JISC

Hairdressing Training was one of the first JISC initiatives to provide vocational e-learning resources to the FE community, enabling learners to research and access demonstrations of hairdressing skills as well as background knowledge, both in college and at home. There are currently over 200 FE colleges across the UK subscribing to Hairdressing Training.

Short back and sides

'We plan to make m-learning training requirements part of our staff appraisal process in future' Funding from the LSC has made Hairdressing Training materials free to all FE colleges in the UK since 2007. The materials are licensed through JISC Collections and supported through Mimas at the University of Manchester.

Stockport College has been one of the main users of these Hairdressing Training online learning materials. The College wanted to extend this access to online hairdressing training for learners whilst on work placements, and provide a more personalised experience, through using handheld technologies. A joint bid for funding through the MoLeNET Mobile Learning Network project in 2007 enabled Stockport and Trafford Colleges to work with Mimas to provide a variety of m-learning devices for over four hundred learners, and to utilise the mobile interface for the Hairdressing Training materials which had been developed by Mimas.

About Mimas

Mimas is a national data centre funded by JISC and ESRC to provide universities and colleges in the UK with access to key data and information resources to support teaching, learning and research across a wide range of disciplines. Based at the University of Manchester, the Mimas team manage services enabling users from authorised institutions to access most Mimas services free of charge, although an institutional site licence and user registration may be required for some services.

Services currently provided are:

• Learning Materials
• Discovery tools
• Primary research data
• Selected journals
• Research and development

About Hairdressing Training

Hairdressing Training is a set of online learning materials designed for the UK Further Education community by the Jordan Burr salon and supported through Mimas. The materials cover many aspects of hairdressing and barbering, including cuts and styles, with lots of images and tips.

In addition to the learning materials which can be accessed though a dedicated website, support from Mimas also includes an online forum for practitioners called ‘Rough Cuts’ and worksheets that can be accessed through ‘Jorum’ - an online repository service for teaching and support staff in UK Higher and Further Education institutions, which aims to encourage sharing, reusing and repurposing learning and teaching materials.

Challenge

Stockport College is a large, general FE College based on two main sites in Stockport.

Learners at the college now carry mobile phones with computing and connectivity power that outstrips many desktop computers. Learners expect to be able to access more and more information on the move whether for their training courses, social networking, music downloads or other applications. FE colleges need to be planning to meet these expectations with m-learning materials and support options that are easy to access, relevant, up to date and highly engaging.

For learners on hairdressing courses at Stockport college, this meant being able to use handheld devices to access learning and collect evidence in work placements as well as in the classroom and at home.

Solution

Hairdressing Training on mobiles enables learners to access training materials at a time and place to suit them. The learning materials are frequently updated and include illustrated step-by-step guides, cutting and styling techniques and other resources covering topics such as client consultation and health and safety. Learners taking part in the project came from both full time and part time vocational and WBL programmes and were on Level 2 or Level 3 Hair and Beauty courses.

Mimas support and consultancy formed a key part of the MoLeNET project. Stuart Smith, from the Mimas project team, repurposed the Hairdressing Training materials for easy access and use on mobile devices.

The project also encouraged the development and upload of further learning materials by tutors and blogs and quizzes were also developed to encourage frequent use by learners and to enable Skills for Life needs to be addressed.

Flexible licensing terms enable learners to incorporate parts of the resources, such as images, into their assignments and e-portfolios. Learners were also able to gather and present evidence of practical skills from the workplace with digital cameras and voice recorders.

The Mimas hosted ‘Rough Cuts’ online forum enables practitioners to share resources and  good practice ideas and the Mimas Helpdesk is on hand to provide support by phone and email if there are any problems with access or other support needs.

Impact on the learning provider

The Ofsted report of 2008 rated the College as Grade 1 ‘outstanding’ in most areas of activity including Hair and Beauty. Hairdressing was cited as an example of good practice in the Ofsted report as follows: ‘Hairdressing learners benefit from the loan of mobile camera/phones, allowing them to capture evidence of their work. They can also connect to the college intranet to download this evidence and access learning materials’.

The MoLeNET project has increased staff confidence in the use of e-learning and m-learning and given them the vision and skills to continue to utilise m-learning in their teaching practice.

Other departments are now planning for the use of m-learning in 2009/10 including engineering and sports science. The links with the Mimas team have also been greatly valued as they have enabled the college to share best practice and establish an m-learning model transferable to other curriculum areas.

Impact on the learner

Feedback from the project suggests that the system is helping students on work placements better explain their learning to salon managers by referring them to the learning materials on their mobile phones whilst at work.  The project also encouraged the use of ICT and e-learning by a group of vocational students who may benefit from the development of these skills.

The Moodle for Mobile learning environment has also enabled learners to interact with their tutors and peers outside of the classroom. Although further research is required to fully evaluate impact on student achievement and progression, many learners reported increased confidence in their work placements as well as enhanced enjoyment of their course through the use of m-learning.

Key messages

1. Robust infrastructure allows learners to access quality resources at a time and place to suit the learner
2. Innovative delivery mechanisms engage learners

Further information

Mimas 

Hairdressing Training

Stockport 

MoLeNET