Making the blend work – lessons learned in four years of cross college blended learning Peter Kilcoyne ILT Director Heart of Worcestershire College

Why Blended Learning? Make use of engaging learning opportunities offered through technology Develop independent learning and digital literacy skills Efficiency savings needed to deliver study programmes in challenging funding environment

FELTAG Recommendations “mandate the inclusion in every publicly-funded learning programme from 2015/16 of a 10% wholly-online component, with incentives to increase this to 50% by 2017/2018. This should apply to all programmes unless a good case is made for why this is not appropriate to a particular programme”

Model 1: PAL 15% reduction in F2F teaching Course teams to deliver 15% of curriculum online No remission Shared responsibility across course team Support from ILT team “Martini” - learning

PAL – Lessons Learnt Partial success Some excellent practice but Mixed quality Mixed engagement Mixed feedback Resistance from some staff and some students

PAL – Lessons Learnt Making blended learning work across a whole college is challenging Active learning – Moodle a place to do stuff not just get stuff Clear roles and responsibilities Remission for co-ordinator on each course team Sessions should be timetabled Increased participation monitoring Regular assessment tasks

Model 2: SOLA All FT L2 and L3 vocational courses Level 2: 30 hours per year Level 3: 60 hours per year Timetabled delivery – usually in Learning Centres – supervised by Learning Centre staff

Overview - Key Features of SOLA Moodle course Clear instructions and structure Learning outcomes Range of learning resources, text, interactive and video. Where possible save time by using what’s already out there (e.g. NLN, YouTube, slideshare, Open Educational Resources, planet e-stream etc) where appropriate buy in Learning activities through Moodle tools (e.g. forums. glossaries, journals, databases etc) Assessment through Moodle tools (quiz and assignment)

Examples of SOLA Modules Beauty Gateway Beauty SOLA Art and Design SOLA Activity Example Database Assessment Quiz Assessment

Roles and Responsibilities SOLA Coordinator – plan scheme of work, agree SOLA outcomes with teachers, ensure assessments are marked, monitoring engagement, (given approx.18 hours per year for this per group) Lecturers – plan, agree with coordinator, build SOLA with SOLA Team Personal tutors – monitor engagement and follow up in individual and group tutorials Learning Centre staff –support SOLA sessions in Learning Centres CRQ (Curriculum) Managers and Leaders – lead and monitor implementation within their teams SOLA Support Team (part of ILT team) – Provide templates, training, support teachers in developing SOLA Modules. Overall monitoring and reporting to SLT, supporting QA

Lessons learnt - Learner Engagement Adult learners take far better to blended learning compared to 16 – 19 learners Engaging content Video, Interaction, Quizzes Emphasised in F2F not stand alone Monitoring Non participation challenged

Lessons learnt - Lecturers Engagement Clear positive message to lecturers as to how, what and why Effective CPD ILT support Strong leadership and support from curriculum manager Integration with F2F learning

Lessons Learnt – Staff Skills Bespoke CPD for SOLA Co-ordinators, Teachers, Personal Tutors, Learning Centre Staff and Managers Online and F2F CPD Best practice sessions Team sessions

Lessons Learnt - Quality Quality framework SOLA Observations Learner feedback – QUISTS, Surveys, Observations Sharing best practice

Lessons Learnt - Management Implementing blended learning is challenging Strong consistent message from Senior and Curriculum Managers Planning – long lead in, pilot Resourcing – learning centres, ILT support, abatement Monitoring and challenging

Lessons Learnt - Support HOW College - 4 FTE SOLA Advisors Each with workload of specified courses SOLA Advisor works in partnership with SOLA Co-ordinator to build SOLA courses

Impact of Implementing Blended Learning 12% improvement in success rates in four years since blended learning started Efficiency savings over £250K per annum Improved digital literacy and online learning skills in staff and students Improved independent learning skills in students

Support from Heart of Worcestershire College

CPD for your College Half day planning meeting for College Management Teams F2F CPD for lecturers and other staff Online CPD for lecturers (BOLD) Design eLearn Diploma Bespoke CPD

Blended Learning Consortium Membership organisation Annual fee of £5K Members propose content they would like developed Members rate proposals out of 10 Selected content co-developed by member colleges Content shared across member colleges

Any Questions?