RSC WM SMT Focus Newsletter Issue 1

SMT Focus

Issue 1 – Spring 2010

In this Issue

Welcome... ...to our brand new senior managers newsletter.

These regular updates will keep you informed of the latest e-learning news and issues affecting senior managers, including advice and support from the RSC, and information about relevant JISC services.

Listening to our providers is crucial, and through this newsletter, we aim to address the current topics and concerns that affect your organisation.

Recently, for example, we have had a number of enquiries from providers who require help with implementing an e-safety policy.

Our feature on page 3 will hopefully give you some useful ideas and sources for further information.

Since the start of the academic year, we have also had a lot of interest in the development of ILT strategies. Alex Speed from Stourbridge College shares his experiences on page 2, and explains how the RSC has supported him throughout the process.

In the current economic climate, getting value for money is more important than ever. Our events schedule includes a number of free, as well as cost effective options, which can be used as evidence towards continuing professional development for you and your staff. You can find out more, including how to keep informed of our latest events programme, on page 4.

I hope you find this newsletter useful and would be grateful for any feedback you may have.

Please feel free to share your thoughts on what you would like to see included in future issues by e-mailing me: greg.vivash@ rsc-wm.ac.uk

1. Welcome 2. RSC Supports Becta Generator 2. Developing Your ILT Strategy 3. Safeguarding Your Learners 3. LSIS Leadership Toolkits 4. Meeting your Staff CPD Requirements 4. Making the Most of Your RSC 4. Forthcoming National Events 4. Contact Us

Greg Vivash RSC WM Manager

Stimulating and supporting innovation in learning

RSC Supports Becta Generator

Have you registered with the Gateway?

Since the recent launch of Becta’s Generator tool for assessing e-learning progress, there has been a lot of interest amongst learning providers in the region.

The free, online self assessment tool can help an organization improve its strategic deployment of technology for the benefit of learners, employers and management.

Anne Hughes, Head of ILT and Resources at Sandwell College says, “We used Generator to give an overview of our ILT provision in the College. We were quite surprised - and encouraged - at the results. It was particularly useful being able to compare our progress against other colleges. We are planning to widen the responses to a number of curriculum areas, and think this will give us a balanced view from both our perspective and that of the curriculum. I am also planning to use it to contribute towards our next self-assessment report.”

The RSC can offer advice on the Generator, and suggest objectives for using the tool.

On completion of the self assessment, you may wish to contact us for further guidance on taking forward the actions and outcomes.

To find out more and to set up an account to carry out the self assessment, visit www. generatorforfeandskills.com 2

Developing Your ILT Strategy Need help devising your ILT or e-learning Strategy? The Regional Support Centre is your first point of contact for advice and support, as Alex Speed, recently appointed Director of E-Learning at Stourbridge College discovered.

Alex was first introduced to the RSC after attending our Moodle Users Forum in September 2009. Having recently taken on his new role, Alex was asked to write the college’s ILT strategy and approached our e-learning adviser, Allen Crawford Thomas for help.

Alex explains, “From the college’s perspective there is a need and a real desire to change. We want to get more equipment and provide better access to Moodle. The aim with the strategy is to get ILT back to the students by considering their needs and responding to the learner voice.”

Alex’s background is predominantly in IT and he needed to understand the pedagogy behind the technology. He says,“I wanted to get as much information as I could and the RSC really gave me the first rung on the ladder to establishing how to implement IT in the classroom.”

Allen provided Alex with a wealth of contacts and resources including example strategies and research papers on, for example e-safety, as well as advising him to consider aspects such as staff training, and links to other college procedures including acceptable use policies.

Alex explains, “It was so useful for me to get impartial feedback from Allen throughout the process. He raised awareness of stakeholders which was key – my original draft strategy included only six college departments

whereas Allen advised me to think beyond that. For example, the Marketing department needs to be included which I hadn’t considered – the design of the website needs to have suitable content to bring the students in.”

The college has already begun to see the impact. Alex explains, “Recently we have put wireless laptops into a science room and as a result, a Grade 1 teacher is achieving even better results through improved access to the VLE to carry out experiments online and post feedback.”

Looking ahead, Alex hopes that the ILT strategy will ultimately enhance the college’s reputation, attract more students, improve retention, improve success rates and move towards their goal of Outstanding.

Alex adds, “For anyone in the process of writing an ILT strategy, my advice would be to contact the RSC. It’s great to have an impartial, external organisation to guide you in the right direction. Work out what you want to achieve from the strategy and start simply – some start with e-safety yet others start with IT revision. Above all, it’s important to have buy-in from key stakeholders and particularly the senior management team.”

He adds, “Thanks to Allen and the RSC, I had a lot of valid research to back up the strategy.

This gave me a lot of confidence and prepared me for presenting to the senior management team.”

For impartial advice and guidance with your ILT strategy, contact Allen Crawford-Thomas on tel: 01902 518930 or e-mail: a.crawford-thomas@rsc-wm. ac.uk

Safeguarding Your Learners Issues surrounding e-safety, the appropriate use of the Internet and Web 2.0 technologies such as blogs and social networks, are currently of particular concern amongst our learning providers. The latest Ofsted Common Inspection Framework for FE and Skills, published in September 2009, saw the introduction of ‘safeguarding’ as an inspection criteria for the first time. Now, providers need to demonstrate how they promote the safeguarding of learners’ online experiences.

Safeguarding is now such a key inspection component, and considered essential to the development and well being of learners, that the grade for this aspect may limit other grades, including overall effectiveness.

For learning providers who want information and guidance on how to safeguard their learners online, and safely engage with Web 2.0, JISC Legal can provide access to a wealth of resources, and expertise through their helpdesk and enquiry service.

The new website includes publications, webcasts, checklists and toolkits, and can be organized according to your role, legal area or ‘theme.’

The checklists provide a useful starting point and include a series of questions to ask yourself when putting together, for example, acceptable use policies. The toolkits include ‘Web 2.0 and the Law for FE Policy Makers’ aimed specifically at senior managers, to assist in writing a web 2.0 policy, and covers areas such as Intellectual Property Rights, Data Protection and Accessibility. The toolkit also provides suggested statements to include in your policy.

Web2Rights is another valuable online resource endorsed by JISC Legal, which helps learning providers to stay within

the law when using Web 2.0 technologies. It features a series of interactive toolkits, flowcharts and diagnostic tools to support decision making about the use of Web 2.0 by teachers, managers and technicians. The Inappropriate Content tool, for example, helps to diagnose potential legal issues in this area by posing a series of questions, with pointers to useful resources for possible solutions. Similarly, the flowcharts present a methodical way of considering potential risk areas, with resource references such as a ‘legal issues checklist’ and a ‘privacy policy template.’

For learning providers who are concerned about e-safety and related issues, Jackie Milne of JISC Legal says, “Many learning providers are struggling to meet their legal duties and inspection needs in relation to safeguarding e-safety. The good news is that there is plenty of help and resources available. As well as our website and enquiry service, JISC Legal can also review draft policies and offer guidance on best practice. Your local Regional Support Centre can also support you in taking this foward within your region.”

JISC Legal are hosting a live webcast on 3rd March entitled ‘Safeguarding: Meeting Your e-Safety Duties’. For further information, visit: www. jisclegal.ac.uk For initial support from the RSC, please e-mail: support@ rsc-wm.ac.uk

Useful links: Web2Rights - www. web2rights.org.uk

LSIS Leadership Toolkits

The Learning and Skills Improvement Service (LSIS) recently announced that the online Leadership Toolkits, a suite of interactive resources for managers and leaders, are now available free of charge.

The bespoke toolkits are specifically for senior managers in Adult and Community Learning, Work-based Learning and Independent Specialist Colleges.

The resources help leaders to address a range of issues, such as preparing for inspection, keeping up to date with policy and funding issues, strategic planning and focusing staff development for organisational improvement.

The new reflective log and notepad functions allow for team members to record evidence of their learning, which can contribute towards their 30 hours of Continuing Professional Development (CPD).

LSIS is hoping free access to these resources will encourage more managers and aspiring managers to take advantage of the tools available to them for personal, as well as organisational development.

To sign up for your free access visit www.lsis.org.uk/ leadershiplearning - self registration is now available.

Becta - www.becta.org.uk/ safeguarding 3

Contact us

Meeting Your Staff CPD Requirements Did you know that all RSC West Midlands events can be used as evidence towards continuing professional development (CPD) for your staff?

Manager Greg Vivash greg.vivash@rsc-wm.ac.uk E-learning Advisers Kevin Brace (HE Coordinator) k.brace@rsc-wm.ac.uk

Each academic year, RSC West Midlands hosts a variety of face to face and online events, forums and workshops spanning e-learning themes such as learning technologies, accessibility and inclusion and preparing for inspection.

Jason Curtis (Learning Technologies) jason.curtis@rsc-wm.ac.uk Jane Edwards (Adult & Community Learning) p.jane.edwards@rsc-wm.ac.uk

Electronic certificates of attendance are issued after the event via e-mail which can be printed off or saved to your local drive. The certificates also include a few questions to help staff reflect on what they have learnt from the session and how to go forward.

Matt Gallon (Learning Resources) m.gallon@rsc-wm.ac.uk Colleen Romero (Technical Infrastructure) colleen.romero@rsc-wm.ac.uk

To get the very latest news and event information from RSC West Midlands, why not join our community? Simply visit http://info.rsc-wm.ac.uk/register and complete the short registration form. You can also update your information at any time.

Allen Crawford-Thomas (Teaching and learning) a.crawford-thomas@rsc-wm. ac.uk Theresa Welch (Work-Based Learning) theresa.welch@rsc-wm.ac.uk Alison Wootton (Staff Development and Accessibility & Inclusion) a.wootton@rsc-wm.ac.uk Information Officer Kirsty Hill kirsty.hill@rsc-wm.ac.uk Events Co-ordinator Lea Smith l.smith6@rsc-wm.ac.uk Administrator Jan Farmer j.e.farmer@rsc-wm.ac.uk

Making the Most of Your RSC In the recently revised implementation plan for delivering the Harnessing Technology Strategy in the FE and Skills sector, Becta outlines the importance and need for learning providers to adopt and embed technology in teaching, learning and management: “They (colleges and providers) have to see for themselves the quantifiable benefits of technology and the savings that can be achieved, and then take the strategic decision to invest in it.”

The Regional Support Centre’s e-learning advisers can meet principals and members of SMT to help identify and plan effective uses of technology to enhance teaching and learning. Advice includes areas such as the implementation of Web 2.0 technologies, shaping policy documents, and progressing towards e-maturity.

To make initial contact and arrange a meeting with one of our advisers, please e-mail support@rsc-wm.ac.uk.

JISC RSC West Midlands Technology Centre Wolverhampton Science Park Glaisher Drive Wolverhampton WV10 9RU Tel: 01902 518982 E-mail: support@rsc-wm.ac.uk Web: www.rsc-wm.ac.uk

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This newsletter is printed on recycled paper

Forthcoming National Events •

Empowering Children and Young People in a Digital World - 10th February (Solihull): www.becta.org.uk • The Learning Revolution and the Digital Revolutionaries 11th February (Leicester): www.becta.org.uk • LSIS Ofsted Inspection Framework - 24, 25, 26 February (Warwick); 16, 17, 18 March (Bristol): http://tiny.cc/6jRvs • JISC Conference - 12th-13th April (London): www.jisc.ac.uk