It's been an extremely busy first day at Jisc's annual digital festival - hear from delegates and staff who've been with us in Birmingham.
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Last year we launched Digimap for Colleges specifically for the further education sector. In this podcast we talk to David Scott, head of learning centres and financial support at Kirklees College, who shares his experience of the map service and how it boosts students' learning.
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Today, Universities UK published its report on ‘Efficiency, effectiveness and value for money’, which looks at the efficiencies and cost savings that have been achieved by UK higher education in the last few years, and sets out the agenda going forward.
Jisc’s Phil Richards, chief innovation officer and Hugh Look, head of strategic support unit, attended the official launch which was hosted by Professor Sir Ian Diamond, chair of UUK’s Efficiency Task Group and principal and vice-chancellor of the university of Aberdeen.
In this podcast, Phil and Hugh talk about the work Jisc is doing to promote shared service, improve quality and lower costs for the whole sector.
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Jisc today welcomes the publication of the Universities UK (UUK) report ‘Efficiency, effectiveness and value for money’, which highlights how the UK higher education (HE) sector is balancing cost savings with raising the quality of teaching and learning through technology.
The report looks at how the community is benefiting from shared services to achieve significant efficiencies. It identifies higher education as the UK’s largest cost sharing group, thanks to Jisc, which is creating up to £2 million a year for the charity’s customers. It says:
"The potential for shared services to play a critical role in improving quality and distributing and lowering costs has long been acknowledged by the higher education sector. Sector-owned shared services such as Jisc, UCAS, the Janet network and numerous local and regional collaborations demonstrate this."
Martyn Harrow, Jisc chief executive says:
“We face an immense challenge in the UK’s education system: how to harness the power of digital technology while at the same time juggling squeezed budgets.
“As the education and research sector’s body for excellence in digital technology, Jisc works tirelessly to make sure that each penny of investment in IT is put to good use, and that these benefits can be made available to the whole community. We want every single university to profit from digital technology now and in the future.”
The money generated through the cost sharing group is on top of the other benefits Jisc provides to universities annually – an estimated £259 million in cost savings and cost avoidance, and in excess of £100 million in productivity gains.
As well as cost savings the report shows Jisc customers and users to benefit from access to world class infrastructure, such as the Janet network – which provides high capacity, resilient connectivity between UK universities and overseas – and the Jisc shared data centre, the UK’s first dedicated centre for education and research.
Jisc’s work on open data was also praised for helping universities meet the changing landscape. One key area identified was Jisc’s negotiation with publishers on both journal subscription licenses and article processing charge (APC) payments in order to offset the impact.
In addition, the report reflects on the pressures for universities to show their worth, saying "principles of transparency, openness and accountability dictate that there needs to be a greater emphasis on value for money in the future.” To this end it highlights a joint project by Jisc and the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) to develop a new business intelligence shared service for universities, which will give a wide range of staff access to quality-assured data sets and analysis tools that will help them to make informed business decisions.
With annual expenditure of £27.9 billion, the UK HE sector generates £73 billion a year for the national economy and is responsible for over £10 billion in export earnings and supporting more than 700,000 jobs.
Martyn added:
“In financial terms, UK higher education is a major player. The continued health of the sector is therefore critical to supporting the nation’s burgeoning economy and ensuring that we remain a global leader.”
To extend the UK’s value agenda in HE, UUK and Jisc set up the Efficiency Exchange in 2011 in response to the Diamond Review. It is designed to help the HE sector discover and share ideas, good practice and resources to create smarter, stronger universities. Jisc regularly contributes advice and guidance on its activities, for example, recent pieces on equipment sharing and technology-enhanced learning.
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At last November's Times Higher Education Awards, we sponsored the eagerly contested Outstanding ICT Initiative of the Year category, which celebrates the use of innovative and strategic digital technologies. The winner was the Open University's OpenScience Laboratory, and in this podcast, laboratory director Nicholas Braithwaite tells us about what it does and what it means for students' and researchers' learning experience.
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Research has revealed a sharp rise in the number of students using social media to stay in touch with tutors at college and university, with 40% of students now using social as a means of communication with lecturers.
Facebook is the most popular form of communication, followed by Twitter and WhatsApp, and a startling 12% of those students using social channels to stay in touch use Snapchat.
Jisc conducted a study into the use of technology in higher and further education to mark the launch of the Jisc Digital Festival, which is helping those delivering education in the UK to be at the forefront of technology practice.
The study also found that more than a quarter (28%) of students use their smartphones to draft essays, while 30% use tablet computers when studying. It also revealed that when it comes to choosing where to study, students are taking technology facilities into account, with 45% of students saying technology played a part in their choice of university or college.
“With increased fees and greater competition for a job after graduation, students are choosing their Universities very carefully now, and rightly so,”
said Martyn Harrow, Jisc chief executive.
"Institutions need to make sure they’re providing the best possible tech facilities, and communicating with students over channels those students are already using.
At Jisc, we’re helping universities to use the best technology in the most cost effective way, so the UK higher education sector can maintain its reputation as being among the best in the world.”
The Jisc Digital Festival takes place on March 9–10 at the ICC in Birmingham. Attendees will be able to see examples of how new technologies such as augmented reality and 3D animation can be used in the lecture hall or classroom.
There will also be debates on internet security for students, universities and colleges and speakers during the event including internet giant Google.
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Earlier this week, Jason Miles-Campbell, head of Jisc Scotland and Jisc Northern Ireland, attended the Scotland’s Colleges conference. Here he talks about how Jisc’s new customer services model is helping to engage customers on a local level and support changes in the sector.
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New major release of free open source federated identity solution adds user consent capability and support for Central Authentication Service protocol.
The research and education community is set to benefit from an upgrade to a free open source software system that will help them better deliver access and identity management services.
The Shibboleth Consortium — a collaborative group of international research and education organisations — has released version 3 of the Shibboleth identity provider, its free open source software that enables secure web single sign-on. Institutions are able to use the software to enable learners and researchers to safely access library resources, databases and collaboration tools using only one log-in, doing away with the need to set up new accounts as they move between locations.
Developed following extensive consultation with the community, the new release offers significant functional and security enhancements, including user consent and on-demand metadata lookup. It also supports the Central Authentication Service (CAS), the internationally-recognised single sign-on protocol used by many universities and research organisations.
Shibboleth is among the world’s most widely deployed federated identity solutions, providing single sign-on capabilities and individual access to protected online resources, in a privacy-preserving manner.
The Shibboleth Consortium funds the ongoing development, support and maintenance of the software, keeping every component of the Shibboleth system free to use. The two principal members are Internet2 in the US and Jisc in the UK. Jisc also acts as consortium operator, managing the day-to-day running of the group.
Shelton Waggener, senior vice president at Internet2 and chair of the consortium board, said:
“This new release comes with many new features requested by the broad international community that uses Shibboleth to make informed access decisions and protect their online resources. We are grateful for the tremendous collaboration in developing this important new release.”
Josh Howlett, head of trust and identity at Jisc, said:
“Seamless and secure access to systems and services is paramount to the continued health of the education and research sector, which makes Shibboleth a vital tool in delivering effective access and identity management services.
The latest release has been developed for the community, by the community, listening to their feedback to ensure the software truly meets their needs, both now and in the future. We will continue to work with the consortium to ensure this remains to be the case.”
The new features and functionality include:
Originally released in 2003, the growth of cloud services has led to an increase in the deployment of Shibboleth worldwide as a core component of campus identity and access management.
Shibboleth version 3 will come to replace previous versions. The consortium urges deployers to plan their upgrade now to take advantage of the security and functional improvements and ensure they are fully compliant before the discontinuation of support for Version 2.4, expected later this year.
For more information on Shibboleth visit www.shibboleth.net or contact Justin Knight, Sibboleth Consortium manager at Jisc justin.knight@jisc.ac.uk.
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Our futurist Martin Hamilton takes a look at how institutions can share equipment, talent and expertise in order to open up new opportunities to boost the UK's technology sectors. Find out more on his original blog post or visit our project pages on equipment sharing.
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A Department of Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) update on the Further Education Learning Technology Action Group (FELTAG) report has recognised Jisc’s efforts in helping providers in the further education (FE) and skills sector to meet the recommendations.
The report claims Jisc is a ‘valuable resource’ for learning providers. Nick Boles MP, the minister of state for skills and equality, claimed that along with the Education and Training Foundation, the charity has ‘stepped up to the mark’ in their support for the sector.
Jisc is praised for extending access to internet and digital services and resources to support the learning experience. This includes increasing the internet resilience of almost 100 further education (FE) colleges by providing new connections to the Janet network, and doubling the take-up of eduroam, the secure single sign-on system, to 86 colleges. The organisation was also recognised for its work with the Education and Training Foundation and other national bodies to support the adoption of technology across FE.
An example of where Jisc is helping organisations is promoting the use of technology to improve OFSTED ratings. Where a need for improvement is identified Jisc will work with the provider to address any weaknesses where technology can help, as it did with South Worcestershire College to improve from a Grade 4 to Grade 2.
Nigel Ecclesfield, head of change implementation support programmes – further education and skills, Jisc, said:
“As education and research’s digital champion, Jisc rightly sees itself as responsible for helping customers in delivering the FELTAG recommendations. We are delighted to note the acknowledgement from UK government of the benefits of our work to customers and for supporting and enabling collaboration between organisations.”
As the FELTAG agenda affects a number of agencies and sector bodies, Jisc is now working in collaboration with peer organisations through its FELTAG coalition. The group works to directly engage with stakeholders in the FE sector, from learners and teachers to senior leaders, governors and employers to identify ways forward with digital technologies.
Nigel added:
“There has already been significant progress made across the sector – but we know there is more to be done. By collaborating with other sector bodies we will continue to work on new projects that help to extend the use of technology to improve learning and teaching and meet the needs of learners, employers and their communities.”
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Martin Hamilton looks at what the classroom of the future might look like, and how the new ETAG (Department for Education’s independent think tank the Education Technology Action Group) report could have an impact. Find out more in his original blog.
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As we mark Safer Internet Day, in this podcast John Hofgartner from Weston College explains about how the college's e-safety campaign is raising awareness of online issues and encouraging students to safeguard themselves.
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Jisc is looking for staff and students who are either planning to, or already undertaking a joint approach for curriculum development, to take part in a free pilot course.
Jisc is providing the free Staff and Educational Development Association (SEDA) accredited course to support staff and students working in partnership on curriculum innovation projects in UK further education, higher education and skills sector. Enabling them to work more effectively together.
The course comprises two modules:
Sarah Knight, senior co-design manager, Jisc says:
“We are delighted to launch the new SEDA accredited Jisc institutional change leader award in recognition of the important role that student-staff partnership working plays in driving forward curriculum innovation and institutional change. The award offers an exciting opportunity for Jisc to work with staff and student change agents across further and higher education and the skills sector who are innovating their practice.”
Dr Mark Kerrigan, from Anglia Ruskin University, who is leading the course on behalf of Jisc says:
“The initial response has been brilliant, we already have people from across the country enrolled. It is going to be rich and vibrant course, which will help inform and support staff and students working in partnership.”
Benefits of the course for participants include:
To register to take part in the course please visit our registration page. Registrations close on the 26 February.
The course will commence on Monday 2 March 2015 with an online induction at 10:00 in Blackboard Collaborate and complete on Friday 5 June 2015. The course will run again from late September 2015.
If you would like more information about the course, please email Dr Mark Kerrigan
This course is part of Jisc’s change agents’ network - a network of staff and students working in partnership to support curriculum enhancement and innovation.
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Today Jisc has announced its full programme for the Jisc Digital Festival 2015 taking place from 9-10 March 2015 at the ICC in Birmingham.
The two-day event will present the best digital talent the UK has to offer under the umbrella theme of ‘connect more’. It will feature a diverse line-up of digital innovators and leading organisations in the learning technology space, appealing to stakeholders across further education (FE), higher education (HE), skills and research.
By bringing together people working across digital technology in UK education, research, skills and enterprise, alongside leading experts and suppliers, the Jisc Digital Festival offers a platform to share best practice and knowledge, in order to help the UK retain its position as the world’s most digitally advanced education and research nation.
Phil Richards, chief innovation officer at Jisc, said:
“With digital technology changing faster than ever, education providers need to be sure they are skilled in the use of digital technology to be able to take full advantage of these opportunities. This type of expertise will not only help improve the student experience, but can provide business intelligence, cost savings through digital resources and administration, and even help attract more students. Our festival will offer support and advice on all these areas, alongside sector experts to ensure the UK really leads the way in digital technology. The real question you need to ask is: are you ready for the future of education?”
Programme sessions will include the latest technologies and how they can support teaching and research practices, such as 3D technologies, augmented reality and geospatial services, to ensure institutions are able to make informed decisions about the tools that are available to them.
One day of the festival will feature a set of sessions with a particular resonance for FE and skills delegates. Topics being discussed will include how IT and digital capabilities can enhance student employability, enabling mobile learning and facing FELTAG together. Representatives from high profile tech firms will also be speaking on an FE theme, including internet search giant Google, talking about how the FE community has used Google tools to transform operations.
Sharing the full programme today adds to the already highly anticipated keynote speakers; Simon Nelson, chief executive of FutureLearn, the social learning platform of The Open University, and Carole Goble CBE, professor in the school of computer science at the University of Manchester.
Tickets and a full programme of the event can be found here.
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Jisc, which provides the Janet network for UK education and research, has contributed to a Cabinet Office report looking at the digital and telecommunications infrastructure owned or leased by the public sector.
This report has been undertaken to ensure that full advantage is taken of existing infrastructure, benefiting the public through better, more pervasive digital services and through savings to the taxpayer.
One key message from the report is that it is necessary for public sector assets to be used collaboratively. Jisc has for many years taken this approach, working with and sharing assets with local government across England, and with the Scottish and Welsh governments.
Jisc has also worked with the NHS for many years to support medical education and research, and has made the power of the Janet network available to the BBC and its partners in supporting trials of very high-definition streaming of the Olympic and the Commonwealth Games.
Dr Bob Day, executive director, Janet, at Jisc comments:
“We are pleased to see this report identifying further opportunities for joint approaches. As the report makes clear through the maps it contains, there is much that could be done in sharing infrastructure. But it can also be about much more than this.
The UK’s education and research community has a long and successful record in collaborative development of technologies and services, for example in mobile working and in safe and secure access to digital content and services. Jisc’s expertise, as well as the infrastructure assets it manages, is of equal value here.
We note also the report’s focus on improving broadband availability in areas that are difficult to reach, particularly with next-generation broadband products. Students in today’s learning environment are not all in city centre schools, colleges and universities, so high-quality broadband now needs to be available for education and research outside the classroom; at home, in the workplace and in public locations.
Equally, many of today’s big research challenges will require high-bandwidth, ubiquitous networks to collect and process the vast amounts of data involved.
Jisc is glad to see this initiative and believe it will help to support UK research and education. Through the Janet network and otherwise we will continue what has been a very productive engagement with our colleagues in the telecommunications and digital infrastructure portfolio activity.”
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Last week we held our annual stakeholder forum at London's Royal Society. The event was to update our customers on what we've been up to, find out what is high on your list of priorities and where we can work with you to develop solutions that meet your needs. Hear a summary of the outcomes of the day in this podcast. There are also interviews with Mike Cope (UCL), Peter Kilcoyne (Heart of Worcestershire College) and John Tuck (Royal Holloway). Find out more in Ken Thomson's original blog post.
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In this podcast executive director, Jisc technologies Tim Kidd introduces Networkshop43: Jisc's annual technical event, which takes place between 31 March and 2 April 2015. Register for your chance to win one of three iPad Airs kindly donated by Infinity. Competition terms and conditions can be found on the Networkshop43 website.
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In this podcast, Jisc's Allen Crawford-Thomas shares his five tips for getting technology use embedded in colleges, looking at good practice in Henley College, South Worcestershire College, Hereford Sixth Form College and South Staffordshire College. Links mentioned in the podcast can be found in Allen's original blog.
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Jisc is searching for a leading figure from the UK higher or further education arena to take on the role of Jisc chair.
As the education and research sectors own body for digital technology, Jisc is one of the most important components in the sector's success. The role and leadership contribution of the chair is crucial in enabling the charity to continue to deliver in this respect.
Jisc is looking for someone with:
Martyn Harrow, chief executive of Jisc, says:
“We are looking for a new chair to follow in the immensely successful footsteps of Professor Sir Tim O’Shea and more recently Professor Martin Hall. There is now the opportunity to contribute directly to the future success of Jisc.
This position will play a key part in the next steps for the organisation and we are excited to have the opportunity to welcome a new enthusiastic individual to our board.”
Special thanks is due to Martin Hall, who will be retiring shortly from the position of chair. During his tenure he contributed considerable time, passion and vision to Jisc and the delivery of our mission: to enable people in education and research to perform at the forefront of international practice by exploiting fully the possibilities of modern digital technology.
If you are interested in applying for the post to lead the board of Jisc, to help universities and colleges harness the potential of digital approaches for their individual and collective advantage, please contact Susan Ehmann for an information pack.
Closing date for receipt of applications: 18 February 2015.
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Last week we had a great few days at Bett 2015, chairing the Technology in Higher Education Summit. We also joined Heppell and the Education and Training Foundation on the Answers, Answers, Answers stand, and here, Jisc's Nigel Ecclesfield reflects on the show as a whole.
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We're at BETT 2015 this week chairing the Technology in Higher Education Summit - a space for higher education professionals to share ideas, future-gaze and streamline technology decision-making. In this podcast, Jisc's Tim Marshall discusses the findings from a day of sessions on the topic of 'maintaining your institution's competitiveness'.
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We're at BETT 2015 this week chairing the Technology in Higher Education Summit - a space for higher education professionals to share ideas, future-gaze and streamline technology decision-making. In this podcast, Jisc's Sarah Davies discusses the findings from a day of sessions on the topic of 'Developing pedagogy', and Esther Barrett tells us what caught her eye around the exhibition.
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We're at BETT 2015 this week chairing the Technology in Higher Education Summit - a space for higher education professionals to share ideas, future-gaze and streamline technology decision-making. In this podcast, Jisc's Lawrie Phipps discusses the findings from a day of sessions on the topic of 'Enhancing the learning of students'.
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Almost half of IT staff in higher education (HE) are not involved in the delivery of transnational education (TNE) by their own institution overseas, according to a joint report by Jisc and the Observatory of Borderless Higher Education (OBHE).
The research – which was designed to uncover the current state of TNE in UK HE institutions – found that 45% of IT staff were in the dark regarding TNE activities. This finding is despite technology being integral to universities delivering teaching and qualifications to students in other countries.
The finding is reiterated by IT departments’ exclusion from TNE decision making, with only 27% claiming they were involved in institutions’ development plans. When it comes to deciding on future TNE activities, this number falls to a worryingly low 1%, which suggests that where IT infrastructure is being considered at all, it is only as an after-thought.
There is also a lack of awareness regarding system risks and threats. When asked if data-related problems had previously been encountered abroad through their university’s TNE activities, just over half (52%) answered ‘don’t know’, while 57% were unaware if their institutional risk assessments included IT infrastructure.
Esther Wilkinson, business development lead for transnational education, Jisc, said:
“The successful delivery of transnational education is underpinned by efficient, reliable and quality IT infrastructure, so it’s a concern that IT departments are disconnected from this process. For many universities, the boom has meant that they have not always had the time to consider fully their methods of delivery, and as a consequence IT staff have not always been included. This issue will only increase as popularity does, and is almost certain to become a problem unless appropriate steps are taken to bolster connectivity.
"It’s clear that more communication is needed amongst UK higher education IT staff about the important role they can play in supporting TNE online and distance learning, as well as encouragement and involvement in international staff planning activities. One of the key actions that we at Jisc are taking from the report is an engagement campaign which will aim to fill this knowledge gap, increase IT staff involvement in TNE development and delivery, and share best practice.”
TNE is increasingly being recognised for the important role it plays in the UK economy and has been named by the government as one of the key policy strands in the education component of the industrial strategy. A report by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills in late 2014 on the value of TNE to the UK estimated that £496m was generated in 2012/13 alone from this activity stream.
In order to better understand the market, Jisc commissioned OBHE to undertake research on current trends in UK institutions’ delivery of TNE, future direction of travel, challenges and opportunities for the HE sector.
Wilkinson continued:
“TNE represents a major growth market for the UK, and there are significant opportunities as it becomes more widely accepted as an effective delivery method for international education, for all learning levels. It’s hugely important, then, that institutions are given the support they need to deliver as demand increases. We at Jisc are committed to taking these findings forward and helping institutions make the most of TNE in the coming years.”
Richard Garrett, director of the Observatory, added:
“TNE is often entrepreneurial in character, and can seem far removed from the parent institution, both geographically and in terms of visibility. As TNE grows in significance, arrangements mature and IT infrastructure defines all aspects of institutional activity, more joined up thinking is required. Service consistency, efficiency and risk management demand that the CIO and other senior IT staff have a seat at the table when decisions are made about current and future TNE. This is critical to student and institutional success. As such, the Observatory was pleased to work with Jisc on this project.”
The research involved two distinct groups: international offices, and IT departments. A total of 84 institutions responded, all of which were either members of Universities UK or GuildHE.
Other findings to emerge include ‘online provision, blended or distance learning’ being the preferred method of delivery, chosen by 54%. Establishing a branch campus abroad was the least popular, named by just 10% of respondents.
For more information on the report or Jisc’s future TNE plans visit the TNE project page or contact Esther Wilkinson. You can also find out more during a plenary session at the Jisc Digital Festival on 10 March.
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Our new book, 'E-books in education: realising the vision', describes how managers, teachers and librarians encourage the use of e-books and why they can be an important asset for institutions, academics and students. Find out more in our latest podcast, and download the book for free.
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