JOSEPH - Joining up Organisations to Support new Engineering Pathways into Higher education

Lead Contact: Sandra Winfield, sandra.winfield@nottingham.ac.uk

JISC Programme: JISC e-Learning Programme

Lead Institution and Partners: University of Nottingham Centre for International ePortfolio Development (L), City of Nottingham Children's Services, Connexions Nottinghamshire, Top Valley School & Engineering College, Castle College Nottingham, Nottingham Trent University School of Architecture, Design and Built Environment, LEAP AHEAD (Nottinghamshire/Derbyshire Lifelong Learning Network), Toyota/Lexus Academy, Edexcel

This case study illustrates Lifelong Learning; Work-Based Learning (WBL); Technologies; Interoperability; Employability

Background & Context

What is the background to the e-portfolio initiative?

JOSEPH arose as the result of several needs:

• The UK Government agenda at the time was placing an increased emphasis on skills development and encouraging and increasing participation in vocational HE courses (part of the agenda for setting up the Lifelong Learning Network infrastructure in the UK and the development of the 14-19 Specialised Diplomas). The Diplomas represented a major move towards opening access to Higher Education to a wider range of students following vocational pathways
• The JOSEPH project was initiated as the Diplomas were about to be introduced and it was recognised that study programmes would require interaction across a range of institutions, providers and locations and would place new demands on Information, Advice and Guidance (IAG) to support the needs of students
• As a consequence there was a growing recognition of the potential for e-portfolio use to support cross-institutional working. This technology would need to be learner-centred, institution free and support the personalisation and integration of learning for individuals
• JOSEPH aimed to explore the use of e-portfolios and e-portfolio-enabled services, specifically in the area of Information, Advice and Guidance (IAG) to support learners following Engineering pathways both during their course and at points of transition
• Specialised Diplomas were a new area for practitioners as well as learners and the intention of the project was to contribute to the growing body of knowledge about the needs of learners following this pathway and support this as a route into higher education -consequently supporting widening participation in the region
• The JOSEPH project built on previous work undertaken, including: RIPPLL, eP4LL, partnership working with Passportfolio (and now Connexions), LEAP-AHEAD Lifelong Learning Network
• The project coincided with the formation of the Derbyshire/Nottinghamshire Lifelong Learning Network (LLN), LEAP-AHEAD (http://www.leapahead.ac.uk/), for which the University of Nottingham Centre for International ePortfolio Development has led the eSystems work. IAG services for adult learners formed an important part of this work

What were the aims and objectives of the initiative?

JOSEPH set out to explore the use of e-portfolio and e-portfolio-enabled services, specifically in the area of IAG, to support learners following Engineering pathways both during their course and at points of transition. JOSEPH aimed to:

• Support providers and learners piloting the Specialised Diploma in Engineering in the region through use of e-portfolio
• Scope the interaction between e-portfolio and IAG services
• Conduct a baseline evaluation of how learners in Engineering begin to use an e-portfolio in combination with online and face-to-face IAG services to develop an Individual Learning Plan (ILP) focused on progression to the next stage of learning
• Identify web services to enhance IAG for students following the new Engineering Diploma in local schools and colleges, taking account of the need to link to the new regional 14-19 online prospectus
• Examine how far web services for IAG for progression from a level 1 or level 2 Diploma course prove to be reusable at other progression points, establishing a pattern of reusability where possible
• Through dialogue with stakeholders, identify changes to processes required for learners on vocational pathways to integrate cross-institutional learning (including work-based learning), develop ILPs and create Personal Statements for application to FE, HE and employment
• Explore the Diploma as a progression route into HE and enable central admissions staff and admissions tutors in HE to establish how they would use the wider range of learner information provided from the Diploma to assess the achievements, aptitude and potential of WP applicants both within the admissions process and, for successful applicants, at induction
• Test the 'thin' e-portfolio model and web service definitions for developing a Personal Statement proposed by the e-portfolio Reference Model project
• Strengthen and extend the regional partnership established by the RIPPLL project
• Develop a key test bed activity for e-innovations planned by the Nottinghamshire/Derbyshire Lifelong Learning Network

How was the initiative implemented?

The project began from an existing successful partnership with the team who originally developed Passportfolio, and with whom the JOSEPH project team had previously worked on a number of projects. The beginning of the project coincided with the transfer of responsibility for the Passportfolio system used by Nottinghamshire schools (along with a key member of staff) from Nottingham City Council to Connexions Nottinghamshire, so the team was involved in some initial work supporting establishment of the system as part of Connexions' IAG offering.

The first year of the project consisted of an extended set up and development phase accompanied by exercises scoping current provision and mapping existing technology. The project established dialogue with IAG advisers about use of both online and face-to-face services and how these could best articulate with e-portfolio usage. The Diploma qualification was still in early stages of development and implementation, and the team spent time working with local HE Engineering admissions tutors to see how institutions might approach accepting the qualification as a pathway to HE.

The second half of the project involved a full range of stakeholders (including tutors, advisers and students) in both parallel iterative development and testing of a pilot implementation of a tool to articulate IAG provision and further workshops used as a basis for scenario and use case building. The project recognised that the major outcome lay in the promotion of the decision-making process and supporting technology, rather than the tool per se. They therefore developed a CMS facility to support easy customisation of the tool for use with other lines of learning and with other audiences, including adult learners.