VOCA project

Handbook of Leonardo da Vinci Project VOCA Europe,

2003-DK/03/B/F/PP-145.304, 2003-2005.

VOCA Europe partners:

Huset Venture, Aarhus Denmark • The Danish Multiple Sclerosis Society, Copenhagen, Denmark •
HK-Kommunal, Copenhagen, Denmark • Centro Itard, Piacenza, Italy • Cooperative Sociale Il Mosaï-
co, Lodi, Italy • Camera del Lavoro Territoriale, Piacenza, Italy • KRDESC, Kaunas University of Tech-
nology, Kaunas, Lithuania • NADE, Kaunas, Lithuania • The School of Social Work, Vytautas Magnus
University, Kaunas, Lithuania • ELO SOCIAL, Lisbon, Portugal • IMEDES, Valencia, Spain • Fundacion
CEDAT, Valencia, Spain • Mancomunitat de Municipis da la Vall d’Albaida, Valencia, Spain.

Project promotor is KCD, Grenaa Business College.

Opsætning og grafisk produktion: Huset Venture
Tryk: GP-Tryk

Tryksagen er mærket med det nordiske miljømærke Svanen. Licensnr. 541 661.
Trykt med vegetabilske farver på miljøgodkendt papir.
 Foreword:

The aim of the VOCA project has been to facilitate access for disabled adults into mainstream vo-
cational training through appropriate and timely use of e-learning or blended learning. Delivery
of training and education in blended learning format overcomes the problem of absences and
gives disabled persons more flexibility to continue their training during periods of convalescence
at home.
In the VOCA project, elements of national vocational training curricula of the five partner countries
have been transformed into e-learning format and tested in project pilot courses, and, to familiar-
ise those in mainstream vocational training with the use of the VOCA materials, train-the-trainers
courses have been held in all partner countries.
The aim of the VOCA Handbook is not to collect all data and models tested or used during the
project period, as we think very few people would find that interesting. Instead, it is our intention
to sum up, what the project partners feel is best practice within the field of vocational training in
e-learning format, to describe handy tools for e-learning, to give examples of how e-learning can
be planned and carried out. All partners have been involved in the handbook, not with actually
writing it however, but in contributing to the experiences it conveys. We hope that the handbook
will attract much interest in Europe, and that many of its readers will feel inclined to visit the VOCA
homepage for more information (www.VOCA.dk).

Anne Fox, project consultant and VOCA Handbook author and

editor Tove Ingerslev, programme manager and VOCA project coordinator
December 2005

3
 VOCA project
Handbook of best practice for implementing e-learning
in vocational training for the disabled

Chapter 1 Transforming class-based learning into e-learning 07

Chapter 2 Train the trainers 17

Chapter 3 Competence Assessment 25

Chapter 4 The post-course package 31

Chapter 5 Piloting a course 35

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 C
Chapter 1:
Transforming class-based learning into e-learning

We are in a period of transition. Those of us who are experienced face to face teachers need to
transfer this expertise to online learning as we open access to groups who are unable to spend
long stretches of time in a classroom. These may be people in fulltime employment or people with
erratic timetables. Or they may be people with disabilities which prevent them from attending
courses full time or on an unpredictable basis such as those with chronic conditions. Whatever the
reason, it is beneficial to consider all possible client groups and devise ways of making learning
opportunities truly inclusive.
The optimal solution will most often lie between the fully face to face and the fully online model.
As well as widening access, such blended offerings can reduce the cost of learning and can add
valuable facets to the learning process such as authentic material and interaction with a wider
group. Software and hardware designed specifically for learners with disabilities have obvious
benefits. The capacity to use multiple media enables the provider to pick and mix resources to the
needs of the individual to reach a broader set of students. Widening access in this way has poten-
tial benefit to all learners and not just the disabled.

The process of introducing e-learning will include the following stages:

• Transforming material from traditional face to face delivery to e-learning format
• Training the trainers
• Competence assessment
• Post-course package
• Piloting the course

This chapter will concentrate on the pedagogic aspects of transforming a traditional classroom
based course into an e-learning course.

What challenges do you envisage?

These are some of the issues which might concern you.
1. Time: It is likely that setting up the online version of the course will be time-consuming as you
transform your material into digital format. However, careful design will ensure that the majority
of the material can be re-used, perhaps in edited format so that this becomes a front-end invest-
ment.
Being part of an effective community of practice may allow you to greatly reduce the time invest-
ment since you will have access to many good ideas and examples which can be adapted to your
needs. This possibility will be discussed in more detail in chapter 5.
There is also the danger that the trainer will become too available and overloaded with emails
from their learners. To overcome this problem it is a good idea to set clear consultation and turna-
round times. It is also an even better idea to get the learners to consult amongst themselves and
use each other as a resource wherever possible. This is pedagogically sound as well as reducing
the burden on the trainer.

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2. Feasibility: If you see the online environment as a mainly read-only text environment then many
activities will be impossible. Clearly some practical activities will not transfer to the online environ-
ment but most ordinary classroom tasks can just as easily be carried out online such as discussions,
demonstrations, question and answer sessions and of course written outputs. It is getting easier to
add short video snippets to demonstrate practical skills, and voice communication is feasible even
with an ordinary telephone connection. Trainers perhaps need to be more structured and linear in the
online environment so navigation around the various resources and tasks has to be crystal clear.

3. Learning efficiency: You may be worried that it is more difficult to monitor student understand-
ing without the feedback normally gained from body language and facial expressions. This can
be overcome to some extent by frequent contact not only with the group as a whole but with
individual learners one to one.

4. Work methods: You may have some concerns about whether the work being submitted is actu-
ally done by your learners. The longer the course, the better you will get to know your learners and
their style of working. Another possibility is to have regular live meetings where work has to be
presented. Dishonesty is less likely in a live situation, even less when voice is being used. There are
several ways of checking plagiarism from the Internet which is a potential problem in all learning
situations and not just online. It is also a good idea to encourage collaborative work since prob-
lems in a group are more likely to be made public.

5. Cost: The cost of being online may be excessive for some learners but steps can be taken to
make as much material available off-line as possible, for example in a course CD-Rom which can be
distributed at the beginning of the course. You can also instruct your learners in how to minimise
their online time, for example by preparing text posts in a Word document beforehand rather than
composing online in the course management system.

6. Technical barriers: The issue of computers not being powerful enough to run the course tools
is getting less important but ever-tightening security is making even routine actions more prob-
lematic. Pop-up blockers are much more common now and may hinder the working of some of
the course tools. Many institutions have very strict firewalls which make voice communication
suspect. These difficulties are often easy enough to overcome as long as they are foreseen and
negotiated. Your course should be backed up by good technical advice on how to temporarily
disable pop-ups for example.

It is a good idea to prioritise the challenges you identify since some of them may be in opposition
such as quality versus cost for example.

What opportunities do you glimpse?

1. Time-shifting: The opportunity for learners to work at times which suit them could be a large
step in opening up access. However this handbook is not advocating completely stand alone
learning. The social and collaborative working aspect is very important to effective learning and
therefore deadlines are still important to enable the cohort to keep in step.

2. Use external guests and experts from all over the world: ICT tools make it possible to invite any-
one with an internet connection and the will to engage with your learners. This is potentially a very
powerful advantage of using ICT and not just for language students.

8
3. Manageable chunks: When designing a modularised e-learning course you are potentially cre-
ating a valuable resource of what are known as learning objects which can be used as building
blocks for future courses in different combinations. The modularisation may also help with creat-
ing individualised learning programmes. Chunking what has to be learned also helps with the
learning process itself and may be of assistance to those with short attention spans. Chunking
also facilitates the delivery of on-demand learning especially when based on the results of prior
competence assessment. This will be discussed in more detail in chapter 3.

4. Interaction: In an e-course you are providing a learning space where learners interact with peo-
ple they would not normally get the chance to meet. This is especially helpful to disabled people
who may be wholly or partially housebound.

5. Learning styles: As previously mentioned, the various ICT tools have the potential to cater for
different learning styles for example by extensive use of voice or visual material.

6. Enabling the impossible. The use of e-learning enables trainers to offer experiences which are
not possible in ‘real life’ such as webcam tours of places which it would be too expensive to visit or
simulations of high risk skills such as medical surgery or aircraft piloting.

Guiding Principles
Universal principles of teaching and learning apply just as much to e-learning as they do in face to
face. This document will emphasise the key role in effective learning of dialogue as a way of scaffold-
ing new skills and knowledge. It is just that different aspects are highlighted in e-learning. One of the
key differences between face to face and e-learning is the need for organisation which is much great-
er in e-learning. This however, need not and should not preclude spontaneity and the ability to follow
the learners’ own interests at appropriate points in the program (see examples of this in chapter 5).
One element often overlooked is that of providing opportunities for non-directed activity, in oth-
er words, playful fun. Leading exponent of the idea, Anker Rasmussen, makes the observation
that we would not consider building schools without playgrounds or colleges without recreation
rooms and therefore we should give some thought to providing opportunities for playful activities
in the online learning environment too. This is of relevance to longer courses where social relation-
ships have a chance to develop.
A helpful approach may be to adopt the emerging standards on e-learning being developed in the
EU primarily as a quality assurance process. This encourages providers of e-learning to consider
the various stages in the planning process as set out in diagram 1.

Thus attention needs to be paid to the following:

Structure: Break down the program into self-contained chunks to enable re-use through the pro-
duction of learning objects.
Eg. A learning object in word processing might be producing tables while a learning object in
language might be how to change verbs into the past tense.
Process: Interaction around content is the key to learning thus activities should be centred as
much as possible around interaction of one sort or another.
Eg. Don’t ask learners to just read a text but ask them to compile a set of questions to test under-
standing of the text and then test the questions on each other.
Support: A key to e-learning success is the level and type of support offered by the designated
tutors and trainers. This has to be clear and easily available.

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Eg. Ensure tutor email addresses are prominent on the front page of the online course and that
tutors are the first to contact participants rather than waiting for participants to make contact.
Learning archive: More tracks are left after e-learning than face to face. This is a valuable resource
which should be made available to both past and present participants.
Eg. Keep participants’ log-ins valid for a clearly stated period after the end of the course. Transfer
useful web links and other useful products into future courses.
Appearance: The course needs to be visually appealing as well as catering for different learning
styles and being accessible to those with specific disabilities.
Eg. Off-white backgrounds and Arial 14 font are more easily legible for dyslexic participants.
Technical: The course needs to be technically streamlined (cross-platform stable, as few usernames
and passwords as possible, low bandwidth) in order to increase accessibility.

The diagram shows a continuous process of ongoing evaluation and adjustment as a recommend-
ed approach.

Learning
Needs Framework Conception/ Development/ Implemen- Evaluation/
Process/
Analysis Analysis Design Production tation Optimization
Realisation
Testing of
Analysis of the Learning Content
Initiation learning Administration Planning
external context objectives realization
resources

Adaption
Stakeholders Analysis of Staff Concept for Design
of learning Activities Realization
Identification Resources contents realization
resources

Didactic Activation Review of

Definition of Analysis of Media
concept/ of learning Competency Analysis
objectives target groups realization
methods resources Levels

Analysis of the
Demand institutional and Roles and Technical Technical Optimization/
analysis organizational activities realization Environment Improvement
context

Time and Organisational Organization

Maintenance
budget planning concept of use

Environment Technical Technical

analysis concept Infrastructure

Concept for
media- and
interaction
design

Media concept

Communication
concept

Concept for test

and evaluation

Concept for
maintenance

Diagram 1: The EU quality assurance process model of e-learning

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Case study 1: Level B English (Denmark)
Syllabus
This is a standard high level course for pre-university entry in Denmark. Some of the key features
of the syllabus include:
• business English
• the study of English-speaking cultures
• inter-cultural topics
• the use of ICT to be integrated in the course
• the study of fiction
• individual projects
A special requirement of the course is that students should have read a certain number of standard
pages. A selection of this reading is used as the basis for the final exam. This means that the length
of all reading material must be given and that it should add up to at least the minimum required
by the syllabus.

Pedagogic principles
The e-learning version of the course was based on the following principles:
1. This is a group, not a collection of random individuals working at their own pace.
2. This means that it is possible for the group to work together in various ways. A basic feature will
be a weekly live meeting online.
3. The course will be carried out almost solely in English.
4. There will be two main strands to the course, firstly the USE of English in which issues will be ex-
plored through fiction and non-fictional texts and other activities and secondly, the IMPROVE-
MENT of English through a targeted program of tests, analyses, self-evaluation, process-writing
routines and goal-setting.
5. Since this is an online group the course will ensure that sufficiently robust and reliable tools are
available to ensure problem-free audio and text communication both synchronous and asyn-
chronous. This does not preclude the situation of face to face meetings either of the whole
group or part of the group with the rest online when possible.
6. The ICT element of the course will be met by virtue of the fact that it is in electronic format and
that it occurs mostly through electronic means. The most important element will be interaction,
though the discovery and evaluation of resources will also be an important element.
7. Autonomy will be exercised within the structure of the course with participants encouraged
to take the prescribed topics in a direction of their own choice as well as the two units where
participants decide for themselves what they will study.
8. Self-reflection will be encouraged through the use of process writing (easily achieved through
the various IT tools and applications) and the compilation of an e-portfolio including a learning
diary in a blog.
9. Authenticity will be ensured through extensive use of internet resources targeted at native
speakers, the use of the participants’ own voices and the encouragement of inviting external
guests so that participants have an authentic audience every so often.

Structure
In the online version of this course the material is presented in consecutive coherent modules in a
logical order. For example the first module is entitled ‘National Identity’ and serves as an introduc-
tion to the idea of inter-cultural differences and the second module is called ‘Business Identity’ which
serves as an introduction to business English especially in the area of marketing and image.

11
Each module lasts several weeks, for example the first module lasts seven weeks. Within each week
there are two sets of tasks, the first concentrating on using English for a specific purpose (see dia-
gram 2) and the second set comprising coaching tasks where learners are asked to review their use
of English and develop strategies to improve it (see diagram 3).

Using English
Although you have all studied English in the past we will begin by considering some ques-
tions about language both mother tongue and second and other additional languages. When
we have learned a bit more about what it means to be Danish or to be English, you will have
the opportunity to meet some people from other countries and ask them about how they feel
about their national identity.
Some people think that lesser spoken languages such as Danish might disappear within the
next fifty years or so. Do you think this is likely? Would it matter to you, to Denmark or to the
world? Post your opinion on the Voiceboard.

By the way, here is a little question which we will come back to in about 4 weeks.
Do you recognise this flag? How could you find out which country it represents? Post your
answer to this on the Voiceboard also.

Diagram 2: English for a purpose

It is likely that in the face to face version of this course there would be more concurrent threads
with the class maybe tackling literature on Mondays, grammar on Wednesdays and inter-cultural
topics on Fridays. However an online course needs to be more linear if learners are to find it easy
to keep track of what is expected of them.

Tasks
Examples of tasks include discussion with external guests, including native speakers, from all over
the world, live presentations, web quests (structured research based on guided internet use), writ-
ten or spoken forum discussions within the group, various language tests targeting vocabulary,
grammar and so on.
It should be noted at this point that many of the readings around which the tasks were based came
from the experience of other English teachers around the world who report the materials they find
to communities of practice such as the Webheads in Action. Finding appropriate readings would
otherwise have been a very onerous task for the course developer.
In the face to face classes students of this course have a tendency to worry whether they are achiev-
ing the required amount of reading and in a way this makes the transfer of the course to e-learning
where all reading is clearly marked and measured rather easier. But all four skills, reading, writing,
listening and speaking can be included in the e-learning format and were included in this case.

Tools
Since this is a fully online course with no possibility of introducing the various tools under supervi-
sion, learners are provided with a CD-Rom containing all the necessary software. This is to mini-

12
 Improving your English
How is your pronunciation of English? The article Fluency and Pronunciation (length: 1
standard page) of English has some advice.
Try out this oral test. When you have finished the test notice how Petersen asks his first ques-
tion. How would you pronounce the following words: evening, code, altogether, available,
mileage, nationwide? Do you say these words differently to the speakers on the recording?
Does this matter?

Weekly live chat

Diagram 3: Reflective activities

mise online time for learners who pay internet fees on a timed basis. The tutors are also extensively
available both by email and by phone to deal with technical difficulties. Technical help is given in
the national language rather than the course target language of English since the priority is to
make learners confident in their mastery of the course tools.

The course tools used in this case study were the following:
Moodle is an open source learning management system which seeks to promote learning through
discussion and interaction. It is therefore free to use though the institution has to provide server
space to host it.
HorizonWimba is a set of synchronous and asynchronous voice tools and authoring system for
voice-based exercises. It is therefore of great interest to language course developers but its confer-
encing tool is of general interest to all.
Blogs are essentially online diaries. There are many free offerings available. They provide the
means for learners to publish material easily. Increasingly blogs are able to include pictures, audio
and video. Many blogs also offer the possibility of collaborative working or at least commenting
features which mean that trainers and participants can comment on each other’s entries. Blogs
offer great potential to language learners or those involved in project work.
E-portfolio: For adults this is potentially a powerful professional development tool whereby a cur-
rent CV and examples of previous work can be compiled and kept online. They can also act as a
reflective learning diary. http://elgg.net is a free and open e-portfolio system which also includes
a blog element.

Open or closed?
An interesting reaction when this course was presented to the VOCA project partners regarded
the degree of openness of the course. The course area itself is password protected but learners are
encouraged to make extensive use of external websites. There was concern about the amount of
advertising on some of these websites. However this is an inescapable feature, especially of Ameri-
can culture, and so the designers felt that their use was justified on the grounds of authenticity
and intrinsic interest. The target group of this course is adult or nearly so and they can therefore be
expected to act responsibly in the face of commercial advertising.

13
Inevitably one danger of using external sites is that they might disappear or change but generally
the good ones should persist as storage space becomes cheaper. In any case course developers
should not consider their material as set in stone and should be prepared to update and fine tune
their courses on a regular basis so that their courses are living entities.

Case Study 2
Pre-professional skills for people with learning difficulties. (Italy and Portugal)
This is an interesting example of collaboration between countries. The Italian and Portuguese part-
ners had similar target groups of adults with learning difficulties who they wanted to ease into the
labour market. The partners collaborated on the syllabus and then developed their own tailored
courses. Obviously using the local language was a basic requirement but other localised require-
ments had to be taken into account such as differences in health and safety legislation, which
meant that the courses could not be exact copies.

Syllabus
This course is aimed at easing the way for the target group to return or enter the labour market for
the first time. It is therefore not a prescribed syllabus but rather a course devised to meet a specific
set of needs. It concentrates on promoting the autonomy and skills which are a pre-requisite for
all types of working situations.

The objectives included

• Development of pre-vocational abilities
• Increase awareness of the value of work
• Development of the motivation to work
• Greater knowledge about rights and duties of the worker
• Knowledge of national health and safety at work regulations
• Development of computer abilities
• Introduction to distance training

The main skill areas included

• Time management and perception
• Getting around, using public transport
• Personal hygiene and appropriate work wear
• Value and use of money
• Appropriate working relationships
• Health and safety in the workplace
• Rights and duties of employees.

Pedagogic principles
The overriding aim of this course was to maintain the interest of the learners by presenting the
content in a game context. Since their reading ability could not be relied upon, much of the in-
struction was given in the form of audio and the visual element was very prominent.
Learners worked independently in 3 hour blocks but had the support of a tutor in the same room.
Learners could therefore work at their own pace and repeat problematic sections as often as nec-
essary.

14
Tasks
The tasks were mainly of the multiple choice variety but presented in a game format. For example
the price of several goods might be shown, the task being to calculate how much one had to pay
if one had bought a certain article (see screen shots below).

Diagram 4: Which coins to use? That’s right (Italy)

Certain everyday activities could be best demonstrated through pictures as shown in Diagram 5
below from the Portuguese course.
Possíveis Locais de Compra de Um Bilhete de Autocarro?

Diagram 5: The use of pictures to illustrate the process of using the bus (Portugal)

Tools
Both courses are web-based which means they can be run from any computer.

Results
Competence assessments carried out before and after completion of the courses showed that the
programs were effective in raising the work skills of the target group.

Conclusions
This chapter has outlined some guidelines for transferring existing face to face courses to e-learn-
ing but the second case study shows that much is missed if that is all that e-learning is used for.
E-learning presents many new opportunities for different learning experiences which may not be
possible in pure face to face sessions. These new opportunities should not be overlooked.

15
Resources:
‘Access-Ability: Making technology more useable by people with disabilities’
http://www.tiresias.org/guidelines/access-ability/Access-Ability.htm

‘Creating accessible e-learning resources for disabled people’

http://www.teachability.strath.ac.uk/chapter_7/tableofcontents7.html
‘European Handbook for Quality and Standardisation
in E-Learning’ Editors: Ulf-Daniel Ehlers & Jan M. Pawlowski
Publisher: CEDEFOP, 2006

Progetto Voca - Corso pilota: sviluppo delle abilità pre-lavorative

http://www.sinergia-pc.com/voca/Voca.html

The National Centre for Academic Transformation website provides many tools for planning the
transformation of courses from face to face to e-learning or blended learning.
http://www.thencat.org/index.html

Rasmussen, Anker ‘The virtual social break – an overlooked theme in the discussion of virtual
learning environments’ retrieved from the internet 12 December 2005 at
http://www.crit.dk/The%20virtual%20social%20break.pdf

‘Teaching for Learning’ Mark Nicholls

http://www.traininc.co.nz/tfl/index.htm

16
 C
Chapter 2:
Train the trainers

Europe is full of computers, but like many other consumer durables, their potential is woefully un-
derused. Many colleges and training institutions have powerful machines which are mostly used
for preparing email, word-processing documents and quick Internet searches. We have moved
from an information age into a communication age and the greatest challenge is to persuade most
people of this, including teachers and trainers. In Chapter 1 we saw the potential advantages of
including elements of e-learning in a blended course but there is a big gap between accepting this
in theory and putting it into practice. Train the trainer courses will be an essential but insufficient
element in enabling this transition to take place.
Why insufficient? Because a short course on its own is not enough unless it also seeks to create or
nurture a long term network for mutual support. This is based on considerations of how learning
happens most effectively. This chapter will offer some ideas on how to achieve this.
Current thinking on effective learning is that the process is not one of knowledge identification
and transfer to isolated individuals. Rather it suggests that we are all innately curious and ready
to learn, that we learn through experience and dialogue with others and that we learn only what
bolsters our identities, of which we have several – plus that we learn only that which can be related
to our existing body of knowledge – that which has meaning for us.
Participants in a train the trainers course may have as one of their identities ‘experienced language
teacher’ which means that care must be taken to draw on that experience if our course is to have
meaning for them.
The course will have much more meaning if course activities are firmly situated in the participants’
own individual day to day job environment. It is against this background, promulgated by Wenger
among others, that learning in general, and more specifically e-learning and train the trainers
courses, should be set.

Aims
The aim of a train the trainers course is three-fold:
1. To demonstrate what is possible as well as
2. Facilitating a transition from a focus on tools to a focus on the learning and communication
process and
3. Persuading participants that this is something they could master.
It is this last aim which is the most difficult to achieve since many trainers will say that they have
no time to learn how to use all these techniques. While this may be true, it may also hide a certain
resistance to the idea that one’s teaching may be lacking by not using these tools.

The second aim refers to the common perception of IT and the Internet as simply a repository for
knowledge or a collection of tools including online dictionaries, voice recognition software and
spreadsheet applications. ICT as against IT includes the concept of communication and this opens
up a huge range of new possibilities for the learning process. We are moving from the so-called
read only internet to the read-write internet, where everybody, including learners, can create their

17
own content and comment on that of others. This content need not be text but can now easily
include pictures, sound or even video.
One of the keys to success in this area is the generous support of colleagues who can be called
upon to help with step-wise improvements. This then removes the most important barrier to adop-
tion of e-learning and ICT by providing a safe and supportive environment in which to experiment
once the formal course is over. These colleagues need not be in the same institution and in fact the
very act of collaborating with distant colleagues, in itself, provides additional experience in how
Information and Communication Technologies could be used in the learning process.

What should a train the trainers course include?

E-learning can potentially refer to many different tools and methodologies but it would be coun-
ter-productive to try and cover them all in a train the trainers course. It should be safe to assume
that participants will all have basic word processing, email and internet skills or at least to make
these basic course requirements. The strategy should then be to introduce a few case studies with
which the course moderators are very familiar and which are relevant to the course participants’
own teaching. The idea is not to be comprehensive but to awaken curiosity sufficiently so that par-
ticipants go on to find out for themselves about tools and activities which fit their own teaching
programme once the formal course is over.

Recommended contents include:

– Competence assessment
– The experience of e-learning, a blended course is ideal
– Making use of participants’ own knowledge and experience as a starting point, to break down
the resistance mentioned in the section on aims.
– Inclusion of stories, ie. case studies, with which the participants can identify
– Only a few tutorials in the use of software as these may be obsolete in a short time.
– Concluding with a joint project requiring collaboration across the group or a small sub-set of
the group
– A set of ‘free gifts’, web links and free downloads which can be used and implemented imme-
diately.
– Activities using mobile technologies such as phones and mp3 players because the young gen-
eration uses these tools extensively and sometimes in preference to the static computer.

It may seem strange to promote the tools side rather than the communication aspect of e-learn-
ing by giving website links and free downloads as ‘gifts’ but this element of the course comprises
the known and recognisable from which the learners can progress to the more communication-
oriented potential of e-learning.
The underlying aim is the formation of a network which could potentially be transformed into a
community of practice once the formal course is over. If the course is repeated several times you
can thereby generate rich archives and potential future mentors for new participants.
The VOCA project developed several train the trainers courses of which two are described below.
The first one was concentrated on the tutoring role while the second concentrated on the produc-
tion of materials and learning experiences.

18
Case study 1: Introduction to e-learning (Lithuania)
This is an example of a course which was designed to be delivered solely at a distance.

The course materials were produced and placed on a CD-Rom as well as being available online in
the WebCT learning management system where the asynchronous interaction would take place.
Thus participants could save on internet connection costs by accessing material from the CD-Rom
and only using WebCT when they needed to consult others’ contributions and post their own. The
structure of the 8-week course is shown above by the introductory screen of the online version.
In this case, as in case study 2 below, participants were volunteers and this no doubt contributed
to the positive feedback. Part 1 consisted of examining previous experience and expectations and
lasted one week. Part 2 was the main body of the course when participants focussed on the role
of the online tutor in theoretical terms and then applied this to their own situation to devise a
personal tutoring plan which is then discussed by the participants and the tutor. This phase lasts
5 weeks and includes the opportunity for participants to experience for themselves the role of
moderator in the WebCT discussions. The final part of the course invites participants to add to the
library of resources and reflect on their own learning by working towards a plan for future action.
The whole course is supported by a library of texts which gives added confidence to the distance
learners that they are getting worthwhile content.
Although designed to be self-contained, the evaluation from the course did show a demand for a
face to face element, perhaps at the beginning of the course as an introductory session. This was in
spite of the fact that participants had no problems in understanding how the different elements of
the course worked. But some felt that they would have made quicker progress after a face to face
introduction. As a response to this request a live online meeting was arranged and this was felt to
be useful by those who could attend.

19
Lack of time in a busy working schedule was the main problem expressed with the course which
was otherwise enthusiastically received. One important aspect to note is that all the participants
had some background in pedagogy to draw on. This is important since the approach is that par-
ticipants are building on known facts about teaching and learning and simply adapting them to
the new online format. This background in pedagogic theory cannot always be guaranteed in the
adult vocational sector.

Case study 2: E-learning for English teachers (Denmark)

This was designed to introduce teachers of English to communicative e-learning tools.

1: Experience e-learning as a participant

Diagram 1: Blended course structure

The course was a blended learning course, both to give participants a taste of what e-learning and
blended courses are like and to take advantage of the opportunity for reflection and networking
afforded by a longer course duration.
The course began with two weeks at a distance, followed by a two day intensive residential ele-
ment and completed by a three week distance element in which participants collaborated on e-
learning projects in small groups formed during the residential (see diagram 1).

2: Use the participant’s own situation as the starting point

The first week was a familiarisation period when participants downloaded the course software as
necessary and experimented with its use by posting introductory statements about themselves.
Participants were also encouraged to open a weblog or blog to be used as a reflective learning
diary. This was both to introduce the idea of blogs as a useful pedagogical language learning tool
and also as a potential ongoing tool for professional development to be used by the participants
once the course was over.
The second week was used for participants to post and discuss their experience of using e-learn-
ing in their teaching to date and to make their expectations of the course explicit. Already at this
stage potentially fruitful partnerships could be identified through common interests.
The participants were very varied ranging from those teaching at the higher academic levels to
those with strong vocational links for example to the butchery sector where language needs are
very practically orientated.

3. Technical considerations
A potential difficulty with beginning a course with a distance element is that participants have dif-

20
ficulty downloading and using the course tools. With respect to any software which is to be down-
loaded, it is a good idea to provide the program on a CD-ROM to minimise connection charges.
The course tutors were also available by phone and email to help out with any difficulties. In the
event there were no major difficulties.

4. Tools
LMS: The course management system used was MOODLE, an open source system designed to
promote learning through discussion. The open source element means that this is effectively free
to use and its pedagogical premise fits well with current thinking on how to learn effectively.
Audio tools: To the MOODLE were added voice tools from Horizon WIMBA which enable both syn-
chronous and asynchronous voice posts (see diagram 2). This fits well with the needs of language
teachers but it also gives wider possibilities for trainees with different learning styles. It may also
help participants with special needs such as dyslexics who may prefer to make audio contribu-
tions. Synchronous voice tools can also be obtained free of charge from Skype or Yahoo Messenger
for example.
Blog: A blog is an online diary. Their attraction lies in their ease of use. It is the widespread adop-
tion of blogs which has led to the notion that the internet is no longer just a read-only medium
but is now a read-write medium. This has led many observers to claim that this leads to greater
engagement in learning as one is actively contributing rather than just passively consuming.

Diagram 2: Audio and text posts in Wimba

Blogger is the most well known free blogging tool and it supports many desirable features such
as collaborative working and blogrolls (list of blogs the author is following). There are many other
free blogs each with different strengths and weaknesses. One of particular interest is elgg which
aims to act as an e-portfolio as well, and therefore well suited to those involved in promoting pro-
fessional development.
The blog in the VOCA course was designed to act as a reflective learner diary and was one of the
resources which participants could keep once the course was over, one of the so-called free gifts
since it was independent of the password protected learning management system.

5. Minimise registrations and log-ons

A balance must be drawn on a course of this nature between using the best mix of tools and mini-
mising the number of log-ins and registration processes required by participants. For example the
audio tools mentioned above can be password protected but on the VOCA course they were used

21
as a simple link within the course management system so as to minimise the number of passwords
and usernames which had to be remembered.

Experience has shown that registration processes for the free tools can be problematical for par-
ticipants especially since instructions tend to be in English which may not be their first language.
Some free tools can require a great deal of personal information in return for the free software
while others make access to the free version difficult to find.

6. The residential period

The purpose of this intensive two day period was to demonstrate possible applications of various
tools to specific teaching situations, to gain an appreciation of the wide range of teaching situa-
tions within the group and disseminate the prior knowledge of our participants to the rest of the
group.
Overcoming objections: When persuading trainers to adopt e-learning, there are often some nega-
tive connotations which need to be dispelled. Chat, for example, has a bad reputation and certainly
in public chat rooms the topics soon revert to the offensive and people hide behind pseudonyms.
But chat is dialogue and in a closed group of people who know each other and have a common in-
terest it can be as scholarly or as warm as any interaction in real life and it is therefore potentially of
great use to language learners and practitioners engaged in a common endeavour. Thus chat was
a topic during the residential and the participants requested regular internet chats in the distance
collaboration period that followed.
Inter-cultural education: This should also be part of language learning and chat, whether oral or
text, can help greatly to foster communication across the world at little expense. The participants
had the opportunity to examine a sample unit on inter-cultural communication which included
chats between student groups in Greenland and Denmark.
Learning by doing: Approaches recommended by the trainers were used to introduce other con-
tent. For example the topic of effective internet searching was presented through the medium of
a webquest. A webquest is a guided investigation through the use of selected web pages.
Another example was when the value and ease of oral communication via the internet was dem-
onstrated by asking a group of peers from Venezuela, China, Colombia, Belarus and Australia to
join us using instant messaging software for a discussion about using the internet for collaborative
working. The participants were able to get advice and opinions about their proposed collaborative
projects from these international visitors.
A community of practice: One of the main purposes of the course was to demonstrate the value
of peer support so that participants would want to maintain contact in a community of practice
once the course was over. An exemplary demonstration of this effect is the Webheads in Action
group of English language teachers who have been supporting and learning from each other since
2002 and in fact it was from this group that the international guests mentioned in the previous
paragraph were drawn

7: The collaboration period

The three week period allocated to the final distance element for collaboration was purely a guide-
line. In fact the proposed projects were all very different with some able to be completed within
the period while others which involved the production of web pages needed a much longer peri-
od. The three weeks were tutor supported and in fact even groups engaged on more complicated
projects had a good idea of what needed to be done by the end of the supported period.

22
Results
A competence assessment was carried out prior to and after the course in which participants could
see how much their awareness of and ability to handle various e-learning tools had risen. The
projects arising from the course were extremely varied ranging from an email exchange through
the setting up of a website portal for English learning and a research activity in which students
were guided to use certain pre-selected websites. The emphasis was still very much on using the
Internet as a source of information rather than as a means of contact for language practice. But
it has to be recognised that these were first steps and that using the Internet as an information
source is low risk. Once more experience has been gained, then using the Internet to communi-
cate with outsiders may come to seem as less risky. Certainly communication for authentic reasons
has the potential to touch students at a deeper level than mere informing seeking.

Evaluation
Participants appreciated the hands-on sessions most. The course was a catalyst to try something
new or to try for the first time to incorporate some element of e-learning into their English teach-
ing. Through the support of peers and tutors they were galvanised into trying something which up
to then they had deemed too complicated and time-consuming.

Follow-up
The official end of the course was not meant to mean the end of the collaboration as the course
included an explicit post-course package. The intention was to promote a community of practice
and continued collaboration. Former participants were invited to become mentors in a new round
of the course. Access to the course materials and follow up projects was kept open and former par-
ticipants were encouraged to add to the library of useful resources such as web links and CD-roms
kept on the course site. But for the purposes of effectiveness it did not matter which community
of practice our participants were active in but more that they had had the opportunity to see the
value of being a member of such a community and then sought out for themselves the one they
felt most comfortable in.

Resources:
Blogger: http://www.blogger.com
Elgg: http://elgg.net
Moodle: http://moodle.org/
Skype: http://www.skype.com
Webheads: http://www.geocities.com/vance_stevens/papers/evonline2002/webheads.htm
Webquests: http://webquest.sdsu.edu/
Wenger, Etienne http://www.ewenger.com/

23
 C
Chapter 3:
Competence assessment

A key reason for carrying out competence assessment is that we are considering the vocational
skills needed in specific job roles. If all the skills needed for the job role could be identified then
only those specific skills necessary to carry out the work need be targeted in individual training
courses. Thus a major objective of competence assessment is the production of an individualised
curriculum. A final assessment on its own is insufficient because it does not say anything about
how far the individual has travelled in competence during the lifetime of the course. Individualised
and differentiated learning is desirable in all learning situations both to maintain motivation and
maximise efficiency. Previous chapters have emphasised the importance of the social aspects of
learning and so the major challenge here is how to combine a socially cohesive cohort with indi-
vidualisation.
The solution may lie in competence assessments carried out at regular intervals throughout the
lifetime of the training. An initial assessment will enable the course trajectory to be tailored to the
needs of each individual. A mid-session assessment will show whether progress is being made and
a final assessment will enable the effectiveness of the training to be monitored and help to identify
the next stage necessary for the individual participant in an ongoing training program.
Competence assessment should be carried out both before, during and immediately after the
course. Against a constantly changing technological and professional background, the skills de-
manded of the current workforce are ever-changing. This means that it is a good idea to promote
a cycle of competence assessment so that current training needs can be assessed.

Workplace assessment
With regard to the target group of disabled adults, it may be appropriate to include a separate
competence assessment relating to the uncovering of special needs to function effectively in the
workplace. This may lead to the recommendation for the use of specialist aids such as screen read-
ers or word predictors, as necessary. Software and hardware designed specifically for learners with
disabilities such as expanded keyboards, head-mounted infra-red pointers, speech recognition
software, talking word processors, screen enlargers, and tactile graphic pads offer great advan-
tages. The flexibility of digital media enables change from one medium to another, such as text-
to-speech, speech-to-text, text-to-touch (for example, Braille). The capacity to use multiple media
enables the provider to pick and mix resources to the needs of the individual to reach a broader
set of students.
It is also advisable to pay attention to how much time disabled clients can comfortably spend in
front of a computer screen. Presenting e-learning in the form of stand alone learning objects will
help participants to navigate their learning in a rhythm which bests suits them. Widening access in
this way has potential benefit to all learners and not just the disabled. The tools described above
may cater to learners with more audio or kinaesthetic learning styles for example.

25
Challenges
There are a number of challenges in implementing competence assessment:

1. Identifying the different elements of the curriculum

2. Fear of tests
3. Ensuring effective assessment
4. Recording achievement
5. Integrating individualisation with the needs of the group.

1. Identifying the different elements of the curriculum

In theory the skills required of any job could be listed and the job holder’s capacity to do them as-
sessed with a view to identifying which aspects of the job the job holder needs to be trained in. In
practice it is difficult to predict which skills will be needed in every job especially when one looks
into the future and tries to predict likely trends.
Identifying the different elements of the curriculum and devising independent stand alone teach-
ing units corresponding to each of these elements are known as learning objects. These can then
be combined in different ways to build up different courses. Some skill areas lend themselves to
this process more than others. It is, for example, relatively easy to identify which actions a person
should be able to perform in their use of a certain computer application. In word processing does
a person need to know only how to format a document or do they also need to be able to mail
merge? In other skill areas such as languages or the soft skills this is less easy. Certainly it is easy to
identify the four main language skills as speaking, listening, reading and writing but it is more dif-
ficult to separate them in tasks and exercises. In this case the solution may be to identify different
parts of the course where the emphasis is on each of the four skills.

Diagram 1: The traditional one way path versus selected learning objects

Once the curriculum is broken down into learning objects, a competence assessment can be de-
vised to test each of these areas. The results of the competence assessment can then be used
to identify which parts of the curriculum each individual needs, based both on that individual’s
prior competence and his or her job requirements. The diagram above contrasts the traditional
approach with its single path through the curriculum compared to the approach of identifying
which learning objects need to be part of the training.

26
In Diagram 1 it could be that one participant needs to study all the learning objects except the
dark blue one while another participant needs to study only the two green learning objects. The
diagram also indicates that not all participants need to study all the learning objects in the same
order. They are independent of each other.

2. Fear of tests
Since this handbook is addressed to trainers of adults in vocational skills, it is relevant to note that
many adults will have had negative experiences of tests and exams in the past and re-naming
the experience as competence assessment will not be sufficient to banish those apprehensions. A
great deal of training in the workplace takes place because of technological advances and sharp
swings in the economic environment. Participants are therefore maybe not entirely willing volun-
teers and may feel their jobs are under threat. The requirement to take tests or assessments as part
of the training program may be further proof to them of the perceived threat.
One possible approach is to start with a self-assessment exercise. The ensuing discussion can then
be a positive starting point for determining individual needs. Training providers will then want
to continue with competence assessment before, during and after the training in order to meas-
ure the effectiveness of the training and to adjust the training program before it is over, if neces-
sary. There is a case for making this a compulsory part of the course and withholding certification
if competence assessment is not carried out. Competence assessment may be more positively
viewed if the result is to tell individual participants that they need not complete all course units in
recognition of their prior achievement.

3. Ensuring effective assessment

There is a well-established industry behind the testing of academic subjects but the tradition is
not so strong in vocational areas. It is unlikely therefore, that ready-made competence assess-
ments will be available for work-related skills. There is also a case for individualised competence
assessments tailored to the job under scrutiny. Generalised assessments will have been validated
and may be relatively inexpensive to administer but may not be wholly relevant to the individual
participant’s job requirements. Tailor-made assessments are expensive and time-consuming to
produce and validate especially in a fast-developing job market where the assessment may have
a limited shelf-life.
The final decision will therefore be a compromise.

4. Recording achievement
It is a good idea for participants to have a stake in the competence assessment process. This can
be done in several ways, the first of which is a tailored, slimmed down version of the training
course if prior achievement warrants it. Another possibility is to offer the opportunity to compile
an e-portfolio for professional development purposes. This can be part of the lifelong learning ap-
proach whereby additional training can be documented in the e-portfolio which can then be used
to negotiate promotions, further training or a completely new job. Evidence of training will not be
the only aspects of professional development documented in the e-portfolio but they could be an
important element.

5. The group versus individualisation

It seems counter-intuitive to suggest that one can promote a group identity with the members of
the group required to do different tasks. However it should be possible to recognise that the group

27
does not exist solely because it is working on the same tasks. There could also be an element of
mentoring within the group and there could be group exercises where the individual tasks are
distributed according to need as revealed by the competence assessments. Another solution is
to divide the course into core elements which everybody must do and peripheral elements which
participants complete according to need.
Conclusion: In the VOCA project competence assessments were tested in several different situa-
tions including a standard academic course for physically disabled participants, a tailored course
for bringing mentally disabled participants into the labour market in both Italy and Portugal and a
train the trainers course for trainers of that course in Portugal.
Competence assessment is potentially a valuable evaluation tool which could be used in the con-
tinuous quality assurance process of constant improvement.

Case Study: Blended course in business English

This course is described in more detail in chapter 5. The relevant aspects of this course are that it is
aimed at intermediate level and that it was organised as a simulation whereby participants worked
together in groups to plan a new e-business. This meant that the small sub-groups had to work
together in discussions and produce written products to support a final presentation at the end of
the course when each group would defend their decisions.
The competence assessment was scheduled as a separate event prior to the official start of the
course. It was planned to end the course with a repeat competence assessment in order to evalu-
ate progress and to target future training needs. Since the competence assessment system chosen
was freely available online, participants were able to test themselves at any point during and after
the course.
Common standard: The decision was made to use a publicly and freely available online test as the
competence assessment for this course. The Dialang test is an EU-supported project which gives
results in terms of the Common European Frame of Reference, a grading system which is common
across Europe and therefore easily understandable across the EU. In the case of languages where
it may be relevant to discuss the language standard of employees with suppliers, customers and
subsidiaries across Europe, it was felt that results stated using a common standard was desirable.
Validity: The other major reason for using Dialang was that the test items are based on extensive
testing of all the items across Europe. One can be fairly certain therefore that there will not be any
ambiguities or errors remaining.
Self-assessment: Another advantage of the Dialang system is that it includes a self-assessment
element which can be used to start the whole competence assessment discussion off. In fact the
self-assessment statements have been extensively developed so that there are now statements
not just for the six main language levels but also for many of the sub-levels. An example of self-as-
sessment statements for the lowest three main levels of reading are given below.

A1: I can understand familiar names, words and very simple sentences, for example on no-
tices and posters or in catalogues.
A2: I can read very short, simple texts. I can find specific, predictable information in simple
everyday material such as advertisements, prospectuses, menus and timetables and I can
understand short simple personal letters.
B1: I can understand texts that consist mainly of high frequency everyday or job-related lan-
guage. I can understand the description of events, feelings and wishes in personal let-
ters.

28
Online tests: Once participants have completed the self assessment they can then go on to take
online tests which cover reading, writing, listening, vocabulary and grammar. One language skill
which cannot be tested online through the Dialang system is speaking. This highlights a potential
problem that not all skills may be capable of being assessed through automated systems. This
may be especially relevant in the soft skills which are increasingly valued in the workplace and
to which training increasingly relates. In this case, the VOCA project has invested in the Horizon
Wimba software which can create speaking exercises which means that the tests can be taken at
a distance. But the level achieved can only be assessed by a teacher and not a computer program.
The same would be true of creative writing exercises and responses to problems presented as part
of a soft skills training course.

Results
Participants were given a certain amount of autonomy in deciding which tests they should take.
The trainer thought that taking all five tests plus an individual speaking test would be too much
to require in one day. Therefore participants were asked to take two tests of their choice plus the
speaking test. They were advised to take the remaining tests at a later date in their own time. If
they could not decide which tests to take then the trainer advised taking the vocabulary and lis-
tening tests first.
The idea was that test results would act as a starting point for discussion about what each par-
ticipant needed to concentrate on. In fact many of the participants were either disappointed with
their results or disturbed by the idea of taking assessments and this created a barrier to a dispas-
sionate discussion about how to proceed afterwards.
Individual results enabled participants to plan to concentrate on those language skills which were
important to them and which the results had shown needed working on. It was possible within
the course to make contributions either orally or in writing for example. Thus a dyslexic participant
was advised to concentrate on making oral contributions. It is also possible to employ different
learning strategies in addition to the course tasks. For example a participant needing to work on
vocabulary could be advised on how to record new words so that they are more likely to be re-
membered. The course therefore had a common centre with the possibility of a panorama of pe-
ripheral individual activities to allow participants to meet their own needs.
The final competence assessment at the end of the course should show whether progress has been
made and here the issue is whether the assessment is fine-grained enough to detect progress. The
six CEF levels each represent about 100 hours of teaching and are therefore important milestones.
It is conceivable that a participant in the case study course could have made progress which was
not detectable from the competence assessment since it was a short course of thirty hours.

Resources
Dialang http://www.dialang.org/intro.htm
E-portfolio There are many references to e-portfolios. A portal for information is the European
Institute for e-learning (Eifel) at http://www.eife-l.org/eifel

29
 C
Chapter 4:
The Post Course Package

It has been the theme of this handbook that learning is a social activity which occurs in dialogue
with peers and tutors. There are those who contend that humans are learning animals and that a
great deal of what we do is motivated by the curiosity to learn. In this context life-long learning
looks like the natural order and we should therefore consider our courses as simply intense bouts
of learning in between slower periods of curiosity. Against this background it makes sense to con-
sider both what happens before and after our courses as almost as important as the courses them-
selves. Pre-course activities are considered in chapter 3 and concentrate mainly on competence
assessment. This chapter will concentrate on what can be done to maintain the skill level and
social aspects once the course is over. Two groups will be considered; trainers and participants.

Aims:
1. The aim of the post-course package is to acknowledge that in the modern world, one is never
finished with learning and it is therefore a way of continuing the learning process without the
formal support of the tutors or the formal structure of a course.
2. It is a way of allowing the social processes started in the course to continue.
3. It is a way of acknowledging the value of the work done by participants by continuing to make
it available both to former participants and to any new sets of participants who undertake the
course.
4. It is a way of maintaining the contact which might be of additional significance to disabled
people who may otherwise find themselves isolated partly because of their disability and partly
because of the way in which disabled people have been discouraged from entering the labour
market by unenlightened employer attitudes.
5. It cannot be denied that the post-course package could be an excellent marketing tool to gath-
er repeat sales from satisfied former participants.

The significance of the post course package will vary greatly depending on the length and de-
mands of the original course. A short two-day course is unlikely to generate such great social cohe-
sion that an elaborate post-course package would make sense. But an intensive six month course
might generate a great deal of valuable participant resources as well as effective and tight knit
working relationships which it might be worth nurturing once the course is over.
A post-course package is not the same as post-course support in which tutors continue to advise
and mentor former participants.

Elements of the post-course package

A critical feature of the post-course package is that it is purely voluntary and completely separate
from the rest of the course. There are several items which could be considered as part of a post-
course package.
1. Archive: This is of especial significance in an online course where materials may not all be pa-
per-based and where participants may appreciate the opportunity for continued access to

31
 them once the course is over. Features such as discussions are in any case not so easy to access
on paper, especially not audio or video meetings and thus an invitation to print everything out
may not always be appropriate.
2. Resources: If the course has been built on social constructivist principles then participants will
have contributed to the resources of the course and therefore an original copy of the course will
be lacking all these extras added at a later date.
3. Discussion/communication opportunities: It is of course relatively easy to find other places on
the Internet where one can hold discussions and exchange views either live or asynchronously
but for adults with little ICT background, this may be too much of a barrier and this is why it
may be a good idea to continue offering the facilities of the course interface past the official
completion date.
4. Mentoring: If the course runs repeatedly, former participants may be willing to act as mentors
for new participants which may be rewarding both on a personal and professional level.
5. e-portfolio: Whilst the idea of maintaining an e-portfolio is introduced during the course, it may
be more meaningful to do the majority of the work on this once the course has finished and
there has been a period of reflection which allows participants to more fully recognise their
achievements. Completion of the course may also be an appropriate point at which to consider
possible career developments.
6. Newsletter: This will be perceived as helpful if it contains timely and relevant content which
relates to the course topics and what participants may be expected to be doing using the skills
learned.

Community of practice
The above elements in fact add up to what can be referred to as a community of practice. This is
not a team with a specific end goal in mind but a voluntary association of people with common
interests which they explore together on an ongoing basis.
It is not a new phenomenon but there are now much greater opportunities for forming groups of
like-minded people through the use of online communication tools. The potential is great espe-
cially for linking people who otherwise are the sole representative of their interest in their local
physical environment. In a small school you may the only specialist teacher of German but what
if you could interact with a large group of enthusiastic German teachers around the world with
whom you could share ideas?

What can you do in a community of practice?

Below is an example of how a trainer might benefit from belonging to trainers community of prac-
tice.

1. You can ask for ideas one day and respond to similar requests the next.
2. You can find out about the latest tools, tips and tricks when members report their latest finds.
3. It can be a source of trusted information. In the hard-sell environment of the Internet today,
securing trusted sources of information is becoming essential. Often you can learn from the
mistakes of others, for example, if a certain appealing download turns out to be malware.
4. You can learn from the classroom reports of other’s experiences.
5. You can be a virtual guest in another teacher’s project and in this way dip your toe in the water
to discover if this type of project works and how.
6. You can get news of forthcoming conferences, useful publications, useful weblinks.

32
As a concrete example we could note that many of the activities included in the various language
VOCA courses in Denmark derived from ideas sparked by the Webheads in Action community of
practice. This collection of English teachers from around the world has no official status but intro-
duced the author of this chapter to thought-provoking texts, ways of using blogs, ways of making
websites easily and the use of communication software to name but a few.

The composition of a community of practice

Typically a community of practice will consist of experts, experienced members and novices. The
tag of expert may be dependent on what is under discussion so that you may be an expert in one
field but a novice in another. Most communities of practice have an active core of members (who
may be expert, experienced or novices) with the majority being silent boundary members. While
in a formal course situation it is the aim that everyone contributes, in a community of practice,
lurking is an honourable position as one can learn a great deal by simply following the discussion.
In fact when a community of practice numbers over 50 members it would be simply impractical
and overwhelming if everybody contributed regularly.

Can communities of practice be nurtured or must they always arise spontaneously?

It is paradoxical that the more effort one puts into nurturing communities of practice, the less likely
they are to succeed. They are after all, made up of volunteers who are likely to react badly to a long
set of rules and regulations. The best advice might be to concentrate one’s efforts in whatever pre-
cedes the community of practice, in this case, the e-learning course. If an enthusiastic and active
atmosphere permeates the course, then it is more likely its participants will want to continue the
rewarding working relationship afterwards. At this point all the course provider needs to do is to
make sure that the system is open enough to be able to accommodate the post-course activity.
Communities of practice also have a life cycle and cannot be expected to last indefinitely. Mem-
bership will change as individuals’ professional circumstances and interests change or they find a
more congenial community elsewhere.
Thus we have seen how the feeling of disappointment once a good course is over could be turned
into something positive through an effective post-course package. The examples given above related
specifically to the benefits for trainers and the case study below relates to a vocational study course.

Case study
The “after-course service package” caused much debate in the project. The aim of making the
package was to make the VOCA course participants so satisfied with their course that they would
come back for more courses – but exactly what the contents of the package could be, was hard to
agree on. The result was a combination of a materials and FAQ database combined with a modera-
tor manned forum or virtual community available to course participants in a 3-month period after
the end of the course period.
One example is the course for people with physical disabilities to prepare them for the workplace
with IT and language training. The course is delivered in a mix of traditional class room teach-
ing (5%) and e-learning (95%). It works through an LMS system called Moodle. We chose Moodle
because it is free and also very user-friendly. All course material is stored on the Moodle forum of
the class, and all communication among course participants and between course participants and
teacher goes through Moodle, and is stored in the class Moodle forum. Several threads of commu-
nication can be established, for example divided into the various course themes, and thus this can
work as a kind of FAQ base. Assignments made by the participants, either individually or in groups
can also be stored in the Moodle forum if the class decides to do this.

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For oral communication, we have chosen to use a tool called Horizon Wimba. This has an oral bul-
letin board, voice mails and also virtual meeting rooms where live communication among many
participants is possible. There is a link from the Moodle forum to the Horizon Wimba tool, and
all the oral communication can be stored in the Moodle forum, so information can be retrieved
from this as well. After the end of the course, the forum will stay open to the course participants
for 3 months. After the end of the actual course, the teacher will assume the role of moderator for
the virtual forum and look in on a regular basis. The moderator can answer questions and start
or participate in debates, but the course participants will now have to assume the role of good
members of a virtual community. This means that they will have to become more active in the
sense that they also have a responsibility for the way things work in the virtual community. They
will also be able to invite new members to join the community and to teach the new members
how things work in the community. They can even invite so-called “lurkers” to look into the forum
in the hope that these will later become full and active members of the community. After the end
of the 3 months, the original Moodle class will be closed, and the members of the community can
continue to operate through their own Moodle forum, which they can establish for free, but this
time without help from their teacher. The VOCA project group also hopes that after the end of a
course period, the course participants will feel inclined to sign up for new courses on the VOCA
Vocational Training Portal.

Resources
Wenger, Etienne ‘Communities of Practice’ http://www.ewenger.com/theory/
Webheads in Action, An international community of practice of English teachers
http://www.geocities.com/vance_stevens/papers/evonline2002/webheads.htm

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 C
Chapter 5:
Piloting a course

The pilot course will be time-consuming to prepare (though see chapters 1 and 4 for ideas on how
to reduce this) and its results will need to be carefully monitored. Particularly important will be to
monitor student interactions and learning. Other areas needing attention will be technical imple-
mentation, ease of use and relevance to the learners. This chapter will describe one of the VOCA
pilots and then analyse what was learned from the experience.

Case Study: Lower intermediate business English

This pilot was based around a short course in lower intermediate business English which is usually
offered to working adults as a 5 day course. Once the online version of the course was prepared,
it was piloted on a small group of colleagues all working in the same company. At an introductory
meeting there was general enthusiasm for trying out a blended learning course in English. There
was also great interest in the proposed simulation approach.
Simulation: The approach used was to base the course around a simulation where participants
would work on a business plan for an e-business. During the course of their planning they would
experience emails, phone calls and voicemail messages left by the trainer in role. Making the busi-
ness an Internet-based business gave participants a reason for thinking of English-speaking mar-
kets and how the website and its products would have to be tailored to meet English-speaking
market requirements. It also gave them a reason to contact English-speaking external guests who
could advise, comment and answer questions about lifestyles in the English-speaking cultures.
The course was to end with a presentation of the business idea to a panel of external experts who
would discuss various aspects of the business idea further with participants.

Pedagogic principles:
Authenticity: This was achieved through the simulation, the use of external guests and using the
learners’ own posts as the basis for language exercises. Coincidentally, added authenticity was
provided because the company was in reality contemplating starting up an e-business aimed at
foreign markets.
Collaborative: The course was centred around a shared simulation as the focus for discussions
although there were individual language coaching exercises in addition.
Reflective: Participants were encouraged to examine their own language learning strategies
through the use of a blog and the results of the competence assessment on which to negotiate
individualised action plans.
Procedure: Before the course started and after an introductory meeting to explain how it would be
run there were two crucial steps, tool familiarisation and competence assessment.

1. Tool familiarisation: The company failed to install the course tools before the trainer arrived for
the first session. Thus a great deal of time was wasted and anxiety experienced in getting the
installation process complete. There was also confusion as to where the learners would work on
the course and so the correct machines were not set up from the beginning. This is indicative

35
 of a wider problem when trainers go out to organisations to carry out courses where they have
much less control over the technical set-up.
2. Competence assessment: In this case a free diagnostic tool called Dialang was used but it could
just as easily be the case that a training organisation uses its own tailor-made competence
assessment procedure. The key finding here was that whether it is called a test, an exam or
competence assessment, adults still experience the process as a judgemental test of their abil-
ity and can react with stress and shame when the results show a need for training. The whole
process needs to be handled with great care and tact.

Structure: The ten week course was planned as a blended learning course with 3 face to face ses-
sions at the beginning, six online sessions which always included an online meeting, and ended
with one final face to face session which was the presentation to external guests (see diagram 1).
The intention was that the learners could in fact participate at all times whether face to face or
online since all the materials and tasks were available on the course website. This was to accom-
modate the increased possibility of absences in the client group, the disabled.

Diagram 1: The structure of the pilot course

Tasks: These centred broadly around the needs of the simulation and included discussions about
buying from the Internet and finding out about potential markets. Once several discussions had
started it was possible to use the participants’ own words as the basis for exercises. C-tests where
word endings are removed at regular intervals are deemed to be extremely effective language ex-
ercises. The one shown in diagram 2 was produced from a discussion post. Hybrid cloze-dictation
exercises are also possible using the audio posts.

Tools:
1. The course management system used was Moodle, the open source software based on social
constructivist principles of pedagogy. Diagram 3 shows one of the initial tasks which was a
discussion on the pros and cons of buying via the Internet.
2. Synchronous and asynchronous audio tools were used because the spoken language is an im-
portant part of language learning. It also gave those with less confidence in their writing ability
a means to express themselves. It allowed the course to include oral training elements such as
responding to a voicemail, the continued ability to have voice meetings even at a distance and
enabled work on pronunciation aspects as well.

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Diagram 2: C-test using previous learner post as source material

It also allowed the tutor and the participants to invite voice contributions from external guests.
Diagram 4 shows several posts from the USA, Australia, China, Taiwan and Denmark to the course
participants’ question about whether they would consider buying craft items on the internet.

Diagram 3: Discussion in Moodle

3. A blog was used to encourage reflective analysis of the participants’ own learning needs and
strategies. This was one of the least successful parts of the pilot and one of the follow up activi-
ties would be to devise ways of making this aspect of the course more attractive to the target
group. An example of a useful entry is in diagram 5. The screen shot shows the interactive pos-
sibilities since two comments have been made regarding this post. It also shows that in the
elgg system you are encouraged to make a list of keywords (tags) which represent your post.
This is a good didactical exercise in itself and can potentially be used to find people with similar
interests by searching for posts with similar tags.
4. The final major tool used in this course was an e-portfolio. The e-portfolio was part of the elgg
system and did not therefore require any additional registration on the part of the learners.
Many schools and universities are beginning to offer e-portfolios to their students as part of the
course package but they are often not available once the student has left. The elgg system is
an independent e-portfolio which can be used in the long-term. It is dubbed a ‘learning space’

37
 Diagram 4: Audio posts from around the world

and the intention is that it can act both as a showcase for your professional achievements and
a place for your learning reflections.

The participants of the course therefore had the chance to store those examples of English use of
which they were most proud or which showed their competence in different areas such as busi-
ness letter writing or answering the telephone. Their elgg space was also something which they
could hold on to once the course was over, part of the post-course package.

Diagram 5: A reflective blog post

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Lessons learned
Meta-awareness: Encouraging adult participants to reflect on their own learning is very difficult.
It is not something which they are used to doing and it is difficult for them to see the benefit of
making the extra effort. For some it is almost too egocentric. However research shows that this is a
strategy worth pursuing and the task may be more difficult with adults who have not experienced
this approach in schools and therefore do not relate easily to it.
However participants in e-learning courses need to be more aware of their learning strategies and
how to improve them since for many this is a new way of learning and they might benefit from
greater self-awareness.
Too public: The semi-public nature of their work, whereby all the other participants can see your
work in the learning management system, is too off-putting for participants with a lack of self-
confidence in their abilities. However if work is only sent privately to the tutor via email then all
the benefits of dialogues and feedback are lost. A balance needs to be struck and a way found for
a gentle introduction to the display of participants’ work.
Mixed abilities: A group with very mixed abilities also needs special handling if the less skilled are
not to feel over-shadowed by the more skilled. In theory the pilot course was suitable for a wide
range of abilities from lower intermediate and upwards. In discussions, participants could con-
tribute according to their level while the language exercises such as the C-test were potentially of
value to all but the most advanced. In practice however those with a lower skill baseline felt less
and less able to contribute even though they could have made very useful observations even if
only in short form.
Reluctance to speak: Experience also shows that adult learners prefer to make audio posts in pri-
vate rather than in the classroom or open office situation. This seems paradoxical in an age of
ubiquitous use of the mobile phone in all contexts but this must accepted as a common reaction.
One solution may be to offer the option of oral posting by mobile phone. It may then seem more
natural.
Low priority: The time-saving and convenience of e-learning can be a drawback as well as an ad-
vantage. Participants tended to underestimate the time needed to benefit from the course. Also
the fact that the course was easily accessible through their normal work computer in a sense de-
valued the experience. The course became just one amongst many calls on their time and in many
cases the course was given a very low priority with consequent effect on drop out rates. Deadlines,
exams, salary raises or promotions dependent on the outcome of the course may help in this re-
gard although all these strategies fail to lead to intrinsic motivation.
Workload: All the participants mentioned how busy they were with work commitments and this
may be one disadvantage of a group from the same company since they are all more or less under
the same pressure. Interestingly pressure of work was also mentioned as a problem in the Lithua-
nian train the trainers pilot course. This may therefore be a common problem.
An unusual complication in this pilot is that the company was seriously considering starting an
e-business. While this was initially seen as an advantage by the teacher, it eventually became a big
disadvantage as the stakes became high as explained below in the teacher diary.

39
 Now I begin to realise that reality can get in the way of a good simulation. There is someone
in charge of this new project and she is very anxious for it to succeed. She doesn’t want an
English language course dictating the timetable and turn of events. She doesn’t want to be
interrupted by language exercises. When she holds a meeting about this project, she wants to
hold it in Danish because it is a real project with real aims, deadlines and priorities. I also have
a sense that the others in the group who are not involved in the real version of the project are
reluctant to interfere and come forward with suggestions of their own. The problem here is
where to draw the line between reality and language practice.

Participant-generated materials: It is important to note from this pilot that not all materials were
available from the beginning because some of the materials, like the C-test, were produced using
participant responses. It was possible to respond to participant input in other ways too as the ex-
tract from the teacher diary below demonstrates.

As B had minuted some language points I had mentioned during the session about vocabu-
lary frequency, I took the opportunity to run her text through a vocabulary analysis which
showed that she was indeed using words mostly from the 2000 most basic words and that
only about 8% of her words were not from the list. Since she had expressed scepticism about
this, it was very nice to be able to demonstrate the principle by using her own text as the
sample, in a spirit of discovery rather than in the spirit of ‘I told you so’.

Low interaction levels: As a result of the issues mentioned above the level of interactions was low.
This would be the major area of focus for improvement if this course were to be run again.
The course ended with a well thought out presentation which traced the reasons why a major
change in marketing strategy had been made.

The post course package: In this instance the package comprised

– The opportunity to have a competence assessment at the end of the course and as many other
times as desired through the freely available online tool.
– The e-portfolio and blog package could be used for professional development and to build a
network of like-minded professionals.
– Access to the course website for a specific period.
– Access to the archives of previous courses especially the resources gathered for these courses
such as websites and documents.
– Continued contact with course colleagues (although in this case these are also work colleagues
and so the network does not need so much nurturing).

Recommendations
These centre around technical issues and procedural matters.

1. Technical implementation
Security: Online learning is usually presented on a website which needs to be password protected.
This is to guard against malicious intervention and also to give learners some privacy in their work.
Yet the system needs to be open enough to allow two way communication (video, audio or text

40
chat) both between learners and their trainers and increasingly between learners and external
guests or experts.
Updatability: The course website needs to be a dynamic place which can be edited and updated
easily by the trainers. It is not effective if trainers have to notify technicians every time a change is
needed. There needs to be an original template to refer back to so that the original course is not
lost. There also needs to be an agreed procedure for when and how to implement changes.
Accessibility: There are a range of agreed standards for ensuring accessibility of web sites by disa-
bled people including:

• avoiding the use of frames,

• ensuring text size is adjustable,
• making sure the font and background colour is suitable for dyslexics,
• tagging every graphic with alternate text,
• offering a text only alternative and
• implementing speaking pages for those with poor visual skills.

When piloting a new e-learning course you should be alert to any additional issues of accessibility
which your pilot learners report to you.
Relevance: The competence assessment process needs to be checked to see if it gave valid results
and that a relevant learning experience was the outcome of the individualised program which was
devised.

2. Procedural considerations
Tool familiarisation: In e-learning it is vital to include a familiarisation period when prospective
learners can learn how to employ the course tools and become confident in their use. The tools
should be demonstrated wherever possible on the machine where they will be used. This is not a
trivial comment since the approach being advocated in this handbook is based on a large element
of communication, both text and audio. Many modern machines have audio latent but it is often
not activated since it is associated with frivolous activities such as listening to music. This means
that the settings must be set to allow inward and outward voice communication or maybe even
video in some cases. It may also mean that a headset including microphone must be added.
If an application such as Sun Java or Quicktime is to be used this usually involves a big one-off
download where certain security permissions have to be granted. This can be worrying for ICT
novices and may need to be negotiated with the IT department in some institutions. To overcome
long download times, course providers should consider gathering all the necessary software on a
CD-Rom and handing this out prior to the start of the course.
The main point here is that this familiarisation and setting up procedure takes time and should be
scheduled outside the course hours otherwise it detracts from the course itself. Especially when
working with adults, one cannot take basic ICT competence for granted.
Working methods: One very important aspect is to discuss with the learners where and how they
will be taking part in the course. Will it be at work or at home? If at work will it be during work time
or after hours? Also important to discuss is the question of exactly where your learners will work
if they plan on doing the course whilst on work premises. Will it be at their work stations or in a
special room?
Partners in the VOCA project found that these issues needed to be explicitly addressed otherwise
work commitments simply take over and prevent participants from completing the course. One
difficulty is that choosing to participate in the course while seated at your work station means that

41
it is difficult for colleagues to know that they should not disturb you. There could also be issues
about unwillingness to make oral posts when working in an open plan office.
Competence assessment: There is a strong case for separating the competence assessment from
the main part of the course. One very good reason for this is that it allows time for drawing up the
individualised programs and making any necessary fine-tuning adjustments to the course.
Criteria for success: The competence assessment results will be one major source of information
for deciding the success or not of the training. Other criteria will include how accessible the learn-
ers found the course. Results should be assessed taking into consideration the needs of the pilot
group and by taking account special needs which were not present but could be in the target
group later.
Another indicator of success is the level of interaction during the course. Thus two stage question
and answer interactions between trainer and learner are not as valuable as multi-stage discussions
involving many of the learners.
Several pilots may be necessary if the first pilot showed the need for major changes.

Conclusions
Running a pilot course in this way raises all sorts of practical considerations which need to be ad-
dressed before the course is offered on a more widespread or commercial basis. The perceptive
reader will have noticed that the case studies do not follow all the guidance contained in this
handbook. The guidance has been produced as a result of our experiences. We believe that follow-
ing the advice in this handbook would make for best results. However we should not overlook the
fact that the case studies are all success stories to a greater or lesser extent. It is therefore possible
to achieve good results by going in the directions outlined in the previous chapters. Against a
constantly changing technological background we are all in the process of enhancing our compe-
tence in this area.

Resources:
Dialang: http://www.dialang.org/intro.htm free language competence tests
Elgg: http://elgg.net free e-portfolio and blog

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