Establishing models for blended learning in further education

There are many definitions of blended learning but to put it simply, blended learning is the mixture of face-to-face teaching with online learning. The Neath Port Talbot College (NPTC) Group started to look at blended learning in April 2015 after attending the Blended Learning Conference at Heart of Worcester College.

At the time, the Neath Campus was in the middle of a major IT infrastructure change, which included the rewiring of the campus and the deployment of campus wide wifi. This was due for completion in 2016 and needed to be completed before we were able to progress and introduce blended learning into our education system. A year later and we are now leading a project which is looking at introducing different models of blended learning into our system, which will be piloted during the next academic year.

NPTC Group joined the Digital Innovators Network in January 2016 and also joined the Blended Learning Consortium around the same time. The Consortium produces online learning materials for use within the FE sector. Currently, there are more than 50 FE colleges involved in the consortium across the UK. We were successful in receiving accelerator funding for a project focusing on how to build the capacity for blended learning within the Group. The project was then pitched to the senior management team and given the go ahead to start on 31 March 2016.

The accelerator has been useful for two reasons. Firstly, there were funds to pay for resources and staff time. Secondly, and more importantly, it provided a focus for the development of blended learning within the Group. The timescales are tight, nothing moves quickly in the education sector, but they aligned with the need for the organisation to become more agile. I attended the Digital Innovators Network workshops which were interesting and informative. However, the innovation training workshop in Cardiff proved most useful because it questioned all aspects of the project and allowed us to refine our approach. 

As a result, we decided that student feedback should be included within some elements of our trial this September. A project initiation meeting was held and targets set of what we are hoping to achieve during the project. Dates were arranged for visiting speakers from a number of groups within the organisation, software ordered and training for key staff scheduled… it was all systems go, then the Easter holidays arrived and the project stalled during these two weeks. It was important to re-focus following the break to get the project moving forward again.

This proved challenging but now we’re back on track and thinking about how technology can have an impact on the delivery of further education. With the support and guidance from Y Lab, we plan to develop a model for blended learning that can be piloted in the next academic year and aim to have the infrastructure in place to deliver this model by the end of the project.

Image credit: CC by Sean MacEntee

Author

Colin Bevan

Colin Bevan is the ILT Manager for Neath and Port Talbot College Group. Having worked in the FE sector for over 30 years, his current role involves managing IT Services for the Group a…