In the 2003 Lewisham College pilot, Vision2learn learned some important lessons, not least the need for robust advice and guidance - and prior assessment before starting an online course - for students. Another critical lesson is the role and influence of the tutor. According to Helen Taylor of Vision2learn, the tutor is the critical influence on student engagement and is key to making the partnership successful. Given that the college recruits the tutors (who may be part of the college's staff) and is responsible for training, one challenge in the partnership relates to the role of the college in ensuring tutor training, availability and conformance to standards. It is unclear how either Vision2learn or NCFE can ensure standards across all local colleges. A second issue relates to the contact time and personalisation of support for each learner within a realistic business model that is viable for the college, the content provider and the qualification body.
These are problems that are likely to occur in any similar relationship between content/qualification providers and colleges, and, as yet, it is not clear what model will be adopted to meet the needs to all stakeholders. The illustration below demonstrates the multiple players and dimensions of any future model and the complexity of relationships involved.
The lessons learned by the college from the experience with Vision2learn and learndirect as well as other resources providers are being used to plan the way forward.
Part of the new strategy for Lewisham College is to 'provide access to byte sized learning and Information modules supplied by partner and accredited public organisations'.4 There is a clear commitment to 'foster partnerships with industry for the development of high quality innovative resources which will be embedded in curriculum and lead to higher levels of learning effectiveness and achievement.'5
The college view is that 'successful e-learning will be dependent on access to high quality learning materials and emphasises the need for 'strategies to address innovation and production of quality content'. It considers that the 'key to such strategies will require greater engagement by educationalists with developers to ensure content production which is fit for purpose and repurposable for local needs.'
At a national level, they also 'advocate public private partnerships to sustain funding for such innovation, which is, currently limited by the non-committal of developers to producing content for a high-risk market, particularly for the post-16 sector.' They support 'the vision of common and localised standards which will enable effective selection, procurement, adaptation and distribution of content.' They go so far as to suggest, 'we would also welcome a sector wide FE online learning environment or portal which would overcome issues with compatibility of content and platforms.'
And in relation to any partnerships, they advocate that 'the strategy will need to address digital intellectual property rights and the management thereof. The strategy needs to audit curricula across the educational sectors and then assess the particular contributions that both public and private stakeholders can make in order to meet requirements.'6
Proposals for the college, developed by the Head of e-Learning, imply that any future agreements for the supply of learning resources will aim to unify 'shareable e-learning resources and digital assets, through a College online databank and other organisations through intelligent search mechanisms.'7 The Head of e-Learning also suggests that they will 'explore opportunities for coordinated procurement ie public/private consortia8' and he places strong emphasis on working towards common standards (both technical and pedagogical) and the need to 'engage with the wider commercial training sector to achieve a consensus on technical and quality standards for e-learning development and delivery.'9..continue to current status
|
