To web2 or not to web2

On the e-admin project we're developing web-based tools to support teaching activity. We don't normally call these Web1 tools, or Web2 tools, but ultimately the modules we are creating are an emerging kind of technology. And perhaps with actual academics feeding information into these systems, they could count as "user generated content", and therefore Web2.0?

Netskills are looking for information on how researchers, academics, and the people who support their work use emerging tools, such as Web2.0 services like twitter, flickr and more. This is part of work funded by the JISC Users and Innovation (U&I) programme.

Please help them out by taking their survey!

They will use information from the survey to create guides to help others see how emerging technologies can help in research and teaching.

Updates to the Engineering TOD software

Various new features have been added to the Engineering TOD software package. It is hoped that these features will allow more effective and easier use of the software.

Today is something of a milestone, because it is the first day that the new 'version' of the software (unofficially v1.1) is to be used in as part of the real teaching allocation process in the Engineering department. The particular new features used today are:

• Formula-based points calculation
• Entry of student counts per teaching unit to support points calculations
• Modified and Printable version of the Jobs/units view

In addition to these features, the following features are now available:

• More reliable and consistent CSV downloads of data
• Autocompletion of person names in the job editing screen
• Display of points formulae in Job-, Unit- and People-viewing/editing screens

Various other new features and improvements are in the process of completion, or in the pipeline for the near future.

These new features are being piloted in the Engineering department, but will soon be migrated to other departments (the next being the Judge Business School). It is hoped that by adding these features to a live and used software package, very valuable richer 'real life' feedback and commentry will become available to feed into the software requirements set for the Teaching Allocation Module.

The Engineering TODB software

The Cambridge University Engineering department has been using a software package developed in-house by Prof Richard Prager for managing teaching allocations. This software is known as the 'Teaching Office Database', abbreviated as 'TODB' or 'TOD'.

This software forms the basis of a usable prototype to demonstrate and evaluate much of the functionality envisaged in the Teaching Allocation module, which is a major deliverable in this project. Various additions and modifications have been and will be made to the TODB software. This software is used by the Engineering department, as well as the Judge Business School.

The CARET project team have approached several other departments at Cambridge University who have expressed an interest in becoming involved with this project. These departments will be using the TOD software initially, appropriately configured for their needs, for their teaching allocation operations in 2009, or will at least 'mirror' their existing processes with the TOD software. The intention is that all the departments using the software will be able to comment more positively and more usefully on features and usability if they have something to work with, rather than simply postulating about hypothetical software. Feedback from the use of the software will then be aggregated and analysed and will form the foundation of a requirements document for the Teaching Allocation Module. Some of the software elements may also be used directly.

from the CARET library

We've been playing with our new Flip video camera recently, and this is an introduction to the e-admin project, which we recorded last week. A rather medicre example - we got better after recording this one, when we learnt to start the Flip a little while before we began talking. Oops! Still, this should give you some idea of what we are working on.

Welcome!

This project kicked off in October 2008. It is the idea of Dr Richard Prager, at the Engineering Department of the University of Cambridge, and Dr. Rachael Padman, at the Physics Department.

Dr. Laura James will be managing the project from CARET, and initially Dr. William Billingsley will be working on researching the requirements for modular tools, based in CARET.

We hired Matthew Jones, who will be working on the Engineering Department side, and are looking for additional people at the moment.

Laura, Richard and Rachael attended the JISC "Institutional Innovation" programme meeting earlier in October and are looking forward to getting the project underway.