Maintaining elearning momentum 
Let’s face it! I’m a bit of a self-prescribed LearnScope ‘junkie’ having been involved in LearnScope since 1999 as team participant, facilitator, team manager and most recently NSW Project Officer. I’m not alone in this. At the 2005 LearnScope Showcase Andrew Pratt from New England spoke to me with enthusiasm about the series of projects he had been involved with over a six year period and how each one had enabled him to build on the elearning skills and capabilities of staff. Also at the Showcase, Barbara Campbell described her love of learning and people involved in LearnScope, ‘Everyone has a passion’ she said, ‘you can feel it, you can smell it, it’s just fantastic.’ So what is it about LearnScope that makes it such a well loved professional development program, how is it changing over time and what are the new and emerging issues and opportunities for LearnScope teams out in the VTE field?
Introduction to LearnScope
LearnScope is one of three projects within the Capability Building Program of the 2006 Australian Flexible Learning Framework; a program based on the premise that ‘the sustainable benefits of elearning are maximised where VTE practitioners have the skills and knowledge to confidently apply appropriate elearning approaches to their VTE delivery and are able to efficiently access emerging knowledge and support services’ (DEST 2005).
‘In 2006 the focus of LearnScope’s more than 250 projects across all states and territories will be to support the concept of the VTE practitioner as a knowledge worker. The project will support national VTE outcomes and Framework priorities by targeting activities to teams and individuals who demonstrate links to: areas of skills needs, industry groups, Indigenous communities, community groups, learners with disabilities and disengaged learners.’ (ibid)
LearnScope has touched the professional lives of thousands of VTE practitioners throughout NSW across all sectors and fields. One of the most exciting factors about LearnScope is the diversity of the teams and the scope of elearning that they choose to focus on. For over seven years LearnScope has enabled teams of practitioners to design work-based professional development projects based directly on local, section, teacher and client needs. Nobody tells you what to learn and when, or how to go about it. I’ve facilitated teams where the level of skill, experience and confidence with elearning and the use of new technologies has varied enormously, but where each team member is supported by others and is able to map out their own learning plan. The result is that teachers learn just what they need to know in a manner that allows immediate impact on clients.
Changes and emerging trends
It seems a long while ago now that my colleagues and I on the North Coast learned how to use FrontPage to establish a cross sector network adult literacy website, and how to use MOOs as a virtual learning environment! The shift in focus amongst LearnScope teams has been interesting to follow over that time. One of my interesting tasks in 2005 was to paint a picture of how LearnScope has evolved since 1998.
A snapshot of the project themes and foci from 1999 is illustrated in Figure 1 for example, with the shaded and dark print items being most predominant. E-learning in VET was very much in its infancy, technology was still relatively expensive and few teachers had computers at their disposal. Online learning was the focus; there was a strong interest in adapting traditional course materials for delivery in remote areas. However for most practitioners the urgent need was basic IT skill development relevant to their work, and having time to explore and evaluate the range of options and online resources that were emerging. You’ll notice WebCT sneaking a mention there as learning management systems began to make their arrival on the scene.
See 
1999 NSW LearnScope Connections (44KB) for a diagram of these connections.
The terms used have come directly from project plans from that year with some amalgamation around common themes. Now let’s compare that to the picture in 2005.
See 2005 NSW LearnScope Connections (33 KB) for a diagram of these connections.
While skills-development and increased confidence with the use of elearning remains a focus for the majority of project participants, the emphasis in 2005 was on sharing, collaborating and making information accessible. These trends have been evident in the emergence of social software and the rapid uptake of aspects of Siemens’ connectivism model of learning. Seen by many as a way to invoke the learner-driven mantra, and as workable and people-centric alternatives to delivery via corporate solutions such as Learning Management Systems (LMS), more people in 2005 explored emerging communications technologies (including VOIP, blogs, wikis), than either Toolboxes or LMS (Grady, 2005).
The increased interest in social software and a focus on human connections has been further supported by an increased availability and take-up of free and open source software; the growing interest in the use of Digital Storytelling in VTE is a good example of this. We also continue to see an increasing interest in new hardware and communication technologies as their prices begin to become more accessible for education providers. Multimedia technologies such as MP3 recorders, digital still and video cameras are increasingly available within RTOs and are being used to support the social software and digital storytelling trends highlighted above. In 2005 we noted a growing interest in mobile learning (mlearning) with one project focusing solely on the use of PDAs with rural client groups.
The other noticeable change in 2005, driven largely by an evolving Framework focus on client engagement, is an increased emphasis on the needs of specific client groups, connections with industry and a focus on the elearning needs of teachers in skill shortage areas.
There is still a need, however, for quite basic skills training particularly as we engage VTE fields who have not traditionally been early adopters of elearning. A number of our projects in 2005 involved trades teachers for the first time for example, and in speaking with project facilitators it was obvious that in many cases they had overestimated the IT skill levels of participating teachers. After conducting skills analyses it was necessary for them to take a step back to fill gaps before exploring more advanced elearning options. Small steps are the key; change and new ways of working take time to find a foothold. Our emphasis is always on celebrating each of these steps by implementing small but significant changes of practice with learners. In this way, little bit by little bit, the momentum increases and change is embraced; all it takes is one teacher to trial something new and exciting with positive outcomes.
Challenges
Keeping the momentum rolling so that new and emerging tools and approaches are embraced is not without challenges however. In 2005/6 the most significant challenge to elearning uptake is what seems to be a widening gulf between the needs of elearning practitioners and ICT network administrators – points of contention include firewalls which restrict access to commonly used elearning resources, web-resources, software downloads/updates – and particularly virtual classroom environments (Grady, 2005). This presents major problems in terms of engagement for some VTE staff in online conferences and events which are increasingly being delivered via such environments. Not only do security measures and protocols restrict access by teachers to excellent professional development opportunities and national per networks, but they also deter staff from leadership and presentation roles and opportunities.
We need to find a balance between security and access. The levels and types of access required by schools and post-school programs, or by staff and students will differ. To meet the diversity of need perhaps a range of access options is needed but what is quite clear is that virtual meeting rooms and social software options will continue to expand in use and overcoming download and firewall issues must be a priority.
New opportunities in LearnScope 2006
We’re excited to be offering an extended range of LearnScope opportunities in 2006. The state-wide Start-up Group initiated in 2005 will be extended to include a specialist state-wide ‘Managers in elearning’ team which will focus on specific issues relevant to elearning and ebusiness management. We will also be offering an opportunity for online and elearning facilitators to expand their skills and knowledge in this field; we hope to expand our database of available team facilitators in this way. As an extension to our normal team projects, we will also be offering an opportunity for experienced elearning individuals from RTOs to pursue a specific focus in a collaborative team centrally created and managed. The Individual Projects for elearning leaders seeking to pursue a specific focus on an individual basis will also continue to be available. Across all project opportunities the focus is on professional development, client and industry engagement and collaboration.
Applications and expressions of interest are now invited with a close date of 17 March. Interested RTOs and individuals are encouraged to visit our website to access further information, links to 2005 activities, program Guidelines and application forms. It’ll be another great year in LearnScope NSW with events, networking and showcase so make sure you join us!
Links
Australian Flexible Learning Framework
NSW LearnScope Team community site
References
Department of Education Science and Training 2005, 2006 Framework Business Plan; Australian Flexible Learning Framework for the national vocational and technical education system DEST: Canberra
GRADY, J 2005, 2005 LearnScope Report, ICVET, TAFE NSW
With Special Thanks…
to Andrew Pratt, Barbara Campbell and the 2005 LearnScope team participants for their insights and openness.
