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A glimpse into the future and potential of learning
The continual advances in technology are having a profound effect on not just children’s learning but how adults learn as well. Hundreds of practitioners from across the country will come together in Birmingham next week at an event - funded by the Learning and Skills Council and organised by NIACE - to celebrate the progress, ideas and innovation currently being used in the delivery of adult education.
The E-Guides National Event 2006 – to be held in Birmingham at the Hilton Metropole Hotel on Wednesday 1st March and Thursday 2nd March - will include projects illustrating the latest technology and methods used to teach adults. Delegates have the choice of over 50 different workshops covering such issues as developments in working with learners with disabilities and impairments, blogging and podcasting, Internet radio and mobile learning. The E-Guides programme has trained over 1,200 tutors and managers as E-Guides, who in turn have trained nearly 9,000 other staff to date in how to embed e-learning.
Mary Moss, Project Officer, ICT and Learning Team at NIACE, said:
“This two-day event offers a flexible programme for delegates to pursue their specific interests in e-learning. There will be the opportunity to update knowledge on e-learning developments in adult and community learning and listen to a variety of dynamic speakers on topics relevant to adult educators. There will also be the opportunity - through workshops and plenary sessions - to discuss the best way forward, to consider how to consolidate the skills and knowledge gained to date and sustain the enthusiasm and momentum generated by the E-Guide training programme.”
She continued, “E-Guide trainers and adult and community learning advisors from the Joint Information Systems Committee Regional Support Centres will be on hand to provide advice and support. We are also inviting E-Guides to present their own Hot Tips. This is an opportunity for practitioners to share their own experiences of encouraging colleagues to use e-learning in the classroom and beyond.”
Speakers at the E-Guides National Event will include Jon Gamble, Director of Adult Learning at the Learning and Skills Council, and John Brown, Group Development Director at the University for Industry (Ufi). Other contributions will come from the BBC, Channel 4, Teachers’ TV, Learning and Skills Development Agency, Adult Learning Inspectorate, Becta’s Community Learning Resource, www.aclearn.net and the Joint Information Systems Committee, as well as from exemplar projects in the field, such as How to Be a History Detective.
There will be a live webcast of the sessions taking place in the main room.
Source: NIACE Press Release: "A glimpse into the future and potential of learning" Released On 24/02/2006
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Get hooked on Quick Reads for World Book Day 2006
“I've never read a book in my life, but I've read three Quick Reads; we swapped them amongst ourselves. I started reading during the day, I read all evening, and took the book to bed with me - even though my husband laughed at me for reading a book." Parent in a Family Learning Class.
Twelve bestselling writers have come together to create Quick Reads, a new series of original, accessible, short books published on World Book Day on 2nd March 2006. They are written for the millions of people in the UK who have lost the reading habit, who don’t have time to read or who struggle to finish a book. Their aim is to open new worlds for these adults, to make reading not just a skill but a habit.
The first twelve books in the series are written by Ruth Rendell, Joanna Trollope, Richard Branson, Minette Walters, Conn Iggulden, Maeve Binchy, Matthew Reilly, Patrick Augustus, Tom Holt, Rowan Coleman, John Bird, and Mick Dennis and the Premier League. A further ten are to be published during Adult Learners’ Week on 18th May. The books are as good as anything currently available in a high street bookshop but short - no longer than 128 pages - accessible and pacey.
Each Quick Reads book costs only £2.99. Up to five million £1 vouchers, redeemable for a year against any of the Quick Reads titles, are being distributed via FE colleges, adult learner centres for people on Skills for Life courses, through the TUC, national employer organisations, family welfare associations, probation services and schools for parents of children. They will also be downloadable from a range of websites, including the Quick Reads and BBC RaW site.
Quick Reads author Richard Branson comments,
“I have a love for reading, which I developed as an adult. I believe everyone should live life to the full and have an open mind. Books can help you do that. It is incredibly exciting to be part of this project, to make reading a habit for people who don’t normally read. I think it will open new doors for a lot of people.”
Mick Dennis, whose Quick Reads book The Team is a behind-the-scenes look at Premiership football, says,
“I am often put off picking up heavy tomes and frequently give up after a few pages of daunting texts, so I am exhilarated at the thought of being able to help entice people into the world of books.”
The twelve titles published on World Book Day (Thursday March 2nd) are:
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Don’t Make Me Laugh by Patrick Augustus (The X Press) |
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Star Sullivan by Maeve Binchy (Orion) |
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Seven Steps to Change Your Life by John Bird (Ebury) |
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Screw it, Let’s Do It by Richard Branson (Virgin) |
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A Woman Walks in a Bar by Rowan Coleman (Arrow) |
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The Team by Mick Dennis with the Premier League (Corgi) |
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Someone Like Me by Tom Holt (Orbit) |
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Blackwater by Conn Iggulden (HarperCollins) |
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Hell Island by Matthew Reilly (Pan) |
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The Thief by Ruth Rendell (Arrow) |
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The Book Boy by Joanna Trollope (Bloomsbury) |
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Chickenfeed by Minette Walters (Pan) |
Quick Reads authors published on 18th May are: Damien Lewis, Andy McNab, Mike Philips, Tom Holland, Danny Wallace, Courttia Newland, Val McDermid, John Francome, Hunter Davies and a title from the BBC based on Dr Who.
Gail Rebuck, Chief Executive of The Random House Group, who is spearheading the campaign, comments,
“Our job is to take emergent readers, those who haven’t the time to read or who have never really felt comfortable with reading, and make them addicted readers, to make reading not just a skill, but a habit.”
The Quick Reads campaign has widespread private and public-sector support from across the publishing, bookselling and printing industries. The DfES (Department for Education and Skills), NIACE (National Institute of Adult Continuing Education), the BBC, the TUC, the National Literary Trust, the National Reading Campaign, the Vital Link, the Reading Agency, and the FA Premier League are all Quick Reads partners.
The Quick Reads campaign has received funding from the DfES, Arts Council England, the WHSmith Group Charitable Trust, World Book Day, the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation and National Book Tokens.
For further information visit the following websites:
| www.quickreads.org.uk |
| www.worldbookday.com |
Source: NIACE Press Release: "Get hooked on Quick Reads for World Book Day 2006" Released On 20/02/2006
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Developing a Foundation Learning Tier
NIACE is working with Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA) and The Learning and Skills Council (LSC) to scope out what the lower half of the entry level of the Foundation Learning Tier might offer learners. The development of the Foundation Learning Tier (FLT) aims to establish an inclusive curriculum offer at Entry level and level 1 for learners of all ages from 14 upwards. The FLT would be supported by units and qualifications at Entry level and level 1 in the Framework for Achievement (FfA) which is currently under development.
Three main curriculum strands have been identified as central to the development of coherent programmes. These are key and basic skills, vocational and subject-based learning and personal and social development. It is intended that teachers / tutors and trainers would work with learners to put together a coherent programme, drawing on relevant aspects of the strands, according to the individual needs, interests and aspirations of the learners. QCA’s and LSC’s joint programme of work is designed to ensure that provision is available and accessible across these strands and that the learners’ achievements in these areas can be recognised through units and qualifications within the FfA.
Download the questionnaire here - [Word file].
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Saving Adult Learning
It has been estimated that there will be one million fewer adult learners in the next three years. The threat to the infrastructure of adult education may result in it being permanently damaged. The challenging times ahead will be discussed at a NIACE conference in London next week.
The Saving Adult Learning Conference - to be held at the Abbey Community Centre in London on Tuesday 21st February - will examine the role of colleges, the effects of current funding priorities and the key recommendations of the NIACE-sponsored Committee of Enquiry into Adult Learning in Colleges.
Colin Flint, NIACE Director of Further Education, said:
“Sir Andrew Foster’s review of the future role of further education - Realising the Potential - gives strong endorsement to the skills agenda. However it has little to say about the needs of adult learners, other than those in the targeted groups - those interested in basic skills and a first Level 2 qualification - or about the demographic changes which will increasingly shape all our futures. We are now in the lean years, as far as most adult learners are concerned.”
He continued:
“This conference will allow major figures in adult learning to discuss the Government’s current strategy, whether we need a more inclusive approach to lifelong learning and perhaps most importantly - what our response should be to the current threat.”
Speakers at the Conference will include, Susan Pember OBE, Director – FE and the Learning and Skills Performance Group at the Department for Education and Skills; Chris Hughes CBE, Former Chief Executive of the Learning and Skills Development Agency and Chairman of the Committee of Enquiry; Denis McEnhill, Director of Inspection, Adult Learning Inspectorate; Martin Tolhurst, Principal and Chief Executive at Newham College, Christina Conroy, Principal and Chief Executive at Richmond Adult Community College and Alan Tuckett, Director of NIACE.
| Source: NIACE Press Release: "Saving Adult Learning" Released On 16/02/2006 |
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Learning to get back to work
NIACE conference on welfare reform
A central goal of the Department for Work and Pensions is to raise the employment rate and to help people move from welfare into paid employment. People receiving Incapacity Benefits are a prime focus of the Green Paper on Welfare Reform which seeks to change a system that too often has incentivised claimants to remove themselves permanently from the workforce. A conference from the National Institute of Adult Continuing Education in London on Thursday will examine the significant challenge ahead.
The Welfare Reform: Learning to get back to work will hear about approaches currently being used across the country. Rt Hon Margaret Hodge MP, Minister of State at the Department of Work and Pensions will make the keynote address. The Conference will also include contributions from the Disability Rights Commission, the Centre for Economic and Social Inclusion, MC Consultancy, the Centre for Research into the Older Workforce and Jobcentre Plus.
Christine Nightingale, NIACE Development Officer for Inclusive Learning, said:
“NIACE believes that there is an important role for education providers in supporting individuals - through learning - into employment. We are keen to remind the government that all types of learning can have a significant beneficial impact on health, well-being and self esteem which are directly related to gaining and retaining employment.”
She continued, “There will be enormous benefits for many individuals on the targeted benefits when they take-up wider learning opportunities before they are ready to enter employment or employment training. NIACE has shown through our work on the research projects - Discovering Potential, Prescribing Learning and in particular Making the Jump - that appropriate support, mentoring and learning opportunities can ensure that people with mental health difficulties, disabilities and learning difficulties make the sustainable transition needed to secure employment.”
| Source: NIACE Press Release: "Learning to get back to work" Released On 13/02/2006 |
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Adult Learning - UK facts and figures 2006
Every January NIACE encourage adults to consider learning in the new year through its Sign Up Now Campaign. This involves a variety of initiatives and we are delighted to present you with the final element, the publication of our bi-annual compilation of facts and figures detailing the background of adults in the UK - Adult Learning at a Glance 2006.
Adult Learning at a Glance - compiled by Dr Veronica McGivney, former Principal Research Officer at NIACE, and part-funded through the European Social Fund - is an essential digest, pulling together recent statistical information for those working with, or doing research into, adult learners and potential learners.
As in the first edition Adult Learning at a Glance covers three main topic areas:
| the UK population (demographic trends, size and types of households, income levels, lifestyles, time use, cultural, social and civic engagement); |
| The labour market (economic trends, skills needs, employment and unemployment); and |
| Education and training (educational attainment, participation in different post-16 education and training sectors. |
However the 2006 edition is twice the size of the first edition and includes new sections on work related training, comparisons of FE and HE across institutions and quality issues in provision for adults.
Alan Tuckett, Director of NIACE said:
“Two in three of the jobs of the next 10 years will be filled by adults. Adults take up 8 in every 10 places in colleges. Yet they are almost invisible in public policy debate. There can be no excuse for this any longer, since Adult Learning at a Glance puts key facts and figures at the disposal of everyone concerned with lifelong learning in Britain.”
Adult Learning at a Glance: the UK context, facts and figures 2006 is now available, priced £24.95 (US$47.00 €39.50), ISBN: 1 86201 269 5
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People and their communities are critical to achieving social cohesion and economic success
On Wednesday 18th January 2006, Phil Hope MP, Minister for Skills, addressed a NIACE Conference in London celebrating the achievements of the Testbed Learning Communities.
Read Phil Hope's full speech here
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Adult Learners' Week Awards
Over 1300 nominations have descended on the NIACE Campaigns and Promotions office from people eager to reward inspirational and remarkable adult learners of every age and every stage.
The first stages of the shortlisting process has begun and over the next few weeks, people from organisations across the country will be deliberating on who the awards - for adults learners and organisations - should go to.
Winners will be announced to the public in early May ahead of the week itself 20th - 26th May. However until then check out the Adult Learners’ Week website, full of ideas of how you can:
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promote your campaign |
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link in with national themes, |
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connect with broadcasters, |
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get the best out of existing initiatives, |
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add your event to our online calendar. |
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Influencing Public Policy / Advocacy
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