A new group for FE practitioners aimed at helping them “meet the spirit” of the Further Education Learning Technology Action Group (Feltag) was launched at this year’s Association for Learning Technology (ALT) conference.

The Feltag Special Interest Group is a forum for teachers, lecturers, learning technologists and others working directly with learners, to discuss the challenges and areas of change in relation to the use of learning technology.

It was developed by ALT to help FE staff working directly with learners to take forward the Feltag agenda and share what was happening across the sector.

“When Feltag came along, there was a lot of work being done at a higher level — at a strategic level — looking at it from an agency perspective, from a senior management perspective,” said James Clay, Jisc project manager and one of the founding members of the group.

“One of the things we felt as a committee was that the practitioners are almost being left out.

“There’s an assumption sometimes that these practitioners, these teachers and lecturers, will go off and just be able to do it. And actually, no, they need guidance, they need advice and they need support.

“And often that advice, guidance and support is best coming from peers and colleagues.

“There are a lot of young lecturers and young teachers out there who’ve got amazing ideas but who aren’t quite sure how to share them.

“This is about giving them an open platform that’s easy to access and easy to use, to work with others in order to share those ideas, and for other individuals and institutions to exploit those ideas in order to help meet the spirit of Feltag.”

The group was developed learning technology experts in the FE sector and, in addition to Mr Clay, the other founding members were Rachel Challen, eLearning manager at Loughborough College, Peter Kilcoyne, ILT director at Heart of Worcestershire College, Geoff Rebbeck, e-Learning adviser and Ellen Lessner, e-Learning consultant.

The group is open to all practitioners interested in promoting Feltag themes and wanting to share their ideas.

It aims to provide an opportunity to share and collaborate, and to learn from others how to use technologies to enhance learning and to improve outcomes for learners.

Mr Clay said: “It’s about how can we use it to engage learners, to widen participation, for inclusion and accessibility, and also to get teachers and lecturers to understand it’s not something that’s an extra, a bolt-on.

“We talk about the fear of technology, it’s often about the fear of change, but often these technologies are there to enable change, it’s there to make things better for learners, to make things better for learners, easier for staff and better for staff.”

The group was designed to work alongside Feltag and its work is expected to tie in to what’s happening at a higher level.

“We expect that to feed down into the group and enable us to know if we need to change direction or focus,” said Mr Clay.

“But likewise, what we also hope is that if we get enough people involved we’ll also be able to push things back up to say, real change is happening we’ve got people sharing, we’ve got people collaborating and changing the way that they work, and they’re using learning technology more effectively and efficiently to improve learning outcomes.”

In addition to a mailing list and Twitter, the group will host events and webinars to showcase the work of its members.

Members are also encouraged to use technology to develop ways to share their own ideas, such as creating YouTube channels or using instant messaging tools such as Yammer or Slack.

 

Email FELTAGSIG@jiscmail.ac.uk to join the group’s mailing list.

Main pic: James Clay

Pics by: Chris Bull

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ALT conference — working together and supporting staff

The theme of the 2015 Association for Learning Technology conference was shaping the future of learning together.

The three-day event was held in Manchester from September 8 and from an FE and skills sector perspective there was a focus on working together to support staff, and to give them the skills they need to use technology effectively.

Diana Laurillard, Rachel Challen and Neil Morris presented Blended Learning Essentials, a new open course available through Future Learn for practitioners in the vocational education and training sector.

“One of the great difficulties for the teaching practitioner, whether they’re working in skills-based learning, adult and community learning or FE college, is they all are expected somehow to embrace new technologies while also doing the day job,” said Ms Laurillard.

“The idea of the course was to make it feasible for anyone in the sector who wants to feel they know what it’s about to get in touch with it and get some experience of it, and feel supported in that process.”

The course, which is split into two parts, introduces some of the tools that are available and how to use them, as well as how to embed what they’ve learned into practice. It’s designed so that participants can learn from each other, through case studies and by sharing their own experiences of what’s worked and what hasn’t.

The aim is that it will create a sustainable community, in which participants can continue to share and collaborate after the course is finished.

“If you’ve registered in the course, you can get back to it. That means that you can stay in those groups, you can stay arguing that point, you can stay talking to other colleagues and peers about what is the best way to go about this,” said Ms Laurillard.

“That’s how any area builds its knowledge. And it keeps everything renewed, because the technologies keep changing. It’s never going to go away.”

A different approach to supporting staff was presented by Sussex Downs College, in a talk on engaging learners in an active dialogue around their digital expectation and experiences.

Through its Student Digital Leaders project, the college has brought in its learners to evaluate what the college is doing, and to help them to think differently and realise opportunities they may be missing. Learners have also worked one-to-one with staff to teach them to use the technology.

Project manager John Webber said: “It’s really vital to the next phase in developing new technology. We’ve got limited resources and limited time, so we need to be using the best intelligence we can in developing what we’re doing and these young students and the other that will work with us across the college will be vital in helping us steer that.” 

The system of prison learning contracting will come under the spotlight in a review ordered by Justice Secretary Michael Gove.

The former Education Secretary wants the inquiry to, in part, look at how the Offender Learning and Skills Service (Olass) — currently contracted to three general FE colleges and one independent learning provider — operates.

It was announced on Tuesday (September 8) along with the wider review brief of considering how prisoners could be given improved “education opportunities and qualifications” to boost job prospects.

It will be led by Dame Sally Coates (pictured right), director of academies south for the United Learning schools group, who carried out a review of teaching standards for the Department for Education in 2011.

A spokesperson for the Ministry of Justice said Dame Ruth would be looking “into Olass as part of the [latest] review”, including contract arrangements where funding is directed by the Skills Funding Agency, before reporting early next year.

The Olass system was first rolled out across the country in 2006 and the fourth round of Olass contracts were agreed in August 2012. They are currently set to end in July next year.

Dr Paul Phillips OBE (pictured left), principal of Weston College which holds the Olass contract for the South West of England, said: “As a college, we have invested substantial resources to meet the maths and English agenda, and in many ways we would seek even further improvements in regard to technical qualifications.”

He added: “On a number of occasions, as principal, I have argued that the apprenticeship-type framework needs to be embodied within prison education alongside the more traditional forms of learning.”

The Manchester College holds Olass contracts for the North East, North West, Kent and Sussex, Yorkshire and Humberside regions, as well as London.

Peter Cox, managing director of the justice division at The Manchester College, said: “We welcome a review which will make education a higher priority in prisons.”

A spokesperson for Milton Keynes College, which holds the other Olass contract for the South Central and East and West Midlands regions, declined to comment, as did Olass East of England contractor People Plus.

The review follows a Prisoner Learning Alliance (PLA) report out in May entitled The Future of Prison Education Contracts, Delivering Better Outcomes.

It called for the lifespan of current Olass contracts to be extended a year, stating: “We are very aware of the costs and disruption for staff and learners that comes with re-competition.

“To avoid this, we would therefore recommend that the contracts are extended… subject to building in greater flexibilities and incentives to achieve better outcomes.”

A Department for Business, Innovation and Skills spokesperson declined to comment on the review, but said “the focus [of Olass provision] so far has been on preparing prisoners to be able to take up apprenticeship opportunities on their release”.

“Ways to engage prisoners in apprenticeships [while in prison] are always being considered,” he added.

Sector leaders have warned that the government’s post-16 education and training area review plans are “fundamentally flawed” because they concentrate too much on general FE and sixth form colleges (SFCs).

The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) and Department for Education (DfE) unveiled plans this morning for reviews for Birmingham and Solihull, Greater Manchester, and Sheffield city region to start on September 18, 21 and 28 respectively.

A joint statement identified 22 FE colleges and 16 SFCs that will be directly involved — but no schools, University Technical Colleges, free schools, or independent learning providers (ILPs).

James Kewin (pictured above), deputy chief executive of the SFC’s Association, said the process was “fundamentally flawed because it only focuses on FE colleges and SFCs” and criticised a lack of “coherent or joined up policy making”.

Association of Colleges chief executive Martin Doel (pictured below right) agreed that all post-16 provision should be considered, adding that it would be “unreasonable and illogical for the government to allow more new sixth forms and other post-16 education to be created during the course of the reviews”.

A BIS and DfE spokesperson subsequently told FE Week that the government was separately “reviewing the criteria for the opening of new school sixth forms, because of the risk of oversupply in various local areas”.

He added that while the post-16 area reviews “will normally involve all the general FE colleges and SFCs in the area”, other providers “may opt in if the local steering group agrees”.

“In particular we would expect that any providers delivering significant levels of post-16 education and training in the area will want to opt in,” he said.

He added that post-16 area review reports could make general observations about opportunities for collaboration, improved progression and signposting, and efficiency savings “across all providers”.

BIS and DfE wanted school sixth forms to collaborate with the reviews, he said.“Similar provision in [school] sixth forms is often duplicated in relatively small geographical areas when it could be delivered in a more joined-up way,” he added.

“This may be particularly the case where sixth forms are very small, as some evidence raises concerns about the costs, breadth of offer and outcomes for these providers.”

A guidance note for the upcoming post-16 area reviews, published this morning by DfE and BIS, said that they will focus on the current structure of FE colleges and SFCs, although there will be opportunities for other institutions including schools and independent providers to “opt in”.

It added that the reviews will be led by steering groups consisting of college chairs of governors, local enterprise partnerships, local authorities, regional schools commissioners, SFC Commissioner Peter Mucklow and FE Commissioner Dr David Collins.Regional school commissioners will also “consider the implications” for school sixth form provision, the note said.

An Association of Employment and Learning Providers spokesperson said that such reviews could present opportunities for greater co-operation with ILPs, “especially if those involved are willing to be open minded and look at alternatives to the obvious college merger solutions, the evidence for the success of which is ambivalent at best”.

But Sally Hunt (pictured left), University and College Union general secretary, said that “this programme of rationalisation risks leaving students high and dry if their own aspirations don’t match the local area’s priorities”.

The impact on post-16 funding of plans to allow summer-born children to enter reception after their fifth birthday will be examined before changes are made, the government has confirmed.

A Department for Education spokesperson told FE Week that issues around post-16 funding would form part of the consultation on proposals to change the admissions code to accommodate summer-born children starting school later than others in their age cohort.

Education Minister Nick Gibb (pictured)confirmed on Tuesday (September 8) that the government intended to change the code, which currently allows summer-born children to be held back from starting school after their fifth birthday if they skip reception and go straight into Year One.

Under the proposed changes, children born between April and August could be starting school as late as the age of five years and five months and leaving after their 19th birthday, and questions have subsequently been raised about post-16 funding.

Under current rules, Department for Education funding only covers young people up to the age of 18, after which they are funded at a level 17.5 per cent lower than for 16 and 17-year-olds. Meanwhile, post-19 education funding comes from the unprotected budget of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, and is determined by different methodology.

An Association of Colleges spokesperson said allowing summer-born children to start school later wouldn’t have a “direct effect on colleges” for 10 years, but added that it was a “rational response to evidence that shows achievement gaps depending on when children are born”.

She added: “The same research shows that these month-of-birth achievement gaps diminish over the age of 16, perhaps because, up to now, the education system has been less obsessed about fitting everyone into age slots.

“The 17.5 per cent cut for 18-year-old funding and the further cuts once people reach 19 mean this is no longer the case and are eliminating second chances whichever month you are born.”

Announcing the changes, Mr Gibb said they were part of his government’s “plan to extend social justice and opportunity”, adding: “We want all children to have an equal chance to excel in school regardless of when they are born”.

He said: “Parents know their children best and we want to make sure summer-born children can start reception at the age of give, if their parents think it is in their best interests.

“We are going to make changes to admission rules  but we want councils and academies to take immediate action.”

Following the consultation, details of which are yet to be announced, the changes will need Parliamentary approval.

The FE Choices website is to shut next month after three-and-a-half years, it was revealed by the Skills Funding Agency (SFA) this afternoon.

The website, which was previously known as the Framework for Excellence and which allows the public to compare the performance of providers, is set to close at the end of October.

An SFA spokesperson said the move comes as part of the wider programme to move all government websites to GOV.UK.

An FE Week exclusive (see right) six months after the website launched in January 2012 revealed 6,230 people had viewed it.

The figures, released under the Freedom of Information Act, further showed that the website had been visited by 1,246 ‘unique’ visitors on average each month.

The request, submitted by FE Week, also revealed that the FE Choices website had cost the taxpayer more than £2.3m up to that point.

The website itself had cost £630,000 to build, with the remaining £1.7m spent on the gathering and production of data.

The figures worked out as a cost to the taxpayer of £375 per visitor and the coverage was picked up by Private Eye, which questioned whether FE Choices “may be one of the most expensively pointless government websites yet“.

However, while the website is closing, the SFA spokesperson said it would “continue to make all FE Choices data available on GOV.UK and DATA.GOV.UK, with performance indicators held on the National Careers Service website.”

“Our last update to the website was on Thursday, September 3, when we published the 2014 to 2015 learner satisfaction data,” they said.

“FE Choices satisfaction surveys will continue to run as normal, with the next survey opening on Monday, November 2.”

Government apprenticeship reform adviser and former BBC Dragons’ Den investor Doug Richard has been charged with sexual activity with a 13-year-old girl.

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) told FE Week today that there is “sufficient evidence and it is in the public interest” for Richard to be charged.

The 57-year-old multimillionaire, whose 2012 Richard Review of Apprenticeships triggered ongoing reform proposals, faces three counts of sexual activity with a child and one count of causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity.

Caroline Hughes, CPS London reviewing lawyer, said: “We have carefully considered the evidence gathered by City of London Police in relation to [Doug] Richard, who was arrested on January 5 this year.”

She added: “The alleged offences occurred on January 2, 2015, and relate to one victim aged 13 at the time.

“The decision to prosecute has been taken in accordance with the Code for Crown Prosecutors. Mr Richard is now charged with criminal offences and has the right to a fair trial.”

Richard is due to appear before City of London Magistrates’ Court on October 5, she added.

FE Week reported on January 19 that Mr Richard had been arrested in connection with the alleged attack on an underage girl. At the time, he said: “I absolutely deny the allegations made about me. It would be inappropriate to comment further given that the police are at a very early stage of their investigation.”

The US-born entrepreneur, who denied the accusations, was quizzed at the time by detectives from City of London Police before being released on bail.

He moved to the UK in 2001, after making his fortune buying and selling software companies in California.

The Richard Review of Apprenticeships, which recommended giving employers control over apprenticeship funding, has continued to impact on the FE sector since its publication in 2012.

As well as apprenticeships, he worked closely with the government as a member of the Small Business Task Force, which advised Chancellor George Osborne and Prime Minister David Cameron.

Twenty two general FE colleges will be involved in the first round of post-16 education and training area reviews announced by the government this morning.

The future of a further 16 sixth form colleges (SFCs) will also be assessed as part of the reviews taking place in Birmingham and Solihull, Greater Manchester, and Sheffield city region.

It comes as the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) and Department for Education (DfE) also finally published its guidance on the review process for post-16 education and training institutions. A version of the guidance had already been leaked to FE Week.

Each review will start with an assessment of the economic and educational needs of the area, and the implications for post-16 education and training provision, also including school sixth forms and independent learning providers (ILPs).

A BIS and DfE spokesperson said: “The reviews will focus on the current structure of FE colleges and SFCs, although there will be opportunities for other institutions [including schools and independent providers] to opt in to this stage of the analysis.”

The reviews will be led by steering groups consisting of college chairs of governors, local enterprise partnerships, local authorities, regional schools commissioners, SFC Commissioner Peter Mucklow and FE Commissioner Dr David Collins.

Dr Collins will chair the Birmingham and Solihull, and Sheffield City Region local steering groups, which will meet for the first time on September 18 and 28 respectively.

The Greater Manchester local steering group, which will be chaired by chief executive of Trafford City Council Theresa Grant, will meet for the first time on September 21.

The BIS and DfE spokesperson said that the collective approach was “designed achieve a transition towards fewer, larger, more resilient and efficient providers, and more effective collaboration across institution types.

“A critical aspect will be to create greater specialisation, with the establishment of institutions that are genuine centres of expertise, able to support sustained progression in professional and technical disciplines, alongside excellence in other fundamental areas — such as English and maths.”

It comes after five FE and sixth form colleges facing “significant financial challenges” announced on July 21 that they are “actively considering” collaboration plans, following a review of post-16 provision in North East Norfolk and North Suffolk.

It was overseen by Dr Collins and Mr Mucklow during the first five months of this year.

It came a day after BIS announced plans, in its report Reviewing post-16 education and training institutions, for a “programme of area-based reviews to review 16+ provision in every area” of the country.

The North East Norfolk and North Suffolk review and another for Nottingham, which FE Week revealed had been launched on May 1, were pilots for this.

The colleges involved in the reviews are yet to comment.

Area review details

Birmingham and Solihull
FE colleges
Birmingham Metropolitan College, Bournville College, Solihull College & South and City College Birmingham

Sixth form colleges
Cadbury Sixth Form College, Joseph Chamberlain College & The Sixth Form College Solihull

First meeting of the local steering group: Friday, September 18
Chair of the local steering group: Dr David Collins, FE Commissioner
Area review team lead: Lynne Tabone

Greater Manchester
FE colleges
Bolton College, Bury College, Hopwood Hall College, Salford City College, Stockport College, Tameside College, The Manchester College, The Oldham College, Trafford College & Wigan and Leigh College

Sixth form colleges
Aquinas College, Ashton-Under-Lyne Sixth Form College, Cheadle and Marple Sixth Form College, Holy Cross College, Xaverian College, Loreto College, Oldham Sixth Form College, St John Rigby RC Sixth Form College, Rochdale Sixth Form College, Winstanley Sixth Form College & Bolton Sixth Form College

First meeting of the local steering group: Monday, September 21
Chair of the local steering group: Theresa Grant, chief executive of Trafford City Council
Area review team lead: John Barber

Sheffield City Region
FE colleges
Barnsley College, Chesterfield College, Dearne Valley College, Doncaster College, North Nottinghamshire College, Rotherham College, Northern College & Sheffield College

Sixth form colleges
Thomas Rotherham College & Longley Park

First meeting of the local steering group: Monday, September 28
Chair of the local steering group: Dr David Collins, FE Commissioner
Area review team lead: John Barber