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Posted on Fri 11 May 2012

Supporting Adult Learners' Week 2012

Once again, JISC Advance is pleased to be supporting Adult Learners’ Week (from 12-18 May).  This special week run by our close partners, NIACE, celebrates and promotes the benefits of learning.

As always, our JISC Regional Support Centres along with our advisory services will be hosting or co-hosting a number of events. Why not sign up to try something new?



  • 17 May at 11:40 – ‘using Xerte to enhance Basic Skills learning’ – Lisa Featherstone from JISC TechDis presents via webinar in partnership with NIACE , book your place here - http://alw12niacewebinar.eventbrite.co.uk/

Don’t forget that these are online sessions and therefore open to everyone regardless of region.  

Also on 17 May, RSC Wales will be giving a closed session to staff of Ysbyty Gwynedd all about free tools on the web.  This will be part of ‘Learning at Work Day’ and will showcase how to use the internet more effectively.

Plus, the JISC Advance team like to practice what they preach so some of our staff, including the MD, have signed up for taster sessions during Adult Learners’ Week 2012.  Find out next week how they fared. 

To find out more about our work with Adult and Community Learning Providers contact your local JISC Regional Support Centre.

Posted on Tue 08 May 2012

Going… going… gone!

One month left to submit your bids for JISC Advance’s FE and Skills Development and Resources Programme

So far we’ve received an impressive 60 bids from learning providers from across the UK for our FE and Skills Development and Resources Programme.  These bids, which come from all parts of the sector, detail some fantastic new and innovative ways to use technology to improve the learner experience and increase efficiencies across the sector.
Proposals include:
• Developing student apps to reduce costs when recruiting and enrolling students
• New uses for mobile technologies to engage learners and extend their learning
• Developing augmented reality support for learners and employers
• Producing employability resources for learners with disabilities
• Establishing a secure Moodle environment for offender learning

Feeling inspired? You still have until 5pm on Wednesday 31 May to get your proposals to us - we’d love to see more, showing how much innovation there is in the sector.

For all information go to our project wiki.

We’ll also be holding a live drop-in Q&A session on Wednesday 9 May from 2-3pm for anyone who has any burning questions they need answering. There’s no need to register just turn up - see below for log-in details.

The JISC Regional Support Centres (RSCs) can provide detailed advice and support for bids - from helping to develop a bid to guiding you on the requirements of this funding. 


All outcomes and resources from the successful projects will be freely available across JISC Advance.


Log-in details for Q&A session on Wednesday 9 May from 2-3pm 

Link for participants:

https://sas.elluminate.com/m.jnlp?sid=2009077&password=M.C911270EB8E915DF9AA435DFED6FC8

Link for recordings:

https://sas.elluminate.com/mr.jnlp?suid=M.938BA59B8C7381E595468ADCA9A88F&sid=2009077

Don't forget your participants will need to have the latest version of Java installed on your PC/Laptop - check your settings here: http://tinyurl.com/4thqaew


Posted on Thu 26 Apr 2012

Minister praises the work of JISC RSC Northern Ireland

Dr Stephen Farry, Minister for the Department for Employment and Learning for Northern Ireland, praised the work of the RSC in supporting and encouraging the use of technology in FE and HE.

The minister, speaking at the RSC’s Innovation in e-Learning Awards event on Wednesday, also applauded the RSC’s initiative in creating new awards to stimulate innovation in teaching and learning, technical infrastructure and learning support. 

Winners of these first awards were from FE colleges, HE and the training sector and the minister praised the support given to the use of technology in Northern Ireland’s tertiary education sectors. He drew attention to the use of e-learning in “the new foundation degree in retail studies, which had engaged businesses, further and higher education in its development and has been popular with those in work and their employers because students are able to work in ways that suits their circumstances.” 

The minister emphasised the value and impact of work to develop the use of technology to promote personal and economic development to meet the needs of Northern Ireland’s communities and employers.

Dr Farry was “delighted” to see the launch of the new award “Innovation in e-Learning” at the awards ceremony and commended the RSC for providing the specialist support and technology management for the award.

Kate Guy, Manager of RSC Northern Ireland said: “Seeing the work of the winners presented here today demonstrates conclusively that Northern Ireland provides a strongly supportive climate for e-learning that encompasses work to meet the needs of all students in any circumstance. The winners’ work shows achievement now, but points to further exciting developments in the future. The presence of the minister demonstrates the support that exists for innovation here.”

Find out more about JISC RSC Northern Ireland.

Posted on Tue 24 Apr 2012

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 our key achievements, showing how we have supported HE, FE and Skills to increase efficiencies and enhance the learning experience through the effective use of technology. Key achievements include:

  • Assisting over 2,000 educational organisations to improve the way they use technology
  • Helping to connect the worldwide research community through the running of over 3,000 JISCMail lists with half a million connections
  • Developing high quality resources such as the Impact Calculator which was downloaded by over 2,000 people in 64 countries.

And, JISC Advance continues it progress into 2011-12 with new resources, services and collaborations to consistently offer the best advice and guidance.

JISC Advance brings together the expertise of eight specialist advisory services. Find out more here.

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JISC Advance Annual Report Transcript

Posted on Fri 20 Apr 2012

30 bids in from FE and Skills Learning Providers

JISC Advance has received over 30 bids for its FE and Skills: Development and Resources programme. We are pleased to have attracted bids from all parts of the sector - including ACL, WBL and Offender Learning - as well as partners drawn from the private sector and national agencies such as AoC, NIACE, 157 Group and WEA. 

Examples of bids include large scale projects to generate thousands of updated resources and provide better access for staff and learners in the sector, to smaller projects focusing on the needs of particular learners such as those in rural locations and using new approaches based on mobile technologies. 
 
Funded by BIS and valued at £1.4 million, the programme supports the use and implementation of technologies to enhance and transform learning and teaching across the sector. The funding is specifically targeted at FE and Skills providers who have not been able to access JISC funding in the past giving the sector the chance to: 
• promote the use of existing learning resources, making them fit for use in all aspects of the sector
• identify gaps in existing resources as well as creating resources to fill them
• support innovations that can significantly improve learner experiences and/or contribute to greater efficiencies in the operations of providers.

Nigel Ecclesfield, JISC Advance Programme Manager said: “The strong response from the sector shows that the funding is encouraging providers to make better use of technology and there are proposals coming forward from bidders that are exciting and collaborative. I’m pleased to see the bids bringing together new ideas, existing good practice and new partnerships.”

You still have until 31 May 2012 to submit your bids. JISC Advance is particularly keen to encourage bids to promote better access to resources and innovative ways of storing and distributing the materials developed by these projects, working with national services such as JORUM and local partnerships.

For more information 
• Go to the bid wiki 
• Contact your local JISC Regional Support Centre 
• Email nigel.ecclesfield@jiscadvance.ac.uk

Posted on Mon 02 Apr 2012

FE and Skills: Development and Resources Programme reaches £500,000 worth of bids

JISC Advance is delighted to announce that today we have received £541,000 worth of bids for our FE and Skills: Development and Resources Programme.
 
We’ve received a wide range of bids covering all aspects of the sector - from establishing a shared Moodle hub for mobile learning in FE, to repurposing Adult and Community Learning materials for low level courses and developing delivery mechanisms for Work-Based Learners. 

There’s still £800,000 of funding left to bid for so please get your bids in! Closing date is 31 May 2012.

Don’t forget that the JISC RSCs are on hand to provide guidance and support for writing and submitting your bids.

Full details can be obtained from the Programme Wiki, by contacting your JISC RSC or by emailing nigel.ecclesfield@jiscadvance.ac.uk

Posted on Thu 29 Mar 2012

JISC Advance Advisory Services present at AUA Conference 2-4 April 2012

JISC Netskills and JISC infoNet - two JISC Advance Advisory Services - will be sharing their expertise with administrative staff across Higher Education at the AUA conference at the University of Manchester.

Find out more about:

• How busy administrators can use free, simple, web-based tools, technologies and resources to aid their work - Lisa Vincent, Training and Administration Co-ordinator, JISC Netskills.
• How JISC’s work and services can benefit AUA members - Patrick Bellis, Director, JISC infoNet.
• The processes involved in course design and accreditation - Marianne Sheppard, Researcher/Analyst, JISC infoNet. 

JISC Netskills develop and deliver training in e-learning, web technologies, information skills and more.  They provide a range of workshops - from face to face and online through to customised on-site training and consultancy.

JISC infoNet address strategic and operational issues ranging from change management through to online collaborative tools. Their popular online ‘infoKits’ provide essential information, good-practice guidelines, tools, techniques, ideas and case studies.

Find out more about JISC Advance services here.

Posted on Thu 22 Mar 2012

First bids in!

JISC Advance is pleased to announce that the first bids for funding have been received for our exciting FE and Skills: Development and Resources Programme.


The bids - from Adult and Community Learning providers - propose a better use of existing resources in partnership with other providers, and reaching learners in rural and isolated settings. 

Nigel Ecclesfield, Programme Manager, commented: "It's great to see so many learning providers enthused about the project. We've received a number of bid ideas and are hoping to share these with you over the next few weeks."

And there's still plenty of time to take part! You have until 31 May 2012 to submit your bids.  £450,000 is available to adapt, update and make existing resources available to all parts of the FE and Skills sector and £900,000 for new projects working to fill gaps in resources and provision across the sector. The JISC RSCs are on hand to provide guidance and support for writing and submitting your bids.

Full details can be obtained from the Programme Wiki, contacting your JISC RSC or by emailing nigel.ecclesfield@jiscadvance.ac.uk

Posted on Mon 12 Mar 2012

JISC Advance exhibiting at UCISA 2012

Visit the JISC Advance stand at the UCISA conference and you’ll be in for a big surprise. We’ll not only provide you with technology solutions to keep your organisation sustainable in 2012 and beyond, but you’ll also have the chance to win a Kindle.

Meet two of our services that can help universities and colleges improve performance and bring in savings:

•    Introducing JISC Advance Nexus
Our new web-based cloud system uses open source enterprise service bus (ESB) technology from WS02 to connect software applications for the purpose of exchange information. Come and find out how ESB can benefit your organisation.

•    JISC Procureweb
Discover how your organisation can buy goods and services at the best prices in the sector using GeM - our new eMarketplace and contracts database. The GeM system allows universities and colleges who are members of a regional purchasing consortium, to take advantage of consortia contracts to cut costs and achieve efficiencies in procurement. Just click and buy!

And of course you can’t visit our stand without having a go in the JISC Advance Nexus cash cube.  Grab the lucky ticket and you could win yourself a Kindle!

Our Senior Management Team will also be on hand to hear your top concerns and tell you more about how JISC Advance is addressing these through its work. 

So, to those who already know us; come and find out something you didn’t know.  For all new acquaintances, come to our stand… for a warm welcome, prizes and most importantly expert advice and guidance on how technology can enhance your organisation.

Find us on stand 66.
Learn more about how JISC Advance services can help organisational sustainability.


Posted on Wed 29 Feb 2012

JISC announces new structure to reshape for the future

Today, JISC has announced its new company structure and how it will reshape itself for the future to provide an enhanced service to the UK education and research sector.

This announcement follows the recommendations outlined in the Wilson Review, published in February 2011. The Review - carried out in response to the current economic environment and commissioned by HEFCE - focused on the value of JISC and ensuring its future sustainability.

One of the first changes will see JISC 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 Advance, as one of the subsidiary companies of JISC, welcomes these changes, which will provide further impetus to our drive to put delivering value to our clients and their learners at the heart of what we do. A simplified, more integrated JISC will facilitate this. At this stage we are unable to say precisely how and when the changes will impact on JISC Advance, however please rest assured that JISC Advance and its services will continue to offer the same high-quality advice and guidance to the HE and FE and Skills sectors throughout this period of change.

For more information about JISC’s new company structure go to www.jisc.ac.uk

Posted on Tue 21 Feb 2012

Calling all FE and Skills learning providers

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. See our bid wiki for more ideas

The JISC Advance Services and other JISC agencies will retain the ownership of their updated resources. They will work with projects to distribute and promote the resources to the sector and the wider JISC community. We also welcome project bids incorporating joint activities with JISC Advance and JISC services.

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.

The RSCs are on hand to give advice and support to providers in developing and implementing their projects. For more information please contact your local RSC.

The bid wiki includes more information about the project including regularly updated FAQs and a recording of the recent launch.

*Providers eligible to bid include those from: Adult and Community Learning, Work-based learning, Offender Learning, Independent Specialist Colleges, FE Colleges and Sixth Form Colleges. National agencies such as sector membership bodies are eligible to apply for funding under this call, working with providers. HEIs are not eligible to bid for this call although those receiving funding for their further education provision may be eligible. Contact the programme team for clarification.