About UCeL

Because content counts...

Reusable learning objects

Unlocking content

Distributed development

Peer-review

Evaluation

A community of practice

How to join

Benefits of partnership

FAQs

Benefits of partnership

Our long term success depends on sustaining our community of practice through multiple activities, added value and incentives. Here are some of the current benefits of membership that UCeL partners enjoy:

RLO collections
Quality assurance and standardised methods
Centre for Excellence
Content creation workshops
Residential developer training programmes
Visiting fellowships
Ongoing support
Payment for RLO creation
Publications and presentations
RLO showcases
Customisable LOs (GLOs)
Increased chance of additional funding

RLO collections
Partners have unlimited access to all collections of RLOs for all staff and students. There are currnetly 58 RLOs listed in the catalogue and this list continues to grow. Partners’ creation of RLOs is essential and they receive payment for this – see also payment for RLO creation.
This collection is of significant benefit to project partners and the intention is to keep it growing and evolving. Our peer-review and evaluation procedures ensure quality and these too are being refined over time. Where we have received public external funding, we make those materials accessible to the whole of UK HE. See SHIELD, SDR and ELSIE projects for examples of these.

Quality assurance and standardised methods
Peer-review and standardised templates ensure consistency and accuracy of materials. We are evolving a de facto standard for content creation, use and evaluation. This will be a major output for the Centre for Excellence

Centre for Excellence in Teaching & Learning (CETL) in RLOs
Led by our colleagues at the Learning Technology Research Institute at London Metropolitan University and in partnership with the University of Nottingham, a UCeL founder member, we have been successful in gaining 5 years funding from HEFCE to found this Centre for Excellence. We shall be running a bold and innovative range of activities (many of them residential at Wolfson College, Cambridge) designed to reward excellence, harness expertise and enhance student learning in an engaging and enjoyable way.

Content creation workshops
These internationally acclaimed workshops are for subject experts (teaching staff), developers, educationalists, students and anyone with an interest in “unlocking content”. These are provided at a nominal cost for UCeL partners (£40 per participant) to include lunch, refreshments and all materials. Partners are requested to provide a seminar room and audio-visual equipment. The UCeL hub organises presenters, a visiting artist, all the bookings and housekeeping arrangements. Honararia of £100 plus travel expenses are available for trained partner staff to present and facilitate.
Our workshops are a most effective way of introducing the community to new ways of working and “kick-starting” the RLO production life-cycle. We usually hold one per year at each partner institution with additional workshops by arrangement. We also hold workshops at the request of other institutions, occasionally abroad.

Residential developer training programmes
These are intensive week-long courses with subsequent follow-up visits of two to three days for developers to network, share skills, tips and tricks and build a community of practice that can become self-sustaining over time. All facilities and staff time at CARET are provided free of charge. Institutions pay the residential charges at cost - £80 per delegate per day - to include all meals and very comfortable residential accommodation at Wolfson College.
For follow-up visits, the hot-desking facilities at CARET offer very flexible access to all visiting developers on an as-and-when basis and UCeL hub developers offer friendly support in an informal and productive atmosphere.

Visiting fellowships
By arrangement, academics can join us for an agreed period of time to work on a research or design project of their choice. We are most interested in evaluation of e-learning resources, models of collaboration, pedagogical aspects of e-learning design and adaptive learning objects but we are open to any proposals. Accommodation and meals can also be arranged.

Ongoing support
by phone, email, video conference and occasional visits. There is a dedicated development bay on UCeL website with templates, FAQs, contact details etc.

Payment for RLO creation
Each partner is entitled to receive payment for the creation of a number of RLOs each year depending on their payment Band:
Band A – up to 3 RLOs
Band B – up to 4 RLOs
Band C – up to 5 RLOs
Content creation payment goes direct to author as honorarium £300
Peer-review (both stages), honorarium £ 50
Development – paid to Faculty/Unit
There are 3 levels depending on complexity (some RLOs take much longer than others!)
Simple £ 800
Medium £1100
Complex £1500

The exact RLOs to be produced are by agreement of the steering group.

Publications and presentations
There are 16 papers to conferences currently listed on the UCeL website (four with ISBNs) and the majority of these have multiple authors. Since 2002 UCeL partners have attended and presented at conferences in Switzerland, the Netherlands, Portugal, Germany and USA as well as the UK and Ireland. Wherever we receive benefits, such as free registration, these are passed on to our presenters. Occasionally, such as at the European Academic Software Awards, we are also able to sponsor presenters’ travel and accommodation.

RLO showcases
A moveable feast of demos and presentations of the latest resources designed to maintain interest and inform of new developments. Held onsite at each partner institution where selected staff (and students) can be invited. To be arranged on a needs basis, these showcases will be free of charge.

Customisable LOs (GLOs)
The next generation of learning objects is already underway. Generative learning objects (GLOs) can be adapted or configured by teachers for their own specific teaching and learning purposes. This makes them potentially very powerful. Only UCeL partners will have the necessary permissions and support to create their own instances. The two main areas under development at present are ethical decision making and adaptive statistical methods.

Increased chance of additional funding
Collaboration need not mean lack of competitiveness! We have many examples of how being part of a tried and trusted network increases the chance of securing valuable additional funding. The UCeL hub offers assistance and advice to partners seeking funding from outside sources.

<previous | next >