Rocking augmented reality
Using mobile technology is becoming second nature to people of all ages. The widespread adoption of mobile devices is opening up rich opportunities to develop mobile apps that can enhance teaching and learning experiences, not just in colleges and universities, but also in schools and among the wider public. In particular, the potential of augmented reality (AR) seems pretty unlimited... >>
Putting people at the heart of the digital revolution
In tertiary education, Welsh universities are uploading lectures and research to the internet so that they can be accessed by teachers and students in poorer nations, and the new FutureLearn project will see 20 or more of the UK’s universities entering the global market in massive open online courses ( MOOCs ). In secondary schools, there are predictions that all... >>
Exploring the hidden world of bats through your smartphone
Crowdsourcing has revolutionised many areas of scientific research, providing data across previously unobtainable temporal and geographic scales. It is hoped that crowdsourcing will be able to help gather information on a particularly poorly studied group of animals that few of us ever see or hear – bats. crowdsourcing will help gather information on a particularly poorly studied group of animals... >>
Gateway to better research information
These are seriously important questions. It’s vital that researchers, teachers and learners have unfettered access to the best new thinking, and it’s critically important that funders and higher education institutions have accurate information as competition for research funding becomes ever stronger. And don’t forget additional external pressures such as the requirements of Freedom of Information (FOI) legislation. University data collections... >>
Using open citation data to benefit research
Until recently, if you mentioned citations many people would immediately think about lists of names and publications at the end of a document and short snippets embedded within the text indicating where the connection applied. But a shift has taken place and citations have now gone far beyond being a simple link between two pieces of paper. Processes have been... >>
How to use Near Field Communication to engage your foreign students
QR codes are a type of two-dimensional barcode that can be read using smartphones that link directly to text, emails, websites or phone numbers. The downside is that you need to download special software before you can use them, fiddle around on your phone to get to the right app and the results are all too frequently underwhelming. QR codes... >>
So what are Open Badges?
Remember achieving that 50m swimming badge before sprinting home to ask your mum to sew it on your soaking trunks? Or, gaining that 'First Aid' badge at Girl Guides and feeling a sense of immense pride. In more recent times, maybe you unlocked an achievement on a popular game or gained a badge for winning 10 online games of pool... >>
Seven rules of successful research data management in universities
First published in the Guardian Higher Education Network blog. The availability of research data – the digital data or analogue sources that underpin research findings – is high on the agenda of higher education policy makers, funders and researchers committed to open practice. Sound research rests on the ability to evidence, verify and reproduce results. If this sounds obvious, the... >>
Is open access the future for monographs?
Authors, publishers and funders from all over the world attended – more than 250 on each day, which is testament to the topicality and importance of the subject matter. Our speakers explored various aspects of the debate surrounding open access (OA) and the new approaches that researchers, funding bodies, librarians and publishers may need to adopt if they decide to... >>
Collaborating to save monographs… we need you!
It’s no longer sustainable , facing a number of grave challenges to its survival and we need your help to find a solution. Understanding these challenges with you is a key part of a new project looking to explore the potential of a National Monographs Strategy : a collaborative approach to the collection, preservation, supply and digitisation of scholarly monographs... >>
Costing IT services
This is a question that many are asking and for which, as yet, there are no clear answers or even proven ways of finding out. As part of the team at Jisc looking at this problem, we have some approaches and are developing tools that can help you both benchmark your costs against others and drill down into the real... >>
The Summer of Student Innovation winners announced
The competition was devised by Jisc, RLUK, RUGIT, SCONUL and UCISA as part of a new co-design approach to innovation within UK education. Improving the student experience is widely recognised as one of the most important strategic drivers for universities and colleges. We strongly believe that students should have a prime role in developing novel ways to improve their learning... >>
Developing digital literacy with local employers
This change in behaviour is in part fuelled by the economy and the need to cut down on expensive travel to conferences and job interviews. It means that technical skills are becoming more and more important for the workplace and are now seen as a key employability skill for young people. This trend has even led to the rise of... >>
A new dawn, a new day, a new site
New design The first thing you’ll notice is the visual design, carrying the new Jisc brand and logo. We have a lovely colour palette and elegant font to play with, which has helped us to create spacious, flexible canvases for our content. We put a lot of emphasis on typography. You told us that it was hard to read the... >>
How will Jisc help me use data in the future?
Using data in different ways is critical to education and research, but it also has a use in informing important organisational and business decisions. It’s fair to say that data is fast becoming ‘king’ in the digital environment, from educational analytics to open government data , to linked data , to data produced through research that is then becoming a... >>
DIY augmented reality apps
Many learning providers focus on adapting existing learning content for these smart devices. Although, we are seeing pockets of really innovative and exemplar augmented reality (AR) based learning solutions that are not only improving students’ experience but are also proving to be a medium through which the learning providers are communicating more interactively with their students. But, I believe we... >>
The year MOOCs got real
Despite this, many core issues around pedagogy and business models are yet to be resolved. And it is the gaps in these areas that are most usefully highlighted by today’s report from Universities UK . Positioning the debate within a wider climate of the rush to get online across a number of industries, it notes that xMOOC platforms are exploring... >>
No need for angst over analytics
The Wikipedia definition is a bit dry – ‘the discovery and communication of meaningful patterns in data’ – but at its most practical, analytics offers a means for universities and colleges to examine the reams of routinely collected data in new ways, to gain insights that can help to improve student and teacher experience, and bring about greater operational efficiencies... >>
Identifying resources for students, by students
You may have noticed that search engines don’t always place the most useful stuff at the top. Actually, the most useful resources are often those that have been shared by the students themselves, which they normally just post on Facebook or send their fellow coursemates a link. At the School of Engineering in the University of Liverpool , we were... >>
A customer-focused Jisc redesigns the future
This is in response to our Wilson Review which stated that there should be a set of focused Jisc projects that create clear outcomes for our customers, the learning and skills sector, colleges and universities. We believe that through co-design we will achieve this and this programme - which includes five partners, Research Libraries UK, the RUGIT (the Russell Group... >>
Top tips for legal compliance in using image sharing websites
Most of us are already familiar with websites like Facebook and Flickr but Pinterest is a fairly new kid on the block which is becoming increasingly popular for sharing images online. In education, image sharing websites like Pinterest can be used by staff and students to post and share images as an open educational resource and a tool for teaching... >>
Climate change – pulling the figures out of murky waters
At the start of March the Environment Agency warned that Britain needs to become more resilient to drought and flooding, as extremes of weather may be on the increase. That didn’t come as a surprise to me, as someone who has spent the last eight months in flood-prone Yorkshire, working on a project to help climate scientists unearth reliable information... >>
How digitised 'special' collections are boosting experiences of teaching and learning
The recent media frenzy that surrounded the launch of the Jisc-funded Bomb Sight website, which saw visitor numbers soar to about 200k in just one day, is testimony to the wide-spread public interest in the type of content that is, in fact, often hard for people to access, if not impossible. Until now, the only way for me to find... >>
Feline the effects of OERs
As very small children we are taught that it’s good to share and as adults, academics get lots of recognition when they do share their teaching resources openly. Initiatives like the HEFCE -funded UKOER programme, Open Education Week and OER13 all remind us of the positive outcomes that sharing can bring, and not to dwell too much on our own... >>
MOOCs and Open Courses – what's the difference?
As a part of the evaluation and synthesis conducted around the UKOER programmes open education consultant Lou McGill has diligently teased apart the differing terms and concepts around open education. Her classifications around 'open courses' are a very helpful way to make sense of this ever-changing field. (You can see Lou McGill speak about the wider findings and implications of... >>
5 top tips to enhance your students' experience
Word of mouth plays a big part in the marketing of any product and education is no different. If students don’t have a positive and enjoyable experience, which they believe meets their needs and offers value for money, a college or university is likely to notice a fall in applicants and reputation. I’m Head of Learning and Research Technologies, at... >>
Ever wondered how much Freedom of Information costs the sector?
Discussions about the costs associated with responding to the Freedom of Information ( FOI ) Act tend to generate strong emotions. For some, the transparency and accountability FOI brings is worth nearly any price; whereas others view every pound spent as a pound taken away from an institution’s core mission. Part of the problem is often the scarcity of any... >>
We are watching you
The Web is a place where someone is always watching what you do. I understand that... but there again, the Web is such a giant metropolis, how and why would anyone notice what one individual like me is looking at and which links I'm clicking on? Then up pops Tom Barnett, the MD of a technology company that specialises in... >>
Technology in education – new battle lines
With recent news of a school in Bolton ditching pens and paper for iPads , is the e-learning ‘battle’ being won? Peter Shukie , programme leader of education studies at University Centre, Blackburn College, argues that, ‘whatever is being done with technology new battle lines should be drawn in our approach. It ain't what you use - it’s the way... >>
Top trumps assessment and feedback can boost employability
Learners consistently give their experience of assessment and feedback lower scores than other areas of their learning experience. I think that technology can actually improve the assessment process for learners and the staff that teach them. Of course, as ever, it’s not just about new technology, but considering how this technology can help give your teaching staff an opportunity to... >>
Top 5 tips for improving your e-safety
Advantages offered by the internet and current technologies are widely recognised and actively adopted in education. Students, for example, will often choose and be expected to use their own devices to share ideas, problem solve and carry out research. Despite the opportunities on offer, risks such as internet safety must be managed appropriately. Colleges and universities are legally obliged to... >>
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. Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) are nothing new. In fact, Google web trends show searches for the term API have been on... >>
Manage your Freedom of Information requests
The amount of requests received by universities and colleges under the Freedom of Information ( FOI ) Act, Data Protection Act and Environmental Information Regulations continues to increase year on year. And so, as a consequence, do the costs and time associated with responding to these requests. I know that many larger universities and colleges, and those who have found... >>
Towards the 'Research Education Space' (RES)
As 2013 dawns, and with predictions from Cisco that by 2014, video will exceed 91% of global consumer traffic on the internet, it seems timely that a new Research Education Space from us at Jisc , the BBC and with our colleagues at the British Universities Film and Video Council ( BUFVC ) is also starting to form. There is... >>
Ten years of digital preservation recognised
On 3 December 2012 at the prestigious annual awards ceremony, the Digital Preservation Coalition (DPC) recognised initiatives from researchers around the world that have made an outstanding contribution to safeguarding digital resources for the future. The DPC is dedicated to developing the skills, knowledge and solutions to preserve and ensure access to digital information. 2012 marks the 10th anniversary of... >>
Bring Your Own Device (BYOD)
Many of us are aware of the potential benefits mobile learning can offer. It can allow learners to communicate with tutors and peers, as well as providing access to learning resources whenever needed. However, utilising technology to offer such a flexible environment can provide a number of challenges that need to be met. The AoC Annual Conference is taking place... >>
Match-make your students with local employers
With a very competitive business market and unemployability at high levels for young people, I believe it is important that we try to maximise educational opportunities and match learners' skills with business needs as best as possible. We need to ensure learners have the best possible chance of securing a job in the current marketplace and to do this I... >>
Who's afraid of the big bad Wolf? - Advice on curriculum planning for further education management
I was working late in my office the other night, at Chesterfield College when there was a knock on the door. Without waiting for an answer in strolled a furry looking chap who put the kettle on and settled himself down at my conference table. “Who are you?” I asked puzzled. “I’m curriculum,” he said with a toothy smile. “No... >>
Is embedding digital literacy in your curriculum working for you?
I believe that developing digital literacies within your organization is key to providing a dynamic and engaging experience for every learner, but we all know that co-ordinating this across the whole college can sometimes be a challenge, so what’s the answer? Part of my role at Jisc’s Regional Support Centre in Yorkshire & Humber has been to work in partnership... >>
How e-portfolios helped us to improve our college's digital literacy
I am the learning zone and e-learning manager at Deeside College. I work with an extremely dedicated group of people with a passion for taking the student forward and developing real world skills. The students too are a wonderful group, with varying needs and abilities – they have a real sense of fun and enjoyment whilst learning and many are... >>
Harnessing new technologies to boost engagement for library instruction
Times have changed beyond recognition for college librarians: we are no longer thought of as softly-spoken, book stamping people with a bun and a cardigan, and our job titles have changed too: research/information specialists, learning resources tutors, e-librarians and more. We can confidently say that we know a lot about Web 2.0 and new technologies and how good it is... >>
Top 10 tips on how to make your open access research visible online
Here are a number of tips which I feel can help researchers make use of social media and related online activities to maximise the visibility of their research papers. These are based on my personal experiences and I’ve learnt a lot through trying to make my own papers more visible: 1. Be pro-active: For example, for the delivery of a... >>
Open Futures in Open Access
As Heather Morrison describes in her blog post , there is plenty to celebrate in the continuing growth of open access. Here at Jisc we have been supporting emerging open access practices for over a decade. We’re busy building services and communities to support universities to respond to the changing landscape of education and research on a global, networked scale... >>
UK contributes to European Open Access progression
A workshop, held in Barcelona, demonstrated the level of interest in the issues of open access and preservation across Europe. Representatives from the UK, Germany, Estonia, Poland, Spain, Greece, Ireland, and many more gathered. The aim of the workshop was to collaborate with our counterparts in Europe to achieve the vision and recommendations identified in the European Commission Communication on... >>
Exploring open access to save monographs, the question is – how?
You've just spent years researching and then writing your monograph. This is the book that will kick start your career – your proposal was accepted by your top publisher - you got great comments back from the peer reviewers - you've negotiated a great front cover and the blurb is short and snappy. You can't wait to have the book... >>
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 detail later this month so we can ensure we meet the changing needs of further education I thought... >>
How has technology helped me during my first year of Uni?
The day I packed my bags and left for University felt like the biggest and most daunting step of my life. I now know that this is from the frightening realisation that occurs in that first night - I am alone - complete independence means being away from the comforts of home and security of parents. Very quickly students have... >>
Wikipedia in universities and colleges?
Here at Jisc we are lucky enough to have a view across the education sectors in teaching, learning and research. I’m delighted to be at the EduWiki Conference this week, which is run by the Wikimedia UK Foundation and brings together educators to discuss how they use Wikipedia in their teaching and Wikipedians who create and edit the content. I... >>
Two universities share experience of curriculum redesign
Savvy students will choose to attend universities and colleges that offer them an excellent student experience. As learners become more discerning about their choice of course they will make use of services such as Unistats to compare courses and the learning experiences of previous students. From the 24 September 2012 when Unistats launch their new website these statistics will also... >>
Jisc and Research Councils UK work to reduce reporting burden on universities
As UK universities face increasing demands to share information with other sector bodies, it is more important than ever that their research reporting systems talk to one another, to ensure their data is accessible and can be collected and processed without duplication. During the academic year 2012-13, Jisc and RCUK will be working to ensure that systems will interoperate to... >>
No such thing as a free MOOC
And that brings me to our recent decision in the University of Edinburgh to join our colleagues in North America and offer our own MOOCs - or massive open online courses - through the Coursera consortium. It has been a very busy few weeks. After taking the in principle decision, there has been a tsunami of sorting the legals (you... >>
“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 science and research”. One on Access and preservation to scientific information reflects the outcome of a lengthy evidence process on... >>
Behind the headlines of the new Jisc Techdis tools – a personal view
It isn’t often that when I am delivering a plenary session at a conference that the audience is moved to tears, but that is exactly what happened at ND2012 . Let me explain what happened.... It was the final plenary on 30 May in Old Billingsgate. I was on stage excitedly introducing the video of John Hayes MP, Minister of... >>
Developing digitial literacies for working in a digital world
We heard this week that too many young people lack the social skills needed to get their first job. The report by the Work Foundation (PDF) doesn’t explicitly mention digital literacy, but perhaps it should. With an estimated 90% of UK jobs requiring some level of IT competency, the notion of digital literacy - those capabilities that equip an individual... >>
Where there's MOOC, there's brass?
Why bother paying inflated fees to attend university? Why pay to spend three years living on a campus, attending seminars and tutorials, running up debts? What if you could get it all for free, online? This is the compelling pitch offered to millions of prospective students from a bewildering array of start-ups and initiatives. Building on the open educational resource... >>
Jisc and crowdfunding
What links an e-paper watch , a statue of RoboCop and an open alternative to Facebook ? The answer is that all of these ideas have been funded via the crowdfunding site Kickstarter . Crowdfunding is an exciting new approach where individuals can choose to dedicate some of their own money to an idea that piques their interest. Here at... >>
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 that paved the way for forms of scholarship and communities possible only in an online environment. In the words of... >>
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 hoping that readers will find it, it’s about getting metadata out into the web, search and library systems where... >>
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 Academy Open Educational Resources phase one projects, brought home to me just how much added value can be traced back... >>
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 that they have also taken on Sakai and IMS luminary Charles Severance to head up Sakai development within Blackboard’s... >>
Text mining: removing the red flag
"It's a complete no-brainer," said Sir Mark Walport. The director of the Wellcome Trust was responding to Jisc's Digital Infrastructure Directions report into the value and benefits of text and data mining, which recommends that the UK should create a copyright exception for text and data mining for non-commercial research. "It is critical that we enable researchers to maximise the... >>
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 might get more press coverage but they are certainly not the only innovators or the only approach. Look to OERu... >>
Open Education: becoming mainstream?
Writing in Simulacra and Simulation in 1981, Jean Baudrillard could scarcely have predicted the way in which the growth of a global network of computer systems would accelerate and manage the growth of information and meaning. The “information revolution” has led to the co-creation of a massive library of human knowledge made accessible to everyone, and the tools needed to... >>
St David's Day: Researching Wales or Welsh history?/ Dydd Gŵyl Dewi: Ymchwilio i Gymru neu hanes Cymru?
One of the most enduring miracles attributed to St David is that while he was preaching, he caused the ground to rise under him so that his audience could see and hear him, according to the Museum of Wales . There is in Wales a strong oral tradition, rich artistic and literary threads, historic and modern folk music, and ongoing... >>
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 there is a new ebooks revelation that colleges and universities need to digest. January saw the launch of Apple’s new... >>
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 environment. So it didn’t come as much of a surprise to me to hear that now Apple’s released their own... >>
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 not to stick it in (although that might be to follow). What strikes me about the post is that... >>
Are you leading the way?
Is your institution adapting and responding to the fast changing marketplace as quickly as it might? Changing demographics, government policies and shifts in economic pressure are all taking their toll on education organisations and now, as the UK seeks to strengthen its world-class reputation in teaching, learning and research, leaders in our universities and colleges need to ensure they maintain... >>
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 and we see it in the fascinating story of the Netflix million dollar prize to improve film recommendations for their... >>
Remembrance Day: an opportunity to revisit our cultural heritage around WW1
To mark this event in international history is therefore a key priority for custodians of heritage and educators alike. We’ve already made considerable efforts to preserve online the memories and writings of those active during the First World War. The popular Great War Poetry Archive was funded by Jisc to digitise precious documents relating to the poetry of the Great... >>
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. Everything needs to be justified, both on a balance sheet and within a wider battle for hearts and minds. But... >>
What are the rewards for reusing other people's resources?
Suddenly it seems as if everybody is waking up to the potential of open educational resources. People have been sharing digital teaching materials for years, but now creative commons licensing, increased familiarity with the web and increased attention from policy makers have created a surge of activity. The question was recently posed [don't more academics use open educational resources] on... >>
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 that go some way to addressing the recommendations, today I’ll give some pointers to some of the relevant Jisc activity... >>
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 some of the recommendations and how Jisc can help institutions respond. I think the report... >>
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 and the UK Research Councils , sees this as an excellent opportunity to pursue the policy work recommended earlier... >>
Research data – why now?
This is very good time to talk about effective research data management. It has recently hit the headlines and now that a tweet can be considered a valid freedom of information request, the issue will become even more pressing for researchers and the organisations for which they work. Universities are already thinking about their submissions for the research excellence framework,... >>
Preparing for the future: a new guide on emerging practice in a digital age
The environment of further and higher education is changing in response to economic pressures, government policies and a cultural shift marked by an increasing emphasis on student satisfaction and concerns about the impact of rising student fees. In addition, the rapid growth in personal ownership of new and more powerful technologies such as mobile phones and tablet PCs, along with... >>
Lend me your ears dear university web managers!
Jisc is considering future opportunities for innovation funding in collaboration with university web departments who manage the .ac.uk pages of their website, and we'd like to make sure that what we are proposing would be of value to the sector and is interesting enough for several of you to consider bidding. Please make your opinion known using the #lncneu hashtag... >>
App-ortunity Knocks: Mobile and the future of the library
How do universities and their libraries respond to an increasingly mobile world? At what point does mobile find itself at the heart of what a university does? Are we at a tipping point with those that fail to address students’ mobile expectations experiencing falling numbers? Prompted by a recent Jisc mobile infrastructure for libraries funding call, I wanted to outline... >>
UK repositories: working together
We now have approximately 198 repositories in the UK and Jisc programmes have played a major part in the set up and development of this infrastructure. Drivers for this growth vary from open access to research, to better information management or easy access to digital collections for teachers, learners and researchers. There now are a range of projects that have... >>
Reviewing peer review
Last month I was asked to submit evidence to the UK parliament’s science and technology committee for their report about peer review. Though most researchers agree with the principles of peer review, many feel there is room to improve how that process is implemented. Jisc is already looking into tweaks to the current system, such as open peer review, including... >>
Why watching TV can be good for you
One hundred years ago this year the very first explosive device was dropped from the air in Libya, of all places, and the age of “war from the air” was inaugurated. Somewhere in Italy’s state archives in Rome are the photographic and audiovisual records of that war. But how easily accessible are these documents to researchers and learners? It is... >>
Looking to transform your curriculum?
It is a challenging time to be educating the next generation of learners. As fees increase, so do the expectations of learners who need top-quality courses with a broad appeal that equip them effectively for future employment. Keeping the curriculum responsive to these changing demands is essential to any institution’s marketing and learning and teaching strategies. Planning and designing the... >>
Imagine Google without a search box
If you are looking for audiovisual content it is hard to know where to start. Google can search vast amounts but there is a whole section on the web that is only available to education, and Google by itself is not enough for scholarly use. When we started creating a search environment to look at multiple databases in one we... >>
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 Committee Inquiry into peer review, alongside Mark Patterson from the Public Library of Science, (a leading open access publisher) and... >>
The Impact Factor
“We are historians, we’ve never studied people who answer back”. This is how a team member from the Old Bailey Online, a successful resource which provides access to nearly 200,000 trials of London’s central court 1674-1913, summed up the challenge they faced when trying to measure the impact of their digital resource on research, teaching and learning. This statement is... >>
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. It doesn't contain all the content on the Jisc website and links are provided on every page back to... >>
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 their writing and communication skills. We are seeing good practice emerging where tutors are guiding students on how they can... >>
And the answer is.....
I have come to the conclusion that the answer to several questions is: the Open Planets Foundation (OPF). That's a good strong statement, but what are the questions? Before you read on, let's just establish that you are interested in long term access to, and use of, digital information, otherwise known as Digital Preservation, because let's face it, this isn’t... >>
The value of local developers
The higher and further education sectors in the UK are fortunate to employ talented and dedicated software developers. Without them, many kinds of technical innovation would be significantly more difficult, more expensive or even impossible. While the patterns of employment of 'local' (locally employed) developers varies considerably between higher/further education institutions, it is rare for such institutions to invest strategically... >>
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 environment and the increased international competition require innovative approaches to ensure that the UK remains a leader in world class... >>
Manage your research information - spend more time on research
The UK keeps a huge amount of information about research. From funding applications to datasets, from HESA and REF reporting to publications lists. People and institutions across the sector need to manage and share this information at every level. The challenge, however, is that this information is often stored in different systems and formats, some commercial or proprietary and some... >>
Prioritise systems integration to improve your financial health
A recent TimesHigher article exposed concern over the financial health of UK universities. Andrew McConnell, BUFDG chair is quoted as saying ‘There aren't many areas of our income that won't be of concern at the moment. You can look at every category and say there's an issue here that needs to be addressed in the next 12 months.’ Universities are... >>
Digital resources made possible by Jisc
The UK is a knowledge economy and as the coalition government looks to also to make it a digital one - how is Jisc helping to share the UK’s knowledge and our resources online? In my role at Jisc I look after our content programme which brings scholarly collections into the digital age - taking journals, newspapers, manuscripts, photographs and... >>
Using digital media to improve teaching and learning
Accessing freely available media digital content and tools can be an effective way to improve educational provision and maximize resources in difficult times. On the other hand, without support, a sharing of best practice and awareness what we're getting into we might waste a lot of time and money undertaking tasks which, on reflection, should have been done by someone... >>
Meeting students' needs to improve retention
There are clear financial benefits for universities and colleges in ensuring that as many students as possible complete their course. Equally learners are paying more than ever for their education, so will be keen to see a return on their investment. There are a number of reasons why students drop-out of education due to issues such as financial pressures, difficulties... >>
Maximising your online event experience
With just one week to go before the Jisc11 conference in Liverpool , the final preparations are in full swing. We are working hard to ensure those of you planning to follow the conference online have as full and interactive an experience as possible. For someone choosing to follow a conference remotely, it is rarely now a one-way communication channel... >>
Maximising your event amplification
Those of you unable to come and see us at the Jisc11 conference in Liverpool next week will no doubt be keeping one eye on what is happening throughout the day with the help of your laptop, phone or tablet. As an event organiser I love experimenting with new and interesting ways to amplify events as well as enhance the... >>
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 carved out by innovative developers in individual institutions. Dev8D is Jisc's annual event for software developers working in higher education... >>
Partners raising our game, here on internationalisation
Sarah Porter gave account of the strategic pressures upon institutions in the Winter Edition of Jisc Inform . There is much to challenge us all, but Sarah’s message is clear, collaborate and make use of the technology potential. The 2011 Leadership Foundation summit, ‘Leading Internationalisation: Raising our Game’ emphasises the need to collaborate to achieve long term success in the... >>
Jisc Review – reshaping for the future
We are heading into a new chapter in Jisc’s history as we embrace the opportunity to change for the future. It is very pleasing to see that HEFCE’s review of Jisc considers us to be a valuable organisation and one that makes an essential contribution. The review makes a number of constructive recommendations designed to help us continue to add... >>
Digital content and internet business models
In the week following what President Obama described innovation as a “Sputnik moment” and Jeremy Hunt, Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport launched the Year of Philanthropy – an attempt to get more FTSE100 businesses to provide financial support for the arts - it seems timely to consider how innovation in a time of fiscal tightening can be... >>
Co-operation of the fittest: a decade for institutional dialogue and collaboration?
1. Demographic changes. As any fan of Freakonomics will tell you, the impact of demography can be easy to miss but difficult to overstate. Universities and colleges will face demographic concerns on two fronts. a) A declining number of young people. The Office of National Statistics age cohort information indicates that the East and West Midlands face a drop of... >>
Online Distance Learning: whose future?
To me, one of the enormous surprises regarding the Browne review of Higher Education funding was the complete absence of any mention of online or blended delivery. Here was a report about the future of the delivery of education at university level, but it missed a trick by omitting the innovative online delivery going on at present. Our recent study... >>
Five factors for survival
First Browne, then the Comprehensive Spending Review, and with more reviews and uncertainty to come it’s easy to feel like the distraught lover in L'Âme Immortelle’s song – “life will never be the same again.” While this is de facto true it is certainly not the end! Higher education and research have been well funded over the past decade but... >>
NUS report on technology: a personal response
This report to the Higher Education Funding Council for England by the National Union of Students had the remit to 'gain a broad overview of the level of demand from students – new and potential – for online learning provision in UK higher education institutions and students’ perceptions of that learning.' In their conclusions there are several issues at play... >>
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 answer to emerge was: by facilitating collaborations and by enabling more efficient and effective research. Some of the keynote... >>
Is the physical library redundant in the 21st century?
Is the physical experience of holding a book or other paper-based object really the most valued aspect of library provision these days? And are researchers only able to cope with the world of information if their access to resources is limited to what the library can afford to provide? In a THES-sponsored debate held at the British Library last week... >>
Isn't Google digitising everything anyway?
Since Google embarked on its scanning of major world book libraries, there has been the assumption that there is little more to do in the field of digitisation. Yet this is far from the truth. Opinions vary, but it is probably fair to say that more than 95% of the world books, magazines, newspapers, videos, films, documents still lay hidden... >>
Jisc on Air – new online broadcast explores student recruitment
Today, another round of UCAS applications gets underway with the first of the application deadlines. Meanwhile, new students are settling into universities up and down the country. But how many of them will have embarked upon the right course? Lord Browne’s recommendations this week remind us that the majority of students (or their parents) will be stumping up an increasing... >>
Introducing the Jisc Blog
I have only been something approximating a regular blogger for about three years now and so I rather casually thought that blogging must be, oh, perhaps six or seven years old. But the term ‘weblog’ seems to have been coined by Jorn Barger at the end of 1997 and the noun and verb ‘blog’ surfaced in 1999 by Peter Merholz... >>
An uncertain future: can technology help?
New politics, fragile economy, ageing student market, a society rapidly absorbing new technologies. Any one of these presents challenges to our sector, but together these form the complex reality of our working lives. So what? How can we respond to these pressures? What’s going to help us cope? Better still, how can we succeed? At Jisc we’re thinking about big... >>
Turning eyewitnesses into experts
It’s amazing how our collective memory of many events has been shaped by images taken by ordinary people – like mobile phone footage of political protests in oppressive regimes or tragic pictures of national disasters. The exponential rise of social media has created a new landscape of interaction and collaboration where the boundaries between professional practice, citizen journalism, the subject... >>
New Jisc blog launch
Welcome to the new Jisc blog! Every week Jisc's people will be sharing their thoughts on a range of topics on technology, education, strategy and the issues that affect our sector - but that's only half the conversation, so we ask for your voice to join the debate. This area on the Jisc Involve blog is a test area before... >>