Rethinking the digital divide

Jisc is one of the title sponsors of the conference and will be working alongside experts from its services to run demonstrations and showcase the best of learning technologies.

The conference schedule will highlight advancements within the education sector and hear from practitioners about e-learning solutions for both learners and lecturers.“ALT-C is a very important conference for the Jisc Advisory Services, as it enables us to interact with one of our key audiences and keeps us in touch with practice and research."

Alice Gugan communications co-ordinator at Jisc said, “We are pleased to be involved with the conference this year and to be working in partnership with Jisc infoNet, Jisc TechDis and Intute.”

Jacquie Kelly senior advisor at Jisc infoNet said, “ALT-C is a very important conference for the Jisc Advisory Services, as it enables us to interact with one of our key audiences and keeps us in touch with practice and research.

“It is the first year that Jisc and its Advisory Services are working together on one stand to enable delegates to see the breath of knowledge that we are able to offer.”

Jisc infoNet, is an advisory service which works with higher education institutions to integrate technology into their administrative and management systems.

The team will be launching a new e-Portfolio infoKit which includes an animation to show users the benefits of creating a virtual environment to manage their work. In conjunction with this Jisc will also be launching a new publication called ‘Effective Practice with e-Portfolios’ - a case study-based publication which is part of the Jisc Effective Practice series.  
 
Jisc TechDis, will be showing products and services which help make learning accessible for all users. Two of these include Xerte Learning Object and Publisher LookUp UK. Xerte is a free learning object editor that produces interactive, rich media learning objects that run in a Flash player.  Whereas Publisher Lookup UK enables users to find books and publications by publisher – an invaluable tool when requesting materials in alternative formats.

Intute and Jisc will be demonstrating how to personalise technologies. Intute will show delegates how to personalise learning through MyIntute and the benefits of ‘repository search’ which looks across e-print repositories within the UK. Whereas Jisc will be showcasing e-learning and aspects from the Users and Innovation programme.

Looking at ways to engage with different audiences Jisc will be demonstrating two animations during the conference. The first being a taster of the new Web 2.0 and IPR (intellectual property rights) animation which will fully launch in October 2008. The second has been created by students from the University of Cumbria, as part of the Flourish project, which shows the benefits of approaching continued professional development online, through e-CPD.

Full programme of ALT-C which runs from September 9, 2008 to September 11, 2008.