-signup.

The events should prove very useful to FEand HE but a couple of the sessions will beless relevant to ACL and WBL where theinfrastructure is different.

Organisational changes to JISCJISC and the Advisory Services have beenlooking at ways to be more agile andflexible to respond to the changing needsand demands of the further and highereducation communities. The outcome ofthis review is to create a new companycalled JISC Services.

JISC infoNet, JISCLegal, JISC TechDis,Netskills, Procureweband TASI are coming

together to create JISC Services whichwill formally come into existence on 1stAugust 2009.

You will still be able to access all of theservices you currently value via the usualchannels and over the next few monthsthe services will increasingly jointogether at events, on projects and inproducing resources.

Learner responsivenessJISC is currently running a series of projectsinvestigating learners’ experiences of e-learning. Learner views are identified as a key performance indicator in theResponsiveness dimension of the LSC’sFramework for Excellence (sorry for theterminology!), so these projects can givevaluable pointers to ways of finding outwhat learners think.

One of the projects is in the East Midlands– the e4L project, run by a partnership ofthe University of Northampton,Northamptonshire Adult and CommunityLearning and Northampton College.Further details and resources are athttps://mw.brookes.ac.uk/display/JISCle2.Find out how the RSC can help you byutilising our learner questionnaire service(see page 4).

The Moodle review service can be part of ouradvice and guidance on how to embed a VirtualLearning Environment (VLE). For furtherinformation please download an Information Sheet(no.11) from our website at www.rsc-em.ac.uk

ForthcomingEventsJanuary16th (full day) Shaping your

SharePoint

20th (full day) e-ResourcesDiscovery day

22nd (am) e-Learning and e-Safety

26th (full day) Quick and Easy Video

February6th (full day) Blogs, wikis and

social networking

9th (full day) e-Learning andinspection

12th (full day) Top Tips for Teachers:Blended learning

18th (full day) Intermediate VideoProduction

March3rd (am) e-Testing

5th (full day) Collaborative webtools for BCE

13th (full day) Everything you wantedto know abouttechnology but wereafraid to ask…

17th (full day) Assistive Technologies

25th (full day) e-Assessment – can itwork for you?

More details aboutthese events areavailable in the Spring2009 Programme.

As we’ve got somany events on inthe Spring term,we’ve had to movethe dates of ourforums and usergroups to Page 6!

Get intouchJISC RSC East MidlandsLoughborough CollegeRadmoor RoadLoughboroughLeicestershireLE11 3BT

Tel: 01509 618110Email: support@rsc-em.ac.ukWeb: www.rsc-em.ac.ukhttp://moodle.rsc-em.ac.uk

8

Various pieces of research havehighlighted that Information Skills are animportant skill set that learners require andthe national picture shows that they arecurrently in short supply. One such report,commissioned by JISC and the BritishLibrary, counters the common assumptionthat the ‘Google Generation’ – youngpeople born or brought up in the Internetage – is the most adept at using the web.

Their research showed that, althoughyoung people demonstrated an ease andfamiliarity with computers, they relied onthe most basic search tools and did notpossess the critical and analytical skills toassess the information that they found onthe web.

The Learning Resources team atNorthampton College decided to take amore pro-active approach to thischallenge and developed a structuredprogramme of six sessions coveringInformation Skills. An important elementof the course was that where possible thesessions were delivered not just by a

member of the LRC team, but inconjunction with a member of therelevant curriculum team.

Learners on Access and HNDprogrammes are now more prepared forprogressing on to Higher Educationprogrammes and learners on otherprogrammes have also gained valuableskills. Staff in the curriculum teams havepraised the new approach taken by theLearning Resource Centre team and areworking closely together to improve thelearner experience.

Grazyna Kuczera and Mas Mistry from theLearning Resources team shared theirexperiences with their counterparts at theautumn East Midlands Information Skills(EMIS) meeting. Whilst supported by theRSC, the EMIS group runs itself and is anexcellent example of like-minded peoplecollaborating in the region.

Lynne Spicer from LoughboroughCollege, chair of the group, says that“the EMIS group aims to foster goodpractice in producing, sharing anddeveloping information skills materials.Members of the group support eachother in developing materials for thelearning community as a whole thatallows each other to use, re-purpose andshare the materials.”

For more resources relating to InformationSkills visit http://moodle.rsc-em.ac.uk andgo to the Forums & User Groups sectionor alternatively you can join them on the26th February in Nottingham.

EmbeddingInformation SkillsNorthampton College have offered a structured Information Skillsprogramme in selected courses of study that have seen the skilllevels rise of those learners. For example one review concludedthat grades had risen by 5% on a module that relied solely onassessment by essay.

Northampton College have successfullyembedded information skills with learners

In the last issue of intouch we reportedon the findings of the annual CustomerSatisfaction Survey.

As a thank you to all those who sent intheir feedback, they were entered intoa draw for £100 of Amazon vouchers.The lucky recipient drawn out was LynLall from Castle College.

Survey prize winnerLyn Lall receives £100 voucher

from Ben Williams – RSC linkadvisor to Castle College

Stimulating and supportinginnovation in learning

Events Programme – Spring 2009

• Training Workshops • Showcase Events • Forums and User Groups

This publication is printed on paper from sustainable sources. In the interests of the environment, please passon to a colleague when you’ve finished with it or recycle it. It is also available online at www.rsc-em.ac.uk.