Internet Archive

This link may prove very useful to engage learners who may not be inspired to read a book, with the new i phones, Sony E- Book Readers and audio books this may be the way to encourage learners to engage with literature. This sight has some useful archive literature and movies . The Archive specify 'Access to the Archive’s Collections is provided at no cost to you and is granted for scholarship and research purposes only. '


I have so far downloaded a movie and Shakespeare's Sonnets. Give it ago well worth a look.http://www.archive.org/details/orleyfarm00troluoft

Access Apps

Accessibility Apps is growing and still free for you to use with your learner. This is a suite of over 40 open source software programs which will run from the USB stick without interfering with the PC in any way.
This suite of programs is useful for planning,reading and writing and visual support software to make reading screens easier, accessible browsers and alternative input tools, multimedia and presentation tools. In the suite of programs you will also find the Open Office which replicates familiar and expensive tools like Word and Power Point.
You can download the whole suite of applications or you can pick and choose those which are more suitable for your learner. Go to www.rsc-nescotland.ac.uk/accessapps

Second Life Opportunity

The JISC RSC West Midlands is pleased to announce that it has recently bought an island in the virtual world, Second Life ™ for learning providers in the region to use.Over the past few years, the RSC has been watching developments of virtual worlds with great interest, particularly the use of virtual worlds in education. Requests have been received asking if we know of available space in Second Life ™ that educators could use to experiment on. It was felt that the amount of requests warranted the purchase of some space by the RSC. Learning organisations will then be better informed to decide on whether they feel it would be useful for them to either rent some space in Second Life ™, buy their own space, investigate other virtual worlds or proceed no further.The “JISC RSC WM” island has been set up. There is a central ‘sandbox’ where West Midlands educators can practise creating temporary objects, changing their avatars, accessing the free resources and meeting up with other West Midlanders.Surrounding this area are several plots which are available for learning organisations. These will be for their sole use and for a more permanent set up. Depending on the take up of this offer, these plots can be used for a period of 3 to 6 months for people to come and experiment on, building objects and structures, using for staff development and even taking small groups of learners.If you would like one of these plots, you should submit a brief outline of your intended use to Jane Edwards – p.jane.edwards@wlv.ac.uk by .A few things you should know…This island is not for establishing an organisation’s presence in Second Life ™ , nor is it for people outside of the West Midlands region. It is meant for educational use only. You will be asked to sign an Acceptable Use Policy.If you would like to have informal chat about the island, please contact Jane on 01902 518983 01902 518983