intouch
Forthcoming
EVENTS
FOCUS
the termly newsletter produced by RSC East Midlands
ON...
Using Images in Moodle Before using Moodle in our Sixth form college, staff had to gain an understanding of Dreamweaver to build and edit their intranet sites. Very few felt confident enough to maintain their sites, let alone use images. Since we have introduced Moodle, staff are beginning to realise that they can easily upload files and images, creating visually rich courses without too great an investment in learning new skills.
Some dates are provisional
May 9th
Plagiarism
15th
Risk Management
24th
Making Strategic use of Moodle
24th
Heads of IT Network
June 5th
New Build Forum
8th
Technical Forum
13th
LRC Forum
21st
e-fair
July/August Summer School - a chance to explore tools to add to your teaching toolkit in an informal, unrushed setting. Termly or occasional forums are arranged for the following role groups: ILT, LRC, HE, ACL, moodle, Specialist Colleges, MIS, New Build.
See our website for further details www.rsc-em.ac.uk
I am writing as an art and design teacher, so for me images are an integral part of teaching and learning. I love using Moodle for my subject and believe it contributes greatly to the students’ learning experience. In many other subject areas images are an expected part of text books and visual learners will benefit from their inclusion in learning material. There are many sources of copyright free images and photos can easily be taken and uploaded from digital cameras. Some art image sources allow educational use provided credits are given and a link is made to their site. The main considerations for those unfamiliar with putting images on the web are file format and file size. Most digital cameras produce “jpeg” images, this is the best file type for photographs and tonal images. Simple graphics with flat colour may be best as a “gif”. Both these file types compress the image and take less space. It’s easy to save the image in the right format using Photoshop or other image editing software such as Photo Editor. You have to get used to thinking in pixels; for viewing on the screen centimetres and inches have no relevance. An image which fills about one quarter of the screen offers enough detail for most purposes.Simple small images work well as headers to introduce a topic or liven up a page. These are tiny files and it is best to get them the size you want outside of Moodle. You can view actual pixels or view at 100% in the picture editing software to see what the image will look like on the screen. I put many images into PowerPoint to show the students in class and these files go on Moodle. They can be rather unwieldy and take a while to load, but it’s an invaluable resource for students to follow up classroom activities. Students can print out the images for their own sketchbook work and follow links to further online resources. So the images act as taster and a starting point for research. The most exciting use of images within Moodle is the ability for students to contribute their own.
We use Moodle to submit and mark Graphics projects. Students upload work in progress (saved as jpegs) to an Assignment and we can view and give feedback. I would like students to be able to view a gallery of their own work, currently I have to download all the images and put them back online in PowerPoint. This is time-consuming. I am reliably informed that the latest version of Moodle has a function to automatically put image submissions in to a gallery format. We have also used the Forum activity in a classroom situation, getting students to contribute and share links to online resources and images on a particular theme. It’s an added bonus that these submissions can be graded by other students and staff can add comments. In this example students were asked to search for and submit examples of Postmodernist architecture, saying why the example was PostModern. Images do not have to be static, I have colleagues in science who create videos of chemistry experiments and put these on line as tools for learning and revision. Any visitors will be very welcome to my Graphics courses on our college Moodle. http://moodle.wqeic.ac.uk/ Please log in as a guest and find the graphics courses under all courses on the left. Any comments and suggestions for developments gratefully accepted. eh@wqeic.ac.uk Emma Harding Wyggeston and Queen Elizabeth 1 College, Leicester
www.tiddlywiki.com/ A TiddlyWiki is like a blog and is divided up into neat little chunks (tiddlers), but it can be read by hyperlinking rather than sequentially. Try it – you need to see it in action to appreciate the beauty of this application. It is designed for keeping notes, but can also be used as a web site. It is easy to edit. It is portable because it is only a single file so can be carried on a memory stick. A simple solution to authoring. It’s also free and adaptable.
This issue
RSC East Midlands 2007 e-fair Eduserv Unveils OpenAthens RSC Placement Service RSC support to Work Based Learning
This means that not only will we be able to offer improved services to our existing colleges and Adult and Community Learning, but also that the services are being made available to LSC funded work based learning.
Call for case studies Focus on: using Images in Moodle Hints and Tips: Tiddlywiki Forthcoming events
Helping you to help yourself The theme of the 2007 e-fair is very much the focus for the next 3 years of RSC support for your e-learning development. We will be providing significantly increased strategic support, including a menu of e-learning progress reviews. As well as the services we provide directly such as training and curriculum review, we will be looking for many more opportunities to broker support. We've been providing a brokerage service for a while such as organising staff placements, but since the need for support is greater than the RSC can provide from our own staff, brokering opens up opportunities. Brokering means, for example: •
Sharing the expertise in regional learning providers around the region;
•
opportunities for one learning provider to support others through offering training on a cost basis if appropriate;
This year’s theme is helping you to help yourself. The purpose of the e-fair is to enable you to find out about developments, initiatives, effective practice and the support available. Teachers can use TW to give students resource pages they can easily edit and take notes on. TW is really a good way of taking notes.
http://www.psc.ac.uk/iceland/index.html
See these philosophy notes: http://parmenides.objectis.net/reason/
How to use a TiddlyWiki:
http://www.blogjones.com/TiddlyWikiTutorial.html
I am delighted to confirm that the JISC has agreed funding with Loughborough College to continue to host the Regional Support Centre until July 2010 – and because the response from East Midlands learning providers to services provided by your RSC so far has been very positive, funding will be increased.
This year’s e-fair is on 21 June at the University of Derby.
http://giffmex.tiddlyspot.com/
http://danielbaird.com/tiddlywikiguides/userguide-sample.html
INSIDE
•
relevant case studies from regional experience;
•
developing networks to prevent re-inventing the wheel, such as the recently established strategic network for Directors of IT;
•
developing training and other activities with one learning provider that can be made available to the whole region.
Other enhanced services include support for teacher training courses and on-line provision of staff development. We are still finalising details; please watch out for more information or get in touch if you would like to know more. Chris Hill, Manager
RSC East Midlands e-fair 2007
and
http://www.giffmex.org/twfortherestofus.htm
Volume 5 • Issue 3
Welcome
Hints Tips: Examples:
Summer 2007
Tiddlywikis are good for organising small to medium sized units of information in a non-linear, non-cluttered format.
w w w. r s c - e m . a c . u k
Keynote speakers: Jane Williams, Executive Director for Further Education, Skills, Regeneration and Becta. Lee Davies, Development Manager, Institute for Learning. Continued on page 2....
w w w. r s c - e m . a c . u k
intouch
intouch e-fair continued from page 1....
Break-out sessions: by and on •
Web 2.0
•
Shibboleth and Access Management
•
LAMS
•
NIACE
•
JISC Legal video conference
•
HE Academy
•
Becta on e-Maturity
•
CEL on Leadership for e-Learning work based learning
•
Portland College on Adaptive Communications and Technology
•
UKERNA and EMMAN on new services
•
South Nottingham College on Capturing Success
•
TechDis on Enriching Learning
•
RSC Steering Group
Eduserv Unveils OpenAthens Access management is about how your students can access protected online resources. This article explains how you can have low cost, easy access to the UK Access Management Federation for Education and Research On 12th March 2007 Eduserv, the not-for-profit IT services group, unveiled OpenAthens, a new access and identity management (AIM) platform using established international standards. The launch builds on the successful and widely adopted Athens service, and enables Institutions to gain secure access to Shibboleth protected, UK Access Management Federation resources and maintain access to Athens protected resources at low cost, within hours. OpenAthens offers Further and Higher Education Institutions all the benefits of federation membership without the cost of developing, managing and maintaining their own in-house authorisation.
Exhibition: More than 30 stalls: Netskills, EMMAN, UKERNA, JISC Collections, JISC Infonet, TechWatch, Xtensis, OSSWatch,FENC, EDINA, ESC UK, Eduserv Chest, Centre for Excellence, TechDis, Passportfolio, Oxford University Press, Techknowledgey, Learning Skills Network, University of Derby, regional learning providers, RNIB, RSC, Xrefer, and SCRAN. At the e-fair you will be able to: •
network with colleagues to find out what other regional learning providers are doing
•
learn about the outcomes from regional projects
•
meet the regional and national organisations that provide you with e-learning services
If you require further information please contact: support@rsc-em.ac.uk
It will also enable institutions to act as both identity providers and service providers, facilitating the sharing of resources across institutions, and enable those institutions to join multiple federations around the world as and when they emerge. The JISC’s procurement of the Athens service makes it possible for institutions to gain access to Athens and Shibboleth protected resources in the Federation at no cost until July 2008. From July 2008 OpenAthens will be available to institutions for as little as £1000 for the smallest institutions to a maximum of £10,000 for the largest. The OpenAthens shared service approach to participation in the Federation compares very favourably with the cost of developing, implementing, managing and supporting in-house identity provider services.
Edward Zedlewski, CTO and Deputy CEO at Eduserv, comments: “OpenAthens is the quickest, easiest and lowest cost way for education and public sector organisations to join the UK Access Management Federation, and other worldwide federations as they are launched. It also enables institutions that join Shibboleth-based federations to maintain access to Athens protected resources. “Our pricing reflects the economies of scale we derive from delivering a shared service,” Zedlewski adds. “At the same time, our professional approach to service provision means that we provide institutions with support agreements with defined SLAs that guarantee them secure access to critical resources whenever and wherever they’re needed.” For more information about Eduserv please visit: www.eduserv.org.uk or contact: Katy Askew / Kersti Klami Fuse PR Tel: 020 8752 3207 / 3216 Email: katy@fusepr.com
From March 2007 the Learning and Skills Council will fund Regional Support Centres to support e-learning in the work based learning (WBL) sector. RSCs already support WBL carried out by FE Colleges and Adult and Community Learning; now the support is to be extended to other parts of the WBL sector. In the East Midlands there are over 110 WBL providers and support will be targeted as agreed with the LSC. The support will include strategic e-learning advice and guidance for individual WBL providers, together with access to regional forums, events, mailing lists, the RSC helpdesk and the RSC website. We will soon be appointing an e-learning advisor with specific responsibility for work based learning. Get in touch if you would like further information. Contact us at: support@rsc-em.ac.uk or telephone: 01509 618110
Call for case studies The RSC is collating case studies of good practice in ILT within the region, which will be made available on our learning platform, the RSC Moodle (http://moodle.rsc-em.ac.uk). These short case studies will showcase some of the great things that are happening throughout the East Midlands, and will hopefully inspire you to follow suit!
Here are the keynote presentations : http://www.rsc-em.ac.uk/efair_report.asp
w w w. r s c - e m . a c . u k
RSC Support for Shibboleth Federated Access
We are often told that case studies of good practice are very helpful. To make sure that we provide more case studies as we go forward, we need your help. We will be actively asking for information from East Midlands learning providers, but please don't wait to be asked! Let us know how you are using technology within your organisation and how it makes a difference to the teaching and learning experience.
The RSC will offer advice and guidance to any institution that needs support with the choice of single sign-on access.
Whether you are running entire courses online, have created a technology rich learning space, or have simply used PowerPoint in a creative and effective way, we would like to hear from you.
We have already held two awareness raising events and will continue to update you on the latest developments via our mailing lists and forums.
Case studies will be written up by members of the RSC team and made available to other learning providers via the RSC Moodle.
In the meantime, please do get in touch if you have any queries.
As the RSC moves into its Round Three phase of funding, we will be providing more support within the region for learning providers to help themselves and each other on their e-learning journey. By giving you the opportunity to share your positive experiences with an East Midlands online learning community, the RSC will be helping you to help yourselves!
For technical issues contact James Higham: james.higham@rsc-em.ac.uk and for library/LRC issues contact Judi Millage: judi.millage@rsc-em.ac.uk
Rachael Pearson e-Learning Advisor
RSC placement service is up and running You may remember that in our last newsletter we included an article written by Diane Wood from Leicester College on how she had been seconded to the RSC to set up our new placement service. We are now six months on from the launch of the service and we thought you might be interested to hear about three of the placements we’ve set up so far: Julia Ward, Curriculum Centre Manager, Computing and Technology at South Leicestershire College asked us to arrange a placement to enable her to investigate how other colleges are using the Moodle learning platform to support teaching and learning, so we put her in contact with West Nottinghamshire College. Julia is hoping to apply the knowledge she gains to further the development of her own College’s Moodle as a support tool. Tony Jewson, e-learning Manager at Northampton College is planning a placement at New College Nottingham (NCN) where, amongst other things, he’s going to be looking at how NCN organises its e-learning/ILT staff development.
Last year’s e-fair was a great success.
Page 2
RSC support for Work Based Learning
w w w. r s c - e m . a c . u k
Kate Chapman, Deputy Librarian at Moulton College is currently undertaking a placement, on one day a week over a number of weeks, at Northampton College. Kate is new to the FE sector and her original idea was to spend time in another college to discover ‘best practice’ in the implementation and use of Moodle and then apply this within her own college. However, after an initial planning meeting with Grazyna Kuczera, LRC Manager at Northampton College, Kate’s placement brief became much wider. If you would like to find out what Kate is doing, you can read all about it in the blog she’s set up to record her experiences. You can find it by going to: http://kvchapman.blogspot.com/ It makes interesting reading. If you would like to undertake a placement, contact us at: support@rsc-em.ac.uk or telephone 01509 618110 Judi Millage, ILT Advisor
Page 3