Hi all

Although a great many people have had no difficulty in downloading
application packs from the ILT website, we still have a significant number
of people who contact us because they have problems.

This message explains the thinking behind the current process, and requests
your help in suggesting ways in which we might make the process easier.

The application forms we have placed on the website are designed to meet a
number of needs. For those who simply want to print out the forms and either
photocopy them for colleagues or fill them in by hand we have provided the
forms in Portable Document Format (PDF). However, many applicants wish to
type directly into the forms. In designing the forms we are faced with
several obstacles. The first, and one which we have decided to live with as
a consequence of providing an editable form, is the possibility of someone
altering the text of the questions in the form (it has happened!). Secondly,
if we only provide the form in Word97 format, anyone using a different word
processor will be unable to use the form, while other formats such as Rich
Text Format (RTF) or plain text may not contain all the formatting of the
original document which some people find unsatisfactory. Lastly, typing into
any document may alter the pagination or other aspects of the original
document. We have tried to overcome these problems by providing the forms in
several alternative formats.

We have also had some difficulty in deciding how best to present the forms
on the website. At the moment they are provided in two possible formats, as
a single zip file and as a single self-extracting zip file. Placing all the
documents in a zip file serves two purposes - firstly it enables the files
to be sorted into folders, and secondly it compresses the files so that they
can be downloaded more quickly (an important factor if you are using a
dialup connection to the internet). It also has the added advantage that it
forces the web browser to download the files rather than open them. The self
extracting zip file is there for individuals who are unable to use an unzip
program such as winzip or pkunzip. However the self-extracting zip only
works on Windows operating systems, so we still have to provide the ordinary
zip file.

Some of the problems people encounter are beyond our control. For example,
some people's institutions may have a policy that prevents some types of
files from being downloaded and run in case they contain viruses (the files,
not the institutions). Secondly, some people don't make a note of where they
have saved a file when they download it. We have tried to provide some
technical help on our website with downloading files and using and obtaining
programs such as winzip and Adobe Acrobat. We would hope that where people
encounter problems their first port of call would be their own institution's
technical support staff. For people who have successfully downloaded the
pack and know where they've saved it, the most common problem is that people
try to load the downloaded file into Word from within Word before
'unpacking' it. 

So, how do we impove on the current system?


-------------------------------------------------
Paul Wicks BSc(Hons), PGCE, MA
publications officer
direct line: 01904 434228
email: [log in to unmask]


The Institute for Learning and Teaching and
The Learning and Teaching Support Network
can both be contacted at the following address:

Genesis 3
Innovation Way
York Science Park
Heslington
YORK
YO10 5DQ

ILT
tel: +44 (0)1904 434222
fax: +44 (0)1904 434241
email: [log in to unmask]
URL: www.ilt.ac.uk

LTSN
tel: +44 (0) 1904 434249
fax: +44 (0) 1904 434247
email: [log in to unmask]
URL: www.ltsn.ac.uk

The ILT is registered in England and Wales as a company limited by guarantee, No. 3690298
Registered office: 100 Fetter Lane, London EC4A 1BN
Registered in England and Wales as a charity, No. 1075374

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