4oD

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That's texting-talk for (Channel) 4 on Demand...
4oD is Channel 4's new video on demand service. This has been around for a few months now, but now it just got bigger & better. Or so they say:

You may have noticed there's been some changes to make 4oD even better. From now on, you can catch up on most of the last week's TV for free, with around 80 hours of new shows available to watch online every week. From Hollyoaks to Wedding Belles and, coming soon, brand new Peep Show, there will always be top free TV on 4oD. We're also introducing a brand new 'Watch now' option so you can watch any free catch-up programmes online as soon as they're made available.

Sorry. Only available in the UK & Eire.

http://www.channel4.com/4od/

Teaching Electronics

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Are you teaching electronics in FE? Or anywhere else for that matter?
Look no further.
Electronics Education is the schools journal of the Institution of Engineering and Technology. Published termly, in September, January and April, it is sent free to all UK secondary schools - to the science and technology departments - and teachers' training colleges and many educational organisations.
And it's a free download. (We like free).

http://www.iee.org/Educareers/Schools/elec_ed.cfm

ETNA erupts!

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The new ETNA report has just been published by the Scottish JISC RSCs.

ETNA (Electronic Training Needs Analysis) was aimed at gathering information on the ICT training needs of all staff in FE colleges and the results will assist the RSCs and other agencies in planning relevant training programmes for FE, by mapping training to identified needs.

You can now download a copy of ETNA (Electronic Training Needs Analysis) of Further Education in Scotland from the following link (PDF document 2.93MB):

http://www.rsc-ne-scotland.ac.uk/etna/reports/ETNA_Report_Vol3.pdf

For followers of management gurus

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If you're pursuing a management diploma, have a look at the Value-Based Management website.
I have to say that I find this site mind-numbingly, well, mind-numbing.
However if you're interested in management theories, schools of thought &, for the want of a better phrase, management gurus, then this site is for you.
Personal reservations aside, the site's explanations of the various topics seem succinct &, unlike a lot of other management sites, they don't ram Buy-This-Book-From-Amazon down your throat.

http://www.valuebasedmanagement.net/

Source: Tips & Advice Internet, Vol. 11, Issue 6.

The Treaty of Rome at 50

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Official site celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Treaty of Rome (1957), which established the European Economic Community (EEC, now the EU). Features historical background and photos about the EU, basic facts, and a calendar of events in 2007 for anniversary celebrations (such as exhibitions, dance and theater performances, sporting events, conferences, and more). Available in several languages. From the European Union (EU).

Of course the UK turned up late.

http://europa.eu/50/index_en.htm

Source: Librarian's Internet Index, 22 March

The death of the book (again)

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Interesting article by Victor Keegan in today's Guardian Technology section. He suggests that, far from the internet destroying our quaintly old-fashioned bibliocentric world, it has actually done much to proselytise the book - Amazon, Abebooks, Project Gutenberg, et al.
Highest praise is reserved for LibraryThing (http://www.librarything.com), a social networking book-site. We're just beginning to explore the potential of LibraryThing (see new additions to stock in the right hand panel). We'll keep you posted.

http://technology.guardian.co.uk/weekly/story/0,,2039256,00.html

Source: Guardian Technology, 22 March.

I'm sorry I haven't a clue...

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Have pity on your poor over-stretched Athens administrator. Logging on to Athens admin to change your forgotten password every week ain't a lot of laughs.
Solution at hand.
Remember that flash drive / memory stick (call it what you will) you got for Christmas that you only use to bore colleagues with your family / holiday photos (This is Adam, you remember Adam, my genius grandson, killing hummingbirds in our St. Kitts villa)? Why not use it a bit more productively and protect your internet security at the same time.
Keepass. They say:
Today you need to remember many passwords. You need a password for the Windows network logon, your e-mail account, your homepage's ftp password, online passwords (like CodeProject member account), etc. etc. etc. The list is endless. Also, you should use different passwords for each account. Because if you use only one password everywhere and someone gets this password you have a problem... A serious problem. Th.e thief would have access to your e-mail account, homepage, etc. Unimaginable.
Portable version fits on your memory stick. Open Source so a free download. Whatcha waitin' for? Then you'll leave it on the dressing table, then call your Athens administrator.

http://keepass.info/

Say hello to EduSpaces

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ELGG, the social networking space for education already mentioned in these pages has become EduSpaces. Change your bookmarks accordingly. Web address stays the same.

http://elgg.net/

Podcast Recording And Editing Tools: A Mini-Guide

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In this mini-guide, online media expert, Robin Good, has picked the most popular tools (both software and web-based) that allow anyone interested in experimenting with podcast production to record and edit audio files as easily as possible.

Discover podcasting @ http://tinyurl.com/2hepjn

Source: JISC RSC Scotland S&W

Just another piece of Maths software?

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Well, no.
That Quiz is a free online resource for maths practice and testing which has activities for all grades of students & teachers.
What singles it out from the herd is "The most complete math test resource on the web today with over 400,000 graded exams to date and over 50,000 participating students. What we believe in: Clean, quality, easily accessible, educational software for every school and child regardless of geographic location or economic class. What we don't believe in: Games, advertising, fees, spam or gimmicks. ThatQuiz is free for educational use."

http://www.thatquiz.com/

Source: JISC RSC Scotland S&W

Dictionary of Scottish Architects

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The Dictionary of Scottish Architects is a new online resource that provides biographical information and job lists for all architects known to have worked in Scotland during the period 1840-1940. No other country in Europe can boast such a historical database of its architects to which the public is allowed online access. The new dictionary caters for many different users, from planning officers and architectural historians, to family historians and genealogists, as well as home-owners wanting information about the buildings they live in. The database, now preserved through AHDS Visual Arts, is freely available to anyone with internet access. For more information and to access the database visit:

http://www.vads.ahds.ac.uk/collections/DSA.html

Source: JISC RSC Scotland S&W

New "Best of the Web" booklets from Intute

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This month sees the publication of nine new "best of the web" booklets from Intute, outlining key resources in specific subject areas including animal health, environmental engineering, social welfare and the visual arts. Print copies are currently being distributed to UK universities and colleges. Electronic versions are also freely available from the support materials section of Intute at http://www.intute.ac.uk/support.html.
Individual titles (in Acrobat .pdf) which should be of interest (if you take this seriously) include:

Source: JISC RSC Scotland S&W

Planning and Designing Technology-Rich Learning Spaces

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Of no interest? Leave now!
This is a new infokit from the JISC infoNet:
Learning space design and development is becoming a hot topic as our colleges and universities seek to provide 21st century learning facilities, and technology has a vital role to play in this. Significant amounts of funding are being invested both by the funding bodies and by institutions investing hard-earned surpluses in their estates.
Where there is money there is bound to be activity and excitement. The current levels of investment provide the first opportunity for many years for the sector to not only upgrade its building stock but also to engage nationally and internationally with others in the sector, in other phases of education, and in the workplace about what types of learning spaces 21st century learners need, what we know works, and what we think might work better.
The JISC publication
Designing Spaces for Effective Learning (March 2006) reported on some of the projects taking place in FE and HE and provides useful guidance for those involved in developing new learning spaces. The Scottish Funding Council has also published Spaces for Learning. These reports have provided a sound basis for the continuing exploration by FE and HE institutions of new possibilities for learning space provision.

http://www.jiscinfonet.ac.uk/infokits/learning-space-design

Five weeks to a social library

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I'd forgotten about this one until reminded by Marylaine Block's Neat New Stuff Newsletter. Must do something about following it up sometime when the badgers abate.

Five Weeks to a Social Library is the first free, grassroots, completely online course devoted to teaching librarians about social software and how to use it in their libraries. It was developed to provide a free, comprehensive, and social online learning opportunity for librarians who do not otherwise have access to conferences or continuing education and who would benefit greatly from learning about social software.

http://www.sociallibraries.com/course/

Did I mention that it's free?

St. Pat's

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For those with a penchant for that old Celtic Twilight & the Magner's (once Guinness') diaspora...

The St. Patrick's Day pages of Irish Abroad offers information about this March 17 holiday celebrated in honour of the patron saint of Ireland. Features background about St. Patrick, a listing of parades and events throughout the world, a listing of Irish pubs, and an Irish quiz. Also includes links to Irish toasts and Irish slang. Some material is only available to members.

Slainte!

http://www.irishabroad.com/stpatrick/

Source: Librarians' Index to the Internet

Ethical Traveller

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Nice site for our T&T buddies & their ecotourism module.

Ethical Traveler is the first grass-roots alliance uniting adventurers, tourists, travel agencies, and outfitters — everyone who loves to travel, and sees travel as a positive force in the world. We feel that all travelers are, in effect, freelance ambassadors. We also believe that we have the ability to join our voices, and to use our economic power to strengthen human rights and protect the environment.

Morover, it's a site for anyone who gives a damn...

http://www.ethicaltraveler.org/

My Athens, My iPod

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Attention all Athens users with a venal streak!
Eduserv are offering a free 4Gb iPod Nano to one lucky person who completes their simple, online, 5 question survey at the MyAthens site.
QuikLink on the right hand menu.
Worth a go!

MySpace for engineers & scientists

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i-spark.org is a communty of engineers and scientists looking to share knowledge and experience to help each other reach their career goals. It is free to use and users can join at any stage of their career.
How do you use it?
If you are looking for career advice, you can register as a Mentee and search for Mentors who have experience in a position or area of work you wish to get involved in. You can then ask them to share their experience and give you advice to help you reach that goal.
If you would like to share your experiences and advice with other members you can register as a Mentor. Mentees can then see your profile and contact you for advice if you have experience they would like to learn from.

http://i-spark.org/

Source: Guardian Technology Newsbytes, March 16

eLearning design includes librarians!

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Online Education & Training is an online course offered by the Institute of Education, University of London and is run globally as a forum for rich structured collaborative learning with UK and world-wide educators. They suugest that this course might be useful for academics and related staff who may be part of e-learning design teams, e.g. librarians.
The course uses multimedia materials and platforms to consider different methods of teaching and syllabus design, closely tied to educational needs of the campus as well as distance use. This gives a real insight into the needs of e-learning provision from the student point of view.
The course deals with general issues of teaching online with regular practical tasks, and has a choice of optional topics on using the internet to enhance internet teaching. These are expected to include:
  • online discourse and moderating;
  • computer-based assessment;
  • mobile technologies;
  • real-time teaching with CHAT or video-conferencing and whiteboards;
  • blogging and podcasting.
The next start is 13 May 2007. Cost is £499.00.

http://www.ioe.ac.uk/english/OET.htm

An Inquiry Into The Nature & Causes of the Wealth of Nations

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I would suspect that this small but erudite readership will have read all five volumes of The Wealth of Nations (or to give it its full title An Inquiry Into The Nature & Causes of the Wealth of Nations) and that Adam Smith, newly enshrined on the new Bank of England £20 note, needs no introduction. This is for the rest of the world.

Articles from Britannica Online Academic Edition:
Adam Smith
The Wealth of Nations

Current TV

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Al Gore launched Current TV in the US of A in 2005. Today sees the launch of the UK & Ireland version of the service. Available to view on Sky (boo!) & Virgin TV (boo!) it also has an internet presence. Their blurb goes something like this:

Current is about what's going on: stories from the real world, told by you.
We slice our
schedule
into short segments that we call "pods" — each just a few minutes long. You'll see profiles of interesting people on the rise, intelligence on trends as they spring up around us, and international news from new perspectives.
And much of it comes straight from you.
We call it viewer-created content, or VC2. Right now, VC2 makes up about a third of our channel — and that share is growing.


If I can put aside my reservations about allowing the great British public another medium for their execrable videos, so far so good. On the other hand, the training package for producing content looks very good. Watch this space.

http://uk.current.tv/

Is Al Gore not in danger of becoming the US version of Denis Healey, i.e. the best president / prime minister we never had? Or was that George McGovern?

Internet Explorer 7

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Since Bill Gates (allegedly) broke into the college some weeks ago & whacked IE7 onto our PCs, there have been a lot of complaints about, well, the change. If you've been using Firefox, the changes are very welcome in that a lot has been "copied" from Firefox. However if you want a wee bit more Firefox-type functionality, try the following sites which provide (free) IE7 extensions. Yeah, extensions. We'll be getting themes next...

IE7 Pro
http://www.ie7pro.com/

IE Spell
http://www.iespell.com/

Microsoft (some free stuff)
http://www.windowsmarketplace.com/category.aspx?bcatid=834&tabid=1/default.aspx

International Women's Day 2007

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As if you needed reminding, today is International Women's Day. Check out the website for global & local events & full information.

http://www.internationalwomensday.com/

What is Web 2.0?

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Just when you were getting to grips with the notion of Web 1.0 (was there a web 1.0 or was it just like Rocky?) the JISC Techwatch has just published (February 2007) a new report on the subject of Web 2.0.

Within 15 years the Web has grown from a group work tool for scientists at CERN into a global information space with more than a billion users. Currently, it is both returning to its roots as a read/write tool and also entering a new, more social and participatory phase. These trends have led to a feeling that the Web is entering a ‘second phase’—a new, ‘improved’ Web version 2.0. But how justified is this perception?

Hopefully this report will shed some light on this.
http://www.jisc.ac.uk/whatwedo/services/services_techwatch/techwatch/techwatch_ic_reports2005_published.aspx

Source: JISC RSC Scotland

MetaGlossary

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MetaGlossary is an online dictionary designed to surpass traditional dictionaries, which grow more out of date with each passing day. MetaGlossary is as dynamic as the web, offering the most current information out there on the most contemporary topics. MetaGlossary is able to precisely extract the meanings of terms and phrases from the often frustratingly unmanageable mass of information on the web, supplying concise, direct explanations for terms and phrases. Look it up at:
http://www.MetaGlossary.com/

Source: JISC RSC Scotland

Fantastic Mr. Fox

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Glad to see that, according to the Sunday Herald Magazine anyway, The Folk Revival is back with us again. What next? Richard Thompson supporting Seth Lakeman?
Anyway, let's not be niggardly.
The Unbroken Circle is a website which purports to champion wyrd folk or, as it puts it, an evolution of arcane traditional music. And very rewarding it is too, even if buying those Trees & Renaissance albums you meant to buy in 1972 is going to cost a fortune.
One point: I suspect that a young Gary Moore was a session guitarist on 2 Dr. Strangely Strange albums rather than a full member of the band.

The Unbroken Circle is at http://www.theunbrokencircle.co.uk/, the (very excellent) Mr. Fox profile at http://www.theunbrokencircle.co.uk/artist_profile_mrfox.htm

Well, you did ask...

MIT OpenCourseWare

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I'm afraid that I've been punting this one for a long time now. No apologies for doing so again. This is seriously good stuff. (Academic speak).

From its beginnings in 2001, this radical initiative from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) now has over 1800 courses freely available online forming a free and open educational resource for educators, students, and self-learners around the world. The eventual aim of the programme is to publish virtually all of MIT’s undergraduate and graduate courses by the end of 2008.
For more information and courses visit: http://ocw.mit.edu/index.html

Source: JISC RSC Scotland

Scottish Funding Council study of ‘e-Activity’

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The Scottish Funding Council has commissioned Sero Consulting to conduct a ‘Baseline Study of e-Activity’ in Scotland’s colleges. The study concerns the elements necessary to bring e-enabled learning to maturity in mainstream college activity. The research is currently underway and you are requested to play your part through answering some straightforward questions at www.sero.co.uk/sfc.html.
The questions apply to you if you are a lecturer, an online mentor, a content developer, a member of LRC staff, an IT services technician, a student records administrator………in fact anyone who has a practical involvement in making online learning happen.

The first 50 respondents will receive a £10 Amazon voucher from Sero direct to their email account – unless they request a charity donation of £10 be made to World Vision (
https://www.worldvision.org.uk/).

Source: JISC RSC Scotland S&W

International Journal of Scottish Literature

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I missed this when it was first published last year. Looks interesting however & it is published by the Association for Scottish Literary Studies & the Scottish Arts Council.
They say: The International Journal of Scottish Literature is a peer-reviewed online journal which aims to develop and circulate international perspectives on Scottish writing.

http://www.ijsl.stir.ac.uk/

Other usual materials from the ASLS you might not be aware of are:

Source: Intuition

World Book Day 2007

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In the absence of a WBD quiz this year...

If you have Sky or cable, Teachers' TV are broadcasting 2 programmes about Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy at 9.00 & 10.00 p.m. GMT tonight - that's 2100 & 2200 in new money.

And if our neo-con chums in the US of A couldn't handle Mr. Harry Potter, they're going to have a hell of a time with this when it hits the silver screen. Of course they've already changed the name of the first film. Smacks of Philosopher's / Sorceror's? What a wizard wheeze, God bless 'em.

If, like me, you've only access to Freeview or some other flavour of "council telly", the programmes will be available to stream shortly after transmission. Registered educational-type establishments can also download the programmes in MediaPlayer or Quicktime formats.

http://www.teachers.tv/video/18830