JISC

The final report is available at the bottom of the page

Region: West Midlands  

Overview

The project is looking to produce a framework for promoting the use of shared digital resources in FE and HE institutions across the West Midlands, by making them available online using Digital Repository software. The project will work with providers and users of a wide range of different types of repositories but will also conduct pilot studies of Shibboleth.  Shibboleth is a way of exchanging information between institutions in a secure manner, protecting both the security of the data and the privacy of the individual who is accessing the information.  

Aims and Objectives

The project seeks to enable educational institutions within the region to make more effective use of their existing digital assets by promoting shared, open and accessible use of digital content across the region. In particular the project will:

• Provide and pilot a framework for managing cross-institutional authentication and authorisation of access rights to shared resources.
• Initiate sustainable and scalable collaborative projects that utilise the authentication and authorisation framework.
• Link existing collaborative projects and repositories into the authentication and authorisation framework.
• Investigate issues that need to be addressed in the collaborative use of digital repositories, making specific recommendations for further work to help overcome any barriers.
• Investigate alternative models of repository development and use, leading to a proposed strategy for the Region
• Carry out a needs analysis of potential repository users in the Region  

Project Methodology

The project seeks to gather evidence from staff and students who are piloting repositories about the barriers they experience, and the models of working with and organising repositories they would prefer. 

The proposed project seeks to suggest the best way of working to give enhanced facilities for staff and for the students together with a demonstrable mechanism to achieve it (Shibboleth). All members of the consortium have such examples or similar situations to hand. Shibboleth is seen as the likely way forward for the region, and so the project will pilot its implementation in the context of access to digital learning resources. 

Implic ations/ Deliverables/ Stakeholders

The collaborative creation, use and reuse of digital content, (including learning objects), has long been seen as a highly beneficial opportunity provided by the widespread use of information and communication technologies (ICT) in support of learning, teaching and assessment. Regional priorities include a need for institutions to collaborate effectively, and mechanisms are needed to enable this. 

The first step towards facilitating collaboration on learning objects is the creation or provision of a repository and a catalogue of that repository to enable resource discovery. There are many examples of  sophisticated repositories already in evidence, and many are well populated with resources, however use of these repositories remains at low levels and the impact on learning, teaching and assessment is still minimal. Experience in some quarters suggests that key barriers to the use of digital repositories are quantity and relevance of material, access management, intellectual property rights, time to create and describe shareable resources and expertise in the creation and manipulation of resources. Some experience suggests an unwillingness amongst academics to contribute to certain types of repository. 

There is an opportunity in the region for institutions to share the content they develop to learners in HE, FE and the schools sector, either by enabling access to their own repositories and /or contributing to regional or national systems, thus facilitating wider participation and lifelong learning. 

Lead Institution

• University College Worcester 
   

Project Partners  

• University of Birmingham
• Kidderminster College
• City College
• Coventry Sandwell College
• New Technology Institute (NTI)
• Coventry JISC Regional Support Centre West Midlands (RSCWM) 
•  Worcester College of Technology 
• Bournville College Warwick University
• Birmingham College of Food, Tourism and Catering