Past Projects

Below is a list of projects we have undertaken in the past. More recent project information is also available.

JISC BCE Open Innovation and Access to Resources (OIA2R) Knowledge Sharing: Netskills is facilitating the effective sharing of knowledge and intelligence across the eight OIA2R projects and the JISC Advance BCE team.; Nov-2010 — Jul-2011; More information
JISC Greening ICT Support: Netskills is providing support for the JISC Greening ICT Programme by helping the project communicate and collaborate more effectively, synthesizing their findings and amplifying the key messages to a wider audience.; Sep-2010 — May-2011; More information
JISC Netskills ePortfolio Amplifier: We are piloting a blog and Twitter account to help share news and other information about ePortfolios and Personal Development Planning (PDP) related topics.; Dec-2010 — May-2011; More information
Elluminate Support for JISC Advance and JISC e-Learning Programme: Netskills is administering and providing training and support for the use of the Elluminate online meeting software by JISC Advance services, Regional Support Centres and projects within the JISC e-Learning programme.; Feb-2009 — Feb-2011
Improving your Online Presence: We developed and ran a series of events providing practical guidance in how to improve the online presence of public sector and educational organisations through search engine optimisation and social media. The project was comissioned by the Strategic Content Alliance.; May-2009 — Dec-2010; More information
Trialling of online collaborative tools for BCE: Netskills and JISC infoNet are leading a collaborative project with the other JISC Advisory Services to run trials of online collaborative tools for BCE.; Aug-2008 — Nov-2010; More information
BCE: Awareness and education for the wider JISC community: We are putting together a programme of core awareness and education events and activities to support the JISC Business and Community Engagement (BCE) programme. This is one of four projects currently being undertaken across the JISC Advisory Services during 2008-2011.; Oct-2008 — Jul-2010; More information
Supporting Training, CPD and Staff Exchange for BCE Practitioners: We will be offering a complementary, integrated and coherent training support and enhancement package that meets the needs of BCE practitioners and enhances capability within institutions to better promote and support BCE activities.; Jul-2008 — Jun-2010; More information
BSc/MSc Teaching: School of Computing Science, Newcastle University: We have developed and deliver taught modules on both BSC and MSc degree programmes in Computing Science at Newcastle University.; Oct-2008 — Jun-2010
JISC Institutional Responses to Emergent Technologies (IRET): Netskills delivered a supporting studies and synthesis project for the JISC Institutional Responses to Emergent Technologies programme. Outputs included a landscape report, case studies and guidance materials for HEI managers.; Aug-2008 — Feb-2010; More information
JISC Users & Innovation Programme: Web2practice: We are investigating innovative practice with emergent web technologies by early adopters. A practical printed guide will be developed for any member of staff looking to adopt emerging technologies into their working practices.; Aug-2008 — Aug-2009; More information
JISC e-Learning programme: Effective Practice with e-Portfolios: As part of the JISC e-learning programme Netskills is providing a set of free-to-attend workshops entitled: How Can e-Portfolios Support 21st Century Learning? The aim of the workshops is to give a snapshot of learning enhanced by e-portfolios in higher, further and continuing education.; Sep-2008 — Aug-2009; More information
Federated Access Management: Core Skills Training: We are developing and delivering two workshop programmes across the UK to help the community explore technical skills required to deploy Federated Access Management at their institutions. Following the success of the initial programme for Identity Providers (IdPs), the project is now providing support for organisations and institutions who wish to act as Service Providers (SPs).; Apr-2007 — Jul-2009; More information
JISC Materials Refresh for BCE: The Netskills Training Materials are being re-purposed specifically for practitioners in Business and Community Engagement (BCE).; Aug-2008 — Jul-2009
Scenario Planning for JISC's JOS Committee: This JISC-funded project applied the full scenario planning process to consider the roles, responsibilities and organisational structures required to support future working practices in Higher Education.; Aug-2008 — May-2009; More information
i-Skills Self-Evaluation Tool: We are developing an online self-evaluation tool for use in assessing and developing workplace information skills.; Jan-2008 — Mar-2009

Development of an Online Phonetics Tutorial: The teaching of phonetics (the science of speech sounds) at Newcastle University uses a set of video recordings from the 1980s. We were funded by an internal innovative teaching and learning grant to assist with the recording of new materials and development of an online tutorial.; Jun 08 - Oct 08
Plagiarism Awareness Programme for Teachers and Support Staff: We ran a series of three awareness raising workshops to equip secondary school teachers and librarians, them with the required knowledge and skills to provide guidance to pupils on avoiding plagiarism. The materials from the workshops was put together into a package designed for use in cascade training within schools.; Sep 08 - Oct 08
Virtual Open Day for Newcastle University: An online open day was developed for the School of Geography, Politics & Sociology featuring video interviews with staff and students.; Jun 08 - Nov 08
Teaching Information Skills in Secondary Schools: We are designined and developed a package of materials for use in cascade training sessions to equip school librarians and teaching staff with the knowledge and skills to develop their pupils' information literacy. The materials were tested and disseminated via one day workshops.; Sep 08 - Nov 08
NorMAN web site redevelopment: The North East regional network operator asked us to update the content and design of their web site to meet the requirements of a new contract.; Aug 08 - Sep 08
Scenario Planning to support JISC's Users & Innovation programme: This was a joint project with JISC infoNet. A Scenario Planning infoKit was written and used it to run several workshops to support projects within the Users & Innovation programme.; Nov 07 - Aug 08
Assessment for Learning: Harnessing Technologies: As part of the Higher Education Academy/JISC Collaboration Initiative and its assessment campaign, Netskills is providing two workshops for the higher education community entitled Assessment for Learning: Harnessing Technologies.
Google Maps Project for School of Geography, Politics and Sociology: Netskills developed an interactive map to show the range of countries where research is carried out within the School of GPS at Newcastle University. The approach taken was to use the Google maps API to create a custom map overlaid with appropriate markers and user controls.
Collaboration Tools Study: As part of JISC work on Business and Community Engagement (BCE), Netskills conducted a study of the experiences of staff in using tools to support collaboration. A survey and interviews led to a set of "user reflections" documented against a compilation of available tools for collaboration.; Final report (PDF)
E-Administration Think Tank: JISC recently coordinated a national Think Tank on e-Administration, facilitated by Netskills staff, with 40 invited experts. The event aimed to discuss and contribute to the JISC e-administration agenda, supporting institutions in their use of ICT for administrative activities and organisational processes.
Web Site Evaluation for JISC Services: This project evaluated six JISC Services web sites. A presentation of initial findings was delivered at the JISC Services Skills Day plus an overview of the evaluation criteria. The findings of the evaluations will be written up as a short report for each service who volunteered for evaluation.
Podcasting Training for JISC Users and Innovation Programme: Netskills was commissioned to develop a practical training session on the use of podcasting. The event was piloted at Netskills in September 2007 and received excellent feedback. This event is now running as part of our national workshop programme and is also available for onsite delivery.
Using Technology for Project Communications: This custom event demonstrated how web technology can enhance project communication and dissemination. The event considered how innovative uses of technologies such as blogs, wikis, podcasts and social networks provide new and effective ways for projects to engage with their communities.
Higher Education Awareness for IT Suppliers: Netskills, with the UCISA procurement group, developed a workshop to raise awareness with suppliers of IT systems and services on the nature of higher education, and the purchasing processes within institutions.
UCISA CPD Framework and Toolkit: This project provided a framework and toolkit to help support the ICT education community understand the CPD landscape. A "skills matrix" was developed, in conjunction with tools and guidance on practical ways to link skills, qualifications, CPD activity and job descriptions.
Devolving Diasporas Research Database Project: Netskills supported an AHRC-funded research project based in the School of English Literature, Language and Linguistics at Newcastle University, designing and developing a web-based database for their research output.
Eduserv Information Literacy Projects: Funded by: The Eduserv Foundation Autumn 2006; The Eduserv Foundation awarded Netskills two grants to fund pilot workshop programmes related to information literacy in the schools sector. The projects, funded as part of the Eduserv Information Literacy Initiatives, investigated the information skills of teachers and raise awareness of plagiarism.
JISC e-Assessment Glossary Web Site Testing: Funded by: JISC Autumn 2006; An evaluation of the JISC online e-Assessment Glossary involving a survey of identified user groups and an event with representatives of these groups to evaluate the design and usability of the site.
UCISA CPD and Accreditation Study: Funded by: JISC Spring-Summer 2006; A feasibility study in collaboration with the Universities and Colleges Information Systems Association (UCISA), investigating CPD and accreditation activities for IT staff in HE/FE. The study involved a review of current provision of CPD and accreditation within the sector and explored the viability and sustainability of an accredited CPD scheme. Activities covered in the feasibility study included surveying the community (through consultation and interviews), liaising with stakeholder bodies and writing case studies.
Web Site Evaluation for JISC Digitisation Projects: Funded by: JISC Digitisation Project Spring 2006; An evaluation of six project web sites from the JISC Digitisation programme, considering aspects of design, usability, technical correctness and content, with an evaluation report compiled and presented to the project teams at a workshop session.
i-Skills for University Administration: Funded by: JISC Summer 2005 - Summer 2006; An ambitious programme to disseminate previous work from the JISC Staff Information Skills Set (SISS) programme, conducting research including an analysis and evaluation of administrators' information skills in collaboration with the Association of University Administrators (AUA).
Online Learning for ACL Practitioners Extension Programme: NLN & NIACE funded: Spring 2005 to January 2006; More targeted to the e-Guides audience, and working closely with the NIACE ICT and Learning team, this extension programme included additional elements such as online pre/post workshop activity, and evaluation of both the pilot and follow-on programme. Delivered around a series of practical face-to-face workshops across the nine RSC regions, the programme aimed to contribute to e-Guides development in areas such as the use of online communication tools, and creating, hosting and using online learning resources.
e-Assessment Awareness Programme: JISC Funded (X4L programme): Spring 2005 - Autumn 2006; A programme of workshops aimed at increasing the awareness of the potential of online assessment, knowledge of standards, interoperability and re-use. Practical skills in using a range of common assessment tools was provided through workshops across the UK. The JISC X4L assessment tool TOIA was featured in the programme.
Mapping to the Scottish Qualifications Framework: SQA funded: Spring-Autumn 2005; An exercise exploring the learning outcomes of Netskills workshops in relation to the SQA e-qualifications framework, in order that Scottish educators could demonstrate how learning contributes towards the Scottish qualifications.
ACL Managers Training Programme in e-Learning: LSC & NLN Funded: Winter 2004 to Spring 2006; A series of four distinct workshops was designed, working closely with a steering group and development team of sector stakeholders and specialists. The workshops covered a balanced mix of strategic management topics and practical skills, including key priorities for the sector, such as learning platforms and quality and inspection.
Online Learning for ACL Practitioners Pilot Programme: JISC funded: Autumn 2004 to Spring 2005; Nine one-day workshops in all the JISC English regions were delivered, training 120 participants in total. Topics included key concepts and issues in online learning; overview of online learning resources and where to find them; online communication tools and their potential uses in ACL; simple methods of creating and hosting web-based learning resources.
Case Studies for Effective e-Learning Practice: Spring - Summer 2004; The research and development of ten case studies on effective e-Learning practice, from a range of educational organisations. The case studies were developed through site visits and interviews of practitioners and learners and formed the main part of a highly successful JISC publication, widely distributed throughout the UK.
Specialist Colleges Programme: LSC & JISC Funded: 2004 - 2006; A multi-agency collaboration including LSC, JISC, NIACE, Becta and TechDis, providing a programme of development activities to improve the e-Learning skills of staff in Specialist Colleges. Netskills delivered a series of workshops "An Introduction to Online Learning for Specialist Colleges", followed by a voucher scheme to enable staff to attend regular Netskills workshops, and a licence granted to all Specialist Colleges to provide access to training materials in key topics.