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Topic: Open Technologies
Should universities care about APIs?
So why should universities devote effort to caring about application programming interfaces (APIs)? I work at Jisc as a programme manager and have recently been involved in work that could provide some answers as to the benefits of APIs.
Supporting colleges to get the most from their technology
The September 2012 AoC Learning Technology Survey Report carries interesting messages for all of us working within further education and in particular for me and the team at JISC working to support the sector. Although we will be considering the report in … Read more
No such thing as a free MOOC
In his recent JISC blog, David Kernohan asks: ‘Why bother paying inflated fees to attend university? …What if you could get it all for free, online?’ Of course, it is tongue in cheek, because as my title above suggests, you … Read more
“Knowledge is the currency of the new economy” where research is “intelligently open”
A flow of policy reports focusing on research and access to the outputs of research appeared over the past month. Today the European Commission published two communications that respond to the way the “internet has fundamentally changed the world of … Read more
How to feed, nourish and sustain your digital resources
From the late Nineties, European and UK funding agencies across sectors, from education to cultural heritage, have invested significant resources in the creation of digital content in the not-for-profit sector. The grants have facilitated major digitisation and encouraged innovative work … Read more
Where the open things are
The issue of making Open Access books discoverable was discussed in nearly all of our focus groups that we held earlier this year as part of the OAPEN-UK project. It’s not just about putting the PDF onto a platform and … Read more
Open Practice: University College Falmouth see the big picture
The temptation within an innovative organisation like JISC is to concentrate on talking about what is new. But a chance conversation on twitter with Alex Di Savoia at University College Falmouth (UCF), holder of one of our early JISC/Higher Education … Read more
Blackboard’s new open source strategy: how virtual learning environments became commodities
Unthinkable a couple of years ago, and it still feels a bit April 1st: Blackboard has taken over two other virtual learning environment organisations: the Moodlerooms and NetSpot Moodle support companies in the US and Australia. Arguably as important is … Read more
Why “open education” matters
The first thing that has struck me about Open Education Week is how genuinely global it is. Scroll through the list of events and webinars and you’ll spot Brazil, Mexico, China, Korea, Africa, Spain, Europe. The big brand US universities … Read more
Open Education: becoming mainstream?
“We live in a world where there is more and more information, and less and less meaning.” Writing in Simulacra and Simulation in 1981, Jean Baudrillard could scarcely have predicted the way in which the growth of a global network … Read more
How important are open ebook standards to universities?
Ebook standards may lack the glamour that the technology attracts, but the arrival of ePub3 has the potential to transform how the academy creates and delivers its content to students and researchers. Just weeks into the New Year and already … Read more
Apple’s new iBooks: a force for good?
JISC has long been associated with licensing and exploring ebooks for education, and research by JISC Collections has shown increasing numbers of students enthusiastic about such resources as publishers and librarians seek to find suitable business models in a changing … Read more
The digital humanities surrounds you
Stanley Fish recently published a blog post in the NY Times with the grandiose title, The Digital Humanities and the Transcending of Mortality. The article is engaging; it seems to sharpen the knife for the Digital Humanities but then decides … Read more
What is activity data and why is it useful?
Activity data is big business. We see it in the recommendations we get every time we look at something on Amazon, we see its importance every time we get asked if we have a club/nectar/loyalty card when we buy something … Read more
OER in the field: institutions solving problems openly
Is your institution ‘open’? Open education resources are becoming an essential component of academic practice. With the uncertainties of a new funding model to deal with, it is becoming harder than ever to convince institutional managers to support nice-to-have projects. … Read more
UUK efficiency and modernisation – JISC’s existing work
On Friday I shared with you my thoughts on the recent UUK report and why it’s important for universities to engage with it at a strategic level. In the spirit of sharing work that JISC has undertaken or has underway … Read more
UUK efficiency and modernisation – sharing practice and solutions
Earlier this month Universities UK published its report on ‘Efficiency and Effectiveness in Higher Education’. Today and Monday I’ll be sharing my own views of the report – today, an overview of its strategic direction, and on Monday, a more detailed look at … Read more
Opening up research
As chair of the UK Open Access Implementation Group, I and the group welcome the setting up of an independent working group to examine how UK-funded research findings can be made more accessible. The Group, whose members include Universities UK … Read more
Open access and the transparency of research
It has been a busy week for research. The UK Research Councils (RCUK) and HEFCE announced plans to work together on open access. JISC’s Executive Secretary, Dr Malcolm Read, gave oral evidence to the House of Commons Science and Technology … Read more
JISC Mobile is live: what do you think?
We have today launched JISC Mobile, a cut-down version of the JISC website, optimised for mobile use. The site contains recent content that users are likely to want to access whilst on the move, such as news items or podcasts. … Read more
Engage students through blogging
Blogging is a well-established vehicle for personal reflection and commentary and can play an effective part in the delivery of formal curricula. But blogs and social networking sites also have the potential to engage students and improve the quality of … Read more
Why we can’t afford not to invest in technology
At JISC’s recent annual conference, both Professor Eric Thomas (Vice Chancellor of Bristol University) and I stressed that higher education cannot afford to slow down in its adoption of information and communications technology (ICT). Quite the contrary: the challenging financial … Read more
Developers value to higher education
There is a great William Gibson quote, ‘The future is already here, it’s just not very evenly distributed.’ I believe that working with developers to share experiences, ideas and expertise will help distribute those slices of the future that are … Read more
Research in a climate of cuts
At a time of unprecedented budget cuts, what role do digital technologies play in securing a future for research? That was the key question posed by JISC’s ‘Future of research?’ held at the Congress Centre in London last month. The headline … Read more
