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For those of you who were unable to attend the Common Inspection Framework: Equality & Diversity Event (in December) the resources produced for the event, by John Dalziel, are available at http://www.rsc-northwest.ac.uk/acl/eMagArchive/RSCeMags2010_11/E_and_D/index.html .

The following two clips may also be useful in tutorials and/or awareness raising...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ciYk-UwqFKA

and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dlP9yQAK37s...

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One of a number of online scheduling services, Doodle takes the pain out of finding the right date and time for a group of people to meet and makes scheduling virtually effortless.

The basic service is a free online coordination tool which requires neither registration nor software installation.

Note: a MyDoodle account is not a requirement to use Doodle; however, MyDoodle offers a number of advantages for regular Doodle users...

• MyDoodle saves your participation and admin links in...

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How can expenditure on new technology be justified in the current financial climate?

It can if it provides a rapid return on investment and helps further education institutions to reach their goals more efficiently.

Doing even more with less whilst improving standards in education is putting senior management teams in the UK's FE Colleges to the test this year.

Read the full article at http://www.fenews.co.uk/fe-news/justifying-technology-investment-in-tough-economic-times.

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Do you have the time and resources to carry out impact assessments of your college's entire policies and practices, for all protected equality strands, before 4 April next year?

That is the massive compliance challenge facing the sector under draft regulations which would introduce specific obligations on public authorities to take action to further the new public sector single equality duty.

Read the full article, and watch the video clip at http://www.fenews.co.uk/general/fe-college...

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In the first of a new series of online 'radio' programmes – JISC on Air – they explore how digital technologies are helping universities to share reliable and consistent course information and support new students throughout the recruitment process.

Visit http://www.jisc.ac.uk/blog/jisc-on-air/ to find out more and/or listen to Episode 1: Successful Student Recruitment.

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If you are interested in finding out how much traffic a particular website is getting, or how much your website is getting, head to Visualize Traffic.

Visualize Traffic is a web service that estimates daily traffic and lets users visualize the data by comparing statistics against the population of countries. Helping users understand just how much people are visiting that website.

To use Visualize Traffic...

• enter a domain name in the large search box; and
• click the search button to...

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This video clip is a short introduction to the Equality Act 2010, presented by Trevor Phillips and Stephen Alambritis.

Can also be watched at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-mYPWIl8BTM.

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AddThis is an easy, one-stop shop for sharing tools that can help a learning provider's current and potential stakeholders, share anything to anyone, anywhere.

AddThis helps their website publishers and bloggers spread their content across the web by making it easy for learners, practitioners, administrators, managers, etc., to bookmark and share content to their favourite social destinations.

AddThis maximizes the distribution of content and traffic brought to a learning providers site...

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If you decide to add the Directgov Student Finance Widget to your website, it will allow current and future students to access a variety of relevant information and services from Directgov.

Here is the Sample Widget...

Visit http://innovate-apps.direct.gov.uk/widgets/uni/ to view and/or acquire the code to add to your website.

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Touration is an excellent service for adding a guided tour to your web presence.

Take a look at my first effort on the home page of this website http://www.acljohn.com/; by clicking on the
icon at the top of the Home Page.

The Next and Previous controls can be seen near the bottom of the screen once the tour has been opened.

All this without any scripting, just using a visual editor.

Increase user understanding by providing 'just in time' support, helping your visitors, learners, s...

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Conducting surveys is a good way for learners and practitioners to collect data.

Functional Skills practitioners could use the results for work with statistics, fractions and percentages.

MicroPoll makes it very easy to create a poll, customize it, and embed it into a blog, website, VLE etc.

To use MicroPoll...

• enter your question,
• enter answer choices, and
• enter an email address.

After completing those first three steps, users can...

• preview their poll,
• change the theme...

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With such a diverse community across the UK today, there are plenty of good reasons to make learner provider websites and portals as accessible as possible to learners and other stakeholders from outside of the UK, or for those whom English is a second language.

The new version of the Microsoft Translator tool could therefore be really useful. It's free, and it translates web pages into 30 languages!

Basically, Microsoft Translator is a little web widget that sits on your website or port...

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Micro Mobs could be...

• a good private platform for hosting a backchannel chat in your learning environment;
  
• a good platform for keeping in contact with stakeholders - learners; employers; carers; colleagues etc.

Micro Mobs is a free service that allows anyone to create their own public or private micromessaging network.

To get started users just...

• name their mob (network);
  
• pick a URL; then
  
• register for an account.
  

Note: Users can register for a Micro Mobs account or use th...

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Have you found yourself trying to explain to learners or colleagues the differences between copyright and Creative Commons licensed works?

This Sharing Creative Works video is based upon a comic about Creative Commons. Both aim to explain the basics of CC licensing as simply as possible to a general audience, including children.

To make remixes and translations as easy as possible, the original artwork is in SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics) format; all the assets are available for do...

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What's a learning environment if not a place for motivation?

A well-placed poster or saying can help encourage learners to reach inward and for their very best.

Poster-Street is a website that offers free downloads of inspirational posters that can be used in the learning environment. The site is divided up among such themes as...

• Office Posters;
• Home Posters;
• Teacher Posters;
• Kids Posters;
• Teen Posters;
• Memorial Posters;
• Women Posters; and
• Event Posters

Poster-Street is a resource t...

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I've looked at other tools like TimeToMeet before as scheduling meetings/visits/assessments/verifications/etc., can be difficult even if there are only two people involved.

The two people could have busy schedules and meeting, on or off line, at a suitable time, using phone calls and/or emails, could become tedious.

TimeToMeet provides a solution for such problems...

• The service is totally free;
• Users can try TimeToMeet before signing up;
• Simple and user friendly interface;
• Lets users ...

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I've included Show my Homework, new website aimed at Schools, for two reasons...

1. a number of 'school practitioners' subscribe to the eMagazine, Blog etc.; and they will find this very useful; and
   
2. this could be used by our supported learning providers; not so much for homework, but for deadlines, assessment, etc.

Show my Homework is a free service for teachers to...

• post homework questions;
• upload worksheets; and
• set deadlines.
  

Excellent to raise awareness about homework at a school, o...

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Copyc does what it says on the tin website!

Either...

Copy & paste the URL into the text box on the website and click the check button;

Or...

when on a particular website type http://copyc.at/ in front of the URL in the Address window, followed by the enter key on your keyboard.

Copyc then checks the webpage and provides data that includes...

• General Statistics...
  • Number of Sentences
  • Number of Words
  • Average Word Length - both syllables and characters
    
• Technical Reada...

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For some learning providers, in particular ACL/PCDL/WBL, it is not uncommon for practitioners and their learners to based in many different locations. This new service aims to make the whole experience safer not only for staff members (practitioners/assessors/verifiers/etc.) but also for the learners for whom they are responsible and the managers who are responsible for their team.

In general terms, this Staff Guardian provides a platform whereby...

• the status and the location of staff/le...

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Are you or your organisation/learning provider looking for free websites to create online courses, then perhaps you should check out Udemy. This educational tool allows registered users to draft and publish their own interactive course(s) complete with...

• videos,
• presentations,
• articles,
• mashups, and
• live sessions.

Go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cNG31hhVH6I to watch an overview video or watch the embedded version below...

Registered users can create individual lectures, withi...

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Looking for...

• Live Chat;
• Email;
• Feedback System; and/or
• FAQ...

...communication channels in one simple interface?

Well a Jabber Live Chat and Feedback Widget for your website may just be the answer you are looking for.

As always I've tried it out on my website, http://www.acljohn.com/;

• when I'm signed in, using Trillian (Browser Version) the widget tells visitors I'm online and - visitors are able to chat with me live.
  
• when I'm not signed in, the widget tells visitors I'm offline and ...

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I agree with Sandra...

An eILP is an absolute MUST for any forward-thinking learning providers.

An eILP...

• delivers greater efficiencies to learning providers
• saves time and paper work and
• has a whole new different meaning for learners....

Take a look at Sandra's SlideSow embedded below or visit http://www.slideshare.net/sandrapintopires

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I've mentioned this website before, when it was called MyAwardMaker. Nothing else has changed and they're still the same website, just with a different name. Be sure to update bookmarks and let colleagues know too!

If Learning Providers or practitioners are looking for the perfect certificate that they could present to their learners for a wide range of achievements, then look no further.

Visit Certificate Street at http://www.certificatestreet.com/index.html.

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Team Maker is a simple application that lets users enter a list of names and break them up randomly into teams/groups.

Team Maker randomly generates teams/groups for, among other things, group projects.

All users have to do is...

• enter the names of delegates, learners, colleagues, etc.;
• pick how many teams needed;
• choose the format for output then...

Team Maker generates random team lists.

Try it out at http://chir.ag/projects/team-maker/.

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Memory4Teachers is a major ICT initiative that I've written about before. It involves the FREE provision of USB memory sticks for all...

• Head Teachers,
  
• Teachers,
  
• School Business Managers and
  
• all support staff.

The memory sticks feature...

• full password security,
• virus protection and
• encryption software.

In addition the revolutionary memory sticks feature a bespoke user interface specifically designed to support teachers and schools on a daily basis. The user interface provides acc...

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MeetWithAgenda is a powerful yet easy to use meeting scheduling and management tool.

It provides all functionality to...

• schedule meetings,

• agree on a meeting date and/or location,

• create a meeting agenda and

• send invitations.

Your participants can confirm and view the meeting agenda online, wherever they are.

This tool may well help Learning providers, especially those engaged with WBL and ACL/PCDL practitioners and/or learners, to improve communication between all stakeholders...

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Kubbu - an eLearning Tool  available to Practitioners, Managers, Administrators etc. every where.

For many this may be the solution they have been looking for - Kubbu allows users to author activities to keep learners engaged, and enhance the learning experience.

Activities that can be created include...

• games
• quizzes and
• crosswords

...that can be set at appropriate levels for the learner.

The only condition is that users have to sign-up for an account...

I would suggest that the FRE...

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Timetable Online is a relatively new and free tool which allows learning providers to book resources online.

The TimeTable Online website has very clear tutorials for those of you who are interested in seeing how it works; I imagine many learning providers will request a free sign-up via their online form.

Visit http://www.timetableonline.com/ to find out more.

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If a learner is unsure of their level of achievement within the national framework, they can simply fill in the forms on the qualifications calculator and it will tell them. 

Most people in further education are aware of the levels up to 3 or 4 (A level and foundation degree) but the Qualifications Calculator will read up to level 8 (doctorate).  The site then provides useful links for further advice. 

Find out more and/or try it out at http://www.qualificationscalculator.co.uk/. 

...
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My Free Calendar Maker...

• is part of the My Calendar Maker family of sites.
• allows users to generate and print free calendars for use around
  
  • the office,
  • home, or
  • just about anywhere
  
  

  Three easy steps...

• Select a format for the calendar
• Select an appropriate date
• Generate the free printable calendar

Note: Users must have a pdf reader to generate the calendar

Yearly Calendar Maker...

Create and print a FREE yearly photo calendar in six easy steps:

1. Select the format - moving the m...

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Are you a learning provider who wants to implement eLearning across your organisation? YES, then a number of toolkits and services exist that can be used to help benchmark you, and move your (ILT) strategy forward.

We at RSC Northwest, along with the 8 other English RSC, are running Generator workshops as part of the big Becta push to get learning proividers engaged in a self evaluation process.

The...

• ACL sector has had the eLPS tool for a while now
• WBL sector likewise the WeLPS tool; we a...

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During October three of us, from the RSC Team, were involved with an eProgress Review with a learning provider whose staff were dispersed across the UK. Holding face to face interviews was not economical, or green, so we used skype to interview their staff. With the Call Graph Plug-in we were able to record the conversations. A very successful use of technology!

I've now come across an article in Time Magazine that starts...

"Get ready for a closeup: your next job interview might be on webc...

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ClockEasy can be described as an effective way to have a clock in your blog, website and/or VLE.

There is not any mysterious algorithm or complicated set of tools working behind this site. The truth is that this is a simple application that is can be highly useful and efficient when it comes to setting countdowns to important mile posts; deadlines, mile posts etc.

When visiting the site visitors will see the four main options they can use. Simple and uncomplicated, this is provides pract...

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ScheduleGenerator has been developed to let users quickly generate class/teaching/lecturing schedules online.

I think it can also be used...

• within work based learning, for assessors/verifiers etc to produce/share their visit schedules and/or
• for staff development/event/workshop planners to produce their schedules and/or
• for managers to use as a planning tool for staff reviews, interviews etc.

I'm sure that there are many other uses as well.

The application is simple and straightforwar...

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If you want to make your emails a little more attractive and original/"corporate", head to Zuplo.

Zuplo is an new web service that offers a huge database of email stationery backgrounds to compose your messages on. More important, users can create personal backgrounds with their own pictures/logos etc.

Zuplo backgrounds work with Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail, AOL, Thunderbird and many other major email services.

Find out more at http://zuplo.com/ or watch the video at http://www.youtube.com/w...
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Microsoft Project is, in my humble opinion, one of the most powerful project and task management applications available for PCs.

The problem is that most learners/practitioners/administrators/manages can’t usually afford the Office package that includes Microsoft Project. The majority of home computer users will have the standard office package, such as the 2007 Home and Student edition which has Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote.

Project management software could help learners tremend...

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