JISC Involve

The Leadership Foundation and the Jisc Digital Leaders Programme (JISC e-Learning Blog)

Wed, 30 Sep 2015 21:13:51 +0000

The Jisc Digital Leaders programme, part of the Jisc Building Digital Capability project, has been informed by the collaborative work that was done through the highly successful Leadership Foundation – led Changing the Learning Landscape (CLL) programme.

The Leadership Foundation’s director of programmes, Professor Paul Gentle sums up the provenance well:

“The CLL programme was a successful programme due to a number of factors, laying the foundations for a strong partnership with colleagues in Jisc. Working together on the Strategic Leadership Programme aspect of CLL allowed Leadership Foundation and Jisc colleagues to put together a strong development strand for participating senior leaders. It is apparent that the Jisc Digital Leaders Programme is being developed with in the same spirt of combining a balance of technology knowledge and use with elements of leadership theory and practice.”

The Jisc Digital Leaders Programme is currently a pilot programme, running in the autumn of 2015 and spring 2016. During the development phase the team have consulted widely with a broad range of stakeholders, but importantly, the Leadership Foundation have been advising closely on the specific leadership elements and how they will map on to their own leadership offerings.

Currently the final drafts of the programme are being developed and include a range of content including leadership issues around:

Managing and Sustaining Change
Cyber Security and Safety Online
Leadership and Social Media
Collaborating online at the leadership level
Learning Analytics
IPR and Copyright
Inclusion
Digital Assessment
Students as Partners
Information governance, security and privacy concerns for leaders
Digital resources
Benefits & challenges of Open Research / Open Scholarship
Developing Digital Visions and Strategies

Ultimately the material being developed will be able to be disaggregated and used within a range of programmes within institutions and by Jisc and the Leadership Foundation, feeding into a range of programmes at different levels.

To find out more about the CLL project, which was funded and sponsored by Hefce you can download the final report.

Skills study planning well under way (JISC e-Learning Blog)

Wed, 30 Sep 2015 20:57:31 +0000

Posted on behalf of Giles Pepler, Skills Study Project Manager

Since the study commenced towards the end of July, there has been a very encouraging response from skills training, adult education providers and colleges in seeking to become involved – more than 30 expressions of interest which have greatly helped us start organising learner focus groups and provided some useful links to support our literature review. We’ve followed up a lot of these expressions of interest, but if we haven’t contacted you yet, please don’t assume we’re ignoring your offer of help; we will get round to everyone within the next fortnight and we are still welcoming further offers of participation. The first online meeting of the project Virtual Advisory Group took place on 30^th September and this contributed a great deal of additional useful information and links to training groups and organisations and offender learning in particular.

The literature review is building on the FE study review, but we have not been surprised that relatively little new material from the UK or the rest of the EU has emerged, though there are some interesting research studies from US Community Colleges which will inform the project. The learner voice appears still to be a relatively under-researched area – and any links to research in the ‘grey’ literature would be welcome. The review will be further informed through a series of stakeholder interviews which are planned for October and these may be initially the most productive route to understanding the issues in offender learning.

The materials for the Learner Focus Groups are nearly finalised and will be trialled with an adult and community learning group in the week beginning 5^th October. The draft materials build on the approach of the FE study; the main stimulus materials will again consist of a card sorting and prioritising exercise, undertaken in small groups, but with the items and language simplified: we have applied the NIACE smog index and adjusted accordingly!

The target is to reach at least 200 learners, covering a good geographical spread, a range of skills sectors, study levels, apprenticeships, adult & community learning and offender learning; we are happy to have interest from colleges, but trying not to duplicate the FE learner focus groups. The aim is still to hold the group sessions during October and November; we are provisionally planning sessions with training provider groups in Ipswich, Bristol, Southwark and Sheffield, adult and community learning groups in Stoke-on-Trent and Leicester and a group of Business Management apprentices in London. We still have gaps in coverage in Wales and Scotland and in offender learning, engineering and construction, but some very useful contacts emerged from the Virtual Advisory Group meeting which are now being followed up.

Skills study planning well under way (JISC e-Learning Blog)

Wed, 30 Sep 2015 20:57:31 +0000

Posted on behalf of Giles Pepler, Skills Study Project Manager

Why we should all be interested in international research programmes (JISC Blog)

Tue, 29 Sep 2015 08:31:56 +0000

We’re a sector hungry for international collaboration, according to a survey of researchers working in social sciences and humanities across 31European countries – but often lack the skills and infrastructure to take advantage.

The reason for the blockade in cross-border research projects is understandable, if regrettable: researchers don’t always know the routes to publishing their work internationally or how to find overseas colleagues in their area. They may not be aware of shared resources that they could use and, when they do happen upon relevant resources, they may not have access to them.[#pullquote#]by working collaboratively, organisations and their staff can access internationally-held data and resources.[#endpullquote#]But the benefits are clear. By working collaboratively, organisations and their staff can access internationally-held data and resources. They gather skills and knowledge from people working in similar areas EU-wide, can build internationally competitive teams and research groups, and also gain a greater audience for their research.We see this approach working in open science for example, which my colleague Matthew Dovey goes into more detail about in his recent blog.Technology has a big role to play in breaking down these barriers. To support the international work of UK researchers and their organisations, we’re working on a number of shared projects funded under the European Commission’s Horizon 2020 programme that I would like to share with you. GEANT: Building a global research platformAs the pan-European organisation that interconnects national research and education networks (NRENs) GÉANT provides very high-speed connectivity, identity inter-federation, resource virtualisation, mobility, security and trust, to ensure the digital continuum of services to research and education users in the EU and beyond. Through the UK NREN, our Janet network, GÉANT enables UK researchers to collaborate safely and securely with their peers in over half the world’s countries, including those working in fields such as radio astronomy and biomedical sciences.OpenAire: Supporting open accessWith UK institutions and researchers needing to comply with EU open access (OA) mandates, one of the things we’re doing is building services to support the transition. The OpenAire project creates a pan-European research information platform which monitors OA research outcomes from national funders, and the European Commission, so that organisations comply with the mandates.[#pullquote#]we transform UK repository records simplifying the whole process for universities and research organisations.[#endpullquote#]Using this information we then transform UK repository records into the OpenAIRE format and make them available on the OpenAIRE repository platform, effectively simplifying the whole process for UK universities and research organisationsEUDAT 2020: A research data infrastructure for EuropeResearchers need to manage growing volumes of data at the same time as taking advantage of the huge opportunities for data analytics this awards. The EUDAT project builds a collaborative European infrastructure of research data services, training and consultancy for researchers across Europe; it is currently supporting 32 different scientific communities with services and storage resources.The resulting services will help European researchers make more of their data: storing, sharing, accessing, securing and using it in the best and most interoperable ways possible.EGI-Engage: Engaging the research community towards an open science commonsMore than 38,000 researchers in 350 data and computing centres worldwide benefit from the work of EGI – no small change indeed. This international collaboration, involving Jisc and the research councils in the UK, creates and delivers open solutions for science and research infrastructures and is about to get even bigger with the award of funding for EGI-Engage, the organisation’s main project, by the European Commission earlier this year.[#pullquote#]we’re looking to develop new services to enable better and more open research, such as virtual research environments.[#endpullquote#]EGI-Engage is designed to support large-scale European research communities of people working closely together, by building the infrastructure needed to collaborate in more digitally-enhanced and open ways. Through co-design and co-creation, we’re looking to develop new services to enable better and more open research, such as virtual research environments. Examples of research communities being assisted by EGI include humanities researchers needing text mining resources and GridPP, a collaboration of particle physicists and computer scientists from the UK and CERN.We anticipate that within three years these communities will see tangible improvements in the collaborative opportunities available to them through digital technology.

Five emerging trends for innovative tech in education (JISC Blog)

Fri, 25 Sep 2015 08:44:02 +0000

No longer simply future-gazing, technologies like augmented and virtual reality (AR/VR) are becoming firmly accepted by the education sector for adding value to learning experiences.

But what next for these technologies? Here are five trends to watch out for in further and higher education.1. Taking Hollywood to learningThe silver screen may not be the first place you’d naturally take inspiration from for learning, but the tech currently being employed in Hollywood is sure to have an impact in the classrooms and lecture halls of the future.[#pullquote#]the tech currently being employed in Hollywood is sure to have an impact in the classrooms and lecture halls of the future[#endpullquote#]Summer 2015’s big blockbuster, Jurassic World called on AR while filming, using a simple iPad app by visual effects company, Industrial Light and Magic to frame shots on location, in combination with a 3D structure sensor to measure camera depth. Essentially, this allowed the filmmakers to load their dinosaur models into the program and stick them onto the live image, so they could ‘see’ where the dinosaur would be, including judging depth, height and angle.It is amazing to think that AR is being used so prominently in top production studios – and what this could mean for education. Imagine a similar tool for ‘seeing’ models in such diverse disciplines as theatre direction, lighting, product design, architecture and construction. Such an application would allow the learner to quite quickly present stunning visualisations and also help them to pre-empt any potential design problems, enabling them to explore alternatives without having to invest significant time and money in creating complex physical models.2. Engaging, immersive experiencesVR is about to get a whole lot bigger thanks to ever better graphical representations of the real world. One of the applications that impressed me recently was a VR resource built for the road traffic agency in Australia, to dispel the myth that old, heavier cars are more protective in accidents. The experience placed you in the position of a crash test dummy, both in a modern car and one from the 1980s.[#pullquote#]VR is about to get a whole lot bigger thanks to ever better graphical representations of the real world[#endpullquote#]The immersion was breathtaking: on the moment of impact the display went into slow motion with shards of glass flying towards you, the crumple zone concertinaing, air bags deploying and the seat shaking with hydraulics. You walk away actually feeling how much safer newer cars are in comparison.Another example comes from Ford for ‘experiencing’ new car models. Employing VR through gesture-based controllers, engineers and technicians are able to peel back engine components, see detailed cross sections and run quality assurance testing without having to create clay models, which commonly cost over £250,000 and take months to build.Immersive applications such as these bring home the potential of VR within education for creating interactive worlds. Imagine, for example, being able to experience the awe and adventure of following in Howard Carter’s footsteps uncovering Tutankhamun’s tomb as an archaeology student; hearing the wind blow through a crypt sealed for millennia and being the first to take in the priceless artefacts and mysterious hieroglyphs. Photorealistic simulated environments can give learning a richness otherwise near impossible to achieve.3. The tech tricks of Pixar – for freeBig news in the world of 3D is that the core-rendering engine used by animation giant Pixar has been made freely available to the public. Integrated into Blender open source software, it has some great features including a realistic hair renderer, denoiser, visual integrator and enhanced physical cameras that simulate the imperfections of real world cameras. Better yet, it can be downloaded with a simple registration, all for free.[#pullquote#]the core-rendering engine used by Pixar has been made freely available to the public[#endpullquote#]This is a real step change from traditional renderer pricing models, often costing thousands of pounds per year, and opens up new opportunities for colleges and universities. Instead of purchasing a costly add-on, they’re now able to experiment with free, industry standard software. I would also encourage organisations to make it available to students, as gaining expertise in this area will provide them with important transferrable technology skills that make them more employable.4. Science and maths can be fun!I always struggled as a student of mathematics, with pre-conceived notions of it being dry, devoid of excitement, and not really relatable to anything in life.The SIGGRAPH 2015 conference I attended in August turned this idea on its head. I saw academics talk through how scientific processes and algorithms could be translated into highly visual effects, from multi-resolution geometric transfer that allow animators to switch between high and low detailed dinosaur models, to the procedural animation technology that went into creating the microbots movement in Big Hero 6.[#pullquote#]hearing about real-life situations where theoretical maths has been applied made the subject much more digestible[#endpullquote#]Hearing about real-life situations where theoretical maths has been applied made the subject much more digestible, and I thought how valuable this activity would be for STEM subjects. Grounding theoretical mathematics in something authentic, tangible and genuinely interesting can help to inspire students and hold their attention especially when represented in such a visual way.Indeed, if it were to provide part of a blueprint for maths and science teaching of the future, students would surely be more engaged and likely to continue studying these subjects an in turn address the enormous skills shortage in this area.5. Gamification comes goodIn my view, the reason early educational forays into simulated and virtual environments such as Second Life weren’t more broadly successful was due to the vast chasm between the realism of these constructed worlds and that of console/PC games. Young people were used to playing graphically polished games with rich interactivity, and in comparison the education resources they encountered often didn’t live up to these high expectations.[#pullquote#]some of the big game engines offer an opportunity to develop photorealistic games and experiences for education[#endpullquote#]Now, some of the big game engines, including Unreal Engine, Unity and CryEngine, offer an opportunity to develop photorealistic games and experiences for education that can transcend the traditional gap between games and learning.These platform independent, free game engines that output to a variety of devices have big potential for breathing new life into gamification for the AR market. Unity, for example has the ability to export AR for a number of different app-based solutions including DAQRI, VUFORIA and Wikitude using plug-ins. Furthermore, because the assets created through these engines are not solely locked into proprietary AR experiences, it means they can be easily adapted, so that they can work within VR or act as standalone learning resources for web browsers.One of my current projects AR-Sci involves developing an AR experience around photosynthesis for secondary school students, which I am hoping in turn to repurpose for use in a similar resource for a VR environment with Unreal Engine.

Digital Leadership Course Update (JISC e-Learning Blog)

Thu, 24 Sep 2015 09:37:00 +0000

We have had a tremendous response to the Digital Leaders Programme running this Autumn, we are now finalising the programme and confirming with delegates that they are registered sending joining instructions.

Sadly whilst we still have a few places left on the Further Education Programme the Higher Education Programme is now full. We are currently intending to run it again in the Spring and if you are interested then please fill out the form below and as soon as we have confirmed dates we will let you know.

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directory of UK online courses not viable for Jisc at present (JISC e-Learning Blog)

Wed, 23 Sep 2015 06:41:24 +0000

Image courtesy of Jon Skilling

A mid-project stop/go review meeting on the development of the directory of UK online courses took place near the end of last week. The initial phases of this work (technical feasibility work undertaken by Michael Webb and Tim Richard of Jisc) and a service design review by LiveWork were carefully reviewed and the decision was made not to progress the building of the prototype any further. The review found that significant work would be required, including by universities and colleges, to make the directory a reality. Furthermore, that the directory was not felt to be central enough to Jisc’s remit to merit the amount of work required.

Going forward

However, the work on this strand of the scaling up online learning project will certainly not be going to waste as many of the findings around online course discovery and online student needs are just as relevant to individual institutions as they are to a national directory of online courses. An overview of some of these findings can be found in these previous blog posts (here and here) and all relevant information will be incorporated into the forthcoming Scaling up online learning Jisc Guide. We will also be investigating whether there may be additional ways of sharing this information with institutions.

Jisc R&D projects

The directory UK of online courses strand of the scaling up online learning project was in the experimental/discovery innovation phase of Jisc R&D projects, where we explore new ideas and emerging technologies and identify the most promising ideas to work on further. This is also the stage where stop/go decisions are most commonly made (though this can happen at any of the innovation phases if considered appropriate). Managing projects through each of these phases is all part of us focussing innovation on where it can have the most impact and the continuing cycle of evaluation and improvement which lasts for the duration of any Jisc service or product. If you want to know more about how we innovate see: https://jisc.ac.uk/rd/how-we-innovate

Jisc innovation pipeline

Case studies in online resource discovery – HEIs engagement with the Spotlight on the Digital training programme (Digitisation)

Mon, 21 Sep 2015 14:02:04 +0000

Participants from the pilot resource discovery training programme (see Resource discovery pilot training outcomes) have now completed case studies outlining their plans to practically implement guidance from the training, and the intended impact on their collections. Here is an overview of the case studies.

Using Flickr to promote Special Collections

Follow Special Collections at Queen’s College, Belfast as they upload photographs of 19^th and early 20^th century China from the Sir Robert Hart Collection to Flickr.

case_study_resource_discovery_queens

Social Media and the Balanced Value Impact Model

See how the balanced value impact model can be used to institutionally focus resource discovery activities and social media strategies at the Museum of Design and Architecture (MoDA), Middlesex University.

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Using resource discovery techniques to create a user friendly web presence

Adopting best practices in resource discovery and website design to re-launch the Museum of Rural English Life at the University of Reading.

case_study_resource_discovery_merl

Using Google Search Console to track impact and use of collections at the University of Sheffield

Implementing search engine optimisation (SEO) and user tracking to better understand the users and use of Special Collections and the National Fairground Archive at the University of Sheffield.

case_study_resource_discovery_sheffield

Promoting use of The Education Times Collection at University College London

How to maximise visibility and impact of online digital collections – The Education Times digitisation project at University College London.

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Box of Broadcasts at the University of West London

How to promote internal use of the Box of Broadcasts (BoB) at the University of West London.

case_study_resource_discovery_uwl_BoB

Promoting the institutional repository at the University of West London

Strategies to promote take-up in deposit and discovery of materials in the institutional repository at the University of West London.

case_study_resource_discovery_uwl_repository

All the case studies will also be attached to key modules in the ‘Making your digital resources easier to discover’ online guide at Make your digital resources easier to discover

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There’s no such thing as a bad blog (JISC Blog)

Fri, 18 Sep 2015 10:38:49 +0000

One of my first questions when I meet an educator is “what’s the address of your blog?”

[#inlinedriver right light#] [#inlinedrivertitle#] Podcast [#endinlinedrivertitle#]Listen to the accompanying podcast.Play audio[#endinlinedriver#]I do it for a couple of reasons. First, I love reading educational blogs; secondly, I think it’s important to impress upon others the need for having an online, professional presence.Sadly, the answer doesn’t always generate a new resource for my learning. Often, I’ll get answers like:What’s a blog?I don’t have time to blogIt’s all been said. I have nothing to contributeBlogging is just one big echo chamberMy principal or superintendent reads blogs and I don’t want to get into trouble for having an opinionI don’t want to be wrong and have someone else criticise meI don’t want to create a bad blog...and I could go on.There are so many reasons and/or excuses that it can get quite depressing at times. Yet, in the next breath, you’ll hear how they are 21st century teachers and leaders. I find it difficult to rationalise the differences.It was the ‘bad blog’ comment that gave me the inspiration for the title for this post. In reality, it’s both a title and a vehement opinion.[#pullquote#]In reality, [bad blog] is both a title and a vehement opinion.[#endpullquote#]Those of us who are long in the tooth remember the good ol’ days. We were isolated, maybe even shunned by the rest of the school. We poured over manuals looking for that one little bit that would put us over the top or give just that little extra push to make this work. We would even go to community centres on Thursday nights to attend a user group to realise that we weren’t alone in our struggles. At times, it seemed like the ultimate in isolation.Fast forward to today. You can still be in an isolation situation, banging your head against the wall over some little gotcha. But, only if you let yourself.[#pullquote#]Educational blogging has the power to change everything[#endpullquote#]Educational blogging has the power to change everything:ConnectionsA grade four classroom or teacher can connect with another classroom down the hall or around the world on a particular topic.IdeasAre you teaching a topic and looking for resources or ideas? You’re not locked into accessing traditional resources. Post a plea for help and you’ll be amazed at the support you’ll get.SharingHave you created an original resource and want to get the satisfaction that you’re helping someone else? Why not create a post and share it?Learning and understandingIs there a piece of research about student learning that you don’t understand? Blog about your concerns and look for the responses and insightsReflectionEvery good teacher reflects on the events of the day with an eye for how it could be done better in the future. What better way to facilitate this reflection than to blog about it? It’s a digital record and opens the door to another aspect - it doesn’t have to be publicly viewable unless you want it to be. Sometimes, you just blog for yourselfThe whole 21st century thingWe all laugh at jokes about how employers check out potential employees on social media. They absolutely should and when they check you, they should realise what a resource you are for your classroom and the wider institutional systemWhen you consider the value, not only to yourself, but also to anyone who cares to read your blog, it’s difficult to imagine any blog being considered a bad blog. Let’s go back to the excuses and strike that one from the list. The rest now become a short list of bad excuses that are all easily addressed.Get them out of the road, start your blog and be prepared when someone asks “what’s the address of your blog?” That’s the moment when the magic begins.Read more from Doug via his blog.

Reflections on ALT-C (JISC e-Learning Blog)

Thu, 17 Sep 2015 16:21:23 +0000

Last week I attended day 2 of the ALT-C conference in Manchester and presented a session under the theme ‘Participatory approaches to the development of learning technologies’ which explored the collaborative approach that this project has taken and shared the activities and outputs of the project as they currently stand (see below).

Although I was only there for one day, I was struck by the recurring messages around the increased importance of:

students in driving change
social networking (by students and the implications for institutions)
a ‘student-centredness’ approach by institutions

The importance of the digital experience of students was also highlighted in the Jisc session ‘Engaging learners in active dialogue around their digital expectations and experiences’ – the panel of which included 3 very articulate students who gave some extremely thought provoking and interesting viewpoints. The findings shared during this session certainly resonate with the research that has been done as part of the scaling up online learning project (and in particular the strand around how to enhance the discoverability of UK online courses):

: Sarah Knight from Jisc speaking at ALT-C

Learners first experiences of university are often online
Learners like to (and do) compare their digital experiences and provision
Learners want to use their own devices and services to access, organise and record their learning
Learners expect college/university to prepare them for employment in digital workplaces and life in a digital society
Learners sense of wellbeing and belonging are tied up with the quality of their digital access

Many of the above points are even more important when the learning is taking place mainly or wholly online or at a distance.

Although only one day, I found the conference to be very useful and inspiring – and I’m looking forward to next years conference!