Connected resources for research and practice Alison Lawson UCET conference 10 November 2009

Free online resources Where do you go to find out about research? How do you know what is being researched right now? How do you find out what the findings mean for your practice? There are several free online resources that offer a wealth of information to people at all levels of education.

So what are they? eep – the educational evidence portal ttrb – the teacher training resource bank CERUKplus – the database of current research in education and childrens services in the UK there are others, too, but well come back to those

What are these resources? eep: the educational evidence portal draws together published research across all fields of education ttrb: the teacher training resource bank contains research of particular use for people training to teach CERUKplus: an online database of research in education and childrens services under way now in the UK

Quick background Each resource –originated by particular organisations –designed to meet a particular need –aimed at a particular community –free to use online Together the resources have –raised awareness of research evidence –proved the value of tools –demonstrated what can be done

More about eep Combines many sources of information One search works for all sources Resource areas for themes, such as gifted and talented Education news Managed by CfBT on behalf of consortium Funded by CfBT with DCSF, TDA, Becta and others

More about ttrb Research and evidence for teacher education Research grouped into categories, e.g. Curriculum, which is then further sub-divided E-librarians based at the Institute for Education Education news Managed and run by consortium supported by TDA

More about CERUKplus Research by academics and practitioners Research covers all levels and subject areas Find research partners and critical friends E-alerts for areas of interest Managed by NFER on behalf of DCSF Funded by DCSF and NFER

What use are these resources? Access to o current and past research evidence o research results accessible for practical use Allows users to o share knowledge and learn from each other o improve knowledge and practice through evidence o build communities

Future plans eep – workshops for specific groups using eep, and new version with browsing taxonomy and text mining ttrb – better linkage with related resources, more visual guides and accessibility, more varied support for CPD needs. enhanced glossaries, more ttrb events, increased user customisation, more archive material to represent our historical evidence base CERUKplus – learning and skills sector, action research from schools, wider online community

Next steps We want to –see the resources more widely used –develop them for more effective use We need to –build on the evidence about using evidence –understand more precisely what potential users want –work with communities to encourage use

Working together We want to work directly with communities to: find out what each community really needs work out how we can improve the resources find ways of connecting the resources spread the word about free access encourage use

Over to you Try the resources for yourselves Compare and contrast Feedback to the group on what you found and how these can be used, connected and improved

Feedback: what do you think? How could you use these resources? How can we link them together most effectively? What about these resources is most useful to you in your work and/or research? How could these resources be improved? Anything else?

Other resources of interest pre-online – the e-version of practical research for education journal DCSF research bites DCSF research newsletter GTCs Research for Teachers What others do you use?

Any questions?