Site news

Amendment to the EU’s Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations 2003

Sat, 14 May 2011 15:33:33 GMT

by Jon Bolton.

The law which applies to how websites use cookies and similar technologies for storing information on a user’s equipment such as their computer or mobile device is changing on 26 May 2011.

Consequently, as from that date, we need to get informed consent from visitors to this website in order to remain compliant with legislation.

A cookie is a small file of letters and numbers downloaded on to a device when the user accesses certain websites. Cookies allow a website to recognise a user’s device. Cookies perform a number of legitimate functions.

There are two main types of cookies in question;

1st Party cookies, used by websites to track on site actions and make the user experience as seamless as possible.
3rd Party cookies, used by behavioural advertising networks to target ads to users based on their prior actions.

The Virtual Learning Centre - www.baillie.org.uk - does not use any 3rd Party cookies. We do, however, use two 1st Party cookies:

The essential one is the session cookie, usually called MoodleSession. You must allow this cookie into your browser to provide continuity and maintain your login from page to page. When you log out or close the browser this cookie is destroyed (in your browser and on the server). This is a 'strictly necessary' 1st Party cookie and thus is exempt from the ruling.
The other cookie is purely for convenience, usually called something like MOODLEID. It just remembers your username within the browser. This means when you return to this site the username field on the login page will be already filled out for you. It is safe to refuse this cookie - you will just have to retype your username every time you log in.

If you are a new, first time user of this site, you will be asked to agree to our terms and conditions before being allowed access.

If you are already a registered user of the site, you will be asked to agree to the terms and conditions again shortly before 26 May 2011.

By accepting our terms and conditions you are therefore giving us your informed consent, as per the requirements in Regulation 6 of the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations 2003 (PECR), to store these cookies on your device.

VLC unavailable

Fri, 04 Mar 2011 10:43:45 GMT

by Jon Bolton.

This is a reminder that the VLC will be completely unavailable from 12 noon today until 8am on Monday, due to scheduled maintenance.

Welcome to the Virtual Learning Centre

Fri, 06 Aug 2010 19:09:30 GMT

by Deborah Baillie.

The Virtual Learning Centre is a facility to support your learning at college, or at home!

Now you can choose when the time is right for you to study. This way it's easy to plan a schedule around work and other commitments - studying in the lunch hour, at home in the evenings or wherever. It all adds up to a better use of precious time and effort.

Find information, seek help and guidance with your subject, and download resources for your projects. Take part in discussions on any aspect of the topics of your course. Share your work with others! Initiate discussions and share thoughts and ideas with other people studying your subject.

To get the most out of the system you need to log in.

The VLC - exploring the relationship between the law and social work

Fri, 06 Aug 2010 19:09:30 GMT

by Jon Bolton.

The social work role is enmeshed in a complex web of legislation and guidance that has grown up piecemeal over a period of nearly 40 years. The law influences and shapes social work practice, and regulates social work decision making.

The Virtual Learning Centre offers a detailed and consistent approach to exploring the legal framework regulating social work in Scotland and the relationship between the law and social work thinking across a range of Scottish practice settings. It allows for a wide-ranging exploration of the critical links between practice issues, and is a fantastic facility to support learning at university, at work, or at home.

Read the attached leaflet for more information about the VLC, and what it has to offer.

Are you having problems registering?

Fri, 06 Aug 2010 19:09:30 GMT

by Jon Bolton.

Deborah has said that some new students have reported that they cannot create accounts on the VLC with email addresses that include aol.com and hotmail.com.

The most likely explanation is that AOL and Hotmail are blocking the emails from our server and marking it as spam.

So the first thing to check is your spam folder. It can be called different things, perhaps AntiSpam folder, or Bulk Mail folder.

Occasionally, a legitimate email may be moved to your spam folder. If that has happened, you can usually move the email back to your inbox and remove it from the spam folder, and mark it as 'Not Spam' to ensure that you receive emails from us in the future.

Spam is unsolicited email or newsgroup postings usually advertising some product or service. Spam is cheap marketing, sending messages to millions of people for very little cost.

The Virtual Learning Centre has a very simply policy about Spam. We dont send it and we dont support people who do. We will not abuse the confidence and trust that you place in us by sharing your information with others. We do not rent or sell information about you to anyone. If you provide contact or other information to us, then that information remains in our strict confidence. You can read our full privacy policy at www.baillie.org.uk/privacy

If you want a free email address, we can offer you a free email account on YOUniversity.org.uk or socialworker.org.uk. We have been able to partner with Google.com in developing an email system that is totally hosted on their servers and utilises a similar web interface found in their offering of Google Mail including Google Chat, Google Calendar and searching capabilities.

You'll get more information at www.baillie.org.uk/email

Note: Anyone can request a YOUniversity.org.uk email address, but the socialworker.org.uk email address is only available to qualified social workers, and we will check the Register of social service workers for Scotland before allocating an email address.