JISC infoNet

JISC infoNet is an educational advisory service funded by the Joint Information Systems Committee. They provide support for managers in the post-compulsory education sector to promote effective strategic planning, implementation and management of information and learning technology to support learning, teaching, research and business processes.

JISC infoNet's tagline is Good Practice and Innovation. It is based in Hadrian House in Newcastle upon Tyne, on the campus of Northumbria University. It currently employs 12 people.

Service Aims
The JISC infoNet service:


 * synthesises and disseminates information about new developments and their strategic implications, particularly the outcomes of JISC development programmes
 * provides an authoritative source of good practice models and guidance based upon the synthesis of proven experience within the sector
 * helps institutions embed good practice and build capacity in the sector through the provision of high quality targeted staff development
 * supports enhancement of the core activities listed above through use of technology by encouraging the sharing of knowledge, expertise and experience with an emphasis on addressing human and organisational barriers.

infoKits
infoKits are the main online resources provided by JISC infoNet, underpinning good practice approaches to planning and implementing information systems. These are complemented by applied infoKits which use these generic models and look at how they can be applied to specific situations of current interest.

The service also runs workshops to complement the online materials, works closely with JISC's development team to disseminate project and programme outputs and helps embed tried and tested models within the sector.

The CAMEL Project
CAMEL is short for Collaborative Approaches to the Management of e-Learning. CAMEL was funded by the HEFCE Leadership, Governance and Management programme. It set out to explore how institutions who were making effective use of e-learning and who were collaborating in regional lifelong learning partnerships might be able to learn from each other in a community of practice based around study visits to each institution.

The model used was originally developed by a farmers' self-help group in Uruguay and may be applicable to a wide range of situations.

Social Software
The arrival of new services (often referred to as 'Web 2.0') has helped to remove many of the barriers in traditional web authoring preventing users from participating and has seen a massive rise in the uptake of web authoring and collaboration. The term this new wave of social activity has been given varies i.e. Social Software, Social Media and Social Computing. The key word is 'Social'! JISC infoNet's brief overview of this area includes a number of links to examples of the genre.

Designing and Planning Technology Rich Learning Spaces
This developing resource highlights current thinking about the use of learning technologies and their impact on a range of physical spaces, using noteworthy examples from current new-build and refurbishment projects from further and higher education institutions across the UK.

Publications

 * The CAMEL Project: Publication and CD-ROM (October 2006)
 * Freedom of Information: Staff Developers Pack CD-ROM (December 2005)
 * The Think Tank: Anytime, Anywhere Computing (December 2005)
 * The Think Tank: Making Lifelong Learning a Reality (September 2005)
 * When Worlds Collide: Changing Cultures in 21st Century Education (July 2004)

These are provided through the publications page of the JISC infoNet website.