JISC

Prospective university students have difficulty understanding fully what university life will offer, including what Information and Communications Technology (ICT) provision to expect. However, new research conducted by Ipsos MORI on behalf of JISC suggests that students do come to university with a set of inherent expectations about ICT provision and use and, further, that such expectations have important implications for institutions and the ICT services they provide.

Student Experiences of Technology and e-Learning

Student Expectations Study

There have been many studies examining students’ expectations of higher education but few have focused specifically on those of incoming students and ICT issues. There has also been a tendency for these studies to be conducted with students already at higher education institutions (HEIs), adopting a retrospective analysis of whether their ICT expectations prior to reaching university have been realised.

As technologies and social computing rapidly increase in popularity and evolve (eg Web 2.0), it is important that the academic community remains aware of issues faced by learners both before and during higher education. There is also the need to explore whether the learning experience of students is changing over time, how they want to learn through technology and the level to which they want to learn virtually or in the ‘classroom’.

The Student Expectations Study looked at what prospective students fluent in the use of technology anticipate from university life in terms of ICT, through discussion groups and an online panel.

Further Information

Changing Practice

Innovative Practice with e-Learning

Innovative Practice with e-Learning is a good practice guide to embedding mobile and wireless technologies into everyday practice which is aimed at practitioners and managers in further and higher education and adult and community learning. This publication builds on the case study approach adopted in Effective Practice with e-Learning to explore ways in which mobile and wireless technologies have become established in post-16 and higher education institutions.

Innovative Practice with e-Learning identifies challenges and benefits relating to the use of six commonly found mobile devices and reflects the findings of reports commissioned through the e-Learning and Innovation strand. Ten new case studies are also included to illustrate the use and the impact of these new technologies from three perspectives: those of the learner, the practitioner and the institution.

The publication contains a supplementary CD-ROM which contains extended versions of all ten case studies, video clips for five of the case studies, an e-learning audit tool, and planning tools for use of mobile and wireless technologies. These have been designed as separate downloadable tools for use by institutional managers, e-learning managers or practitioners.

Further Information

Transforming the Learning Experience

Managing the pace of change remains a significant challenge for institutions. New pedagogical approaches can evolve in isolated pockets within institutions and are not always embedded into wider institutional practice, or shared more widely across the community.
The Digital Libraries in the Classroom programme is examining how integrating recent technical developments with digital content can improve the learning experience of students. As summarised by Spoken Word Services, library methods are indispensable for effective scholarly communication. The programme also aims to provide new models for the classroom, including the impact of this integration on student achievement, retention and recruitment, and on institutional structures and practices.

Further Information

Game-based Learning

This briefing paper is aimed at policy makers, senior managers and practitioners who are interested in an overview of game-based learning and how it may be used to support effective learning and teaching practice. In addition, the paper outlines the work that is currently being funded by JISC in support of this area of activity. The aim of the report is to inform readers about game-based learning and to assist those interested in finding out more about the area.

Further Information

e-Portfolios: An overview of JISC Activities

An important aspect of lifelong learning is the learners’ ability to assemble, demonstrate and reflect on the skills, knowledge and achievement they have built up during their unique learning journeys. One of the functions of electronic portfolios (e-portfolios) is to support this kind of activity.

JISC-funded projects have been investigating a number of issues around the use of e-portfolios and personal development planning (PDP) to support lifelong learning.

A particular focus has been the use of PDP to aid a student’s transition from one institution or environment to another, such as school – college – university, and the automatic transfer of their personal data and reflections to support this. The projects are helping to surface a broad view of user requirements, both those of learners in various situations and those of the people who support them.

Further Information

ePISTLE (e-Portfolios Student Learning)

The ePISTLE project implemented the use of e-portfolios in two schools and three further education colleges from 2005-2007 in order to gain an insight into four areas crucial to further understanding of the use of portfolios. These were:

• how best to integrate an e-portfolio into the curriculum
• the issues with the use of e-portfolios for transition and progression
• issues of access and storage
• the factors which affect use and non-use of e-portfolios.

Further Information

Physical Spaces for Learning

Designing Spaces for Effective Learning

Increasing investment in estate and learning technologies, combined with the need for more cost-effective space utilisation, is making it increasingly important for senior managers to keep abreast of new thinking about the design of technology-rich learning spaces.

Designing Spaces for Effective Learning was launched at the JISC Conference 2006 to help meet this need. A visually-rich publication, it was designed to promote better understanding of what makes an effective design for the 21st century and to summarise the key points to consider when approaching a refurbishment or new-build project.

The publication takes the reader on a ’walk through’ an educational institution, exploring the relationship between learning technologies and innovative examples of physical space design at each stage of the journey. Discussion of the key points is illustrated by ten case studies from further and higher education, and floor plans from AMA Alexi Marmot Associates, architects and space planners, which provide up-to-date guidelines on the integration of technologies into teaching and learning accommodation.

Further Information

Technology-Rich Physical Space Design: An overview of JISC Activities

Good design and effective management are fundamental to the success of a new-build or refurbishment project. With the chance to influence the future direction of learning and teaching in an institution, much is at stake for directors of estates, project managers, academic and library staff embarking on a large capital project.

Since 2006, JISC has been helping institutions develop physical spaces that anticipate the pervasive use of technology in learning and teaching, enable innovative, learner-centred pedagogies and inspire and motivate wider participation in learning.

JISC resources support each stage of the journey towards a successful project – from determining the vision for technology-enhanced learning spaces to exploring the processes behind successful outcomes. The most recent include an investigation of the design and management issues associated with open-plan spaces and video case studies of the impact on practice and culture of five technology-rich new-build and refurbishment projects. This paper provides an overview of JISC activities to date and outlines the most recent work in more detail.

Further Information

Intellectual Property Rights Issues

IPR issues and Software: A Briefing Document

The JISC IPR Consultancy was started in October 2005 to provide expert advice to the JISC Development Group in the area of intellectual property rights. The Consultancy is Naomi Korn and Charles Oppenheim, with the expertise of Sol Picciotto and Charles Duncan.

This research and development briefing paper builds upon the outcomes from the US Licensing and Policy Framework summit for Open Source Collaboration in Higher Education Summit held in November 2006 attended by representatives from the JISC IPR Consultancy, OSS Watch Manager and JISC Legal.

Further Information

What We Know about Web 2.0

Web 2.0 and social software: An introduction

The terms Web 2.0 and social software are now used widely in the education sector. While often difficult to determine an exact definition, with many new tools and applications released on a regular basis, most commentators agree that these terms apply to a set of characteristics in the context of the internet and applications served over it.

Further Information

What is Web 2.0? Ideas, technologies and implications for education

Within 15 years the web has grown from a group work tool for scientists at CERN into a global information space with more than a billion users. Currently, it is both returning to its roots as a read/write tool and also entering a new, more social and participatory phase. These trends have led to a feeling that the web is entering a ‘second phase’ - a new, ‘improved’ web version 2.0. But how justified is this perception?

Further Information

Web 2.0 for content for Learning and Teaching in Higher Education

This study focused on the content sharing aspects of Web 2.0 (textual, sound and video data). Content sharing via Web 2.0 mechanisms can be the enabler of social software - which supports groups in their day-to-day interactions.

The report is the result of a study into the use of Web 2.0 technologies for content creation for learning and teaching in higher education, funded by JISC and carried out between March and May 2007. It draws on existing studies, interviews with staff at universities who have implemented Web 2.0 technologies for learning and teaching, and a week-long web based seminar (webinar) with expert contributions, from both speakers and the audience. The report builds on the briefing documents that were written especially for the webinar and the results of the webinar discussions.

Further Information

Google Generation

A new report, commissioned by JISC and the British Library, counters the common assumption that the ‘Google Generation’ – young people born or brought up in the Internet age – is the most adept at using the web. The report by the Centre for Information Behaviour and the Evaluation of Research (CIBER) research team at University College London claims that, although young people demonstrate an ease and familiarity with computers, they rely on the most basic search tools and do not possess the critical and analytical skills to asses the information that they find on the web. The report Information Behaviour of the Researcher of the Future also shows that research-behaviour traits that are commonly associated with younger users – impatience in search and navigation, and zero tolerance for any delay in satisfying their information needs – are now the norm for all age-groups, from younger pupils and undergraduates through to professors.

Further Information

Further Information

For further information about all these programmes and projects, you can contact the programme managers:

Student Experiences of Technology and e-Learning
Charles Hutchings

Changing Practice; Physical Spaces for Learning
Sarah Knight

IPR issues
Naomi Korn

Web 2.0
Lawrie Phipps

Google Generation
Dicky Maidment-Otlet

You can download a PDF or RTF version of this briefing paper below