Excellence Gateway
Published: 22 June 2009
This case study was produced by JISC RSC (Regional Support Centres) Yorkshire & Humber on behalf of the Excellence Gateway.
Sector relevance: Adult and community learning
Keywords: Improving teaching and learning, improving responsiveness to learners, improving institutional effectiveness, access to education, responding to local and regional priorities, inclusive learning, personalisation, distance learning, support for remote learners, resources, meeting communities' needs, social inclusion, management of ICT infrastructure, mobile technology and learning
As more of its services are being transferred online, Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council Adult and Community Learning Department (Rotherham ACL) is piloting the loan of laptops with dongles so that all learning providers, especially those based in non-traditional learning environments, can connect to the Internet.
Rotherham ACL offers community learning for adults aged 19+ in all communities of Rotherham. It funds new and established learning providers to offer community-based learning, and works with voluntary and community groups to enable them to become providers of learning within their own communities.
Rotherham ACL contracts all services out. While this provides a number of benefits, such as allowing community groups to provide learning within their own communities, it increases the need to have strong communication and administration links.
In response to this, Rotherham ACL has developed their new ‘Learning Portal', an online space for their learning community, specifically for those involved in ACL, Skills for Life and Family Learning. At the moment, the site is being used as a repository for all administration content to increase efficiency. Making all Council documents available solely on the Portal will provide easier access for providers to download documents, as well as helping administrative staff monitor paperwork. Phase 2 will introduce courses on the Portal for face-to-face training.
Therefore, there is both an administrative and teaching and learning imperative for all learning providers to have online access. However, as training in the ACL sector particularly can take place in less formal learning environments, (Rotherham ACL has learning taking place in church halls and sheltered housing), where online access, for example, can prove a problem. As a result, Rotherham ACL is now trialing the use of ‘dongles'. A dongle is a device that attaches to equipment, such as a laptop, to provide a connection to the Internet using the mobile phone network. This means that an Internet connection can be found wherever there is a ‘signal'.
Gaetano De Martino, Adult and Community Learning Development Officer, researched the best mobile Internet package for Rotherham ACL's purposes. Factors to consider were as follows:
Gaetano knew that the equipment would be needed on an ad hoc basis so opted for the Pay As You Go option with the cheapest unlimited monthly download tariff. This meant that users purchase a ‘top-up card', in a similar way to buying credit for a mobile phone, and they can then use the Internet as much as required for a month. If use is expanded then the option to begin a contract plan could be taken up at a later date.
Dongles are sustainable, as they do not need to be upgraded as Internet connections get faster.
Gaetano believes the system is “working well”. Rotherham MBC Early Years and Childcare Service immediately borrowed the equipment to test at the Rotherham Show, an annual outdoor festival. This is a major event for the Council to have a large presence, and having Internet capability meant that they were better equipped to demonstrate areas of their website and promote their services.
The Skills for Life Service has also piloted using the dongle for a class. It proved a reliable way to connect to the Internet. Gaetano “couldn't believe how fast [the connection] operated”.
Gaetano says:
"The portability is what gives its flexibility - if you want to do an event at places without Wi-Fi, then you are able to do it."
Previously, courses that require online testing have been restricted in teaching in venues at the centre of the communities they are serving, due to the lack of connectivity. This makes accessing learning more difficult for those learners. Using the dongles allows learning using technology to take place at the heart of the community.
Access to the Learning Portal will improve connections between Rotherham ACL and its learning providers. Gaetano says:
"[The dongles] will help us out over the next 24 months to get our providers and staff using the Learning Portal more and allow them to embed technology in non-ICT courses."
Equipment such as personal digital assistants (PDAs) can connect to a laptop and dongle. This would create a more mobile classroom, as carrying the smaller PDAs would be easier than transporting a large amount of laptops.
Gaetano is working on creating health and safety videos for staff to use and also to deliver health and safety training to providers. The videos can be uploaded onto the Learning Portal, which can then be downloaded by users, including those using a dongle. This can diversify teaching methods and reduce the Council's costs in delivering the training.
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