1 | P a g e

1. Background

1.1 The Ofsted Inspection in April 2007 stated that the use of Information Learning Technology (

ILT) was underdeveloped. The appointment of a Director for Technology ( Sept 09 ) to lead

on IT development and an E-learning Manager ( December 09 ) to support training for

teachers has had a positive impact on teaching and learning. There is good and improving

use of e-learning as evidenced by external reviewers in Enhanced Wider Reviews and

internal observations. Comments from Enhanced Wider Reviews demonstrating our

progress in teaching and learning and the use of ILT are included in this file.

1.2 The Inspection also identified that the VLE was not being used effectively across all

curriculum areas. The numbers of staff using the VLE was 45% in 07/08. This has doubled to

90% this academic year. This increase of staff usage is clearly evident in the number of T&L

resources placed on the VLE which has risen from 7161 to 13,370. Learners now register

themselves on the VLE using LDAP authentication and there are 3522 students registered on

the system making use of the resources.

The number of hits on the VLE are displayed below,

2007/08 2008/09 2009/10 2010/11

( 24/4/11)

Total Increase

from 08-11

199,236 280,601 1,130,073 1,267,596 986,995

0

5000

10000

15000

20000

25000

30000

35000

40000

45000

50000

No

. of

Hit

s

Course Area Most Active Courses for 2010 / 11

ILT Position Paper

2 | P a g e

1.3 An e-learning and Technology working group was established in 2008/09 including

curriculum staff and specialists who identify what can be used as well as make

recommendations for resources, staff development and the use of the VLE. In 2009/10 this

was split into two separate groups, an executive ILT strategy group and the teaching and

learning coaches. The T&L coaches are given responsibility of sharing best practice amongst

the curriculum teams

2. Training and Support

2.1 Training and support has been provided by the E-learning Manager and the VLE Developer.

Training is conducted on request as a one-to-one, group / team activity or through staff

development days. All themes are aimed at the pedagogical principles that curriculum areas

must embed to provide blended learning opportunities for learners. Training sessions help

to improve the way teachers and learners interact with technology to enhance the learning

experience. After training, staff are encouraged to use resources in the e-learning toolkit.

Data represented in the graph- Appendix Ref 1

2.2 A detailed training list is contained within the file, the types of training activities are

summarised below;

Interactive Resources

Gadgets under £100

Promethean Board, flipcharts and Voting

E-Assessment

E-safety

Pro Monitor

PowerPoint

Guest

Administrator0

1000

2000

3000

4000

5000

6000

7000

No

. of

Hit

s

Dates

Guest

Student

Teacher

Administrator

All

E-Learning Toolkit Statistics

3 | P a g e

Office 2010

Windows 7

Moodle

Media Conversions

Prezi

iPad

Wikis

Collaborative on-line working

Social networking

Instructional design

Ning

The areas that briefings have taken place for 2010/11

The impact of the training has resulted in greater use of ILT within the college for learning.

Learners have greater access to personalised learning resources through the VLE and are

encouraged to research topics individually and collaboratively.

6 3

12

5

16

4 2

4 6

15

1

6 8

32

1 2 2

7 7

11

15

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

No

. of

bri

efi

ngs

Curriculum Area

Briefings 2010 -2011

4 | P a g e

2.3 E-learning guidance notes and a pack of cards have been distributed to curriculum staff. The

cards have been produced for teachers to offer help, ideas and inspiration with using e-

learning as an embedded part of lesson delivery. The pack of cards contains a series of short

case studies aimed at all levels of ILT competence. An e-learning skills survey has been

issued for staff to rate themselves across and range of ILT disciplines. Staff are encouraged

to set themselves targets against the survey and identify where they would like to be by the

end of the academic year. This has had a low yield of response, however will be embedded

into staff training in the next academic year, to coincide with a new VLE. It did however

focus staff on the requirements of e-learning and how to effectively embed it into

curriculum practice. The survey did prompt staff to request training on areas that they

deemed important to their role. The impact of this has enabled the development of

resources on the VLE and for classroom activities. Staff have become more aware of the

resources that are available to them. The benefits of the resources on the toolkit are that

they are free and sustainable.

2.4 In order to focus e-learning, courses are evaluated in accordance to the following criteria. A

full description of these can be found in this file. ( Section 3 of this file ) The aim is to create

a self- assessment platform that staff can evaluate their own e-learning skills and identify

the steps that need to be taken to move up the scale. Each staff member will then have a

focused personalised plan to develop skills. The categories are listed below;

2.4.1 Localised

2.4.2 Co-ordinated

2.4.3 Transformative

2.4.4 Embedded

2.4.5 Innovative

33

99

34 46

32

54

40

87

32

81

15

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

No

. of

sess

ion

s

Skill area

Number of training sessions and topics Total =553 sessions

5 | P a g e

2.5 Training has been conducted by ourselves and with the help of JISC RSC North West and

Compass. This arrangement ensures that we have access to high level technical sources and

are developing our own skills alongside manufacturers and best practice models. We are

actively developing the ILP Pro Monitor system with Compass to provide a more

comprehensive tracking and development planning tool for learners.

3. Sharing of best practice

3.1 A recommendation in the ‘e-learning vision, strategy and recommendations’ document,

focused on the ‘silo based culture’ and that best practice and ideas of appropriate use of

technology for teaching and learning be shared. The E-learning Manager and VLE Developer

promote exemplar work to other areas and have issued guest access to all courses for staff

to investigate and gather ideas. We have seen evidence of sharing e-learning practice across

the college. This has been achieved through staff development days and through Teaching

and Learning Coaches. Examples include,

E-mail Blocks – First used by Health and Social Care in 2009 for

learners to ask any teacher in that department a question about

their programme of study. This was later adopted in 2010 by

Construction. – Appendix Ref 2

Ning- Established by ESOL to improve electronic submission and

promote content created by learners in 2009. This was successful

and later adopted by the Hair and Beauty department for use with

14-16 cohorts in 2010.

Vokis – Introduced to Uniformed Pre Services in 2010, the voki is a

speaking avatar that learning outcomes and messages can be

displayed through. This has been adopted since by Sport, Catering, ESOL and Hair

and Beauty in 2010/11.

An e-learning competition was held in February 2011 for all curriculum areas to

enter and present their e-learning solutions to all other departments. This worked

extremely well for all participants and the level of entries were high.- This boosted

staff confidence in e-learning and impacted on teaching and learning by influencing

lessons and VLE content. –Appendix Ref 3

All functional skills e-learning resources are available to all users.

3.2 An e-learning toolkit has been created for staff and learners to explore and learn about

web2.0 technologies. The toolkit features over 200 tried and tested websites, qualifications

for promethean resources and office 2010, how to guides, e-safety and mobile learning.

6 | P a g e

Staff can also explore further in the toolkit to learn about e-learning and instructional

design. Appendix Ref 1

3.3 A teaching and learning coaches best practice area has been established on the VLE since

2010. This has been populated by most of the T&L coaches and features useful hints and

tips. Appendix Ref 5

3.4 A Pro Monitor and Tutorial help course has been included on the VLE to support staff in

understanding the use and functionality of the ILP tool and resources for tutorials. Appendix

Ref 6

Following the piloting of ProMonitor software during 2008-9, this has now been rolled out to

be used as the ILP for full time learners during 2009-10. Dedicated staffing has been in place

since May 2009 to support both the technical implementation of the package, alongside

staff training to use it.

The Pro Monitor distance travelled has been recorded below;

16-18

SSA

Learner

s

%ILPs

Completed

% SMART

Targets

% Feb

Progress

Reviews Learners

%ILPs

Completed % SMART

% Feb

Progress

Reviews

Agriculture, Horticulture and Animal Care 128 1% 53% 27% 150 31% 97% 79%

Arts, Media and Publishing 246 3% 76% 43% 234 23% 88% 50%

Business, Administration and Law 140 9% 86% 57% 114 72% 90% 81%

Construction, Planning and the Built Environment 164 8% 83% 72% 169 42% 89% 74%

Engineering and Manufacturing Technologies 251 33% 90% 79% 269 43% 87% 84%

Health, Public Services and Care 596 29% 96% 69% 652 61% 92% 81%

History, Philosophy and Theology 11 18% 91% 0%

Information and Communication Technology 193 24% 93% 61% 135 25% 95% 78%

Languages, Literature and Culture 65 26% 74% 8% 1 100% 100% 100%

Leisure, Travel and Tourism 347 10% 91% 73% 323 62% 92% 85%

Preparation for Life and Work 84 23% 90% 54% 60 22% 85% 67%

Retail and Commercial Enterprise 365 44% 82% 66% 313 64% 93% 86%

Science and Mathematics 124 24% 82% 6% 26 0% 42% 65%

Social Sciences 105 19% 79% 10%

TOTAL 2819 21% 83% 57% 2446 50% 91% 78%

2009/10 2010/11

Distance Travelled for Pro Monitor Usage for 16-18 Year Olds .

7 | P a g e

3.5 Sport created a Youtube channel for learning videos created as part of exercise and coaching

classes. This has now been adopted by UP S and Hair and Beauty as of March / April 2011.

This demonstrates an innovative solution to provide course materials to learners using

popular media. Appendix Ref 7

The impact of these interventions is that ideas and practices are disseminated across the

college and not isolated to a particular department or group of learners.

4. Assessment

4.1 E-assessment is still developing on the VLE. Construction, brickwork and Joinery have

successfully embedded formative and summative assessment. They are using resources

from Learning Lounge and Edexcel to prepare learners for final examinations at the end of

each module. Sport are using CYQ Fitness and Exercise assessment resources successfully on

the VLE.

Brickwork end tests – Appendix Ref 8

Joinery end tests – Appendix Ref 9

Fitness –Appendix Ref 10

19+

SSA Learners

%ILPs

Completed % SMART

% Feb

Progress

Reviews Learners

%ILPs

Completed % SMART

% Feb

Progress

Reviews

Agriculture, Horticulture and Animal Care 22 0% 41% 14% 29 21% 93% 66%

Arts, Media and Publishing 48 2% 54% 23% 43 9% 60% 30%

Business, Administration and Law 49 8% 65% 37% 29 62% 79% 55%

Construction, Planning and the Built Environment 26 12% 85% 69% 29 45% 72% 69%

Engineering and Manufacturing Technologies 67 21% 69% 58% 59 27% 80% 71%

Health, Public Services and Care 80 21% 88% 68% 65 52% 85% 80%

History, Philosophy and Theology 98 0% 12% 3% 54 0% 19%

Information and Communication Technology 50 22% 90% 54% 36 33% 92% 67%

Languages, Literature and Culture 42 10% 17% 0% 34 3% 71% 32%

Leisure, Travel and Tourism 25 24% 80% 64% 26 58% 85% 73%

Preparation for Life and Work 103 15% 77% 41% 106 11% 81% 68%

Retail and Commercial Enterprise 166 51% 77% 59% 141 65% 89% 78%

Science and Mathematics 74 5% 26% 0% 47 2% 66% 32%

Social Sciences 31 10% 29% 6% 27 4% 30%

TOTAL 881 19% 59% 38% 725 31% 78% 59%

2009/10 2010/11

Distance Travelled for Pro Monitor Usage for 19+

8 | P a g e

4.2 ESOL use the Ning site for learners to develop their own e-assessment products and develop

content to be used by other learners in that area. This enables learners to express

themselves through the use of digital media, that they would find difficulty with using

traditional resources

4.3 There is use of e-portfolios within the college, construction have promoted the successful

use of this medium. The impact of this is that work-based learners and vocational learners

are able to provide their own evidence as and when it is generated naturally, without

waiting for an assessment. The assessor can view the evidence and make judgements whilst

providing regular feedback. The net result is that learners progress much faster than with

traditional paper based processes. A whole college pilot has been conducted in March and

April 2011 to investigate one standardised e-portfolio to be used by all departments. This

pilot so far has proved inconclusive and other providers will be examined.

4.4 To support the development of e-assessment opportunities , the College has purchased It’s

Learning VLE, that is built with a specific focus on pedagogy and independent learning. The

VLE has been developed to build e-learning around the learner and features an array of easy

to use content creation tools. It’s learning provides the technology, tools and professional

development that make it easy to create a connected, personalised learning environment

that challenges learners to practice problem-solving, to work together and to use creativity

to construct, share, and present their ideas.

4.5 There is improving use of e-assessment in classrooms, as teachers are starting to convert

PowerPoint to Promethean flipcharts and using third party software such as Triptico. These

resources provide interactive assessment for learners, utilising the technology in place in

classrooms. The impact is more varied teaching and learning practices, that make lesson

more engaging for learners. A large scale upgrade has been implemented in classrooms to

provide standard equipment for teaching and learning. Promethean boards have been

installed across the college to encourage interactive learning in class. In August 2010 the

Promethean software was upgraded to Activ Inspire. This software enables existing

PowerPoint presentations to be upgraded to interactive resources. Learners have been using

voting pads as part of classroom activities and formative assessments. We have available to

staff Activ Votes that provide simple Alpha-numeric question choices for the learner, or Activ

Expressions that are much more sophisticated, that enable learners to text answers.

4.6 Learners are being encouraged to work collaboratively, UPS learners created picture boards,

movie maker films and photostory of their course and activities. Business learners are using

Activ Vote Pad Expression Voting Pad White Board Configuration

9 | P a g e

Cacoo for collaborative flowcharts, Mind42 for Mind mapping and Prezi for collaborative

presentations. These have been submitted as part of the assessment process. The impact is

that learners are exposed to working practices that will benefit them once they leave college

and progress into employment. They become familiar with cloud computing and remote

collaborative working.

4.7 Electronic submission is being encouraged by a number of curriculum areas. This is mainly

conducted through e-mail with some areas experimenting with cloud computing. As a

college, staff are currently experimenting with the tracking function of MSWord 2010. Again

learners are exposed to common real world working practices, but also receive timely

assessment and feedback to enable sufficient progression.

4.8 Learners are encouraged to use their own mobile devices in college to promote independent

learning. The college provides free wifi access to all learners to enable these devices to

connect to the college internet service. Web Books, ipods, Nintendo DS are available within

most curriculum areas or from the LRCs. Sport, UPS and Esol are using Nintendo Wii and

Xbox 360 Kinect as part of active learning and assessment. Sport are using the Nike+ Football

and Rugby apps for coaching and individual goal setting. The apps feature a series of drills,

set piece plays and fitness tests. Each player is recorded and the information stored on the

application.

5. Further Developments

5.1 A UCAS information course has been created on the VLE to support all learners looking

towards HE progression –Appendix Ref 11

This is a sustainable solution that we provide to learners in the absence of funding for

guidance in the coming years. Learners receive up to date information and have on-line

tutors that can be contacted, as well as a direct link to UCAS.

5.2 Support for at risk employees has been created to assist employees in alternative

employment or CPD – Appendix Ref 12

iPad – Nike+

app for football

coaching.

10 | P a g e

5.3 Principals Question Time is available on the VLE for learners to submit questions and receive

answers from the event - This facility has been available for a number of years and has

proved successful and learners actively participate.

5.4 There are a number of e-resources that have been added to the LRC and VLE for learners

that include – Appendix Ref 13

Ebrary – A collection of 4000 e-books supplied for free by JISC Collections until 2014

News Film Online - A free online catalogue of news footage from 1910. It contains

over 50,000 newsreels from Reuters and ITN.

Oxford Journals – 90,000 journals are available from this source for free until 2012

Mediahub – A collection of educational videos, images, and sound clips. Created by

JISC to ensure learners have access to creative commons resources without

infringing Copyright.

Scientific World – A collection of scientific e-journals that cover a wide range of

STEM subjects.

Marketline - A collection of databases, reference libraries, journals and books. A

comprehensive and unique collection of information in a variety of user-friendly

formats, including interactive reports and databases

LRC Catalogue – Allows learners to search and browse the entire LRC catalogue

independently.

6. E-safety

6.1 The VLE contains a wealth of e-safety resources for learners and teachers to explore and use

in tutorials – Appendix Ref 14

The focus is for learners to understand the risks associated with an online presence and how

that impacts on future employment. Learners also test the own knowledge of the internet

and understand where to report problems. All training materials and activities have been

created in collaboration with JISC, Rochdale Metropolitan Borough Council, BBC, CeOP and

Safer Internet.

6.2 A ‘Stay Safe’ button was added to the VLE in 2010 that links directly to the Safe Guarding

officers. This link has been used successfully by learners to report incidents. Learners can

access the Stay Safe button from the front page of the VLE with the subsequent report

mailed directed to designated safe guarding officers. The information generated in the

module is secure and complies with the Data Protection Act and Safe Guarding procedures.

6.3 Learners are also given access to CEOP and subsequent resources if they have concerns

about their online safety and wellbeing. This has been advertised in various sections of the

VLE and learners are informed at induction of the Stay Safe button and issued cards. For

2011/12 the E-Safety course will be mandatory within the VLE for all learners to rate their

level of understanding and monitor that throughout the year. Learners are also protected by

the college filtering and monitoring system, to deter unacceptable use that may cause harm

or offence to others. ( E-safety Policy )

11 | P a g e

6.4 Staff have received training on e-safety as part of staff development day events and another

round of these will be planned for the next academic year.