JISC

Training staff in the use of Managed Learning Environments (MLEs) is not as straight forward as training a single IT system. The implementation of an MLE will have an impact on the training needs of a variety of staff roles within the institution. This paper looks at what these roles might be, identifies the type of training needed and makes suggestions for the provision of training.

Matching training to the strategic aims of the MLE

Each institution will need to write its own plan for technical training and staff development to support the use of MLE technology. The plan will depend upon the number of staff who need to be trained, the current level of awareness and ability, and the timescales for implementation of the MLE. Most importantly, the training and development strategy needs to fit with the college's strategic aims for the MLE that will form part of the college's ILT (ILT or Information and Communications Technology, ICT) Strategy, for example that there will be teaching materials in the MLE for every key skills course offered by the college within two years.

Training and staff development plan

Each college should draw up a training and staff development plan as part of its MLE roll-out. The training and development plan needs to match the needs of the staff within the institution, so a training needs analysis will need to be carried out to establish what is needed by staff. This should take a whole-college approach as the roles of staff in the MLE may be different to traditional roles.

Establishing staff roles in the MLE

The implementation of the MLE will have an impact across the whole institution and so the training needs for staff in many different departments of the institution will need to be assessed. This may include:

• Teaching staff
• Technical support staff
• Administrative staff
• Middle management
• Library or learning resource staff
• Senior management

Each of these staff will be expected to carry out one or more roles in the MLE. For example, curriculum design staff will need to make decisions about how to use the Virtual Learning Environments (VLE) as part of a course; teaching staff may need to write materials in the VLE or prepare them in a suitable format to pass to others; technical support staff may be expected to set up new software and hardware; and administrative staff will need to share student record information in the MLE. You need to map out the needs for each category of staff.

Establishing staff needs

There are different types of training that may be needed to meet the needs of different staff and their roles. The needs will fall into several areas including some non-technical areas. Typical areas where training or development may be needed are shown in the table below.

Match appropriate development activities

When the training needs of each staff group have been established, you then need to match the type and frequency of training and development activities to create a training plan for each member of staff. Types of training will vary according to the skills being learned but may include: self-directed learning materials; specialist workshops or seminars; and team development activities. The ILT/ICT Champion(s) within each college will have an important role to play. It may be possible to provide some training from within colleges (peer-to-peer training or cascading training), and some specialised training may need to be bought-in from outside. Sources of training outside colleges include: commercial software suppliers (including VLE and MIS vendors), NILTA (National Information Learning Technology Agency), LSDA (Learning and Skills Development Agency); and the JISC and its Regional Support Centres.

Delivery of training and development

Special consideration needs to be given to the needs of staff who are based away from the main college site or sites, and to staff who work part-time for the college; they are essential when considering the whole college approach.

Use the VLE for training

Where possible, use the VLE software to provide the staff training as it will encourage staff to reflect upon the learning experience of using a VLE. The VLE also provides a forum for staff to share their experiences with each other through discussion areas, and this can be a useful tool for bringing staff together from across the college.

About the Authors

Sarah Porter is Programme Manager for the JISC committee for Integrated Environments for Learners (JCIEL) and she has responsibility for management of JISC's learning technology programmes, currently including three large Managed Learning Environment programmes. Before joining JISC, Sarah worked at the University of Oxford where she set up and managed the University's learning technologies development group. She has an interest in all aspects of learning technologies and their potential to enhance learning and teaching.

Penny Everett is the ICT co-ordinator at Filton Econet, a Safety Health and Environment training centre for business within Filton college. She has trained the ILT champions in the use of a VLE and has also contributed towards the training of authors of the Western Colleges Consortium.

Contact: peverett@filtoneconet.co.uk

Further information

Other relevant MLE briefing papers:

No 08: Technical
No 10: Firewalls and security
No 11: Installation and browser configuration
No 12: Physical implementation of MIS to VLE transfer
No 15: Administration of online environments
No 20: Mentoring and tutoring online

Training Needs Analysis in the Workplace. Robyn Peterson, Kogan Page. ISBN 0 7494 0546 5

The NILTA website contains an events diary for training and information events