Access keys Search Skip navigation

Aylesbury College

Year 3: Moles@Work at Aylesbury College 2009/2010

 

 

Project Description

Moles@Work is a consortium based project supporting apprenticeships and other employer responsive provision by focussing on accessibility to real time and remote learning and assessment opportunities.

Learner motivation, staff attitudes and employer engagement will all play key roles in supporting the applications and devices utilised throughout the project.

A range of research methods will be used including pre and post intervention questionnaires for learners, employers and staff, focus groups, interviews and case studies.

Aims:

This project aims to:

- improve timely success in apprenticeship programmes
- improve real time and remote learning and assessment opportunities
- streamline evidence collection for workbased programmes
- improve communication with learners and employers
- deliver anytime, anywhere learning

Objectives

To create learning objects that integrate exposition, assessment and feedback
To expedite the collection of portfolio evidence utilising mobile technology
To trial delivery of live content in employer settings
To enable learners to track their programme progress remotely
To encourage and enable employers to take a more active/interactive role in the delivery of apprenticeship programmes

Target audience:

The main audience for this project is apprentices in a workbased setting at levels 2-3, both 16-18 and 19+.

The core vocational area focussed on will be Construction Trades including Brick, Wood, Plumbing and Electrical. Alongside this, each College will select a different specialist vocational area (to be agreed by the consortium) to work with as a comparison.

Secondary target audiences will be from other employer responsive provision such as Train to Gain and other short courses based in the workplace which will predominantly be learners that are 25+ again at levels 2 and 3.

Partners

Banfield College, Oxford & Charwell Valley College and North Herts College

Year 2: Mobile Works! at Aylesbury College 2008/2009

This project will support preparation for work and employment focussing on accessibility for learners with learning diffculties and/or disabilities. Learner motivation, staff attitudes and employer engagement will all play key roles in supporting the applications and devices utilised throughout the project.

Two research methods, rating scales/keyword tallying and pre and post testing will be used across the consortium to maximise sample size and give meaningful results for this type of learner.

Project Aims

This project aims to:

• Improve and sustain learner autonomy in the workplace
• Support work related routines and undertaking familiar tasks
• Support the learning of work skills
• Development of independent living skills to support preparation for work
• Travel training
• Improve accessibility to learning aids linked to work related learning

Project Objectives

The key objectives for Mobile Works! are to:

• To use mobile applications to support work placements for Learners with Learning Difficulties and/or Disabilities
• To use mobile learning to support individual needs
• To build a set of tutorial resources to use with Learners with Learning Difficulties and/or Disabilities
• To embed Mobile Learning withitn the LLDD provision
• To build a collaborative network with LLDD providers to share good practice in Mobile Learning
• To record live information from real work placements as progress records
• To develop access solutions to allow greater flexibility in the use of mobile technology by LLDD
• To motivate learners through the use of mobile technologies
• To augment existing best practice through the use of mobile technologies

Year 1: Handheld pathways – mobile applications for provision for learners with learning difficulties and/or disabilities 2007/2008

 

 

 

The Handheld Pathways project was designed to examine the barriers and motivational factors linked to using mobile learning with learners with learning difficulties and/or disabilities (LLDD). 

Using the funds provided by MoLeNET, Aylesbury College implemented a college-wide wireless network and purchased mini notebooks, HTC Advantages, smartphones and iPod touch MP4 players. Some of these devices were provided to learners with unlimited mobile data tariffs for use outside the campus.

The project attempted to answer the following four research questions:

• What barriers (if any) are there for learners with learning difficulties using mobile learning technology?
• What steps are needed to remove these barriers?
• How does mobile technology motivate/engage learners with learning difficulties?
• How does mobile technology improve retention and achievement across the Pathways provision at Aylesbury College?

The researchers found that learners thought cultural capital (how cool it is) was more important than the usability of the device. For usability, learners rate UMPCs more highly than smartphones and MP3/4 players. Screen clarity, portability and text size are important features for LLDD learners, whereas the touch screen feature seems to be a significant barrier.

The most important finding was which types of research method worked well with these learners.  After many research trials, semi-structured 1:1 interviews gave the most accurate results and informed the data.  However, focus groups enabled LLDD learners to feel more comfortable voicing their opinion.

College Background

Two years ago Aylesbury College was part of a new build programme and is now a focal point for the Aylesbury Vale community.  The College delivers a wide range of post-16 vocational qualifications and training alongside GCSEs and A-levels for 2000 full-time and 4500 part-time learners.

Aylesbury College believes that the opportunity to participate in, and benefit from, high-quality education and training is a right all share and to which all must have access. No oneshould beexcluded by reason of social or economic disadvantage. The College is deeply committed to enlarging the prospects available to all groups in our increasingly multicultural society and to widening participation at all levels.

The MoLeNET project aimed to investigate the usability of m-learning devices and content for LLDD learners and to inform the College’s information and learning technology (ILT) strategy so that it becomes relevant to these learners. The intention was to enable the College to provide opportunities for creative and innovative approaches to learning and enable learners to develop personalised approaches to the use of mobile applications. 

Aylesbury College undertook this project as part of Handheld Pathways consortium, which also included Wildkey Limited (now trading as Wildknowlege), with support from Research Machines (RM) and National Star College. Aylesbury College is the consortium lead for developing the use of mobile learning to engage and improve access for LLDD learners across a range of courses and activities including Skills for Working Life, Citizenship, work placements, travel training and work at satellite centres. Handheld Pathways engaged staff and mainstream learners from arts, media and publishing and horticulture to provide the factual and visual information to build the database for uploading onto the mobile learning platforms. 

Wildknowledge was a key partner of the project and Aylesbury College worked closely with them to deliver a number of mobile learning experiences.  Wildknowledge specialises in exploiting the functionality of today’s devices including global positioning systems (GPS), text, camera, audio, video and internet to deliver ‘on-location’ understanding.  This enables learners to capture accurate data at the point of inspiration. RM, the College’s network provider, played an important role in supporting procurement and database development and ensuring the mobile learning software fed into the Aylesbury College network.  National Star College acted in an advisory role supporting the project by sharing hands-on knowledge of working with LLDD learners and developing ICT resources.

Project aims

• To use mobile learning to transform the way in which LLDD and mainstream learners learn
• To improve access to information beyond the classroom at alternative learning venues
• To improve progression rates into paid employment for LLDD learners
• To increase 16–18 recruitment on Skills for Working Life by 10%
• To promote a collaborative approach to personalised learning
• To improve learner motivation and behaviour in the learning environment
• To embed mobile learning in the workplace
• To build a collaborative network with LLDD providers to share good practice.

Key objectives

• To improve retention and success across LLDD provision
• To improve access to information and communications technology (ICT) for LLDD learners
• To use mobile learning to support individual needs
• To make sustainable links between handhelds and the use of the virtual learning environment (VLE)
• To improve the range of teaching and learning strategies
• To update staff in the use of ICT
• To disseminate good practice.

Benefits for participants

Benefits for learners, across all learner groups

Learners gained:

• motivation
• enjoyment of learning
• use and knowledge of devices
• improved confidence in IT skills
• extra-curricular activities.

Benefits for staff

Staff gained:

• continuing professional development
• an increased range of teaching and learning activities
• an insight into the benefits of using mobile learning devices
• improving confidence in IT skills
• an increase in meeting individual learner needs and expectations.

Benefits for the lead college

The lead college gained:

• embedding of the College ILT strategy
• a raised profile
• cross-College staff development
• increased quantity and flexibility of IT access
• projected increased recruitment to learning for LLDD learners.

Benefits for institutions taking part (partners and colleges)

They gained:

• development of products/resources
• staff development
• a raised profile for WildKnowledge
• sharing of good practice
• networking opportunities.

Lessons learned

The most important teaching and learning lessons of this project were that preparation, staff training and allocation of time are the key.

The time required to train staff and develop mobile learning resources should not be under-estimated. If this project were to start again, it would be crucial to ensure that staff involved were allocated remission time against their contractual obligations for teaching.   

The ‘m-champion’ undertook a series of staff development activities, often repeating development sessions to help build the confidence of staff users. Before starting they undertook a skills audit of the staff involved in order to pitch the training  at the correct level.

Working with LLDD learners meant trying to meet a variety of different and often complex needs. The team decision was to pilot a range of devices with learners before committing to any orders for equipment. This worked really well and gave some surprising results – devices that were anticipated to be difficult for LLDD learners did not cause as many issues as expected.

When undertaking pilot activity it is vital to have a clear purpose to ensure the time spent is valuable for both the learners and the project team.  A successful pilot session is described below:

The purpose of the session was to ascertain the effectiveness of using particular mobile devices in a practical session. The devices used were iPod touch, Asus Eee PC and HTC TyTN II.

Each device was loaded with an instruction video either ‘how to make chocolate chip cookies’ or ‘how to make muffins’. Each learner was asked to choose a device to work with. They then followed the instructions on how to bake muffins or cookies.

Overall, the learners were enthused and motivated by the mobile devices, particularly the iPods. They appeared to enjoy the session and the novelty of using the devices.

When working with LLDD learners the biggest lesson was not to ‘worry they can’t do it!’