A_L_T: @reedyreedles #altc2012 CrowdVine is up.
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“@vwbpe: RT @iggyono: What would educators want in a virtual world they build? They want it all! http://t.co/suoy3Zho #Secondlife” #mscidel
Welcome to all the new arrivals to the MSc in E-Learning at the University of Edinburgh! #mscidel
IDEL moodle space is now open for new students - welcome! #mscel #mscidel
ALT, ALT (2012) ALT-C 2012 Abstracts. In: ALT-C 2012 a confrontation with reality, 11-13 September 2012, University of Manchester, UK. (Unpublished)
UK researchers’ and educators’ demands for high performance computing are now secured until at least 2022, thanks to an initial £30m e-infrastructure investment from the UK Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) and the higher and further education funding councils.
Minister for Universities and Science, David Willetts, says: "E-infrastructure, including high performance computing, is absolutely essential to our research base, whether it's enabling scientists to carry out complex experiments or helping academics manage large amounts of data. This significant Government funding will be a real boost to our universities, colleges and schools and is part of a wider package of investment to ensure Britain's e-infrastructure is truly world-class."
The investment will build Janet6 the next generation of the UK’s national research and education network, adding value across the sector from high-end research to universities, colleges and schools. It will also enable research to stay competitive on both a national and international level, and support the £60bn contribution that higher education brings to the UK economy.
Tim Marshall, CEO of Janet, says: “We are delighted to be able to continue to deliver this fundamental platform for research and education. The move to a long-term fibre contract ensures that for the next decade we can provide maximum agility and scalability to meet customer demands, that will inevitably be unpredictable, as research and innovation takes place. The new operating model that we are embracing for Janet6 will allow us to do so very cost-effectively in these challenging times.”
Research shows that as institutions use innovative methods to deliver digital resources to their students, so their use of different devices over the network grows. The pattern of data across Janet shows that data usage doubles every 18 months and this is unlikely to change.
However, in addition to this normal usage increase, there will also be a ‘data deluge’ from data intensive research, which means that future network demands are set to increase. The high capacity network means that research in biomedical sciences, climate science and genomics can continue at current rates, even with the need for the transfer of large data sets, as well as high performance computing, that are needed for research and analysis in these subject areas.
Martyn Harrow, JISC Executive Secretary, explains, “JISC first started funding the Janet network in 1984 with 60 universities and the UK Research Councils. It now has over 18 million users across the UK and underpins the digital resources and activities across education and research. As an ex-director of information services and libraries I know how much colleges and universities depend on a robust and reliable network. Janet6 will provide network capacity from a starting point of two terabits per second and increasing over the next five years up to a staggering eight terabits per second or even more – placing the UK in an unrivalled position.”
A seamless transition to the new network, and a proactive approach to network provision where it’s needed, means that most customers should not see any disruption in service. The new network will continue to provide unseen yet essential support to the work of researchers and educators, enabling them to communicate easily and share large data sets across international boundaries.
The provider SSE Telecoms has been awarded the contract to provide the fibre for the Janet infrastructure in the largest UK deployment of its kind, this year. The Janet6 infrastructure will be based on Ciena’s platform, which will enable the network to easily scale from 100G to 400G and beyond as requirements change over time. Janet6 will be fully operational by October 2013.
Sir Alan Langlands, HEFCE chief executive, added: “Janet is a national asset of which the UK can be proud. As a vital part of our research infrastructure, the next version of the network will further improve links and collaboration between universities, strategic research organisations and others. It will not only add value to UK education and research organisations, but will underpin the contribution they make to the UK economy.”
Brian Gilmore, director of IT Infrastructure at The University of Edinburgh and a member of the Janet board, commented: “From experiences in my own university, and from colleagues across all parts of the education and research sector, I know that the provision of a network infrastructure which provides continuous reliability and has the capacity to cope with an ever increasing range of uses and amounts of data transfer is essential. Without it we cannot deliver all that the economy and our students require of us. It is vital that Janet continues to make sure that the most capable suppliers are providing the quality of service that research and education need.”
Janet6 has been developed in the context of the Government’s Public Services Network (PSN) programme, and as Janet6 unfolds, the Janet team will continue to work closely with the PSN programme to ensure maximum efficiency in public-sector ICT spend.
The Janet6 programme is aligned with, and co-funded by, the BIS e-infrastructure initiative. BIS investment in both the core Janet network and in extending Janet means that it can better serve additional data intensive research disciplines.
A_L_T: ALT-C 2013: The 20th annual conference of the Association for Learning Technology. Further information about t... http://t.co/mLvRCYLA
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The new survey report by the JISC-led Strategic Content Alliance, Digital Content for the First World War, based on a study undertaken by King’s College London, addresses these questions for the benefit of people managing digital resources in universities, libraries and museums.
The report argues that the Centenary of the War in 2014 offers digital content creators the opportunity to reappraise received notions of the experience and legacy of the conflict across disciplines.
For example, they might choose to create digital resources for aspects of the War that have been little explored - such as the global nature of the War, medical and nursing history and the study of wider economic and social issues.
William Philpott, professor of the history of warfare at King’s College London, said: “The findings of this report will prove of exceptional interest to scholars of the First World War. It identifies the diverse range of approaches to teaching about the Great War and demonstrates the enduring interests in the subject as the centenaries approach."
To draw attention to the breadth of underused content in often small and medium sized collections as well as to encourage collaboration between people working on them, JISC have also funded King’s College London to develop a new online resource UK World War One Collections. The database allows researchers and content managers to search for UK university, archive, library and museum holdings relating to the conflict, saving them time and potentially reducing duplication of effort.
Sarah Fahmy, Strategic Content Alliance manager, said: “By understanding the needs of academics and researchers studying the First World War, we are better placed to create and enhance content that will suit their educational requirements. This report and the database are valuable as they encourage content creators to ask the right questions before starting work on their digital collections.”
JISC is responding to the report recommendations by working strategically with other organisations and academics to create and enhance content – for example creating cross-disciplinary open educational resources that will offer the opportunity to reappaise the War and its social, historical and cultural ramifications through the University of Oxford’s ‘World War One Centenary: Continuations and Beginnings’ project and the Serving Soldier online collection at King’s.
JISC’s recent work with Wikimedia UK brought together academic experts and editors of Wikipedia (Wikipedians) to create and improve Wikipedia articles on World War One topics. It means that students, researchers and the public can now access accurate, consistent, wide-ranging Wikipedia articles that are as up-to-date as possible and there are now new links between Wikipedian and academic communities.
The report also highlights that to create unique and compelling digital content for the benefit of education and research, funders, content providers and other agencies need to work together. By building mechanisms for collaboration, any potential investment goes further and delivers better services for less.
Catherine Grout, JISC eContent programme director, said: “The forthcoming centenary of World War One provides us with a remarkable opportunity to utilise information and communications technology to provide researchers and students with unique insights into the ‘war to end all wars’. JISC shares a unity of purpose with other organisations across the UK to ensure that current and future generations of learners, teachers and researcher have access to the best that digital content and resources can offer, including providing access to many new and important resources.”
A_L_T: @rbhartshorne re webcasting, see http://t.co/cn1ABZ3b
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A_L_T: Find out about #altc2012 keynote and invited speakers http://t.co/08T4iqY7
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A_L_T: #altc2012 pre-conference workshop on #diglit run by UCL and @A_L_T book your free place to attend now http://t.co/QuQ74Gmt
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A_L_T: ALT-C 2012 Conference Proceedings: ALT, ALT ALT-C 2012 Conference Proceedings. In: ALT-C 2012 - a confrontation ... http://t.co/sU2Q2NKo
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A_L_T: A few places still available for ALT-C 2012: A confrontation with reality #altc2012 - hurry or you'll miss out http://t.co/dEyUVwIu
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A_L_T: #altc2012 pre-conference workshop on #diglit run by UCL and @A_L_T book your free place to attend now http://t.co/3F7B4hxN
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ALT, ALT ALT-C 2012 Conference Proceedings. In: ALT-C 2012 - a confrontation with reality.
ALT, ALT ALT-C 2012 Conference Guide. In: ALT-C 2012 - a confrontation with reality.
A_L_T: A few places still available for ALT-C 2012: A confrontation with reality #altc2012 - hurry or you'll miss out http://t.co/dEyUVwIu
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A_L_T: #altc2012 pre-conference workshop on #diglit run by UCL and @A_L_T book your free place to attend now http://t.co/ux20yHuR
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A_L_T: Over 500 participants are registered to attend #altc2012. We @A_L_T are looking forward to seeing you all in Manchester
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A_L_T: Get ready for #altc2012. @A_L_T Members should come to this year's AGM http://t.co/GeezsbHK
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A_L_T: Find out about #altc2012 keynote and invited speakers http://t.co/ofqCul4B
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A_L_T: #altc2012 pre-conference workshop on #diglit run by UCL and @A_L_T book your free place to attend now http://t.co/YbeBFOtU
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A_L_T: Interested in participating in #altc2012 online? More info at http://t.co/WyomJu2P
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A_L_T: The #altc2012 interactive conference programme will launch on our Crowdvine networking site next week
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