JISC

Winner of JISC award is commended for innovation, excellence and 'imagination'

An initiative which has forged a ‘partnership’ between students and staff, overcome challenges of physical remoteness, a growing number of teaching placements and a high number of part-time teachers won the JISC-sponsored ‘Outstanding ICT Initiative of the Year’ award at a prestigious awards ceremony in central London last night. 

The e-course team at the School of Dentistry, University of Birmingham, was presented with the award - one of 20 Times Higher Awards presented at the Grosvenor House Hotel in Mayfair - for its development of an e-course which allows users - with no formal training and no need of technical support - to create and contribute podcasts and interactive learning materials.

The e-course developed by the team is wiki-based (so that anyone can create a new page, and set varying editing permissions), with a full range of social networking features, unrestricted file storage and sharing, podcasts, videos, wish lists, and anonymous feedback options, amongst others. The initiative has also seen the provision of interactive captioned videos of procedures to help students prepare for unexpected clinical situations at short notice, as well as an ‘intelligent’ vi'The e-course team at Birmingham's School of Dentistry has done a great deal of excellent and innovative work, and their innovations deserve to be recognised in this way.'rtual microscope developed to run on any platform.

The e-course team at the University of Birmingham accepted the award from Dr Malcolm Read, JISC Executive Secretary in front of over 1,200 guests. Deborah White, Director of Learning & Teaching and Head of Dental Public Health at Birmingham, said: ‘Not only has the initiative helped students to value independent study and to carry out preparatory work on their own, but it also helps them to reflect on their clinical experiences so that they can prepare better for further clinical experience.’

Giles Perryer, E-course developer and lecturer in Clinical Practice at the University of Birmingham, emphasised the wider impact of the initiative, saying: ‘The e-course has had a huge impact on learning and teaching within the School of Dentistry and is generating great interest within the wider community at the University of Birmingham. The e-course is primarily focused on the needs and desires of our students, and every aspect of its design reflects this… We have shown that the overall approach of the e-course in terms of releasing control from web-masters and teachers has had a positive institutional impact… [and] enables staff and students in the wider academic community to fully engage in a learning partnership.’

Professor David Baker, Principal of the College of St Mark and St John and one of the judges, said: ‘The e-course team won because of their imagination and innovation. It seemed clear to me that the people involved really had moved us forward in terms of the application of ICT to learning and teaching. The winners provide an exemplar for higher education, which we believe can be rolled out across a wide range of subjects. This is just what the judges wanted to see. It was a difficult decision: the standard and quality of all the entries made the final selection a challenge.'

Fellow judge Norman Wiseman, Head of Outreach and Services at JISC, said: 'The e-course team at Birmingham's School of Dentistry has done a great deal of excellent and innovative work, and their innovations deserve to be recognised in this way.'

The other shortlisted entries were:

For further information, please go to: THES awards