Beaumont College, a leading Independent Specialist College in Lancaster, providing courses to Learners with learning difficulties and disabilities definitely falls into this category, as its recent rating of ‘Outstanding’ by Ofsted and ‘Excellent’ by the Care Commission testifies. But this has not stopped the management of Beaumont College striving to improve things at the College still further with regards to its strategic planning and management.

Following on from their highly successful participation as one of four pilot projects of the Strategy infoKit, Beaumont College and JISC infoNet have agreed to work together over the next 12 months to explore how the application of a selection of JISC infoNet’s resources can improve things at the College still further. This initiative will include delivery of a range of our popular and well regarded workshops to College staff, including those on change and risk management and process review. It will also see the College making extensive use of JISC infoNet’s extensive suite of resources to support institutional strategic development, such as our Scenario Planning resources. We will be working closely with College staff over the next 12 months, not only to deliver this support to them, but also to find ways of empirically measuring improvements within the College as a result of this programme: both to confirm to the College the benefits of their participation, but also to provide quantifiable evidence of the benefits which can be realised by other institutions as a result of the application of JISC infoNet’s resources.

Watch this space for further news as the project progresses!

JISC infoNet is represented at today’s Open Educational Resources International Symposium event in London where we shall be demonstrating the OER infoKit. The infoKit can be found at:

http://openeducationalresources.pbworks.com

Do get in touch via the link below if you’ve got some expertise or insights to share!

http://scr.im/douginfonet

Image CC BY Jorge Quinteros

Further analysis and the full survey results are now available. This year there are more ways than ever to view the results plus, for the first time, the opportunity to access the raw data itself to enable you to explore in more detail the returns from individual institutions or to analyse the data in ways which are most useful to you.

Our thanks to all who participated in this survey.

For further comment and feedback please contact steve.bailey@northumbria.ac.uk

After a period of relative stability and deeper embedding, the debate about the role and function of the VLE (Virtual Learning Environment) within the institution is gathering pace again. Many institution in the UK are in the process of reviewing their current VLE provision in the light of changing pedagogical requirements, more administrative integration and the emergence of new classes of social media on the wider web.

JISC infoNet has an Effective Use of Virtual Learning Environments infoKit that readers also may find useful.

The report is based on the analysis of thousands of responses from individuals (both staff and students) in every Further Education College in the country. We look at how technology is currently being used in colleges, how it might be used in the future, and the infrastructure and skills necessary to continue the huge progress which has been made over the last decade.

Subtitled On the right track: an analysis of skills and attitudes to technology in Scottish Further Education the analysis covers everything from Virtual Learning Environments (VLEs) to Web 2.0 to emerging technologies.

Download the ETNA Report here

JISC infoNet, on behalf of JISC and the Higher Education Academy, are looking for feedback on the new draft Open Educational Resources infoKit. Click on the link on the front page of the draft infoKit to share your views!

The six infoKit sections are:

• What are e-portfolios? (compulsory section)
• Policy Drivers and Trends (optional section)
• Purposes (optional section)
• Perspectives (optional section)
• Choosing, Implementing and Embedding e-Portfolios (optional section)
• The Future of e-Portfolios (compulsory section)

Those selected will be asked to consider the appropriateness of the content, format, structure, ease of navigation and overall usefulness of the resources from their perspective; to identify any gaps in information provided; and to provide structured feedback and suggestions by completing an extensive evaluation form. All comments and suggestions made will then be considered before a report is submitted to JISC recommending revisions to the resources to be undertaken during the latter half of 2010.

Successful applicants are required to review all sections, but provide detailed feedback on both compulsory sections plus any two of the other four optional sections available (you should indicate your chosen two on your application).

The review process will commence from Monday 31st May 2010 and the work must be completed by Tuesday 31st August 2010. A grant of £3,000 will be paid to each participating institution upon completion.

Colleagues from interested institutions should email JISC infoNet by Friday 30th April 2010 with a short summary of their current role, outlining their experience in the areas of e-portfolio use within the further or higher education sectors. Please include an indication of your preferences with regard to the two optional infoKit sections that you feel would be most appropriate for you to review.

Confirmation of authorisation by appropriate line management to undertake this work and a commitment to completing the process by Tuesday 31st August 2010 should also be included in the email.

Selected institutions will be informed on or before Friday 28th May 2010 and will receive further instructions, links to the evaluation tool and to the infoKit.

If you require any additional information then please do not hesitate to email.

Please note: Open to UK post-compulsory public education institutions only

• Shared Service and Cloud Computing Pilots
• Business Process and ICT Change Projects
• Modularisation Proof of Concept Projects
• Technical Rapid Innovation Projects

The deadline for receipt of proposals is Wednesday 19 May 2010 – full information on this opportunity is available at http://www.jisc.ac.uk/fundingopportunities/funding_calls/2010/04/510fsd.aspx.

JISC is holding an online community briefing event on Thursday 22 April 2010 between 11:00 and 12.30 where potential bidding institutions will be given information about the background to the call, its objectives and the bidding process. On the same day there will also be an online briefing event for suppliers between 14:00 and 14:45. Registration for both events can be found at https://www.eventsforce.net/jisc/39/register.

What is the most burning question that you would most like to be able to answer within your institution which would be of most benefit to you and your institution?

This is the time for a bit of ‘blue skies thinking’ so please don’t feel constrained by practicalities or the problems that you know currently prevent you from being able to access this information but instead give free rein to your ambitions and focus on the information you most wish that you had at your fingertips.

Our simple 6 question survey will take no more than a couple of minutes to complete and will be used to inform the rest of the work we are conducting during the Strategic Management Information programme, so do please submit your thoughts by the close date of Friday 30th April.

The results will also be published (anonymously) via the JISC infoNet website shortly after this date. For questions or further information please contact Steve Bailey.

Complete the Survey Now