Computers & Texts No. 13
Table of Contents
December 1996

The Humanities and Arts Higher Education Network

The Humanities and Arts Higher Education Network (HAN) is committed to the improvement of teaching and learning in arts and humanities higher education. It links researchers into arts and humanities higher education and humanities educators throughout the UK. Members currently include representatives of some 70 universities, professional bodies and the Workers' Educational Association.

Aims

The current aims of the Network are:

  1. through enhanced communication between educators in the arts and humanities, to encourage reform of curricula, teaching methods, and assessment and evaluative practices;
  2. to promote identification and dissemination of good practice in humanities teaching/learning; of successful methods and media (e.g. uses of group work, problem-solving and guided-project work); of modern educational technologies (multimedia and computing); and of strategies for student support and acquisition of those Œstudy skills' which enable life-long learning (e.g. accessing information, evaluating and presenting evidence, written and verbal communication);
  3. to promote the application of research into teaching and learning in the humanities; to encourage teachers and researchers to collaborate, to meet occasionally in order to discuss priorities and work in progress, and to plan future projects.

Activities

The activities of the Network include:

Research

In 1995 our commercial partner Blackwell Publishers, together with Oxford Brookes University's Centre for Publishing Studies, undertook research on behalf of the Network into the knowledge, skills and qualities publishing companies expect of humanities graduates entering employment. A full report on their findings will be published in 1996. The Network hopes to launch a second research project shortly.

Joining the Network

The Network aims to be inclusive: any teacher or researcher in higher education who thinks s/he will benefit from membership is welcome to join and help shape its future direction.

It is administered from the Institute of Educational Technology (IET) at the Open University in Milton Keynes, which is home to HERG, the Open University's Humanities Higher Education Research Group. IET is well placed to support the Group's work: it has an international reputation for excellence and innovation in pedagogy, educational computing and research methodology. The range of its members' expertise may be called upon if needed, as well as its R&D infrastructure.

The Network is funded until Dec. 31st 1996 and is currently active in soliciting funds from other sources to continue its existence. Carol Rowland, the Network's manager, would be grateful for any suggestions from readers for possible sources of funding.

If you wish to join the Humanities and Arts Higher Education Network, or find out more about it, please contact:

Carol Rowland (Manager, HAN)
Institute of Educational Technology
The Open University
Milton Keynes MK7 6AA
Email: C.A.Rowland@open.ac.uk
Tel: 01908 652870
Fax: 01908 653744
URL: http://www-iet.open.ac.uk/iet/HERG/HAN.html


[Table of Contents] [Letter to the Editor]


Computers & Texts 13 (1996), 25. Not to be republished in any form without the permission of CTI Textual Studies.

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