What are the Regional Support Centres?
The Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC) Regional Support Centres (RSCs) were established in 2000 initially to support the Further Education sector in the development of e-learning and the deployment of Information and Communications Technologies (ICT).The network of 13 RSCs operates across England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales as a national service responsive to local needs through a strong sense of local ownership.A core function of the RSCs is to promote and help sustain the range of services JISC provides.
Expanded role – supporting HE
At the start of the 2003-4 academic year, the RSCs were granted additional funding to support higher education in further education, small HE Colleges (as defined by HERO), specialist colleges and more recently the Adult and Community Learning sector. Under the new HE remit, the RSCs now provide advice, guidance and support in the following areas:
Curriculum
• Providing advice and information for staff in the use of e-learning technologies and pedagogy.
• Providing or facilitating staff development to support e-learning capacity building.
Learning Resources
• Offering advice and information for staff in the provision of e-learning resources, especially the JISC Collections.
Technical
• Support JANET connection and institutional systems and networks.
• Facilitating the availability of cost effective technical training.
Strategy and Management
• Providing advice and guidance on strategic planning, for example e-learning strategy writing.
• Forums and events for senior managers to meet and share ideas and good practice.
We support the above through:
• Websites
• Publications/Newsletters/Emails
• Help Desk
• Forums – using JISCmail or face-to-face meetings
• Regional Events – a range of events, responding to staff development needs are arranged and publicised throughout the year. These events take the form of conferences, workshops, seminars, briefing and awareness-raising sessions.
• Bespoke Training courses. The RSCs offer in-house training which can form part of institutional staff development activities or be tailored to particular needs.
The Role of the RSC HE Adviser
Our responsibility includes visiting regional institutions, where we meet with Curriculum, Learning Resources and IT Network Managers to inform them about the role of the RSC, how we might be able to support them and also promote other JISC services. Many of the institutions we support are using traditional forms of teaching and have not had the opportunity to discover how new technologies can be embedded into the delivery of their curriculum, although they are keen and interested. A major part of our role is to organise a number events and workshops, which raise awareness and demonstrate how practitioners can get the best use out of technology in learning and teaching. For example, the use of interactive whiteboards in teaching and wireless networking for mobile classrooms have been highlighted as areas where institutions would benefit from RSC advice and guidance.
Our forums and events provide a great opportunity for the FE and HE sectors to come together and discuss experiences and share good practice – something the RSCs are very good at!
Finding out about the RSC in your region
All the RSCs have a website that contains a wide range of information, links and details of events.You can access your local RSC website from here.
Contacting your local RSC
Each RSC has an e-Learning Advisor with responsibility for supporting HE in FE and HE Colleges. If you would like to find out more about your RSC and its role in supporting e-learning you should contact your local HE advisor.
Londo
| Region | Contact | |
| East Midlands | Rachael Stacey | staceyr@loucoll.ac.uk |
| Eastern | Eddie Gulc | e.gulc@rsc-eastern.ac.uk |
| London | Sarah Sherman | s.sherman@rsc-london.ac.uk |
| North West | Laura Shaw | lhs@rsc-northwest.ac.uk |
| Northern | Susan Hakim | susan.hakim@sunderland.ac.uk |
| South East | Jane Carne | j.carne@kent.ac.uk |
| South West | Dan McCaffrey | danmccaffrey@rsc-south-west.ac.uk |
| West Midlands | Sandra Wilkins | S.Wilkins@wlv.ac.uk |
| Yorkshire and Humber | Will Stewart | w.stewart@leeds.ac.uk |
| Northern Ireland | Martin Peoples | m.peoples@rsc-ni.ac.uk |
| Scotland North & East | Carol Walker | cwalker@rsc-ne-scotland.ac.uk |
| Scotland South & West | Charles Sweeney | cswee001@udcf.gla.ac.uk |
| Wales | Lis Parcell | e.j.parcell@swansa.ac.uk |
