JISC E-Books

e-Books are now available from this years JISC Online Conference which looked at the impact of e-learning from an internal institutional perspective and from the view of the lifelong learner. The two e-books capture some of the feedback of this four day event and contain session presentations and papers, links to recommended resources and summaries of the discussions.The conference mainly attracted delegates from further and higher education. In the second e-book, Supporting lifelong learning (pdf format) “…Several papers addressed issues around the use of technology to support work-place learning and the transitions between institutions, as well as the use of technology to support the discovery of progression routes.”“…technologies. Student expectations and their own use of technologies were identified as significant drivers in this area.”Both e-books can be accessed from the JISC conference site online.

i Pods

At the end of last year we purchased some hand held technologies for demonstration purposes, we now have the following, ipod nano, i pod touch and a Samsung Digital Freedom. If you would like a demonstration of any of this equipment please email me at a.nock@wlv.ac.uk

Ideas for Use


Finding credible uses for this equipment is not too difficult, not only can this type of technology be used within the classroom it is excellent for homework, revision, fieldtrips and work experience.






The i Pods have a facility known a i Notes this allows the leaner to make notes throughout their lesson and giving them the opportunity to go over the lessons again in their own time.

Other uses may include displaying photo collections, viewing e- books, listening to audio books quizzes and Podcasts and Vodcasts.The nanos may help to provide some solutions to accessibility issues as they have excellent playback facilities making it easier for the leaner to digest information and simple solutions for differentiation with the i Pod Reporter which allows for voice recording.


If you are looking for lesson plans or just ideas on how to incorporate this type of technology into your lesson take a look at the following links.


http://learninginhand.com/ipod/index.html

http://www.apple.com/education/products/ipod/

Jack Pc's

Earlier this week I visited Hereford Sixth Form College, I was impressed with their use of Jack PCs

This is Thin Client Technology, this acts the same as a normal PC however the difference being is your PC is replaced with inexpensive dumb-terminals and a central server, known as a 'terminal server', this does all of the work.

The advantages of using Jack PCs over normal PCs is not just bout space and cost but the environmental issues. Jack PCs use around 20 times less energy than a PC. The Jack PC uses only 5W! Longer life-span - thin clients typically last 5-10+ years trouble free, unlike PCs which need replaced every 3 years or so.


I have attached the link to our Wiki which will give you a better picture of how the Jack PC is being used http://wiki.rscwmsystems.org.uk/index.php?title=JackPC%27s_and_Citrix&oldid=1898

Happy New Year

Happy New Year to everybody. I hope that this Blog continues into 2008 and provides you with essential information for Staff Development. If you have any resources or excellent websites that you would like to share please add any comments or email me at a.nock@wlv.ac.uk and I will post the information.

Coming up for 2008

• JISC e-books Online
• Accessibility and e-learning
• Smartboards and Airliners
• Mobile Techonolgy
• Web Resources For Education