Media
Centre
Echelon
Learning
Master
List
PRESS INFORMATION ISSUED ON BEHALF OF:
Echelon Publishing
Darwin House, 236 South Ealing Road, LONDON W5 4RP
tel 020 8568 1500; fax 020 8560 6612; web http://learningmatters.com
18th December 2008
Best practice teaching skills programmes made available throughout
the UK
The Learning and Skills Network (LSN) - an independent not-for-profit
organisation committed to making a difference to education and training
- has concluded a deal to distribute Echelon Learning's series of nine,
online, interactive, video-rich teacher training programmes throughout
the UK. The programmes, initially developed for Westminster Kingsway
College (WKC), highlight best practice in teaching and are particularly
intended for those teaching in colleges of further education.
Designed to help all users develop planning and pedagogical skills, the
Teaching Best Practice programmes are suitable for both new lecturers
needing to acquire and develop new skills and for existing teachers as
part of their continuous professional development (CPD) activities.
"The programmes, which use video to highlight examples of best practice
in teaching and learning, focus on teaching skills and classroom
management skills," explained Echelon's Hugh Garai, "As such, they are
applicable to teachers of all academic disciplines."
WKC commissioned the programmes following some feedback following an
Ofsted inspection of the college. Peter Armah, WKC's head of human
resources and development, explained: "We decided to develop some
programmes which outlined best practice around key topics such as
'effective differentiation', 'managing classroom behaviour', 'managing
punctuality and attendance', 'integrating key skills into the
curriculum', and 'making effective use of information and learning
technology (ILT)'.
"Making these learning materials available online meant that our staff
were able to tap into them as and when they wished. Later, we augmented
these online learning materials with workbooks.
"A key strategy was to train the College Advanced Practitioners on how
to use the programme, enabling them to become a resource to deliver
both individual and team training."
Based at centres in Camden and Westminster, WKC has some 14,000
students and a teaching staff of 600. The college offers a wide range
of further, adult and higher education programmes, available for people
of all ages from 14 years upwards.
"Using actual classes with WKC teachers and students enabled us to
communicate programme content clearly in a context familiar to users
and helped us to spill the beans on the magic ingredients that really
make a teaching session that has the 'wow' factor," Armah continued.
"The overall aim was to develop programmes that could address both
generic and subject specific issues, which are easy to use, accessible
from anywhere, and flexible."
The programmes are suitable for team discussion, reflective practice,
independent and active learning. They can be used for curriculum team
meetings, college planning and development days, subject sector days,
centre days and cross-college days and for one-to-one support.
"Ever since we introduced these programmes, we have received highly
positive feedback from those who have been using them," Armah
continued.
"We realised that other colleges face similar issues to WKC and so
could benefit from these types of programmes. From there, it was a
short step to deciding to make these learning materials available to
the whole further education sector," he added.
According to Garai, Echelon completed the last of the nine programmes -
each of which contains some ten modules - towards the end of 2008.
Although the programmes were originally designed for WKC, other
colleges - including a large college in the east of Scotland - have
also been using them with great success.
Further details of these programmes are available from the LSN (tel:
0845 602 5668
email:
askus@lsneducation.org.uk;
web:
http://www.lsneducation.org.uk) or from Hugh Garai at Echelon
Learning on 020 8568 1500 or email
hugh@echelonlearning.co.uk
ENDS
For further
information please contact
Media contact: Bob Little Tel + 44 (0)1727 860405; Email:
bob.little@boblittlepr.com
Sales contact: Hugh
Garai Tel + 44 (0)20 8568 1500; Email:
hugh@echelonlearning.co.uk
About the Learning
and Skills Network
The Learning and Skills Network (LSN) is an independent, not-for-profit
organisation committed to making a difference to learning and skills.
LSN aims to do this by delivering quality improvement and staff
development programmes that support specific government initiatives,
through research, training and consultancy; and by supplying services
directly to schools, colleges and training organisations. It provides
services for:
These services fall
into three broad categories:
-
Programmes - to
support learning providers (leaders, managers, teachers and trainers),
to meet the challenges they face as the sector develops. Funded by QIA,
the DCSF and the Learning and Skills Council among others, each
programme is designed to support a particular priority.
-
Research - focusing on
sector priorities, including planning and funding, widening
participation, technology and learning, and major programme evaluation.
Its research supports policy-makers at a national or regional level by
providing evidence about what works, and aids practitioners by
highlighting and disseminating good practice.
-
Training and
consultancy.
The Learning and
Skills Network, Fifth Floor, Holborn Centre, 120 Holborn, London, EC1N
2AD (tel 0845 602 5668; email
askus@lsneducation.org.uk
web
http://www.lsneducation.org.uk )
About Echelon Publishing
Echelon technologies help organisations place solutions at people's
fingertips, whether solving everyday business and work-related problems
or helping gain qualifications and continued professional development.
Echelon:
-
Has a content management system
enabling informational or learning material to be developed or
converted into XML so that it can be published and distributed in text
and/or via the web.
-
Has a learning management system
to provide ready access via the web to highly structured information,
which is easily searched and retrieved, and whose usage can be tracked
and learning logged.
-
Publishes and/or reformats
content for professional bodies and commercial organisations to help
students and employees maintain or develop requisite skills throughout
their careers.
-
Supports people from the outset
of their careers in working with professional bodies to develop and
deliver the learning content required by students in preparing for
examination.
-
Frees up the knowledge and
learning contained within a business so that people have ready access
to these resources in helping them to solve problems or develop their
careers.
-
Works with a number of blue chip
organisations and professional bodies, including:
COMMERCIAL
BUPA
Coventry Building Society
Lincoln Financial
Moat House Hotels
Modernisation Agency (NHS)
Novartis Pharmaceuticals
NHS Logistics
Vodafone
INSTITUTIONAL
Chartered Institute of Personnel & Development
Chartered Institute of Public Finance Accountants
Chartered Institute of Purchasing & Supply
Construction Industry Training Board
Institute of Chartered Secretaries & Administrators
Institute of Chartered Accountants in E & W
Institute of Civil Engineers
Royal Town Planning Institute
