Visual impact assessment of small dock & piers: Theory and practice

From a manager’s perspective, oftentimes the publicly held concerns related to small docks and piers are not really related to the environment. They may be more related to visual impacts and aesthetic concerns, a sense of over-development of the shore, or simply change. While individuals may hold personal aesthetic values related to small docks in general or an individual structure in particular, techniques have evolved that appear to provide reproducible, predictive assessments of the visual impacts and aesthetic values of an area and how those might change with development, including an increase in numbers of small docks. These assessments may be used to develop regulatory or non-regulatory methods for the management of small docks based on state or community standards. Visual impact assessments are increasingly used in the regulatory review of proposed development—although this process is still in its infancy as regards small docks and piers. Some political jurisdictions have established visual impact or aesthetic standards as relate to docks and others are in the process of investigating how to go about such an effort. (PDF contains 42 pages)

Good practice guidance for library and information professionals - moving towards accessible e-book platforms

Good practice guidance for publishers and procurers of e-book platforms based on the benefits and barriers identified by robust testing using real people with disabilities

A view of the Assessment and Feedback Landscape: baseline analysis of policy and practice from the JISC Assessment and Feedback programme

Assessment and feedback lies at the heart of the learning experience, and forms a significant part of both academic and administrative workload. It remains however the single biggest source of student dissatisfaction with the higher education experience. The JISC Assessment and Feedback programme (Sept 2011-Aug 2014) is supporting large-scale changes in assessment and feedback practice, supported by technology, with the aim of enhancing the learning and teaching process and delivering efficiencies and quality improvements. This report summarises baseline reviews undertaken by a number of institutions as part of their programme activity.

Emerging Practice in a Digital Age: A guide to technology-enhanced institutional innovation

Since the launch of the JISC guide Innovative Practice with e-Learning (JISC, 2005), so much has changed. At that time, early adopters were exploring the potential of mobile and wireless learning. Since then, the increased availability of public and institutional wireless networks, the emergence of new and more powerful technologies and an increase in personal ownership of these technologies are changing the way we connect, communicate and collaborate. Emerging Practice in a Digital Age, one of a series of Effective Practice guides, draws on recent JISC reports and case studies and looks at how colleges and universities are continuing to embrace innovation and respond to changes in economic, social and technological circumstances in a fastchanging world.

Effective Practice with e-Portfolios

Effective Practice with e-Portfolios, one in a series of Effective Practice guides, uses the outcomes of recent significant projects and examples from current practice to explore how e-portfolios can add value to personalised and reflective models of learning. Drawing on the work of key national agencies and organisations and on excellent practice and recent initiatives by institutions and professional bodies, the guide illustrates a wide variety of e-portfolio use across further, higher and continuing education.

Effective Practice in a Digital Age

Effective Practice in a Digital Age is designed for those in further and higher education who aim to enhance the student learning experience through apt and imaginative uses of technology. A visually rich publication, Effective Practice in a Digital Age outlines key aspects of designing learning in a technology-rich context and is structured to address the needs of experienced practitioners as well as those new to technology-based learning and teaching – the ten newly researched case studies offer a choice of pathways reflecting the diversity of approaches taken by practitioners in current UK practice.

Code of practice for learning analytics

Setting out the responsibilities of educational institutions to ensure that learning analytics is carried out responsibly, appropriately and effectively.

Inclusive design: Reflections on design practice

To investigate the practice of inclusive design in an industrial context and to gain an insight into the industrial perspectives, eight UK design consultancies' participation of the DBA design Challenges were reviewed through formal interviews. It is found that progress has been made in raising inclusive design awareness. However, some useful practices such as the user involvement in the design process is found not feasible in real situation, largely because of the often tight schedule and the complexity of the task. Consequently effective ways of capturing user information needs exploration and accessible design support tools need to be provided, through working with designers.