Who ate all the pie?

3rd/4th December, Bolton
As a reward for my concerted efforts at a two-day event on the Student Learning Experience , I got to stay in a very posh hotel (the Reebok) and find out what a £20 steak pie tastes like. Disappointingly, it turned out to be pretty much the same as a £5 one, but was probably placed on the nice plate very carefully and with much pride. After all, how else could they justify £20 for a pie in Bolton?

Other than sampling the culinary delights of the North West, delegates from a diverse range of institutions (e.g. HEA Subject Centres, JISC RSCs, FECs, HEIs and a LLN) discussed student expectations, experiences and encounters with higher education, challenges and priorities for the HE sector in using technology by:

• considering the effectiveness of resources which have been developed to support the student learning experience,
• considering how to improve access to and take up of resources for a range of stakeholders,
  identify additional developments/support that may be required to support the student ‘life cycle’,
• exploring how organisations might collaborate further to enhance support for the HE student learning experience.

HE in FE Think Tank - Norwich

I was asked last month to help convene a ‘think-tank’ to seek the views of those with recognised expertise in the field of HE in FE on how best to support HE in FE practitioners in their use of technology to enhance learning, teaching and assessment as part of a collaboration between the Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC) and the Higher Education Academy.

It was held at City College Norwich using HE in FE Research Centre as host venue & local RSC invited some college practitioners with the aims:

1. to consider the effectiveness of resources which have been developed to support academic staff in their use of technology to enhance learning, teaching and assessment, by the two organisations (including the Academy Subject Centre Network, JISC Services and Regional Support Centres)


2. to consider how to improve access to and take up of resources,


3. to identify additional developments/support that may be required by HE in FE practitioners


4. to explore how the two organisations might collaborate further to enhance the provision of HE in FE.

11 of us, including representatives from SURF, Netskills, CETIS assembled for dinner the night before, and 18 of us met in CCN's bespoke Business Development Centre for 8 hours to present on, and debate/discuss the aims above.

The HEA will be publishing the outcomes of the day as part of their collaboration project with JISC early next month.

JISC Annual Conference, Birmingham

More than 700 delegates (from colleges, HEIs, educational developers etc), a range of speakers, presentations, demonstrations, workshops and more than 50 stands in the exhibition hall.
Professor Sir Ron Cooke, Chair of JISC opened the conference, and Lord Puttnam of Queensgate and Angela Beesley, Chair of the Wikimedia Foundation, were the keynote speakers.
Among the subjects under discussion: the benefits of e-learning; the Google Generation report; identity management; student experiences of ICT; virtual research environments, and much more. In addition, the winner and shortlisted entries for the JISC/Times Higher 2007 Award for 'Outstanding ICT Initiative' showcased their work.
Other notable highlights of the day:
* The inaugural JISC infoNet Innovation in Records & Information Management Awards presented by Lord Puttnam
* Launch of a range of e-learning publications, including briefing papers, and case studies on the DEL regional pilots
* Launch of two new resources from JISC TechDis - an online database of accessibility information for UK publishers and guidance for librarians and learning support staff on alternative formats
* Launch of the 'Tangible Benefits of e-Learning' publication by JISC infoNet
* The 'digital library zone', an area dedicated to digital resources reflecting the changing role of the library in a modern academic environment,
* An open source demo stand supported by OSS Watch, showcasing a range of innovative open source applications
* Launch of - 'Libraries of the Future' - which attempts to initiate a debate about the future of the academic library.
* No mention of "Second Life" anywhere - has the bubble burst?
Managed to convince/cajole/bribe 10 attendees for my HE in FE "Think-tank" in Norwich on May 21st - if interested, ask me!