Thurrock Adult Community College: All aboard! Let's learn!

Through LSC funding, Thurrock Adult Community College (TACC) purchased a single-deck bus, equipped with all the essential equipment that has allowed them to deliver fundamental IT skills within local communities. The bus travels to various local towns and villages which in turn has brought learning to the learners. This has proved to be very useful for those who perhaps have difficulty travelling to the main campuses or do not have the confidence to enrol on a course.

South Essex College: Learner voice - a 360-degree approach

South Essex College has developed a college intranet called C_Space. This has grown from a handful of HTML pages to an intranet hosting 70 in-house developed applications and two million staff and student-generated pages. In the past three years, the College has developed a range of social networking tools within the site to engage students. This has provided a 360-degree appraisal system for the College, which has informed the content and design of the intranet, as well as influenced the overall development of the College.

Action for Children – Introducing collaborative learning using Google Apps for Education

Paul Kendrick, Vocational Trainer for Action Training, has created a bespoke virtual learning environment (VLE) utilising Google Apps for Education. Learners and trainers are now more fulfilled as they have greater ownership of their learning environment and can pick which applications best suit their learning needs. They can also work more collaboratively as they are able to share documents with other learners and trainers between different locations.

Oaklands College: Creating Collaborative Classrooms Online with LAMS (The Learning Activity Management System)

e-Learning Developer, Charlie Williams, has improved efficiencies at Oaklands College with the introduction of LAMS, the Learning Activity Management System. Charlie has worked alongside teachers at the College to create activities for a range of individual tasks, small group work and whole classes, based on online content and collaboration. Since 2010, this blended learning environment has improved retention as students can work at hours that suit them, and has given teachers more time to work on future lessons and other tasks.

Essex ACL - Broadening horizons with blended learning - technology toolkit for foreign language tutors

As part of an LSIS Regional Response Fund project, Essex Adult Community Learning (ACL) has created a toolkit. The toolkit provides training for foreign language tutors in producing digital resources which combine audio, video, text and communication activities. The toolkit which is now an integral part of a blended learning language course, has also developed tutors' skills in using technology for teaching and learning. The main aim has also been to provide an alternative and flexible method of delivery, especially where funding cuts have impacted on the cost of running taught courses.

KEITS Training Services: Moving to Mobile - assessment with Blackberry devices

Work-based learning provider, KEITS has improved efficiencies and institutional effectiveness with the introduction of Blackberry mobile devices to all their assessors. They have saved time and money on paper and travel, diversified evidence capture and improved their overall engagement with learners.

Broadland Council Training Services – Winning your e-Learning Spurs with Xerte/Maxos

Broadland Council Training Services have reined in their reliance on traditional learning methods by introducing Xerte/Maxos to their equine-based students. Learners who were once deluged by stacks of paper and unable to utilise an internet connection in a horse yard are now able to access interactive learning exercises using Maxos: Xerte on a memory stick. Students are now more engaged and focused on their studies, teaching methods are much more diverse, and success rates have improved.

Burnley College: Engaging staff with an 'Olympic Feast' themed CPD

As part of its award winning staff development programme Burnley College has introduced an end of year ‘Feast’ of staff development activities. The Feast includes two weeks of Continuing Professional Development (CPD) workshops for all staff designed to promote e-Learning techniques, develop innovative teaching and learning methods as well as encourage staff to develop sharing hobbies and interests while always looking to expand the learning element.

Knowledge Exchange study: How Research Tools are of Value to Research: Use Cases and Recommendations

Research tools that are freely available and accessible via the Internet cover an emergent field in the worldwide research infrastructure. Clearly, research tools have increasing value for researchers in their research activities. Knowledge Exchange recently commissioned a project to explore use case studies to show research tools’ potential and relevance for the present research landscape. Makers of successful research tools have been asked questions such as: How are these research tools developed? What are their possibilities? How many researchers use them? What does this new phenomenon mean for the research infrastructure? Additional to the Use Cases, the authors offer observations and recommendations to contribute to effective development of a research infrastructure that can optimally benefit from research tools. the Use Cases are: •Averroes Goes Digital: Transformation, Translation, Transmission and Edition •BRIDGE: Tools for Media Studies Researchers •Multiple Researchers, Single Platform: A Virtual Tool for the 21st Century •The Fabric of Life •Games with A Purpose: How Games Are Turning Image Tagging into Child’s Play •Elmer: Modelling a Future •Molecular Modelling With SOMA2 •An Online Renaissance for Music: Making Early Modern Music Readable •Radio Recordings for Research: How A Million Hours of Danish Broadcasts Were Made Accessible •Salt Rot: A Central Space for Essential Research •Cosmos: Opening Up Social Media for Social Science A brief analysis by the authors can be found: •Some Observations Based on the Case Studies of Research Tools