intouch the termly newsletter produced by RSC East Midlands
Autumn 2009 Volume 8: Issue 1
Contents 1 2 2 2 3 3 4 4 5
Video in Education Video is now easier to produce and distribute than ever before and, as a result, the use of video in education and training has grown significantly. There are numerous tools available to capture, edit and produce video and the process is well within the reach of most tutors. The rapid uptake of broadband means that many learners can now easily access these resources. What does video bring to the party? Firstly it’s brilliant for illustrating a practical process or sequence of events, whether that involves laying bricks, watercolour painting or measuring blood pressure. Secondly it’s very forgiving – learners can play and re-play the clips in a way that is impossible with live demonstrations. Thirdly it’s portable – the learner can view it on the web, their iPod, their phone or distributed on DVD, in fact just about any way that’s convenient for them. In the classroom it has obvious impact, as long as it’s kept short and snappy, but when distributed for personal learning e.g. on an iPod, or used on a learning platform for distance learning it can have a key role in enhancing the learner’s understanding and engagement. The video newcomer on the block is the hand-held, instant recorder made by Busbi, Flip, Vado and others.
Cheap and cheerful, it provides good quality images for instant replay or uploading onto the web. Tutors can employ these easily and with very little training and as well as producing video for learning they are fabulous at recording progress for assessment. Creating and editing video may be easy – free software to do this is on every Windows or MAC PC, but not everyone has the time. No matter, there is a huge range of video clips available on the web – YouTube is the obvious site to mention here, but there’s also excellent stuff on Teachers TV. Mainstream broadcast TV should not be forgotten either. Systems are now available to capture and stream onto a computer network.
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Video in education Regional News RSC kit loans e-Portfolio Review Funding update Organising a VLE competition Biggest e-fair yet E-learning success in the region Best practice around the UK Resource Corner Hints & Tips Capturing video content Focus On: Curriculum Review JISC news Forthcoming Events e-learning & CPD Your feedback
Video in education In this edition of intouch we consider the use of video in education. We have coverage about capturing video from TV, bringing in resources or making your own, and how to use these in learning materials. We hope that this sets you on the road towards becoming confident in integrating this increasingly commonly used technology into your learning and teaching.
Turn to pages 5-7 for more on using video in education. You can also experience this first-hand at our event on the 8th December which explores the sources of video for education and how video can be best employed in the classroom and beyond.
Stimulating and supporting innovation in learning
Regional News Notebooks for ACL Nottingham City Council’s Family Learning Team have recently purchased a bank of Samsung notebooks that they hope will prove hugely beneficial for both tutors and learners. Paul Huskisson commented that, “we will be encouraging tutors to use the equipment at every appropriate opportunity, from 12 hour to 60 hour programmes and will incorporating the effective use through quality monitor visits and tutor observations.”
New opportunities for mobile learning A survey at RNIB College Loughborough showed that visually impaired learners were less confident at using features on Smartphones than fully sighted learners. With the support of funding from Becta, the College offered learners workshops on configuring the Talks speech on the phones, using GPS to aid mobility, text scanning in to speech and reading DAISY books.
Loan of network monitoring tool
East Midlands Colleges trial e-portfolios Three regional colleges have been involved in piloting e-portfolios as part of a project being run by the University of Nottingham’s Centre for International e-Portfolio Development (CIePD). Participating learning providers were given 1-year licenses for two different e-portfolio products, Nuventive’s iWebfolio and PebblePad from Pebble Learning, and asked to try them with a range of learners, including those studying in the workplace. Chesterfield College chose to compare the two e-portfolio systems with a group of FDSc students studying Applied Computing. The learners were asked for their views on the design of each system and on the concept of e-portfolios. The final data is still to be gathered, but initial indications are that learners find the systems easy to use and liked the idea of electronic personal portfolios, “especially if the feedback they receive through them from their tutors is prompt”. The college is also currently investigating Mahara as part of a separate development. South Nottingham College piloted the use of PebblePad across a range of subject areas, including: Hairdressing, Media, IT and Sport. They were particularly interested in how an externally hosted, learner owned e-portfolio can be integrated into their existing learning and teaching practices and ILT infrastructure. See the case study at www.excellencegateway.org.
We have recently purchased a Fluke Networks Etherscope which we can use, on-site, to carry out a Network Health Check on a Learning Provider’s network infrastructure when they call us in for assistance. It is extremely useful for diagnosing problems and fine-tuning wired and wireless networks, as it can analyse the connected devices and the different types of traffic flow across the network.
Borrow kit from the RSC to analyse your network
New College Nottingham evaluated the benefits and issues in implementing an assessment e-portfolio for work-based learners. Instead of using either of the available e-portfolio tools they used OneFile to explore the benefits for teaching and learning and to look at what is required to successfully implement an e-portfolio. This project is now in its final phase, but the CIePD have published a number of early findings and recommendations, including:
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A sample menu of an e-portfolio
For the successful roll-out of an e-portfolio approach the CIePD outline the following steps: • Practitioners should be consulted and engaged in developments at an early stage. • It is important to maintain early adoption momentum through ensuring adequate teacher time and core support/training, including on the pedagogies relevant to e-portfolio use. • e-portfolio activities should be embedded in lesson plans and the curriculum. • Learners’ preferred ways of working should be considered (e.g. using mobile technology and web 2.0) and reflected in the approach you take. To find out more about this project, you can contact the CIePD at eportfolio-admin@nottingham.ac.uk.
What is an e-portfolio? © CIePD
We are now making this tool available for you on free shortterm loan. To book the Etherscope kit contact Gordon Millner on 01509 618120 or gordon.millner@rscem.ac.uk.
• One-size does not fit all. • A flexible e-portfolio tool used across subject areas can help learners develop the skills needed for higherlevel study. • Decide whether an institutional or an institution-free e-portfolio is most appropriate as your starting point. • Consider existing tools and alternative methods to using purpose built e-portfolio tools.
RSC East Midlands provides a range of services relating to the development and use of e-portfolios, if you would like to find out more go to www.rsc-em.ac.uk. To expand on our support with e-portfolios, the RSC will have a series of events over the upcoming year in a mixture of face-to-face and online sessions. The first one of these will be held on November 11th in Derby that focuses on how e-portfolios are currently being used across the Midlands and providing advice on developing and embedding e-portfolio use in your organisation.
Funding Opportunities Despite the current economic gloom, funding is still being provided to promote innovation in education. The most notable and relevant recent funding announcements are listed below, but your RSC provides ongoing announcements of any funding relevant to the sectors we cover, via our various JISCmail mailing lists and website. RSC East Midlands provides a range of services to support you in finding and bidding for funding and running learning technology development projects. These range from advice on scoping out possible projects and bidding for funding, to managing projects and disseminating outputs. We are also on hand to offer ideas on embedding the outputs of any project in practice. Over the past two years we have been pleased to be able to support a number of successful bids.
Current funding calls Learning Innovation Grant (LIG) Phase 5
The Learning and Skills Council (LSC) and the department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) have agreed to release an additional £3m of capital funding to support a further phase. Full details have been announced via the Excellence Gateway website at www.excellencegateway.org.uk. Submissions need to be sent in by 7th October to the Association of Learning Providers (ALP). The RSC helped support successful bids in the 4th round of LIG funding. An example of one of these can be found in e-fair 2009 workshops at http://moodle.rsc-em.ac.uk. JISC JISC funds a wide range of development projects and studies in HE and FE. The standard eligibility criterion for FE is that colleges with greater than 400 FTE HE learners can bid directly. Colleges not meeting this number can bid as part of consortium with eligible providers. You can keep track of JISC funding in the funding area of the JISC website at www.jisc.ac.uk/fundingopportunities.aspx. LSIS The Learning and Skills Improvement Service (LSIS) have Leadership and e-learning programmes, designed to bring together colleagues from across
Promoting your VLE internally Grantham College recently held a VLE Best Practice Competition to showcase effective practice by College staff in the use of their VLE (Virtual Learning Environment). Facing a judging panel including Amanda Mosek (Deputy Principal), Kate Marshall (Learning Resources Manager), and Gordon Millner (JISC RSC East Midlands), competition entrants gave a short presentation on their use of the VLE.
Explore new ways of learning with external funding
the sector whose roles involve serving and enriching the technology needs of their organisation. An organisation can claim for a maximum of 3 grants of up to £700 per delegate to purchase equipment on completion of one of their leadership and e-learning programmes. Full details can be found at www.lsis.org.uk/eleadership. CAMEL Funding The second funding round of Capital Investment in e-learning for the Adult & Community Learning sector called “Capital Motivating e-Learning 2” (Camel 2) closed submissions on 11th September. MoLeNET Phase 3 English FE colleges (including sixth form colleges and independent specialist colleges) were invited to submit proposals for a MoLeNET project, aimed at the innovative use of mobile technology for extending learning opportunities for learners. Proposals had to be submitted by 11th September. The RSC helped support successful bids in the 2nd round of funding. An example of one of these can be found in e-fair 2009 workshops at http://moodle.rsc-em.ac.uk. You can find links to current funding sources and some useful advice on successfully bidding for funding on the RSC East Midlands Moodle http://moodle.rsc-em.ac.uk, under “Events, Resources and Activities”. If you’d like help in putting a bid together, please get intouch with us.
Colin Kistruck (Engineering) demonstrated how wikis and glossaries can promote collaborative working, whilst Ann Starks and Chris Lewis (both from Humanities, Maths, Science & Computing) highlighted, respectively, how e-learning can be embedded in the curriculum and how customised software can personalise Moodle.
“The competition was designed to raise staff interest in the ILT agenda using Moodle,” explains James Meenaghan, Computing & Communications Support Services Manager, who organised the contest. “Even before the event numerous staff commented that they will now start to use Moodle – and others have vowed to sharpen up their sites before next year’s competition!” This interest may have been influenced by the prizes on offer, which included a Netbook computer, an Apple iPod and a SatNav system.
Principal Linda Houtby presenting members of the Construction team with their prize
The judges awarded overall victory (and the Netbook) to Colin Kistruck, whose innovative use of wikis captured the imagination of those attending. An additional prize of £200 for “Curriculum area engagement with the VLE” went to the Construction team. Principal Linda Houtby was impressed with what she had seen: “The work of all the entrants was inspiring – not just from a technical perspective, but because of the passion these staff have shown for their subject and teaching.” 3
e-fair round-up
Celebrating e-learning
We had record numbers of visitors to our e-fair at the Walkers Stadium in Leicester in June, with an increase of a third on the previous year. The feedback from delegates and exhibitors to the e-fair was extremely positive, with 98% of people giving it a rating of good or excellent. Because of this we’ve decided to run the e-fair at Walkers Stadium in Leicester again next year. The date for your diaries is Tuesday 22nd June 2010.
In the Summer edition of intouch we asked you to join with us in celebrating the different ways in which technology is being used to support learning and teaching in the region. In response many of you sent in entries to a prize draw telling us what you have been doing.
The busiest e-fair ever was a big success
“I had a really good day, interesting, informative and useful” (2009 Delegate) Following the event we’ve compiled an extensive set of resources on our Moodle site. Not only are there various presentations and resources used on the day, we’ve also had film and audio summaries created of the different workshops, demonstrations, mini presentations, and the Accessibility & Inclusion hub. There’s a 10-minute summary of the keynote presentation on “Learning was never what it used to be: what does that tell us about the future?” by Chris Batt, Director of Chris Batt Consulting. To get access to all the resources go to our Moodle site at http://moodle.rsc-em.ac.uk.
There has been a wide range of activity in the region covering topics such as e-assessment, accessibility, technical matters, and staff development. Many of you have been involved in work relating to your organisation’s Virtual Learning Environment, either creating content and making good use of it in your curriculum area, or developing additional functionality to the whole system.
"a chance to talk to other practitioners" (2009 Delegate) 4
Learning resources Lizz Hufton (West Nottinghamshire College), “We’ve begun a learning resources blog for the college that gives learners a chance to give their own opinion and provides us with an informal, easy to update forum with which to communicate.”
Some of the achievements have been on an organisation-wide level, whilst others were down to one person’s initiative in their classroom.
Technical Roger Laurenti (Wyggeston and Queen Elizabeth I College), “I wrote an Application Launcher which helps students and staff find and launch software on the computers and network.”
We’ve picked out some examples from what you told us, see below, but there’s a whole lot more on our Moodle site at http://moodle.rsc-em.ac.uk.
Chris Asquith (Chesterfield College), “I helped introduce 180 netbooks for students to use for research in non-IT classrooms.”
Learning Platforms Gilly Miller (Castle College), “I’ve been working with a plumbing lecturer to develop a VLE space on Moodle for his L1 Plumbing course. We want this to have visual resources and video plus lots of games to review learning as these learner literacy levels are low and it’s another way of engaging them in learning.”
Strategy Kenny Anderson (Nottinghamshire County Council), “As an organisation we have developed an e-strategy group to improve and implement e-learning for the young people we are working with.”
Adam Elce (North Nottinghamshire College), “We’ve created a VLE presence for the LRC including promoting services and facilities, links to useful sites and storage of e-books and resources.”
The Accessibility & Inclusion hub in action
learnt how to access and use Reflect to record their learning. They have learnt how to construct webfolios and provide all their evidence electronically.”
Teaching & Learning Lydia Spenceley (Grantham College), “I’ve used different resources to enable learners to develop their own resources and understand the use of different resources for example, mp3, YouTube, digital voice recorders.” Jennifer Joy-Matthews (Derbyshire Adult Community Education Service), “I’ve designed and piloted an e-learning unit on the Certificate in Teaching in the Lifelong Learning Sector. Learners have
All the entries were put into a prize draw that took place at the end of the RSC East Midlands e-fair. Three winners were picked at random and the lucky recipients of the prizes were Lucy Stone from Leicester College, Roger Laurenti from Wyggeston and Queen Elizabeth I College and Joanne Shirley from New College Nottingham.
Roger Laurenti received a touch-screen MP3 player in the prize draw
Best practice in the UK In this edition of intouch our example of best practice follows the theme of video in learning by showcasing a case study from a further education college in Liverpool. The challenge At Hugh Baird College they faced the issue that faces many vocational courses in demonstrating techniques and procedures. How to help learners replicate and remember these in the future? So they came up with the idea of filming their joinery workshop demonstrations, to enable learners to revisit them whilst still in the workshop environment, but after the live version had taken place. The activity Lecturing staff came up with an initial list of demonstrations to video, and then with the help of the ILT co-ordinator they found that between them they had the relevant set of skills for producing the videos.
New workshops at the College each have two touch-screen monitors and an interactive whiteboard through which the video demonstrations can be played. The outcomes Through production of the joinery video resources available through ‘Hugh Tube’, alongside the licensed resources, the team now has a demonstration covering every first year element for their learners. Second year learners find the set of resources just as valuable because they often have to revisit and apply the same techniques and procedures, some of which they may not have undertaken for some time.
The team of three considered shooting the videos in a ‘real’ lesson situation with learners in attendance, but felt they needed a more controlled environment to make it work successfully, and that it would disrupt lesson time too much. The finished demonstrations were then made available for learners in the workshop environment through a touchscreen monitor. Initially this was done through navigating a Flash-based interface, which allowed learners to select the demonstration they wanted. However, the team discovered that this had a big disadvantage in that additions or changes to the set of resources had to be loaded locally onto each PC.
A more recent development for delivery of the demonstrations is ‘Hugh Tube’, providing a web-based interface through which the videos are streamed from a media server, which means that just one location needs to be updated when changes occur.
In this edition we look at resources available to help you use video in education.
KickstartTV Currently available on Virgin TV, Netgem (a Freeview provider) and on the Web at www.kickstarttv.co.uk, KickstartTV is an interactive service commissioned by the Learning and Skills Council. It provides information on national initiatives and campaigns, activities and quizzes, and hints and tips to help improve a range of skills, including literacy, numeracy and job skills. It also directs users to other learning opportunities or further help and advice. For an example of how KickstartTV has been customised for use within learning and teaching, have a look at this article featured on the Excellence Gateway at http://tiny.cc/VfuAI on how Wetherby Secure College is using the service to enable individual, interactive learning to take place in-cell.
Teachers TV
Learners can choose a demonstration to view
Live demonstrations are still an important part of teaching joinery techniques and processes, but the video demonstrations have become a valuable resource in the workshop. Some learners use them to progress while the lecturer is busy helping other learners, others use them to work at their own pace. Whilst some will watch a demonstration all the way through before undertaking a procedure themselves, some learners watch a short section then go away to perform that procedure, then come back to watch another short clip, and so on.
A video demonstration playing on a touch-screen monitor in the workshop
Resource Corner
We hope that this might have given you some inspiration on how to use video for learning in your organisation. Our thanks go to the Excellence Gateway website and RSC North West for allowing the reproduction of this case study. To view the full version of this case study and find links to other resources on this topic, we recommend that you visit www.excellencegateway.org.uk.
Whilst primarily aimed at the school market, Becta’s Teachers TV at www.teachers.tv still has resources that can be used in the post-16 education and training sector. It has engaging videos, practical resources and an active online community. In addition to the website, Teachers TV programmes are available on the TV Channel on Sky 880, Virgin Media 240, Freesat 650 and Freeview 88 (4-6pm) and, most recently, through iTunes U.
Producing your own resources On our Moodle at http://moodle.rscem.ac.uk under the Events, Resources & Activities section you will find two Moodle courses on producing your own video. Quick & Easy Video production is for beginners and shows how easy it can be to initiate using video in your practice. For those who want to take it to a higher level then there is Intermediate Video Production. Both these courses can be downloaded onto your organisation’s Moodle if desired. 5
Hints & Tips: Sharing Videos Once you have a movie file you will want to share it with learners. This can be done in the classroom by putting it into a PowerPoint presentation. If you want students to access it remotely then it can be put onto a Learning Platform (e.g. Moodle) or set up for use on an iPod. Inserting into PowerPoint is easy – it’s just the same as inserting a picture or sound file. Go to the Insert Menu, point to Movies and Sounds and then select Movie from File. Find your movie in the file explorer and it’s there in PowerPoint.
Capturing video With a rising demand for video resources the common method of using DVDs has become problematic as the booking, management and supplying of DVD players can take quite a bit of time and resource for both the learning resource team and teaching staff. Organisations have therefore been keen to explore new ways of providing TV programmes for use in the classroom, by moving to digital video. At the June Learning Resources Forum two of the further education colleges in our region outlined their approach. Northampton College The College decided to introduce the ClickView system as a way of capturing TV programmes and making them available for staff to use in the classroom. This is a system that allows any Freeview channel to be recorded and captured on to the College server.
There are other choices about displaying movies in PowerPoint. You can choose to have the movie play automatically when the slide is displayed in a slide show. Alternatively the movie can be started only after you click the movie image in the slide.
Costs include an initial payment for the original set-up and for the 24/7 recording system, which is a server box. Then there is an annual fee for maintenance and support. This includes the viewer software for which the College has a licence for 1,000 users.
You can also control whether the movie plays full screen, or in a smaller window; whether it loops until stopped, the volume of the clip and its size and position on the screen. The Windows toolbar below shows these options.
The five terrestrial channels and BBC4 are automatically recorded and programmes are kept for two weeks. If a request is received then the programme stays on the server and is added into the ClickView system, if not it is deleted. Learning Resource staff manage the system through ClickView Manager and deal with all the requests for recording of different programmes. Teaching staff use ClickView Player to search and play the TV programmes in the classroom.
Lastly you need to consider whether you are going to move your PowerPoint presentation to another computer. If you are moving your presentation – you have to copy the movie file as well and take that with you. Movie files are not included in the presentation and if you don’t copy the movie file and take it as well, nothing will happen when you get to that part of your presentation. When you copy the files to another computer check that the movie plays, if not you will need to re-insert it into PowerPoint.
Northampton College use ClickView
To insert a movie into Moodle there are instructions on our Moodle site at http://moodle.rsc-em.ac.uk in the Quick & Easy Video Production course.
Since its introduction in summer 2007 the benefits of this approach for the College according to Masniza Sore, Learning Facilitator Co-ordinator, have been:
To play videos on an iPod they need to be converted. Lots of free software exists to do this, for an example visit http://tiny.cc/DcXRJ.
• No longer miss recordings of programmes • Improved accessibility to resources across all sites • No additional physical resources required for showing videos • Time savings for staff
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South East Derbyshire College SEDC uses a software package called GB-PVR for capturing and streaming video clips/programmes. It is a relatively cheap product with a very small annual charge. Any channel that is on Freeview can be recorded and all the programme listings are shown for the following ten days. One simple click and a programme can be set to record by staff in the Learning Resource Centre (LRC) and will automatically be saved on to the College network. To overcome a problem with distributing (or streaming) the video clips, a new server was built as a Media Server. By using an AVS video convertor it is possible to process and transfer to the new Media Server up to 35 video clips overnight.
SEDC have created their own system
The video clips are made available via a new interface and are catalogued using the same colour-coded subject categories as the other Learning Resources. This directs staff and learners in the College to suitable video materials that are available, and with one click the video will open up in Windows Media Player. The bank of resources is maintained by Dorothy Mingay, Learning Centres Manager, who has been “extremely impressed by the quality of the video programmes”. Over the last year the provision of the service has been rolled out across SEDC. More information about these two approaches will shortly be available on the Excellence Gateway website at www.excellencegateway.org.uk. There are also approaches by Portsmouth College and Longley Park College featured there. For more technical information on setting up streaming of video take a look at RSC West Midlands wiki via http://tiny.cc/B2WTz.
Focus On: Curriculum Review
JISC news Video Assist JISC Digital Media has launched Video Assist, a new service offering 4 days’ worth of bespoke off-site support and on-site supervision to projects in FE institutions which require the creation of moving image resources. Video Assist provides a service to complement JISC Digital Media’s existing support framework of a helpdesk, advice documents and workshops. Video Assist will run during the 20092010 academic year in three rounds. Remaining deadlines for application are on 20 November 2009 and 26 February 2010. For more information go to www.jiscdigitalmedia.ac.uk.
New JISC video resources unveiled The RSC has re-vamped its Curriculum Review process so that it is more flexible and more responsive to learning provider needs. The new framework will enable our advisors to work with curriculum areas to help improve the use of technology in teaching and learning, but it will do it in a way which should be less time consuming and better suited to the needs of the curriculum teams. Why would you want the RSC to come in and undertake a curriculum review? Well, there could be a number of possible reasons. You may want to know whether the curriculum team are making full use of the learning technologies at their disposal. You may want to focus on a particular issue – e.g. accessibility, use of the learning platform, promoting active learning or quality improvement in preparation for inspection. You could be a quality manager concerned about teaching and learning issues within a particular curriculum area, or you could be the leader of a curriculum team keen to move your staff in a particular direction. The new framework will allow us to sit down with you and plan a curriculum review process which will help identify issues and suggest solutions. After the initial meeting which identifies the focus for the review, the RSC advisor will devise an investigation which may involve one or more of the following: • • • •
surveys of the teaching staff interviews with relevant managers review of quality data identifying national and local priorities
The BBC Motion Gallery has partnered with JISC Collections to make available a vast repository of clips from the BBC archives for use within Further and Higher Educational establishments. The material is taken from across all genres within the BBC’s collections, from the world-famous Natural History programming to News and Current Affairs.
When the relevant data has been collected the advisor will provide feedback – written or verbal – which will suggest improvements or ways to tackle the issue. The emphasis throughout the process is on responsiveness and speed; it is designed to be a light touch activity which will not take up large amounts of staff time and will deliver solutions quickly. When it is finished you should be able to implement technologies and teaching strategies which will benefit the curriculum area and provide your learners with a more varied and rewarding experience. The Curriculum Review is a free service for supported educational organisations within our region. It is provided by your RSC advisors – independent experts who know the issues within our region and can point you to appropriate solutions. Using your RSC will enable you to draw on informed, independent expertise based on effective practice in the post-16 education and training sector and elsewhere. If you’d like to find out more about this revamped service then get intouch with Phil Hardcastle on 01509 618110 or phil.hardcastle@rsc-em.ac.uk.
A sample from the BBC Motion Gallery ©
The clips can be searched, viewed and downloaded in both Windows Media and QuickTime files and, once downloaded, can be edited, shared, uploaded to a VLE or project area. BBC Motion Gallery are delighted to offer all institutions a free 30 days trial of the service. Please contact Zeb Buchanan at zeb.buchanan@bbc.com for further details.
How to adopt new technologies The Effective Practice Resource Exchange supports users of the JISC publication Effective Practice in a Digital Age by providing a supplementary suite of online resources, including videos, podcasts and planning documents, which can be updated and added to over time. These resources explore, through different themes and viewpoints, the elements that underpin effective designing for learning. They may also be downloaded for use in staff development contexts or for wider distribution in institutions of education. To see what’s available go to www.jisc.ac.uk/resourceexchange.
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Forthcoming Events October 13th (am) 15th (am) 20th (am) 23rd (am)
Online Technical Forum Heads of IT Forum Moodle Users Group Information Learning Technology (ILT) Forum
November 4th (pm)
5th (am) 6th (am) 11th (full day) 12th (am)
12th (pm) 13th 17th 19th 20th 24th 26th
(am) (full day) (full day) (am) (full day) (TBC)
Accessibility Selfassesment for Senior Managers (Online) SharePoint Forum Safeguarding Learners: e-Safety & Inspection e-Portfolios Now Joint Learning Resources Forum with CoFHE East Midlands East Midlands Information Skills (EMIS) meeting Online Accessibility Forum Project Management Library Assistants event Online ACL/WBL Forum Open the Box Generator: A Tool for Self-assessment
Reflect on your CPD Event Certificates All RSC events and forums can be used as evidence of your continuing professional development (CPD) for QTLS status or another professional standard. We are now able to offer electronic certificates of attendance for 2009/10 events. Following the event or forum, attendees will be sent an email that can be printed off or saved to your local drive. This certificate also contains a few questions to help you reflect on what you’ve learnt from the session and how you can go forward.
8th (am)
Dynamic presentations for interactive teaching Video in education
For further details please visit www.rsc-em.ac.uk where you can also sign up to our Events RSS feed
Kathryn Robinson at RSC East Midlands is the IfL’s trained Connection for the region and is working with EMCETT to fulfil this role. More information on the role of IfL Connections can be found at www.ifl.ac.uk/cpd/connections.
Workshops have already taken place on the use of Reflect and declaration of CPD and a new round of events is being planned for the autumn term. Look out for more information on EMCETT’s website, www.thelearningchain.net.
December 1st (full day)
Time for reflection In April 2009 the Institute for Learning (IfL) trained 12 Centre for Excellence in Teacher Training (CETT) Connections working across England to support IfL members and IfL Volunteer Connections with CPD requirements, the use of Reflect and Professional Formation (QTLS/ATLS status).
On-going Support Many thanks to those who responded to the RSC summer 2009 Customer Satisfaction Survey – including Alan Clark of Nottinghamshire ACL Service who won the regional prize of £100 worth of Amazon vouchers. The use of technology in regional learning providers is growing all the time – and the Survey shows the RSC’s high level of success in providing the support needed.
Get intouch JISC RSC East Midlands Loughborough College Radmoor Road Loughborough Leicestershire LE11 3BT Tel: 01509 618110 Email: support@rsc-em.ac.uk Web: www.rsc-em.ac.uk VLE: http://moodle.rsc-em.ac.uk
Particularly encouraging are the positive impact of the RSCs on providers, the appropriateness of the service and the high levels of satisfaction with the support provided. Importantly, this high level of satisfaction is maintained regardless of the level of experience of the respondent or the degree of use they make of the RSC. The RSC is exploring nationally and regionally how support needs to evolve, for example through the Steering Group, the strategy workshop at the 2009 e-fair and questions in the Customer Satisfaction Survey.
We are continually introducing new services, such as the curriculum review tool featured on page 7. In the next round of RSC funding, from July 2010, the emphasis on strategic support will continue with four themes proposed: • • • •
teaching, learning and assessment business management organisational improvement infrastructure and systems
RSCs are effective because the service we provide evolves as learning providers increasingly seek the benefits that technology offers. Talk to us about your needs. Previous newsletters are available via our website at www.rsc-em.ac.uk
8 This publication is printed on paper from sustainable sources. In the interests of the environment, please pass on to a colleague when you’ve finished with it or recycle it. It is also available online at www.rsc-em.ac.uk.