E-learning example: Plumbing and heating multimedia learning objects

Overview of the College

St Helens College is a general FE college serving the borough of St Helens, which lies to the south-east of Merseyside. The College has three campuses: one in the town centre, a technology centre approximately two miles away and another campus five miles away in Newton-le-Willows. The College demonstrates a very strong and effective commitment to business, industry and educational partnerships. Excellent working relationships operate between the local learning partnership, including the LEA, and in particular other post-16 providers and local schools. The College provides courses in 13 sector areas of learning, funded by the Learning and Skills Council (LSC). The College has strong and developing links with a number of Higher Education Institutions (HEI). This has resulted in the validation of a strong portfolio of Foundation and Honours Degrees which provide local progression opportunities for the community and beyond. The College developed its e-Learning Strategy in 2002. The aim was to embrace and promote inclusive learning by using ILT across all curriculum areas. The e-Learning Strategy has now been integrated into the Learner Engagement Strategy to ensure that it is an entitlement for all learners.

The College's mission is expressed in the statement ‘It's All About You.'

Description

The St Helens Building Services Department has developed a total of 68 learning objects to enhance the delivery of NVQ 2 construction for identified areas of the plumbing and heating curriculum. Fifteen of the learning objects are available via the Further Education National Consortium (FENC) and St Helens College market and sell these resources to other further education institutions

Organisation: St Helens College
Type of Organisation: College of Further Education
Curriculum example: Area 05: Construction - planning and the built environment
Year: 2005
Funding Source: Internal
Level/award achievement: Level 2

Description

Overview of the College

The College's mission is expressed in the statement ‘It's All About You.'

Description

Purpose

The resources were developed to:

assist learners understand complex systems;
provide learners with flexible 'any where/any time' access to resources;
provide a flexible resource for both learners and college staff;
highlight the potential of ILT/ICT to both staff and learners;
provide a resource bank on the College virtual learning environment (Blackboard);
provide a multimedia alternative to traditional models and handouts;
be accessible throughout the College and remotely from work and home.

Learning outcomes

The learning modules support the NVQ level 2 plumbing curriculum. Some of the learning objects have learning outcomes included into their design.

Benefits

Benefits for learners

access to attractive, interactive resources;
learning resources accessible from a variety of locations;
increased confidence as users of a VLE and college ILT/ICT systems;
cater to all learning styles.

Benefits for staff

improved partnership working between plumbing and the Centre for ICT Developments;
developing innovative concepts into deliverable resources;
raised awareness of staff to the potential of ILT/ICT;
the collaborative approach produced more resources and they could be modified 'in-house';
the end product is good quality and being used by the majority of staff;
increased the ILT/ICT confidence of staff;
increased the number of ideas for new learning objects being put forward by staff.

Benefits for the institution

increased confidence and competence of staff using ILT/ICT;
increased use of multimedia learning materials across the College;
increased use of the College VLE;
increased both staff and learner awareness of the potential of ILT/ICT:
external recognition of innovation and skills within the college;
increased collaboration between departments;
potential source of income.

Comments and further information

Contact details:

Name - Marianne Green

Head of ICT Developments

e-mail - MGreen@sthelens.ac.uk

Telephone Number - 01744 623812 or 623975

Tony Tyrer

e-mail – atyrer@sthelens.ac.uk

Telephone Number – 01744 623520

Address -

St Helens College
Brook Street
St Helens
Merseyside
WA10 1PZ

Who is it for?

The learning objects can be used independently by learners for revision or further investigation. They are also suitable for use by tutors as learning/teaching aids.

Can this approach be used in other curriculum areas?

The model is now being used to develop ILT/e-learning materials within other curriculum areas throughout the College.

Weblink and further information

Further information

Source: Quality Improvement Agency

You can find this page and download any referenced resources from the Excellence Gateway at http://excellence.org.uk/askbutler.examples.id290.

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