During 2003, a pilot programme was in operation at Lewisham College with Vision2learn. Vision2learn offers a range of interactive courses, and is a collaboration between online learning specialists, Creating Careers Ltd and The Next Level Systems Ltd. All vision2learn courses are accredited by NCFE, a national awarding body. As a result of the pilot, a decision was taken not to proceed further. This decision was largely based on the cost effectiveness of the programmes for the college and reflects the challenge facing the college in a multiple stakeholder environment. The pilot has provided some useful lessons in designing a model to bring together external content providers, qualifications bodies, funding agencies and instruments, and a range of internal college stakeholders. For this reason, a review of the Vision2learn pilot is a useful exercise.
Vision2learn recruits learners, and allocates them to a local college, where a local tutor is assigned. On occasions, the college may directly recruit the learners. Assessment and testing of learners is provided by NCFE (a national awarding body providing qualifications up to NVQ Level 4 with validated local test centres - often the same colleges deliver the tutoring). All courses are free to qualifying learners and colleges draw down funds for each learner from their local LSC. Courses are offered in IT skills, three employment skills, sports coaching, money management and a foundation call centre qualification. 'Qualifying learners' are, in effect, those learners defined by criteria relating to national funding instruments that are managed and delivered through Learning and Skills Councils. If they qualify under a national funding scheme, the college can draw down the funds for each learner subject to any regulations applied to the college by the local LSC.
Vision2learn trains tutors on the use of their system but is dependent on the college to train tutors in pedagogy and learner management, to support quality online tutoring. All learners are supported in an online environment. All courses have open enrolment. The tutors set up individual learning plans (ILPs) with each learner and agree completion dates - inevitably, learners will be learning at different paces and therefore need to be managed individually. It is possible however, that learners may be recruited at similar start times. An administrator at the college will allocate students to a tutor. There is a recommended students-to-tutor ratio but the numbers of learners will vary and Vision2learn recommends that tutors establish an optimum group size for themselves. A higher level of tutor input is recommended for higher levels of course due to an increased number of learning hours.
However, the funding model relates to a specific funding instrument, not the learners' or course requirements. Tutor contact is therefore defined by the hours that the LSC will pay the college for and is based on an anticipated number of hours of learning by each student - set by V2L and NCFE. What happens, in effect, is that every student gets same number of hours of contact because of the way funding is set up...continue to Vision2learn (p2)
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