JISC

New resources for transforming teaching and learning

Using existing digital audio from rich and authoritative sources (particularly, but not exclusively, the BBC, NARA, MSU and NWU), the project creates an integrated C & IT learning environment in which staff and students can 'write on and for' the Internet. The digitised archives are streamed and are used in the context of 'electronic documents' (websites, PDFs, etc). The environment in which these documents are created (for presentations, web content, student papers etc) integrates a range of components based on current standards. They are delivered from standards based servers and data files. The initial stage is based in history and political science where text documentary sources are paramount but increasingly available digitised: the Spoken Word adds a set of both cognitive and afferent variables to scholarship and learning. Generalisation to other disciplines will be undertaken.  

The lead institution is Glasgow Caledonian University (GCU) and the US partners are Northwestern University and Michigan State University. The members and partners bring a range of skills, motivations and circumstances to the project. The US University members vary in size but both have highly competitive entry. They are well endowed and technologically very sophisticated. They bring developed tools and techniques and experience. GCU is an 'access' institution. Its challenges are different - and its students have different needs and particularly in the early years of their studies. It is radical and innovative. This project fits within a strategy based around its newly forming Learning Centre which is aimed at re-advantaging its students: this consortium provides a wide range of advantages from technology and skills transfer to scholarly interchange including student interaction. The institutional partners bring their rich activities and an imperative to public access. They share the need to develop the ease of use of their materials. The project arises from shared interests and previous interactions amongst the members ensuring understanding; and good working relationships.

Project progress

May 2007

The Spoken Word video was an opportunity for the project team to describe our work and experiences. It highlights some key issues and illustrates some of the tools and approaches taken.

August 2004

Northwestern employed spoken-word resources in two classes at Northwestern in this reporting year for History of Science and Constitutional Law. History students and faculty were very pleased with the experience of access to original sources. Though entirely anecdotal at this point, we are delighted with faculty and student interest and response.  

Northwestern’s major effort has focused on the development and release under a GPL of our client-server annotation and collaboration software, Project Pad. With both teaching and research modules set for testing and assessment, project personnel think they are in a strong position to attract greater faculty and student interest in using and sharing spoken word resources.  

Similarly, testing of MediaMatrix at MSU has yielded positive results through both survey and interviewing students (as well as evaluating student performance).   It has also led to significant revisions and improvements, including the addition of the citation layer.  

GCU has employed spoken-word resources in a Bioethics for Biologists class and in the work of a fourth year Politics dissertation student in the past year. Spoken Word resources are also being incorporated into the Clydetown Virtual Community, a teaching resource developed for Social Work students, and into the LTSN funded project “Talking Economics”.  

GCU has completed work on building a solid infrastructure to support the further development of rich resources. They have established an excellent working relationship with the BBC to foster this development.  This infrastructure will allow them focus more on use of spoken word audio in the classroom.  

How do you see the project developing? Has progress changed the project in any way, and are there implications for the programme?  

Application and infrastructure development has taken more time than originally planned. However, this has not impacted the project in any negative sense. It is further demonstration of the broad appeal of our work that our institutions are extremely supportive of our efforts.  

What lessons have been learned that could be passed on to other projects or applied elsewhere?  

Perhaps this is a simple idea. We have fortnightly conference calls. We have tried – sometimes unsuccessfully – to share an agenda in advance of our calls. This helps to frame discussion and assure that key participants (technical, evaluative, substantive, managerial) are available. We should probably do a better job of documenting these calls. Perhaps that should be a goal for the next reporting period. Yet the fortnightly conferences have really helped to hold this complex project together.