higher educational learning partnerships

1
the HELPcetl circular
higher educational learning partnerships
September 2007 Edition 7
JISC funding news

• Dr Neil Witt, Dr Anne McDermott and UPC/HELP
  CETL have been awarded JISC funding to undertake
  the UsPaCe and UPC Repository projects. In
  addition to these two projects Neil will also be
  a project partner on the JISC funded IPR and Web
  2.0 project.
•  
• UsPaCe- 199,788
• UsPaCe is a regional, cross-institutional,
  collaborative project that will investigate the
  application of suitable Web 2.0 technologies to
  support
• Foundation Degree (FdSc, FdA and HNC)
• learners engaged in Work Based Learning (WBL)
• learners progressing from Foundation Degree to
  the final year of an Honours degree
• WBL mentors.
• UsPaCe aims to support the needs of WBL learners
  and mentors via the creation and sharing of
  resources and by providing online student support
  for learners in the work-place to be accessed via
  desktop or mobile devices.  Additionally UsPaCe
  will support and allow tutors, mentors, learners,
  employers and the South West Lifelong Learning
  Network (SWLLN) to interact, communicate and
  share ideas experiences and knowledge.
• The project is a collaboration between
• University of Plymouth Colleges
• Cornwall College
• Falmouth Marine School
• The Centre for Sheltered Housing Studies
• City College Plymouth.
• You can access the project website at
  http//www.uspace.org.uk.

• teaching materials that can be used with a range
  of VLEs in use across the partnership
• research outputs that can be used in a research
  informed teaching context
• administrative documentation used to support a
  range of programmes
• documentation to assist with Integrated Quality
  and Enhancement Reviews (IQERs).
• There is a requirement for sharing good practice
  and making learning materials available to
  students in a manner which places students needs
  at the heart of their learning experience in both
  the college and work based learning environments.
  The UPC Repository will allow the sharing of
  materials across a network of colleges and allow
  staff access to a range of support materials. 
  The lessons learned in delivering and using the
  UPC Repository across institutions would be
  transferable to other partnerships within HE and
  HE in FE.
•  
• You can access the project website at
  http//www.uspace.org.uk.

New Administration Dissemination Assistant
Stephen Derrick has joined the HELP CETL team on
placement from the University of Plymouth. He is
studying BSc (Hons) Business Information
Management Systems and has taken over from Amy
Pethick who has returned to complete her degree.
On top of the day to day aspects of his job role,
Stephen has chosen to get involved with the HELP
CETL database and website while representing HELP
by being part of the Student Network committee.
The HELP CETL Implementing University of
Plymouth Colleges Innovation and
Development http//www.help-cetl.ac.uk
2
the HELPcetl circular
higher educational learning partnerships
September 2007 Edition 7
Field Stations in Europe say yes to formal
links with Plymouth Colleges
The 2007/8 Award Holders
Research staff from Cornwall College Newquay
have had a very successful summer forging links
with coastal field stations throughout Europe. It
is hoped that this research will raise the
profile of UPC and HE courses in the UK through
cooperation with European institutes, thus
increasing recruitment from our European
neighbours. Residential field trips provide a
unique opportunity for students to broaden their
horizons and engage with an interesting and
stimulating learning environment, facilitating
skills development whilst also encouraging moral
and social development. Currently the level of
pre- and post-visit paperwork and the increased
legal risks for the field trip leader involved in
outdoor activities may act as a barrier to the
development of field courses. Therefore the
opportunity to forge permanent and contextualised
links with several European field stations,
should help to alleviate bureaucratic problems.
Axel Bamberger (Cornwall College Newquay) and
Astrid Blum (Plymouth University) have visited
nine field/research stations along the French
Atlantic coast (from Brittany to Biarritz), and
the response has been most favourable. Joanna
Vosper, also of Newquay, has attended the AISHE
conference in Dublin and has made contact with
four Irish field stations, all of which are very
positive toward a formal collaboration, which she
will be visiting later in the year. They are also
planning further site visits in the spring of
2008 to identify the suitability of potential
partners, identifying the most beneficial type of
link with respect to student suitability,
location and facilities.
The HELP CETL is pleased to announce the 2007/8
cohort of Award Holders. A total of 21 Awards
were made which included a collaborative project
bringing together staff from three Learning
Resource Centres.  The new Award Holders
represent a mix of lecturing and support staff
from across a range of subject disciplines. The
Award Holders were officially presented with
their Awards at the recent UPC Summer Conference
on the 6th July.  Further information regarding
their Awards can be found on the HELP CETL
website.
Pictured above are some of the Award Holders at
the Induction Day, held at the HELP CETL in June.
by Axel Bamberger 07/08 Award Holder
Making HELP CETL as big as Texas!
There have been many benefits from being awarded
a HELP-CETL fellowship, not least the opportunity
to use 20 of the funding to support CPD
activities.  I have always valued the opportunity
to attend subject based conferences however
rarely have funds been available to enable me to
attend.  This was not the case this year with
funds from HELP-CETL enabling me to fund
attendance at the annual I-CHRIE (International
Council for Hotel Restaurant and Institutional
Education) conference in Dallas, Texas. 
  Conference attendance can often lead to
opportunities to develop work with colleagues
across your discipline.  As a result of attending
this years annual I-CHRIE conference, it is my
intention to present a paper at the Asia-Pacific
CHRIE conference in Perth, Australia, and to
develop a comparative study considering employer
led provision in the UK, Australian and US
context.  HELP-CETL has refocused my attention to
the value of research and scholarly activity, my
only problem now is trying to find continued
funding to support my research interests.
by Alastair Wilson 06/07 Award Holder
The HELP CETL Implementing University of
Plymouth Colleges Innovation and
Development http//www.help-cetl.ac.uk