Case study Organisation: Sheffield College Type of FE provider: College Focus on: Technology
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“It’s given me much greater flexibility in the way I work. All my work now is online – I rarely meet my students – I can work from home or at the college, fitting in with my other commitments.” Background Originally an English and communications teacher in FE, Julia really began to embrace technology a few years ago and took to it, she says, ‘like a duck to water – there’s something about it that maps the way I think about things’. From there it was a short step to gaining qualifications and applying the potential of technologies in her work as online learning manager.
Use of technology The role of Julia’s team is to develop online courses for learners, for example, working with the NHS to develop specialist online health NVQs, and producing e-learning materials for the literacy course ‘Made in Sheffield’. She also delivers information and learning technology (ILT) training to staff within and outside the college. It’s a dynamic role that ‘never stands still’. The team’s e-learning programme spans basic training (such as using Word or the college email) for any member of staff, online training for teachers in using ICT tools more effectively in teaching and learning (such as Moodle, Word, Smartboard) and a £300,000 advanced
level M-learning project, which is currently being developed. This project looks at how to use mobile technologies and piloting modules on web based resources such as Google, i-Google and podcasting. For instance, using Google Survey to create free online questionnaires or quizzes. Julia’s team is also responsible for online professional courses at levels 3 and 4, two of which (‘An Effective Mentor’s Toolkit’ and ‘Getting to Grips with Moodle’) cover online pedagogy, teaching people how to teach online. These are not restricted to college staff but have learners from all over the world, usually teachers or trainers wanting to become e-learning teachers. For college staff, online learning is supplemented with workshops and one-toone training, especially where knowledge learned can then be cascaded to other staff.
Staff continuing professional development
Key lessons
Julia’s team works with curriculum team leaders, who flag up strengths and weaknesses in their own team and encourage staff to opt for further training. Julia says:
Julia highlights lessons the college has learned in developing and delivering online learning:
“As a team we share new ideas and discoveries we’ve happened upon. Students on the e-communications degree course which we developed often highlight new finds – there are plenty of great free tools that staff can use in their teaching to enhance the learning experience. We also send staff skills checklists, which help them pinpoint their ICT training needs. It’s hard for them to find time to come to training courses, so it’s important to find smart ways of training. It’s a very flexible, personalised service, which ensures that staff get the training they need, without wasting time on unnecessary elements.”
Impact Julia and her team are fully immersed in technology and are slowly but surely spreading the word across the college. For Julia technology has completely changed her job: “It’s given me much greater flexibility in the way I work. All my work now is online – I rarely meet my students – I can work from home or at the college, fitting in with my other commitments.” Across the college Julia recognises that there is still a lot of technology that staff currently don’t use as much as they could, although that’s steadily changing. One of the college sites is a new build, where technology has been built in from the outset and staff are keen to embrace it and learn new skills. The benefits for the college and learners include: • A much more varied experience for students • More choice in interesting ways of learning and means of assessment – using technologies that come naturally to young people • More opportunities for students to revise and revisit learning more easily, so they are less likely to miss essential points and can focus on just the elements they need to brush up on • Greater potential for staff development – staff who use technology readily can become guides, facilitators as well as experts, working with students at the pace that suits each learner.
• Tutoring is a crucial aspect of online learning. We have students in groups of 15 or 20 online, with a lot of peer support, collaborative learning and a very proactive tutor • Tutors must know how each online student is progressing and quickly pick up if they’re struggling, emailing them as soon as a potential problem is highlighted. It’s a guiding and shepherding role • Online students need very detailed feedback, since they can’t compare their work in a classroom • Teaching and learning materials must be well written and well arranged so that students can navigate through them easily. It’s about good, sound pedagogy.
Future plans Within Sheffield College Julia has identified two main areas of development: • Keeping in touch with new developments in technologies and spotting their potential is key: “Learning resources are becoming more web based and are more likely to be accessed in a huge variety of ways by using mobiles or mini-laptops, for example. People increasingly expect to be able to access learning wherever they are, whether that’s a bus or a café using wi-fi. There’s less likely to be a physical space attached to where you learn – learning will increasingly follow learners around. FE providers have to go down this route or they simply won’t be competitive.” • Development of staff based on smart delivery, to fit in with busy lives: “In terms of e-CPD, we’re exploring the idea of having an ILT health service, where staff are given a 15 minute check up, their state of technology health diagnosed and, based on that information, a prescription put together for a personal programme of training – a combination perhaps, of workshops and online worksheets. We’re hoping to involve the learning resource centres, one on each of the college’s main sites.”
“It’s a very flexible, personalised service, which ensures that staff get the training they need, without wasting time on unnecessary elements.” RW09/09/CS005
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