Blogs
Here you'll find a selection of our newest blogs, to read the full article
click on the link marked Entry or to go to that sector's blog, click on the
heading.
- Following a CAMEL -
…no, not the humped variety, but the ‘Collaborative Approach to the Management of E-learning’ model put forward by JISC Infonet in 2006 (in conjunction with JISC, ALT, HEFCE, HEA). The Celtic RSCs have recently been using this model to help organise some exchange visits between providers in their regions, and we feel that there is [...] Entry - Comments
- Barriers busted? - We (at RSC Wales) have just completed the first four of our series of roadshows and, now that I have recovered from all of the planning, travelling and delivering that was involved, I am taking a moment to reflect briefly on ‘Barrier Busters – Accessibility and Inclusion’.
In my opinion (and many others I’m sure) accessibility [...] Entry - Comments
- Evaluating the Effectiveness of e-Learning - We generally assume that technology enhances education, and often have anecdotal evidence in support of this. But how much concrete evidence do we have? Given the costs associated with acquiring and using educational technologies, I think this is a question worth asking.
There are quite a few case studies that highlight the benefits of specific technologies in specific [...] Entry - Comments
- RSC Wales External Penetration Testing Service - RSC Wales are now able to offer scheduled external penetration testing service to our supported learning providers.
The external penetration testing service can be used to provide a detailed report of your Internet facing systems and services. This report is generated by scanning the external IP addresses and hostnames used by the organistation, the scans are [...] Entry - Comments
- Cacti Realtime Plugin - I’m a big fan of the Cacti – the monitoring tool, although I’ve a small number of the plants too! One of it’s limitations, is that it works on a 1 or 5 minute poller interval, so you get very rounded figures and no sign of the short bursts of traffic, CPU or anything else [...] Entry - Comments
- Shibboleth – some deployment considerations -
This an update to the advise given at the ITSYSMAN meeting in October.
A few considerations if your deploying a Shibboleth entity (Identify or Service Provider) within the next few months.
Forget about Shibboleth 1.3
It goes end of life in June 2010, concentrate your efforts on Shibboleth 2.0. For those with existing Shib 1.3 installs, then [...] Entry - Comments
- Online Leadership and Management Toolkit - Just a brief post to let you know that your RSC Wales WBL team will be demonstrating the new online Leadership and Management toolkit at NTfW Regional meetings during December and early in the New Year.
The Toolkit was developed by the Learning and Skills Improvement Service in conjunction with the Welsh Assembly Government and the support [...] Entry - Comments
- Next Generation Learning Awards 2010: Technology Excellence in FE & Skills - Can Welsh WBL Providers feature as prominently as last year?
Becta has launched the exciting Next Generation Learning Awards: Technology Excellence in FE & Skills. Now in their second year, they will look to reward all types of learning provider in the FE and Skills sector and seek to identify those across the whole system who [...] Entry - Comments
- Sugata Mitra’s “Hole in the Wall” experiment. - Sugata Mitra’s “Hole in the Wall” experiments have shown that, in the absence of supervision or formal teaching, children can teach themselves and each other, if they’re motivated by curiosity and peer interest.
In 1999, Sugata Mitra and his colleagues dug a hole in a wall bordering an urban slum in New Delhi, installed an [...] Entry - Comments
- Just another learning opportunity? - My last posting “Where are the Welsh blogs” has elicited an interesting response, via blogs, emails, and in conversation. I always knew that I was stepping into a tricky arena, and one which I don’t understand well. I also know that the fate of minority languages is very, very important. Most people on the planet speak [...] Entry - Comments
- Where are the Welsh blogs? - I have just caught up with the reports of ‘Hacio’r Iaith’, on Carl Morris’s blog. This was a free, open meeting which took place physically in Aberystwyth on January 30th , with lots of associated backchannel activity on Twiter, Youtube, and elsewhere. Carl’s account makes fascinating reading, and points the way to interesting and potentially [...] Entry - Comments
- Young People in a Digital World (Part 2) #ypdw2010 - At the end of this conference, Sangeet Bhullar of Wisekids approached me to record an interview about my impressions of the conference. I had many positive things to say, but it was only when I had gone home and thought about it that I realised that I had left unsaid the most significant feature of the [...] Entry - Comments
- Social software and managing user behaviour – an overview -
Too much noise in the LRC? [Image by jorivando]
Social software is something of a mixed blessing for librarians. On the one hand it offers a potential way to reach out to and communicate with our users; but on the other hand many librarians bemoan the fact that some students seem to be [...] Entry - Comments
- Toys 2.0 - It seems that every day we hear about new technologies, tools and websites. The question is always: does this enable us to do something new, or perhaps to do something in a better way? Learning technologists focus on how the tool can enhance learning. My focus is a more specific sub-question: how can this tool [...] Entry - Comments
- An Information Literacy Framework for Wales -
Is it a book? Is it a plane? Is it a man? No, it’s the International Information Literacy Logo – get it here!
I have just got back from a two-day event investigating the potential for a cross-sectoral information literacy framework for Wales (announced in October). The event was funded by CyMAL, organised by WHELF (Wales [...] Entry - Comments
- Students as stakeholders - University of Glamorgan are hosting the 2nd Annual ESCalate Student Conference on Friday 16 April 2010, and the theme this year is Students as Stakeholders: take an active part in your own learning. Several things about this event look very interesting: firstly it’s excellent value at £30! Secondly it is a student conference with a keynote from Aaron Porter, Vice-President of the [...] Entry - Comments
- Simulations again…this time for inclusion - One of the best things about being part of a Regional Support Centre is that if you don’t know something, or can’t get to an event, there is often someone who does know, or has been there, and can pass on the knowledge. I wasn’t able to get to the JISC Techdis/ALT event Rewiring Inclusion recently, but a colleague at Swansea [...] Entry - Comments
- Leading the agile university: take three steps - The recent Higher Education Leadership Summit “Leading the Agile University” saw the launch of a new set of free resources for leaders in UK Higher Education. The resource, entitled JISC Portfolio for Senior Managers: employ technology to support your business goals, covers five areas:
. Strategies for agile institutions: scenario planning
. Relationship management and [...] Entry - Comments
