RSC Northwest eLearning Focus

In this issue...

Game based learning: just for fun?

1

Welcome to the newsletter 3

AccessApps wins award, and EduApps is introduced

4

Jorum launches OER Deposit Tool

5

HE Conference proves to be a stimulating day

6

Excellence Gateway developments

8

NW WBL Provider featured on Excellence Gateway TV

9

KGV College case study 10

JISC Project - embedding BCE

12

Digital inc(lusion) 13

RSC NW events news 14

E-books for FE-collection available to UK FE colleges

15

Volume 8 Issue 3 July 2009

RSCs - stimulating and supporting innovation in learning

Game based learning: just for fun?

Having recently attended the Game-Based Learning 09 conference, RSC Northwest eLearning Adviser Anita Holt ponders game playing in education. Having had experience of teaching “less motivated” learners, I am always interested in exploring ways which would help such learners “get excited” about education. Hearing claims about how using a games console “had made maths cool” really triggered my interest. In my attempt find out more I attended Game-Based Learning 09 in London. At the conference I was inspired by enthusiastic teachers talking about how games such as Nintendo Brain Training had their pupils practising times tables at home, not to become top of the class, but to be top of the game’s leader board; how Guitar Hero has inspired pupils to write song lyrics and poetry; how Wiibledon (a Nintendo Wii version of

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Find out more

about the game

based

learning...

You can read more about game based learning and the Game Based Learning 09 Conference at www. gamebasedlearning.org.uk You can read Viva Game Based Learning!; an article by Derek Robertson at www.gamebasedlearning. org. uk/content/view/ 58/60

“A good teacher can watch children playing games and draw out of it a whole lot of learning outcomes”. Stephen Heppell

Wimbledon), had been used to develop skills for Business, Design, Sports, English, Maths. The list goes on, albeit mainly at primary and secondary school level, but without too much imagination it was easy to see how such examples would apply at higher levels.

There was much debate about what type of games should be used, whether games developed with a specific learning goal in mind were best or whether off the shelf games, such as Guitar Hero, should be explored for learning potential.

Derek Robertson, Learning and Teaching Scotland’s National Adviser for Emerging Technologies and Learning, and his team of inspiring teachers, discussed innovative ways in which off-the-shelf games were being used in their classrooms; that “...these games are not just great fun but designed around the principles that underpin the most effective teaching and learning”, and that “...in the hands of good teachers they have the potential to do great things”.

I was fascinated watching clips of comments from learners. Reluctant writers talked about being inspired to write because of the worlds and images they became immersed in. Learners identified as having lesser abilities in maths talked about being more confident and able in mental maths.

We often hear talk of the ‘low concentration levels’ that young people have, but anyone who has witnessed a young person playing a game such as Championship Manager for hours at a time would probably disagree. Young people can concentrate, it just depends what task they have been given.

This article is not suggesting that the way forward is to let learners play games all day rather than do coursework; the intention is to provoke some thought about the educational possibilities of popular games. Some of our North West learning providers have already recognised benefits in using games consoles such as the Nintendo Wii and DS Lite, and have successes that they can highlight.

Imagine basing the whole key skills curriculum around a Guitar Hero tournament, or teaching Business Skills using Championship Manager – is game-based learning another passing phase, or is it set to change the way we teach?

2

Welcome to the

July 2009 issue of

the RSC Northwest

newsletter...

...from Andrew Quarmby, RSC Northwest Manager I have recently taken part in a number of meetings in Learning Providers where there has been wide-ranging discussion of policy, communication and management structures to support the effective use of ILT. I have no doubt that achieving consistency of practice and a high level of effective use of learning technologies is, to a large extent, dependent on high quality strategic thinking and management. It is also important that there is a coherent articulation of this in the strategies and policies of learning providers. However, we also all know the difference that can be made by a charismatic manager through the power of conviction and personal example. No doubt you can all think of one. The same goes for impact on learners. eLearning is a significant element of inspiring teaching. It takes the possibilities of our age, which run ahead of us, and releases their richness. I am sure we all learn better from those who inspire our curiosity at the same time as managing our learning in a structured way. That is why at RSC Northwest we are equally pleased to be involved in meetings where teachers share with each other the things which have worked for them. It is here that personal enthusiasms can become infectious and the dynamics which underpin policy can surge forward. It is also refreshing when senior staff share these processes. We all want our organisations to be front-runners. Having feet on the ground is a an essential precursor!

3

Missed out on

our previous

newsletters?...

Our previous RSC NW newsletters can be accessed online in the Newsletter Archive section of our website at http://www.rsc-northwest.ac.uk/acl/eMagArchive/newsletters.html

The newsletters, which can be viewed page by page, at full size, have been created for reading online using Issuu - a free online publications service. You can find out more about Issuu at http://issuu.com Alternatively, you can download the newsletters from the Newsletter Archive in pdf format.

AccessApps wins award, and

EduApps is introduced

In Volume 8 Issue 1 of the RSC NW newsletter we featured AccessApps - open source and freeware portable applications - developed by the Scottish Regional Support Centres in co-operation with JISC TechDis. We are pleased to report that AccessApps has recently received the ‘Best Accessibility Award’ at the international IMS Learning Impact Conference. AccessApps is designed to give learners the assistive technology tools they need to experience learning in the way that suits them, when they need it. The applications run from a USB stick.

AccessApps is now one of three collections of tools, under the umbrella of EduApps. The two additional recent collections are:

LearnApps - for learners. Free software tools (and even some games) which will help learners in their studies.

TeachApps - for teachers. Free tools for all learners plus a few things that teachers might want - like portable versions of Virtual Learning Environments. You can access information on EduApps, and a link to the download page at www.rsc-ne-scotland.ac.uk/eduapps You can see details about the AccessApps award, and the other Learning Impact Award winners at www.imsglobal.org/learningimpact2009/lia2009winners.html

4

Discuss what

you’ve read, seen

and heard...

Do you want to discuss anything you’ve read on our website or eMagazine, or heard about in one of our podcasts? Well now you can, through our Moodle discussion forums. You can access these at www.rscdiscuss. notlong.com We’ll be making changes to our Moodle over the summer period, including the look and feel...we’ll keep you informed!

Jorum launches Open Educational

Resources (OER) Deposit Tool

The Jorum team has celebrated the unveiling of the OER Deposit Tool at the RSC Northwest Annual Event. Visitors to the stand were invited to ‘Give a gift to Jorum’ by bringing along Open Educational Resources to try out

the new tool and provide comments and feedback. ‘Early bird’ depositors using the Jorum OER Deposit Tool are able to upload learning and teaching resources to be stored for safe keeping until the launch of JorumOpen, which makes use of Creative

Commons licensing. Once launched, all resources received will automatically be available via open access. Jorum Learning & Teaching Competition The Jorum Learning & Teaching Competition, launched in May, will be the first time Jorum has hosted a competition on a national scale. The competition, which is running in conjunction with the ALT-C conference in September, is asking for the submission of exciting and innovative learning and teaching resources that have been created under a Creative Commons licence to showcase at the conference. Prizes of £300, £200 and £100, kindly donated by Intrallect, will be awarded to the top three resources submitted. There is still time to enter; entries close by 3rd July 2009 and winners will be announced by 31st July 2009. You can access further information at www.jorum.ac.uk

5

Sustainable IT

conference

presentations

online...

If you are interested in sustainable IT, the video presentations from the JISC RSC 'Smarter Greener Learning' Conference - featured in the last newsletter - which took place in Edinburgh on 22nd April are available online. The PowerPoint presentations from the conference have been synchronised with the video. This is available via Internet Explorer only as these require ActiveX controls. You can access the presentations at http://smartergreenerlearning.electern.co.uk

6

RSC Northwest HE Conference

proves to be a stimulating day

Supporting student transition to Higher Education The RSC Northwest HE-focused conference took place on 3rd June 2009, at the Leyland Hotel, Leyland.

The conference was set up primarily with HE in FE providers in mind, and proved to be a successful event, with delegates engaging enthusiastically in a range of discussions and workshops.

The themes of the conference centred around approaches for supporting the development of academic skills and outlook required to study at HE level; and providing appropriate induction and pastoral support for students new to Higher Education.

The opening presenter was Karla Benske from Glasgow Caledonian

University, Manager of the Moving Forward Project - a project which is built on the outcomes of the Scottish Enhancement Themes Initiative relating to the student first year experience - www.enhancementthemes.ac.uk/themes/FirstYear

Workshops at the conference included:

Digital Storytelling - Martin Jenkins, Academic Manager, Centre for Active Learning, University of Gloucestershire http://resources.glos.ac.uk/tli/lets/ projects/pathfinder/index.cfm

The Assignment Survival Kit (ASK) - Alison Pope, Senior Subject and Learner Support Librarian, Staffordshire University www.staffs.ac.uk/ask

The Sounds Good project: using audio Feedback - Bob Rotherham, Reader in Assessment, Learning and Teaching at Leeds Metropolitan University www.soundsgood.org.uk

Technology Enhanced Assessment, with examples of practice from Colleges around the region – particular input from Janet Burton, Teaching & Learning Mentor and Gillian Noble, Lecturer & Course Leader, at Lakes College West Cumbria; and Scott Anderton, Lecturer in Teacher Education at Accrington & Rossendale College. HE in FE events and support This conference was the first of our RSC Northwest HE in FE events, so we took the opportunity to get a feel for what our providers want by way of support for their work; this will be built upon further in the months ahead. In the first instance there will be the development of a regular forum/s to address issues raised in supporting student transition. If you’re interested in being involved, and/or would like to let us know the areas in which you would most value support, then please get in touch – contact Hilary Thomas, Higher Education Adviser, at ht@rsc-northwest.ac.uk

7

Excellence Gateway developments

The 'Skills for Life Core Curricula' interactive Core Curricula tool is now available on the Excellence Gateway. You will need to log into the Excellence Gateway to access the tool, which: Promotes flexible and creative use of the curricula content in a variety of learning contexts, including embedded learning Enhances content and resources with additional guidance, exemplification and vocational material Provides tools and features that will enable practitioners, including the wider embedded-learning audience, to create effective personal learning experiences Provides an online community where ideas and innovation can be shared and developed Do you want to access to the Core Curricula tool but haven’t registered for the Excellence Gateway yet?... If you haven’t registered yet, this is simple and free via the homepage at www.excellencegateway.org.uk By registering, you will unlock features that will help you get the most from the site, including: establishing your identity in the communities participating in conversations and sharing best practice on the forums bookmarking pages and saving searches accessing up-to-date information from a range of news feeds

8

Latest RSC NW

case studies on

the Excellence

Gateway... Case studies featuring RSC Northwest Learning Providers published since our last newsletter are: Sefton Enterprises Ltd Improving the management and sharing of resources via a web-based interface King George V College We have the power - increasing laptop capability using long-life batteries and thin client technology Liverpool Community College The benefits of a college-wide review focusing on ILT and e-learning Priestley College How do you successfully develop your new learning space? Ask your students, of course! Sefton Enterprises Ltd Effective use of an interactive whiteboard for exam preparation

Continued on page 9...

NW WBL Provider Lite Ltd featured

on Excellence Gateway TV

North West WBL Provider Lite (Stockport) Ltd has been featured on Excellence Gateway TV (EGTV) about the use of interactive whiteboards. The video, entitled 'The Lite touch on Animal Care and Veterinary Nursing' demonstrates "the benefits resulting from the use of interactive whiteboards in animal care and veterinary nursing training at Lite (Stockport) Ltd. The interactive technology better suits the needs of Lite's practically-focused apprentices and has made learning more fun, dynamic and efficient for both learners and tutors". You can access EGTV at www.excellencegateway.org.uk/page.aspx?o=egtv. To access the Lite Ltd video, select the ‘Effective Practice’ tab in EGTV, and scroll down to find the Lite Ltd feature. From this feature on EGTV there is also a link to our Lite Ltd Excellence Gateway case study, entitled 'Smart linking - using technology to link learners and tutors to materials and each other'.

9

...Continued from page 8

General Physics UK Introducing e-portfolios to meet the needs of the learner and the organisation League Football Education Tackling the Football Apprenticeship Programme online through Moodle Bolton Community College ELVIS on video! - the development of video resources to engage learners in ACL You can access these RSC NW case studies (and those from the other eight English RSCs) via the Excellence Gateway ‘Case studies on good e-practice’ section at www. excellencegateway. org. uk/page.aspx?o=case-studies-all Alternatively, access the RSC NW case studies via links from Sharing Good Practice in the Staff Development section of the RSC Northwest website at www.rsc-northwest.ac.uk

King George V College case study:

We have the power - increasing

laptop capability using long-life

batteries and thin client technology An Excellence Gateway case study The article here is a summary. You can access the full case

study at www.excellencegateway.org.uk/Programmes/page.aspx?o=191029

King George V College has introduced wireless enabled laptops into classrooms via mobile storage trolleys to meet new course demands, and into their Learning Resource Centre. These laptops use thin client technology to increase the laptop lifespan and ease updating issues, and are powered by ‘EarthWalk' batteries to increase battery life and overcome daily battery charging problems. Martyn Coleman, Senior Network Engineer/Manager at King George V College, was asked to increase IT provision to meet the needs of new BTEC courses at the College. He had previously considered deploying laptops into non-IT classrooms, but had resisted because of concerns that: laptop batteries lose charge quickly; laptops would have a relatively short lifespan, due to damage and wear and tear from heavy use; and wireless connectivity and speed would suffer when a class were sharing the same wireless access point. At the same time, whilst investigating thin client technology for a substantial new build development, Martyn came across thin client laptops. He immediately saw the potential for ‘mobile' technology, where the thin client technology 10

RSC Northwest

podcasts... The subject of the latest RSC Northwest podcast is Netbooks. Kevin Hickey (eLearning Adviser for FE) talks to David Beaumont from The Manchester College about Netbooks and how they are being used at the College.

The RSC NW podcasts can be accessed from the website homepage at www.rsc-northwest.ac.uk Other recent podcasts include: Visualisers at Aquinas

College Interactive whiteboards

at Stockport College MoleTV and Ourtube

digital video at The Manchester College

would simply act as a conduit for the applications delivered, meaning there would be little to depreciate through wear and tear, or to become outdated. However, his concerns about short battery charge times remained. Then, during a visit to the BETT (British Education and Training Technology) show Martyn was introduced to ‘EarthWalk Power Solution' laptop batteries and chargers. The batteries deliver around 10 hours of battery life. Each battery can be recharged 1000 times and can be sent away to be recharged. Not only is this cheaper than buying a new one, it is more environmentally friendly too. So, Martyn has introduced thin client laptops powered by the EarthWalk batteries, and stored in mobile trolleys for use in ‘standard' classrooms. The batteries run cold. This has meant that even in one small classroom with no air conditioning, a class has been able to work comfortably as virtually no heat was generated by the batteries or laptops. The introduction of the thin client laptops and Earthwalk batteries has been well received by staff and students. Martyn sees this development as the first stage towards not only the delivery of IT services which are more effective, but which are also greener and more efficient through a longer battery life and disposal cycle than traditional desktop PCs. For anyone thinking about deploying ‘traditional' laptops in their organisations, Martyn's advice would be to take a look at thin client technology before they make any decisions.

Have you got a story worth telling? We are always looking for case studies to highlight good e-practice from Learning Providers in the region, for publication on the Excellence Gateway. If you have a development, project or activity demonstrating good practice, which RSC Northwest Information Officer John Davey could discuss with you and write up as a case study, please get in touch with John at jdavey@rsc-northwest.ac.uk 11

RSC NW website

RSS feeds... You can keep up-to-date with news from the RSC Northwest website through RSS feeds.

To get these updates, click on the RSS feed links on the News section of the website at www.rsc-northwest.ac. uk/news There is also a general News RSS feed link, and a Training & events one on the website homepage at www.rsc-northwest.ac.uk

12

You can access details of the JISC BCE programme at www.jisc.ac.uk/whatwedo/programmes/bce.aspx The project blog is at http://embeddingbce. jiscinvolve.org

Want to refresh

yourself with the

JISC Strategy

2007-2009?... If you need to refresh yourself with the JISC Strategy 2007-2009, including strategic aim 5 as referred to in the BCE project article (right), you can access it at www.jisc.ac.uk/strategy0709

Embedding BCE through

business process

improvement and

internal engagement

Business and Community Engagement (BCE) is a relatively new agenda for JISC, developed in response to the strategic aim 5 of the 2007-09 strategy – ‘developing and implementing a programme to support institutions' engagement with the wider community’. John Burke, Senior Adviser with JISC infoNet is currently managing one of four projects, running under the auspices of the JISC Advisory Services BCE Team, to gather information about how colleges and universities engage with Businesses, Public Authorities and the wider Communities. The end outcome of the project will be a set of resources on the JISC infoNet website, due at the end of October 2009, to provide education organisations in the sector with a framework and a set of tools that they can use to examine, understand and develop their own BCE work. The focus of the project is how this type of activity is supported by, or challenges, the core business processes of educational organisations. Processes such as HR, Finance, IT and Information Systems, estates and services, catering, libraries etc. Working closely with five partner institutions, but gathering information from a wider range of stakeholders, including some from the target communities, the project has already gathered a number of interesting findings. The need for strong strategic direction, flexibility and the ability to move quickly are crucial for organisations to be successful in this field of work. The final resource will match other JISC infoNet resources in delivering practical-based solutions to help colleges and universities move forward and develop.

13

Tags and

Hashtags...

A feature of Web 2.0 technologies, such as blogs and photo sharing websites, has been the ability to add a label, known as a tag, to make an item easier to find. Micro-blogging sites such as Twitter have developed this idea into Hashtags. Hashtags are words or short text codes prefixed by a hash symbol (#) which can be added anywhere into a message. We ‘hashtagged’ our recent Mobile Learning event with #MNW09; delegates and presenters used this to communicate before, during and after the event. You can learn more about hashtags and how to use them on the Twitter Fan Wiki at http://twitter. pbworks.com/Hashtags

Digital inc(lusion)

The first region-wide inclusive learning forum, with an emphasis on inclusive practice, took place at Blackpool and The Fylde College in May. The forum - working title ‘Digital Inc’ - was attended by inclusive learning managers from all over the North West and proved to be a stimulating and productive day. Blackpool and the Fylde College set a very high standard of hospitality, which was followed by presentations from their visual impairment specialist and the technical assessment team. The technical assessment team also put on an excellent exhibition of accessibility kit for use with just about every type of disability/difficulty. The main body of the meeting was taken up with group discussions on the future remit of the group. It was decided that the group could collaborate: on information sharing as a support network for real time evaluation of resources to share good practice for individual specialists across colleges to work with support agencies for transition The diverse nature of the group (with specialist colleges and support agencies attending) was seen as a strength. There was a wide range of experience across the attendees which could be shared across the region. The discussion was wide ranging and covered the problems of the ‘digital divide’ for learners unable to access digital content for diverse reasons including social depravation, disability or disaffection. The main consensus of the day was to build on the expertise within the group to develop collaborative projects and potentially look for further funding opportunities. Anyone interested in attending the next forum should contact Adviser Lisa Valentine, lv@rsc-northwest.ac.uk

RSC Northwest events news

Events this year By the end of this academic year, the RSC Northwest team will have hosted over 30 face-to-face events, catering for approximately 800 delegates. Events will have ranged from small workshops to the large Annual Event held in Southport on 25 June 2009. In addition to this, we have supported various ILT and learning forums across the region, hosted 8 online lunchtime seminars, and supported partner organisations with their events . As we look towards the next academic year, we have been considering how we can increase our ‘greenness’, whilst still ensuring that our events remain high quality and responsive, and support networking opportunities. We will continue to explore online events where appropriate.

Changes for 2009/2010 For our future events, where practical, we will produce online delegate materials, including:

Delegate packs emailed prior to the event, enabling delegates to view and/or print any documents they wish to take to the event Links to simple online feedback/evaluation forms, available to delegates via emailed links after events Certificates of attendance, where appropriate, emailed to delegates after events - for CPD requirements, the certificates can be printed and/or uploaded into Reflect. There may, of course, be some exceptions to this new format, where it is more appropriate for us to provide paper packs and feedback/evaluation forms. 14

Future events… Please let us know if there are any areas that you feel the we should be addressing through our events programme. Contact the RSC Northwest Events & Administration Team; Tel: 01524 593797 Email: events@rsc-northwest.ac.uk Website: www.rsc-northwest.ac.uk/eventcalendar

We would like to take this opportunity to thank all delegates and presenters for their valuable contributions to RSC NW events over the past year.

E-books for FE-collection now

available to UK FE colleges

JISC Collections has announced that the e-books for FE agreement is now available. Funded by the Learning Skills Council and JISC the collection makes 2990 e-books freely

available to every further education college in the UK, for five years. The e-books within the Core Collection, hosted by ebrary, should never be 'out of stock' as they are available under unlimited, simultaneous user access. The e-books cover subjects as diverse as Fashion Design, Automobile Electronics, Beauty Therapy and Practical Lambing. One of the main attractions of e-books and other online resources is that they can be accessed remotely, which has clear benefits for distance learners, part time students or people who simply prefer not to go to the campus to read material.

The e-books are available under the JISC e-books Model Licence so that they can be used effectively in teaching and learning, e.g. parts of the e-book can be used in learning objects and VLEs etc. JISC Collections will produce a series of videos showing how the e-books can be used in teaching and learning, and there will be support materials on the e-books, and the functionality of the e-books platform. So that users are able to access the e-books remotely, and to enable student and library personalisation JISC Collections strongly recommend that colleges join the UK Access Management Federation and implement compliant technologies. You can access a full list of freely available Core Collection titles at www.jisc-collections.ac.uk/media/documents/jisc_collections/calls/final%20list%20of%20titles.xls

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There is no charge for access to the collection, although Colleges will need to complete a sub-licence agreement which is available from www. jisc-collections.ac.uk/media/documents/jisc_collections/catalogue/sla/e-books for fe sub-licence.doc If you are unsure whether your college has access to this collection, in the first instance please contact your Library or Learning Resource Centre Manager. Further details about the e-books project are available at http://fe. jiscebooksproject.org

RSC Northwest

e-books event

in planning...

RSC Northwest is currently planning an e-book workshop. This will be held at The Oldham College in July 2009. Further details will be announced shortly.

RSC Northwest

team...

Manager Andrew Quarmby aq@rsc-northwest.ac.uk

Administrators Christine Hulme Helen Smith admin@rsc-northwest.ac.uk

eLearning Advisers John Dalziel (Adult & Community Learning) jd@rsc-northwest.ac.uk Colin Gallacher (Work Based Learning) cg@rsc-northwest.ac.uk Kevin Hickey (Further Education) kh@rsc-northwest.ac.uk Anita Holt (Further Education) ah@rsc-northwest.ac.uk Hilary Thomas (Higher Education) ht@rsc-northwest.ac.uk Chrissie Turkington (Senior Adviser) ct@rsc-northwest.ac.uk Lisa Valentine (Inclusion) lv@rsc-northwest.ac.uk Keith Wilson (Technology & MIS) kwil@rsc-northwest.ac.uk

Events Co-ordinator Helen Metcalfe hm@rsc-northwest.ac.uk

Information Officer John Davey jdavey@rsc-northwest.ac.uk

JISC Regional Support Centre Northwest 2nd Floor Bailrigg House, Lancaster University Lancaster. LA1 4YE Phone: 01524 593797 Fax: 01524 593798 Email: admin@rsc-northwest.ac.uk

www.rsc-northwest.ac.uk All RSC team staff contribute to the newsletter. Additional thanks to Louise Egan (Jorum) and John Burke (JISC infoNet) for their contributions to this issue. Please send any comments and feedback about the newsletter to John Davey, Information Officer at jdavey@rsc-northwest.ac.uk This newsletter has been produced on 9lives 55 - certified as a Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) mixed sources product.