higher educational learning partnerships

1. theHELPcetlcircular higher educational learning partnerships September 2007 Edition 7 JISC funding news • Dr Neil Witt, Dr Anne McDermott and UPC/HELP CETL have been awarded JISC funding to undertake the UsPaCe and UPC Repository projects. In addition to these two projects Neil will also be a project partner on the JISC funded IPR and Web 2.0 project. • UsPaCe- £199,788 • UsPaCe is a regional, cross-institutional, collaborative project that will investigate the application of suitable Web 2.0 technologies to support: • Foundation Degree (FdSc, FdA and HNC) • learners engaged in Work Based Learning (WBL); • learners progressing from Foundation Degree to the final year of an Honours degree; • WBL mentors. • UsPaCe aims to support the needs of WBL learners and mentors via the creation and sharing of resources and by providing online student support for learners in the work-place to be accessed via desktop or mobile devices.  Additionally UsPaCe will support and allow tutors, mentors, learners, employers and the South West Lifelong Learning Network (SWLLN) to interact, communicate and share ideas experiences and knowledge. • The project is a collaboration between • University of Plymouth Colleges; • Cornwall College; • Falmouth Marine School; • The Centre for Sheltered Housing Studies; • City College Plymouth. • You can access the project website at http://www.uspace.org.uk. • UPC Repository - £30,000 (and matched funding from the HELP CETL) • The University of Plymouth Colleges (UPC) Faculty at the University of Plymouth has a requirement to develop a repository which will meet the needs of a regional partnership and is capable of storing a range of materials including: • teaching materials that can be used with a range of VLEs in use across the partnership; • research outputs that can be used in a research informed teaching context; • administrative documentation used to support a range of programmes; • documentation to assist with Integrated Quality and Enhancement Reviews (IQERs). • There is a requirement for sharing good practice and making learning materials available to students in a manner which places students’ needs at the heart of their learning experience in both the college and work based learning environments. The UPC Repository will allow the sharing of materials across a network of colleges and allow staff access to a range of support materials.  The lessons learned in delivering and using the UPC Repository across institutions would be transferable to other partnerships within HE and HE in FE. • You can access the project website at http://www.uspace.org.uk. New Administration & Dissemination Assistant Stephen Derrick has joined the HELP CETL team on placement from the University of Plymouth. He is studying BSc (Hons) Business Information Management Systems and has taken over from Amy Pethick who has returned to complete her degree. On top of the day to day aspects of his job role, Stephen has chosen to get involved with the HELP CETL database and website while representing HELP by being part of the Student Network committee. The HELP CETL – Implementing University of Plymouth Colleges’ Innovation and Development http://www.help-cetl.ac.uk

2. theHELPcetlcircular higher educational learning partnerships September 2007 Edition 7 Field Stations in Europe say ‘yes’ to formal links with Plymouth Colleges The 2007/8 Award Holders Research staff from Cornwall College Newquay have had a very successful summer forging links with coastal field stations throughout Europe. It is hoped that this research will raise the profile of UPC and HE courses in the UK through cooperation with European institutes, thus increasing recruitment from our European neighbours. Residential field trips provide a unique opportunity for students to broaden their horizons and engage with an interesting and stimulating learning environment, facilitating skills development whilst also encouraging moral and social development. Currently the level of pre- and post-visit paperwork and the increased legal risks for the field trip leader involved in outdoor activities may act as a barrier to the development of field courses. Therefore the opportunity to forge permanent and contextualised links with several European field stations, should help to alleviate bureaucratic problems. Axel Bamberger (Cornwall College Newquay) and Astrid Blum (Plymouth University) have visited nine field/research stations along the French Atlantic coast (from Brittany to Biarritz), and the response has been most favourable. Joanna Vosper, also of Newquay, has attended the AISHE conference in Dublin and has made contact with four Irish field stations, all of which are very positive toward a formal collaboration, which she will be visiting later in the year. They are also planning further site visits in the spring of 2008 to identify the suitability of potential partners, identifying the most beneficial type of link with respect to student suitability, location and facilities. The HELP CETL is pleased to announce the 2007/8 cohort of Award Holders. A total of 21 Awards were made which included a collaborative project bringing together staff from three Learning Resource Centres.  The new Award Holders represent a mix of lecturing and support staff from across a range of subject disciplines. The Award Holders were officially presented with their Awards at the recent UPC Summer Conference on the 6th July.  Further information regarding their Awards can be found on the HELP CETL website. Pictured above are some of the Award Holders at the Induction Day, held at the HELP CETL in June. by Axel Bamberger 07/08 Award Holder Making HELP CETL as big as Texas! There have been many benefits from being awarded a HELP-CETL fellowship, not least the opportunity to use 20% of the funding to support CPD activities.  I have always valued the opportunity to attend subject based conferences; however rarely have funds been available to enable me to attend.  This was not the case this year with funds from HELP-CETL enabling me to fund attendance at the annual I-CHRIE (International Council for Hotel Restaurant and Institutional Education) conference in Dallas, Texas.  Conference attendance can often lead to opportunities to develop work with colleagues across your discipline.  As a result of attending this year’s annual I-CHRIE conference, it is my intention to present a paper at the Asia-Pacific CHRIE conference in Perth, Australia, and to develop a comparative study considering employer led provision in the UK, Australian and US context.  HELP-CETL has refocused my attention to the value of research and scholarly activity, my only problem now is trying to find continued funding to support my research interests. by Alastair Wilson 06/07 Award Holder The HELP CETL – Implementing University of Plymouth Colleges’ Innovation and Development http://www.help-cetl.ac.uk