Truro College

Year 2: Using mobile technology to push and pull learning to learners in a sparse rural area and to learners working outside a traditional classroom environment 2008/2009

Providing learners with versatile mobile technology enabling them to capture and share evidence of their skills in a variety of media. The project will embrace a wide range of learners at levels 1-3. The project will provide equality of opportunity for all learners to use the mobile technology. They will use the devices to produce portfolios of evidence both in their chosen subject area and in the development of personal learning and thinking skills. All partners make extensive use of VLEs and are actively engaged in a cross county collegiate approach to VLE development to support the 14-19 diploma lines.

Project Aim

We aim to provide our learners with a multifunctional handheld device that will enable them to improve the quality of their learning experience. The media rich techniques such as video capture, image and audio will enable them to demonstrate, record and develop their technical and interpersonal skills in college in the workplace and at home in a sparse rural environment. Using a range of interconnectivity options, all learners will be able to contribute their work equally to the virtual learning environment and make our institutions increasingly inclusive.

Project Objectives

To give equal access to learners of all backgrounds. Including learners with learning difficulties or disabilities and those that show attitudes of disaffection and are at risk of social exclusion.
To reduce the number of learners at risk of becoming NEET
To motivate those with low or lack of ambition and aspiration.
Overcome issues of persistent poor behaviour in school or college by increasing sense of self confidence and self esteem and providing a means of contributing.
To improve engagement for those learners resident in sparse rural areas with poor infrastructure and transport links.
To raise levels of confidence in the use of mobile technologies for a variety of uses including; video, stills and audio capture.
To capture hard evidence of the learners skills development thus improving achievement.
To increase the achievement and level of attainment of all learners engaged in the project.
To increase the use of organisational and improved communication tools such as SMS and email to facilitate mentoring and support; therefore improving retention.
To raise the status of the learners in the eyes of their peers making them feel valued and motivated.
To enable learners to contribute to the pool of learning resources on the VLE by uploading their own material.
To reduce the carbon footprint of learners.
To improve recruitment and retention of learners who are at risk of becoming NEET.
To enable students to have a greater sense of ownership of, and engagement in their learning by being able to contribute to the development of learning resources to be used by their peers.
To enable staff engaged in the project to gain professional accreditation for their work via the Teacher Learning Academy and the Institute for Learning.