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Excellence Gateway
Published: 15 July 2009
This case study was produced by JISC RSC (Regional Support Centres) Yorkshire & Humber on behalf of the Excellence Gateway.
Sector relevance: Further education and Sixth Form colleges
Keywords: Improving teaching and learning, improving institutional effectiveness, staff development, e-learning materials, evaluation of own practice (staff), coaching staff, mentoring staff, development of teaching and learning resources, sharing good practice, management information system (MIS), performance measurement and management, evidence gathering, self-assessment, staff training (quality assurance), ICT, Recognising and Recording Progress and Achievement (RRPA), Skills Account, upskilling workforce
In Leeds City College Thomas Danby Campus, staff development has become e-staff development - instead of being an added option, e-learning is central to the entire approach to continuing professional development (CPD). As well as offering training in e-learning subjects, the fundamentals of organisational structure, communication, access, and dissemination are centered on an e-learning concept.
On 1 April 2009, Leeds Thomas Danby, Leeds College of Technology, and Park Lane College Leeds and Keighley merged to form Leeds City College. Thomas Danby Campus offers a range of further education and higher education courses for school leavers and adult learners, specialising in Hospitality and Catering.
The JISC Regional Support Centre for Yorkshire & Humber carried out an e-Progress Review in March 2008 with the then ‘Leeds Thomas Danby College.' This is a tool for reviewing e-learning strategy and makes recommendations for future direction. The e-Progress Review recognised that the “Professional Development department has done much to progress the use of ILT throughout the College and has a clear and effective programme of staff development”. The challenge for the College was to act upon suggested recommendations, including:
Ann Yasin, Professional Development Manager, worked with Stephen Woulds, ILT Advanced Practitioner, to address the e-Progress Review recommendations, fully supported by senior management. A Curriculum Development Fund (CDF) enabled the progression of the recommendations. This has been in operation for seven years and currently stands at £17,000 per year to ‘buy out' teaching time in order for tutors to develop innovative practice.
An ILT focus group, led by Stephen, was set-up to concentrate on organisational and curriculum needs. To encourage staff to use it, the intranet was developed to be more relevant, interactive and easy to use. Key information and training opportunities have been made available with better navigation. CPD materials and useful resources have also been uploaded into a new repository area called 'Showcasing Excellence'.
Image 1: Screenshot of the 'Showcasing Excellence' area on the staff intranet
Image 2: Screenshot of the 'Good practice guides' section of the staff intranet
The ILT focus group complements Stephen's role in developing the e-learning strategy. He focuses on “infrastructure, mechanisms of support and principles of pedagogy, making sure equipment isn't sat in cupboards.” He can now delegate to a team of ILT Mentors and three PDAs, who have recently undertaken the eCPD programme, to allow him more time for innovating developments as well as working one to one with tutors and curriculum areas to support late adopters. This new structure allows for more people with designated responsibilities in e-learning and CPD in general, which, in turn, informs CPD across the whole organisation as staff cascade gained knowledge. They do this through the dissemination channels that have been developed (see below).
Communication is central to Ann's plans. She has created comprehensive e-learning and CPD models outlining her clear approach to staff development (see image below). She works closely with senior managers and experts, being both reactive and proactive in relation to staff needs, and over the past couple of years has produced a glossy termly Professional Development In-house Brochure. Ann says the key is to be "very visible". She considers hers to be a "customer service department" and works hard on communication and promotion.
Thomas Danby has developed a significant number of online support mechanisms, including a staff intranet, student intranet, electronic registers, Webstar (online ILP) and vRC (Virtual Repository Centre). It currently uses Blackboard for its virtual learning environment. The staff intranet is a key communication tool, outlining all available internal staff development courses. It is designed to present information clearly so that staff can take control of their own development. Key topics can be communicated by sending messages to all staff on the intranet. There is also a ‘hits counter' so users know what other staff are looking at and what is popular. The ‘Top 5 list' provides direct links to the most popular, which can prompt others to look at new areas of development.
Staff are actively encouraged to take ownership of their CPD and there is ease of access to CPD opportunities. For example, internal courses can be booked online on the intranet via a Professional Development link. Users search for upcoming courses by topic or date. Once they apply, an email is sent to their manager who then approves it. Users have an individual summary of all courses attended, which they can print and use to support probationary reviews, appraisal awarding body and other requirements. There is also a training needs questionnaire for staff to request further training and even suggest an appropriate time to attend the training.
Knowledge gained from CPD is disseminated in a number of ways. Evaluation of training can be completed online on the staff intranet or on paper and there is a formal recording of training, even for one to one or small group training. Staff may be required to produce an action plan, or report and/or feedback at team meetings or sharing good practice events.
The 'Showcasing Excellence' page on the intranet also disseminates good practice. It is divided into sections - not only of various strands of technology (eg audio, video, etc) but also into 'How to' and 'Research' sections.
Image 3: Diagram of the holistic CPD model being used at the College to develop and support staff
Ann says "staff development drives the culture” of the organisation. It is supported at the top level in the organisation and so an approach tying staff development with e-learning means that e-learning is at the heart of the organisation. Stephen comments that the CDF "looks at how technology can intervene and improve practice and how it can change the organisation."
There are many examples of the impact on the organisation:
More people are involved in e-learning and staff development, for which a number of opportunities are available, including the support of an ILT Mentor.
Ann says the intranet means there is “a comprehensive communication mechanism” for the ongoing development and promotion of an ethos of continuous professional development. The intranet provides information and a rare space for staff to spend time reflecting on where their skills may need improving, thus providing an easy way of asking for and receiving support.
The 'Showcasing Excellence' section on the intranet has created developmental opportunities for staff to engage with more theoretical principles, in particular giving higher education in further education tutors similar opportunities for research as their counterparts working solely in higher education.
The Curriculum Development Fund (CDF) has encouraged and facilitated the development of many innovative e-learning projects and enabled the curriculum development of small teams. The intranet houses a 'Showcasing Excellence' area where many of these projects are publicised internally. Utilising the CDF, Stephen has worked with numerous tutors to develop audio-visual learning materials for such areas as ESOL, Citizenship, Food Hygiene and the Driving Theory Test, which has since been published commercially by Tribal.
Planning is in progress to develop the scope and functionality of the Professional Development system for Leeds City College through the implementation of a new integrated system that will also be linked to its comprehensive e-space. The new system will be linked to human resources, ensuring access to up-to-date staff data, and making it possible to monitor at a glance courses undertaken by each member of staff and identify any gaps.
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You can find this page and download any referenced resources from the Excellence Gateway at http://excellence.org.uk/238626.
