rsc northwest
e-Learning focus
Volume 7 Issue 2 ----------------------------------- April 2008
Contents... Innovate is a resource designed especially for Work Based Learning Providers. A freely accessible online web site designed to support the Work Based Learning Sector in their adoption of ILT and eLearning. A national resource, providing an opportunity for WBL staff to engage in peer support and to join networking groups on various topics including ePortfolios, mLearning and CPD. Innovate and its related discussion forums can be used by all staff within Work Based Learning organisations. For managers it offers advice on inspection, strategic advice and guidance etc. For delivery staff it offers resources that include “how to guides”, case studies, free content
creation tools, teaching and learning resources and more. Innovate can also be used as a reference for anyone wishing to keep abreast of issues facing the WBL sector.
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Innovate for WBL
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Capital Funding; Sustainable and Green!
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BBC Motion Gallery
Innovate is entirely free to use. It was also set up
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The Infotrac Kiosk Project
using freely available online tools as a way of demonstrating what can be achieved with no, or very little cost.
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2 New eBooks;
You are not required to register to use Innovate however registration will allow you to actively participate in discussion with peers, join online groups that focus on specific topics and ensure you are kept fully up to date on issues that might be of interest to you. Visit http://rscwbl.jiscinvolve.org/ Or contact Colin Gallacher our WBL eLearning Adviser.
REfLECT enhanced ePortfolio… Page 8
Contact details
Welcome... ...to the latest issue of RSC Northwest Newsletter. As usual, send any comments to the newsletter editors John Dalziel and Chrissie Turkington at support@rsc-northwest.ac.uk
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Capital funding: In order to make the best use of eLearning, organisations need to change the way they work and to invest in both staff skills and capital equipment. During 2007-08 the LSC provided, through NIACE over £3 million of capital investment to 191 local authority and voluntary sector providers of adult learning.
The LSC has announced a similar programme for 200809 but for this year is not able to offer direct financial support activities from their programme. Building on a model pioneered by LSN in the Molenet project for colleges last year, NIACE has been asked to develop a plan that involves a financial partnership with providers. (Continued on page 3)
Sefton Adult & Community Learning Service recently applied for external funding to update it’s computer suite. Instead of following the tried and tested route they decided to consider alternative options - a solution that in addition to being economical was user and environmentally friendly. ‘Ncomputing Thin Client’ is a system, developed in America which can potentially reduce the carbon footprint by 86.0% as only one hard drive is required to run 7 systems. The name of the system is Xtenda X300 and consists of a PCI card and a Xtenda Multi Box. The Xtenda PCI Card has three RJ45 ports with each linking to that of an
individual Multi Box. Up to two Xtenda PCI Cards can be installed into a single computer, enabling the computer to have a maximum of 7 total users. The suite at Sefton ACL contains two full PCs with two PCI cards in each machine, effectively seats for fourteen users at any one time. Although the access terminals have no USB ports (which has some security advantages), USB connectors on the host PC can be allocated to particular terminals using the management software. For everyday applications, the X300 works remarkably well. Sefton ACL have a mixture of MS Office, DeskTop Publishing and Graphical software on the host PCs without any noticeable
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performance problems. However, HP camera related software is reluctant to be shared and is only available to one user per host PC at anyone time.
Working in partnership with RSC-Northwest ensured that technical advice and viability of the scheme were thoroughly researched.
Main advantages • one computer for a
maximum of 7 users, reduction in power used • cooler/quieter learning environment • a reduction in computer maintenance • and an increase in learner workspace. Sefton have yet to discover any significant disadvantages. Margaret Prior
X Series Product overview: The X-series supports up to seven simultaneous users on a single shared PC. The configuration includes one or two PCI cards, each of which has three connectors. Three X-series access devices connect directly to each PCI card via standard network cables (up to 30 feet long). The X-series provides a rich PC experience that includes full-screen, full-motion video. A single PC can support seven users (the PC itself and six virtual PCs).
Quite simply, providers who apply for capital funding will be asked to commit to pay NIACE a support fee equivalent to 10% of the value of the capital received. For example, in return for a grant of £30,000 a provider will pay NIACE a support fee of £3,000. The support package will include documentation and access to advice and guidance, along with an online community, a dedicated online conference and a consultancy day.
More information is available at http:// www.niace.org.uk/ ictcapital
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At West Cheshire College online resources such as Infotrac and the Gale Virtual Reference Library are have been heavily used for a number of years and are actively promoted by the Learning Resources team during Information Skills sessions. Many of the resources have also been included on the Heritage library catalogue to enable easy access for learners both within the college and when accessing from home. Take a look at the West Cheshire Colleges Libraries and Learning Centres Home Page. http://library.westcheshire.ac.uk/ However, there is a common feeling with online resources that they are "invisible" within the library environment. The only tangible part of an online resource is usually the marketing literature or the free pens! At the start of 2007 Cengage Learning and the JISC
Regional Support Centre collaborated with the Learning Resource Centre staff at West Cheshire College to discuss the potential of providing a more physical presence for Infotrac General Onefile and Custom Newspapers in the form of a touch screen internet kiosk. There were suspicions that through providing this facility usage would increase alongside learners' knowledge of the existence of the online journal and newspaper collection. The kiosk would be monitored using a dedicated IP address to help assess whether these suspicions were correct and to observe how learners used this facility. The kiosk was installed within the Handbridge Library and Learning Centre at the start of the last academic year alongside the Library's journal collection and has been promoted by the Learning Resources staff and visiting work experience practitioners. Usage statistics are being collected and will be analysed towards the end
of this academic year. Very shortly the kiosk will be moved to the college’s Ellesmere Port site to assess its impact with the predominantly vocational students at this site and compare the differences in use between the two sites. The results of the kiosk project will be announced towards the start of the next academic year. Leo Appleton, Learning Resources Manager, West Cheshire College Chrissie Turkington, eLearning Adviser, JISC RSC Northwest
Page 6 John Dalziel, eLearning Adviser (ACL/PCDL), has produced two new eBooks for our eBook Library.
1: Google 'Word' Documents
paying particular attention to the potential for Collaborative learning and Peer Assessment. http:// googledocs1.notlong.com.
Highlighting the main advantages to practitioners where they can… • ...check learner work easily from any computer with Internet access • ...monitor learner work “as it is happening” • ...work with learners who are having problems… ...plus “Learners’ Guidelines” and Peer assessment Checklist. (Continued on page 7)
New regulations require all teachers and trainers in colleges and other LSC-funded institutions to register as members of the Institute for Learning (IfL) and demonstrate that they remain in good standing through an annual commitment to continuing professional development (CPD). Later this year, IfL members will be given the option to use a free and flexible online tool, developed by teachers for teachers, to help them manage their CPD. The REfLECT tool, developed by Pebble Learning, is a highly flexible learning tool already used in its PebblePad form by learners in a number of further and higher education institutions.
REfLECT provides a personalised learning space where members can reflect on their professional practice and record the many and varied CPD activities undertaken to enhance their teaching. Members can choose to keep all records private if they wish, or can selectively share them with peers, mentors and managers. CPD activity records can be linked quickly and easily to an annual CPD record for submission to IfL, as and when desired. When records or assets are shared, the user may give others permission to view, comment, copy or collaborate. Permission to share may be timelimited, or rescinded at any time. Comments may be added to shared assets in the form of a professional conversation.
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REfLECT can be set up so that entries automatically populate the CPD record. As more entries are added throughout the year, the system will automatically recalculate the number of hours CPD completed. REfLECT also gives IfL members a number of easy-to-use utilities that can be used to support teaching and learning, such as a simple blogging tool, web page builder and the facility to create multiple eportfolios. It complements a
provider's Virtual Learning Environment (VLE), and individual members may use REfLECT however they choose, at any time and from any computer with internet access. IfL members will be able to access REfLECT via the members-only section of the IfL website. It is completely portable, so those part-time lecturers who work for two or three organisations will not have to keep repeating work. For further information, visit http://www.ifl.ac.uk
2: Google Spreadsheets -
paying particular attention to there use for formative assessment and tracking learners without a VLE. http:// googledocs2.notlong.com.
Highlighting the main advantages to practitioners • ...view survey results from any computer with Internet access • ...survey submissions are date & time stamped • ...results can be embedded directly into a web page, eXe, VLE etc. • ...learners can provide considered responses without peer pressure • ...improve learners’ attitudes toward assessment. ENJOY!
JISC Regional Support Centre-NW 2nd Floor Bailrigg House, Lancaster University, Lancaster LA1 4YE RSC Northwest’s Manager... Andrew Quarmby aq@rsc-northwest.ac.uk Administration‌ Christine Hulme admin@rsc-northwest.ac.uk eLearning Advisers... Anita Holt (Further Education) support@rsc-northwest.ac.uk
Chrissie Turkington (Learning Resources) ct@rsc-northwest.ac.uk Colin Gallacher (Work Based Learning) cg@rsc-northwest.ac.uk John Dalziel (Adult & Community Learning / Personal & Community Development Learning) jd@rsc-northwest.ac.uk
HE Adviser (Higher Education) support@rsc-northwest.ac.uk Keith Wilson (Technical) kwil@rsc-northwest.ac.uk Kevin Hickey (Further Education) kh@rsc-northwest.ac.uk
Lisa Valentine (Specialist Colleges & Accessibility) lv@rsc-northwest.ac.uk
Information Officer...
John Davey support@rsc-northwest.ac.uk
Events Coordinator...
Helen Metcalfe hm@rsc-northwest.ac.uk