the termly newsletter produced by RSC East Midlands
Spring 2003
Volume 1 • Issue 3
Welcome
from the Editor
Comments please!
This is our third newsletter and we would like to hear your
comments on how we are doing. For example: do you like the format of the newsletter, is it
INSIDE
THIS ISSUE Welcome
too long or too short, do you find the articles interesting and relevant, do you like the regular
ILT and Inspection
features, what would you like to see included? Send your comments/suggestions to us at:
The Television and Radio Index for
support@rsc-east-midlands.ac.uk and help us to make this a newsletter worth reading.
Learning and Teaching (TRILT)
Judi Millage, ILT Advisor
JISC Services: What’s on offer? Hints & Tips: Creating drop down boxes
ILT and Inspection – How can we help you? The word ‘inspection’ traditionally sent shudders of fear and dread through the minds of all college staff and that was before the introduction of the Common Inspection Framework and inspections carried out by Ofsted and Ali. During the past few years there has been significant investment both at a national and local college level in ILT. Until now, the emphasis during inspection has been on resources - the numbers of computers, connectivity speeds, reliability and accessibility of the network to both students and staff - there has been very limited comment on the impact all this investment was having on the learner.
using MS Word Network Analysis: Knowing what is happening on your network University for Industry Forthcoming Events College Focus: West Nottinghamshire College
Under the Raising Standards initiative,
experience. There are various ways that this
good practice within your college; we can
Becta were tasked with consulting with
can be demonstrated, it may be that
provide staff development opportunities to
college practitioners and representatives of
students are given the opportunity to
improve skill levels, we can provide a
the inspectorates, the LSC and other
improve their research and study skills, that
Network Healthcheck to ensure that you
interested bodies to consider and report on
there has been an improvement in the
are making the most of what equipment
measures that could be taken to assist both
flexibility of delivery or that there is
you have and we can also advise on
colleges and college inspectors in
improved communications between
teaching and learning resources.
preparing for the inspection of good
learners and teachers due to the use of
practice in ILT. The result of this process
internet based communication technologies
was the publication released at BETT 2003
and applications. However, it should be
entitled ‘Managing Inspection and ILT’.
remembered that ILT is not the panacea for
The questions that are now going to be asked of colleges will reflect this change in
all eventualities; it only adds value when it is used effectively and appropriately.
emphasis and colleges should be prepared
Our team at the East Midlands RSC can
to highlight how they are using ILT to
help you plan for inspection in a number
provide their students with a better learning
of ways. We can help you identify areas of
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If you would like further information on ILT and Inspection please don’t hesitate to contact us. You can find a copy of the publication Managing Inspection and ILT on the Ferl website - http://ferl.becta.org.uk Lesley Price, RSC Manager
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The Television and Radio Index for Learning and Teaching (TRILT)
JISC Services:
?
What’s on offer
JISC Plagiarism Advisory Service Did you know that the first national service to tackle the growing problem of Internet plagiarism is now available to the UK higher and further education communities? College staff and students are now able to obtain free advice and guidance on preventing and detecting plagiarism. This service is funded by the JISC and based at the University of Northumbria.
The Television and Radio Index for Learning and Teaching (TRILT) is a JISC funded service which contains programme and scheduling information, web-links, bibliographic information, keywords and images in the form of a searchable database accessible over the Internet. TRILT is offered through the British Universities Film & Video Council (BUFVC) and enables staff and students to see, at least five days before transmission, what will be broadcast on around 300 UK terrestrial (including regional and language variations), cable/ satellite television and radio channels. Under the terms of the Educational Recording
This new service will assist institutions in their task to prevent plagiarism by: • Providing help to lecturers, teachers and administrators with verifying that work from students is original. • Assisting staff in identifying plagiarism to allow them to concentrate on the issue of prevention. • Giving students guidance and advice relating to the key areas of essay writing and study skills and providing them with guides to good practice
• Promoting good practice and providing online access to information aimed at senior managers, academic staff and students. • Offering advice plagiarism.
on
prevention
of
The Plagiarism Advisory Service also provides a link to the Electronic Plagiarism Detection Service which checks submitted work against material available on the Internet and held in the service database. Further details on this new service are available on the JISC website (www.jisc.ac.uk) or alternatively to access information directly from the University of Northumbria go to (www.jiscpas.ac.uk). Gwen Callaghan, Events and Admin Co-ordinator
Agency (ERA) Licence, many higher and further education institutions make extensive use of offair recordings from UK terrestrial television. Knowing, in advance, what is about to be broadcast is a key component of this process. Identifying programmes from the Radio Times and
other
listings
magazines
can
be
unsatisfactory as it takes time to circulate listings information to relevant staff. TRILT offers some solutions; it is available over the Internet to all users simultaneously, cutting out the need to circulate listings and it allows the user to auto alert themselves and others when relevant programmes are going to be aired or repeated. Any missed recordings for UK terrestrial television can be retrieved through the BUFVC Off-Air Recording Back-Up Service. The BUFVC’s existing television database - the Television Index - will gradually be incorporated into TRILT, supplying selected television records back to 1995, ensuring that TRILT is the most comprehensive record of British broadcasting available on the Internet. For more information about TRILT or BUFVC go to www.bufvc.ac.uk and then select: Television & Radio Index. Chris Bell, e-Information Officer
H i n t s
&
T i p s
C r e a t i n g d r o p d o w n b o x e s u s i n g M S Wo r d MS Word can be used to create simple interactive learning materials. One technique is to convert handouts into ‘cloze’ activities using the forms feature. Open the file or type in the text you wish to use. You then need to use the forms toolbar. You can find it under: View - Toolbars - Forms Before you start make sure you have the form field shading button turned on Highlight and delete the words in your text that you want to create choices for. The drop down box will have an arrow next to it so the spaces need to be slightly larger than the word that will fill them.
In the Drop-down item field type in the first word(s) you want the user to choose from and click the Add button below it (Hint: enter ‘select one of the following’ first as the users will see this in the gap first). Repeat this for all the words you want to appear in the drop down list. By highlighting a word in the Items in drop-down list field and using the arrows next to it you can change the order by which they are listed. Once you have entered all the words click OK. Highlight the greyed box and copy and paste it to the other gaps. Then to complete the activity you need to protect the document by clicking on the protect button on the forms toolbar.
Put the cursor in the first space and click the drop down form field button on the forms toolbar. A grey box will appear in the space. Right click on this box and select the properties option from the sub menu. The drop down forms fields option dialogue box will appear.
You could also provide differentiation for your exercise using the add text help button in the drop down forms fields option dialogue box. This can be used to provide the user with a hint by using the F1 key. The exercise is now completed and ready to use, but remember to make any changes you must unprotect it first. John McKenzie, ILT Advisor
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Network Analysis:
Knowing what is happening on your network
As systems become more and more powerful and capable of generating ever-increasing amounts of network traffic, it is extremely important to know exactly what types of traffic are flowing around the network and where this traffic is travelling to and from. Network analysis and traffic monitoring can help with this, but it does not include the actual contents of emails, or details of websites that have been accessed. There is a large quantity of legislation in place, defining precisely who can carry out these kinds of network monitoring and also for what purpose. More information about this legislation can be obtained from the following websites.
will also provide customised reports and can be used to contact technicians (by email or pager) should a system fail to respond for a certain period of time. Information about some such products can be obtained from the following websites. WhatsUp Gold http://www.ipswitch.com/Products/WhatsUp/index.html Nagios http://www.nagios.org/ It is also important to consider the types and quantities of traffic passing
The JISC’s Legal Information Service http://www.jisc.ac.uk/legal/
around a college network. Some areas of a network may be heavily
Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 http://www.hmso.gov.uk/acts/acts2000/20000023.htm
traffic and this will result in degradation in the level of performance of
congested, due to the concentration of large quantities of network the network. If this congestion involves main college servers, then the effect on network users will be even greater. Again, there are a number
The JISC’s Senior Management Briefing Paper 14 http://www.jisc.ac.uk/pub01/smbp14.pdf
of commercially available products designed to assist in determining
With the increasing use of IT systems in colleges for administration, management and teaching purposes, there is now a frequent demand from senior management and auditors to have information about the reliability and performance of the college network and systems. This may simply be a calculation of the overall “uptime” of main college servers, but there may also be a need for information on the availability of the college website or email system, both from within the network and also from outside the college. This is particularly the case when remote learning is considered, as students may be logging in at any time of the day or night and will require access to systems in exactly the same way as other students that attend college during the day. There are many products commercially available that can be configured to monitor the availability of systems. In many cases they
UNIVERSITY
network traffic levels to help avoid network “bottlenecks”. Fluke Network Inspector http://www.flukenetworks.com/us/LAN/Monitoring+Analysis+Diagra mming/Network+Inspector/Overview.htm The JISC East Midlands Regional Support Centre is keen to assist college technical staff in ensuring their networks are as free as possible of congestion and problems. For this reason the RSC Network Healthcheck Service has been developed for colleges in the East Midlands. The service is currently free of charge. For more information contact the RSC either by telephone on 01509 618110 or by going to the RSC website: http://www.rsc-east-midlands.ac.uk James Higham, Network Specialist
for industry
Ufi is working towards the Government’s concept of a ‘university for industry’ to help adults improve their employability by acquiring new knowledge and skills and help businesses become more competitive. learndirect, Ufi’s network of online learning
covering many aspects of ICT. These include
If you would like more information about the
and information services, uses Information
giving advice on upgrading Internet connections,
advice service, the RSC, Ufi and learndirect, or
Communications
troubleshooting network and desktop PC issues
have a problem you think we can help you
revolutionise where and how people learn.
and
with then please contact me at the RSC.
There are now over 170 learning venues
technologies such as Satellite Broadband and
throughout the East Midlands providing access
wireless LANs. In addition we have provided
to learndirect. Working in partnership with Ufi,
training for learning venue staff and have
http://www.ufiltd.co.uk
the RSC assists these venues in providing a
recently initiated a regional ICT Forum to
http://www.learndirect.co.uk
quality learning experience by providing ICT
facilitate the sharing of ideas within the region.
Technology
(ICT)
to
providing
information
about
new
Ian Houseman, Ufi Technical Support Officer.
advice and guidance. To date the RSC has worked with learning venues and Ufi regional offices on projects
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COLLEGE ILT at West Nottinghamshire College
FOCUS
West Nottinghamshire College operates out of ten main centres and some eighty community venues in and around the Mansfield and Ashfield Districts of North Nottinghamshire. The college has a policy of significant annual investment in the support and use of ILT in terms of infrastructure, hardware and staffing. This has included: • Network connectivity to outlying centres, data cabling to teaching/learning areas and staff workrooms. • Wireless LANs and bridges. • New servers and switches. • PCs and laptops, for both staff and students.
Forthcoming
EVENTS March 4th
LRC Forum
4th
JISC Conference: Exploiting the potential of ICT
6th
Using ILT in Science
18th & 25th
JISC Workshop: Physical Learning Spaces
25th
Wireless Technologies
April Date to be Using ILT in Hair & Beauty confirmed
May Date to be Netskills: Effective learning confirmed with VLEs Date to be Web Developer’s Forum confirmed Date to be Embedding ILT into Staff confirmed Development
June Date to be Resource Discovery confirmed Network Roadshow
For further details see our website
www.rsc-east-midlands.ac.uk Page 4
• Installation of data projectors and SMARTBOARDS in teaching areas. • Granada Learnwise (Virtual Learning Environment) • Appointment of an ILT Development Co-ordinator to work with tutors to embed the use of Learnwise. • Time given to ILT Champions to embed ILT in teaching and learning. • The creation of a materials development team Needless to say once you are on the IT conveyor belt, it is very difficult to get off as further investment is continually required to ensure that performance is of an appropriate standard and new developments in technology are taken on board. The college is committed to allocate funds for this purpose. This investment strategy has paid dividends in ensuring there is sufficient access to ILT for all college learners and this has been embraced by those staff delivering ILT, or who have an appropriate skill level. However, the continued use and development of IT support for learning has still to be embedded in many areas of college delivery. There is still a considerable staff development requirement for ILT. Identifying and freeing up enthusiasts as part of the ILT Champions initiative has been extremely beneficial in areas where the ILT Champion has been proactive and encouraging. This has not been the case in all areas. In order to address this issue the college has implemented a new strategy. The way forward is based on the appointment of a Strategy Manager: ILT Teaching and Learning whose role is to drive forward the college’s policy to embed the use of ILT in teaching and learning. In addition to this, the roles and numbers of ILT Champions have been redefined. They now have a cross college remit instead of their previous curriculum area focus. This will include a new job description and the creation of individual action plans.
• the undertaking of a college wide skills audit. • Identification of appropriate, qualification based ILT programmes. Ferl Practitioners Programme. Our approach to the FPP during the pilot stage is to concentrate on a small number of staff - ILT champions, key support staff, senior managers and enthusiasts. John McKenzie and Judi Millage from the RSC delivered the common modules A,B,C,D in taught group sessions. Reaction to these sessions has been fairly consistent:• Module A needs to be re-written if it is to inspire and enthuse staff in the use of ILT in teaching and learning - it is felt to be very dull and boring. • Modules B,C and D are much better in that there are some very good resources that can be used in colleges e.g. the skills audit. • The information sheets provide very good background knowledge to ILT e.g. Legislation and ILT. • The structure of modules is probably best designed for self-directed learning rather than being taught in groups. Having completed modules A,B,C,D, those staff involved in the pilot are working through the modules in either Strand B (for Learning Resources and Learning Support Staff) or strand C (for ILT champions) by self-directed study. Individual action plans from each module are being put together as part of the portfolio of resources that are being compiled from each module. Staff Development Day. A range of workshops and presentations were put on for staff to participate in. These ranged from training sessions in: • College information systems. • Office applications at levels one and two. • Examples of good practice of the use of ILT in teaching and learning. • Use of equipment e.g. SMARTBOARDS, data projectors and digital cameras. • Electronic learning resources. • Use of Granada Learnwise. • Exhibition of new technology. Staff were given an opportunity to attend workshops in the morning, while the afternoon was dedicated to teams getting together to discuss these sessions and to determine how they need to further implement ILT into their teaching and learning over the year to come.
• taking part in the FERL Practitioners Pilot Programme.
Each team is to produce an action plan revolving around the seven key inspection questions. These action plans will feed into an overall five year college strategic plan that will be co-ordinated by the Strategic Manager, ILT Teaching and Learning.
• a staff development day dedicated to ILT so that all staff have an opportunity to upskill themselves.
Keith Mellor, Development Manager: Learning Resources
Practical measures that have been taken to develop staff include:
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