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Latest News
- New staff at RCS Scotland
- JISC Advance release e-Annual Report 2010-11
- Vacancies at RSC Scotland
- JISC Advance funding for FE and Skills sector
- JISC announces new structure to reshape for the future
- Booking now open for RSC Scotland annual conference
- How to make your JISC funding bid stand out from the crowd
- Results of JISC RSC Customer Satisfaction Survey
Latest Newsletters
- InContact - Our Latest Newsletter
- Inclusion - Our New Access & Inclusion Newsletter
- Newsfeed Subscriber
New staff at RCS Scotland
We are delighted to welcome two new members of staff. John Maguire joins us from City of Glasgow college as e-Advisor: Learning and Teaching, and Katy Cooper joins us as Administrative Assistant.
JISC Advance release e-Annual Report 2010-11
In a bid to showcase how technology can be used innovatively, JISC Advance has released its 2010-11 Annual Report via video. The short animation embodies the ethos of JISC Advance – inspiring progress through technology.
The Annual Report details the key achievements, showing how JISC Advance has supported HE, FE and Skills to increase efficiencies and enhance the learning experience through the effective use of technology.
See the JISC Advance website for further information.
Vacancies for Advisors at RSC Scotland
RSC Scotland are currently looking for Advisors in the following areas:
Advisor: Learning Resources - To promote awareness and facilitate the take up of JISC Advance services, JISC digital content and nationally available resources within supported FE and HE institutions. To provide expert advice on access, content management systems and related issues. Post is full time and funded to 31st July 2014.
See the University of Glasgow Vacancy website for further information on this post.
Advisor: Learning Technologies - To promote awareness and facilitate the take up of Learning Technologies and related JISC Advance and JISC RSC Scotland services within supported FE and HE institutions. To provide expert advice on Learning Technologies hardware and software systems; including learning platforms, mobile technologies, social media and other emerging technologies. Post is full time and funded to 31st July 2014.
See the University of Glasgow Vacancy website for further information.
Transition Advisor - To disseminate and promote JISC, JISC Advance and JISC RSC Scotland services to remote supported FE and HE institutions and liaise with Link Advisors from the central team to monitor and where possible improve the RSC service to remote sites. Post is Part Time, Term Time Only, and funded to 31st July 2013.
See the University of Glasgow Vacancy website for further information.
Closing date for applications for all posts is 1st May 2012.
JISC Advance funding for FE and Skills sector
JISC Advance is seeking proposals from FE and skills providers across the UK to improve or repurpose existing FE and Skills resources. This FE and Skills: Development and Resources programme - valued at £1.4million - supports the use and implementation of technologies to enhance and transform learning and teaching across the sector.
We are looking for imaginative and innovative proposals that will both revolutionise the experiences of learners with individual providers and provide examples or resources that can improve the sector as a whole. For instance, adapting HE resources for the FE and Skills community or updating useful resources for one part of the sector to make them relevant for others.
Bids of all sizes are eligible - from £5K to £100K plus - and will be accepted from 9am on 1 March 2012 until 12pm on 31 May 2012.
See the bid wiki for further information (a login is not required).
Find out more from the recording of our Funding Opportunity webinar of 5th March 2012 and download the powerpoint presentation from the webinar.
JISC announces new structure to reshape for the future
On 29th February JISC announced it's new company structure and how, by bringing the leadership from across JISC into a more cohesive structure, supported and enabled by the creation of a legal entity, it will reshape itself for the future.
"This is the start of an exciting future for JISC," said Professor Martyn Harrow Head of JISC. "We are determined to continue and develop our crucial role in supporting UK colleges and universities and skills providers, keep at the forefront of best practice. This has never been more important than now at a time of tighter funding and unprecedented challenges to the sectors."
The changes are designed to provide a firm footing for the organisation as it responds to the recommendations made in the Wilson Review in JISC which was published in February 2011. The Review was commissioned by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) in response to the current economic environment looking at the value of JISC.
"It was important that we take the time to study the recommendations made by Wilson," continued Professor Harrow, "We therefore set up a Transition Group, made up of expert representatives from across the communities that we serve to go through the Wilson report in detail. The Group, so ably and skilfully led by Professor David Baker Deputy Chair of JISC, has provided recommendations that will help us secure a better and more sustainable future for JISC and the sectors we serve."
One of the first changes will see JISC will become a company limited by guarantee on 1 August 2012 managing the JISC offering across its products and services. The new company's primary focus will be on three distinct areas for UK education and research:
- Infrastructure services: networks, access management, cloud services.
- Data and content services:procurement, data hosting, data management and interoperability.
- JISC Futures/Solution Services: focussed on supporting education, students, research, and the running of institutions as businesses.
JISC will be set-up initially as a holding (parent) company and following this, step by step, the current elements of JISC will be brought into this new company structure.
Professor Harrow said, "While it is too early to detail of all the changes, we can say with certainty that our guiding principal will be to ensure that the new model for JISC meets the needs of all our stakeholders. Our challenge is to do the same, or more, with less, but I am determined that the changes will not compromise our record of providing excellent services to UK colleges, universities and skills providers. It is very clear to me that JISC itself must change if we are to meet the challenges that all our sectors are facing, and we must create a new JISC for new times."
Booking now open for RSC Scotland Annual Conference
Here Be Dragons! is the theme for our annual conference to give educators in Scotland the opportunity to become myth busters! Are there dragons or lands of opportunity beyond the horizon? Join us on a voyage of discovery as we explore the technologies that are transforming education and causing us to re-draw the boundaries of the classroom!
The conference is FREE to Scottish FE and HE institutions. Or £150 for other would-be Dragon Slayers.
See the Here Be Dragons! website for further information and booking.
How to make your JISC funding bid stand out from the crowd
Are you looking to secure JISC funding this year? As competition grows for funds, our advice on successful bidding can help you make a strong application.
Sarah Porter, JISC director of innovation, said: "We want to attract bids from a wide range of universities and colleges, those that know JISC well and others that might be bidding for the first time or need additional help with their application. We know bidding for funds is a time-consuming process and we are therefore aiming to give organisations the best possible chance of being successful in their applications."
See the JISC website for advice on successful bidding and further resources.
Results of JISC RSCs Customer Satisfaction Survey
The JISC RSC Customer Satisfaction Survey confirms the significant benefit the JISC RSC network brings to the sector nationwide. Three areas of support - improving the learning experience, advice on staff development and optimising shared services - were identified as being the most valued, demonstrating that the JISC RSC network is responding to the current issues and challenges facing the UK-wide community.
The results highlighted an overall customer satisfaction rate of 87%, with no less than 50% of respondents declaring themselves 'very satisfied' - an outstanding result - and many respondents stating that the support that they received from the JISC RSCs couldn't be found anywhere else.
Tracey Boston-Townsend, Operations Director for JISC Advance and heading up the strategic direction of the JISC RSCs said: "This survey is just one example of the many ways that we measure the impact of our work. The results reinforce and confirm our service is valued and useful across the community and will help us to continue to deliver relevant information and advice to keep the sector better informed for the future."
The survey was conducted by LISU, a national research and information centre based in the Research School of Informatics and the Department of Information Science at Loughborough University.
InContact - Our Latest Newsletter
Read the latest issue of the RSC Scotland's newsletter to find out what is happening at the RSC, including all the training and services currently on offer.
In the Autumn 2011 Issue you will find details of our new single service at RSC Scotland:
- Submit a case study for a chance to win an award.
- Meet the team in our RSCtv online lunchtime sessions.
- Find out about the new JiSC Techdis blog.
- Read about JANET desktop teleconferencing.
.....and lots more.
Download the pdf (newsletter layout).
If you wish to be added to the RSC distribution lists to receive this newsletter please complete our Mailing List Request Form.
Inclusion - our new quarterly newsletter
Read the latest issue of the RSC's access and inclusion newsletter for information on current assistive technology and learning support issues and find out about the latest services on offer from the RSC.
In the Autumn 10 Issue you will find articles including:
- JISC Techdis Single Equality Duty resource
- OASES - Online Accessibility Self Evaluation service
- RSC Accessibility and Inclusion Case Studies
- RNIB Penfriend
- Low cost / no cost apps for the iPod Touch, iPhone and iPad
- Tip for Accessible Word Documents
and much more.....
Download the pdf (print version)
Download the pdf (accessible version)
Download the DAISY version
If you wish to be added to the RSC distribution lists to receive this newsletter please complete our Information Request Form.
Newsfeed
The RSC NewsFeed service is packed full of information and news on ICT and its uses in education and beyond. It is blog based which means you have the chance to comment on any item that takes your interest. In addition all items are archived and the archive is searchable. So you want to find out everything we've mentioned this year on e-assessment? It's only a search away. Take me there.!
If you wish to be added to the RSC distribution lists to receive Newsfeed please complete our mailing list request Form.