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Capital Motivating e-Learning (CaMeL)
Capital Funding Programme for Adult Learning Providers 2008-2009
Bidding for this funding has now closed!
This programme is managed on behalf of the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) by the National Institute of Adult Continuing Education (NIACE). The cost of the programme will be shared between the LSC and participating organisations
[Background] [Online Forum] [What is available?] [Who can apply?] [How can the money be spent?] [The Support Programme] [Applications] [Joint bids] [Successful bids] [JISC Regional Support Centres] [Timetable (provisional)] [Documents]
Background
This programme continues five years of LSC investment in e-learning for adult learners. There is a growing body of evidence about the ways that learners can benefit when providers made confident and innovative uses of technology. That benefit is maximised where the use of technology is part of an organisation-wide strategy. For this reason, proposals for capital investment should be linked to providers’ strategic plans for e-learning and successful applicants will this year be required to make a direct contribution to the costs of the NIACE support programme. The requirement to make a payment to cover support is necessary because of changes in LSC/government funding.
This payment to NIACE must be a revenue payment and cannot be deducted from the capital grant and cannot be ‘match funding’ which you spend in your organisation.
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Online Forum
An online forum is being used by providers interested in participating in the
scheme.
Click
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What is available?
 | Capital funding from the LSC to support development of e-learning in organisations offering LSC funded adult learning, |
| A support programme to help maximise the benefit to your learners of the capital investment. |
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Who can apply?
To be eligible to bid for this funding, your organisation must be one of the following:
| an English local authority delivering LSC-funded adult learning, |
| an English region of the Workers Educational Association (WEA) that delivers adult learning, |
| an English voluntary and community sector organisation that holds a direct contract with the LSC for the delivery of adult learning, or |
| an English voluntary and community sector organisation sub-contracted to deliver LSC-funded adult learning. |
Additionally, if you are offered funding, the following apply:
If you are a Local Authority or WEA region delivering adult learning, you will be asked to undertake a self-assessment of your use of e-learning and describe your organisational position in relation to the adoption and deployment of technology (assess your e-Maturity). This will be undertaken using the ACL e-Learning Positioning Statement (ACL eLPS) tool which must be submitted to NIACE by 28th February 2009.
If you are a Voluntary / Community Sector organisation, you must submit an up-to-date e-learning plan to NIACE by 28th February 2009.
Final payment to successful bidders will only be made when we have received an up-to-date ACL eLPS (local authorities / WEA) or e-learning plan (VCS). Bidders can apply for one of the funding bands indicated below. For each band there is a support fee payable to NIACE equivalent to 10% of the maximum amount in the band.
| Capital Grant | Fee to NIACE | Amounts Local authorities and WEA regions can apply for | Amounts Voluntary and Community organisations can apply for | |
| Band A | £10,000 | £1,000 |
Yes |
|
| Band B | £20,000 | £2,000 |
Yes |
Yes |
| Band C | £30,000 | £3,000 |
Yes |
Yes |
| Band D | £40,000 | £4,000 |
Yes |
Yes |
| Band E | £50,000 | £5,000 |
Yes |
|
| Band F | £60,000 | £6,000 |
Yes |
|
| Band G | £70,000 | £7,000 |
Yes |
The requirement to make a payment to cover support is necessary because of changes in LSC/government funding. This payment to NIACE must be a revenue payment and cannot be deducted from the capital grant and cannot be ‘match funding’ which you spend in your organisation. This revenue payment needs to reach NIACE by 15th August 2008 at the latest.
It is important that you understand these financial procedures before preparing your bid, as failure to comply with these arrangements will cause your bid to be invalid at any stage of the process.
To support organisations that might want to prepare a bid, NIACE is holding two briefing days, one at the Novartis Foundation, London on 7th May, and one at Leicester on 14th May.
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How can the money be spent?
Your proposal should be for capital funding for investment in e-learning for adult learners. Guidance on what is allowable as capital is available from the NIACE website but expenditure could include:
| establishing computers in class rooms, |
| installing other hardware in teaching rooms (e.g. whiteboards), |
| installing networks and servers, |
| installing hardware to improve connectivity, |
| purchasing laptops, |
| purchasing handheld devices, and |
| setting us an equipment loan scheme. |
It is the responsibility of the bidder to ensure that the items requested will pass audit as capital expenditure.
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The Support Programme
The NIACE support programme is intended to ensure that the project is managed and accountable and to support providers in making sure that any investments fit within a whole organisational approach to the use of e-learning. It includes:
| administration and evaluation of the funding programme, |
| access to an online forum for participants in CaMeL, |
| support to enable providers to position their organisations within a framework of ‘E-maturity’, |
| support to enable providers to develop or review their e-learning plans, |
| places allocated on an online conference in Autumn 2008 which focuses on managing e-learning to promote quality improvement, |
| documentation to support successful projects with regard to strategic investment in infrastructure, |
| documentation on definition of capital expenditure and maintenance of audit trail to help ensure that providers meet LSC conditions. |
NIACE is keen that providers maximise the impact of the investment across the organisation. Therefore, successful bidders will have the option to request a member of the NIACE ICT and Learning team to support them in a) completing their E-maturity self assessment, or b) developing or reviewing their e-learning plan. NIACE will also be collecting information to produce short case studies to inform and share practice with the sector.
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Applications
All applications must be submitted to NIACE by Friday 23rd May and will be read by an independent panel of readers. In judging bids, they will take account of the way in which the bid aligns with the organisation’s e-learning strategy or direction, including effective deployment of existing infrastructure and use of skilled staff (e.g. e-Guides). They will also take account of the reason for choice of investment and quality of project management.
The score-sheets used by readers can been seen here:
| for Local Authorities and regions of the WEA |
|
|
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Joint bids
Bids should be made by a single eligible organisation. Any resources purchased under the bid may be deployed by subcontracting organisations but ultimate responsibility for security and maintenance will rest with the main bidder. Joint bids will not be accepted but where two or more providers have arrangements in place to cooperate in order to achieve economies of scale, then this should be indicated in the application.
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Successful bids
If your bid is successful, you will:
| be informed in June 2008, |
| make your payment of 10% to NIACE by 15th August 2008, |
| make your purchases by January 2009, and |
| submit your capital grant claim to NIACE together with either an updated ACL eLPS or e-learning plan by 28th February 2009. |
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JISC Regional Support Centres
NIACE works closely with the JISC Regional Support Centres. They have agreed to provide information and support for the programme but are independent of the selection process. Although Regional Support Centres are not funded to support them, voluntary and community sector organisations are often able to benefit from generic support. Please find your local Regional Support Centre at www.jisc.ac.uk/rsc
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Timetable (provisional)
| Date | Action |
| 4 April 2008 | Funding announced |
| 23 May 2008 | Closing date for proposals |
| 15 June 2008 | Support programme in place |
| 20 June 2008 | Successful bids announced |
| 4 July 2008 | Launch of online project support forum |
| 15 August 2008 | Last date for payment to NIACE |
| 30 October 2008 | Online conference – theme: ‘Building in Quality the e-learning opportunities’ |
| July 2008 to January 2009 | Purchases made by you during this period |
| By 28 February 2009 | Final date for finance claims and any other required documents to be with NIACE |
| 29 March 2009 | Support programme ends |
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Documents
Relevant to Local Authorities and regions of the WEA
| The bidding document (bidding now closed) |
| The ACL eLPS tool template document |
| The JISC RSC ACL Advisors contact details |
Relevant to Voluntary and Community organisations
| The bidding document (bidding now closed) |
| The e-learning action plan |
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