Learning Technology Self-assessment case study:

About City College Brighton and Hove In 2013/14, the college had: Just over 2000 full time students aged 16 ‐ full time adult students. 400 students studied on higher education degrees validated by the University of Brighton. Nearly 4000 adult students study on part ‐ time courses. Approximately 700 students on Apprenticeship programmes. 200 students aged 14 ‐ 16 from our partner secondary schools and a growing number of international students. General Further Education college 14 ‐ 16 year olds 16 ‐ 18 year olds Adults on HE courses Apprenticeship training Corporate training ESF projects Sponsor a local Primary School

Why did we get involved? Desire to be involved in projects that support the development and utilisation of learning technologies Awareness that there is a real need for an effective and sector specific e-learning self-assessment tool Have been desperate to have access to sector specific e-learning benchmarks for many years. Important for us to have a system that enables staff to learn from existing practices, reflect on and develop their own use of e-learning E-learning plays a significant role in our curriculum delivery

Some of the Learning Technology used at CCBH

Implementing the self-assessment tool Have a clear rationale for use Present project rationale and implementation plan Secured Leadership buy-in and visible support Project lead acquired in- depth knowledge of the system Chose to assess at departmental level Selected areas with variable eLearning maturity Clear rationale and supporting information provided Support provided by project mentor was excellent and invaluable

What we liked about the tool Usability and accessibility of the website portal and assessment toolRelevance of the questions to the sectorAssessment scale used was familiar and aligned to other processesAllowed staff time to dedicate to thinking about the use of learning technologies in their areaBenchmarking reports at a college and sector level provide excellent data analysis capabilities.Easy to identify areas of strength and weakness within the college and in departments.Being able to see where strengths and weakness occurred in the wider sector.Provided a valuable insight into how staff judge the use of learning technology in their areas.Facilitated discussions around the use of technology and strategic planning

How we thought the tool could be improved The volume of questions was seen as excessive by managers and teachers The tool could be differentiated so that staff in different roles were required only to answer questions pertinent to their role. Being asked to write an evidential summary for each judgement created a barrier to completion and engagement. Perhaps ask for judgements at a section level? Some questions could use more simplistic language and less acronyms. Terms such as OER, MOOC, Cloud, BYOD, Gaming Technology and VLE were not instantly understandable Would prefer an online reporting facility as opposed to Excel DocumentsLive completion tracker for the organisational lead would be a useful addition Consideration needs to be given to how judgement making can be supported to be more standardised Would be helpful to see evidential summaries given to support judgements in other organisations Data gathered from across the sector (beyond the benchmark judgements) could be better utilised to support organisations in addressing areas identified for improvement.

How has involvement in the project been useful? It allowed staff time to think and reflect seriously about the use of technology For some staff it asked questions around areas they had possibly not considered when thinking about the use of technology. Ability to review how managers see their own departments use of technology and what areas they considered the greatest priorities for development and support. Being able to compare and contrast our organisational technology use against others and the sector more generally. Unfettered view from practitioners and managers to inform our e-learning strategy.Aided discussions about our e-learning Quality processes.Easy identification of key strengths and weaknesses

Some areas self-assessment highlighted Use of learning technologies within Apprenticeship and WBL provision Inconsistencies in understanding of organisational vision and strategy Departments awareness of the need for greater blended delivery Digital literacy training for staff needs to be enhanced Departments are their own fiercest critics Departments acknowledge they use learning technologies on a regular basis Areas of development for the whole sector (eg student involvement in learning technology development Within and between organisations there are significant opportunities for peer support and learning

What we are doing next Disseminating results to participating departments and SLT Compiling a report for SLT on key strategic areas of development (utilising benchmarking reports) Reviewing e-learning quality assurance processes Using key findings to support department and cross college strategy discussions Development of case studies based on self-assessed good practice