The UK is at risk of losing its world-leading reputation for education unless it continues to invest in digital technologies to meet the ever-changing needs of modern learners, researchers and the academic community says JISC in its three-year strategy which launched this week.

The strategy outlines a vision of the future whereby a robust technological infrastructure is required to meet the shifting needs of the 21st century education community. JISC believes it is crucial that the UK’s education system continues to compete on the international stage by investing in innovation, research and increasing the availability of online resources.

JISC Chair Professor Sir Tim O’Shea commented: “The UK’s learner base is changing at great speed. Students are increasingly demanding that universities and colleges provide flexible and personalised learning which makes full use of the internet and IT applications. Such demands and expectations are set to increase as we move through this decade and into the next.

“If we fail to sustain the required research and investment to assist universities and colleges in their drive to improve their efficiency, effectiveness and to manage their costs, the UK risks losing its reputation for world-class education.”

The strategy can be read online at http://www.jisc.ac.uk/aboutus/strategy/strategy1012.aspx

‘A Word In Your Ear 2009′ is a one day conference about the use of audio feedback in Higher Education.

Bob Rotheram will provide the keynote and will reflect on the successes and challenges identified in the Sounds Good project on the use of audio feedback in Higher Education.

The diversity of approaches, challenges and benefits in this important area of emerging academic practice will be demonstrated and discussed through 16 short papers, 14 posters, and 3 workshops. There will be a series of ‘Challenge Circles’ during the day in which participants will be invited to post and respond to key challenges.

The conference takes place on 18 December 2009 at Sheffield Hallam University. Registration is through the conference website at http://research.shu.ac.uk/lti/awordinyourear2009/ but closes on 30 November 2009.

ALT-C, the annual conference of the Association of Learning Technology, starts tomorrow in Manchester.

The Association of Learning Technology will be making all keynote and most invited speaker sessions available over the Web in real time, and as archived files, from http://elluminate.alt.ac.uk/.

Those participating remotely in the keynote sessions will be able to submit questions online.

The keynote speaker schedule is:

* Michael Wesch, Assistant Professor of Cultural Anthropology at Kansas State University, Tuesday 8 September, 09.25 to 10.25 UK time;

* Martin Bean, Vice-Chancellor Designate of the Open University, Wednesday 9 September, 11.55 to 12.55;

* Terry Anderson, Professor and Canada Research Chair in Distance Education at Athabasca University, Canada – Canada’s Open University, Thursday 10 September, 11.55 to 12.55.

For the timings and details of the invited speaker sessions go to the schedule at http://altc2009.alt.ac.uk/talk/by_track/493.

New videos showing how JISC is helping researchers achieve faster, better and different research through virtual research environments have just been released at http://www.youtube.com/user/JISCmedia

The videos feature projects from JISC’s virtual research environment (VRE) programme, which is trying to find ways to connect people and speed up research processes across disciplines. These include astronomy, physics, electronics, chemistry and the study of ancient documents.

Case studies from the e-infrastructure programme are also online, showing how normal it is for researchers to use advanced internet technology when they work with other institutions and internationally.

Dr Mike Fraser of Oxford University, who led the e-infrastructure project, said: “We have used story-telling and videos to remove the mystery from e-infrastructure and demonstrate that its use can now be considered normal within many subject areas.”

JISC’s VRE programme manager Frederique van Till explained: “Virtual research environments really speed up the whole chain, and in some ways that makes the work for researchers much faster because it’s easier to get to the resources and the people. It also allows them to branch out into areas they could never have done before by using this new technology.”

Projects featured in the videos include VRE’s in archaeology, the study of documents and manuscripts, collaborative research events on the web and the MyExperiment social networking site for scientists.

Professor Mike Fulford from Reading University, who features in two of the videos, describes the impact of JISC’s work in archaeology project as “simply a revolution.”

He said: “I used to be a Luddite; the technology was all new to me. But now it’s like an umbilical cord – I can’t do without it.”

The VRE programme is now entering its third phase with a more modular approach aimed at making VRE’s work more effectively between different universities and colleges.

This year’s Designs on e-Learning Conference will take place entirely online in week beginning 1st September and the presentations will be available for two weeks from that date. Presentations will cover digital games and education, creating an online design atelier, developing the use of blogs as reflective tools, and the personalisation of learning framework.

The conference will consist of five live presentations and twenty asynchronous presentations. All sessions will be delivered through a dedicated Blackboard site. For more information, or to register please see http://www.designsonelearning.net/conferences/online/sept2009_online/del_online_sept2009.htm

QR Codes in Museums

Learning Technologists in the Centre for Staff and Educational Development (CSED) are currently working with the University of Bath on a JISC Teaching and Learning Innovation project to explore how Quick Response (QR) Codes can be used in higher education.

QR Codes, if you haven’t come across them before, are two dimensional barcodes that can be scanned with mobile phones or webcams or other devices attached to your computer. The scanned code then redirects the user to content on a web page or displays further information.

One potential use for QR codes is in museums or art gallerys to provide additional information about artifacts. This short video shows how this would work – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ccjiFXCltMo

Second Life

JISC have published a Second Life guide, written by lecturers for lecturers, to help others to use virtual worlds for teaching.

“Getting Started in Second Life” answers some common questions like how to set up in Second Life, what the rules of the world are, how to plan lessons, and how best to help students use it effectively for learning. The aim of the guide is to present the basics in order to help lecturers experiment, rather than getting lost in mastering the detail of the virtual environment.

To download “Getting Started in Second Life” or order a paper copy, go to http://www.jisc.ac.uk/publications/documents/gettingstartedsecondlife

Registration is now open for the JISC online e-learning conference on 24th – 27th November 2009

The whole conference programme takes place online and will allow delegates to interact in real-time sessions, watch presenters on video, meet other delegates in the virtual coffee shop, and comment on the conference using Twitter.

The conference is suitable for researchers, practioners, and managers interested in technology enhanced learning. Keynote speakers will include Helen Beetham, Dr Rhona Sharpe, and Peter Bradwell.

To register and find out more, visit the conference website at http://www.jisc.ac.uk/elpconference09

The recording of the ALT/ELN Serious Games webinar which took place on 16th June is now available via the ALT Open Access Repository. The webinar explores ways in which computer games can support and enhance teaching and learning.

Webcasts of 46 keynote and parallel sessions from the Fourth International Blended Learning Conference, held at the University of Hertfordshire in June, are now available online. Presentation slides in PDF format and posters in PDF and video formats can also be downloaded from the conference site.