JISC RSC YH Exchange News

The Work-with-IT project is based at the University of Strathclyde and funded by JISC with an overall aim to gather up to date information on changing staff roles, relationships and associated skills brought about by the impact of the adoption of new technologies within UK FE and HE:

• Are you currently using Web 2.0 technologies in an innovative way?
• Would you like to share your experiences of Web 2.0 with a wider audience?

The project would like to speak to people who are using Web 2.0 technologies to gather evidence for the sector on how it is radically changing working practices and skills requirements. If you are working in the FE or HE sector using Web 2.0 technologies in teaching, support services or other related areas they want to hear from you.

The focus is not on information skills or skills for harnessing technology per se, but on the impact of new ways of working on staff that arise from adopting ICT and technology supported practices. The current phase of the project is concerned with the effect that Web 2.0 technologies is having on the evolution of working practices and staff attitudes, and the resulting impact on staff roles and responsibilities across FE and HE.

Project participants to date have found participation in the project provides an excellent opportunity to share best practice and collaborate with practitioners across the sector.

They want to hear from staff in the following areas of practice:

• Teaching & Learning
• Professional Services & Admin
• Knowledge Exchange
• Research

If you can spare some time for a brief telephone chat with the project team please email: Donna.Cullen@strath.ac.uk or phone 0141 548 4175.

Further if you are engaged in a similar project or have written articles or journals you think may be of interest please also send an email or visit the website for more information: http://ewds.strath.ac.uk/work-with-it/Home.aspx

From New Zealand to Dubai, 145 delegates from 12 different countries came together to interact with a single speaker, Charlie Leadbeater at the opening keynote session of the JISC online e-learning conference.

The session broke all previous records for delegate numbers at a JISC online conference session, demonstrating both the appeal of the speaker, a leading thinker on innovation and strategy, and growing support for the flexibility and green credentials of an online conference.

Charlie Leadbeater presented delegates with an e-learning conundrum: Where do you put resources to achieve maximum innovation in education – on improving or reforming mainstream formal education, or on supporting supplementary and alternative approaches, like the community-based projects pioneered in the slums of India?

Using a quadrant to explore the tension between formal and informal learning, Leadbeater expressed the belief that radical innovation is likely to come from the margins rather than the mainstream. Follow the conference on Twitter using #jiscel09

Delegates were invited over and over to share their views through text and polling tools, giving the session a lively and personal feel.

One participant commented: “It is rare to see that level of interaction between a presenter and his audience”, as Charlie paused to absorb the audience’s views before building them into his presentation.

Leadbeater argued that we should be seeking approaches that ‘pull’ rather than ‘push’ change, and stop asking how to improve the system and start asking how we can better support learning.

He said: ‘If you start by asking how technology can be used to improve current approaches you’ll end up with incremental innovation. If you start from outside you will see different possibilities. Then the question is how to enable that kind of innovation to happen and to go to scale. Too often this kind of approach is marginalised or completely informal – like kids learning through games and YouTube.”

This theme of turning to learners for inspiration in innovation was continued later in the day, in a keynote session led by Helen Beetham and Rhona Sharpe in which mythical views about learners were hotly debated.

120 delegates joined them to debate the key capabilities of a 21st century graduate and the unexpected results of researching into learners’ expectations of technology use in universities. Rhona Sharpe asserted: “There is no evidence that learners are demanding more cutting-edge technology for learning: in fact they are often more conservative than their tutors.”

Elsewhere, delegates are invited to undertake some learning themselves by trying out Elluminate, Second Life, digital video making, pedagogy planning and assessment tools in a new area aptly named the ‘Have-a-Go’ area.

An enjoyable mix of showcase and activity, the Have-a-Go area features the work of some of the JISC services and project teams from the JISC e-Learning programme.

The conference continues today, for more information see the conference page on the JISC website.

Learning providers have always had a duty of care for their learners at the heart of their policies and practice. Now that duty of care needs to be extended to the safe use of technology. Organisations have a key role in helping learners to develop the skills they need to keep themselves safe, secure and behave appropriately when using technology for learning, leisure and work.

Becta has produced a new document outlining what leaders and staff in the FE and Skills sector need to be thinking about when considering the issue of safeguarding learners who use technology in their organisation, in the workplace, in the home and beyond.

Download a copy of the document from the Becta website.

Next month, Becta will be publishing guidance on its website for FE and skills which will include checklists for leaders, curriculum managers and teachers, learners and technical staff.

www.becta.org.uk

The UK can only maintain its worldwide reputation for quality research, if researchers take advantage of the digital revolution, says JISC.

Today, JISC is launching a year-long campaign called ‘Research 3.0 – driving the knowledge economy’, to debate how digital technologies are changing not only what research we do, but how it can be carried out.

Professor David Baker, deputy Chair at JISC, says, “The way we research is changing, not slowly, not even overnight, but by the second. The UK knowledge economy is under threat; unless we continue to invest in research based upon digital technologies the UK will quickly fall behind.”

A new video , ‘How digital technologies are creating a new paradigm in research’, sets the agenda for the coming year and introduces the key issues such as how to share data, why collaborate and how to publish research work online?

To support this video, THE (Times Higher Education) publishes a ’Data Revolution’ supplement, highlighting how JISC is supporting universities and the Research Councils to advance in the ever-changing technology landscape.

Dr Phil Hammond, writer, broadcaster and GP, said, “Research is crucial in supporting society, whether that is finding a cure for diseases or a new way of treating patients to looking at previously unpublished articles. It’s not only central to medicine but it underpins our sense of culture which tells us who we are – such as family trees through to photos and videos which can now be accessed online.”

JISC’s new Open Science report written by UKOLN at the University of Bath and the Digital Curation Centre, is stimulating discussion about the impact of open-ness (making methodologies, data and results available on the Internet, through transparent working practices), data driven science and citizen involvement on tomorrow’s research practice.

The report looks at how technologies can support the sharing of data, workflows, methods and research outputs. It also illustrates the vital role librarians could have in supporting these new trends.

Professor Baker adds, “JISC’s research campaign is happening at a time of potential crisis in research and as all our planned campaign activities will be shaped by you we want to hear what your issues and views are.”

Help to take the UK’s research base into the next decade by sharing your main concerns over the use of digital technologies within research and your views on the Open Science report at JISC Research 3.0 blog. You will be contributing to the debate, helping to shape JISC activities over the next year and exploring how digital technologies can support you and your research.

Visit the campaign website to watch the video at http://www.jisc.ac.uk/res3

Read the Open Science report at
http://www.jisc.ac.uk/publications/documents/opensciencerpt.aspx

Join the debate and add your views on the JISC Research 3.0 blog
http://res3.jiscinvolve.org/

Read THE ‘Data Revolution’ supplement at
http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/story.asp?sectioncode=26&storycode=409097

Budding historians are set to benefit from a new online project which will revolutionise the way we search for historical sources on the internet, thanks to a £198,977 cash boost from JISC.

The ‘Connected Histories’ project, which is a partnership between the Universities of Sheffield and Hertfordshire, the Institute of Historical Research, and King’s College London, will create an innovative search engine for a wide range of electronic resources relating to early modern and nineteenth century British history.

This period of British history has one of the largest collections of digital sources available on the web, including not only digitised books, but also newspapers, manuscripts, genealogical records, and even maps and images.

These sources, created by both academic and commercial organisations, are accessed by hundreds of thousands of individuals every day, across the world. Until now, there has been no single starting place to search through these sources.

Alastair Dunning, programme manager for online content at JISC, said: “JISC has been involved in the digitisation of many crucial primary resources for the study of history, helping create a wealth of digitised materials, such as newspapers, pamphlets and images. The next stage of work is to knit such resources together – identifying the people, places and events that surface in multiple historical resources and making the links between them.”

The new facility will allow searching across a full range of chosen sources by names, places and dates, as well as keywords and phrases, even when this information has not been separately identified in the existing source. Users will also be provided with background information on search results and the facility to save and export results for further analysis. An online collaborative workspace will also allow users to document connections between sources.

Professor Robert Shoemaker, from the University of Sheffield’s Department of History and co-director of the project, said: “This new search facility will bring many benefits to those wishing to use historical sources on the internet – whether it’s an interested member of the public looking into their family history, or students and academics carrying out their research.
The project is expandable into other areas of history, and as new digital resources become available.”

In total the project will provide integrated access to over 3 million pages of text, maps and images, shedding light on all aspects of British history between 1500 and 1900.

The website will be fully launched in March 2011, and co-director Professor Tim Hitchcock from the University of Hertfordshire is optimistic about the benefits it could bring to researchers.

He said: “Connected Histories will simply change the way we go about researching and teaching the British past. Rather than formulating a project around a specific archive, or directing our students to a single source, this project will allow both academic historians and students to search multiple archives for a person, or place, or concept, and in the process will help us to develop a more nuanced and sophisticated understanding.”

Find out more about the project at: http://www.jisc.ac.uk/whatwedo/programmes/digitisation/econtent/connectedhistories.aspx

The British Universities Film & Video Council (BUFVC) holds a range of courses promoting subjects related to the use of moving image in learning, teaching and research.  Forthcoming events:

Copyright Clearance for Print, Broadcast and Multimedia Production
The essential one-day starter course for those needing to copy and use existing content in their new productions and services.
Next course: 14/01/2010

Finding, Clearing and Editing Moving Image Media for Education
Participants are guided through many sources of moving image and sound for educational use including TV, radio and online materials.
Next course: 27/1/2010

Encoding Digital Video for Streaming and Network Delivery – Introduction
Offers an introduction to digitising moving images for online.
Next course:23/2/2010

Encoding Digital Video for Streaming and Network Delivery – Advanced
This advanced course offers great technical insight into the problems involved with digitising for online delivery, addressing compression, server technology.
Next course: 24/2/2010

More details at http://bufvc.ac.uk/courses

JISC ITT: SYNTHESIS ON OUTCOMES FROM AND BENEFITS OF DIGITISED RESOURCES
The JISC invites tenders to undertake a synthesis study to collate evidence relating to the development and use of digitised resources, articulating both the benefits of such resources and the broader outcomes arising from their creation. The study should be primarily considered in the context of the impact on Higher and Further Education, although their influence on other stakeholders should also be taken into account:

The work should:

• Draw on evidence related to JISC digitisation projects, associated reports commissioned by JISC and other non-JISC projects and reports.
• Outline the outcomes from, and the benefits of, digitised resources according to the four key areas outlined in this ITT.

The deadline for proposals is 12 noon on Friday 11 December 2009 UK time. The work should start no later than Monday 8 February 2010 and be completed by 4 June 2010.

Funding of between £50,000 and £60,000 is available for this work including all travel and other expenses and any VAT implications.

A full version of the ITT can be found at http://www.jisc.ac.uk/fundingopportunities/funding_calls/2009/11/synthesisandbenefits.aspx

JISC ITT: REVIEW OF MODELS OF ADVANCED ICT SUPPORT FOR RESEARCHERS
The JISC invites tenders to conduct a review of the models institutions adopt to support researchers in the use of advanced ICT for research
The aims of the review are:

• To document the different models adopted by institutions to support researchers in the use of advanced ICT;
• To provide information on the effectiveness of different models in helping institutions to plan ICT provision for research;
• To provide advice and guidance based on the merits of different models for different purposes;
• To make recommendations to the JISC and other interested parties on further useful work that can be carried out in these areas.

Total funding of £60,000 (including VAT, travel and subsistence) is available for this project.

The deadline for proposals is 12 noon UK time on Friday 11 December 2009.

Further information can be found at http://www.jisc.ac.uk/fundingopportunities/funding_calls/2009/11/ictresearchmodels.aspx

JISC ITT: EVALUATION OF THE EFFECTIVENESS AND IMPACT OF COMMUNICATIONS AND DISSEMINATION ACTIVITIES OF THE JISC E-LEARNING PROGRAMME
The JISC invites proposals to evaluate the effectiveness and impact of a range of communication and dissemination activities funded by the JISC e-Learning Programme between 2004 and 2009. These activities cover physical publications, events, digital communications, and relationships and partnerships.

The focus of the evaluation is to show whether the communications approaches being undertaken by the e-Learning Programme are leading to impact and take-up across the sector. It is therefore important to evaluate how successful this programme of work has been by evaluating the activities underpinning it as well as the impact and value it has had on its intended audiences.

The study will consist of a review of quantitative data and an evaluation of e-Learning Programme communications and dissemination activities. Successful bidders will be required to show specialist expertise in both these areas and collaborative bids are encouraged to ensure this expertise is covered.

Funding of £30,000 (including VAT, travel and subsistence) is available for this study.

The deadline for proposals is 12.00 noon UK time on Friday 11 December 2009.

A full version of the ITT can be found here http://www.jisc.ac.uk/fundingopportunities/funding_calls/2009/11/elearncommsitt.aspx

For those new to writing and developing strategy, a new JISC briefcase of resources is launched today to support people through the increasing scale of challenges facing learning providers.

http://www.jiscinfonet.ac.uk/infokits/strategy

The ‘strategy infokit’ produced by the JISC-funded advisory service JISC InfoNet covers all aspects of the strategy process: from articulating your institution’s vision and the characteristics of a good mission statement, to advice on effective use of key performance indicators and a checklist for what to monitor.

The intention is not that people will use all of the suggestions, but that they may find some of them of use within their particular organisation.

The advice is based on the premise that planning and implementing strategic activity is something which affects everyone who works within an institution.

While members of the senior management team are an obvious and important audience for this resource, those responsible for strategic operations within faculties, departments and teams will welcome the practical, hands-on approach taken in the guide and the ‘pick and mix’ style of tools and techniques.

The toolkit represents the culmination of a two year initiative by JISC InfoNet, It has been favourably reviewed by a panel of 15 experienced practitioners (7 from the further education and skills sector and 8 from higher education), who described it variously as ‘useful, reassuring and thought provoking’, ‘well presented’ and ‘extremely useful’.

The authors are now asking for further feedback from users within universities and colleges on the usefulness of the toolkit and any further examples which could help illustrate, reinforce and add context to the guidance.

View the toolkit and provide feedback at http://www.jiscinfonet.ac.uk/infokits/strategy

JISC Collections are working with JISC and EDINA to review the provision of digital image, film and sound content to their members.

The content they have purchased / licensed is currently within 4 discreet collections:

1. Film & Sound Online – http://www.filmandsound.ac.uk
2. Education Image Gallery – http://edina.ac.uk/eig
3. NewsFilm Online – http://www.nfo.ac.uk
4. Digital Images for Education – http://imagesforeducation.org.uk

They are exploring the idea of merging these 4 collections into one single service and welcome your comments on this.

Please use this online form at http://survey.jisc.ac.uk/ifs/ to send them any comments, suggestions or questions you may have about this change.

JANET(UK) is pleased to announce the launch of the new JANET Certificate Service.

The service will offer a range of new features, through a simple online interface. This will enable the automated processing of certificate requests, for all .ac.uk and gov.uk domains, along with the ability to monitor and manage new certificates that are issued. This includes certificates revocation and automated alerts when these certificates are close to their expiry date. The online interface will also allow federated access for nominated contacts.

Existing customers can take advantage of these additional features by choosing to migrate to the new service. Invitations to migrate will be sent out over the coming weeks. These changes will not affect the high levels of service provided to customers with existing certificates. JANET(UK) will continue to absorb the costs of providing this service to its customers. Certificate requests for the old service will not be accepted after 11th December 2009.

JANET(UK) is also pleased to be able to announce that all GlobalSign certificates, issued as part of the original JANET Server Certificate Service, will now continue to be valid for their stated lifespan. This means that organisations in possession of certificates, issued as part of this service, will not need to replace these certificates by April 2010.

More details at: http://www.ja.net/services/scs/index.html