RSC Assisit

JISC Regional Support Centre West Midlands is giving learning providers the opportunity to apply for free, extended support in an area of their choice, through the RSC Assist project. What are the benefits?RSC Assist enables you to work with a member of the RSC team for up to a day in planning your project and benefiting from advice and expertise, as well as a limited amount of training, if applicable. You retain control of the task in hand, but will be able to call on the support of your nominated advisor throughout.

On completion, you will work with your RSC e-learning advisor to produce a brief case study or best practice guide, which outlines the outcomes and any lessons learned, for the benefit of other learning providers.
Choosing your projectThe project should be a priority for your organisation and be achievable within a 3 month period, with a measurable, tangible outcome. Applications will be assessed against their relevance to the RSC remit, wider interest in the topic and available RSC staff expertise.
The priority support areas for 2011/12 are:
- E-safety- Learner Voice- Technology for Learning- Business Processes- Network Management- Shared Services- Staff Development - Strategic Development- Digital Literacy- Procurement
How to applyIf you’d like to take part in the RSC Assist project, please complete the application form, which is available online at: http://bit.ly/o0LKytYou can also discuss your project idea with a member of the RSC team, prior to applying – please get in touch.
Once your application has been submitted, we will contact you with a decision, based on current workload and the suitability of the topic for the project.

Try Before You Buy

The JISC Regional Support Center has for the past twelve months trailed a scheme called" Try Before You Buy".This is a selection of technology that can be used with learners with learning difficulties. The kit bags are essentially loaned to the learning providers for up to six weeks. Each learning provider at the end of the loan completes a survey evaluating the equipment and it's suitability for learners with learning difficulties.
The results from the survey have been surprising and make interesting reading. the survey highlights that the equipment in the most has been used in the classroom environment. The tutors identify the pedagogical uses of the equipment and the types of challenges that the learners face before using the equipment.

If you would like to take part in the Ty Before You Buy Scheme then please contact me on a.wootton@rsc-wm.ac.uk.

Related Links
RSC Wiki

Take Away Moodle for Teacher Training

Take Away Moodle, this is new concept from the RSC. We are looking to support Teacher Trainers across all sectors with the use of Moodle.

We have a Take Away Moodle course which you can upload into your own Moodle site and deliver as if it it were your own course. You don't have to have any prior knowledge just the enthusiasm to become familiar with the tools. The course is divided into six sections, the content is varied and includes web links,videos, quizzes. It will also engage you in activities such as forums, chat and setting up a glossary. All of the content is intended to be flexible for you to add your own and adaptable as you are welcome to customise this to suit you as a Learning Provider.

You are welcome to email me for further details and how you can Take Away Moodle. a.wootton@rsc-wm.ac.uk

Teachers TV

There seems to be a sliver lining for Teachers TV which has over 3500 videos for teaching professionals. The Company closed in April this year however not to be put off by the governments cuts the company reformed under the name of Teachers Media. There are subject specific videos and behavioural videos. The majority are intended for schools however you could adapt the content for further education. In the times that we live in managing behaviour can be difficult teachersmaedia has a set of Behavioural Videos which offer excellent strategies to coping with the difficult lessons .

Take a look at http://www.teachers.media.co.uk/

RSC West Midlands - Events: Learner Centred Process Review

JISC Info Net will be delivering another of their successful workshops on Learner Centered Process Review on the 15 Th June at Science Park in Wolverhampton. If you are introducing change or re structuring then this may guide you through the potential pit falls. : "This workshop will be an interactive day aiming to give participants an introduction to, or raised levels of knowledge of, a variety of process review considerations, techniques and tools. At the end of the workshop delegates will be able to use a variety of simple and rapid approaches to improve processes for the benefit of their learners."

If you would like to take part in the day please register through our website on the link below

RSC West Midlands - Events: Learner Centred Process Review

Discover-e Conference

RoboBraille

RoboBraille, this is a excellent service which provides documents in MP3 format. This could be useful for learners who prefer audio to reading. Providing content in alternative formats will help to comply with the new Public Sector Duty. However not all tutors have the software or equipment at their disposal to be able to create content in different formats.

RoboBraille is a free service to education, it converts digital documents into MP3 or Braille. You simply send document by email to RoboBraille and they will convert it into a Mp3 which you will be able to access through Windows Media player . The email address for this is britspeech@robbraille.org

E -Safety

E- Safety, is an issue for individuals, organisations and business.There's a host of information, documentation and reports available. I have sign posted a few sites which I think will be useful to give you the basic information.

The RSC's, Learning Technologist Jason Curtis has created a wiki page on E- Responsibility, this is a good place to start. www.rscsystems.org.uk/index.php/EResponsibility.

Ofsted feel that its very important have the correct procedures and policies in place to try to cascade the right messages to staff and learners alike. The Excellence Gateway has guidance on Strategy, and creating Acceptable User Policies http://www.excellence.gateway.org.uk/ .

JISC Legal have created a template to help you identify your priorities before creating a strategy, carrying out an e- safety audit will give you ideas as to where to focus your strategy . http://TinyURL /2WJT9ek

Ofsted advocate that training is key to safe guarding. They believe that all students should feel safe online and be able to evaluate the risk or know how to report any issues. Ofsted's report into safe guarding can be found at http://tinyurl.com/Yg2j34c

Identifying resources for staff development like videos and websites can be found on the RSC's Wiki, however I felt that the 123people website is worth a mention as this gathers online information from Social Networking sites such facebook and Flickr. Checking your privacy settings will stop your information being shared with other websites. http://www.123people.co.uk/

The general message is that your staff and learners should be able to identify issues and feel safe online. Training seems to be the key to spreading the word regarding e-Safety. If you would like offical training on e-Safety then the CEOP, Think You Know Training is aimed at professionals working with children and young people. This training will give you both a law enforcement and education persepective. http://www.thinkyouknow.co.uk/
















Take a look the Jisc Legal Top Ten checklists on their website http://www.jisclegal.ac.uk/

RSC West Midlands - Events: Accessibility and Inclusion Forum

RSC West Midlands - Events: Accessibility and Inclusion Forum: "The agenda for the day will include an update from the RSC outlining projects and New Open Source Software. Jason Curtis, RSC-WM Learning Technologies Advisor will identify some of the issues regarding esafety and highlight resources and information. There will also be a presentation by JISC TechDis who are the leading educational advisory service working across the UK for Accessibility and Inclusion.

The afternoon session ‘Make it Accessible’, introduces some key universal rules for making reading and learning materials accessible. The course will continue to introduce computer software to assist in making specific alternatives formats, including large print MP3 audio DAISY talking books and Braille.

Target Audience: The forum is aimed at anyone working with learners who need support with writing, reading, planning and organisation and is open to learning providers across all post-16 sectors who are based in the West Midlands including HE, FE, ACL, Specialist colleges, WBL and Offender learning."

Funding with LSIS

LSIS regional response fund of £150k will support immediate improvements needs in the further education and skills sector brought about as a result of changes to funding mechanisms and allocation.

The fund can be used to :

• help organisations to respond to the challenges of reduced funding and new priorities


• and promote collaborative sector led activities that allow providers to enhance quality improvement in strained times.

The deadline for application forms is the 25th of February the details can be found at http://www.lsis.org.uk/

Save the Date

Discover-e 2011
This years online conference is being held on the 17Th and 18Th of May. This looks to be packed with case studies best practice and information from the RSC West Midlands Learning Providers. The conference sessions will be delivered through webinar software Elluminate. All conference and fringe sessions will be run through Moodle. We are hoping to have several of the JISC services available to help you navigate your way through what each service does and how they can help you.

Save the date in your calendar 17Th and 18Th May 2011.

Create and Convert

With the new Public Sector Duty coming to force in April 2011, any help in being proactive with our learners in providing content in an accessible form is warmly welcomed. JISC RSC Scotland have a new edition to the Edu Apps family called Create and Convert. This software is open source and will allow you to convert electronic documents into accessible format such as audio, large print or talking book. The software is free to use and can be downloaded from RSC Scotland website

Related Links
Create and Convert