2B: What is ‘success’ in teaching, training and learning?

Those learning centres that share best practice with others in their Hub, regionally or nationally, say that building a network of good ideas and sharing them with others leads to vast improvements in staff motivation and morale and brings improved practice on the ground.

Julie Wilson describes Leicester College's approach to teaching basic skills through ICT.

‘One of the high points of my time as a basic skills tutor occurred about three years ago when Jan, a dyslexic student I'd been teaching, produced a slideshow for other learners. It was a step-by-step guide to calculating VAT; its production entailed talking, writing, word-processing, taking digital photographs and inserting them into the slideshow software. I had participated in Cambridge Training and Development's pilot, Basic Skills through IT for Community Tutors course, and was keen to try out new ideas. Jan's pride in the completion of the project appeared to justify my enthusiasm for the new technology. This was Jan's first piece of work without crossings out, laborious rewriting or extensive tutor input (except for jointly puzzling over the more technical aspects). And it was the first time she'd felt able to show her work to an audience.

'This experience flagged up, for me, the value of using information and communications technology skills as part of the greater learning experience rather than as an add-on to it. Jan's main aim was always to learn how to calculate VAT. She hit upon the idea of producing something for others and ICT offered her a means of doing this, resulting in a whole new set of skills while she achieved her primary aim.

‘Her success, as with all others for whom ICT has revolutionised learning, is primarily down to a willingness to persist and to overcome fears. It is also the result of one fundamental facility common to all forms of ICT hardware - the ability to go back and start again. Call it what you will - delete, undo, cancel - this is the real breakthrough of the ICT learning revolution.

‘The first noticeable change in Jan as she word-processed her handwritten instructions was her transition from learner to user. She was in control: nobody even had to know if she made an error, for the red spelling line, which she came to treat only with the respect it deserved, was Jan's copy-editor, not me.’

One college in Dorset has developed a course called Teaching Literacy through IT. It was developed to enlist potential learners who might not otherwise join basic skills classes. The course had 10 sessions and each session had a theme that combined literacy and IT skills. For example, context reading, spelling and vocabulary were taught alongside word-processing skills. The course was accredited in 1999 and 124 learners achieved the qualification.

Following on from the course, there is now a newspaper group. The group produces a termly newspaper called Return to Learn for which learners use the IT and literacy skills they have gained. Learners also often progress to other basic skills and IT courses. The evaluation of the course showed that learners like the fact that they can say to friends that they are doing a computer course rather than a literacy course.

Nine months ago, using her new qualifications and increased confidence, Zoe was successful in gaining a job as a Customer Service Representative at a major call centre. Now she is moving to an even better paid position with a large government department in Liverpool, as an Administrator. But Zoe left school at 16 before taking any exams. ‘I wasn’t happy at school and wanted to leave as soon as possible,’ she says. After working for a time in a sweet factory, she became pregnant with her daughter Georgia. Finding herself as a single mum on income support, Zoe decided she would have to train to find a better job that would give her and Georgia a better standard of living.

‘I wanted to better myself,’ says Zoe, ‘but most jobs need people who know about computers and, although I had a computer at home, I didn’t know how to use it. My little brother used it mainly for computer games. I wasn’t confident, and the thought of going into the workplace frightened me, as I had been unemployed for 18 months.’

Zoe approached her local learndirect centre for help in training for a better job. The staff assessed Zoe’s competence using a mix of paper-based, CD and online resources. Her teacher advised Zoe to prepare for interviews by increasing her confidence with computers and brushing up her word and number skills through learndirect. These aims were reflected in Zoe’s ILP, and for two weeks, Zoe attended the centre from 9.30 am to 4.30 pm.

‘I was very nervous about doing the courses,’ says Zoe. ‘I went to the centre with a thousand worries but, as soon as I walked through the door, I was greeted by friendly, smiling staff and the atmosphere was relaxed and comfortable. I did the learndirect word skills and number skills courses and they really boosted my confidence. It was a really good way of getting me used to computers before I applied for a job.

‘My family is very proud of what I have achieved and I would encourage anyone to go to the learndirect centre. The staff gave me the confidence to even stand up and talk in front of the class, something I thought I would never do. I was able to go for an interview and feel sure I would get the job. Applying for the Job Centre position was particularly gruelling with lots of interviews and problem-solving tests – they ran on for weeks! I start my new job at the beginning of September. It will be so much better as the hours are 9 to 5, Monday to Friday. We will be able to have a normal home life.’

Zoe would like to continue developing her skills with the learndirect centre and improve her computer skills even further with learndirect. ‘It’s given me and my daughter a head start in life and the opportunity to live a comfortable lifestyle.’

A basic skills unit at local authority adult education service offers a bi-weekly course for literacy and IT learners at Entry Levels 1 and 2, using its community school as the venue. Read Write Click! is taught by a teacher with the help of one volunteer and offers intensive ICT-based learning for up to eight learners.

Each learner is working towards two nationally recognised qualifications: an NOCN Certificate in Adult Literacy (Entry Level) and a Chiltern Region Open College Network (OCN) Certificate in Introduction to Computing (Entry Level). After an individual initial interview and assessment, learners come to Read Write Click! sessions on a regular basis and continue to attend for as long as they need. The on-site crèche attracts local mums, many of whom have older children at the school too.

Most sessions contain whole-class teaching and groupwork for teaching underpinning skills and knowledge. Each learner also works individually to practise these skills and develop their knowledge at their own level and pace using ICT equipment. Group sessions are usually delivered verbally, with the class sitting together, maybe working on an activity, around a table in the middle of the room. Frequent use is made of multimedia PowerPoint presentations and tutorials, which are given using an LCD projector.

Individual or pairwork is done at the table or on the bank of computers sited around the edge of the room. Frequently, this comprises activities or worksheets to complete using Microsoft Word, spelling games using Starspell, or CD-based activities with dedicated basic skills software. Software packages that are common in home computing are very popular – Print Artist is a particular favourite for making greetings cards, signs and banners, and a home shopping CD catalogue from Asda proved very popular. With Entry Level 1 learners, much use is made of multimedia Language Experience activities. The favourite ICT learning resource by far was the BBC’s Becoming Webwise. Learners particularly enjoyed the football game to learn mouse control!

Each learner stores the work on floppy disk and has an individual learning plan and learner diary in which to record his or her progress. Every learner has a progress review and records achievements and new goals at least once a term. Once accreditation has been achieved, the learner is offered a choice of progression routes – into open learning, other basic skills classes or other ICT classes, for example. The only problem is that most of them don’t want to go!

HMP Featherstone is an Adult Male Category C Training Establishment. All education in prisons is by request and assessment. In order to get on the education programmes, prisoners are asked to take part in a one-day induction programme run by education staff and colleagues from Industry and Training.

Tony Locker is the Education Manager at HMP Featherstone. He says, ‘Originally, the men were asked to participate in a paper-based initial assessment. Staff found this created a lot of frustration and anger, so they decided to switch to an electronic assessment process. The package we chose was CTAD’s Target Skills. The learners really like the computer-based approach – it is interactive and has audio links. For learners with epilepsy, a suite of laptops is available which doesn’t disadvantage them in any way. Even though some of the men have never used a computer before, there have been under 10 refusals out of over 700 assessments.’

One of the main advantages of the computer-based assessments is the instant feedback the learners receive on their level of skill, linked to the adult literacy and numeracy curricula. Doing the initial assessment in this way allows up to 20 learners to go through induction at any one time with expert support from at least four members of staff.

The computer-based assessment process is followed up when learners and tutors draw up an individual learning and training plan before moving on to computer-based learning at an appropriate level. The education department is well equipped for this.

Tony adds, ‘This method of initial assessment is obviously a great success because it not only introduces the men to computer-based learning but it increases their confidence and ability to participate in the learning process.’