Aug
JISC have made a documentary about the future of libraries, it lasts for about 9 minutes and mentions Google a lot watch it here.
An alternative view of the future of libraries can be found in this promotional video by a library management systems provider from The Netherlands.
Aug
Hotel Park Hyatt - Dublin
On a recent visit to Dublin to see the WB Yeats exhibition at the National Library of Ireland, I noticed this new building on the canal docks. This area is undergoing a huge regeneration programme which the current economic climate will challenge. If you click on the image the link takes you to the website of the architects.
It made me think that the architecture of Dublin has changed significantly in the last 20 years yet, apart from generalist tourist guides, it is over thirty years since the publication of “A Guide to Modern Architecture in Dublin”. Perhaps it is time for a follow-up publication – sooner rather than later given the pace of change.
Aug
Teaching Quality Enhancement Fund (TQEF) 2009 – 2010
We have secured funding from the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) to enhance the teaching and learning in HEFCE funded higher education provision at the College.
I am therefore calling for bids from those of you associated with H.E. teaching and learning for action research projects for 2009 – 2010. I hope we will receive sufficient bids to run in excess of 20 projects across the College.
Each action research activity will be allocated the sum of £3,500. This may be used to fund staff timetabled hours at a notional rate of £50.00 per hour (or part time hours to pay part time staff or cover). Within this amount is included all costs for publication or any additional materials or resource to support individual projects. There will be an initial meeting of those who are successful in their bids at which aims, research titles and approaches may be shared and networks (real and virtual) established as I expect several pieces of work will be forthcoming under each priority heading. Those undertaking research projects will be expected to produce a written report and to present findings to colleagues at a dissemination event to be held at College. This event will be open to colleagues from across the institution, from partner institutions and beyond.
Under the HEFCE funding conditions, only proposals that will enhance the quality of teaching and learning in HEFCE funded provision can be considered. Themes for the 2009 – 2010 action research projects are consistent with our mission and strategic objectives namely; widening participation, employer engagement, progression and lifelong learning.
The call for action research bids is therefore under the following priority headings:
• E-learning/e-assessment in HE
• Assessment strategies
• Teaching and learning strategies specific to work-based learners
• Enhancement to peer review schemes
• Teaching and learning strategies for students progressing from the new diplomas
• Strategies to enhance learning for students for whom English is not their first language
• Identifying potential in schools
• Teaching strategies to unlock potential of non-traditional HE learners
• Unlocking potential of under represented HE learners
• Enhancing learning through social cohesion
Proposals need to specify the aim of the piece of work and how it relates to the headings above. They must also show how the work will enhance the quality of our teaching in H.E.
Aug
Yr 1 Contemporary Dance 2009 Summer Finale
After a break in posting due in the main to workload and in particular activity associated with our TDAP (Taught Degree Awarding Powers) application and the IQER (Integrated Quality Enhancement Review), blogging resumes with this update.
The VLE team are developing excellent systems and procedures to embed Moodle more efficiently across the whole college; with 23,000 students here at Bradford that is quite a challenge, but one they are certainly up to. They have moved office into the Victory Room in Grove Library – so named because it resembles, with its portholes, HMS Victory. Incidently I noticed during a recent presentation I was giving that the main porthole of the room if one stands in the traditional front of the classroom position, is lined-up exactly and gives a view of the clockface on City hall which must be .5km away. Back to the VLE team – it has recently been added to by the arrival of Gillie and now more recently Steven. As I have said before the allignment of the VLE team with the learning resources, systems and the academic library teams under learning development is a hugely important aspect of our recent successes.
The academic liaison librarians are busy developing new approaches to induction and in a wider sense the whole area of information literacy which as many of you know is dear to my heart. This will kick in early in September and reach a frenzy of activity by mid-October. Marketing materials are also being developed to tie in with this. Thanks to JISC 2,900 new E-book titles have been setup on the OPAC and are available for use.
The operational staff on all sites are undergoing training and of particular interest here is the staff development and training for those who find themselves dealing with difficult situations. This will tie in with a greater clarity of policy on a range of behavior management issues across the college.
Learning Resources Systems staff are currently very busy setting-up and installing ILT equipment across the hundreds of teaching spaces in the college. This is the culmination of a lengthy audit of software and hardware and a complex budgeting process that has sought to distribute resources as fairly as possible across all programme areas. They work against the clock as academic staff return soon and will invariably have changed their minds on various aspects.
The agenda of research activity across FE and HE continues to grow and staff are busy organising our first conference to disseminate findings from some 15 research projects that have been undertaken during the the past 12 months, the conference will be held in November.
Grove library is being refurbished – a new carpet at last also there is a new air-conditioning system being put in on level two / three. More computing facilities will follow.
To all staff busy working on the above and many other projects, I offer my thanks and appreciation for your continued committment and support.
