FE and Skills Coalition Meeting – The Apprenticeship Journey in a Digital Age

On the 10th May over 50 representatives from further education and skills across the UK attended the Jisc hosted FE and Skills coalition meeting in London. The theme of the meeting was the apprenticeship journey in a digital age. The aims of the meeting were to explore how we can embed technology throughout apprenticeship design, delivery and assessment and to hear from participants on their experiences of using technology in support of apprenticeships.

With apprenticeships going through a period of great change with government targets to deliver 3 million new starts by 2020, and a move from provider-led frameworks to the delivery of new employer-led standards. Many providers are now seeing technology as core to their delivery model if they are to be cost-effective.

You can access the Storify summary of the day

Highlights from meeting include:

The meeting began with an overview of how Jisc is supporting colleges and skills providers with their use of technology and highlighted the new resources available to support organisations develop their digital environment. New resources include:
Online guide on developing organisational approaches to developing digital capability
Briefing paper on developing organisational approaches to developing digital capability
The evolution of FELTAG: a glimpse at effective practice in UK further education and skills
• Enhancing the digital experience for skills learners online guide
• Area review toolkits available here

Joe Wilson sharing his views on apprenticeship landscape

Joe Wilson sharing his views on apprenticeship landscape

We heard from Joe Wilson, @joecar, on his views around the current apprenticeship landscape and the challenges facing colleges and providers with the anticipated changes.

Apprenticeship toolkit from Jisc

Apprenticeship toolkit from Jisc

Lisa Gray updated the group on the work Jisc has been conducting in relation to how technology can support the design, delivery and assessment of apprenticeships. Jisc is developing guidance to providers moving to these new models of delivery, and Lisa provided an overview of work to date. The guidance available is based on a roadmap of effective practice from the preparatory stages through delivery of training to end-point assessment and highlights the key role of technology throughout. You can view Lisa’s slides here. Read Lisa’s blog post about the project and you can access the apprenticeship toolkit here. We would welcome your views and feedback on this resource through our feedback form. Please contact Lisa Gray (lisa.gray@jisc.ac.uk) for more information.

You can view the Periscope recordings of these presentations here.

Nick Poyner, Real Apprenticeship Company presented on how technology supports their delivery

Nick Poyner, Real Apprenticeship Company presented on how technology supports their delivery

We heard from Nick Poyner, from the Real Apprenticeship Company, on how they are making effective use of technology to support the delivery of their apprenticeships. Nick’s slides are available here and you can access the Periscope recording here. Read more about their work here

The Education and Training Foundation have a programme of support for providers and colleges delivering apprenticeships and Alison Morris and Dawn Buzzard presented to the group on what support and training opportunities are available. You can access their slides here.

Dawn Buzzard presenting on ETF support programme for apprenticeships

Dawn Buzzard presenting on ETF support programme for apprenticeships

In addition, Ufi run the Blended Learning Essentials course and are developing a new course aimed specifically at supporting staff delivering apprenticeships and the role of technology. For further information visit http://www.ufi.co.uk/projects/blended-learning-essentials

To end the day Rob Bristow and Sarah Dunne ran an activity on developing user stories to capture user requirements, to feed into the developments on the Jisc digital apprenticeship work. You can view the user stories here.

The meeting ended with a plenary panel where each member of the panel was asked to share their key take away message from the day. This included the importance of developing a digital vision, supporting staff with the development of their digital skills and capabilities, realising the value and benefits digital can offer. You can view the Periscope recording of the panel here.

Thank you to all those who contributed to the event and for the rich discussion. The next meeting of the group is on 11th October. You can join the mailing list for this group by visiting http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/ FELTAGIMPLEMENTATIONGROUP and continue the discussions on Twitter using #FELTAG

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