Scottish Government

Chapter 8: Progress with content development

8.1 Schools

8.1.1 Online services

During summer 2004 the NGfL Scotland websites and the LTS collection of websites were integrated to form the LTS Online Service. This service offers a wide-ranging, comprehensive array of digital resources to support Scottish education. All the website addresses are extensions to the www.ltscotland.org.uk and are accessible from this home page by a variety of routes. A Quick Guide to the Learning Teaching Scotland Online Service was produced as part of a Back to School promotional campaign. The total number of visits to the LTS online service in 2004 was 1, 743,461 and 2,764,055 in 2005.

There are constant developments, additions and expansions to the Online Service, all aimed at providing practitioners with easy-to-access, free, evaluated resources for better teaching and learning. The examples are too numerous to list. However, brief summaries of developments are included in Annex C. The editorial team works closely together and with the LTS web developers on common issues such as new developments for the integrated service, metadata, search and accessibility.

The content for the LTS Online Service has been transferred to a Content Management System ( CMS) developed by Tridion. This new tool gives the content editors and developers the ability to upload resources directly to the web. The addition of a powerful search engine, developed by Verity, will give the users improved search and browse facilities. A series of content development guidelines and the CMS allow a more devolved approach to content development, giving third party content suppliers the ability to upload their own content.

The creation of a strong development platform will support new online features such as software evaluation tools, resource repositories and personalisation.

8.1.2 Digital resources for Scottish schools

The creation of a wide range of digital resources for Scottish education is being taken forward by SEED and LTS and will provide a £3.6 million bank of high quality content which will be made available via the LTS Online Service.

A Digital Procurement Framework Agreement adopted in early 2003 invited formal bids for the provision of digital content in a number of specified areas and a number of projects were awarded with delivery scheduled for between Easter and November 2004.

Three projects to purchase and distribute licences for supported writing and multimedia software, mind mapping software and chemistry experiment simulation software to Scottish schools were completed according to the schedule and within the budget.

Other projects, completed by the end of 2004, included:

• a Gaelic language suite of Open Office software
• new online resources for Scottish History (two projects)
• case studies on the use of ICT in learning and teaching
• online courses in basic ICT skills for teachers
• Gaelic Online resources for 5-14 Environmental Studies
• online Scottish History resources derived from existing CDs
• online courses in Information Literacy
• online courses in Study Skills.

Two projects have been commissioned by the Scottish Centre for Information on Language Teaching and Research (Scottish CILT): Problem Solving in 5-14 Mathematics and Phrasebox. Other work has resulted in the development of a Modern Foreign Languages Portal.

In October 2004 an invitation was issued for a second Framework Agreement to procure additional online digital content. The Framework Agreement is in place until 2007 with a budget of £4 million, and will include an option to extend the Agreement for a further two years.

8.1.3 British Educational Communications and Technology Agency ( BECTa) liaison

BECTa, SEED and LTS have pursued further collaboration in a number of areas and in particular the development of the BBC Jam, where the key focus has been to ensure that Scottish interests are represented in the BBC's deliberations.

8.2 Further education

In the summer of 2002, the network connections linking all Scottish further education colleges (and all higher education institutions) were re-procured. The Scottish Further Education Funding Council ( SFEFC) provided additional funding for this re-procurement aimed at ensuring that all colleges would have their connections upgraded to at least 8mbps. In the event it proved possible to procure significantly better connectivity, so that the majority of colleges are now connected at either 34mpbs or 100mbps, on contracts that run for at least three years. This provides ample scope for expanding the use of the internet without limitations on bandwidth or the speed of response. The Council is currently supporting the re-procurement of the JANET national backbone and regional networks throughout Scotland, which will at least maintain current levels of connectivity and with enhanced levels of resilience.

Almost all colleges have deployed virtual learning environments ( VLEs), in which online content can be created, organised and delivered. Central materials which are suitable for use in VLEs have been provided by the SFEFC through its funding of JISC and by specific procurement of 'pump priming' materials, from the National Learning Network, in partnership with other UK funding bodies.

The SFEFC has also identified online assessment as a key strategic priority and has pursued a range of projects in this area. During 2004 SFEFC agreed to provide funding to the Colleges Open Learning Group ( COLEG) for the creation of banks of assessment instruments suitable for mounting on VLEs. SFEFC also provided funding to SQA to support e-enabling of Higher National Certificate and Diploma courses which are currently being reviewed and redesigned by SQA.

8.3 The People's Network

8.3.1 The Scottish Library and Information Council ( SLIC)

SLIC has been working with public libraries to ensure that library catalogues are available via the internet. This has widened access to library resources and gave library users the opportunity to search the catalogue from home, work or at any internet access point. All library catalogues were web enabled by the end of 2004 and have been added to CAIRNS (Co-operative Information Retrieval Network for Scotland) ( cairns.lib.strath.ac.uk).

Funding from the NOF enabled SLIC to negotiate Scotland-wide subscriptions for a number of online information services. These services are available from every public library through the People's Network and include general information, newspapers, business information and cultural material.

SLIC worked with the Authorities Buying Consortium ( ABC) to procure access to quality information databases on behalf of public library services. All 32 public libraries are participating in this consortium subscription, ensuring that public libraries offer members of the public a range of reliable resources both within library facilities and remotely via the library website.

8.3.2 New Opportunities Fund: Digitisation Fund

£6 million from NOF has been awarded for digitisation projects in Scotland ( www.enrichscotland.net/countries/scotland ). The EnrichScotland site brings a rich tapestry of learning materials and resources from galleries, libraries, museums and universities directly into homes and communities across the country. Resources for Learning in Scotland and Am Baile are the two major NOF digitisation projects in Scotland, and these are described in further detail below.

The National Library of Scotland, working with 95 partners including East Lothian Council, South Ayrshire Council, Dundee City Council, Scottish Borders Council, and the Scottish Poetry Library, was awarded £4 million for the project Resources for Learning in Scotland ( www.rls.org.uk ). The project covers a wide range of subjects including agriculture, archives, fine art, maritime history, oral history, science and technology, archaeology, costume and textiles, industry, medicine, social and family history, architecture, literature, music, photography and transport.

Highland Council, in partnership with West Highland Animation and Taigh Chearsbhagh Trust, was awarded £900,000 from NOF for the Am Baile project ( www.ambaile.org.uk ). Am Baile gives easy access to materials that are central to Gaelic and Highland culture and heritage. A site has been developed to enable users to acquire knowledge to participate in the activities of the Gaelic community worldwide.

8.3.3 The Scottish cultural portal

In Creating our Future: Minding our Past the Scottish Executive indicated that it would establish a cultural portal to provide access to electronic and printed information about Scottish culture and act as a focus for cultural development. SLIC has been developing the cultural portal on behalf of SEED. The service, Scotland's Culture ( www.scotlandsculture.org ), provides a single interface for information on Scottish cultural matters and is created to be accessible by a global audience. The service:

• supports the development of the cultural strategy by mapping activity in organisations
• builds on existing information networks such as CAIRNS and SCONE
• provides quick guides to specific areas of activity
• develops mechanisms to provide advice and assistance to organisations on developing electronic content
• develops detailed cultural subject mappings, e.g. Arts, Literature
• provides a simple point and click interface for inexperienced users
• promotes events and resources by means of dedicated local authority pages
• translates pages in other languages to enable foreign search engines to pick up Scotland's Culture in searches
• provides searching landscapes for printed collections throughout Scotland, by means of geographic proximity or subject
• provides a robust searching mechanism
• provides information and guidance for the development of a Scottish Distributed Digital Library.

Work had been undertaken during 2005 to build on the point and click interface and incorporate open URL searching from other databanks such as the Scottish Music Centre. Scotland's Culture will continue to enrich and add to existing electronic resource catalogued within Scotland's Culture and will collaborate with cultural agencies to unlock their hidden web of resource.

8.3.4 Information handling skills

Information handling skills course was developed for SLIC, Learndirect Scotland, Scottish Enterprise Glasgow and the European Social Fund by SFEU and eCom Scotland. The course was launched in January 2004.

Interactive learning activities are based around a family who are involved in finding information about Employment, Leisure, Research, Shopping and Travel. Each scenario has links to various learning bites that explain, reinforce and help guide the learner through variety of practical activities.

Learning bites are generic and can stand alone so they can be used:

• as a resource - self-directed or self-taught
• to demonstrate particular skills/or techniques
• within curriculum-based course work
• in tutorials
• for training sessions/courses
• as part of staff training/development
• for adult literacy sessions/courses
• in ESOL sessions/courses.

The course is now validated at Intermediate Level 2 (DF9J 11) and the assessment element was released early 2005. The unit can run in conjunction with other subjects and has also been identified as providing automatic certification of the core skill of problem solving at Intermediate Level 2.

Further information can be found at:
www.slainte.org.uk/Infohandling/index.htm

8.3.5 Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Scottish Executive public libraries excellence fund projects

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation provided a gift of $4 million to the United Kingdom to encourage the use of ICT in areas of significant social deprivation. Approximately £300,000 of that amount was identified for Scotland. SEED matched this funding bringing the total fund available to £600,000.

Local authorities with an area-based Social Inclusion Partnership ( SIP) were invited to bid for up to £50,000 from the Excellence Fund. The 14 successful bids demonstrated how the public library service could work with community interests within the SIP areas to deliver the ICT training.

During the lifetime of the project over 5000 people benefited directly from training and the equipment provided. The projects have been an interesting and successful experience, demonstrating the contribution libraries can make to social inclusion.

SLIC published a report which shares the outcomes of the projects and contains a number of recommendations for future service objectives and strategies. The report can be found at:
www.slainte.org.uk/Files/pdf/pnet/gates/gatesreport04.pdf

8.3.6 Careers information in public libraries

SLIC, Careers Scotland and public libraries have developed a network of Careers Information Points in 100 public libraries. Funding from the European Social Fund ( ESF) has supported the project which has provided a range of information resources including hard-copy material and electronic resources.

The project developed a web site which acts as a simple gateway to information and advice on career planning and opportunities ( www.careerspoint.info). Library staff have been trained in using these resources and referral mechanisms have been developed for specialist advice from Careers Scotland.

8.4 Communities

The ICT for Communities site ( www.ltscotland.org.uk/communities/ ) provides support, information and advice to those promoting the use of ICT in community learning and development. Developments for the service have included the addition of a new activities section, providing practitioners with tried and tested activities for use directly with learners. Other developments have included the continued publication of new articles, the addition of new and updated case studies and an update of the accessibility section in light of the new requirements of the Disability Discrimination Act.

8.5 Scottish Cultural Resources Access Network ( SCRAN)

With the addition of 30,000 records from the Victoria and Albert Museum and substantial illustrative materials from Oxford Scientific Illustrators, SCRAN now provides access to 330,000 records for all Scottish state funded schools. SCRAN has also made developments of learning resource packages and launched a revised website in preparation for SSDN. 88% of all Scottish secondary schools and 31% of primary schools accessed SCRAN in 2004.

Metadata enhancements including UKLOM compliance, search improvements including a fully map integrated geographic search interface and digitisation were funded by SEED.

The new website is completely object oriented and database driven which provides user control. Other new tools include Create which allows the instant creation of worksheets with just a few clicks. This development was founded on extensive user feedback.

The toolset now includes Navigator, Stuff, Create and Albums to let users locate, keep, design and assemble their own resources. Users now log-in with their own "touch-down" entry sections which are configured to meet their needs. These are configured for schools, libraries, further and higher education sectors, as well as home users.

SEED support assisted the creation of subject-oriented support sections in English, History and Art & Design. The resources in the latter section provided materials directly aligned with examination requirements and an online kit to allow teachers to build further similar resources.

In addition, and in partnership with the Scottish Executive Early Years Division and LTS, a pilot was undertaken on the use of online resources for early years.

SCRAN is now included in the General Teaching Council of Scotland's list of Approved CPD Providers. Direct training was provided in 12 local authorities at 38 locations and in four initial teacher training institutes in the period August to December 2004.

Finally, SCRAN provided licensed images to companies developing materials for the NGfL Scotland procurement framework.

8.6 SCHOLAR

The SCHOLAR programme continues to be developed by the SCHOLAR Forum in conjunction with Heriot-Watt University. Many of the SCHOLAR products are also available through the Interactive University and are being used in a variety of countries throughout the world. An evaluation of the use of SCHOLAR in schools in Scotland, undertaken through SEED's Future Learning and Teaching programme, was completed in 2004
( www.flatprojects.org.uk/evaluations/evaluationreports/scholarreport.asp ).

8.7 PASS-IT

The aim of the PASS-IT project ( www.pass-it.org.uk ) was to create, pilot and evaluate a number of different approaches to ICT-based assessment in schools and colleges throughout Scotland. The 27-month PASS-IT project was divided into two related phases, building on previous research and development undertaken by some of the partners involved in the project.

In phase one, a range of ICT-based assessments was developed for National Assessment Banks ( NABs) in Mathematics and Chemistry, Higher and Advanced Higher, and in HNC Computing. Schools and colleges were invited to pilot the assessments. This phase ended in October 2003.

The second phase allowed greater flexibility in the timing of the pilots to be more in step with the teaching of the curriculum, and provided greater motivation for students involved in the pilots to undertake practice assessments. It also considered how intelligent assessment could contribute to the overall objectives of the project.

Phase two commenced in November 2003 and finished in October 2004, with the primary dissemination event held on 29 October. Further dissemination events took place at the end of January 2005. As well as producing additional ICT-based assessments, including Mathematics, English, Music and French, PASS-IT delivered:

• staff development resources and dissemination activities for teachers and lecturers
• a research report
• a paper on Special Educational Needs issues
• an external evaluation report
• published quality assurance guidance for centres on ICT-based assessment
• recommendations for a strategy to allow the continued development
• implementation of the ICT-based assessment in schools and colleges.

Overall, the project has been successful in achieving the aims and objectives.

8.8 BBC

BBC Scotland and BBC Network have continued to produce websites to support the Scottish Curriculum. BBC Scotland has a range of sites produced over the past five years resourcing Language and Environmental Studies for 5-14, National Qualifications, Standard Grade/Higher Revision and Gaelic Medium Education.

These can be accessed at:
www.bbc.co.uk/scotland/education
www.bbc.co.uk/scotland/alba/foghlam

The 3-16 sites produced by BBC Network can be found at:
www.bbc.co.uk/schools

In July 2004 the BBC announced its outline five-year roll-out plans for the BBC Jam, which will resource curricular areas/subjects at all Levels 5-16 and will be designed to meet the needs of the Scottish curriculum. The outline plan is available at:
www.bbc.co.uk/info/policies/digital_curriculum.shtml

A wide and detailed consultation process involving schools, LTS, SQA, Education Authorities and SEED is being undertaken as the learning materials are designed.