Association for Learning Technology
Fortnightly news Digest 275 issued on 31 May 2013

Please submit items for the ALT Fortnightly Digest, including job vacancies, via the form at http://goo.gl/LlJ3y. 

The deadline for the next issue of the Digest is 12.00 on Wednesday 12 June for the Digest to be issued on Friday 14 June 2013. 


Key links: http://www.alt.ac.uk/key-links


Table of Contents
1. ALT news
2. ALT events
3. News
4. Other events
5. Calls for proposals
6. Funding calls
7. Open Educational Resources
8. Job vacancies 
9. Courses
10. ALT Online Newsletter - links to articles from the latest Issue 
11. Current articles the ALT Journal - Research in Learning Technology 


1. ALT News

1.1 AGM calling notice and nomination forms for election as Vice-Chair or a Trustee of ALT
The closing date for nominations for election as the Vice-Chair or a Trustee of ALT is 5pm on Friday 7 June 2013. The AGM will take place on 11 September, and the deadline for submitting any resolutions for consideration at the AGM is Friday 26 July 2013.
http://goo.gl/LvpFT

1.2 New Organisational Members of ALT
We warmly welcome Education for Health and National Numeracy as new Organisational Members of ALT.
http://www.educationforhealth.org/
www.nationalnumeracy.org.uk

1.3 Robin Mason Fellowships
ALT has set up a fund to commemorate Robin Mason’s life. The purpose of the fellowship fund is to support researchers who cannot otherwise come to the annual conference. You can now contribute to the fund at
http://www.alt.ac.uk/robinmasonfellowships

1.4 Any employee of an ALT member organisation is entitled to join ALT individually at no cost as an Associate Member. You can do this in seconds from http://goo.gl/fOCYC


2. ALT events

2.1 New ALT Regional Sig - North West England Group, Liverpool John Moores University, 5 June 2013
ALT supports informal networks in local areas for example the White Rose and the M25 Learning Technology groups. We propose to launch a similar group primarily covering Lancashire, Cumbria and Cheshire. The meeting will set an agenda for the group and prepare for a formal application for a NW area Sig. Please notify us of your interest, even if you cannot attend the first meeting.
If anyone would like to know more about the proposed group, please contact Alex Spiers: [log in to unmask] or Chris Jones: [log in to unmask] 

2.2 Find out about CMALT, 11 June 2013, 12:30-13:30 BST
This ALT webinar will give participants a chance to find out about CMALT, a peer-based accreditation scheme for teaching and technical staff who use technology.
http://goo.gl/GlHWv]

2.3 CMALT Webinar for Candidates, 13 June 2013, 12:30-13:30 BST
The session is designed to provide information and support to candidates looking to complete their portfolios in the next few months.
http://goo.gl/vX6JZ

2.4 ALT Scotland Meeting, Glasgow Caledonian University, 20 June 2013
The focus will be on open education and what it means for our practice in Scottish institutions. Topics will include Edinburgh University’s experience of Coursera (Christine Sinclair), a look at Open Badges (Grainne Hamilton), designing the ocTEL platform (Martin Hawksey) and an update from the SQA (Joe Wilson). There will also be plenty of time to network and catch up on the latest developments.
http://goo.gl/soE8B

2.5 Developing Digital Literacies pre-conference webinar, 30 August 2013, 12:30-13:30 BST
Digital literacy is an idea whose time seems to have come, judging from the number of projects and institutional strategies under development and from the language of governments, the media and social analysts. But how has 'digital literacy' shifted thinking about learning technology, and what has actually changed as a result? This webinar will look at some of the long-term trends behind the digital literacies agenda, with reference to outcomes from the JISC Developing Digital Literacies programme and beyond. It is also an opportunity to tune up for debates at altc2013, where digital literacy issues will be prominent in themes such as 'it's all about the learner', 'in the open' and 'global learning cultures'.
http://goo.gl/Vbp6b

2.6 altc2013 Building new cultures of learning
The 20th annual conference of the Association for Learning Technology will be held at the University of Nottingham, 10-12 September 2013.
More information is at http://goo.gl/TOiAk


3. News

3.1 OER14 Organising Committee – Call for Members
Following a highly successful OER13 conference we are delighted to have the continued support of ALT to deliver OER14. We would greatly appreciate it if you would consider joining the OER14 organising committee. Typical activities include supporting decision making, reviewing website and documentation, reviewing abstracts, editorial of papers, note taking at meetings, conference activities, etc. The work is unremunerated but you will earn our undying gratitude. Most meetings are virtual (using Adobe Connect) approximately once a month. Our first task in the first meeting will be to firm up the name, themes, URL, venue and date/s.
To sign up to the organising committee of OER14 please join [log in to unmask] at http://bit.ly/ZllGUJ
Or email Megan at [log in to unmask] 

3.2 Analytics in UK Further and Higher Education Survey
Over the past few months, we at Cetis have been involved in a number of analytics related activities, most notably our Analytics Series of papers and case studies. Although we know there are pockets of really exciting developments here in the UK, we are keen to find out more about what is actually happening in our universities and colleges. To do this, we have set up a survey with 12 questions, and we'd really appreciate if you could take 10 minutes or so to give us your feedback. Survey open until June 16th:
http://bit.ly/analyticssurvey

3.3 Jisc Legal Launches BYOD Toolkit
Jisc Legal has published a BYOD toolkit in response to the rise in learners and employees using their personal computing devices (typically smart phone and tablets) in the work and learning environment. The toolkit is useful to colleges and universities in assessing their own risk position and it highlights the differing levels of legal risk depending on whether it is staff or student BYOD. It also provides a BYOD policy template which is intended to help colleges write an effective policy that states what their approach is to the use of personally owned devices.
http://jiscleg.al/BYODToolkit

3.4 Online Learning and MOOCs
Jisc infoNet has recently launched two new topics on Online Learning and MOOCs.  There has been something of a resurgence of interest in these areas, driven by a renewed policy emphasis and by uncritical press coverage of the growth of the MOOC sector.
http://bit.ly/infonet-online-learning

3.5 e-Safety
Staying safe online is a major factor in the increasingly complex environment of online delivery. In collaboration with a range of Jisc’s services, Jisc infoNet are pleased to announce the launch of a new resource on e-Safety. It’s aimed at UK higher education, further education and skills and focuses on helping your organisation, staff and students to understand their online responsibilities.
http://bit.ly/infonet-e-safety

3.6 National Student Change Agent Network
Jisc has funded a project to create a network to support student change agents and those staff working with them, and help share resources and approaches which have been successful. The network has now established a community website. On this site you will find links to resources, national projects involving students as well as hints and tips for successfully delivering sustainable change. Importantly, join the forums!
http://www.hei-flyers.org


4. Events

4.1 New webinars from the Jisc Assessment and Feedback series
We're pleased to announce three new webinars focusing on strategic approaches to change in assessment and feedback, feed-forward approaches for enhancing assessment and feedback and analysis of feedback.  They are open to all and free to attend with registration required.
http://bit.ly/jiscafwebinars

4.2 Teaching online courses
This is the first in a series of three courses, which together will help you prepare for planning and teaching online courses. It is highly participative and is designed around frequent opportunities for participants to practice and receive feedback on their developing skills as an online tutor.
http://goo.gl/stHsp

4.3 WebPA Event, Edinburgh, 03 June
The event is free to attend and lunch will provided. Includes sessions on Practitioner Reflections on WebPA, Experiences of using WebPA – practicalities and issues, and The benefits of LTI-enabled WebPA. To register please visit:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1gcSgPJvX2yGJfFjLaZxGYtF1rdpjUs4crgsy_EbxZ4k/viewform

4.4 Changing the Learning Landscape (Webinar): An introduction to Intellectual Property Rights for those engaging with Open Practice, 03 June, 14:00 BST
A central question from participants at the CLL workshops remains Intellectual Property Rights (IPR). Many participants were unsure about the legal standing of sharing and using materials. Jisc has produced a number of resources to support IPR issues. Here, Alex Fenlon, an expert in IPR at the HEA will be giving a talk covering the basics of IPR related to OERs and OP.
http://goo.gl/pgriv

4.5 Maths4us show case event, Congress House, London, 17 June
Action on Adult Maths is a NIACE-led initiative to raise awareness of the role, value and importance of maths for adults. We have brought together a range of partners to support maths learning and develop a range of approaches, resources and training. This conference aims to showcase the recent work carried out by our partners to promote, encourage and develop maths learning for adults.
http://bit.ly/12ghPLY

4.6 Academic Practice and Technology (APT) Conference, 02 July
Booking is now open for APT2013. Sponsored by Jisc and HEA, the eleventh annual conference, entitled ‘Next Generation Learning Places and Work Spaces’ takes place on 2nd July 2013. You can find out more by following #aptnextgen.
http://goo.gl/wQwSY

4.7 Lecture capture workshop at Loughborough University on 03 July
Pedagogy, policy and support: taking lecture capture and screencasting to the next level. This event is intended for academics, learning technologists, IT staff, and A/V managers with an interest in the use of lecture capture and screencasting. The programme will feature keynote presentations and workshop sessions. The workshops are divided into 2 strands: (a) Pedagogy and Policy; and (b) Support. The latter will feature how-to sessions covering different platforms.
http://goo.gl/KkQQ9

4.8 Pervasive Learning Activity workshop, HEA / University of Leicester, 11 July
Pervasive Learning Activities (PLAs) are drawn from online alternate reality games and experiential learning, with the aim of developing detailed learning contexts within a course. Two Enterprise courses at the University of Portsmouth and the University of Leeds have already used this approach to great effect, showing very high levels of student engagement and development.
The workshop will outline this approach, involve participants in a live sample of a PLA, and then provide training to create your own PLAs within your own subject contexts.
http://goo.gl/Zrx4J

4.9 European MOOCs and Libraries Conference, London, 12 July
This one day event hosted by the Open University Library in partnership with OCLC Research  and Jisc will focus on the challenges MOOCs pose to the traditional delivery of library services, and the opportunities they offer for libraries to rethink and revitalise their proposition. Participants will be brought up to speed with the latest MOOC developments around the world, but with a particular emphasis on developments in the UK. Speakers will share their experience of or thoughts about the impact MOOCs are having on library services across many sectors, on publishers, and on the higher education landscape.
http://goo.gl/ayHdz

4.10 Pedare 2013, Falmouth University, 12 September
Expanding Horizons of Teaching and Learning; Developing New and Innovative Practices
The theme will be the impact of the changing HE environment on current practice in arts-based subjects. The conference will be experiential, interactive and participatory (so not a traditional research conference) and the audience will be comprised of academics, practitioners and education specialists from around the world.
http://goo.gl/fJjiD

4.11 European Immersive Education Summit in London, 28-29 November
The invited keynote presenters for the forthcoming European Immersive Education Summit have been announced. The summit will take place at King's College London on 28th-29th November 2013. For further information see the summit website at: http://goo.gl/un35c

4.12 New: MSc Learning Innovation, University of Leicester
Launched by our Institute of Learning Innovation (formerly Beyond Distance Research Alliance) in collaboration with the School of Education, the MSc Learning Innovation starts in October 2013 and will be delivered by supported distance learning.
For full details of the course and its modules: http://goo.gl/2mxcR
For further information, contact Dr Palitha Edirisingha: [log in to unmask]


5. Calls for proposals

5.1 Call for papers and presentation proposals: 2014 International HETL Conference, Anchorage, 8-10 June 2014
Deadline for submission: 26 July 2013
The International Higher Education Teaching and Learning Association (HETL) invites you to submit a proposal for a presentation at its 2014 International HETL Conference, to be held in Anchorage, in partnership with the University of Alaska Anchorage, June 8-10, 2014. Proposals are solicited on all topics related to higher education including those involving new technologies and globalization related issues. Both scholarly and practice reports are invited. Proposals are especially favoured on the conference theme: Impacts of Social and Mobile Media on Higher Education.
http://goo.gl/ALCAi

5.2 Conference: iPads in Higher Education, Paphos, 20-22 March 2014
Deadline for submission of abstracts: 8 June
IHE is the world’s first international research conference about iPad use in Higher Education (HE). You are invited to join scholars, learning technologists and practitioners from across the globe to share insights into teaching practice and student learning in an interdisciplinary and collaborative interchange of experience. The conference seeks to provide a common forum for the varied forms of research on the use of iPads HE, and to explore innovative models of learning using the iPad.
http://ipadsinhe.org/


6. Funding calls

None this issue


7. Open Educational Resources

7.1 European TEL Thesaurus and dictionary
A group of European leaders in TEL, led by Nicolas Balacheff, is putting together an open access Thesaurus and Dictionary of TEL, in multiple languages, as a service to the community. Nicolas is looking for further entries to be written on e.g.: Pervasive Learning, Augmented Reality Learning, Handheld Learning, Blended Learning and would be happy to have offers of further topics that are not in the list. A Thesaurus entry is short (one page) in a structured format, and you will be credited as editor of that entry. 
Contact Nicolas Balacheff: [log in to unmask] 
www.tel-thesaurus.net/wiki/

7.2 CETIS Analytics Series
The CETIS Analytics Series explores a number of key issues around the potential strategic advantages and insights which the increased attention on, and use of, analytics is bringing to the education sector.
For more information: http://goo.gl/gwmZ2


8. Jobs

8.1 Learning and Development, Great Ormond Street Hospital
Learning Technologist
271-HR-0036
£22,688 - £26,158
Permanent, Full time
Closing date: 04 June
http://goo.gl/kW5kW

8.2 Aston University
Lecturer in Technology Enhanced and Flexible Learning
R130143
£37,382 to £44,607 per annum
Fixed Term, Full Time
Closing date: 21 June
Informal enquiries to: [log in to unmask]
http://goo.gl/FhGGk

8.3 There is a regular supply of mainly US jobs in the learning
technology field at http://www.salt.org/salt.asp?ss=l&pn=joblistall,
with a helpful RSS feed at http://www.salt.org/Weblink/SaltJobs.rss.


10. ALT Online Newsletter

The newsletter website is at: http://newsletter.alt.ac.uk/

Latest Articles

Article – “Chief Executive’s Report” by Maren Deepwell
http://goo.gl/NwvdT

Article – “A week in the life of… Adam Cooper, JISC CETIS”
http://goo.gl/OgctT

Article – “SIG Update: Games and Learning Special Interest Group”
http://goo.gl/zGQTC

Article – “Engaging University Classes in Online Intercultural Exchange: The INTENT Project” by Robert O’Dowd
http://goo.gl/KA9tI

Article – “ALT-C 2012: A confrontation with reality”
http://goo.gl/sIzo4

Article – “Free Cloud LMS: Opportunity, Threat or Irrelevance?” by Kris Roger
http://goo.gl/SJAOS


11. Current articles from our peer-reviewed Open Access journal Research in Learning Technology

The journal website is at: http://www.researchinlearningtechnology.net/

Latest Articles

Article – “Introducing blended learning: An experience of uncertainty for students in the United Arab Emirates”
Linzi J. Kemp
http://goo.gl/QU9KO
DOI: 10.3402/rlt.v21i0.18461

Article – “Combining the formative with the summative: the development of a twostage online test to encourage engagement and provide personal feedback in large classes”
Susanne Voelkel
http://goo.gl/47gwu
DOI: 10.3402/rlt.v21i0.19153

Article – “Is it cheating – or learning the craft of writing? Using Turnitin to help students avoid plagiarism”
Lynne Graham-Matheson, Simon Starr
http://goo.gl/MGaZz
DOI: 10.3402/rlt.v21i0.17218


----
The digest returns on 14 June 2013. All items for inclusion in the next issue should be submitted using the form at http://goo.gl/LlJ3y by 12.00 noon on Wednesday 12 June 2013. This issue was compiled by those who submitted content for it, and very lightly edited by Heather Stallard.
----
Disclaimer. Reasonable care is taken to ensure that the ALT Digest is accurate. But ALT does not vouch for the accuracy of information provided on web sites to which the digest links, and opinions expressed on those sites should not be construed to be those of ALT.