JOSEPH Outcomes
JOSEPH has built a tool which supports decision-making by learners to prepare for transition points, using elearning processes developed with IAG professionals. It has taken an important step forward by providing a high-quality online approach to IAG, not just to Information, but to the more challenging areas of Advice and Guidance. We would like to highlight the implications and further potential of this work.
The findings are of immediate relevance to JISC’s interest in supporting more work on facilitating IAG provision, in the face of the new and increasing demand highlighted by the government’s adult skills agenda, Gordon Brown’s development of policy for schools and colleges through The National Council for Educational Excellence and the New Opportunities white paper. We are aware that additional funding for IAG services is not yet on the DCSF timeline and may well depend on whether whoever wins the next election maintains the current plan to Raise the Participation Age (RPA) to 18. IAG will be crucial to minimise dropouts (and, therefore, waste) through students making the wrong decision. Similarly the uncertainty over supply of apprenticeships and the fact that the current format of Diplomas makes them expensive to deliver, allied to the need for cost savings, suggest that policies in this area would not be a priority. There is therefore a need to demonstrate how IAG can be efficiently implemented by supplementing existing services.
JOSEPH also includes successful work on ePortfolios and their synergies with IAG processes. Situating eportfolios in relation to IAG has changed our thinking about the future of ePortfolio development in general. ePortfolios look like taking on really substantial purpose and engaging many more learners when they are used in a key but supporting role within a wider scheme of provision, rather than when pursued for their own ideal educational sake in a bell jar.
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The project has shown:
- The need for mature working relationships with a wide range of partners if a project is going to take forward work on ePortfolios in support of other related services
- That the core of IAG processes is generic and can be transferred readily from one area or phase of learning to another
- That the technology developed for ePortfolio+IAG processes supporting progression into FE/HE in this project is transferable to other transition scenarios involving different learners, e.g. work-based learners for whom IAG processes are going to be crucial
- How eportfolios could interoperate with the variety of on-line resources and on-line and/or face-to-face advice services provided by IAG organisations (primarily Connexions, but also FE/HE/workplace mentors). By using a web services approach to join quality-assured distributed resources, we can ensure that information provided to the learner is current and appropriate.
- The feasibility of building ePortfolios into a wider, learner-centred ecosystem of services. JOSEPH has used XCRI to link IAG information sources and eportfolios with the local 14-19 online prospectus. We have already started extending this through the JISC XCRI project linking all the East Midlands online prospectuses, a development which has further opened up our understanding of the potential for developing regional learning ecosystems.
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The JOSEPH tool itself is transferable, because:
- It provides a national model of good practice through practical application. Connexions Nottinghamshire have incorporated the JOSEPH tool into their eportfolio and are preparing to extend it to provide advice and guidance for additional lines of learning. This model could be disseminated further through the wider Connexions network, especially with the increasing take-up of models using a common online application form. This could be extended further to link to work with UCAS applications
- With minimal further work the tool can be linked to other ePortfolio systems and web services, increasing its flexibility and further potential
- Its decision-making functionality could contribute to a wider suite of IAG tools (currently starting to be developed for adults regionally by the team within the LLN) around skills analysis, competences and APEL. Integration of competence to support APEL could be re-worked to support IAG with methods to supply the appropriate vocabulary.
- It also has scope to be included as a module in a broader ecosystem (for which we have evidence of demand) linking ePortfolio, IAG, course discovery and application via a common application form, and FE MIS systems (including for induction). Would a proposal for this wider piece of work be of interest to JISC?
- The tool could be developed stand-alone as a SCORM learning object, or the prompts themselves exported in the QTI (Question Test Interoperability) standard for inclusion in a VLE
- It has the potential to provide an evidence base to support assessment of Functional Skills and other new units within qualifications
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To maximise the learning from JOSEPH, JISC might wish to consider;
- That further work be done on combining eportfolio use with further web-based IAG services to enhance a learner’s experience, especially where that experience is gained across a range of institutions/learning situations, including workplaces
- That the full potential of aggregating the IAG tool, eportfolios, 14-19 prospectuses, XCRI, a common application form and college MIS systems be explored further in a variety of contexts and settings, possibly via a set of ‘mini projects’ and rapid development to explore effectiveness.
- That further testing and implementations of the ‘thin ePortfolio’ model be done in conjunction with real users and real systems in different practical situations
- That links be made with LEAP 2A interoperability work which, on our recent experience of LEAP 2A work, we think would be useful to link the existing tool with other sets of services and ePortfolio systems
- That work is carried out around the use of the common application form and its integration into wider systems, especially IAG and induction, to provide a seamless experience for the learner
- That MIAP services, including the ULN, are factored into all of the above landscape.