intouch the termly newsletter produced by RSC East Midlands
Summer 2009 Volume 7: Issue 3
Contents
Celebrate e-learning Just take a moment to stop and think and you’ll find there’s a lot to be positive about with regard to e-learning in the East Midlands. Here are the views of the RSC Manager, Chris Hill. “It doesn’t do any harm every so often to reflect on where you are, and lately I’ve been doing just that as we reach the part of the RSC year where we review what has been achieved in 2008/09 and plan for 2009/10.” “RSC support started in 1999 and I’ve been RSC East Midlands manager since September 2003. In that time much has changed in the world of new and emerging technologies, both in the sector and in the support provided by the RSC.” “Drawing on a carefully constructed sample of my own unbiased perspective, I would identify at least four significant achievements for the East Midlands post16 education and training sector to be proud of: • There is much better understanding of what e-learning is, what it can do for the learner experience and the business case for investment. • The technology is much more reliable and user friendly – and there is a lot more of it about. • We are using the technology much more thoughtfully and creatively. • The region has active and inclusive networks of those interested in the effective use of technology, and I am
particularly proud of the RSC role in establishing and supporting these.” “So, lots of progress – have a look at the examples on Page 4. But providers have nowhere near reaped the full benefit of technology. This is partly because the potential is continually moving on as technology continues to evolve, but it is mainly because we have much more to learn.” “Providers still need to be better at: • Realising the benefits consistently across whole organisations – sharing effective practice. • Understanding the pedagogy; the technology is a means to an end not an end in itself. What is the best blend of technology and traditional ways of teaching and learning? What is the best way to take advantage of the personal technology learners have?
1 A celebration of e-learning 2 Regional News 2 Taking e-learning to the top 2 New e-Progress Review 3 Working together 3 New RSC staff 4 e-learning prize draw 4 Success in the region 5 Best practice around the UK 5 Resource Corner 6 Hints & Tips 6 RSC support updates 7 Focus On: Accessibility 7 JISC news 8 Sustainability 8 MIS support
Celebrating progress In this edition of intouch we look at the successes achieved in e-learning across the region. If you want to know how far your organisation has come, then why not undertake an e-Progress Review (Page 2). To see examples of good practice turn to Page 4 or come along to the e-fair on 23rd June in Leicester. And if you’ve got your own examples then why not share them with us.
• Integrating systems together. This is partly a technical matter, but more significantly it is to do with ways of working, of only doing things once, of making the technology simply another tool everyone can use.” “That’s the way I see it. I’d be interested to hear from you as to whether you agree.” Chris Hill, Manager, RSC East Midlands
Stimulating and supporting innovation in learning
Regional News Featuring the latest news on e-learning around the region from the learning providers that the East Midlands RSC supports.
LIG 4 funding success The Association of Learning Providers (ALP) has funded projects involving a number of learning providers within the East Midlands region. Congratulations to all those who were successful! There were several consortium bids: • Acorn Training Consultants Ltd (Look and Learn) • Barnardo’s Lincs Training (TA Today’s Assessing) • Charnwood Training Consultants (Virtual Academy) • Institute of Swimming (AASE online NVQ learning resources) • The Derbyshire Network (Implementation of e-portfolio learning and assessment)
Taking e-learning all the way to the top The use of technology has to be embedded in the strategic thinking of the whole organisation for a learning provider to gain the maximum benefit. As a result, the RSC Steering Group, which is responsible for highlighting regional learning provider needs, has proposed that the RSC offer support to Governing Bodies and Corporations. So far, several colleges have taken up the offer and agreed dates for an RSC input into a Governors’ meeting or
• KM Training Ltd (Personalising and Promoting Flexible E Learning in the Work Based Sector)
Latest on e-portfolios A joint event hosted by the University of Nottingham’s Centre for International ePortfolio Development and Leap Ahead (the Lifelong Learning Network for Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire) will look at how e-portfolios are being used by several learning providers in the region.
An opportunity for continuous improvement RSC East Midlands is now offering the newly designed e-Learning Progress Review (ePR).
“Towards a Regional Ecosystem”: e-Portfolio Showcase, Streamlining Progression Pathways, 14-19 landscape will take place on Wednesday June 10th in Nottingham.
Currently only available to further education and sixth form colleges, ePR provides your organisation with a statement of your position in relation to the use of new technology, based on the views of your senior and middle managers.
To read more details about South Nottingham College’s part in the project read the case study at www.excellencegateway.org.uk.
It is an approach to strategy development and transformation that will enable progress towards fully embedding new and emerging technology. ePR Benefits
Correction Our apologies go to Mas Sore at Northampton College whose surname we printed incorrectly in the feature about Information Skills in the Spring edition of intouch. 2
The RSC emphasis is not a technical one but focuses on how technology can improve the learner experience and the effectiveness and efficiency of the business operation. If you think that your organisation would benefit from input at this level, and would like to discuss how the RSC can help, please get intouch with Chris Hill, RSC Manager on 01509 618114 or chris.hill@rsc-em.ac.uk.
As well as one individual bid:
To find out more about the collaborative approach taken by Charnwood Training Consultants come to the e-fair on June 23rd.
training activity. The planned inputs provide a strategic overview of the role of technology such as “What will learning be like in ten years time?” or “The e-mature organisation” and are adapted to the particular priorities of each organisation.
• A means of supporting culture change • A picture of where your institution is in relation to organisational implementation of technology • Recognise and address opportunities for further developments • Increased involvement of key players within the organisation • An aid to self-assessment • An opportunity to reflect upon and evidence good practice The process produces an individual analysis of your current e-maturity and a profile based on your responses.
This forms the basis for a discussion with key stakeholders from which guidance and action points will be drawn. These, along with our recommendations, will help you make progress towards fully embedding the use of technology across your organisation. If you would like to benefit from an ePR, please contact Judi Millage on 01509 618115 or judi.millage@rscem.ac.uk who will arrange for an RSC advisor to meet with your Senior Management Team nominee to discuss the process and make arrangements to carry out the ePR.
Peer to Peer
New HE advisor
RSC East Midlands was recently invited to contribute to an Adult and Community Learning (ACL) providers Peer Review group as it sought to look at the role that technology could play in teaching and learning for their respective organisations.
We’ve recently welcomed Steve Saffhill to the RSC team.
The Peer Review group comprises seven Adult Learning providers in the East Midlands region and they meet on a termly basis to benchmark their activities and share ideas. The focus of the Spring meeting was to re-visit the providers’ Information Learning Technology (ILT) strategies and their supporting documents. Prior to the meeting the RSC was asked to provide a list of factors to be considered when devising an ILT Strategy. Sharon Cope, Quality Manager at Leicestershire Adult Learning Service who hosted the event felt this was useful. Members of the group were therefore tasked with making judgements on the appropriateness of the strategies against this range of criteria and the list was used as a framework for discussion.
Kathryn Robinson and Ben Williams from the RSC were on hand to support the discussion between peer reviewers and also presented their overall thoughts on ILT strategy development in the ACL sector. Anna Bridges, Adult Learning Quality & Training Manager at Northampton Adult Learning Service was one of the participants in the day. She commented that “it was very useful to meet with other ILT co-ordinators and managers to discuss the issues relating to how ILT strategies and visions are being implemented in different authorities.
“The sharing of ideas and best practice was the main benefit for me. “Meeting the RSC support staff was also helpful in knowing that there is a source of help for future strategies in enhancing ILT within our local service.” For a copy of the document ‘Questions to ask when judging an ILT strategy’ please contact Kathryn Robinson on 01509 618113 or kathryn.robinson@rscem.ac.uk. Alternatively you can find it on the ACL forum on our Moodle at http://moodle.rsc-em.ac.uk, although it is suitable for all sectors to use.
The ACL Peer Review Group tackling ILT strategy
The participants split into small groups so that they could spend time focusing on a couple of strategies from other learning providers in the review group, before everyone came back together to share their observations.
If you are part of a Peer Review group, whatever the sector, then the RSC may be able to help facilitate a session that focuses on the use of technology in learning. Just get intouch with the details.
Need a Hand? Portland College has initiated a project to pair up colleges with university programming students to produce small examples of open source software that meet accessibility needs for learners.
“The software will be available to all, free of charge, as open source. This would allow others to develop each programme further and potentially expand its audience.”
Matt Harrison, Research and Development Manager at Portland College, explains that in the Coding For Assistive Technology Solutions in(C4ATS) Project “we envisage the pairs identifying particular accessing difficulties, or short-comings in existing software, and then working together towards a solution by creating a small piece of software.
This project is in its infancy, and is looking for interested parties to participate. Initially they would like to hear from Further Education, Sixth Form and Specialist Colleges within the East Midlands. For further information go to www.portland.ac.uk or email mharrison@portland.ac.uk.
“I started working with the RSC in January 2009. My main responsibility is as Higher Education (HE) Advisor where I can help with the development and use of learning technologies specifically in the sector. “Current topics include the development of HE strategies, now a requirement for HEFCE, how technology can help with the IQER process; and the role that new technologies could play in enhancing student reflection. “I have worked in education since 1994 at the University of Sunderland, Grantham College and Loughborough College, during which I have been involved with the delivery of HE programmes in an FE environment for 12 years. “One new service that I’ve been working on with some regional learning providers is using learner surveys to ascertain the learners’ experiences with technology. This is a great tool that colleges have found really useful in helping to build their strategies.” Tel: 01509 618117 Mob: 07833 058925 Email: steve.saffhill@rsc-em.ac.uk Web: www.twitter.com/stesaf
And one more addition… We’ve also been joined by Phil Hardcastle on a part-time basis for a few months. Phil has plenty of experience within the region, working in a 14-18 community college, a local authority adult education service and also spending a couple of years at NIACE. He’s currently carrying out a number of different projects for the RSC and has recently produced and delivered a course on e-learning and e-safety, the resources for which are available on our Moodle site (see page 5 for more details). Tel: 01509 618110 Mob: 07935 341845 Email: phil.hardcastle@rsc-em.ac.uk
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Celebration of e-learning prize draw
The first principal’s first principle
To celebrate e-learning progress in the East Midlands region we are collecting details of effective e-learning that have taken place recently, preferably within the last year. Is there something that you are proud to be involved with? Is there something that you’ve done that would be of interest to others? If so then please take a few moments to let us know what you’ve been up to. To enter the prize draw simply go to www.rsc-em.ac.uk and fill in the following details: • Name • Organisation • What have you done? • How has it improved learning? This prize draw is open to all supported learning providers from within the East Midlands post-16 education and training sector and can cover any practice relating to e-learning. For example it could be based in learning and teaching; strategic planning; technical; staff development; quality; learning resources; or teacher training. All entries will be entered into a prize draw that will take place at the end of the RSC East Midlands e-fair on 23rd June. The prizes for the draw are: • A USB Camcorder • An MP3 Player • A Digital Dictaphone
We look forward to hearing about what you’ve been up to. With your permission we will look to disseminate this through our various communication channels so that everyone can benefit.
Learners using new technology at Leicester College as part of their studies
When I became Manager of the East Midlands Regional Support Centre in 2003, the first Principal I spoke to was Jim Mutton, Principal of Loughborough College. I asked him what he felt was the most important sort of support for the RSC to provide and his reply was simple. “I want to know what others are doing that we could usefully do here.” That principle has been behind much of what the East Midlands RSC provides. It’s a sound idea because there is much good practice across the East Midlands. I have just browsed the East Midlands case studies on the Excellence Gateway at www.excellencegateway.org.uk. They come from all parts of the post-16 education and training sector and there is much of value to share. Here’s a selection. Some case studies show a direct link between the use of technology and improved recruitment, retention and achievement statistics, for example Northampton College’s innovations in information skills and Care Training East Midlands’ mobile classroom. Others are examples of improving access to learning by taking technology to places it is currently not available, especially in the workplace. Charnwood Training’s use of tablet PCs, South Nottingham College’s use of mobile technology in sport studies and Leicester College’s use of pocket PCs and mobile devices to support portfolios of work based learners are all practical solutions to improving access to learning.
Quite a number of the case studies describe simpler ways of doing things that used to be more complicated – and more complicated often means more costly. Learners at Loughborough College and West Nottinghamshire College successfully use a single sign-on to access resources. Tresham Institute tackled a major organisation issue when it integrated two library collections; Chesterfield College’s use of virtual servers reduced the cost and complexity of IT systems; Regent College integrated their learning platform, MIS system and staff portal. Brooksby Melton College and South Nottingham College’s use of SharePoint both have lessons to share. A great merit of the case studies is that they show the whole experience – not just that went well but what could have gone better and the difficulties faced. This is especially important when taking a risk or trying out new ideas. Have a look at South Nottingham College’s e-portfolio; Derby College’s tri-party e-assessment; KM Training’s use of CCTV in hairdressing and ISIS Training’s e-portfolio. Teachers have always been creative and several case studies highlight this. Portland College uses electronic games to test the switching skills of their learners. The RSC loaned Nottinghamshire Adult and Community Learning Service an ultra mobile PC which was used as a prize to tap into the creativity of tutors – and produced such results that they bought a whole lot more.
If you have any queries then please get intouch with Kevin Spencer, Information Officer at the RSC, on 01509 618112 or kevin.spencer@rsc-em.ac.uk.
Homefield College in Sileby set up a vocational enterprise buying and selling items on the online auction site, eBay. This provides a wealth of learning opportunities for its learners to develop their functional and IT skills. What I particularly like about this is that it is looking in a whole new way at something familiar and using it to generate real, engaging learning.
Full details of this prize draw are available at www.rsc-em.ac.uk/prizedraw.asp
So Jim – sharing practice is one of the things we have worked to do. Thanks for the suggestion.
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Homefield College students use digital cameras during their project with eBay
Chris Hill, Manager of RSC East Midlands
Best practice around the UK In this edition of intouch our example of best practice follows the theme of celebrating e-learning by showcasing a case study from the Northern region that was part of their regional celebrations. Middlesbrough College: Blended Learning Middlesbrough College is currently the largest college in Tees Valley and has recently moved to a brand new building. In 2007 the delivery time for the ‘Access to Health Sciences’ course was cut from 18 months to a year. As a result, the programme had to be radically altered. The College decided to introduce a more progressive and innovative blended learning approach. The activity To set-up the blended programme, part of the course content was transferred to Blackboard, the College’s virtual learning environment (VLE). However, if the online course was to be successful, the content had to be fun, dynamic, accessible and interesting. To achieve this, tutors had to familiarise themselves with the possibilities of different e-learning technologies.
The students were introduced to the new method at enrolment and were advised that, if they were to achieve their learning aim, they had to have access to a PC and the Internet every week. During the induction the students were introduced to the different elements of the programme and ease of use was demonstrated. The following e-learning technologies have been incorporated in the ‘Access to Health Sciences’ course programme successfully: • Podcasts – lectures are uploaded to the VLE. • Formative testing – the VLE marks students’ work automatically and enters the grade into a grade book. • Discussion boards – collaborative learning via the discussion boards permits students to support each other.
• Blogs – a private blog between the tutor and the learners allows the tutor to give personalised information, advice and guidance. • Text messaging – text messaging, sent from the VLE, can be used to remind students of deadlines or check why a learner was absent from class. • Weekly online meetings using ‘Wimba Pronto’ – this is an academic instant messaging platform designed to bring informal learning settings online. • RSS feeds – students benefit from the latest news updates.
Resource Corner e-Books for FE The Learning and Skills Council and JISC Collections have joined forces to meet the need for a core collection of e-books for further education colleges in the UK. e-Books can be accessed remotely; 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. This is a real benefit for distance learners, parttime students and those who prefer not to travel to college for reading. They can be easier to locate than hardcopy books in libraries, and simpler to navigate than print book, as phrases and words can be found easily via ‘find’ mechanisms and users can use keywords to search within the text. The e-books will be device independent enabling content to be accessed potentially via mobile phones, PDAs and e-Book readers.
Lessons Learned • The network maintenance needs to be scheduled so it won’t disrupt online test submissions. • Blackboard can be difficult for students to access from home. Usually this means they have to lower their firewall for the period of time they are using the VLE, however, not all learners have the confidence to do this. • All documents need to be monitored for accessibility issues. • The site has to be monitored and checked every day by at least one lecturer and accordingly updated, otherwise the learners might feel that the site isn’t visited by lecturers. • The delivery team must be highly motivated to use the system and keep up to date with e-learning innovations. We hope that this might give you some inspiration of how to use elearning in your organisation. Our thanks go to the Excellence Gateway website and RSC Northern 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.
For more information about the e-Books for FE project visit the website at: http://fe.jiscebooksproject.org or alternatively come to e-fair on 23rd June in Leicester where there will be a workshop on the e-Books project.
New prison education report published The Brain Cells: Listening to prisoner learners report details the impacts that learning new skills and acquiring new qualifications and knowledge has on prisoners’ lives. Full details can be found at www.prisonerseducation.org.uk.
e-Safety One of the recent themes on the Excellence Gateway (www.excellencegateway.org.uk) was e-Safety, which looked at safeguarding learners in a digital world. Included in the resources is a link to the e-Safety and e-Learning Moodle course that RSC East Midlands developed at http://moodle.rsc-em.ac.uk. “Many thanks for the resources in your e-safety training. There are some really useful links.” Lynne Gee, Northamptonshire Adult Learning Service 5
Hints & Tips: Teaching inclusively using technology Are you confident you know how to make your e-learning materials and teaching approach inclusive for all learners? Would you like ideas on how to make learning experiences more engaging and varied? If so, the JISC TechDis “Teaching Inclusively Using Technology” website is well worth a visit.
JISC TechDis has produced a series of easy to follow online modules covering both generic and subject-specific ideas for increasing the inclusivity of your resources and teaching. The modules cover preparing, delivering and assessing learning and each one only takes 5-10 minutes to complete, so it’s a quick and easy way to get up to speed.
These resources would make an excellent link from your Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) or similar platform and, although the generic modules will suit most needs, JISC TechDis can also provide editing access to allow you to adapt the resources to your own context. You can find the Teaching Inclusively Using Technology resources on the JISC TechDis website at www.techdis.ac.uk/getTeachingInclusively. To find out more about these resources and the range of other services provided by JISC TechDis then visit the Accessibility & Inclusion hub at the RSC East Midlands e-fair on 23rd June in Leicester.
Here to help We’re continually updating the services we offer to stimulate and support innovation in learning. So here’s a quick round-up of some of the new ways that your RSC may be able to help you. Moodle courses We’ve now introduced the opportunity to take a course or resource from our Learning Platform, Moodle, and transfer it into your learning platform. This means that you don’t need to create the resource yourself or send your colleagues to another site. A quick call or email to Ben Williams at 01509 618116 or ben.williams@rscem.ac.uk and he can send you a zip file containing the course which can then be relatively easily uploaded into your Moodle. You can also tailor the content to meet your specific requirements if desired. If you haven’t already visited our Moodle at http://moodle.rsc-em.ac.uk then please take a few minutes out of your busy schedule, you should find any time spent on the site is instantly rewarded. Our Moodle is the place to get all the resources relating to the training events, forums and user groups that we run. It is also the home of a number of short courses about different e-learning related topics such as funding, project support and e-assessment.
e-Portfolio support With a growing number of e-portfolio users in the region the two Midlandsbased Regional Support Centres (East and West) have formed a Midlands e-portfolio Group (MEG). The purpose of this group is to offer support for people working in education in the Midlands region who are either using e-portfolios or thinking of using e-portfolios as part of their practice. We hope you will find the site useful as a point of reference and as a place to ask questions of other e-portfolio users. Comments have come from as far away as Australia so far! The group is hosted on a Google Groups site at http://groups.google.com/group/rscmeg.
Use e-portfolios in a number of ways
Why not take a course from the RSC learning platform, Moodle, and put it into yours?
New e-Guides Forum e-Guides sometimes find it difficult to get to face-to-face-meetings, so we’ve set up an online forum via our Moodle where we can contact them with news and information to keep them up to date with new developments. The first edition of the forum went out in March with lots of information about using video in education, particularly useful now that cheap pocket-sized video recorders are on the market. The next forum information piece will be at the end of June and will be looking at digital photography.
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The e-Guide forum is by invitation only, but if you would like to find out more please contact Phil Hardcastle on 01509 618110 or phil.hardcastle@rsc-em.ac.uk.
New SharePoint resource As you may be aware the RSC facilitates a number of email discussion lists known as JISCmail lists. We’ve now added another one to the list that covers Microsoft SharePoint. This is a piece of software that several learning providers in the region, particularly further education colleges, are using as a way of managing information internally. If you are using or thinking of using SharePoint then we recommend that you join the list so that you can keep up-todate with developments in the region and beyond, ask questions and be the first to hear about the next SharePoint forum. You can tailor the format and frequency of the messages you will receive. If you would like to join the list, please email gwen.callaghan@rsc-em.ac.uk.
Focus On: Accessibility
JISC news
Accessibility is for all – both those with disabilities and those without. Wherever possible whichever means of accessing resources and tools the learner prefers should be available to them. Technology has improved access to all manner of learning.
Upwardly Mobile
Reasonable adjustment and provision in advance are now the responsibility of each learning provider under the Disability Equality Duty. The RSC can direct you to the relevant links and resources while providing some pointers to solutions in your individual situation.
Students with learning difficulties can use technology to increase their accessibility to learning
From the learner’s perspective: • “if there is useful information on the internet, I need access; • “if I can best communicate with a mobile, I need to be able to operate it; • “if there is a useful way of communicating via video, I need access to that video.” The Regional Support Centre seeks to provide information and advice about improving access to learning via technology. We can provide: • support for senior managers on strategic approaches to inclusive practice in e-learning; • help with interpreting and understanding legal requirements of disability legislation in the context of technology and learning; • updates on new developments in e-learning and assistive technologies; • advice on providing accessibility information for staff across a variety of roles within your organisation; • an awareness of the current commercial and free-to-access assistive technologies; • loan of our accessibility kit. We’ve developed an Accessibility and Inclusion Forum for the East Midlands, which meets termly and has already been hosted by RNIB College Loughborough,
The Dyslexic Association and Lincoln College. All the resources and a summary of the previous forums can be found on the RSC Moodle at http://moodle.rsc-em.ac.uk. Running alongside the forum the RSC facilitates an email discussion list that gives everyone on the list a chance to pose questions and share good practice. We also send relevant pieces of information and news to the list.
JISC TechDis and Molenet have worked together to produce paper and digital resources on mobile technologies for the disabled.
Mobile learning is a fast-maturing technology offering opportunities and challenges in equal measure. Learning with mobile devices can bring many inclusion benefits, enabling learners to access content wherever and whenever they choose, and using a device they know they can operate.
As well as the regular forum, the RSC often runs hands-on workshops that look at assistive technologies and inclusive eLearning resources. In the summer term we are offering a free event “A firsthand guide to using accessibility tools?” at Loughborough College on June 12th.
The DVD-ROM Upwardly Mobile and the companion publication GoMobile! will encourage innovation, creativity and a holistic approach to m-learning across the educational sectors.
One of our roles as a Regional Support Centre is to hook into national developments and provision that is provided by other RSCs and parts of the JISC network. Particularly relevant to accessibility are JISC TechDis, JISC Infonet, and JISC Legal (see right).
AccessApps
Accessibility and Inclusion will be the theme of our learning hub at the RSC e-fair this year on 23rd June in Leicester. If you’d like to find out more about this service then please download information sheet (no.5) from our website at www.rsc-em.ac.uk or get intouch with Martin Cooke on 01509 618118 or martin.cooke@rsc-em.ac.uk.
More information at www.techdis.ac.uk/upwardlymobile
AccessApps is an initiative developed by the Scottish JISC Regional Support Centres in cooperation with JISC TechDis. It consists of over 50 open source and freeware assistive technology applications which can be entirely used from a USB stick on a Windows computer. AccessApps will run without needing to install anything on a computer and provide a range of e-learning solutions to support writing, reading and planning as well as visual and mobility difficulties. You can download a copy at www.rsc-ne-scotland.ac.uk/accessapps.
Following the early success a new development is EduApps, which extends the AccessApps philosophy of free portable software in your pocket to include bundles of applications specifically designed for teachers (TeachApps) and learners (LearnApps).
Accessibility in Vista RSC Scotland N&E has written a 24-page guide on the accessibility features built into Windows Vista entitled “Ease of Access Centre Guide for Windows Vista”. Find out more at www.rsc-ne-scotland.ac.uk.
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Forthcoming Events June 4th (full day)
Dynamic presentations for interactive teaching
9th (am)
Information Learning Technology (ILT) Forum
11th (full day)
A first hand guide to getting the most out of key accessibility tools
11th (am)
Learning Resources Forum
11th (pm)
East Midlands Information Skills (EMIS) meeting
17th (am)
Technical Forum
23rd (full day)
e-fair 2009
New RSC support on the horizon... Sustainability Project Historically the JISC Regional Support Centres have supported learning providers with their development of Information Communications Technology (ICT) and Information Learning Technologies (ILT). With the need to improve green accountability for business and social reasons, both nationally and globally, we are conducting a project with the following specific aims: • To inform the RSC about sustainability issues in East Midlands learning providers. • To explore the need for RSC support for sustainability in the East Midlands.
For further details please visit www.rsc-em.ac.uk where you can also sign up to our Events RSS feed
With so much more data now being collected in an organisation, (such as HR, Estates, Finance), management is seeking to integrate this data to provide useful business information on a scale that has not been seen before.
Our Summer Events Programme has more details about these events
The project aims to elicit answers to the following questions: • What are the key sustainability issues? • Who is involved? • What are the differences between sectors? • What are the support needs? • How can the RSC provide support? If you would like further information, then please take a look at the blog that is supporting this project at sustainict.wordpress.com. If you have colleagues who are more involved in sustainability then please let them know about this project.
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
MIS Support The importance of consistent and reliable data in an organisation’s Management Information System (MIS) should be fundamental to the efficient running of the business. Additionally, for educational establishments the MIS is, of course, the mechanism by which funding claims are made.
In order to quantify the types of data that learning providers in the East Midlands region are using, and how they are using it, the RSC has funded an MIS project which will be conducted by EMFEC over the next few months. We aim to identify: • What are the key MIS issues? • Who is involved? • What are the differences between sectors? • What programs are being used for data manipulation in organisations? • What are the support needs? • How can the RSC provide support for MIS?
The RSC project lead for both the Sustainability and MIS projects is Gordon Millner. If you wish to discuss either of the projects with him please contact him on 01509 618120 or gordon.millner@rsc-em.ac.uk.
… And what more would you like! Every summer RSC East Midlands creates a forward plan that sets out key actions for the coming year. Priorities come partly from national initiatives but mainly from the needs of regional learning providers. Needs are identified by what you tell us, either directly or through the RSC Steering Group. We very much want to hear from you about where you would value RSC support.
So what support do you want for 2009/10? Either get intouch directly or come to the strategy workshop “Strategic priorities and RSC support” at the RSC e-fair on 23rd June in Leicester, which will look at forthcoming changes for the sector and the support you need to deal with them.
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.