RSC London News

If there is one topic in the RSC’s advisory work that causes more confusion and worry than any other it seems to be e-Safety. For a long while this was quite understandable, most e-Safety advice was aimed at the schools sector and what did exist emphasised the risks rather than giving guidance on good practice.

Last year’s revision of the Common Inspection Framework, in which safeguarding became a limiting grade, only increased the anxiety. A common response we have come across is to use technical means to block access to areas of perceived concern such as social networking sites. We have even seen it stated that “Clearly any college that blocks access to all sensitive sites and social networking sites is “effective” with its safeguarding policy…” This is a common misconception.

Amongst the recently published guidance materials is Harnessing Technology, Safeguarding Further Education and Skills learners in a digital world published by Becta. This document clearly states:

Organisations are finding that a blocking and banning approach, which merely limits exposure to risk, is not sustainable. Organisations need to focus on a model of empowerment; equipping learners with the skills and knowledge they need to use technology safely and responsibly and managing the risks, whenever and wherever they go online; and to promote safe and responsible behaviours in using technology at college, in the workplace, in the home and beyond.

Also recently launched was the Safeguarding section of the Next Generation Learning website. This includes lots of relevant resources and a number of handy checklists that will help you to review your e-safety approach and provision.

Amongst the concerns regarding e-Safety and Safeguarding is the legal position for the individuals and institutions involved. Last week JISC Legal delivered a webcast on the theme: Safeguarding – Meeting Your e-Safety Duties. What really came through for me from this session was the consistency of message. The guidance from Becta and the position of safeguarding in the common inspection framework are clearly derived from the legal position. There is a clear understanding that safeguarding risks can not be eliminated and what is important is that safeguarding and e-safety policies are properly developed and that any incidents are acted upon correctly – clearly a technical only approach to e-safety fails in this regard.

It can be difficult for those of us without legal training to understand the implications of the legal position especially when terms such as “reasonable” and “proportionate” are used so widely. A useful illustration of how these terms might be interpreted came in a response to a question about usage of Facebook when John X Kelly said “surely now we’ve come to a stage where these are learning tools” and that colleges need to make decisions about how they use them. This is clearly a long way from the restrictive approach that many assume to be the case.

It is also illustrative that it is up to the institution to make the decisions. I am aware that many people simply want a ready made e-safety policy that they can use. That isn’t going to happen. Important features of any e-safety policy are that it is based on consultation and is contextualised. Fortunately JISC Legal have produced a simple one page e-Safety Policy Checklist to help you make sure that your policy is correctly developed and fit for purpose.

Getting e-safety right isn’t easy – but hopefully now it is getting easier.

Becta – Harnessing Technology, Safeguarding Further Education and Skills learners in a digital world

Next Generation Learning – Safeguarding

JISC Legal – Safeguarding – Meeting your e-Safety Duties

JISC Legal – e-Safety Policy Checklist

Business and Community Engagement, also variously termed Third Stream or Knowledge Transfer, is the strategic management of partnerships with the wider community to share knowledge and expertise for mutual benefit. It encompasses a range of activities from consultancy and continuing professional development services to the commercial application of academic research.

This JISC Briefing Paper addresses the following points:

• Why do institutions need to fully commit to business and community engagement now?
• What are the institutional benefits of developing a strategy?
• What does a successful business and community engagement strategy look like?
• Why JISC supports business and community engagement

Read the full paper at:
http://www.jisc.ac.uk/publications/briefingpapers/2010/bpstrategicengagement.aspx

At the recent Higher Education Policy Institute and JISC seminar, Nicola Dandridge Chief Executive of Universities UK and Nicholas Barr, Professor of Public Economics, London School of Economics gave their views on the topic of the financing of higher education as a starting point to generate discussion and debate with an invited audience.

JISC’s Rebecca O’Brien spoke with both Nicholas and Nicola about how higher education is currently funded, how the current system could be changed in response to the increasing pressure on universities to reduce costs and the value that universities contribute to the UK economy.

Access the podcast here:
http://www.jisc.ac.uk/news/stories/2010/03/podcast100hepi.aspx

JISC invites institutions to submit funding proposals for projects to undertake work under the fifth round of its Learning and Teaching Innovation Grants Programme.

JISC wishes to fund one year projects and activities that fit with the vision, outcomes and principles of the JISC e-Learning programme and support innovative approaches to learning and teaching. This is an open call, and projects dealing with any aspect of e-learning are welcomed. To reduce the initial investment in time and resource needed to develop a traditional JISC proposal and to encourage speculative and innovative ideas from the community bidders are invited to submit outline proposals.

Proposals may be submitted by HE institutions funded via HEFCE and by FE institutions funded via SFC. FE institutions in England that teach HE to more than 400 FTEs are also eligible to bid provided proposals demonstrate how the work supports the HE in FE agenda. Proposals may be from single institutions or consortia.

The deadline for submissions is 12 noon UK time on 19 April 2010.

Further details and documentation:
http://www.jisc.ac.uk/fundingopportunities/funding_calls/2010/02/ltig5.aspx

As part of the RSC UK support to the Becta Generator initiative, this event was the second of two workshops prepared for the London community this academic year.

The workshops provided delegates from the FE & Skills sector an opportunity to explore the tool and discuss how it could be used to best effect in their organisations.

Read the full event report and access useful links to further information about Generator on the RSC London website.

Delegates representing RSC-supported specialist Higher Education institutions, larger HEIs within the region and FE colleges with significant HE provision gathered at Brettenham House on 26 February 2010 to engage with the debate of how recently announced funding cuts for the sector will impact their operations, whilst seeking to maintain Government agendas.

Drawing on views expressed by colleagues in Further Education and at ULCC, some key strategic questions for the future emerged:

• What are the key underpinning values that the sector and indiviual providers need to hold on to during uncertain times?
• How can the twin aims of efficiency and effectiveness be held together given the pressures that HE (and FE) will face over the coming years?
• How could providers best ensure that present and future technological initiatives are quality driven to achieve a positive impact and/or return on investment?

Read the full event report on the RSC London website.

Stephen Timms, Minister for Digital Britain has  launched the National Plan for Digital Participation in which the Government sets a target of a 60% reduction in the 12.5 million people who are not online in the UK.

Minister for Digital Britain, Stephen Timms, said:

“Being online is crucial for participation in the 21st Century society – the Internet unlocks a wealth of information and services, giving people more choice in life and access to a range of education, health and financial opportunities.

“That is why we have set an ambitious target to get 60% of those 12.5 million people who aren’t online, online in four years. Our National Plan is an exciting project which will provide the leadership and framework for existing and emerging digital participation projects to drive a more inclusive Digital Britain.

“Bringing people online for the first time and enabling people to interact more creatively will enrich our society and we will ensure no one is left behind.”

The National Plan (pdf)

The Digital Participation Consortium website is now live to coincide with the Government’s launch of the National Plan for Digital Participation.  Go to www.digitalparticipation.com for more information on the work of the Consortium.

Delegates at VLE event

Thirty delegates from Adult Learning Providers and Colleges across London attended the RSC London VLE Development Group meeting held at Brettenham House on the 12th February 2010.

Much of the discussion concentrated on how to maintain the momentum of improvements to teaching and learning through the use of technology in the context of the current funding climate.

Read the full report on the RSC London website

John Ruskin College

John Ruskin College got an ILT Health Check, offered by JISC RSC London, to help identify the strengths and weaknesses of its use of ILT to manage, deliver and support learning.

This Excellence Gateway case study looks at the College’s response to the key findings and recommendations, and subsequent progress since its completion.

Read the case study here:
http://www.excellencegateway.org.uk/page.aspx?o=274540

The launch of a new online resource reveals today’s top literacy issues are the impact of technology and family reading

The new National Literacy Trust website is launching today, Monday 1st March. This free resource will provide literacy news and debate, opportunities for engagement with the Trust’s campaigns, extensive research and policy information, a wiki of good literacy practice, and a wealth of resources for professionals.