The importance of Higher Education research is much in the news these days and the 2014 Research Excellence Framework  (REF) is on the horizon.

JISC has published a timely briefing paper outlining an institutional approach for supporting researchers in the use of advanced digital technologies. The paper discusses the range of reseacher needs and skills together with how an institution might provide appropriate support from the technical, strategic and skills enabling viewpoints.

A key recommendation is to consider research support needs as part of the wider institutional approach, acknowledging and accepting that some advanced ICT could be left for the researchers to support themselves.

Read the briefing paper in full:

http://www.jisc.ac.uk/media/documents/publications/briefingpaper/2011/bpsupportingresearchers.pdf

(PDF format)

Information about the Research Excellence Framework on the HEFCE website: http://hefce.ac.uk/research/ref/

JISC Collections has been working on a new website:
http://www.jisc-content.ac.uk/, which has been set up to provide a more user friendly way of navigating the content that JISC funding has helped made available to the HE and FE communities.

The site is not aiming to give item level access to each collection, i.e. it is not a federated search or discovery service. Rather it is a gateway that provides brief descriptions of each collection, and offers users different and, hopefully, engaging ways to browse through these descriptions, and learn more about what is on offer.

The content currently includes material licensed by JISC Collections and material digitised via the two phases of the Digitisation Programme, the Enriching Digital Resources strand, and the first phase of the JISC – NEH (National Endowment for Humanities) Transatlantic work.

The plan is to update the site over time, and in particular to make some changes in response to feedback gathered over the next month or so. If you have feedback, modifications etc. then please send them to collections@jisc.ac.uk.

Visit the new JISC Content website:  http://www.jisc-content.ac.uk/

The Institute for Learning (IfL) has published six case studies as part of a research project to help boost teachers’ and trainers’ skills in using new technologies to support their professional development. The case studies explore the barriers and challenges that IfL members face in capturing their continuing professional development (CPD), and outline a variety of successful approaches.

The case studies are available to download in PDF format at:
http://www.ifl.ac.uk/cpd/cpd-case-studies/

A comprehensive report of the ‘Supporting the Workforce Project’ has been published and is available to download at;
http://www.ifl.ac.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0020/16391/IfLSupportingtheWorkforcefinal

Up to 30 places available with fixed funding of £6,500 per fellowship.

Committed to encouraging and supporting a culture of using and conducting research, and practitioner-led enquiry, in order to drive improvement in the sector, LSIS is funding another year of LSIS-IfL Research Development Fellowships (RDFs) during 2010-11, again working with IfL and with SUNCETT (University of Sunderland Centre for Excellence in Teacher Training) to deliver the programme.

LSIS Research Development Fellowships are open to practitioners working in England whose primary function is as a provider of further education and training. Eligible providers will be organisations funded by the Young People’s Learning Agency (YPLA) or Skills Funding Agency (SFA) and subject to inspection by Ofsted. The only eligible Higher Education Institutions are those with learning and skills provision funded by the SFA and subject to inspection by Ofsted. Schools and school sixth forms are not currently eligible to bid for this funding.

 Applications may be from individual practitioners or from co-applicants who are a pair of practitioners who wish to work together on the same project. Co-applicants may be from the same institution or from two different institutions. LSIS would particularly welcome paired applications that involve a manager and a practitioner working together to bring about institutional change.

Deadline for applications is 5pm on Friday, 28 May 2010.

Full details and application form from:
http://www.excellencegateway.org.uk/page.aspx?o=200603
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Becta’s  Harnessing Technology Review 2009: The role of technology in further education and skills was published earlier this week on the 1st February 2010.

In this review Becta brings together a range of research evidence and data from England (mostly collected during 2009).

Emphasis is given to the  importance of e-mature providers realising the efficiency premium – by integrating systems  that can support and streamline a range of processes, including assessment processes.

The review also stresses the role of leaders and managers in achieving changes in practice to achieve benefits:

“However, as yet the issue of technology-related cashable efficiencies is not high on the agenda of most institutional leadership teams. Thus it is likely, where there is a good degree of technological maturity, that opportunities are being missed to reduce energy and printing costs, save on space, reduce administrative overheads and realise efficiencies in delivering learning.”

The strength of leadership in e-mature colleges rather than the strength of the e-maturity overall, is also seen as the key predictor of better Ofsted results.

Some other key points from the Review:

• Steady increase in FE Colleges classed as e-mature since 2003 with now around one third of FE Colleges e-mature.

• Use of VLEs has risen steadily since 2003. Now in use in 92% colleges and 36% WBL providers.

• Indications that problems around the  integration of management and learner systems are reducing with the proportion of learning platforms which integrate with their MIS  rising in one year from 47% to 63%

• Identifies that still a need around learner experience of technology at the transition points between sectors, and between stage, especially secondary and college.

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JISC has commissioned a study at the University of Strathclyde to review the environmental and organisational implications of cloud computing in higher and further education.

The project team is keen to hear from HE and FE professionals who are involved in managing ICT, administration, e-learning and estates who would be willing to participate in a 20-30 minute telephone interview on the subject of cloud computing (where computing resources are delivered over the Internet by external service providers).

Overall outcomes from the study will be awareness of cloud computing in the HE and FE sector and its implications, a starting point for decision makers in the sector should they wish to adopt or increase use of cloud computing models and direction for JISC’s future funding streams should future work be warranted and recommended.

If you are interested in taking part in an activity review and/or one of the free workshops please email: caroline.breslin@strath.ac.uk giving your name, institution, contact details and preferred workshop location. Please also include your interest in the project work if relevant (e.g. your institution is using cloud computing in HE/FE, you are not using cloud computing but would like to find out more, you are a provider who would like to find out about the needs of sector, etc.)
Online form available at:
http://ewds.strath.ac.uk/CloudResponseForm.aspx

The UK can only maintain its worldwide reputation for quality research, if researchers take advantage of the digital revolution, says JISC. JISC is launching a year long campaign called ‘Research 3.0 – driving the knowledge economy’, to debate how digital technologies are changing not only what research we do, but how it can be carried out.

Professor David Baker, deputy Chair at JISC, says, “The way we research is changing, not slowly, not even overnight, but by the second. The UK knowledge economy is under threat; unless we continue to invest in research based upon digital technologies the UK will quickly fall behind.”

A new video, ‘How digital technologies are creating a new paradigm in research’, sets the agenda for the coming year and introduces the key issues such as how to share data, why collaborate and how to publish research work online.

Staff from JISCmail and Edina services have been working together and are pleased to offer access to ‘the Depot’ from the JISCmail Tools area of all list homepages (If you don’t have a link please contact us and we will add it for you).

The Depot is a JISC-funded service which enables all UK academics to share in the benefits of open access exposure for their research outputs. The Depot offers an automatic re-direct service, nicknamed UK Repository Junction, to ensure that users who have an existing Institutional Repository

(IR) are directed to that local service. Those researchers at institutions that do not currently have an Institutional Repository can deposit their research outputs directly into the Depot.

For further information please see:

http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/help/using/depot.htm

If you have any enquires, please contact helpline@jiscmail.ac.uk