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NZ Report: E-learning for adult literacy, language and numeracy

Thu, 17 Jun 2010 01:42:46 +0000

Source: Ministry of Education (NZ) – Education Counts. The full report is available here: http://www.educationcounts.govt.nz/publications/tertiary_education/76972

Executive Summary

This research provides readers with a greater understanding of the potential of e-learning for adult literacy, language and numeracy. It investigates how e-learning can be employed as a means of reaching greater numbers of adult learners and how to better meet their learning needs.

Our overarching research question was:

What characteristics of programmes, such as e-learning, mixed mode, and distance learning, have been successful in raising the literacy, language and numeracy skills (LLN) of adult learners and could be used to supplement workplace training?

The main message that we drew from our work is that e-learning is relevant to and useful for most adults with literacy, language and/or numeracy (LLN) learning needs. However, these benefits rely on a learning programme that is carefully designed to fit each individual’s needs and lifestyle, his or her proficiency with digital technologies, and his or her level of reading literacy.

This distance e-learning, especially when blended with face-to-face support, can provide an effective way of developing the LLN skills of learners currently at Level 2 of the New Zealand Adult Literacy and Life Skills Survey (2006). In this report, we refer to this level as the intermediate level of literacy.

The 10 main findings to emerge from our research are as follows:

Literacy, language and numeracy skills in the 21st century include proficiency with digital technologies and practices, including e-learning.
E-learning for LLN is largely a recent development in New Zealand: very few well-established programmes exist.
E-learning is more effective if it is part of face-to-face training.
Māori approaches to e-learning can be used to build skills and knowledge within the Māori community.
As long as adequate support is in place, e-learning provides a good source of practice and motivation for second-language learners.
The diverse Pasifika peoples benefit from e-learning that fits their respective cultures and lives and is accompanied by induction activities.
Many of the e-learning strategies used for building reading and writing skills can also be successfully used for and by adults with disabilities that limit their ability to learn and/or access learning.
Using mobile digital technologies in e-learning contexts increases the flexibility of LLN provision.
Tutors and support staff require specific professional development in e-learning, and organisations need to develop so that they can successfully accommodate this type of learning.
Communities of practice can provide a supplementary means of professional development for tutors engaged in e-learning and can lead to the development of relevant resource banks.

Blending face-to-face LLN training with e-learning for individuals and groups has the greatest chance of addressing needs, but these types of provision must be accompanied by professional and organisational development within and across organisations. We therefore conclude our report with nine recommendations for action:

Provide e-learning-related professional development for tutor educators and workplace assessors who work in adult education.
Ensure that the quality assurance measures used in relation to LLN programmes include regular assessment and updating of e-learning provisions.
Partnerships between and among key stakeholders are essential for the effective development and integration of sustained e-learning opportunities. These partnerships should include web-based facilities that offer access to e-learning content, tutors and professional development.
Increase the capacity for e-learning in all New Zealand contexts, including e-learning on marae in collaboration with Māori institutions and communities.
Research and develop e-learning in partnership with rural and remote communities. Immigrants’ home countries can be party to this provision, but only if the e-learning infrastructure in these places is sufficiently developed to provide immigrant and transient populations with the opportunity to develop their LLN skills.
Establish banks of appropriate activities and resources for use by tutors and assessors, and support these people in a way that allows them to help develop and update those banks as part of their professional development activities. The scale of need in New Zealand suggests this approach could be a cost-effective one. However, achieving this aim would need centralised coordination (a national hub).
Support projects designed to investigate the potential that more recent digital technologies might offer learners with LLN needs. This potential could include, within workplaces, for example, mobile learning via mobile phones, simulations with game-like interfaces, and e-learning on hand-held computers.
Encourage continuing research in e-learning that is sufficiently complex to aid the evolution of pedagogical practice. How digital technologies can be used to advance learning and how the e-learning professional development needs of professionals and organisations can best be served are issues particularly in need of sustained research.
Collaborate internationally to continue to review research and development worldwide, and to disseminate the findings of this research to the New Zealand tertiary sector.

The full report is avaliable here: http://www.educationcounts.govt.nz/publications/tertiary_education/76972

Transform with elearning: What do you wish your community, organisation or industry did better?

Sun, 07 Mar 2010 03:27:57 +0000

Elearning can have a transformational impact on small business, not-for-profit and other fragmented groups sharing common interests, challenges or opportunities.

Leaders who champion these approaches, and buy-in from participants, is key – but once people are on-board a widespread and consistent improvement in performance can occur in a rapid and substantial fashion.

Social networking and related services have taken elearning beyond self-contained training that offered little more than traditional distance learning. It now offers an important level of interaction that brings real people together.

The opportunity for interaction between participants promotes collaboration. This can lead to superior, and often creative, solutions which can benefit every member. Small business, for example, will only get so far working with local competitors, but can interact freely with similar businesses in other parts of the country. Innovative product or service ideas, marketing approaches, and sources of suppliers can all be freely discussed when businesses are not in direct competition.

The benefits are not solely commercial. I am constantly amazed at how much ‘cash-strapped’ government agenices and not-for-profit groups will spend to get members to centralised training, or to bring training opportunities to geographically spread groups. The travel, accommodation and venue costs alone are often substantial, and the reach limited as a result.

Take a typical sporting organisation for example. They might have national, regional, club and school based administration nationwide from the largest centres to the smallest rural communities. They probably share common issues – perhaps they all seek greater levels of grant funding.

One well designed elearning programme in which the participants learn how to submit winning funding applications would address this need. It would involve many members and be delivered simultaneously nationwide, with valuable collaboration between participants sharing experiences and looking for solutions. This would immediately lift performance across the board, and impact nationwide through many members. An initiative like this could generate thousands of dollars of additional revenue and great benefits as a result.

Complement that with programmes in strategic planning, financial practise, volunteer management, and recruitment and suddenly you have strengthened and advanced the capability of your organisation in a very practical way – further and faster than you ever thought possible.

Put simply, this is about flexibility of time and place. This phrase is often used from the learner’s perspective, but it also applies to the delivery of training. Being able to provide training to a disjointed group spread over thousands of kilometres on a flexible schedule enables you to capture more people, more quickly, and more effectively.

What do you wish your community, organisation or industry did better? Tell us and we will show you how elearning can make it happen!

Education by Brash and the 2025 Taskforce

Mon, 30 Nov 2009 21:12:55 +0000

Recommendation 11 from the 2025 Taskforce chaired by Don Brash deals specifically with education.

11. Education:

a. The substantial increases in subsidies since 2005 for early childhood education and day-care should be reversed.

b. A funder-provider model should be adopted for the school sector, allowing new providers to enter, with all-up per student funding equivalent to that for existing state schools.

c. In the meantime, governance and accountability structures in the school sector need to be reformed to provide better incentives for stronger performance and greater accountability for teachers, principals and schools.

d. Government-imposed fee caps on university fees should be abolished.

e. Market-based interest rates should be reintroduced for student loans.

f. Governance of the public tertiary sector should be reformed, including exploring the rationalisation of the non-university sector and the establishment of universities as independent foundations.

g. A full review should be undertaken to identify, and recommend reform of, those areas in which various government education agencies (Tertiary Education Commission, Education Review Office, Ministry of Education) have become overly prescriptive, and to explore other, less intrusive, monitoring and accountability options to achieve policy ends that pass a cost-benefit test.

For further information see the full reports and supporting information from the 2025 Taskforce.

Organisation culture and E-learning

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 22:50:58 +0000

The relationship between organisation culture and learning is a critical one. The same considerations extend to elearning specifically. In the New Zealand context elearning is still a relatively new phenomenon.

Many organisations, and their people, will not have had widespread exposure to elearning provision. This places even greater importance on understanding how organisation culture and elearning depend upon, strengthen and influence each other.

As a starting point for identifying these issues we suggest Nichani’s article “Understanding Organisational Culture for Knowledge Sharing”.

This article is of particular interest when thinking about the collaborative aspects of ’elearning 2.0′ which combine aspects of formal process and design principles with interaction reflecting social networking experiences.

Download: E-Learning success stories in the not-for-profit sector

Thu, 15 Oct 2009 22:45:32 +0000

This commentary sets out the clear benefits of elearning for the not-for-profit sector. The link between stated advantages and real case studies illustrates what can be achieved. Creative approaches to building capacity in not-for-profit organisations are well served by the flexibility and customisation that elearning provides.

While inspirational to those working in the sector, if there is a criticism we would offer it is the lack of emphasis on instructor led learning and asynchronous approaches, which we find to be most effective in developing skills and knowledge in the not-for-profit sector.

The research report can be found: HERE

Why not-for-profits should embrace elearning

Tue, 13 Oct 2009 22:45:04 +0000

Elearning provides a cost effective solution to some key issues affecting many not-for-profit organisations.

One example is how to successfully manage volunteers. Many community based organisations rely heavily on volunteers at some level. This might be people on the ground delivering service, or at governance level providing oversight as committee members or trustees.

Challenges can arise from the fact that volunteers typically come from diverse backgrounds and present with a range of skills and experience.

In these circumstance elearning can assist by:

providing a consistent and cost-effective way to induct new volunteers to your organisation.
educating your volunteers about the issues or cause your organisation addresses.
teaching volunteers about internal policies and procedures unique to your organisation.
addressing risk-management needs by ensuring your people understand health and safety and other compliance matters.
training in governance and management skills such as strategic and business planning, financial management, or fundraising methods.
teaching skills specific to your sector like managing sports teams, recognising abuse, or advocacy skills.

By developing your people you build the capacity of your organisation and achieve better results. You also improve consistency of delivery across member organisations at national, regional and local level. You can harness the power of having all workers on message and moving in the same direction.

Perhaps most importantly you can achieve consistently high standards of performance over time. As your people naturally come and go, this consistency allows efforts to build incrementally on the work that has gone before. The effectiveness of your organisation is then not tied to a rollercoaster of strengths and weaknesses of individual people. This is a common issue in many not-for-profits which do not enjoy paid administrators or management.

Finally it demonstrates that you recognise and value the work of your people across the organisation, by investing in their ability. This can aid morale, recruitment and retention.

All of this helps you achieve your goals, and can be achieved for a fraction of the cost of traditional training and development approaches in the not-for-profit sector, especially if your organisation and affiliate bodies operate from a variety of locations.

If you would like to know more about how elearning can greatly enhance your not-for-profit organisation please contact us.

Not-for-profit uses elearning to train 3000+ volunteers

Sun, 11 Oct 2009 22:45:47 +0000

This press release describes how elearning can be used in practise to achieve dramatic results in the not-for-profit sector. The Virtual College’s Safeguarding Children e-Academy has helped Bradford Safeguarding Children Board deliver child protection training to more than 3,000 people.

They say “e-learning was recognised as the way forward. It has helped us to reach many more people and introduce more varied topics than we could ever hoped to have done through face-to-face learning….e-learning can help train everyone who comes into contact with children across any number of different geographical locations and job descriptions quickly and simply.”

The full post can be found at http://www.trainingpressreleases.com/newsstory.asp?NewsID=4661