intouch the termly newsletter produced by RSC East Midlands
Autumn 2008 Volume 7: Issue 1
Contents 1 2 2 2 3 3 3
Biggest e-fair yet The 2008 e-fair took place at the end of the summer term at The Walkers Stadium in Leicester and was the largest e-fair to date with a 50% rise in visitors. The vast majority of the feedback from delegates described it as a very successful and worthwhile event with a massive 99% of those attending finding it a good use of their time. The day ran more fluidly than previous versions of the e-fair with visitors having the opportunity to dip in and out of a range of workshops, a mini-presentation area, the general exhibition, a “Try if for Yourself” zone and a mobile learning hub. Alongside these there were two keynote speakers highlighting the latest developments in e-learning by Sir David Melville, Chair of Lifelong Learning UK, and Steve Moss, Strategic Director (ICT) at Partnerships for Schools (PfS).
For some visitors it was their first e-fair and David Ward from WBL provider, NETA described how he found “an amazing amount of resources, websites and new technologies. There was an excellent presentation and explanation given to me in the mobile learning hub. I’ll be encouraging colleagues to come with me to next year’s event.” David was also the winner of the prize draw and went home happy with a Toshiba video camera, which he thought “would be very useful with WBL observations once my skills on the use of the equipment have been honed.”
Since the e-fair we have collated lots of the resources that were on show. So, if you want to see any of the presentations and David Ward from NETA Visitors came from across receiving his prize at the e-fair get access to other resources the post-16 sector including that ran as part of the event, Further Education, Sixth Form and then please go to our Moodle site at Specialist Colleges, Adult and http://moodle.rsc-em.ac.uk. Community Learning, Work Based The feedback from visitors has Learning and Higher Education. convinced us that the switch to the For some regular visitors such as Penny Walkers Stadium was a popular choice, Bryant, e-Learning Co-ordinator for therefore we are pleased to announce that next year’s e-fair will be held Rutland Adult Learning Service, “it was, there again on Tuesday 23rd June. as ever, an interesting and very useful day. The ideas I’ve picked up from it will keep me busy for weeks!”
4 4 5 5 6 6 7 7 8 8 8
Biggest e-fair yet Regional News RSC scores highly Technical support in the region WBL forum up and running Building connections Adult learning goes mobile MoleNet update e-learning begins at home Best practice around the UK Resource Corner Hints & Tips Using mobile devices in e-portfolios Focus On: support for teacher training JISC News Sharing expertise Need a hand in promoting e-learning? Top 10 mobile internet sites
Mobile Learning In this issue of intouch we have several articles that feature one of the hottest topics in the region at the moment - how can you make the most of m-learning? We’ve got updates on what’s happening in the region and beyond, plus some practical advice on how to start using it.
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.
TEN developing Colleges Three more East Midlands Learning Providers have joined ISIS Training and Recruitment as part of the Technology Exemplar Network (TEN). Congratulations to Ceemac Projects Ltd, Linkage College and South Leicestershire College who are all now developing providers.
RSC scores highly In the annual Customer Satisfaction Survey your views of us have once again been favourable, with over 90% of respondents rating RSC East Midlands’ overall support as either good or excellent. Each year the independent survey contacts every one of the learning providers we support in the region, and asks the opinions of key post holders. This is repeated across the rest of the UK where there has been a similar picture of success.
New Build Moulton College in Northamptonshire is having an extension built onto the Learning Resource Centre that is due for completion in September 2009 with 200 additional computers installed.
Four of the FE Colleges in the East Midlands have now gone live. Please feel free to contact any of the below with any queries you may have on the process.
But the best way to find out more is to come to the LRC Forum on November 5th to hear about their experiences.
WBL provider relocates Charnwood Training Group have recently relocated to Ashfield Skills Centre to open a new Hospitality & Catering Academy. It will offer an all-round, real life hospitality experience for learners from both further education colleges and local schools, including interactive training, demonstrations, industry visits, practical skills and development.
New Head of IT Giles Batchelor has recently joined Moulton College as the Network Development & Services Manager. Giles comes with a background as a Senior Engineer providing IT and Voice Solutions for SMEs, schools and colleges.
2
A couple of areas where you had some concerns were in regard to the technical support available and in some cases, contact has not been as frequent as previously. This is partly due to our changing remit in the current funding cycle from 2007 to 2010. For clarification on what technical support is available see below. We have experienced a shift in the nature of some of the work we are doing to a more strategic level over the last year and may have visited your organisation but met other colleagues. Or it may be a case that we just didn’t have the opportunity to visit you last academic year – but we promise to see you this year!
Federated Access Management
Linda Richardson at Lincoln College (lrichardson@lincolncollege.ac.uk), Clare Holden at Loughborough College (clare.holden@loucoll.ac.uk), Keith Mellor at West Nottinghamshire College (keith.mellor@wnc.ac.uk), Daniel Sperring at Wyggeston and Queen Elizabeth I College (daniel.sperring@wqeic.ac.uk).
In particular, you rated us very highly for our advice and guidance, communications, visits, staff development opportunities, networking support and keeping you informed with the general e-learning environment.
Phrases such as “a very helpful team” and “a trusted impartial source” are very pleasing for us to hear, and we hope that we will be able to keep up with your expectations.
WBL Forum up and running The region’s Work Based Learning Forum has had a successful start with two events since the last edition of intouch and continues to lead the way as a national example of WBL providers collaborating.
Lots of interest at the WBL forum
The inaugural forum took place during the e-fair in June, where there was a wide ranging discussion touching on VLEs (Learning Platforms) and e-Assessment. Another topic that featured strongly was e-Portfolios, in particular covering the attitude of Awarding Bodies, External Verifiers and staff development.
Technical Support in the region The results of a recent JISC national survey identified that there was still some confusion as to the extent of technical support now available from all the JISC Regional Support Centres (RSCs) across the UK.
Also at the forum, there was a presentation from Shona Samuels of the Learning and Skills Network (LSN) on the impact for WBL providers of the Qualification Reform Support Programme that comes into force this Autumn.
At the end of last year, with a new round of funding, it was decided that the RSCs should be geared to providing strategic advice on moving forward as technological developments evolve rather than direct hands-on technical assistance. In common with their counterparts in other regions, EMMAN, (www.emman.net) providers of your JANET connection, will continue to provide the connection and technical support for that and the router.
Be assured that EMMAN and ourselves, as time and expertise allow, will continue to provide technical support where we can if it falls outside of our individual remits. However ultimate responsibility in this area lies with your own in-house or external contracted resources. Of course, our regional technical mailing lists are available and we would encourage their continued use for the purposes of obtaining advice, solutions and discussion from the wide range of expertise across the region. It is perhaps timely to thank those members who regularly contribute to these discussions; you make them a valuable resource that is greatly appreciated.
Here’s a quick example of how your RSC can help Learning Providers with information on a number of issues. Nick Cox, the IT Coordinator at Brooksby Melton College, requested information from us on how their New Builds could incorporate good modern learning space design. After a short email to Gordon Millner, our New Build “expert”, the JISC booklet “Designing Spaces for Effective Learning”, along with other documents and some web resources from our Moodle were on Nick’s desk within 24 hours, which all proved to be “very useful”.
Such was the appetite for more that a second forum was held at Loughborough College in mid-August. In order to investigate the topic of e-portfolios further, Mick Gilroy from ISIS Training was invited to give an update on how his organisation were using e-portfolios and why ISIS were included in the Technology Exemplar Network as an example of a provider making best use of e-portfolios.
Survey shows that learning providers in the region value the RSC highly
Building Connections
The presentations and other resources are available on the RSC Moodle at http://moodle.rsc-em.ac.uk. It was clear from those who have had the chance to attend either of the first two forums, that there was both interest in and value to be gained from this type of event. Duncan Murdoch from TQ Workforce Development Ltd in Northamptonshire thought that “the e-portfolio presentation was useful as well as extremely relevant, and that the information from the LSN would be passed to a colleague.” To Andrew Edis, ILT mentor at New College Nottingham, “the key thing was networking, meeting people and sharing ideas.” In order to support this, the RSC will now run the WBL forum on a quarterly basis. The next forum will take place at the new facilities at Charnwood Training & Consultancy in Nottingham on Friday 14th November.
Suggestions were also made as to which colleges having had recent New Build could be visited for a tour and some advice. A trip by Nick and one of the Heads of Learning from Brooksby Melton College was soon made to Stephenson College in Coalville. Coming away with a number of ideas and plans, several working groups have subsequently been formed to consider different aspects of the build project. A tip from Nick is to “start planning early and keep the number of people involved with the project reasonably small so that decisions can be made quickly and decisively”. The RSC continues to be intouch with Nick to assist further as required. No doubt he’ll be coming along to our next New Build Forum in the autumn term, at the EPIC Project Centre, Lincolnshire Showground on November 20th.
Adult Learning goes mobile The recent development of the very small, very portable and relatively low cost PC offers particular benefits to the Adult and Community Learning (ACL) sector where delivery often takes place in widely distributed and ill-equipped locations.
The RSC can occasionally lend pieces of kit for evaluation purposes; talk to us to find out more. If you would like a copy of the JISC publication, Designing Spaces for Effective Learning then please contact us.
RSC East Midlands is making available on long-term loan to each participating ACL learning provider in the region, a high specification, ultra-mobile Asus eeePC for use with their staff and/or learners. Learning providers will be expected to evaluate the use of this technology and report back to the RSC on ways of using the PCs and the benefits to their service and their communities.
The Ultra-mobile Asus eee PC can be used in lots of locations
3
The Mobile Learning Network (MoLeNET) is a unique collaborative approach to encouraging, supporting, expanding and promoting mobile learning via supported shared cost mobile learning projects.
e-learning begins at home
Best practice around the UK
Resource Corner
If charity begins at home, then e-learning should be the same. Before buying the latest gadget, look at what you’ve got.
In this edition of intouch our example of best practice follows the mobile learning theme by showcasing one of the case studies on that topic from the Excellence Gateway website.
You can download and re-purpose learning materials and resources from here. They can be used creatively, added to and edited, or compiled into learning activities and made available in VLEs and on mobile devices.
Digital cameras are available for all Duke of Edinburgh sessions for recording video and photographic evidence.
The Learning and Skills Network (LSN) have recently announced that £4 million of capital funding from the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) will be available for a second round of MoleNET Projects in 2008/9. The fund will be for both new colleges and those currently involved with an existing MoLeNET project. Projects must be led by an English FE college although consortia including other types of organisations such as schools or work-based learning providers will be considered.
Students using mobile devices on expedition
Strathmore College: Mobile learning on the Duke of Edinburgh Gold Award With the help of LSC funding through the JISC TechDis Innovation 2 Fund, this independent specialist college was able to buy essential equipment to help embed ICT into the Duke of Edinburgh Award curriculum.
The closing date for online bids is likely to be 6th October 2008 and you can find out more about at www.molenet.org.uk. So let’s catch up with what’s been happening in the East Midlands… Three Colleges in the region have been taking part in the first round of the MoleNET project, Regent and Gateway Colleges in Leicester and Boston College. Christine Heaver, Learning Champion at Regent College, explains that “the student enthusiasm and opportunities to learn and produce evidence differently has been overwhelming at times. Those lessons that have been using the mobile learning have seen grades well above the college lesson observation profile.” Meanwhile at Gateway College, Naz Mistry, Assistant Principal observed “one highlight was the improved selfesteem for our disabled students as they energetically took part in active lessons using the Nintendo Wii boards. We’ve also got many exciting opportunities for further projects including vodcasts and podcasts for a wide range of subject areas.” More details on what’s happening in these colleges can be found on the RSC Moodle at http://moodle.rscem.ac.uk in the e-fair section.
4
Strategists worry about technology costs, both in terms of initial purchase and training. However, they don’t often look at everyday technology and its teaching and learning potential. The leader in “everyday technology” is the mobile phone. Nearly everyone has one and normally uses it without complex training. Mobile technology has numerous uses in learning. Calls and text (SMS) are obvious, but when coupled with the web, become really powerful. Take Twitter & Jaiku, a new set of ‘microblogging’ applications. Users update a 160 character blog using SMS or the web, which is readable by other users or feeds into a website or social network. Jaiku users can combine pictures (often taken on mobiles) with feeds from other websites. This is great for reflective journals, as well as being powerful in sharing best practice. Twitter sends SMS to your mobile so a user can receive reminders or wholeclass feedback texts.
Twitter works with tools like “Remember The Milk”, which allow you to set and retrieve “To Do Lists” for yourself or others either online or using your mobile. Advanced mobile phones are capable of more. Phones with WindowsMobile give access to web e-portfolios, using RedHalo. Bluetooth, while cruder, beams resources to students’ mobiles directly. Older phones and traditional landlines can be used with platforms like GabCast, to call a number and record audio, which is saved to a computer or imported into a web page or VLE. Other examples of everyday technology in learning include iPODs, digital cameras and DVD players. The Web also offers a wealth of free tools for learning. An e-learning strategy isn’t complete without examining issues like equipment purchase and training. However, before that stage, it’s worth looking at what’s already there. This article originally featured in the RSC Yorkshire & Humber newsletter.
The challenge The College originally had problems embedding ICT as they did not have the necessary technology and, as a result, students found supporting activities uninspiring.
The outcomes Since incorporating the technology, the students have taken more ownership of their learning - the input no longer comes just from the tutors. Students are more motivated, there is more interaction and the learning experience is fun. The results speak for themselves, as the verifier from the Duke of Edinburgh Award scheme has commented on the remarkable speed of the walks. From a practical point of view, the equipment is much easier for students to carry around with them in their rucksacks. The Digi Walkers™ have a waterproof casing and for those with dexterity problems they are still easy to operate due to their touch sensitive nature.
The weather stations allow students to measure aspects such as rainfall, windfall and humidity, and compare their results with the BBC weather reports. A digital character on the weather station symbolises the current weather conditions outside by the clothes he wears. This presents a visually engaging approach for those with severe learning difficulties. The Sony Vaios™ have Memory Map™ software installed, which creates satellite navigation capability - they also doubleup as PCs. Coupled with the Mio Digi Walkers™ (hand held satellite navigation devices with PDA capability), students can plan routes, plot way points, and navigate a 3D fly-through, which shows the elevations and valleys along their route.
MoleNet have a MoleShare set of resources on the web at www.learningtechnologies.ac.uk/moleshare
Other tools related to m-learning: iWriter - For creating iPod study tools www.talkingpanda.com/iwriter/ Mobile Study - Create quizzes for mobile phones www.mobilestudy.org/ Zirada - Drag and drop authoring tool for publishing to Pocket PCs and Mobile Devices www.trivantis.com/authoring_tools_zir ada_overview.html
e-assessment - the QCA guide This guide has been developed by the qualifications regulators for England, Wales and Northern Ireland as part of their commitment to support effective practice and quality improvement in the assessment of qualifications. It is intended to promote the use of e-assessment in an advisory rather than a regulatory capacity. It offers practical information and advice to people involved in the management and delivery of eassessment within qualifications.
As part of the expedition component, students must source and compare weather reports. Without the technology, students had to rely on passive TV and radio reports instead of a more interactive approach. The activity The College was successful in its bid for funding and received an award of £6,000. This was used to purchase: • 4 x digital weather stations • 5 x Mio Digi Walkers™ • 2 x handheld Sony Vaios™ with docking stations • Memory Map software • Digital cameras
Mobile learning resources
Mio Digi Walkers™ used for navigation
Students find that they have a better understanding of a map when it is displayed on a screen. For accessibility purposes, the font sizes can be changed on the Vaios, and handwriting recognition functionality means that users can use the pen tool to write instead of type. The impact The experience for the staff and students has been very positive, although there has been a significant amount of time involved for the staff to get used to the new equipment. We hope that this might give you some inspiration on how to use mobile learning in your organisation. Our thanks go to the Excellence Gateway website and RSC West Midlands 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 http://excellence.qia.org.uk.
The guide is for people involved in the management and delivery of e-assessment in awarding centres delivering accredited qualifications. It will be relevant to those working in colleges, workplaces, training centres, community education centres, voluntary organisations and other types of provider in the postschool sector. Download a copy at www.efutures.org/docs/guide.pdf
Training opportunities Netskills is the JISC Advisory Service that provides high quality training courses. The RSC is delighted to be able to offer a number of free places on these courses to regional learning providers. Current courses include “Podcasting” and “Webquests and treasure hunts”. We’ll be letting staff development managers have more details soon. 5
Hints & Tips How to connect a mobile phone to a computer Using Mobile Technology is all very well – but how do you get information from your phone to a computer?
Using mobile devices in e-portfolios
Focus On: Support for Teacher Training
By adopting mobile technologies in sports-related NVQ courses South Nottingham College has been able to improve its e-assessment of recording evidence for learners’ portfolios. This motivated both learners and staff, saved time in marking and removed the need for large A4 ring binders of evidence.
It’s hard to believe that it is only a year since qualifications for teachers in the Learning and Skills Sector became compulsory – and about time too! The use of technology as an essential tool for all teachers is central to the qualifications that are now bedding in and developing e-learning skills is a key part of the required 30 hours of professional updating each year.
There are three ways to try: Firstly using your phone’s text or, if available, email facilities coupled with a web application such as Flickr or ShoZu for photos or Twitter or Jaiku for text. They all have simple instructions for setting up your phone. The second option is Bluetooth. Lots of phones have Bluetooth now, although you may need to switch it on. Normally this is in the phone’s “Connect” settings. Some computers have Bluetooth or you can purchase a Bluetooth dongle, which plugs into your USB port, allowing you to connect and share files. If you want to Bluetooth several people together, buy a Bluetooth Broadcaster for just under £100.
The third way only works on a one at a time basis and involves connecting the phone directly using a lead and software available from the phone’s manufacturer. This is great for putting audio or video files onto the phone, as it converts them from your computer’s format to one suitable for your phone. Bluetooth and web connections may not do this.
What was the situation? The challenge for Steve Pritchard, Modern Apprenticeship Co-ordinator at the College, was that his students on NVQs in Activity Leadership and Coaching, Teaching, Instructing Football were receiving excellent oral reports from employers on their placements but were poor at recording evidence of their learning. As the courses involve limited time in the classroom due to their practical nature, the capture of such evidence was critical for students in building up their portfolios. At the same time the nature of these portfolios meant that students were traditionally accumulating huge A4 ring binders. Steve recognised that the majority of his students were literate in the use of their phones, but were not aware of all the functions available to them and had not used them in an educational context. He therefore decided to develop the potential of using mobiles in an educational context. What did they do? One of the first things was to check whether the external verifier was happy to receive electronic rather than written evidence and they received the OK. Students used their mobile phones for taking video clips and for still images whilst at their work placements. They were also used to record short audio clips that demonstrate the knowledge that has been developed. According to Steve Pritchard, “Wherever possible we use the students’ phones or mine to prompt the students to think about the potential of their mobiles”.
This article originally featured in the RSC Yorkshire & Humber newsletter
6
Students used their own mobiles so the project required no additional funding. For those that didn’t have a suitable phone, digital cameras and dictaphones were available on loan.
Also students were paired with another student who had a suitable mobile phone where possible.
“Working with the RSC shows us how we can exploit web 2.0 technologies such as blogs to develop our traditional way of doing things. We are making our courses much more interactive compared with our former didactic approach. Our course members can become a community of practice, supported by e-technology.”
Once a video clip has been taken by a student, they could upload it to their individual space on the College portal. Students have electronic assessment documents in Microsoft Word format that they must fill in. Multimedia files of evidence can also be incorporated by having hyperlinks to them. All these files are then copied to disk or pen drive for the final submission to the verifier. South Nottingham College generally uses the file formats of mp4 for video and mp3 for audio, as they are accessible on both PCs and Macs. After trialling a variety of software options, QuickTime is generally used by the College to access the files. What have the benefits been? This new approach for South Nottingham College has had many advantages: • Motivating - for both students
and staff. • A reduction in paperwork - no
longer any need for huge A4 ring binders! • Time saving - the portfolios have
been easier to mark and manage for both lecturers and verifiers. • Reliability - potential issues with
loss of portfolio work have been overcome as the evidence is now backed-up. • Integrity of work - some of the
plagiarism issues associated with paper-based evidence have been overcome. For a more in-depth look at what South Nottingham College did and what they plan to do in the future, go to the Excellence Gateway site at http://excellence.qia.org.uk.
Sensibly, the RSC remit requires us to work co-operatively with organisations which have common interests, not to replicate what they do. For several years we have supported the teacher training network hosted by EMFEC (www.emfec.co.uk) and now we are developing a partnership with the new East Midlands Centre for Excellence in Teacher Training – EMCETT (www.thelearningchain.net).
The RSC provides a range of services to support initial teacher training (ITT). The purpose is not only to enable ITT courses to teach about e-learning, but to model the use of technology, on the basis that “do as I do” is more effective than “do as I say”. The questions are questions of pedagogy, not technology. Should all teachers in training be able to use an interactive whiteboard in a pedagogically valid way? How about making a simple video, creating a podcast or using a learning platform such as Moodle? What’s the best blend of face-to-face and on-line elements in ITT courses? For several years the RSC has run events for teacher trainers but we also support individual providers. The RSC has a range of tools which enable ITT course teams to review current practice as the starting point for change and has used them with ITT providers across the region, including Leicester, Chesterfield, Northampton, Grantham and Derby Colleges. Using advice and guidance from the RSC, Trevor Cotterill, Manager for Teacher Training at New College Nottingham, is introducing a number of innovations into his courses.
The EMCETT network currently includes 25 partner organisations and is based at South Leicestershire College. Actions to date include contributing to each other’s events, providing advice and guidance to EMCETT on e-learning issues such as the use of a VLE and exploring the potential for a region-wide blended learning facility.
For Ian Grayling, Executive Director at EMCETT it is a case of, “looking forward to strengthening our relationship with the RSC, as we move towards new blended-learning models of initial and continuing teacher education that will provide wider and more immediate access to resources and support.” Teacher training courses prepare teachers for learning as it will be, not as it used to be. For more information about support for your teacher training courses, contact us here at the RSC.
JISC news JISC Collections Update From 1st August 2008 Content Complete Limited will provide the JISC Collections subscriptions and help desk service. Contact details for the JISC Collections subscription and help desk will change to: JISC Collections Subscription and Help Desk Content Complete Ltd Unit 7, North Leigh Business Park North Leigh Oxfordshire OX29 6SW Tel: 01993 880044 Email: subscriptionshelp@jisc.ac.uk
National recognition for Lincoln Vice-Principal Paul Deane, Vice-Principal of Lincoln College and Chair of the RSC East Midlands Steering Group, has been nominated for the national JISC Board. Paul welcomes this opportunity to align JISC activity more closely with the needs of the wider FE community. “I would be delighted to hear any views on JISC services from members of the FE Community” he says. Paul can be contacted at pdeane@lincolncollege.ac.uk
JISC Podcasts Education has not been slow to recognise the potential of podcasts, and the near-ubiquity of iPods and MP3 players has also helped persuade JISC that they could provide another vital channel of communication. After a year of producing podcasts on a wide variety of subjects, the standard ten-minute conversation with experts has now became a series of short narrated programmes. The Web 2.0 podcast stands out as one of the most popular, but there are many other interesting items such as the launch of the Google Generation report and a look at accessibility issues. The podcasts have become the third most popular educational technology podcasts in the world. You can subscribe to JISC podcasts via iTunes or for further information go to www.jisc.ac.uk/podcasts.
7
Forthcoming Events September 25th (online)
e-books webinar
October 6th (am)
Web 2.0 Senior Managers Workshop Liability and Law
9th (am)
Heads of IT Forum
15th (am)
ACL Forum
16th (full day)
EDINA multimedia services
23rd (full day)
Quick and Easy Video
30th (am)
Accessibility and Inclusion Forum
30th (pm)
Specialist Colleges Forum
November 5th (am)
LRC Forum
5th (pm)
EMIS (East Midlands Information Skills).
14th (am)
WBL Forum
20th (am)
ILT Forum
20th (am)
New Build Forum
25th (am)
Technical Forum
26th (full day)
Creating learning resources with free tools
27th (full day)
Managing Multiple Projects
December 9th (full day)
JISC Learner Experience
Events to be confirmed TBC
Moodle Users Group
TBC
SharePoint event
For further details please visit www.rsc-em.ac.uk
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 8
Sharing expertise “SharePoint 2007: Pulling IT Together” was a joint event earlier this year between South Nottingham College and the RSC which attracted national interest and allowed the College to demonstrate the significant progress it had made with this new software tool. Microsoft’s SharePoint is a program specifically designed to integrate with MIS databases, data repositories, email systems, internal networks and web portals, and is becoming increasingly common within the East Midlands region.
with other organisations who are thinking of adopting this software and for them to learn from our journey”. She also added that “the event would enable them to capitalise upon their relationship with the RSC.”
The event was targeted at senior and other strategic/operational managers wanting to implement a personalised learning environment; for existing users wanting to get more out of SharePoint; and for those considering adopting SharePoint.
Does your organisation have the lead in an aspect of e-learning? If so, your RSC can help you run a similar type of event, where you lead the running and the RSC can help support with the delivery and the promotion of it.
The event packed out the EMFEC conference centre with many visitors from within the region but also interested parties from as far away as Sunderland and Bath. Elaine Martin, in charge of Strategic Development: Teaching & Learning at South Nottingham College described the day “as a clear success and a chance for our college to share our experiences
A packed house at the SharePoint event
Need a hand in promoting e-learning? We were pleased to be invited to contribute to the HE in FE Conference, “Going Further and Higher”, at New College Nottingham (ncn) in July. Our RSC stand generated interest and RSC advisor, Ben Williams provided two workshops on Innovating Assessment through the use of technology, which were well received and brought out some good ideas from those who attended. Ben commented that “ncn are showing a real commitment to exploring ways in which technology can help them innovate their HE provision” and that “the workshop audiences were really responsive to the ideas being discussed.”
Danuta Januszonok, Director of Standards at ncn, was thrilled with the event and the presence of the RSC commenting that “the day was a wonderful success - we have received overwhelmingly positive feedback. If you have an event that you feel would benefit from having the RSC in attendance to promote the benefits of e-learning, either by delivering a workshop or by giving advice on a consultation basis, please get intouch.
Most popular UK mobile internet sites Networking has gone mobile – more than 40% of mobile internet traffic is to social networking sites, compared to 6% of non-mobile internet traffic. Web-based e-mail such as Yahoo, Hotmail and Gmail account for 11%. Source: Opera
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
www.facebook.com www.google.co.uk www.live.com www.bebo.com www.mocospace.com news.bbc.co.uk uk.yahoo.com www.itsmy.com www.faceparty.com www.ebay.co.uk