Welcome to the Official Launch of The Northern Ireland Integrated Managed Learning Environment

Welcome Mr Brian Turtle, Director Belfast Institute of Further and Higher Education

The NIIMLE within the DEL Agenda Mr Alan Shannon Permanent Secretary Department for Employment and Learning

Promoting mobility between FE and HE: the NIIMLE in the national context Ms Sarah Porter, Programme Director, Joint Information Systems Committee, Managed Learning Environment Programmes

Key aspect of the JISC’s five-year strategy Investing substantial sums in working with the educational community across the whole UK MLEs for Lifelong Learning programme is a flagship programme Managed Learning Environments

Context of the Programme Need to support institutions in their core business within the 21 st century Drivers –e-learning –Widening participation –Student retention and progression –More efficient and effective institutions –Technology can help but needs to be strategic and well planned

Quality Process Business Systems Learning Resources Curriculum Mapping Assessment Communication Delivery Tutor Support Tracking Other Agencies (e.g. HESA) Other Organisations Virtual Learning Environment Student Record System Off-Line Learning Registers Reproduced by kind permission of BECTa Managed Learning Environments

MLE the learner the institution the teacher Integrating technologies Changing culture Changing processes a new pedagogy?

MLEs: Where would we like to be? Moving towards integrated technologies Taking a whole-organisation approach to technologies –Choosing a solution that suits the organisation Improving storage and use of information systems and learning resources Re-focussing multiple end-user systems on the user’s needs Giving the student a better learning experience

MLEs for Lifelong Learning £3 million over 3 years Exploring cross-institutional architectures and processes to support learners To show all colleges and universities in the UK the potential for MLEs

Related MLE Programmes MLEs for Interoperability in England Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland programme Digital Libraries and VLEs Exchange for Learning

What have we learned about MLEs? MLE development is particular to each institution Organisational issues are key to successful implementation Have not yet seen a ‘complete MLE’ in the UK FE or HE sectors (though many are under development) Standards and specifications have an important role to play –But are not a ‘magic’ solution to integration To be successful, institutions need to identify the drivers for change

Sources of information and advice Regional Support Centres –NI Centre is based at QUB and NWIFHE, managed by Sandra McKillop JISC InfoNET –Started on 2 nd Jan 2003 –Supporting UK FE and HE in the planning and implementation of Information Systems –Information systems; learning and teaching technologies; approaches to technology

Contact details Sarah Porter Programme Director

The NIIMLE Project: the implications and opportunities for the Northern Ireland tertiary sector Mr Paul Little, Director Armagh College of Further Education

What is an MLE? Even without computers, the real learning environment is a managed learning environment Institutions manage the process of student’s learning

Components of our existing MLEs MIS Systems VLEs Library Systems HR and Financial Systems

A Regional MLE - the Northern Ireland Integrated Managed Learning Environment Separate institutional MLEs working intelligently and rationally across the region The first step towards achieving the same interoperability the banks and building societies have Real life business cases will force us to share data and work collaboratively

What will the NIIMLE look like? Student focus - a personalised web-page as the launch pad to the MLE services Regional information about courses - better informed progression decisions On-line academic and student mentors - less anxiety, improved retention

What will the NIIMLE look like? Information about careers - better informed careers decisions Transcripts and Personal Development Portfolios (PDPs)

Conclusion One of only two projects in the UK to be awarded funding Success based on timeliness and regionality Concordant with the political expectations for FE and HE sectors Will develop alongside NICIS in the FE colleges Will build upon institutional VLEs

Project Plan and Timescales Mr Robert Roulston, NIIMLE Project Manager

Definition of the 3 phases of the NIIMLE services Core Data Subject Services Transcript and PDP

Project Initiation & Gearing Up Visit Consortium Institutions NIIMLE website & project literature Identify Pilot Course Cohorts Outline Specification Establish Technical Approach Year 1 - Progress to date

Our Future Plans

Year 1 cont. (Now to May 03) Formal Technical Specification Build & Test Prototype Student Trials Issue Call to non-consortium Institutions Brief Academics & Students Year 2 pilot subject - pilot institutions

Year 2 (Jun 03 – Nov 03) Define Data Needed Agree Mechanisms for Data Delivery Build & Test Prototype Select VLE & Mentoring Framework Roll out NIIMLE Services Disseminate to Non-Consortium Institutions pilot subject – pilot institutionspilot subject – all institutions cont. Year 2

Year 2 cont. (Dec 03 – May 04) Student Trials Define data Needed Agree Mechanisms for Data Delivery Roll Out NIIMLE Services Roll Out NIIMLE Services pilot subject - pilot institutions pilot subject - all institutions Expansion to New Subjects Year 3

Year 3 (Jun 04 – Feb 05) Pilot subject Pilot institution Pilot subjects All institutions New subjects All institutions Roll Out Transcript & PDP Roll Out NIIMLE Services Roll Out NIIMLE Services Trial Transcript & PDP Define & Build Transcript & PDP Define & Build Transcript & PDP Roll Out NIIMLE Services Roll Out NIIMLE Services Disseminate to Region Disseminate to Region

Year 3 (Mar 05 – May 05) Evaluation & Dissemination Case Studies & Reports Exit Strategy

Question and Answers chaired by Mr Alan Dummigan