Publishers John Wiley and Sons, Inc. and Jisc today announce a pilot agreement for articles published on an open access basis.
The agreement follows discussions between Jisc, Wiley and the UK library community, and will enable greater support for universities during the transition to open access.
Running from January 2015 to December 2017, the agreement provides credits for article processing charges (APCs) to universities that license Wiley journal content under the terms of the Jisc journal agreement. This means that universities that pay both subscription charges for publications and fees to make articles open access will receive APC credits based on the total prior year spend.
The APC credits will be available when publishing in Wiley’s Open Access journal publishing program.
Customers need to have a Wiley Open Access Account set up to be eligible to receive their APC credits. Wiley Open Access Accounts provide discounts on APCs and the account dashboard reduces the administrative burden on both authors and institutions.
Lorraine Estelle, executive director digital resources at Jisc and divisional CEO Jisc Collections says:
“Jisc Collections is working with all journal publishers of hybrid journals on the total cost of ownership of scholarly communications. We are delighted to have agreed this ground breaking pilot offset scheme. We expect this to moderate costs for UK universities and to help reduce some of the barriers to open access implementation.”
The agreement re-affirms Jisc and Wiley’s commitment to exploring new models of open access alongside our library and research partners.
via Jisc news
Jisc is pleased to announce two new representatives on our board of trustees, who will help determine our strategic direction and priorities to reflect the present and future needs of UK education and research.
Vice-chancellor of Lancaster University, Professor Mark E. Smith, and Dr Ken Thomson, the principal of Forth Valley College in Scotland, are to join our board of senior leaders and managers from across UK further and higher education.
Professor Martin Hall, chair of Jisc’s board of trustees, says,
“I am delighted to welcome Mark and Ken to the board as both of them have an enormous amount of experience in education and their expertise will be very welcome. New perspectives like theirs help us to ensure that Jisc is guided by the communities we serve and that we consistently deliver against their priorities.”
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Mark SmithAll rights reserved
Professor Mark Smith studied natural sciences at the University of Cambridge, before completing a PhD in physics at the University of Warwick. After time developing his research in Germany and Australia, he returned to the UK first at the University of Kent and then re-joined Warwick as reader in 1998.
He held roles within the physics department before being appointed chair of the faculty of science in 2005, pro-vice chancellor for research in 2007, and subsequently deputy vice-chancellor.
In his current role as vice-chancellor of Lancaster University, his responsibilities include chairing the main resourcing committee of the university.
He says,
“Jisc plays a very important role in its support of higher and further education providing world class infrastructure and other services. It is also one of the real success stories of a shared service. As Jisc in its new form continues to develop there are many interesting challenges which I hope to contribute to as a board member.”
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Ken ThomsonAll rights reserved
With 21 years’ experience in the further education sector Dr Ken Thomson took up his role as principal of Forth Valley College in August 2013. He has a degree in zoology from Nottingham University and a PhD in veterinary entomology from Edinburgh University.
As a senior lecturer in life sciences he led a four college consortium in developing a £1.5m technical training project for biotechnology.
He became head of science (2001), then director of learning services (2003) before becoming associate principal (2005) at Forth Valley College and deputy principal from 2007 with strategic responsibility for the college’s future curriculum, school/college partnership, quality assurance and learning innovation.
Ken is a member of the Colleges Scotland Principals Group, a member of the Colleges Scotland Learning, Skills and Quality Committee and is a former board member of Learning & Teaching Scotland. Ken is a fellow of the Institute of Directors.
In November 2014, Forth Valley College were awarded the prestigious Association of Colleges Beacon Award for Innovation in FE as a result of their whole college approach to an exciting vision to ‘Making Learning Work’.
He says,
“I am really looking forward to working with the board of Jisc. Jisc has a reputation for innovation, for being at the forefront of learning technologies and I am particularly keen to promote the obvious opportunities and added value for the end users, our teaching staff, students and customers”.
The new trustees take up their roles in December 2014.Read more about the role of the Jisc board.
via Jisc news
The UK’s national research and education network Janet, provided by Jisc, and Infinity SDC have walked away with two prestigious awards from this year’s Datacentre Dynamics EMEA Awards 2014.
Tim Kidd, executive director Jisc technologies, said:
“Jisc is very pleased to have worked with Infinity to create the Jisc data centre – the first shared data centre for medical and academic research in the UK. With its very high capacity connectivity to the core of Janet, this datacentre will support academic research and enterprise requirements through a world-class facility.”
The first award, data centre blueprints, celebrates the innovative thinking behind the datacentre: the design, project management and construction. The innovation award rewards the Jisc data centre for showcasing best practice and leadership in the data centre sector.
The judges were highly impressed with the design of the Jisc data centre which incorporates multiple resilience levels and power densities and supports a diversity of applications from enterprise to high performance computing.
Stuart Sutton, CEO at Infinity SDC, said:
“This is an incredibly important achievement for us. The technology used will further the UK’s position as a global leader in academic and medical research and the work we carry out in these sectors can be life changing, and we are proud to be a part of that.”
The Datacentre Dynamics Awards are the leading awards for the data centre industry recognising innovation, leadership and ‘out of the box’ thinking. With 15 established award categories, the awards celebrate data centre projects of all sizes, across all sectors.
Paul Mangles, global awards manager for the Datacentre Dynamics Awards, said:
“Succeeding in this industry is no mean feat and it’s important to recognise the businesses that are tackling the issues brought on by technology’s rapid evolution. These awards are designed to do just that."
via Jisc news
Journal publishing models are changing rapidly, especially here in the UK. In this podcast we look at the pressing need for institutions to track the true cost of article processing charges (APCs) so they can manage their transition to open access from a position of authority and monitor their costs effectively. Read the accompanying blog post by Lorraine Estelle.
via Jisc news
Last week, we released a report on the ethical and legal challenges of learning analytics. Find out more in this podcast from report author Niall Sclater. Read Niall's blog post about the report.
via Jisc news
Today sees us launch registration for Networkshop43.
Networkshop43 is an annual technical event for those working in UK education and research, which will this year be hosted at the University of Exeter from 31 March – 2 April, 2015.
Chris Lintott, professor of astrophysics and citizen science lead, at the University of Oxford is confirmed to speak on technology-enabled citizen science: scientific research that is conducted, in whole or in part, by amateur or non-professional scientists.
Lintott is involved in a number of popular science projects aimed at bringing astronomy to a wider audience. He is the primary presenter of the BBC series The Sky at Night. Lintott is also a co-author of the book Bang! – The Complete History of the Universe with Patrick Moore and Queen guitarist and astrophysicist Brian May. He is also the principal investigator for citizen science web portal Zooniverse.org which will form the basis for his presentation.
He comments:
“I’m looking forward to talking to all sorts of people at Networkshop about how we can really open up science so that it becomes something everyone does, not just a privileged few.”
Aimed at network managers and technical staff in UK higher and further education, Networkshop43 has become an established and unrivalled event on the academic conference calendar. It showcases developments in UK education IT services and provides an opportunity for IT professionals from across the sectors to share best practice.
Tim Kidd, executive director Jisc technologies, says:
“I see Networkshop43 as a great place to showcase how far along the road we are with our vision to make the UK the most digitally advanced education and research nation in the world. The conference provides a forum for discussion on the latest technologies that will help keep the UK at the forefront of international practice.
This is your opportunity to meet and talk face-to-face with other experts, and to increase your awareness and knowledge of new technologies and innovations. Alongside this, the programme has something to offer both the further and higher education sectors, and will also address key challenges around security, telephony, network technology, trust and indemnity, and wireless technology.”
Networkshop43 also provides attendees with the opportunity to engage with suppliers and commercial companies who will be exhibiting throughout the duration of the event. A number of leading organisations in the learning technologies space have already confirmed as exhibiting, including Dell, Hewlett-Packard, Cisco, BT, Infinity and The Cloud.
Networkshop43 is open for registrations on Thursday 4 December. Early bird tickets are available until 31 January 2015.
via Jisc news
Last week we were in London for the 2014 Times Higher Education Awards, which recognise and celebrate exceptional talent, dedication and innovation across the sector. We sponsored the award for Outstanding ICT Initiative of the Year, won by the Open University's OpenScience Laboratory. We were hugely impressed by all of the shortlisted institutions though, and in this podcast Jisc futurist Martin Hamilton talks us through the projects and initiatives.
via Jisc news
This podcast features interviews with teams from the recent Summer of Student Innovation showcase event as they discuss their projects. It also includes comment from Jisc's chief innovation officer Phil Richards and deputy chief innovation officer Andy McGregor who oversees the competition.
via Jisc news
This podcast features interviews with teams from the recent Summer of Student Innovation showcase event as they discuss their projects. It also includes comment from Jisc's chief innovation officer Phil Richards and deputy chief innovation officer Andy McGregor who oversees the competition.
via Jisc news
Yesterday, we announced we would be offering further development support to two student digital projects.
Students from the University of Southampton and Sussex Downs College who took part in our Summer of Student Innovation will each receive additional expert support and funding to continue developing their concepts over the next 12 months. Both of the projects are designed to improve the experiences of learners, colleges and universities through digital technologies.
The decision was announced during the Summer of Student Innovation showcase at the University of Reading, which featured the 20 winning teams from the 2014 cohort.
Paul Bailey, senior co-design manager at Jisc said:
“We are committed to supporting ideas that have the potential to make a tangible difference to learners and teachers by enhancing their experiences of academic life, such as these do. The two projects we are taking forward demonstrate some of the fresh and innovative thinking coming from students in the UK.
We have been hugely impressed, not only by the initial ideas that were first brought to us, but also as they have evolved to become fully-fledged, workable solutions.”
In the first project the focus is on enhancing qualitative experiences between staff and students. Called Unitu, it is led by Ignacio Willats, who graduated from the University of Southampton this year, and aims to provide a system that can be integrated with any university structure to help them manage the feedback process and close the feedback loop. Staff, course representatives and students can all access a central issues board, where issues can be raised and resolved in a transparent and streamlined way.
Lingoflow, the second project, is designed by brothers Lukas and Kamil Ondrej from Sussex Downs College. Their app is intended to help learners master foreign languages by letting them create collections of vocabulary. It will send the user reminders to review certain items, score their recollection, and encourage repetition of the less well-known ones.
Projects of this nature really do make a difference, as seen with Call For Participants. It was one of the ideas to be put forward through the first run of Summer of Student Innovation in 2013, and has become the world’s largest open platform where researchers can promote their studies and connect with participants for free.
Matt Terrell, chief communications officer and one of the co-founders of Call For Participants, commented:
“Through the backing we’ve received from Jisc we have been able to develop our offer at a much quicker rate, and with the input of mentors with proven expertise in the sector, than would otherwise have been possible. The support has meant we were able to launch an improved website at the end of the summer, and are now free to concentrate on growing uptake of the service among colleges and universities.”
2014 was the second year of the Summer of Student Innovation competition. It is managed by Jisc in conjunction with Research Libraries UK (RLUK), Russell Universities’ Group of IT Directors (RUGIT), the Society of College, National and University Libraries (SCONUL), Universities and Colleges Information Systems Association (UCISA) and the Association for Learning Technology (ALT).
Paul Bailey continued:
“Summer of Student Innovation is a unique opportunity for learners to see a major project through from the ground up. Colleges and universities can also benefit, by getting an internal, needs-led perspective of what students want, and the option to trial new technological developments coming from within their own institution.”
Contact Paul Bailey for more information.
via Jisc news
Yesterday, we announced we would be offering further development support to two student digital projects.
Students from the University of Southampton and Sussex Downs College who took part in our Summer of Student Innovation will each receive additional expert support and funding to continue developing their concepts over the next 12 months. Both of the projects are designed to improve the experiences of learners, colleges and universities through digital technologies.
The decision was announced during the Summer of Student Innovation showcase at the University of Reading, which featured the 20 winning teams from the 2014 cohort.
Paul Bailey, senior co-design manager at Jisc said:
“We are committed to supporting ideas that have the potential to make a tangible difference to learners and teachers by enhancing their experiences of academic life, such as these do. The two projects we are taking forward demonstrate some of the fresh and innovative thinking coming from students in the UK.
We have been hugely impressed, not only by the initial ideas that were first brought to us, but also as they have evolved to become fully-fledged, workable solutions.”
In the first project the focus is on enhancing qualitative experiences between staff and students. Called Unitu, it is led by Ignacio Willats, who graduated from the University of Southampton this year, and aims to provide a system that can be integrated with any university structure to help them manage the feedback process and close the feedback loop. Staff, course representatives and students can all access a central issues board, where issues can be raised and resolved in a transparent and streamlined way.
Lingoflow, the second project, is designed by brothers Lukas and Kamil Ondrej from Sussex Downs College. Their app is intended to help learners master foreign languages by letting them create collections of vocabulary. It will send the user reminders to review certain items, score their recollection, and encourage repetition of the less well-known ones.
Projects of this nature really do make a difference, as seen with Call For Participants. It was one of the ideas to be put forward through the first run of Summer of Student Innovation in 2013, and has become the world’s largest open platform where researchers can promote their studies and connect with participants for free.
Matt Terrell, chief communications officer and one of the co-founders of Call For Participants, commented:
“Through the backing we’ve received from Jisc we have been able to develop our offer at a much quicker rate, and with the input of mentors with proven expertise in the sector, than would otherwise have been possible. The support has meant we were able to launch an improved website at the end of the summer, and are now free to concentrate on growing uptake of the service among colleges and universities.”
2014 was the second year of the Summer of Student Innovation competition. It is managed by Jisc in conjunction with Research Libraries UK (RLUK), Russell Universities’ Group of IT Directors (RUGIT), the Society of College, National and University Libraries (SCONUL), Universities and Colleges Information Systems Association (UCISA) and the Association for Learning Technology (ALT).
Paul Bailey continued:
“Summer of Student Innovation is a unique opportunity for learners to see a major project through from the ground up. Colleges and universities can also benefit, by getting an internal, needs-led perspective of what students want, and the option to trial new technological developments coming from within their own institution.”
Contact Paul Bailey for more information.
via Jisc news
Anne Robertson, geodata projects and services manager at EDINA, discusses the new Digimap for Colleges service and explains the importance of ensuring digital services are made relevant to the curriculum.
via Jisc news
Anne Robertson, geodata projects and services manager at EDINA, discusses the new Digimap for Colleges service and explains the importance of ensuring digital services are made relevant to the curriculum.
via Jisc news
Today sees Jisc launch registration for the Jisc Digital Festival 2015.
Simon Nelson, chief executive of FutureLearn, the social learning platform set up by The Open University as the first UK-based provider of massive open online courses (MOOCs), is confirmed as one of four keynote speakers at the festival, taking place on 9-10 March 2015 at the ICC in Birmingham.
The festival will showcase the very best in UK digital talent. Celebrating the theme of ‘connect more’, the event will bring people together through digital technology across UK education, research, skills and enterprise, to position the UK at the forefront of international practice.
Martyn Harrow Jisc’s chief executive said:
“We aim to transform the traditional conference feel and build on our festival experience. By ‘connecting more’ delegates can take advantage of the personalised spaces to share best practice with their peers, take part in the interactive sessions, hands-on demos, speakers corner and debates, and feel very much part of the festival action.
Our vision is for the UK to become the most digitally advanced education and research nation in the world, and the Jisc Digital Festival will be a great place to showcase how far along that road we already are.
We know that this event is pivotal in facilitating the sort of information sharing, decision-making and shaping of the digital agenda that will help to take FE, HE and skills to new heights. In creating an open atmosphere that promotes intellectual curiosity and sharing of resources, we are providing a unique platform for achieving excellence through digital technologies for the benefit of all.”
A number of leading organisations in the learning technologies space have already confirmed as exhibiting, including software and technology company Digital Science, media streaming and archive solution service, Planet eStream, and Figshare, a cloud repository where users can make all of their research outputs available in a citable, shareable and discoverable manner.
Also at the festival will be the Jisc Fab Lab, which will showcase the latest advancements in digital technologies for education and research through a series of live talks and demonstrations.
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Simon NelsonAll rights reserved
Simon Nelson is the first of four keynote speakers to be announced.
Martyn Harrow continued:
“Simon Nelson epitomises a spirit of digital exploration and innovation that is helping the UK to stand out as a leader in global higher and further education. He is the perfect person to kick-off the line-up for this year’s Digital Festival.”
With a background in digital disruption across a range of sectors, Nelson has won multiple awards for digital innovation and product development, including several Emmys, Webby and BAFTA awards for his work at the BBC, where he was a key figure in the development of the corporation’s online and digital services, including the Radio Player and the BBC iPlayer.
Simon added:
“Free online courses are just one example of how the internet is transforming higher education and its traditional pillars. The notion of connecting people to ideas lies right at the heart of what FutureLearn does, so I’m looking forward to sharing and debating ideas about the future of the sector with this important audience, using MOOCs as the starting point.”
The Jisc Digital Festival is open for registrations on Monday 24 November at www.jisc.ac.uk/digifest. Early bird tickets are available until Monday 5 January 2015.
via Jisc news
Today sees Jisc launch registration for the Jisc Digital Festival 2015.
Simon Nelson, chief executive of FutureLearn, the social learning platform set up by The Open University as the first UK-based provider of massive open online courses (MOOCs), is confirmed as one of four keynote speakers at the festival, taking place on 9-10 March 2015 at the ICC in Birmingham.
The festival will showcase the very best in UK digital talent. Celebrating the theme of ‘connect more’, the event will bring people together through digital technology across UK education, research, skills and enterprise, to position the UK at the forefront of international practice.
Martyn Harrow Jisc’s chief executive said:
“We aim to transform the traditional conference feel and build on our festival experience. By ‘connecting more’ delegates can take advantage of the personalised spaces to share best practice with their peers, take part in the interactive sessions, hands-on demos, speakers corner and debates, and feel very much part of the festival action.
Our vision is for the UK to become the most digitally advanced education and research nation in the world, and the Jisc Digital Festival will be a great place to showcase how far along that road we already are.
We know that this event is pivotal in facilitating the sort of information sharing, decision-making and shaping of the digital agenda that will help to take FE, HE and skills to new heights. In creating an open atmosphere that promotes intellectual curiosity and sharing of resources, we are providing a unique platform for achieving excellence through digital technologies for the benefit of all.”
A number of leading organisations in the learning technologies space have already confirmed as exhibiting, including software and technology company Digital Science, media streaming and archive solution service, Planet eStream, and Figshare, a cloud repository where users can make all of their research outputs available in a citable, shareable and discoverable manner.
Also at the festival will be the Jisc Fab Lab, which will showcase the latest advancements in digital technologies for education and research through a series of live talks and demonstrations.
Creative Commons attribution information
Simon NelsonAll rights reserved
Simon Nelson is the first of four keynote speakers to be announced.
Martyn Harrow continued:
“Simon Nelson epitomises a spirit of digital exploration and innovation that is helping the UK to stand out as a leader in global higher and further education. He is the perfect person to kick-off the line-up for this year’s Digital Festival.”
With a background in digital disruption across a range of sectors, Nelson has won multiple awards for digital innovation and product development, including several Emmys, Webby and BAFTA awards for his work at the BBC, where he was a key figure in the development of the corporation’s online and digital services, including the Radio Player and the BBC iPlayer.
Simon added:
“Free online courses are just one example of how the internet is transforming higher education and its traditional pillars. The notion of connecting people to ideas lies right at the heart of what FutureLearn does, so I’m looking forward to sharing and debating ideas about the future of the sector with this important audience, using MOOCs as the starting point.”
The Jisc Digital Festival is open for registrations on Monday 24 November at www.jisc.ac.uk/digifest. Early bird tickets are available until Monday 5 January 2015.
via Jisc news
Peter Kilcoyne, ILT director at Heart of Worcestershire College discusses winning a prestigious Association of Colleges (AoC) Beacon Award for the 'Effective Use of Technology in FE.'
via Jisc news
Peter Kilcoyne, ILT director at Heart of Worcestershire College discusses winning a prestigious Association of Colleges (AoC) Beacon Award for the 'Effective Use of Technology in FE.'
via Jisc news
Niall Sclater discusses the new report learning analytics: the current state of play in UK higher and further education, which he first shared as a post on the effective learning analytics project blog.
via Jisc news
Niall Sclater discusses the new report learning analytics: the current state of play in UK higher and further education, which he first shared as a post on the effective learning analytics project blog.
via Jisc news
Today Ordnance Survey and Jisc are set to release Digimap for Colleges. The secure, free and easy to use online mapping service supports further education (FE) institutions and staff, and aids students in their studies.
Designed to complement the national curriculum Digimap for Colleges features a range of Ordnance Survey’s current maps. These include OS MasterMap, the most detailed map of Great Britain, as well digital versions of Ordnance Survey’s famous paper maps, the OS Landranger and OS Explorer Maps.
Skills Minister Nick Boles MP said:
“This innovative online tool will bring mapping to life for FE students. Technology is set to transform education over the next decade and I am delighted to see Ordnance Survey and Jisc developing new online tools that will benefit learners of all ages.”
The launch of Digimap for Colleges follows on from the success of Digimap for Schools and Digimap for higher education, and represents a continuation of the national mapping agency’s support for the teaching of geography at all levels. The service - developed by EDINA, a Jisc designated centre for digital expertise and online service delivery based at the University of Edinburgh, will be available through the Jisc Collections catalogue, a central source of online educational resources. A series of ‘how to…’ guide films, helping users make the most of Digimap for Colleges, have been posted on their YouTube channel.
The detailed maps available through Digimap for Colleges offer complete coverage of Great Britain. Students are able to create their own maps showing different detail depending on what they’re studying, including building outlines, streets, roads and natural landscapes such as woodlands and rivers Students can customise their own maps by adding points, lines, text and images, as well as using colour to represent different types of land use and building.
Peter Burnhill, director at EDINA said:
“Digimap for Colleges puts access to Ordnance Survey mapping capabilities firmly into the toolkit for students and their tutors. We expect this to enhance a broad range of subjects making use of ICT, as we know to have happened from uptake of Digimap in universities and schools: ensuring modern skills in business, leisure and tourism, construction and the built environment, as well as in computing, maths and geography.
This is a key part of the offer that Jisc is making in its response to the FELTAG recommendations and in its role as an ICT champion.”
John Carpenter, Ordnance Survey director of strategy, says:
“Digimap for Colleges presents students with a comprehensive set of digital maps to explore and learn from. In the classroom, Digimap goes beyond geography - feedback from teachers and pupils is that the service is relevant to learning and studies across a whole range of subjects. Mapping can help add context to history, provide a backdrop for art, or used to plan suitable transport networks in town planning and business studies.
There is an array of annotation tools that give power to teachers and students to use the maps how they want and to create. We are delighted to be able to contribute to making a saving in the FE sector and to support colleges by making Digimap for Colleges available at no cost to them.”
Creative Commons attribution information
All rights reserved
The Digimap for Colleges service runs on all up-to-date browsers and is available at digimapforcolleges.edina.ac.uk.
via Jisc news
Today Ordnance Survey and Jisc are set to release Digimap for Colleges. The secure, free and easy to use online mapping service supports further education (FE) institutions and staff, and aids students in their studies.
Designed to complement the national curriculum Digimap for Colleges features a range of Ordnance Survey’s current maps. These include OS MasterMap, the most detailed map of Great Britain, as well digital versions of Ordnance Survey’s famous paper maps, the OS Landranger and OS Explorer Maps.
Skills Minister Nick Boles MP said:
“This innovative online tool will bring mapping to life for FE students. Technology is set to transform education over the next decade and I am delighted to see Ordnance Survey and Jisc developing new online tools that will benefit learners of all ages.”
The launch of Digimap for Colleges follows on from the success of Digimap for Schools and Digimap for higher education, and represents a continuation of the national mapping agency’s support for the teaching of geography at all levels. The service - developed by EDINA, a Jisc designated centre for digital expertise and online service delivery based at the University of Edinburgh, will be available through the Jisc Collections catalogue, a central source of online educational resources. A series of ‘how to…’ guide films, helping users make the most of Digimap for Colleges, have been posted on their YouTube channel.
The detailed maps available through Digimap for Colleges offer complete coverage of Great Britain. Students are able to create their own maps showing different detail depending on what they’re studying, including building outlines, streets, roads and natural landscapes such as woodlands and rivers Students can customise their own maps by adding points, lines, text and images, as well as using colour to represent different types of land use and building.
Peter Burnhill, director at EDINA said:
“Digimap for Colleges puts access to Ordnance Survey mapping capabilities firmly into the toolkit for students and their tutors. We expect this to enhance a broad range of subjects making use of ICT, as we know to have happened from uptake of Digimap in universities and schools: ensuring modern skills in business, leisure and tourism, construction and the built environment, as well as in computing, maths and geography.
This is a key part of the offer that Jisc is making in its response to the FELTAG recommendations and in its role as an ICT champion.”
John Carpenter, Ordnance Survey director of strategy, says:
“Digimap for Colleges presents students with a comprehensive set of digital maps to explore and learn from. In the classroom, Digimap goes beyond geography - feedback from teachers and pupils is that the service is relevant to learning and studies across a whole range of subjects. Mapping can help add context to history, provide a backdrop for art, or used to plan suitable transport networks in town planning and business studies.
There is an array of annotation tools that give power to teachers and students to use the maps how they want and to create. We are delighted to be able to contribute to making a saving in the FE sector and to support colleges by making Digimap for Colleges available at no cost to them.”
Creative Commons attribution information
All rights reserved
The Digimap for Colleges service runs on all up-to-date browsers and is available at digimapforcolleges.edina.ac.uk.
via Jisc news
Box today announced it has been appointed to the File Sync and Share framework by Jisc
Following a rigorous pre-screening, Box is now available through a Dynamic Purchasing System (DPS) to higher and further education institutions and researchers in the UK.
Dan Perry, director of product and marketing, Jisc said:
“Research and education organisations across our community are calling for access to sync and share facilities that aid collaboration, while also meeting the sector’s increasingly stringent security requirements. Through the File Sync and Share DPS, institutions have access to a range of flexible options that will help them better share and manage their content.”
David Quantrell, Box senior vice president and general manager of EMEA said:
“Advancements in technology and new ways of working can mean legacy IT solutions are not always suitable for today’s educational institutions, which often need to manage critical documents easily and securely from anywhere and on any device. Our partnership with Jisc removes the barriers to cloud adoption within the education sector by delivering a platform that supports education programmes and strategies.”
Box makes it easy for more than 27 million individuals at 240,000 businesses around the world to share and collaborate across devices, while providing IT departments with unparalleled insight and control. With today’s announcement, Jisc joins a growing number of industries that have agreements with Box, including the UK government, which deployed Box to its G-Cloud portal in 2013.
Box is available to HE, FE and specialist institutions as well as research councils in the UK through the DPS.
Contact service@ja.net for more information.
via Jisc news
Box today announced it has been appointed to the File Sync and Share framework by Jisc
Following a rigorous pre-screening, Box is now available through a Dynamic Purchasing System (DPS) to higher and further education institutions and researchers in the UK.
Dan Perry, director of product and marketing, Jisc said:
“Research and education organisations across our community are calling for access to sync and share facilities that aid collaboration, while also meeting the sector’s increasingly stringent security requirements. Through the File Sync and Share DPS, institutions have access to a range of flexible options that will help them better share and manage their content.”
David Quantrell, Box senior vice president and general manager of EMEA said:
“Advancements in technology and new ways of working can mean legacy IT solutions are not always suitable for today’s educational institutions, which often need to manage critical documents easily and securely from anywhere and on any device. Our partnership with Jisc removes the barriers to cloud adoption within the education sector by delivering a platform that supports education programmes and strategies.”
Box makes it easy for more than 27 million individuals at 240,000 businesses around the world to share and collaborate across devices, while providing IT departments with unparalleled insight and control. With today’s announcement, Jisc joins a growing number of industries that have agreements with Box, including the UK government, which deployed Box to its G-Cloud portal in 2013.
Box is available to HE, FE and specialist institutions as well as research councils in the UK through the DPS.
Contact service@ja.net for more information.
via Jisc news
Staff and students are celebrating today as Heart of Worcestershire College has won a prestigious Association of Colleges (AoC) Beacon Award for the 'Effective Use of Technology in FE'. The award, sponsored by Jisc, was announced at the AoC Annual Conference in Birmingham on Tuesday 18 November.
The college has introduced a complete blended learning model, where some of the teaching is delivered online, across the whole of its curriculum. It has allowed it to create a culture where the use of online learning is expected and normal, and has let the students develop independent and autonomous learning skills.
Through this approach, the college can better monitor students’ work; when it is completed and submitted and then assessed online. It provides personal study and technical support as well as support to teaching staff, allowing them to develop e-learning content through accredited training.
The assessors for the award felt that other further education (FE) colleges would benefit from learning about the approach at the Heart of Worcestershire College.
Pete Scott, director Jisc group customer services said:
“This is the second year that Jisc has sponsored this award, and yet again, we are honoured to recognise the innovation and creativity inherent within the FE and skills sector. All submissions were of the highest standards, and the assessment panel had an incredibly difficult task in shortlisting and selecting our esteemed winner.
“Witnessing first-hand the application of technology in our shortlisted applicants gives me great confidence that our vision of supporting the UK to be the most digitally advanced education and research nation in the world is not only achievable, but in some cases, is already there. The FE and skills sector is truly an incubator for innovation and excellence that we must share.”
Peter Kilcoyne, ILT director, Heart of Worcestershire College, added:
“This award recognises the many ways in which Heart of Worcestershire College leads the sector in the use of digital technologies. We do this to enrich and enhance the experiences of our students on their learning journeys across all curriculum areas.
“The information and learning technology team have been presented with this award for the work they have done in supporting our teaching colleagues in embedding online learning into the curriculum. The award also recognises their efforts in supporting other learning providers across the country in developing online learning opportunities, and the work that’s been done in partnership with computer aid international to support online learning in a number of African universities.”
Chair of the AoC Beacon Awards, Dame Pat Bacon, said:
“Heart of Worcestershire College represents one of fourteen outstanding initiatives which have been granted a prestigious AoC Beacon Award this year.
“Each year, the calibre of the winning applications increases and I am always impressed by the innovative and creative ways in which colleges continue to help students reach their potential.
“As the sector as a whole continues to support the economic recovery of this country, these Beacon Award winners are helping to shine a spotlight on the outstanding means by which colleges are embracing new technologies and partnerships to achieve this. These colleges are showing the way for others to emulate their excellent work.”
Roger Marriott, AoC Beacon Awards chief assessor, said:
“I have the privilege of reading all shortlisted applications and assessors’ reports for these awards and there are some truly inspirational initiatives which are enabling colleges to better support students, businesses and their communities.
“The quality of the shortlisted applications has been outstanding and all are to be congratulated. It was tough deciding the winners for the awards and Heart of Worcestershire College can be rightly proud of its achievement.”
Heart of Worcestershire College will host a local celebration event in the New Year and will be presented with its award by Nick Boles MP, minister of state for skills and equalities at a national presentation ceremony due to be held at Westminster on 4 February 2015.
via Jisc news
Staff and students are celebrating today as Heart of Worcestershire College has won a prestigious Association of Colleges (AoC) Beacon Award for the 'Effective Use of Technology in FE'. The award, sponsored by Jisc, was announced at the AoC Annual Conference in Birmingham on Tuesday 18 November.
The college has introduced a complete blended learning model, where some of the teaching is delivered online, across the whole of its curriculum. It has allowed it to create a culture where the use of online learning is expected and normal, and has let the students develop independent and autonomous learning skills.
Through this approach, the college can better monitor students’ work; when it is completed and submitted and then assessed online. It provides personal study and technical support as well as support to teaching staff, allowing them to develop e-learning content through accredited training.
The assessors for the award felt that other further education (FE) colleges would benefit from learning about the approach at the Heart of Worcestershire College.
Pete Scott, director Jisc group customer services said:
“This is the second year that Jisc has sponsored this award, and yet again, we are honoured to recognise the innovation and creativity inherent within the FE and skills sector. All submissions were of the highest standards, and the assessment panel had an incredibly difficult task in shortlisting and selecting our esteemed winner.
“Witnessing first-hand the application of technology in our shortlisted applicants gives me great confidence that our vision of supporting the UK to be the most digitally advanced education and research nation in the world is not only achievable, but in some cases, is already there. The FE and skills sector is truly an incubator for innovation and excellence that we must share.”
Peter Kilcoyne, ILT director, Heart of Worcestershire College, added:
“This award recognises the many ways in which Heart of Worcestershire College leads the sector in the use of digital technologies. We do this to enrich and enhance the experiences of our students on their learning journeys across all curriculum areas.
“The information and learning technology team have been presented with this award for the work they have done in supporting our teaching colleagues in embedding online learning into the curriculum. The award also recognises their efforts in supporting other learning providers across the country in developing online learning opportunities, and the work that’s been done in partnership with computer aid international to support online learning in a number of African universities.”
Chair of the AoC Beacon Awards, Dame Pat Bacon, said:
“Heart of Worcestershire College represents one of fourteen outstanding initiatives which have been granted a prestigious AoC Beacon Award this year.
“Each year, the calibre of the winning applications increases and I am always impressed by the innovative and creative ways in which colleges continue to help students reach their potential.
“As the sector as a whole continues to support the economic recovery of this country, these Beacon Award winners are helping to shine a spotlight on the outstanding means by which colleges are embracing new technologies and partnerships to achieve this. These colleges are showing the way for others to emulate their excellent work.”
Roger Marriott, AoC Beacon Awards chief assessor, said:
“I have the privilege of reading all shortlisted applications and assessors’ reports for these awards and there are some truly inspirational initiatives which are enabling colleges to better support students, businesses and their communities.
“The quality of the shortlisted applications has been outstanding and all are to be congratulated. It was tough deciding the winners for the awards and Heart of Worcestershire College can be rightly proud of its achievement.”
Heart of Worcestershire College will host a local celebration event in the New Year and will be presented with its award by Nick Boles MP, minister of state for skills and equalities at a national presentation ceremony due to be held at Westminster on 4 February 2015.
via Jisc news