JISC

The following entries have been selected to go forward to the second round of judging:

Community@Brighton (University of Brighton)

Community@Brighton is an open source social networking system breaking down barriers between students and staff and giving them equal rights within the system. The emphasis is on self-management of personal learning through contributions to communities, sharing of materials and through influencing the evolution of the system itself.

Stan Stanier of the University of Brighton said: ‘Through the provision of a modern, Web 2.0-based technical platform, Community@Brighton has significantly improved the ability for learners to actively participate in their learning. Unlike traditional tutor-led, course-structured VLE models, Community@Brighton allows learners to manage their personal learning, contribute on an equal footing to shared learning, form communities of common interest that span course boundaries and mix social and academic activities online.’

Media Zoo (Leicester University)

Media Zoo is bringing academics together to develop their approach to learning innovation and to find out about the latest research findings on the pedagogical impact of wikis and blogs, repositories, mobile learning, e-learning design and so on. The zoo's resources are available in a physical laboratory but also in an interactive website and more recently in Second Life.

Professor Gilly Salmon of Leicester University says: ‘Our work is based on research undertaken on transforming the learner experience, which we’ve been disseminating to course subject teams. We’re an independent research unit but we work across all departments aiming to embed e-learning as an integral part of learning and teaching.’

OpenLearn (Open University)

OpenLearn provides free and open access to over 250 structured media-rich study units support by a number of learning and communications tools, and published under Creative Commons licenses. Complemented by LabSpace, an area for experimentation where practitioners are encouraged to download, amend and adapt course materials.

Professor Andy Lane of the Open University says: ‘This initiative is about more than access to resources. Research and evaluation into their use is a crucial element of this initiative and we’re using a range of qualitative and quantitative means of investigating the use of these materials, including eye-tracking software, videos, case studies, collecting user stories and statistical analysis.’  

e-Course team (School of Dentistry, University of Birmingham)

The e-Course team has developed a Content Management System (CMS) to overcome challenges of the remote geographical location of the school, the expansion of teaching placements and a high number of PT dental practitioner staff. The CMS allows users to drive the content through creating podcasts and interactive learning materials with staff. Interactive captioned videos of procedures help students prepare for unexpected clinical situations at short notice, while a virtual microscope was developed to run on any platform.

Deborah White from Birmingham University says: ‘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.’

The Technocafe (Durham University)

The Technocafe provides a place where students can collaborate and have a full range of technologies available to them. The Technocafe has 10 pods each seating six to eight students and each providing tablet PCs, laptop and communication tools such as Skype and videoconferencing and an interactive whiteboard. Staff can use the lecture console to deliver lectures and cameras in each pod enable staff to observe the group during the lecture via monitors. Microphones allow feedback and enable conversations to take place.

Elizabeth Burd of the Computer Science Department at Durham says: ‘IT labs and classrooms provide barriers to working together. So we wanted to create an environment which best supported collaboration. We were inspired by booths in American diners with their sense of privacy and ownership of space. The technologies provided have made the teaching environment much more interactive.’

Virtual Pedagogy Initiative (Aston University)

Virtual Pedagogy Initiative is exploring podcasting and vodcasting with psychology undergraduates, promoting a sense of community and personalising student learning. Lectures also showcase the 'campus-cam' link which uses wireless networking to bring to lectures live images of experiences that were previously inaccessible for large groups of students, including a brain scan being performed remotely in real time.

Peter Reddy from Aston says: ‘Podcasts, vodcasts and our e-magazine are building new channels of communications between students and lecturers and technology is at the heart of developing these relationships. The nature of learning is changing and this initiative is making an important contribution to these changes.’

The winner will be announced at a gala dinner and awards ceremony at the Grosvenor House Hotel, London, on the 29 November 2007. See further information