JISC

The East of England Lifelong Learning Support Project (EELLS) will explore issues related to lifelong learners through the provision of an e-portfolio service within a regional context.   Final Report

Region: East of England  

EELLs will offer benefits to learners and will support the themes of facilitating progression and supporting the independent lifelong learner.  EELLS will provideservices that will support learners on vocational and/or work-based pathways and their interaction with educational institutions.  This will be a superstructure layer that sits above individual institutions’ MIS and MLE systems and is owned /accessible by learners outside an institutional structure.  

Aims and Objectives

EELLS is based on re-use of the SHELL project, completed recently at the University of Plymouth, and will progress a number of pilots with different learner groups at the partner institutions within the Eastern Region.  The pilots will explore the requirements of learners within a client-centred model of progression appropriate to lifelong learning, where ownership and control of the information is transferred from the institution to the individual but with appropriate authentication for institutional progress files.    

Outcomes will include:

• The provision of service that provides lifelong learner records for the presentation of learner achievements to educational establishments or employers and with utilities to assist both the individual learner and the staff involved with admissions in the application process. 
• Exploring options with lifelong learners to enhance the e-portfolio aspects of SHELL
• Exploring opportunities to establish a regional system that support Lifelong Learning. 
• Provide evaluation about the re-use of SHELL within a different regional context and with different institutions.

Opportunities for extending the potential of SHELL will be investigated

• hub to hub connectivity to provide inter regional learner services
• enhancing e-portfolio aspects 

Project Methodology

The SHELL / Phosphorix software will be implemented for a pilot service supporting the w idening participation and lifelong learning agenda in the Eastern Region.  SHELL will provide the infrastructure for exchange of student data using IMS standards.  

Pilots with groups of lifelong learners in Health and Media sectors will explore the e-portfolio requirements from the learner's perspective and will provide evaluation on usage.  

Regional opportunities will be a strong focus of the project.  

See details on SHELL  

Implications/ Deliverables/ Stakeholders

The EELLS project will provide a demonstrator for the region of a scalable support service for learners independent of the institutional systems.

A programme of regional workshops will run from June 2005 to promote EELLS and to gather feedback from the region.  

A series of evaluation reports from the lifelong learner pilots and final report which will present a guide to practical / strategic issues, evaluation of success and failures and recommendations.  

Lead institution

• University of Hertfordshire

Project Partners

• University of Luton
• Hertfordshire Higher Education Consortium
• Bedfordshire Colleges