JISC

Overview

Leicester College has over 60 HE courses delivered across a variety of Curriculum Areas. Learners are full-time, part-time, work based and distance.

This project (HELLO) has two elements: 

1. Development of a student led network to aid collaboration across friendship and social groups, replacing lost physical social space. Within the network, there will be participation from employers and industry experts, who will get involved with discussions, advertise work placements and provide industry updates. Links will be made with other HE Institutions to offer advice on appropriate courses post FD. 
2. Development of course level resources, in light of successes from the WoLF Project including use of an E-Tutorial, online formative and summative feedback and forum discussions.

Aim

Enable students to build networks of communication, support and mentoring with peers, tutors, businesses and other HE institutions.

Objectives

• Build a network of support, advice and guidance for social and educational purposes 
• Provide students and tutors with Moodle course sites and HE Community Site to support the learning process and carry out pastoral support online 
• Provide the HELLO community (students, staff, businesses, industry experts and HEIs) with appropriate training to enable them to use the technology 
• Provide the HELLO community with the tools to collaborate in a Web 2.0 environment 
• Provide technical support to ensure participation in the network and the Moodle platform 
• Provide the wider audience information on running a project, including key lesson learnt, research findings and models of implementation

Project methodology

Initially, 40% of course Moodle sites will be developed or created. This will affect 9 courses, and 250 students. 100% HE course sites will have access to a new 'HE Community Site', offering a 'virtual common room' to replace lost, physical space. Installation, testing and evaluation of Mahara for fitness for purpose as the “HELLO” Network will take place resulting in pilot groups and further testing in September 2009 prior to roll-out in January 2010. During this time links will be made with employers, industry experts and HEIs to invite participation in the 'HELLO' Network.

An Action Research process will be deployed throughout the project, capturing the views of all stakeholders and leading to an evaluation and a final pedagogical model.  

Anticipated outputs and outcomes

•  Various reports
• Course and HE Community sites on College VLE using Web 2.0 tools 
• HELLO network site for students, HEIs, Business and Industry Experts 
• Informative public facing website highlighting the project journey 
• Scenarios and case studies which ‘hear the learner’s voice’ Dissemination of project internally and externally 
• A Pedagogic Model and ‘proof of concept’

Learners, tutors, employers and HEIs will be able:

• to communicate with each other 
• share information and receive feedback 
• have access to course materials, resources and advice at home, in College or in the workplace 
• communicate synchronously or asynchronously 
• provide pastoral, academic support, advice, and opportunities via alternative means 
• participate and add value to curriculum delivery 
• see learners acquiring transferable ICT and e-communication skills 
• add value to the decision making process of students 
• see a clear course progression route

Technology / Standards used

• W3C-HTML Version 1.0 for project website and Moodle Course shells/themes
• SCORM Version 1.2 for reusable learning objects

Lead Institution

• Leicester College