JISC RSC WM Newsletter Autumn/Winter 2012

RSCNewsletter

a bi-annual update from the Regional Support Centre West Midlands

Issue 9 – Autumn 2012

Technology Bid in West Midlands set to contribute to enhanced learning and teaching across the UK

Contents

JISC RSC West Midlands is delighted to announce that Birmingham Adult Education Service (BAES) is to receive funding for new learning resources, methods and expanding opportunities in post-16 learning.

The winning project - managed by JISC Advance and funded by BIS will run throughout 2012-13.

The aim of BAES’ project is to develop a suite of online learning materials specifically designed to engage adult learners. Repurposed learning materials will ensure that there is sufficient variety to engage learners with differing learning styles. Resources will include video clips, quiz questions for interactive assessment, and content for staying safe online.

The project will search across JISC and other sources for suitable existing materials for re-purposing.

Resources produced will be shared with the sector via upload to Jorum and the resources will be publicised and promoted via online communication and networking tools.

A total of 32 successful bids were chosen representing all countries of the UK and all aspects of the FE and Skills sector including work-based learning, adult and community learning, colleges and specialist providers. They also involve 90 partners and numerous local links.

Learning providers from across the sector will benefit from the project outcomes, as the RSCs will continue to disseminate information and updates on a regular basis.

The FE and Skills Development and Resources programme managed

by JISC Advance was launched earlier this year in response to the Government’s pledge to improve learning across the UK - ‘New Challenges, New Chances’ report.

There is a total of £1.4m to fund the projects. The bids specifically had to focus on one of four areas: • Innovative uses of technology • Improving the learner experience • Improving organisational efficiencies • Making better use of existing resources.

Guy Lambert, Managing Director of JISC Advance commented: “We received an unprecedented number of bids which demonstrates how important technology is for the future of post-16 teaching and learning. JISC Advance is delighted to be leading this essential piece of work, making a significant impact to the FE and Skills sector.”

1. Technology Bid Update 2. Good Practice From Our Region - City of Stoke on Trent Sixth Form: SharePoint 3. Queen Alexandra College Benefits from RSC Assist - RSC Assist New Applications 4. Raptor E-Resources Tool - Developing Digital Literacies 5. Regional Colleges Cloud Computing Funding - New Hairdressing Resources 6. LSIS Support for Teaching and Learning - How to Use Google Surveys 7. How Colleges Improve - Outstanding e-Learning at Derwen College 8. Forthcoming Events - Cost Effective Staff Development Opportunities

Latest e-Learning Good Practice from Our Region

Since the last issue of our newsletter, a further 3 case studies from the region have been published on the Excellence Gateway: Newcastle-under-Lyme College: Teaching and Learning Committee Derwen College: E-safety awareness for vulnerable learners City of Stoke on Trent Sixth Form College: Using MS Sharepoint to Facilitate Lesson Observations (see opposite) UPDATE: Derwen College: Trialling new technologies video conferencing and JANET Txt for teaching, learning and student support.

To read these case studies in full, and view more examples from our region, visit: http://bit.ly/Hgf1pT Do you have an e-learning project that has made an impact on your staff, learners, or your organisation? If so, we want to hear from you. Please contact Kirsty Hill Information Officer by e-mail: kirsty.hill@rsc-wm.ac.uk

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Case Study - City of Stoke on Trent Sixth Form Uses MS SharePoint to Facilitate Lesson Observations When staff at City of Stoke on Trent Sixth Form College wanted to improve the quality of teaching and learning, the first step was to increase the number of lesson observations per academic year. To do this however, they needed a system that would streamline the existing process for recording, tracking and monitoring. The spread sheet that the Quality Officer used previously was inefficient and could not have handled the increased workload.

Having already used Microsoft SharePoint for other business processes, it was decided to make use of the existing software.

Paul Magnall, Deputy Principal says, “We wanted to set our own sequence of processes which a bespoke solution would not have allowed us to do. SharePoint represented an accessible, value for money solution which we could join up to the SARS, management group meetings and performance management data.”

IT Project Officer Carl Taylor worked with the Quality Officer to map the workflow into SharePoint and test the process along with the observation team. Trial sessions allowed the team to pick up on workflow errors and Carl trained 25 observers, the core team of SMT and the middle managers.

The impact • Cost savings – the college used an existing system and therefore saved money • Time savings for teachers who were previously spending up to 5 hours preparing for a 45 minute lesson observation, including time wasted searching for the correct documentation. Teachers are now able to focus more on the delivering the lesson without the burden of administrative paperwork - the responsibility for which is now with the observer and the appropriate documentation is available in one place • Time savings for the observation team – SharePoint has significantly speeded up the administrative process

• More timely feedback – observees are no longer chasing up their lesson observations 6 months after they have taken place.

• Increased number of observations – from 120 per academic year to 360 • Dissemination of good practice – when looking through the moderation comments, SMT discovered a lack of equality and diversity embedded into the lessons which is a key driver for Ofsted.

This has since been addressed and incorporated into staff development • More consistent approach to moderation – the system prevents any inconsistencies. All observees benefit from the same process in the same systematic way.

• Full audit trail of the lesson observation process with built in version control – vital for Ofsted inspections • Information is more accessible – at the touch of a button, senior management can view all of the Grade 1 observations without having to trawl through paperwork Carl Taylor, ICT Project Officer says, ”You have to spec out the workflow and define what you are using it for.”

He adds, “Staff training is a major consideration and you need to think about how many times per year that staff will use the system. We found that it was better to do the training at the point of need rather than running the risk of staff being trained on how to use it, and then forgetting it 6 months later.”

To read the full case study, visit http://bit.ly/RWJD02

Queen Alexandra College Benefits from RSC Assist access and functionality for learners using symbol support as well as screen readers. “

When Head of Teaching and Learning Nicola Wojciechowski found out about the RSC West Midlands Assist project, she thought it would be an ideal way to help Queen Alexandra College (QAC) integrate the e-portfolio system into the curriculum.

In 2010, the college received a server featuring its own installation of the InFolio system – an e-portfolio developed specifically for specialist colleges by JISC TechDis. However, following personnel changes, time constraints and uncertainty as to the potential of InFolio, the college was not able to proceed.

Nicola says, “It was through the Regional Support Centre that we realised the potential for InFolio, and so we requested their support via the RSC Assist service. We wanted some help to roll out InFolio across our Preparation for Life (Entry Level) cohort by developing a strategy for training staff and integrating InFolio in the curriculum.”

The RSC supported Nicola and her team to help them achieve their objectives and as a result, the team identified a college InFolio Champion to help deliver the training and disseminate ideas on how InFolio could be used in the curriculum. QAC and the RSC also worked together to develop training materials using the Moodle Virtual Learning Environment.

Nicola adds, “We did experience some technical issues but the RSC were able to signpost us to relevant parties who were able to help.”

Talking about the impact of RSC Assist, Nicola says, “Without the support of RSC, the server may have sat in a cupboard gathering dust! We were prompted to kick start a project which, with busy college life and technical hurdles to overcome, may have slipped down the list of priorities. Training materials provided by the RSC in conjunction with QAC have been of high quality, often showcasing possibilities with other aspects of ILT, such as Moodle. Being involved in the development of training has also developed the confidence of our Infolio Champion who has delivered staff training to others for the first time. “ Nicola adds, ”We have already trained the Learning Support Assistants (LSAs) as their support will be crucial in assisting learners with the software. Tutors and LSAs found the software easy to use and intuitive and have shared ideas for how we can use Infolio in the future as part of induction, to show progress, record weekly achievements and creating “moving on” content such as communication passports, video CVs and learning styles information.

There are still some software issues remaining but we are hopeful that we will be able to integrate symbol support and have InFolio fully functional for all PFL learners in September. “

RSC Assist - New Applications Now Being Taken RSC West Midlands will continue to offer extended support to learning providers who require additional help to achieve their e-learning objectives.

RSC Assist enables you to work with a member of the RSC team for up to a day in planning your project and benefiting from our advice and expertise, as well as a limited amount of training, if applicable. You retain control of the task in hand, but will be able to call on the support of your nominated advisor throughout.

On completion, you will work with your RSC advisor to produce a brief case study or best practice guide, which outlines the outcomes and any lessons learned, for the benefit of other learning providers The project should be a priority for your organisation and be achievable within a 3 month period, with a measurable, tangible outcome. Applications will be assessed against their relevance to the RSC remit, likely wider interest in the topic and available RSC staff expertise.

Last year’s RSC Assist service proved extremely popular and we are now taking applications for academic year 2012-13.

If, like Queen Alexandra College (read Nicola’s story opposite), you feel that your organisation would benefit from RSC Assist, please complete the application form at http://bit.ly/o0LKyt You can also discuss your project idea with a member of the RSC team, prior to applying - please get in touch on 01902 518982 or e-mail support@rscwm.ac.uk To find out more about last year’s projects, visit our RSC Assist project wiki at: http://bit.ly/R89FiT

She adds, “Although the software has been designed with accessibility in mind, the range of learner disabilities at QAC is diverse and the staff team have worked together to develop solutions to maximise

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RAPTOR E-resources Usage Tool

Developing Digital Literacies in Learners and Staff

Have you registered with the Gateway?

RAPTOR developed by Cardiff University and funded by JISC, is a tool that allows learning providers to monitor the usage of e-resources.

It reads authentication logs and presents them in a userfriendly way, enabling you to track usage and create management reports. Raptor tracks Shibboleth and EZProxy logs, but it can also be used for things like eduRoam, OpenAthens and the emerging Moonshot project.

Raptor is particularly valuable to librarians and managers.

You can also use RAPTOR to compare to other information held in your directory allwoing you to track usage by departments, year or attainment grade if such information is stored.

The ‘aggregate up’ function allows you to send anonymised data up to aggregation point where it can be compared to other RAPTOR instances.

Download RAPTOR at http://bit.ly/ApUK7K

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JISC defines Digital Literacy as “those capabilities which fit an individual for living, learning and working in a digital society.” It follows, therefore, that digital literacy is a critical factor, influencing an individual’s achievement and progression during education and their employability skills on leaving. For example, recent research by Job Centre Plus suggests that 90% of new jobs require excellent digital skills.

We often assume that learners are technologically savvy, but although many are comfortable using mobile devices, or social networks like Facebook, they are less able to translate these skills into the learning or employment environment. Twenty-first century learning presents learners and teachers with a wide choice of technologies and potentially unfamiliar, or inaccessible, learning environments. It’s vital therefore that learning providers plan appropriately and are able to offer the necessary guidance and support, not only to avoid learners being left behind, or disadvantaged but also to positively enhance the learning experience and offer progression and employment opportunities.

Getting started and moving forward JISC have funded a £1.5 million programme, supporting the development of organisational strategies and practical approaches to developing digital literacies among learners and staff. The JISC Regional Support Centre is supporting this initiative through

regional events, communications and also a new Digital Literacy Organisational Review, where we work with you to support and move digital literacy forward at your organisation.

Digital Literacies Organisational Review The new JISC RSC Digital Literacies Organisational Review is a supportive process were we work with you, using a survey, to review and benchmark digital literacy across your organization. The review focuses on the contribution of organisational strategies, central support services and curriculum design & monitoring, identifying good practice, areas for improvement and helping you build a suitable action plan, including ways the RSC can support you further.

To find out more about Digital Literacy and the Organisational Review, please contact support@ rsc-wm.ac.uk 01902 518982 Useful Links: Useful Links: Latest JISC briefing paper on Digital Literacy: http://qurl.com/889c4 JISC Digital Literacy Programme home page: http://qurl.com/5vffc

Regional Colleges Benefit from Cloud Computing Funding

New Online Tutorials for Hairdressing Training

Hairdressing Training, a vocational online resource funded by JISC, have recently released 19 new videos for the benefit of hairdressing students, professional hairdressers and others working in the health and beauty industry.

Congratulations to six of our supported regional providers who have won bids under an initiative to progress cloud computing in further education colleges through a range of project activities.

The Collaboration and Shared Services Board has allocated ÂŁ1 million for Cloud projects from the Grant Fund. This is being managed by the Association of Colleges (AoC).

Colleges were invited to bid for individual projects and a total of 36 projects were selected by the Committee. The 6 winners from our region are: City College Coventry This project is for the development of an HTML 5 Cloud Content management system to deliver a mobile app for information and communication for student use.

This will result in improved student access to critical information.

Herefordshire College of Technology This project is for a shared Cloud based implementation of Moodle 2.0 VLE between Herefordshire College of Arts & Technology and the Royal National College for the Blind. This will include a JAWS sound based approach for VI learners at RNCB. Benefits are anytime, anywhere learning for a wide range of students

Joseph Chamberlain 6th Form College This project is for data back up and Live@edu/Office 365 email services in the Cloud as part of a broader planned migration of other services to the Cloud. The main benefits identified are increased access by students to e-mail, including home access and increased collaborative working North East Worcestershire College This project is for a cloud based integrated document hosting, e-mail and calendar access service for staff. It builds on a move to put student e-mail in the cloud Telford College This project is for the development of an FE app store of pre-packaged open source software Walsall College This project is for migration to the Cloud of business continuity functions. With benefits of putting Disaster Recovery Services in the Cloud.

For more information, including details of the other project winners, please visit the AoC website: http://bit.ly/M1O4K7 Is your organisation considering cloud computing? Take a look at these case studies on the Excellence Gateway to find out how other learning providers for ideas: http://bit.ly/VjqQhu

The videos, each with an interactive quiz, are predominantly aimed at further education colleges, but are available for anyone who needs guidance and inspiration on many different hairdressing procedures for their professional development.

Students have responded well to the online resource, which has had over 670,000 video views since its launch in September 2010. A site familiar to students, YouTube offers the ideal platform to reach this community.

Hairdressing Training also encourages feedback from those who teach in hair and beauty courses across the UK. Jean Sullivan, campus librarian at Carmarthen College said: “I promote this resource during skills sessions to our Hairdressing staff and learners - the learners love it, especially the video aspect as they can play them on their phones when practicing on friends and family. I have actually had a few learners come back in to the library and ask me to remind them how to get back to this resource!�

The new videos have been produced by Manchester based company Lizardfish, in conjunction with The Manchester College.

You can access the videos at http://bit.ly/OZRbiM

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LSIS Launches New Support for Teaching and Learning

The Teaching and Learning Coach (Advanced Certificate) programme will officially launch on 15th November at the West Midlands Centre for Excellence in Teacher Training (WMCETT), University of Warwick. This programme builds on the success of previous LSIS programmes such as Subject Learning Coaches, E-Guides and Professional Development Advisers and has been designed to build capacity for enhancing the quality of teaching and learning within organisations by training Advanced Teaching and Learning Coaches who will be recognised by LSIS to deliver this training to others internally.

LSIS is pleased to announce that the new programme will now be supported in every English region through Regional Teaching and Learning Hubs.

These hubs will support organisations in the use and training of new Teaching and Learning Coaches and will hold monthly networking events in each region in addition to the launch events.

The West Midlands Hub is WMCETT (West Midlands Centre for Excellence in Teacher Training).

To find out more and to book your place, visit: http://bit.ly/T6xuFG

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How to Use Google Surveys In this first ‘How to’ series which focuses on the various tools within Google, our Workbased Learning Adviser, Theresa Welch summarises how Google surveys can be used in your organisation.

By now many, learning providers have heard of Google Docs and started to explore the many features that this offers for remote working and collaborating online.

However, it’s a significantly smaller number that have yet realized the benefits of using Google Surveys as a being a really useful way to collect data.

Google surveys (or Google forms as they are more commonly called) is a very simple tool to use. Basically, you set up and design a form online, email the link to people or put it on your website, ask people to fill it in, and Google reports the information back to you, either in a spreadsheet or in a very easy to understand visual summary.

I have recently been working with a learning provider in Kinghurst who has employed the use of Google forms for a remote traffic management project. Similarly, staff at Warwickshire College have taken things a step further and trialled the use of Google forms as part of their roll out of a full suite of Google apps. We will keep you posted on how these providers get on with these projects in future newsletter editions.

So how do you use this tool? To get started, you need to sign in to Google Docs using your Gmail account. If you don’t have a Gmail account, you need to set one up, but they are free and currently offering you a whopping 10299 megabytes of space.

Once you’re logged in to Google Docs, click ‘New,’ and then ‘Form.’

Give your form a title and an explanation, and then start creating your questions. Type the first question into the ‘Question title’ field. Then select whether you want the question to be ‘text’ and have a written response, ‘paragraph text’ which allows for long-form responses, multiple choice, scaled (1-10, for example) or a checklist of options.

With each question you can choose whether or not you want it to be a compulsory question. When you have finished, click ‘done.’ You can add additional questions in the same way so to get a new question, click the ‘Add Question’ button at the top left of the page and follow the same procedure.

Once you’ve finished creating your form, it’s ready to collect your participants’ responses. You can email the form to people, or send the link to the form on a website, and let people fill it in that way.

Here at the RSC, we tend to use our forms on websites and email people the web address to complete it online. Once people start filling out your form, you can the responses immediately. You can also view a summary with graphs charting some of the responses, or as a spreadsheet with more detail.

You can edit your form as often as you want and send it to as many recipients as you want making it a very flexible tool for a learning provider with large numbers of learners. The results can also be exported into the more familiar Excel format for analysing offline.

At the RSC we conduct surveys quite often and in the past I have used another ‘survey animal’ to do this. However, as the suite of Google apps grows and these tools become part of my working toolkit, it seems sensible to keep my surveys, my results and other working documents in one place.

What’s more once I’m logged into Google its one less password to remember, and that can’t be all that bad!

‘How Colleges Improve’....and how the RSC Can Help!

OFSTED recently published a report, commissioned by the Learning and Skills Improvement Service (LSIS) and Ofsted, to highlight how colleges can build on best practice to ensure that the education they are providing is at least ‘good’ or ‘outstanding ‘How Colleges Improve’, noted that outstanding colleges made good use of Information & Learning Technology (ILT). The new Common Inspection Framework specifically draws attention to the potential for e-learning to support learners in their teaching, learning and assessment and, it acknowledges the expectation that technology should enable learners to choose when and how they learn beyond the classroom.

The JISC RSC West Midlands e-learning Healthcheck is a confidential, independent, external review that will enable you to identify where the investment made in technology is likely to lead to successful learner outcomes and the areas where improvement is needed.

Providers who have used the e-learning Healthcheck service have reported significant benefits, for example informing staff development programmes, more efficient deployment of resources and a clearer vision for e-learning.

Acting as a critical friend, a small team of JISC RSC West Midlands e-learning advisors review e-learning practice across key functions, including: teaching, learning, learning spaces, e-learning leadership and management; IT infrastructure and equipment. Additional areas such as e-safety or the support of digital literacies can be included on request.

Following the review, you will receive a written report and recommended action plan, including further ways the RSC West Midlands team can support you to achieve your aims.

The e-learning health check is currently a free service, but there are a limited number of opportunities per year. If you would like to discuss this further, or request a visit, please contact Allen Crawford-Thomas on 01902 518930 or e-mail a.crawford-thomas@rscwm.ac.uk To read the full report, ‘How Colleges Improve’, visit: http://bit.ly/UMxalw

be officially launched on 14th & 15th November at WMCETT, University of Warwick. This programme builds on the success of previous LSIS programmes such as Subject Learning Coaches, E-Guides ‘Outstanding’ and Professional Development Advisers E-safety at capacity and has been designed to build for enhancing the quality of teaching and Derwen College learning within organisations by training Advanced Teaching and Learning Coaches who will be recognised by LSIS to deliver this training to others internally.

LSIS is pleased to announce that the new programme will now be supported in ever English region through Regional Teaching and Learning Hubs. These hubs will support organisations in the use and traini of new Teaching and Learning Coaches an will be holding monthly networking event Derwen College has taken in each region in addition to the an innovative approach to launch e-safety. By creating a pseudo events. profile, staff are able TheFacebook West Midlands Hub is WMCETT to demonstrate and highlight (West Midlands the Centre for Excellence in to students safeguarding issues associated with social Teacher Training), who are busy organising networks. This has resulted in the increased launch event, invitations will be going awareness of staying safe online, and recognition out soon. You will be able to bookby your Ofsted who referred to Derwen’s place by using the LSIS events portal arrangements for safeguarding as ‘outstanding’ in .their latest www.lsis.org.uk/events Please contact inspection report.

Vron Leslie vronleslie@gmail.com or Julie Chamberlain j.chamberlain@warwick.ac.u Dan Valentine, Teacher at Derwen College “The for inspectors more detailswere says, particularly impressed with the creation of the pseudo Facebook profile and commented on this during the inspection.”

Russell Pentz Head of Department says, “At Derwen we are responsible for the education and safeguarding of vulnerable young adults. This extends to making sure that they stay safe online. If we don’t allow them access to Facebook in a supportive environment where staff are at hand to support them, what will happen when they leave college?”

He adds, “It’s not about blocking access to social networks – it’s about educating the learners to behave responsibly and independently online so that when they do leave College, they are equipped with the knowledge and skills to stay safe.”

You can read the full case study and find out how Derwen College set up the Facebook profile at http://bit.ly/TbQusD

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Forthcoming Events For full details, visit the events page at: www.jiscrsc. ac.uk/westmidlands

Cost Effective Staff Development Opportunities at RSC West Midlands

November • Introduction to Enterprise Architecture & Archimate Modelling • Quick Wins With OERs • Heritage IV Training and User Forum - Promoting Your Service • Adventures in Open Source: Network Monitoring with Nagios • IT Managers Forum: Bring Your Own Device Strategies • E-skills for new teachers December • Learning Technologies Forum • E-learning and Staff Development and how the Services Can Help • Moodle Forum • e-Portfolio Forum: Mahara • HE Forum • Digital Literacy January • Xerte/Infolio Workshop • Quick Wins With Moodle • Staff Development Online Series • Tablet Devices • Augmented Reality Workshop

Contact us JISC RSC West Midlands Technology Centre Wolverhampton Science Park Glaisher Drive Wolverhampton WV10 9RU Tel: 01902 518982 E-mail: support@rsc-wm.ac.uk

Web: www.jiscrsc.ac.uk/ westmidlands 8

RSC West Midlands has another busy event programme scheduled for the academic year, and we would like to see as many of our supported learning providers joining in as possible.

Our events cover a variety of subjects and are informed by the latest hot topics that are important to you and your organisation. They offer extremely cost effective CPD opportunities for you to learn new skills, increase your awareness of a particular technology and network with other likeminded delegates from providers across the region.

New for 2012-13!

The RSC has a suite of tablet devices for use at some of our events. This gives delegates the opportunity to try them out and get some ideas of how they can be used in teaching and learning. It’s also an oportunity to interact with the event.

Keeping you informed You can keep up to date with our latest events via our website at www.jiscrsc.ac.uk/ westmidlands

RSC West Midlands events are also extremely accessible. Face to face events usually take place at the Wolverhampton Science Park or a central location for easy access to local transport links.

You can also keep informed and even follow some our events on Twitter and Facebook. Find our Facebook page at http://on.fb.me/Vcn1um and on Twitter @rscwm

However, if you just can’t afford the time away from the classroom or office, why not join in one of our online events? All you need is a headset and microphone to take part. Online events cut out travel time and are more environmentally friendly. Many of our online sessions are recorded so if you are unable to join in on the day, you can catch up at a later stage.

Booking onto our events The JISC Regional Support West Midlands has migrated to a new Customer Records Management System and as a result, you may notice a few changes when booking onto our events.

If you need any assistance in making your booking, or experience any difficulties, please contact us via the RSC helpdesk on 01902 518982 or e-mail: support@ rsc-wm.ac.uk