UKAN-SKILLS
Overview
The Project builds on previous grant work both within the Tees Valley (centred on University of Teesside Library & Information Services) and at the University of Prince Edward Island, Canada (UPEI). In both places synergy has been seen between supporting academic staff users in developing student skills and the use of Web2.0 or open source technology to provide access to teaching resources and produce a ‘community’.
Aims and objectives
The Project Team will engage in ‘dialogues’ with 6 trial academic programmes (although other programmes continue to come forward wishing to take part).
Current elements in a dialogue include: identification of the skills needs of stakeholders; prioritisation of these skills needs; clarification of the general ‘approach’ to skills development; decision on the need for some means of assessment or evidencing of the skills; advocacy of the importance of the priority skills; a ‘skills activities map’ of possibilities such as practising / reinforcing / formative advice; feedback after assessment on skills performance and further development; links to resources (both learning objects from the new repository and external national resources) to support the various points in the skills activities map.
Some matched funding for the Project is producing a UIDM toolkit.
Project methodology
The Project is very much committed to using UIDM both as a set of tools for working with users in a standardized manner and as a way of bringing about change.
Anticipated outputs and outcomes
- a range of skills activity maps with working links to good practice learning objects (plus background material from the dialogues)
- a Project repository containing open-accessible learning objects (not through Athens authentication)
- a bringing together of active and maintained links to the wide range of past and current material. Work on previous projects in the Tees Valley has indicated some lack of awareness of previous JISC-funded material
- a UIDM toolkit
- a new set of user acceptance measures for skills material
- developing and evaluating a ‘charitable Trust’ model for sustained availability of material and sustaining of an established virtual meeting place (‘habitat’) after project finishes. The University of Teesside is financing staff time for 5 years after the end of the Project to support the decisions and activities of Trust panel of user representatives in the wider HE/FE community
Technology / Standards used
Strong commitment to open source and open access services/materials. Use of Web2.0 to improve communication with wider community and within new ‘habitat’. Demonstrator level of use of Web2.0 within Project Team.
Lead Institution
Project partners
Project Staff
Project Manager
Project Team
- Dave Cormier - Academic programme partner and ICT lead specialist (UPEI)
- Bonnie Stewart - Skills specialist (UPEI)
- Sue Myer – University of Teesside L&IS
- Denise Turner – University of Teesside – L&IS
- Kay Foster - Linguistics specialist (University of Teesside)
- Jane Aiken - Academic programme partner facilitator – Darlington College
- Angela Myers - Academic programme partner facilitator - Redcar & Cleveland College