Al Ain Technology PD Sessions

There has been a strong consensus on the need for professional development activities as part of this project and the first (pilot) organised sessions are intended to be held at the Al Ain campus every two weeks. The initial session is scheduled for 3:10pm in the Library on the 28th of Feb.

Objectives

> To develop a core group of staff (mostly teachers) at a campus who will subsequently be able to drive and facilitate the effective use of technology for teaching & learning more broadly in the school and among teaching staff.

> Enabling teaching staff to actively participate in the evaluation, selection, design & implementation of technology deployed by IAT to support teaching and learning.

> Using practical pilot intitiatives to identify and address many of the specific challenges and issues relating to the usage of technology for teaching & learning at IAT. E.g. How do we make the tools we use engaging and appropriate to the type of students and program at each IAT school? Can we ensure that all students have the skills & access to participate?

The PD/Workshop Program

> Is intended to be structured with a schedule of activities and outcomes developed.

> Will be focused on practical activities with online tools, "sandboxes" and demo systems set up and made available.

> Should identify and trial desired/suggested learning resources & tools.

Participants

> Murray Grant. Al Ain Coordinator. Email: murray.grant@iat.ac.ae
> Adrian Lobo. Technology Facilitator. Email: adrian.lobo@iat.ac.ae

Teaching Staff: Elmetwally Elmenshawy, Kamal Ben Selama, Kevin Carillo, Omar Al Nousri, Shikha Dhanak, Ismail Fayed, Walid Shawish

Schedule

Session	Agenda
1 - 28th Feb	- Assemble group and introduce participants - Discuss ideas and form consensus on program aims & structure - Identify issues/challenges to be tackled or resolved through program (e.g. large variation in tech-savviness of students and teachers) Actions: (a) Teachers to provide specific requests & suggestions for program (b) Adrian to come up with recommended tools and solutions to trial
2 - 21st Mar	- Review & confirm suggested ideas & recommended solutions to explore - Provide overview of access to tools & solutions - Discuss how participants will proceed in their exploration & usage Tools / Resources (1) Wikis: About, Comparison, WS, PB, WP Education References: EW TH (2) Blogs: About, B2, WP, EB (3) e-Portfolios: About, Dig, Ref: Wip, EPL, (4) Rich Media Usage (Pics, Video): BS, FL, EPN, WS, (5) Finding Free Content (Media): About, WM, YCC, (6) Complete LMS: ATutor, Features, Hosting, Content, (7) Teaching & Learning Tools (e.g. Quizzes): 4t, EL, KS, QB, OP, CF, FE, (8) Learning Resources: Curriculum - TL, DF, Ed Websites - HSW, WP, BBC, Organise by subject - English, Maths, Science, IT, Vocational English: BBC, Science: BBC, BF, Social Science: BBC, Maths: BBCS, (9) Public Community Sites: WH, AN, EH, Actions: (a) Explore chosen tools and commence individual projects (b) Contribute examples and input for common projects (c) Homework reading: CL, LT, (d) Adrian to provide support & advice for all activities (e) Teachers to prepare initial demos on projects for next session
3 - 17th April	- Discuss and settle on all pilot projects - Review demos of new projects - Decide on how these projects will be progressed between sessions Draft Project List (1) Wikis for Teachers: Kevin Carillo - (2) Wikis for Classes: Omar Al Nousri - GHQ English (3) e-Portfolios: Tools - Edublogs, Wikis. Who? (4) Blogs for teachers or classes. Who? Ex 1, Ex 2 (5) Discover & use suitable online education resources. Who? TL, DF, HSW, WP, BBC, ML (6) Choose and utilise Web-based Teaching & Learning tools. Who? 4t, EL, KS, QB, OP, CF, FE (7) Find and integrate rich media content. Who? PO, WM, IA, PA, PI, WS, PB, YC (8) Implement a Learning Management System. Who? Suggested tool: Moodle
4
5

New VEDC Website

The Vocational Education Development Centre (VEDC) - in Shahama, Abu Dhabi - is a part of IAT that is currently jointly run with the Armed Forces General Headquarters (GHQ). It was established to provide an alternative, vocationally-focused education program for Emirati teenage boys.

VEDC has already initiated a project to develop its own website for its unique programs & activities. However, now that the broader IAT website redevelopment project has commenced, the VEDC initiative will be aligned so that the new VEDC site will have a consistent IAT presentation and be cohesively linked to the main IAT website.

Discussions about VEDC's online requirements and to align all future IAT websites are planned for the 4th or 5th of March at VEDC in Abu Dhabi. Please contact the IAT staff below if you have an interest in this initiative.

Project Contacts

> Karam Al Lawand. IT Lead Teacher. Email: karam.allawand@iat.ac.ae
> Keith Shaw. Email: keith.shaw@iat.ac.ae
> Adrian Lobo. Email: adrian.lobo@iat.ac.ae

Intranet Requirements

Please add your ideas and requirements for the new intranet project as comments to this post, which will be used to update the table below. Alternatively, you can email them to adrian.lobo@iat.ac.ae. The aim is to have all key requirements listed and prioritised here by the 4th of March, so that solution analysis & recommendation can take place.

Notes on Table
1. Any examples are generally listed in order from least sophisticated to most sophisticated.
2. "Requestor" is listed only if unique to a specific person/area.
3. "Difficulty" refers to the complexity of development.
4. "Analyst Recommendation" indicates the suggested approach by the Project Consultant (Adrian).

Requirements for the New Intranet

Requirement / Idea	Examples / Details	Requestor	Priority	Diffic.	Analyst Recom.	Approved Outcome
Content
Profiles, structure, directory, who's who and chart of all parts of Directorate & IAT org			High	Low	Develop
Profiles, main activities & and directory for all Campuses			High	Low	Develop
Outlines & updates about all IAT projects			High	Low	Develop
All HR information for staff to be available - applications, getting settled, policies & procedures, what happens when you leave, etc			High	Low	Develop
All Finance info, forms, policies			High	Low	Develop
All I.T. info..			High	Low	Develop
All Operations info..			High	Low	Develop
All Professional Development info..			Medium	Low	Develop
Best practice sharing area			Medium	Low	Develop
News, announcements & updates			High	Low	Develop
All required forms & letters to be available electronically			High	Medium	Develop
Services
Contacts directory for all IAT Depts, Schools & Projects			High	Low	Develop
Calendar & Events listing			Medium	Low	Develop
Contact/Enquiry details or form for all Depts & Areas			High	Low	Develop
"Ask the Managing Director" enquiry form			High	Low	Develop
General complaints/feedback form			High	Low	Develop
Ability to store & share all types of files in organised groups			High	Low	Develop
Can effectively collaborate on shared documents & activities			Medium	Medium	Develop & Evaluate
Organised discussion forums including classifieds system			Medium	Low	Develop
News & announcements areas for Depts, teams & Schools			High	Low	Develop
Project or Team management areas & tools			Medium	Medium	Develop & Evaluate
Staff messaging & chat service			Low	Medium	Not required
Shared & requested task management facilities			Medium	Medium	Develop & Evaluate
Teaching & Learning spaces to be available to all Schools and teachers			Low	Medium	Use separate e-learning tools
Interface & Usability
Web-based portal interface that acts as gateway to all info & services for staff.			High	Low	Develop
Simple login & permissions system to provide secure access & customized "views"			High	Medium	Develop
Structure to facilitate easy navigation & finding of required info			High	Low	Develop
Other Functionality & Capability
Ability to easily search all content & files			High	Low	Develop
Direct integration with MS Office applications			High	Low	Develop
Seamless interface with IAT website, internet sites & both internal & external online services			High	Medium	Develop
Accessible remotely through internet			High	Low	Develop
Can utilise multimedia - pictures, video, Flash, etc.			Medium	Medium	Develop
Ability to support multiple languages & translations			High	Medium	Develop
Administration & Usage
System is easy & intuitive to use with no intensive support or training requirements			High	Medium	Develop
Simple, web or desktop based content creation, editing & publishing			High	Low	Develop
Enables content re-use, approval & auto-publishing			Medium	Low	Develop
Sophisticated site usage & monitoring tools			Medium	Low	Develop
Can readily identify and manage old or unused content or areas			Medium	Low	Develop
Dynamic content management. E.g. Latest news/events modules.			Medium	Low	Develop

Review of Intranet Usage

A review of all existing intranet usage (by whichever method or system) and experience is currently taking place in order to:

> Help determine comprehensive intranet requirements that will better facilitate effective usage by the majority of staff.

> Establish issues & problems with intranet usage that need to be addressed in the new intranet system.

> Identify all existing intranet information, documents & functions that will need to be migrated to the new system.

Please report your usage and experiences of these or other methods using the comments or by email.

Sharepoint Usage

*Draft review below pending broader access to Sharepoint sites & stats.

IAT currently has installed Microsoft Sharepoint Portal Server 2003 which provides the ability for staff to manage collaborative activities online with direct integration to their MS Office applications and Windows user folders.

Usage of Sharepoint to-date has not deployed or utilised all features available (most notably portals or document/meeting workspaces). Indeed, usage of the sharepoint sites does not make much usage of Contact, Event & Task lists - which require a not insignificant level of active usage by all group members. Discussion boards, surveys and file library usage (e.g. images) are also not used by the majority of users.

The main usage of Sharepoint to-date has been as a means of sharing files needed by a staff team or project group - mostly Word documents.

Problems & Issues
Some of the problems and obstacles to wider or more effective usage cited have been:

- Lack of awareness of the Sharepoint facility or who can access it and how this is arranged.

- Some staff are aware of Sharepoint but do not feel any need or value in obtaining access.

- Usage by staff with access appears to vary significantly, even within the same group.

- Plenty of "areas" and "spaces" have been set up but a lot of these are currently unutilised.

- Some staff have login access problems and are unable to get reliable access to the sites or documents when they do use it.

- The ways in which Sharepoint can be used vary considerably and there is a significant learning curve for more intensive usage beyond simply sharing documents - both for administrators and users. There doesn't appear to be any training or support capacity available.

Summary Stats
Active Staff Users:
Active Group/Site Administrators:
Number of Active Sites:
Number of Documents/Files:

Shared Network Drive Usage

Some departments are also currently using shared network drives to store and make available common documents and files. However, this does not appear to be an organised activity and is just a facility available to some areas which they are using in their own way.

A review of the current usage of these shared drives is awaiting details to be collected and provided by the I.T. Department.

MS Exchange Usage (i.e. Outlook)

Calendars > Used by individuals to coordinate meetings, but very little or no usage of shared calendars has so far been identified.

Contacts > Groups exist and are maintained by I.T. in the Global Address List, but there is no simple, descriptive list of these - which would encourage broader utilisation by staff. It is likely that individual staff maintain their own contact groups too, but unlikely that these are administered and shared in an organised way.

Tasks > Used by some individuals (but probably not widely). It is unlikely that there is much usage of shared task capability and task requests among departments, teams or projects.

Email > Is used for the vast majority of communication & sharing functions through simple emailing and attachments. Unlikely to be significant usage of shared email folders.

Other Tools?

Please advise of any other tools or methods currently used by staff to communicate, coordinate activities or share information/documents.

Intranet Alternatives

Various alternatives exist for the deployment of a modern intranet. These range from employing the most appropriate tool for each function (e.g. news, collaboration, document sharing, project management, internal communication) and making this flexible "toolset" available through a common interface; to comprehensive intranet applications that combine several of these tools.

Comprehensive Intranet Systems

> Microsoft Sharepoint
> Lotus
> Zimbra
> Zoho
> Central Desktop
> BrainKeeper
> eGroupWare

Integrated Applications with Intranet/Groupware Features

> Groove - Sharing, coordination & collaboration tools for teams. Also MS Office Groove version available.
> phpGroupWare
> MS Exchange - e.g. your group/sharing capability in Outlook
> DotNetNuke - community & collaboration focused portal
> more.groupware

Focused Intranet Tools

> Google Docs & Spreadsheets
> Google Calendar
> Wikis - collaborative websites
> Hula - Calendar & Email
> dotProject - integrated project management tools
> ATutor - a comprehensive learning management system with collaboration facilities designed for teachers

Advantages & Disadvantages

> The more integrated the "tools", the more seamlessly they will work together. However, with integrated systems, you will not be able to pick and choose the best individual tools to use for each function.

> Microsoft-based applications interface most readily with the MS Office applications used in the organisation: Word, Excel, Access, Powerpoint.

> Commercial systems can be very expensive and have ongoing licencing costs - normally based on the number of users. Opensource or freeware applications are much cheaper but generally require customization and integration and support may still need to be paid for.

Intranet Considerations & Issues

Various issues will need to be resolved as part of this project to determine how the intranet is designed, implemented and used. All input and comments are welcome. Decisions will be then be discussed & approved through the Intranet Project Working Group & Steering Committee and the outcomes summarized here.

(1) Open access to all staff?
Requiring a login to access an intranet is often a major impediment to them being used by staff. Even where logins work seamlessly, they still need to be created individually for staff members and remembered with appropriate permissions set. It may be preferable for all users on the IAT network to be able to access the "common" intranet without needing a login and only those accessing special areas or privileges (e.g. editing) would need to login. However, personalization and customization of the portal for a user requires identification of that user (i.e. an ID / login). A technical assessment of how this balance can best be accomplished on the new intranet will take place at the earliest opportunity.

(2) Which content should not be available to all staff?
Some content on the intranet can and will be made secure - accessible to only authorized staff. This may be confidential information or information only needed by staff working on a particular project or in a particular department. However, where these lines are drawn is an open question. Securing information also has an administrative burden attached to it.

(3) What extent of information will be placed on the intranet?
Will the intranet be used to make available a limited amount of key information or will it ultimately be used to manage all information that staff need access to and replace other repositories like network drives. This will determine the depth of information added to the intranet.

In some instances, policies or guidelines are introduced requiring information to be published on the intranet. E.g. For describing & updating all projects & initiatives.

(4) Publishing or Working Space?
Some intranets are used to publish only selected, high-value organisational information and documents. Others are used as actual "working spaces" where a considerable amount of organisational information, knowledge & work-product is intended to be captured and shared. If the balance is too much toward the former, then the publishing of content to the intranet is often a distinct activity that can become disconnected from routine department & individual work processes. However, the latter requires a significant change in the way people work and quite intensive training, support & management.

It is normally recommended that organisations start by identifying the really key information that needs to be accessible on the intranet and establishing new processes for working and managing this information. This can then be expanded over time to the extent that proves feasible.

(5) Who will do what on the intranet?
Effective intranets typically involve many staff members in an organisation and require closely coordinated & integrated work from them. Whatever the extent of the new intranets intended usage, various positions in the organisation will need to be allocated active roles & responsibilities. This includes: creating, publishing & updating information; monitoring & approving content; administering all services made available; responsibility for responding to and actioning all communication & requests; support & training; administration & management; representing departments/areas on decision-making groups & acting as the liaison; and development, refinement & customization work.

Intranet Project Outline

Intranet Project Overview

As part of its comprehensive initiative to develop modern online services, IAT will be creating an intranet system to meet all internal staff communication, information-sharing and collaboration needs. This intranet will run on IAT's network and be accessible to all campuses, locations & remote staff with network access. The objectives, scope, timeframes and activities will be summarized in this project plan, with progress updated on the blog.

Project Goals, Rationale & Benefits

> Enable staff to access all the information they need including about all key aspects of IAT (e.g. structure, staff directory); policies, procedures & forms (e.g. HR, Finance, Operations); and organisational information resources (e.g. Curriculum Framework, Professional Development, Best Practice).

> Provide for improved communication - both between campuses and especially between Directorate and the campus staff. The intranet will allow and encourage feedback, input and ideas from all staff and deliver a clear mechanism requiring responses and action to that feedback.

> Allow staff to work collaboratively & effectively coordinate their activities on projects and in whatever teams they participate in.

> Create a repository for storing & sharing all appropriate documents and files in a well-organised, easily-accessed common space.

> Act as a portal to all organisation functions (IT helpdesk, HR & Finance contacts, Operational liaisons e.g. facilities) and online services including news/announcements, calendars, directories, groups, project sites, forums, classifieds, etc.

Project Scope

The full scope of this project includes all activities required (from planning & requirement determination to development, implementation & usage) to meet the objectives outlined above. To make this substantial undertaking manageable, the project will be split into three distinct phases:

Phase 1: Consultation with Directorate and campus staff, collection & analysis of intranet requirements, solution recommendation & selection, and creation of a prototype with examples and needed plans/documentation.

Phase 2: Full development of the chosen intranet solution with migration from any existing alternatives and integration with relevant organisation areas (e.g. HR). Initial content covering all areas & services to be added so that the new intranet can be launched.

Phase 3: Implementation of extended intranet content/services and ongoing effective usage by all staff.

Project Timeframes & Chief Milestones

*Draft only

	Key Milestones
Phase 1 21st Feb - 15th Mar	- Finalization of project scope & plan (27th Feb) - Finalization of requirement consultation (4th Mar) - Completion of requirement specification (5th Mar) - Selection of recommended intranet system (7th Mar) - Complete setup of sharepoint 2007 system (8th Mar) - Creation of new intranet prototype & examples (15th Mar)
Phase 2 16th Mar - 24th April	- Creation of approved intranet design & structure (17th Mar) - Development & integration of all required intranet functionality & services (3rd April) - Completion of development, testing and initial content creation (15th April) - Confirmation of key organisation areas & staff with major ongoing intranet activities. E.g. content maintenance, online service provision. Training commencement. (16th April) - Begin migration of existing sharepoint, network drive and other alternatives (17th April) - Completion of operational, production intranet site with initial content (24th April)
Phase 3 25th April - Ongoing	- Confirmation of initial go-live content & service requirements (25th April) - Completion of initial staff training and maintenance arrangements (27th April) - Launch of new intranet site & services (1st May) - Completion of migration of existing sharepoint & other network alternatives (11th May) - Post-launch review & assessment of achievement of project goals - Ongoing content addition and refinement

Project Staff & Steering Committee

Project Managers:
Husham Zaki. Dubai Campus. Email: husham.zaki@iat.ac.ae.
Adrian Lobo. Dubai Campus (A217). Email: adrian.lobo@iat.ac.ae

Project Sponsors:
Layla Al Bloushi. Deputy Director HR & Finance. Dubai Campus. Email: layla.albloushi@iat.ac.ae
Phillip Rutherford. Deputy Director Operations. Dubai Campus. Email: phillip.rutherford@iat.ac.ae

Department Representatives: Representatives for each Directorate department, campus and major projects will be identified and listed here. These representatives will be responsible for coordinating the provision & maintenance of information and services for their area. They will also represent their areas on any Working Group meetings.

Department / Area	Representative	Email
Human Resources
Finance	Huda?
I.T.	Fedha?
Operations
Curriculum & Assessment
Professional Development	Tony?
Al Ain Campus
Abu Dhabi Campus
Dubai Campus
Fujairah Campus
Ras Al Khaimah
VEDC
School of Nursing
Aviation College
ADEC
Other? B/G, SOC, AAwir, Pre-uni GHQ

Other IAT staff will be involved in various activities and stages of this project. Please see the How to Get Involved post to find out how you can contribute to this or other related projects.

Steering Committee: A Steering Committee will be used to discuss and approve all strategic decisions relating to this project, such as the choice of intranet systems and the nature of its usage: services available, accessibility/security of information, for what purposes it can be used by staff. The steering committee members will be listed here. It will meet as required with Layla Al Bloushi as the chair.

Project Resources

Intranets are intended to be actively-used systems by a large number of staff and the new intranet will need to be well-supported by key personnel in each area who have been trained to maintain and update their information and services. The extent of ongoing, widespread usage will largely depend on the successful incorporation of intranet usage into the activities of these areas - whether corporate (e.g. HR) or at the campuses (e.g. for teacher groups).

It is also desirable that permanent, in-house development, customization and administration skills are ultimately available in the chosen intranet system - either through existing I.T. staff obtaining this familiarity or through recruitment. Additional recruitment requirements can be combined with the requirements for supporting the new IAT websites and other online services being developed.

Standards, Guidelines & Compliance

Any UAE Government or other regulatory standards and guidelines that relate to record & information management, policy communication and staff administration need to be taken into account in setting up the new intranet system and determining the information available and access to it.

Project Execution/Action Plan

Please see the Intranet Project Action Plan on the blog.

Project Outputs/Deliverables

The main deliverable will be a completely new intranet with integrated online services that provides IAT with the capability to attain the project goals outlined. This new intranet will replace all existing intranet systems and ad hoc alternatives.

Integration with Internet site & Related Systems

While it is possible to run an internet and intranet site in the same system, consultation to date has determined that the new systems be completely independent but able to be readily associated where desired. It is intended to eliminate duplication by clearly delineating between content for the internet vs the intranet and maintaining information only on one system or the other. Wherever relevant, this information can be connected between the internet & intranet using hyperlinks and serving content from one system within the other.

Extranet Usage
While an intranet is a private network for internal staff, an extranet is a secure network for communication with external clients, partners or stakeholders. Current analysis of extranet requirements for IAT indicate that the relevant secure services for students, parents, the government, etc can be delivered through the internet site. The new internet site will have login capability to allow authorized users to gain access to customized, special information and services. These can either be delivered through the internet application itself or by it acting as a gateway to separate web-enabled business applications.

Considerations & Issues

Please see Intranet Considerations & Issues on the blog.

Review of Existing Intranet Usage

Please see Review of Intranet Usage on the blog.

Requirements for the New Intranet

Please see Intranet Requirements on the blog.

New Intranet Potential Alternatives

Please see Intranet Alternatives on the blog.

Intranet Project Action Plan

This is the Project Action Plan for IAT's new intranet project. It is intended to be updated with all necessary tasks needed to progress the project so that these can be followed up by the intranet project's meeting groups and managers.

Project Execution/Action Plan

What	Who	When	Status
Project Initiation & Communication	Layla, Husham, Adrian	Feb 24th - Feb 28th	Ongoing
Set up Steering Committee & Working Group (dept/campus representatives)	Layla, Husham, Adrian	Feb 26th - Feb 28th
Obtain licences, install Sharepoint 2007 and set up test site	Husham & I.T. Dept.	Feb 25th - Mar 4th	Ongoing
Review existing sharepoint, network drive and "intranet" usage	Adrian	Feb 22nd - Feb 28th	Ongoing
Consult with all staff regarding new intranet requirements	Adrian	Feb 18th - Mar 3rd	Ongoing
Dept/campus representatives to begin identifying & organising information & services to be added to the intranet	Dept/campus reps	Mar 1st - Mar 15th
Create wireframe of new intranet structure & services	Adrian	Feb 26th - Mar 2nd
Complete scope of current "intranet" activity & migration needs	Husham, Adrian, current intranet admins - e.g. Janet	Feb 27th - Mar 6th

Project Contacts

> Layla Al Bloushi. Deputy Director HR & Finance. Dubai Campus. Email: layla.albloushi@iat.ac.ae
> Husham Zaki. Dubai Campus. Email: husham.zaki@iat.ac.ae
> Adrian Lobo. Dubai Campus (A217). Email: adrian.lobo@iat.ac.ae

Update Your Technology

During this project, I'll be making use of various free software and online tools & services that you might find useful and will also be applied in relevant professional development programs. I'll aim to build a comprehensive list here; please suggest your own.

Browsers

There are a number of better alternatives to browsing the web than using Internet Explorer.

> Recommended: Firefox - it's faster, has great add-ons and can be completely customized.

Suggested Firefox Add-ons (all users)

> Plugins - add support for Acrobat, Flash, Java, Shockwave, Quicktime & Windows Media Player

> del.icio.us Bookmarks - a much better way to bookmark

> FlashGot - for quick, simple downloading

> Email This - email any page on the web

> IETab - if you ever need to view a site in Internet Explorer once you're using Firefox

> DownloadHelper - easily download video & embedded media from the web

> LinkWad - save & load groups of websites together as tabs

Online Web Tools

> Gliffy - Create & share diagrams online

> MindMeister - Online, collaborative mind-mapping tool

> MailBigFIle - send files to someone that are too big for email (up to 512Mb)

> Picnik - web-based photo editing and gallery integration

Advanced

> Net2FTP - simple web-based FTP service

Useful Web Services & Sites

> Google Docs & Spreadsheets - web-based docs & spreadsheets you can share & collaborate, save as Word docs or PDFs, and publish as web pages or to your blog.

> FormAssembly - create advanced online forms & easily aggregate responses

> Google Maps - online interactive maps for finding locations

Desktop Applications

> Google Earth - explore & tour the earth using satellite images

> FastStone Capture - powerful screen capture utility

Website Design & Development

> Blogger - the easiest way to get a free website up and running online

> Joomla - a simple but powerful dynamic website system

> Google Analytics - the easiest way to analyse rich usage data & statistics on your site

Advanced

> Host-Tracker - server uptime monitoring service

Emirates Skills

World Skills is an international, non-profit association of agencies responsible for promoting vocational education in their countries or regions. The U.A.E is a member and on 9-10th Jan this year hosted a symposium to promote the development of Trade skills in the U.A.E.

The U.A.E. will be participating in the next round of World Skills competitions to be held in Japan in November this year - specifically the Abilympics competition.

In order to promote the ongoing activities of Emirates Skills, a new website will be created to list news, competitions and other associated events or information.

This will also serve as a pilot project to demonstrate in a simplified but practical way the kind of system planned for the new IAT website. A link to the new prototype website will be available here shortly.

Contact Details:

Adrian Lobo - adrian.lobo@iat.ac.ae

Ismail Ghareeb - ismail.ghareeb@iat.ac.ae

Online Technology PD

There's no point making wonderful, new technology available if people aren't familiar with it and don't know how to use it. Professional Development for staff (particularly those involved in teaching) has been cited frequently as a much-needed aspect of this project.

Formal Professional Development Activities

It is planned to arrange some initial demonstration sessions at each campus which all staff will be welcome to attend. These may be followed by smaller, more-focused, practical sessions throughout this project as various new tools and services are trialled and made available.

However, the intended plan for long-term PD of staff is to ultimately have experts or coordinators available in each area (and preferably on each campus) who will be able to provide this PD to their colleagues (or arrange it). Hence, the current request is for those staff who are interested in playing such a role to get in touch (please also nominate the type of technology. e.g. e-learning, website editing, multimedia, online web tools).

All organised demos or PD activities will be added to the calendar.

Technology Sandboxes & Trials

During the course of this project, various types of technology and online services will be made available for familiarization, trialling and professional development. These tools & "sandboxes" will be linked from here when available. They will include blogs, forums, wikis, e-learning applications, web tools and much more. Please add your requests.

Till ours are live, you can try the following demo sites:

> Opensource CMS - demo various portals, blogs, wikis, e-learning systems, etc.

Individual Learning Resources

Some web-based resources that may be of interest to staff will be added here.

> 23 things you can do on the web - familiarize yourself with some of the new websites & tools

> Web 2.0 directory - a comprehensive directory of the new web services & sites available

> Web 2.0 video tour - a short video about the evolution of the web

e-learning 2.0

Things have moved a long way since the WebCT vs Blackboard era of discussions about how to use technology to aid teaching & learning. In this topic, we'll be looking at how IAT can best facilitate the use of modern technology & resources to provide a student-centred learning environment - both in the classroom and outside of it; collaboratively and individually.

What is e-learning 2.0?

Let's start with some enlightening articles about the new methods of "e-learning" so that we can all get up to speed on the current state-of-play.

> How web technologies are shaping education

> e-learning 2.0 (Wikipedia)

> e-learning 2.0 overview (a longer article with background & links)


Useful e-learning Blogs

> George Siemens elearnspace

> Brainpath

> Learning 2.0

Traditional e-learning Technology

Learning Management Systems (LMS) and "Virtual learning environments" (VLE) are still the most popular methods of using online technology for learning purposes. WebCT, Blackboard and Moodle are three such systems. In this section of the topic, we'll discuss where these systems are currently at, the alternatives available and discuss people's experiences with them. Examples of current usage or suggested practice are also welcome.

> Virtual Learning Environments (Wikipedia)

> Eduforge Projects

e-learning 2.0 Tools & Technology

Here we'll look at some of the new tools & methods used in e-learning and discuss how these might be used at IAT.

> A summary of some e-learning 2.0 technology options

Please submit your ideas & examples of these tools and how we can use them...

(1) Blogs

(2) Forums

(3) Podcasts

Example e-learning Usage & Resources

For examples of current practice and existed & suggested online learning resources.

> UK DFES Embedded Learning (suggested by Keith Shaw for VDEC)

e-learning Reference

Categories of e-learning Mindmap

Online Systems Plan

Below is a simplified representation of the new website & online services that are envisioned and being discussed here. Click on the diagram and you'll be able to access links to the specific topics on this blog. These links to topics & examples will expand as this project/blog develops.

Please add your suggestions or queries about the online services to be available and how these systems will work (i.e. be accessed, integrated, etc).

Online Systems Principles & Guidelines

(1) That the services & capability developed & made available will be through systems that have the flexibility to serve various purposes and requirements. i.e. The solutions deployed should be able to serve all areas & allow different customization. E.g. All current & future IAT-related websites will be able to be created on the same application and take advantage of the same services.

(2) That the systems are fully-integrated where it makes sense (e.g. calendar & form functionality with the website) but also modular wherever possible (e.g. e-learning & intranet capability separate from the website but readily linked from it). This will allow maximum flexibility in terms of usage, development and future solution-replacement, while enabling a seamless user experience.

(3) That each system has clearly identified purposes & audiences. Hence, there will also be an evident delineation of content and services. E.g. The intranet will serve the information & service requirements of existing staff while the IAT website will serve prospective staff. Duplication will be avoided through effective interfacing of systems.

(4) All delivered solutions to be scalable, extensible and customizable where possible - to allow extended or new types of usage in the future.

(5) The website is to act as a portal/gateway to all online services without impeding their ability to function independently.

(6) All developed online capability should enable advanced usage by expert staff but be designed for simple usage by all staff.

(7) The new systems developed will incorporate (or readily allow through "plug-in" extension) as much functionality as is necessary to enable all likely future requirements even if these are not deployed when first released. This will allow the systems to "switch on" these "hidden" capabilities at a later date, rather than requiring development changes to production systems.

(8) Open, widely-used & modern technology that is accessible to everyone to be preferred to proprietary or custom systems.

(9) Technology costs of systems & contractual vendor arrangements to be minimized or avoided if possible.

Curiosity Killed the Cat...

...but no enquirers about this project yet!

A few people have enquired as to what kind of websites I have created that are of a similar nature to IAT. The most recent project was for the Western Australian Dept. of Education & Training's international arm >> www.eti.wa.edu.au

If you want a brief overview, take a look at this slideshow (requires Flash) or this summary.

Of course, the new IAT site will be unique, but you may get some ideas as to possibilities. This blog will be linking to various exemplary websites and features. Do send us your own suggested examples and remember - all questions are most welcome!

IAT Site Review & Plans

Plans for the Current IAT Website

The IAT's current website is a first-generation site that has served its purpose, but was always going to be redeveloped or replaced when the opportunity arose. The new IAT website will be built from scratch and not a modification of the existing site. Hence, the focus of this project is not so much on issues with the current site, but what kind of new site (inclusive of all information & services) we would like to move to.

Nevertheless, a review of the current site is necessary in ensuring that all existing information and service needs being met are incorporated in the new site. This review has mostly been completed and will be used to update the high-level and detailed requirement tables for the new site. Discussions with the I.T. Dept are planned shortly after the 20th of Feb to confirm the full scope of all current website & associated online services.

However, if you have any queries about the plans for the current site and how your current activities on it will be affected, please contact us.

Comments & Input on Current IAT Site

Various feedback has been communicated on the current IAT site, most of it has emphasised the need for a new, contemporary site to be developed which supports all the needs of a modern education institution. All further input on new site requirements & ideas can be made through feedback on the relevant posts on this blog. However, if you have specific comments to make on the current site, just add them here.