The vast majority of the feedback fromdelegates described it as a verysuccessful and worthwhile event with amassive 99% of those attending findingit a good use of their time.

The day ran more fluidly than previousversions of the e-fair with visitors havingthe opportunity to dip in and out of arange of workshops, a mini-presentationarea, the general exhibition,a “Try if for Yourself” zoneand a mobile learning hub.

Alongside these there weretwo keynote speakershighlighting the latestdevelopments in e-learning by Sir DavidMelville, Chair of LifelongLearning UK, and SteveMoss, Strategic Director(ICT) at Partnerships forSchools (PfS).

Visitors came from acrossthe post-16 sector includingFurther Education, Sixth Form andSpecialist Colleges, Adult andCommunity Learning, Work BasedLearning and Higher Education.

For some regular visitors such as PennyBryant, e-Learning Co-ordinator forRutland Adult Learning Service, “it was,as ever, an interesting and very usefulday. The ideas I’ve picked up from it willkeep me busy for weeks!”

For some visitors it was their first e-fairand David Ward from WBL provider,NETA described how he found “anamazing amount of resources, websitesand new technologies. There was anexcellent presentation and explanationgiven to me in the mobile learning hub.I’ll be encouraging colleagues to comewith me to next year’s event.”

David was also the winner ofthe prize draw and wenthome happy with a Toshibavideo camera, which hethought “would be veryuseful with WBLobservations once my skillson the use of the equipmenthave been honed.”

Since the e-fair we havecollated lots of theresources that were onshow. So, if you want to seeany of the presentations and

get access to other resourcesthat ran as part of the event,

then please go to our Moodle site at http://moodle.rsc-em.ac.uk.

The feedback from visitors hasconvinced us that the switch to theWalkers Stadium was a popular choice,therefore we are pleased to announcethat next year’s e-fair will be heldthere again on Tuesday 23rd June.

Biggest e-fair yetThe 2008 e-fair took place at the end of the summer term at The WalkersStadium in Leicester and was the largest e-fair to date with a 50% rise in visitors.

Mobile LearningIn this issue of intouch we haveseveral articles that feature one of thehottest topics in the region at themoment - how can you make the mostof m-learning?

We’ve got updates on what’shappening in the region and beyond,plus some practical advice on how tostart using it.

intouchthe termly newsletter produced by RSC East Midlands Autumn 2008 Volume 7: Issue 1

Stimulating and supportinginnovation in learning

Contents1 Biggest e-fair yet2 Regional News2 RSC scores highly2 Technical support in

the region3 WBL forum up and

running3 Building connections3 Adult learning goes

mobile4 MoleNet update4 e-learning begins at home5 Best practice around the UK5 Resource Corner6 Hints & Tips6 Using mobile devices

in e-portfolios7 Focus On: support for

teacher training7 JISC News8 Sharing expertise8 Need a hand in

promoting e-learning?8 Top 10 mobile

internet sites

David Ward from NETAreceiving his prize at the e-fair

Regional NewsFeaturing the latest news on e-learning around the region from the Learning Providers that the EastMidlands RSC supports.

TEN developing CollegesThree more East Midlands LearningProviders have joined ISIS Training andRecruitment as part of the TechnologyExemplar Network (TEN).

Congratulations to Ceemac ProjectsLtd, Linkage College and SouthLeicestershire College who are all nowdeveloping providers.

New BuildMoulton College in Northamptonshireis having an extension built onto theLearning Resource Centre that is duefor completion in September 2009 with200 additional computers installed.

Federated AccessManagementFour of the FE Colleges in the EastMidlands have now gone live.Please feel free to contact any of thebelow with any queries you may haveon the process.

Linda Richardson at Lincoln College(lrichardson@lincolncollege.ac.uk),Clare Holden at LoughboroughCollege (clare.holden@loucoll.ac.uk),Keith Mellor at West NottinghamshireCollege (keith.mellor@wnc.ac.uk),Daniel Sperring at Wyggeston andQueen Elizabeth I College(daniel.sperring@wqeic.ac.uk).

But the best way to find out more isto come to the LRC Forum onNovember 5th to hear about theirexperiences.

WBL provider relocatesCharnwood Training Group haverecently relocated to Ashfield SkillsCentre to open a new Hospitality &Catering Academy.

It will offer an all-round, real lifehospitality experience for learnersfrom both further education collegesand local schools, including interactivetraining, demonstrations, industryvisits, practical skills and development.

New Head of ITGiles Batchelor has recently joinedMoulton College as the NetworkDevelopment & Services Manager. Gilescomes with a background as a SeniorEngineer providing IT and VoiceSolutions for SMEs, schools and colleges.

Each year the independent surveycontacts every one of the learningproviders we support in the region, andasks the opinions of key post holders.This is repeated across the rest of theUK where there has been a similarpicture of success.

In particular, you rated us very highly forour advice and guidance, communications,visits, staff development opportunities,networking support and keeping youinformed with the general e-learningenvironment.

A couple of areas where you had someconcerns were in regard to the technicalsupport available and in some cases,contact has not been as frequent aspreviously. This is partly due to ourchanging remit in the current fundingcycle from 2007 to 2010. For clarificationon what technical support is availablesee below.

We have experienced a shift in thenature of some of the work we are doingto a more strategic level over the lastyear and may have visited yourorganisation but met other colleagues.Or it may be a case that we just didn’thave the opportunity to visit you lastacademic year – but we promise to seeyou this year!

Phrases such as “a very helpful team”and “a trusted impartial source” arevery pleasing for us to hear, and wehope that we will be able to keep upwith your expectations.

RSC scores highlyIn the annual Customer Satisfaction Survey your views of us have onceagain been favourable, with over 90% of respondents rating RSC EastMidlands’ overall support as either good or excellent.

2 3

Here’s a quick example of how yourRSC can help Learning Providers withinformation on a number of issues.

Nick Cox, the IT Coordinator atBrooksby Melton College, requestedinformation from us on how their NewBuilds could incorporate good modernlearning space design.

After a short email to Gordon Millner, ourNew Build “expert”, the JISC booklet“Designing Spaces for Effective Learning”,along with other documents and someweb resources from our Moodle were onNick’s desk within 24 hours, which allproved to be “very useful”.

Suggestions were also made as towhich colleges having had recent NewBuild could be visited for a tour andsome advice. A trip by Nick and one ofthe Heads of Learning from BrooksbyMelton College was soon made toStephenson College in Coalville.

Coming away with a number of ideasand plans, several working groups havesubsequently been formed to considerdifferent aspects of the build project.

A tip from Nick is to “start planningearly and keep the number of peopleinvolved with the project reasonablysmall so that decisions can be madequickly and decisively”.

The RSC continues to be intouch withNick to assist further as required. Nodoubt he’ll be coming along to our nextNew Build Forum in the autumn term,at the EPIC Project Centre, LincolnshireShowground on November 20th.

WBL Forumup and runningThe region’s Work Based Learning Forum has had a successful startwith two events since the last edition of intouch and continues to leadthe way as a national example of WBL providers collaborating.

The inaugural forum took place duringthe e-fair in June, where there was awide ranging discussion touching onVLEs (Learning Platforms) and e-Assessment. Another topic thatfeatured strongly was e-Portfolios, inparticular covering the attitude ofAwarding Bodies, External Verifiers andstaff development.

Such was the appetite for more that asecond forum was held at LoughboroughCollege in mid-August. In order toinvestigate the topic of e-portfolios further,Mick Gilroy from ISIS Training was invitedto give an update on how his organisationwere using e-portfolios and why ISIS wereincluded in the Technology ExemplarNetwork as an example of a providermaking best use of e-portfolios.

Also at the forum, there was a presentationfrom Shona Samuels of the Learning andSkills Network (LSN) on the impact forWBL providers of the Qualification ReformSupport Programme that comes into forcethis Autumn.

The presentations and other resources areavailable on the RSC Moodle athttp://moodle.rsc-em.ac.uk.

It was clear from those who have had thechance to attend either of the first twoforums, that there was both interest in andvalue to be gained from this type of event.

Duncan Murdoch from TQ WorkforceDevelopment Ltd in Northamptonshirethought that “the e-portfoliopresentation was useful as well asextremely relevant, and that theinformation from the LSN would bepassed to a colleague.”

To Andrew Edis, ILT mentor at NewCollege Nottingham, “the key thing wasnetworking, meeting people and sharing ideas.”

In order to support this, the RSC willnow run the WBL forum on a quarterlybasis. The next forum will take placeat the new facilities at CharnwoodTraining & Consultancy in Nottinghamon Friday 14th November.

The recent development of the verysmall, very portable and relatively lowcost PC offers particular benefits tothe Adult and Community Learning(ACL) sector where delivery oftentakes place in widely distributed andill-equipped locations.

RSC East Midlands is making available onlong-term loan to each participating ACLlearning provider in the region, a highspecification, ultra-mobile Asus eeePC foruse with their staff and/or learners.

Learning providers will be expected toevaluate the use of this technology andreport back to the RSC on ways of usingthe PCs and the benefits to their serviceand their communities.

The RSC can occasionally lend piecesof kit for evaluation purposes; talk tous to find out more.

BuildingConnections

Survey shows that learning providers in theregion value the RSC highly

If you would like a copy of the JISCpublication, Designing Spaces for EffectiveLearning then please contact us.

The results of a recent JISC nationalsurvey identified that there was stillsome confusion as to the extent oftechnical support now available fromall the JISC Regional Support Centres(RSCs) across the UK.

At the end of last year, with a new roundof funding, it was decided that the RSCsshould be geared to providing strategicadvice on moving forward astechnological developments evolve ratherthan direct hands-on technical assistance.

In common with their counterparts inother regions, EMMAN,(www.emman.net) providers of yourJANET connection, will continue toprovide the connection and technicalsupport for that and the router.

Be assured that EMMAN and ourselves,as time and expertise allow, will continueto provide technical support where wecan if it falls outside of our individualremits. However ultimate responsibility inthis area lies with your own in-house orexternal contracted resources.

Of course, our regional technical mailinglists are available and we wouldencourage their continued use for thepurposes of obtaining advice, solutionsand discussion from the wide range ofexpertise across the region.

It is perhaps timely to thank thosemembers who regularly contribute tothese discussions; you make them avaluable resource that is greatlyappreciated.

Technical Support in the region

Adult Learning goes mobile

The Ultra-mobile Asus eee PC can be used inlots of locations

Lots of interest at the WBL forum

4 5

The Mobile Learning Network(MoLeNET) is a unique collaborativeapproach to encouraging, supporting,expanding and promoting mobilelearning via supported shared costmobile learning projects.

The Learning and Skills Network (LSN)have recently announced that £4million of capital funding from theLearning and Skills Council (LSC) willbe available for a second round ofMoleNET Projects in 2008/9.

The fund will be for both new collegesand those currently involved with anexisting MoLeNET project. Projectsmust be led by an English FE collegealthough consortia including othertypes of organisations such as schoolsor work-based learning providers willbe considered.

The closing date for online bids islikely to be 6th October 2008 and youcan find out more about atwww.molenet.org.uk.

So let’s catch up with what’s beenhappening in the East Midlands…

Three Colleges in the region havebeen taking part in the first round ofthe MoleNET project, Regent andGateway Colleges in Leicester andBoston College.

Christine Heaver, Learning Championat Regent College, explains that “thestudent enthusiasm and opportunitiesto learn and produce evidencedifferently has been overwhelming attimes. Those lessons that have beenusing the mobile learning have seengrades well above the college lessonobservation profile.”

Meanwhile at Gateway College, NazMistry, Assistant Principal observed“one highlight was the improved self-esteem for our disabled students asthey energetically took part in activelessons using the Nintendo Wiiboards. We’ve also got many excitingopportunities for further projectsincluding vodcasts and podcasts for awide range of subject areas.”

More details on what’s happening inthese colleges can be found on theRSC Moodle at http://moodle.rsc-em.ac.uk in the e-fair section.

e-learningbegins at homeIf charity begins at home, then e-learning should be the same. Beforebuying the latest gadget, look at what you’ve got.

Strategists worry about technology costs,both in terms of initial purchase andtraining. However, they don’t often lookat everyday technology and its teachingand learning potential.

The leader in “everyday technology” isthe mobile phone. Nearly everyone hasone and normally uses it without complex training.

Mobile technology has numerous uses inlearning. Calls and text (SMS) areobvious, but when coupled with the web,become really powerful.

Take Twitter & Jaiku, a new set of‘microblogging’ applications. Usersupdate a 160 character blog using SMSor the web, which is readable by otherusers or feeds into a website or socialnetwork.

Jaiku users can combine pictures (oftentaken on mobiles) with feeds from otherwebsites. This is great for reflectivejournals, as well as being powerful insharing best practice.

Twitter sends SMS to your mobile so auser can receive reminders or whole-class feedback texts.

Twitter works with tools like “RememberThe Milk”, which allow you to set andretrieve “To Do Lists” for yourself orothers either online or using your mobile.

Advanced mobile phones are capable ofmore. Phones with WindowsMobile giveaccess to web e-portfolios, usingRedHalo. Bluetooth, while cruder, beamsresources to students’ mobiles directly.

Older phones and traditional landlinescan be used with platforms likeGabCast, to call a number and recordaudio, which is saved to a computer orimported into a web page or VLE.

Other examples of everyday technologyin learning include iPODs, digitalcameras and DVD players. The Web alsooffers a wealth of free tools for learning.

An e-learning strategy isn’t completewithout examining issues likeequipment purchase and training.However, before that stage, it’s worthlooking at what’s already there.

This article originally featured in the RSCYorkshire & Humber newsletter.

Best practice around the UKIn this edition of intouch our example of best practice followsthe mobile learning theme by showcasing one of the casestudies on that topic from the Excellence Gateway website.

Strathmore College: Mobile learningon the Duke of Edinburgh Gold AwardWith the help of LSC funding throughthe JISC TechDis Innovation 2 Fund, thisindependent specialist college was ableto buy essential equipment to helpembed ICT into the Duke of EdinburghAward curriculum.

The challengeThe College originally had problemsembedding ICT as they did not have thenecessary technology and, as a result,students found supporting activitiesuninspiring.

As part of the expedition component,students must source and compareweather reports. Without the technology,students had to rely on passive TV andradio reports instead of a moreinteractive approach.

The activityThe College was successful in its bid forfunding and received an award of£6,000. This was used to purchase:• 4 x digital weather stations • 5 x Mio Digi Walkers™ • 2 x handheld Sony Vaios™

with docking stations • Memory Map software• Digital cameras

The weather stations allow students tomeasure aspects such as rainfall, windfalland humidity, and compare their resultswith the BBC weather reports. A digitalcharacter on the weather stationsymbolises the current weather conditionsoutside by the clothes he wears. Thispresents a visually engaging approach forthose with severe learning difficulties.

The Sony Vaios™ have Memory Map™software installed, which creates satellitenavigation capability - they also double-up as PCs. Coupled with the Mio DigiWalkers™ (hand held satellite navigationdevices with PDA capability), students canplan routes, plot way points, and navigatea 3D fly-through, which shows theelevations and valleys along their route.

Digital cameras are available for all Dukeof Edinburgh sessions for recordingvideo and photographic evidence.

The outcomesSince incorporating the technology, thestudents have taken more ownership oftheir learning - the input no longer comesjust from the tutors. Students are moremotivated, there is more interaction andthe learning experience is fun.

The results speak for themselves, as theverifier from the Duke of EdinburghAward scheme has commented on theremarkable speed of the walks.

From a practical point of view, theequipment is much easier for students tocarry around with them in their rucksacks.The Digi Walkers™ have a waterproofcasing and for those with dexterityproblems they are still easy to operatedue to their touch sensitive nature.

Students find that they have a betterunderstanding of a map when it isdisplayed on a screen.

For accessibility purposes, the font sizescan be changed on the Vaios, andhandwriting recognition functionalitymeans that users can use the pen tool towrite instead of type.

The impactThe experience for the staff andstudents has been very positive,although there has been a significantamount of time involved for the staff toget used to the new equipment.

We hope that this might give you someinspiration on how to use mobilelearning in your organisation.

Our thanks go to the ExcellenceGateway website and RSC WestMidlands for allowing the reproductionof this case study. To view the fullversion of this case study and find linksto other resources on this topic werecommend that you visithttp://excellence.qia.org.uk.

Resource CornerMobile learning resourcesMoleNet have a MoleShare set ofresources on the web atwww.learningtechnologies.ac.uk/moleshare

You can download and re-purposelearning materials and resources fromhere. They can be used creatively,added to and edited, or compiled intolearning activities and made availablein VLEs and on mobile devices.

Other tools related to m-learning:iWriter - For creating iPod study toolswww.talkingpanda.com/iwriter/ Mobile Study - Create quizzes formobile phoneswww.mobilestudy.org/Zirada - Drag and drop authoring toolfor publishing to Pocket PCs and Mobile Deviceswww.trivantis.com/authoring_tools_zirada_overview.html

e-assessment - the QCAguideThis guide has been developed by thequalifications regulators for England,Wales and Northern Ireland as part oftheir commitment to support effectivepractice and quality improvement inthe assessment of qualifications. It isintended to promote the use of e-assessment in an advisory ratherthan a regulatory capacity.

It offers practical information andadvice to people involved in themanagement and delivery of e-assessment within qualifications.

The guide is for people involved in themanagement and delivery of e-assessment in awarding centres deliveringaccreditedqualifications. It willbe relevant to thoseworking in colleges,workplaces, trainingcentres, communityeducation centres,voluntaryorganisations andother types ofprovider in the post-school sector.

Download a copy atwww.efutures.org/docs/guide.pdf

Training opportunities Netskills is the JISC Advisory Servicethat provides high quality trainingcourses. The RSC is delighted to beable to offer a number of free placeson these courses to regional learningproviders. Current courses include“Podcasting” and “Webquests andtreasure hunts”. We’ll be letting staffdevelopment managers have moredetails soon.

Students using mobile devices on expedition

Mio Digi Walkers™ used for navigation

6 7

Hints & TipsHow to connect amobile phone toa computerUsing Mobile Technology is all verywell – but how do you get informationfrom your phone to a computer?

There are three ways to try:

Firstly using your phone’s text or, ifavailable, email facilities coupled witha web application such as Flickr orShoZu for photos or Twitter or Jaikufor text. They all have simpleinstructions for setting up your phone.

The second option is Bluetooth. Lotsof phones have Bluetooth now,although you may need to switch iton. Normally this is in the phone’s“Connect” settings. Some computershave Bluetooth or you can purchase aBluetooth dongle, which plugs intoyour USB port, allowing you toconnect and share files. If you want toBluetooth several people together,buy a Bluetooth Broadcaster for justunder £100.

The third way only works on a one ata time basis and involves connectingthe phone directly using a lead andsoftware available from the phone’smanufacturer. This is great for puttingaudio or video files onto the phone, asit converts them from your computer’sformat to one suitable for your phone.Bluetooth and web connections maynot do this.

This article originally featured in theRSC Yorkshire & Humber newsletter

Using mobile devicesin e-portfoliosBy adopting mobile technologies in sports-related NVQ coursesSouth Nottingham College has been able to improve its e-assessment of recording evidence for learners’ portfolios. Thismotivated both learners and staff, saved time in marking andremoved the need for large A4 ring binders of evidence.

What was the situation?The challenge for Steve Pritchard,Modern Apprenticeship Co-ordinatorat the College, was that his studentson NVQs in Activity Leadership andCoaching, Teaching, InstructingFootball were receiving excellent oralreports from employers on theirplacements but were poor atrecording evidence of their learning.

As the courses involve limited time inthe classroom due to their practicalnature, the capture of such evidencewas critical for students in building uptheir portfolios.

At the same time the nature of theseportfolios meant that students weretraditionally accumulating huge A4ring binders.

Steve recognised that the majority ofhis students were literate in the use oftheir phones, but were not aware ofall the functions available to them andhad not used them in an educationalcontext. He therefore decided todevelop the potential of usingmobiles in an educational context.

What did they do?One of the first things was to checkwhether the external verifier was happyto receive electronic rather than writtenevidence and they received the OK.

Students used their mobile phones fortaking video clips and for still imageswhilst at their work placements. Theywere also used to record short audioclips that demonstrate the knowledgethat has been developed.

According to Steve Pritchard,“Wherever possible we use thestudents’ phones or mine to promptthe students to think about thepotential of their mobiles”.

Students used their own mobiles sothe project required no additionalfunding. For those that didn’t have asuitable phone, digital cameras anddictaphones were available on loan.

Also students were paired withanother student who had a suitablemobile phone where possible.

Once a video clip has been taken by astudent, they could upload it to theirindividual space on the College portal.

Students have electronic assessmentdocuments in Microsoft Word formatthat they must fill in. Multimedia filesof evidence can also be incorporatedby having hyperlinks to them. Allthese files are then copied to disk orpen drive for the final submission tothe verifier.

South Nottingham College generallyuses the file formats of mp4 for videoand mp3 for audio, as they areaccessible on both PCs and Macs.After trialling a variety of softwareoptions, QuickTime is generally usedby the College to access the files.

What have the benefits been?This new approach for SouthNottingham College has had manyadvantages:

• Motivating - for both students and staff.

• A reduction in paperwork - nolonger any need for huge A4 ringbinders!

• Time saving - the portfolios havebeen easier to mark and managefor both lecturers and verifiers.

• Reliability - potential issues withloss of portfolio work have beenovercome as the evidence is nowbacked-up.

• Integrity of work - some of theplagiarism issues associated withpaper-based evidence have beenovercome.

For a more in-depth look at whatSouth Nottingham College did andwhat they plan to do in the future,go to the Excellence Gateway siteat http://excellence.qia.org.uk.

Focus On: Supportfor Teacher TrainingIt’s hard to believe that it is only a year since qualifications forteachers in the Learning and Skills Sector became compulsory – andabout time too! The use of technology as an essential tool for allteachers is central to the qualifications that are now bedding in anddeveloping e-learning skills is a key part of the required 30 hours ofprofessional updating each year.

The RSC provides a range of services tosupport initial teacher training (ITT). Thepurpose is not only to enable ITTcourses to teach about e-learning, butto model the use of technology, on thebasis that “do as I do” is more effectivethan “do as I say”.

The questions are questions ofpedagogy, not technology. Should allteachers in training be able to use aninteractive whiteboard in apedagogically valid way? How aboutmaking a simple video, creating apodcast or using a learning platformsuch as Moodle? What’s the best blendof face-to-face and on-line elements inITT courses?

For several years the RSC has run eventsfor teacher trainers but we also supportindividual providers. The RSC has a rangeof tools which enable ITT course teams toreview current practice as the startingpoint for change and has used them withITT providers across the region, includingLeicester, Chesterfield, Northampton,Grantham and Derby Colleges.

Using advice and guidance from theRSC, Trevor Cotterill, Manager forTeacher Training at New CollegeNottingham, is introducing a number ofinnovations into his courses.

“Working with the RSC shows us how wecan exploit web 2.0 technologies such asblogs to develop our traditional way ofdoing things. We are making our coursesmuch more interactive compared with ourformer didactic approach. Our coursemembers can become a community ofpractice, supported by e-technology.”

Sensibly, the RSC remit requires us towork co-operatively with organisationswhich have common interests, not toreplicate what they do. For several yearswe have supported the teacher trainingnetwork hosted by EMFEC(www.emfec.co.uk) and now we aredeveloping a partnership with the newEast Midlands Centre for Excellence inTeacher Training – EMCETT(www.thelearningchain.net).

The EMCETT network currently includes25 partner organisations and is based atSouth Leicestershire College.

Actions to date include contributing toeach other’s events, providing adviceand guidance to EMCETT on e-learningissues such as the use of a VLE andexploring the potential for a region-wideblended learning facility.

For Ian Grayling, Executive Director atEMCETT it is a case of, “looking forwardto strengthening our relationship withthe RSC, as we move towards newblended-learning models of initial andcontinuing teacher education that willprovide wider and more immediateaccess to resources and support.”

Teacher training courses prepareteachers for learning as it will be, notas it used to be. For more informationabout support for your teachertraining courses, contact us here atthe RSC.

JISC newsJISC Collections UpdateFrom 1st August 2008 ContentComplete Limited will provide theJISC Collections subscriptions andhelp desk service.

Contact details for the JISCCollections subscription and help deskwill change to:

JISC Collections Subscription and Help Desk Content Complete LtdUnit 7, North Leigh Business ParkNorth LeighOxfordshireOX29 6SWTel: 01993 880044Email: subscriptionshelp@jisc.ac.uk

National recognition forLincoln Vice-PrincipalPaul Deane, Vice-Principal of LincolnCollege and Chair of the RSC EastMidlands Steering Group, has beennominated for the national JISC Board.

Paul welcomes this opportunity toalign JISC activity more closely withthe needs of the wider FE community.“I would be delighted to hear anyviews on JISC services from membersof the FE Community” he says. Paul can be contacted atpdeane@lincolncollege.ac.uk

JISC PodcastsEducation has not been slow torecognise the potential of podcasts,and the near-ubiquity of iPods andMP3 players has also helped persuadeJISC that they could provide anothervital channel of communication.

After a year of producing podcasts ona wide variety of subjects, thestandard ten-minute conversation withexperts has now became a series ofshort narrated programmes.

The Web 2.0 podcast stands out as oneof the most popular, but there aremany other interesting items such asthe launch of the Google Generationreport and a look at accessibility issues.

The podcasts have become the thirdmost popular educational technologypodcasts in the world. You cansubscribe to JISC podcasts via iTunesor for further information go towww.jisc.ac.uk/podcasts.

ForthcomingEventsSeptember25th (online) e-books webinar

October6th (am) Web 2.0 Senior

Managers Workshop -Liability and Law

9th (am) Heads of IT Forum

15th (am) ACL Forum

16th (full day) EDINA multimediaservices

23rd (full day) Quick and Easy Video

30th (am) Accessibility andInclusion Forum

30th (pm) Specialist CollegesForum

November5th (am) LRC Forum

5th (pm) EMIS (East MidlandsInformation Skills).

14th (am) WBL Forum

20th (am) ILT Forum

20th (am) New Build Forum

25th (am) Technical Forum

26th (full day) Creating learningresources with freetools

27th (full day) Managing MultipleProjects

December9th (full day) JISC Learner

Experience

Events to be confirmedTBC Moodle Users Group

TBC SharePoint event

For further details please visit www.rsc-em.ac.uk

We were pleased to be invited tocontribute to the HE in FE Conference,“Going Further and Higher”, at NewCollege Nottingham (ncn) in July. OurRSC stand generated interest and RSCadvisor, Ben Williams provided twoworkshops on Innovating Assessmentthrough the use of technology, whichwere well received and brought out somegood ideas from those who attended.

Ben commented that “ncn are showing areal commitment to exploring ways inwhich technology can help them innovatetheir HE provision” and that “theworkshop audiences were reallyresponsive to the ideas being discussed.”

Danuta Januszonok, Director ofStandards at ncn, was thrilled with theevent and the presence of the RSCcommenting that “the day was awonderful success - we have receivedoverwhelmingly positive feedback.

If you have an event that you feelwould benefit from having the RSC inattendance to promote the benefits ofe-learning, either by delivering aworkshop or by giving advice on aconsultation basis, please get intouch.

Get intouchJISC RSC East MidlandsLoughborough CollegeRadmoor RoadLoughboroughLeicestershireLE11 3BT

Tel: 01509 618110Email: support@rsc-em.ac.ukWeb: www.rsc-em.ac.uk

Microsoft’s SharePoint is a programspecifically designed to integrate withMIS databases, data repositories, emailsystems, internal networks and webportals, and is becoming increasinglycommon within the East Midlands region.

The event was targeted at senior andother strategic/operational managerswanting to implement a personalisedlearning environment; for existing userswanting to get more out of SharePoint;and for those considering adoptingSharePoint.

The event packed out the EMFECconference centre with many visitorsfrom within the region but alsointerested parties from as far away asSunderland and Bath.

Elaine Martin, in charge of StrategicDevelopment: Teaching & Learning atSouth Nottingham College describedthe day “as a clear success and a chancefor our college to share our experiences

with other organisations who arethinking of adopting this software andfor them to learn from our journey”. Shealso added that “the event wouldenable them to capitalise upon theirrelationship with the RSC.”

Does your organisation have the leadin an aspect of e-learning? If so, yourRSC can help you run a similar type ofevent, where you lead the running andthe RSC can help support with thedelivery and the promotion of it.

Sharing expertise“SharePoint 2007: Pulling IT Together” was a joint event earlier thisyear between South Nottingham College and the RSC which attractednational interest and allowed the College to demonstrate thesignificant progress it had made with this new software tool.

Need a hand inpromoting e-learning?

8

A packed house at the SharePoint event

Most popular UK mobile internet sitesNetworking has gone mobile – morethan 40% of mobile internet traffic is tosocial networking sites, compared to 6%of non-mobile internet traffic.

Web-based e-mail such as Yahoo,Hotmail and Gmail account for 11%.

Source: Opera

1 www.facebook.com2 www.google.co.uk3 www.live.com4 www.bebo.com5 www.mocospace.com6 news.bbc.co.uk7 uk.yahoo.com8 www.itsmy.com9 www.faceparty.com10 www.ebay.co.uk