WBL Funding Opportunity - Pathfinder Projects

Innovate now has details of a new funding opportunity for work based learning: Further Education (FE) Specialisation and Innovation pathfinder funding.

It sounds a bit like funding for Further Education, but this funding actually also supports work based learning providers who are working in specialist networks. In fact, these new Pathfinder projects are likely to affect a number of organisations – starting with Further Education colleges and training providers, but embracing employers and their supply chains too.

Funding of £250-£500,000 for 1 year is available for these projects – possibly more for really ambitious ones. The new Learning and Skills Improvement Service (LSIS) will also be supporting this work through its World Class Skills – developing responsive provision programme.

More information and application forms can be downloaded from the LSC website. The LSC will also be hosting a workshop to support this round of funding, details of which will be posted on their website (and here on wobble) in due course.

More E-Learning Case Studies

I’m often asked for examples of best practice in e-learning or to outline what others are doing with e-learning in the sector. Our national set of work based learning web links has a number of case studies for work based learning but reading my colleagues blog I’ve also just been reminded of how many case studies are now being published through the Excellence Gateway.

These case studies are currently mostly geared towards FE however there are an increasing number of great examples that could quite easily also be applied to the Work Based Learning sector. For example, your learners use your IT equipment but do you have an acceptable use policy – and if so do your learners actually read it ? If not, how about implementing an interactive one? Discover how Thurrock and Basildon College did just that with very good effect.

With significant rises in the use of audio in teaching, how about using MP3s for learners with visual impairments? Or for other learners too? As noted in the case study “MP3s are accessible to fully-sighted learners too, and presents another way for learners to access study materials...” Find out how New College Worcester used free tools to achieve significant gains in this area.

How about learning space design? With limited funding, Work Based Learning providers are often required to implement more PCs into existing learning spaces. Has anyone considered the potential of space-saving alternatives to desktop PCs? Yes, right here in Hereford - there’s much more on space saving technology for effective learning spaces.

And finally, just one last example, firstly because it focuses on mobile learning (another very hot topic in the work based learning sector), and secondly because its another one based in the West Midlands (seems its all happening here!) This case study explores the use of mobile learning at Strathmore College on their Duke of Edinburgh Gold Award.

There is a wealth more both on the Excellence Gateway itself and our very own Kev has also listed more on his brand new ‘Gabber Blog’ post so I won’t repeat again here. I hope this is enough to just begin to illustrate just how much best practice is being uncovered, how many providers are willing to share their experiences of e-learning, and not being territorial at all but how much of it is actually on our patch!

Hope the great work continues! ;-)

National Support of Work Based Learning

There's a lot happening in support of Work Based Learning on a national scale. In this recent podcast interview Carolyn Lewis, the JISC RSC National Work Based E-Learning Co-ordinator talks about the RSCs role in supporting Work Based Learning providers and outlines some of the current national activity. She also introduces examples of innovative practices that have been identified and that can inspire others as well as useful links that might benefit WBL providers.

To listen to the interview, visit the networking pages of the Work Based Learning INNOVATE site and scroll to ‘latest activity’ near the bottom of the screen.

Help with your E-Learning Strategy Development

In a recent West Midlands based survey 58% of Work Based Learning providers said they dont have an e-learning/ILT strategy and 70% of respondants noted this an an area they would like support with.

All types of learning providers are being encouraged to develop strategies that support their e-learning activity and to further support this, RSC West Midlands is offering an e-learning strategy workshop at the Science Park in Wolverhampton in June. This half day session will include:

· A review of sample strategies
· A look at what makes an effective strategy?
· Communicating, reviewing and monitoring the strategy
· Launch of the 'eLearning Strategy Sharehouse' initiative - online downloadable sample strategies available to all participants

For those of you who are interested in developing a stratgey but who perhaps can’t make this event, it’s worth noting there are a number of resources available to support WBL strategy development on Innovate. These resources include some useful links on ILT Strategy as well as access to the WBL e-Learning Positioning Statement (WBe-LPS) a tool which helps organisations to identify their current position in relation to e-learning.

JISC Legal Advice for Learning Providers

As a work based learning provider, does your organisation have an email/internet policy? Does your website have a privacy statement?

The use of IT in learning raises many legal issues and work based learning providers need to have awareness of these and of any associated legal risk. That’s where JISC Legal now comes in. A Joint Information System Committee (JISC) funded service, JISC Legal now offers high quality legal information free to the work based learning sector. The service explains the implications of IT law by making current legal information available to staff working with IT in the sector.

JISC Legal is an information service, they are not a firm of solicitors and can’t give professional legal advice – any material provided is for informative purposes only. However, the use of JISC legal services can save providers time and money, if only in ensuring their staff are fully briefed in legal issues relating to the use of IT.

They maintain the JISC Legal website, which offers a wealth of useful information as well as a form for online queries. They have also compiled a very useful Software Management Checklist which is designed to help learning providers manage the licensed software on their machines. A list of Frequently Asked Questions outlines a number of key topics based on queries the service has received to date. They also have a number of publications that cover topics such as monitoring internet use, issues relating to copyright, inappropriate use of computers and data retention.

JISC Legal is just one of the advisory services currently available to the work based learning sector (I’ve mentioned another on wobble previously). A full listing of JISC services can also be found on Innovate. For more information on how any of the JISC services can be used by your organisation please get in touch.

Innovate for Work Based Learning

Do you want somewhere you can get answers to your e-learning questions, share ideas and discover what other WBL providers are doing with ILT and technology? Then Innovate is a resource designed especially for you.

Innovate is a freely accessible online web site designed to support the Work Based Learning Sector in their adoption of ILT and e-learning. As a national resource, it provides the opportunity for WBL staff to engage in peer support and to join networking groups on various topics including e-portfolios, mobile learning and staff development.

You might ask… How can it be used and by whom?

The Innovate resource site and its related discussion forums can be used by all staff within Work Based Learning organisations. Its still brand new but the site already has almost 60 registered members!

For managers it offers advice on inspection, strategic advice and guidance etc. For delivery staff it offers resources that include “how to guides”, case studies, free content creation tools, teaching and learning resources and more. Innovate can also be used as a reference for anyone wishing to keep abreast of issues facing the WBL sector.

Is there a cost?
No, Innovate is entirely free to use. It was also set up using freely available online tools as a way of demonstrating what can be achieved with no, or very little cost.

Is registration required?
No. You are not required to register to use Innovate however registration will allow you to actively participate in discussion with peers, join online groups that focus on specific topics and ensure you are kept fully up to date on issues that might be of interest to you.

How can I get started or learn more?
Visit the main Innovate website, join the Innovate WBL community or contact us at your local RSC.

Like the Innovate model?
All of the Innovate site was created entirely with free tools which I’d be happy to tell you more about or demonstrate ways these can be used in your own WBL organisation. For ideas or advice simply get in touch.

Using Google for your Surveys

Yesterday I spent some time playing with a new survey tool in Google Spreadsheets. (Thanks to Darren Draper for sharing this tip)

In his post he describes how we can create online surveys using Google Spreadsheets forms feature and shows us with illustrations just how easy it is to set one up. The post highlights the fact that results can also be viewed in real time and should you wish, they can also be embedded directly into a webpage.

This sounded like a great idea so I got my RSC colleagues to help me with a very quick sample of my own. So the very simple “what did you have for breakfast survey” is here - if you want to answer its two questions and see how it works feel free – it’s open to anyone. Because this survey is published live, you should see your results on a web page here and also in the live spreadsheet that I’ve embedded below. (Might have to wait a short while though, republishes every five minutes)


Like Darren I think this tool has a lot of potential. For example, a couple of possible applications of this tool within the sector are:

• Induction - Interactive questionnaire for learners and employers checking accessibility to hardware and broadband connection, survey link delivered via email.

• Internal/External Verification - Online Quality Assurance questionnaires used for sampling learners and employers.

(Both those tips are based on Innovate’s Examples of the Use of Technology in Work Based Learning).

I have used various other free survey tools previously (just one example here) but was very impressed with just how easy this Google one was to set up. With all of the collaborative tools built into Google spreadsheets and traditional spreadsheet functionality at your fingertips it’s potentially very powerful too. It’s something I will certainly use myself. In the meantime I’ll be adding this link to the Google Docs and Spreadsheets page of our RSC Wiki.

Thanks to Darren for sharing and to Stephen for signposting.