The Sussex Learning Network's contribution to the development of e-Learning in Sussex

We were one of the first Lifelong Learning Networks to receive HEFCE funding.  We have now reached the end of our first three year phase of work.  If you would like to read about what we achieved, please follow the links below.

What we did

These initiatives were linked to the computing and e-learning strands of the Sussex Learning Network's curriculum development. The team worked across all curriculum areas and the resources were designed to encourage everyone to engage in e-learning and appreciate the benefits that innovative working practices can bring to practitioners and students.

SLN wiki and blog

The e-learning project wiki records our  work including our current projects, links with OpenLearn and the results of our mapping of practice in Sussex. If you are unsure what a wiki is and how it differs from a conventional website, have a look at this unit one of the project team has written and uploaded to the Open University OpenLearn website.

The e-learning blog provides an opportunity to explore, discuss and debate developing ideas about e-learning.

PAST EVENTS

Exploring Learning Technologies, February and June 2008, Creativity Zone, University of Brighton

The Exploring Learning Technologies event in Febuary provided an opportunity for practitioners to share a number of learning technologies and to gain hands on experience. A further event in June offered a further opportunity to explore a wide range of elearning resources and to share in discussions on the use of those technologies and the future for elearning. Programme. More details available on the e-learning project wiki.

OpenLearn and OpenLearn Workshop, December 2007

Open University course material is now freely available online for anyone to use for their own continuing professional development or in their teaching. Registration on OpenLearn is free. We have a Sussex Learning Network zone within the Open University OpenLearn website which is a repository of open access learning materials.

In December 2007, members of the OpenLearn team led a workshop in the Open University Regional Centre in East Grinstead where a number of Sussex practitioners had the opportunity to edit or create content for OpenLearn. There is more information about the workshop and photos on the e-Learning project wiki. This exercise in collaborative working was both enjoyable and valuable as those present were able to work together and to share some of the frustrations of teaching in digital rich environments.

e-Learning Workshop, October 2007: Theshold Concepts

The SLN eLearning Project tackled some troublesome knowledge in a morning workshop at the InQbate Creativity Zone of the University of Sussex on Tuesday 2nd October.

The SLN eLearning Project team invited colleagues to begin by considering the idea of 'threshold concepts'. Drawn from the work of Erik Meyer and Ray Land (2006), 'threshold concepts' represent the essential steps which all learners must make in the acquisition of skills, knowledge and understanding essential to a particular subject, discipline or set of practices. However, such 'threshold concepts' are not acquired without difficulty. These concepts can unsettle existing knowledge and can challenge taken-for-granted or common-sense knowledge and experience.

For further details about the event please visit the SLN e-Learning Project wiki.

Action Research Projects

One of the aims of the SLN e-learning project was to engage in small scale action research with SLN partner institutions. 

Action Learning Sets

The elearning team and Brighton University are developing a pilot programme of online action learning sets for Health and Social Care teachers and students. If you would like to be involved in this innovative project and you teach health and social care, please look at the information about the project on the e-Learning project wiki. The project will provide an opportunity to explore elearning technologies and to further develop your teaching practice.

Number Skills Project

Another project is aimed at helping learners, who are planning to enter higher education and professional training in health and social care, to gain confidence with their number skills. Technological changes and the range of drugs available in today’s health care systems have led to a situation where the number skills required by nurses and midwives are more complex and critica. There are more details of this project on the e-Learning project wiki.

Second Life

In recent months, immersive virtual worlds have been a focus of some attention in acaemic circles.  Second Life in particular has been the subject of a lot of attention, especially as a increasing number of universities and other educational institutions have built virtual campuses and engaged in learning activities in the virtual environment. The SLN e-learning team has worked with the University of Sussex in exploring some of the possibilities of Second Life in developing a number of interactive learning experiences.  There are more details of this project on the inqbate website.