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Excellence Gateway Case Studies

These case studies, a sample of examples from the region, reflect good practice in e-
learning across the post-16 learning and skills sector.

To read the following West Midlands case studies in full, and see further examples from our
region, including those from the other Regional Support Centres across England, visit:
Bttp://tiny.cc/rnVzRc. Alternatively, follow the link from the home page of the Excellence
Gateway website (www.excellencegateway.org.uk) to µcase studies on good e-practice¶

Dudley College: Getting tBe message across tBrougB tBe staff intranet
This case study outlines the development of a staff intranet for communicating the role and
services of the IT department to the rest of the College.

Dudley College: Monitoring network performance

In March 2007, Dudley College took advantage of a free e-Progress Review - a service
offered by the JISC Regional Support Centres (RSC) across the UK. The process highlighted
many positive areas and made recommendations for future developments. One of these
recommendations included the implementation of software for monitoring network
performance.

Halesowen College: Learning advocates for ILT

Halesowen College employed a group of its own students as µLearning Advocates' to provide
practical IT support to teachers and fellow students. The project also enables students to
become directly involved with the college's technology strategy, by allowing them to
express their ideas and opinions on new technologies for teaching and learning.

NortB East WorcestersBire College: Podcasting for flexible learning

Various tutors across different subject areas have incorporated podcasting as a flexible
approach to teaching and learning. Available through the College's virtual learning
environment, the podcasts have provided a more engaging way of communicating, as well
as an effective method for revision and an opportunity to catch up on missed lessons.

Sandwell College: Engaging learners tBrougB classroom management software

Sandwell College uses SynchronEyes software in the Learning Centres, Learning Bases and
IT classroom. It allows staff to monitor internet access, and ensure that students stay on
task. SynchronEyes is also an engaging and interactive tool for learning which includes
features such as a built-in voting system, the ability to share files, µask the teacher', µchat'
within small groups, and write and administer quizzes.

Sandwell College: Learning materials undergo MetamorpBosis

Sandwell College has purchased Metamorphosis - e-learning authoring software that
converts Microsoft Word and PowerPoint documents into more interactive learning objects
through features such as images, quizzes and closed exercises.
SoliBull College: Blogs for Travel and Tourism
Solihull College introduced blogging for students to record their experiences whilst on
overseas study visits. This has proved to be a popular alternative to traditional paper-based
reports.

SoutB BirmingBam College: Engaging learners tBrougB webquests

Tutors at South Birmingham College who work with pre-16 learners have discovered that
webquests are a good way of engaging their students and keeping them on task.
A webquest is a learning activity where learners read, synthesize and evaluate information
gathered from the Internet. The information is then used, for example, on collaborative
class projects.

SoutB BirmingBam College: Individual learning plans in Moodle

South Birmingham College has developed new online individual learning plans (ILPs) to
reflect the recently revised paper-based ILPs. The online ILPs have been integrated into the
College's virtual learning environment, Moodle.

Stafford College: LRC uses self-assessment toolkit

Stafford College undertook a free self-assessment of its learning resource centre using a
toolkit developed by the Council for Learning Resources in Colleges (Colric) and the FE and
HE group of Cilip (CoFHE). The tool provided a way of evaluating quality of service and
served as a useful benchmarking exercise.

Sutton Coldfield College: Development of tBe STAR student reflection system

This case study outlines the development of an in-house system which allows students to
reflect on their own progression and achievements. The system is also used effectively at
the enrolment stage for determining students' suitability to study certain subjects.

Telford College of Arts and TecBnology: Database development for recording

continuing professional development (CPD)
This case study outlines the development of a tool for recording staff development events.

Telford College of Arts and TecBnology: Eluding tBe VLE ± development of a

teacBing and learning Bub
This case study highlights the move away from a traditional Virtual Learning Environment
(VLE) and outlines how an FE college has made effective use of its existing system for
sharing teaching and learning materials.

Worcester College of TecBnology: MrCute ± developing tBe repository for tBe

Moodle VLE
This case study outlines the development of an optional add-on to the existing repository for
the Moodle virtual learning environment (VLE). The MrCute project is a result of funding
from the Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC), and extends the work carried out
previously by Alton College in Hampshire of the Instructional Management Standards (IMS)
repository.

Worcester College of TecBnology: Developing MrCute 2 for Moodle

Thanks to further funding from the Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC), Worcester
College of Technology has developed MrCute 2 - an enhanced version of the optional
repository add on to Moodle developed in 2008. For details of the original MrCute project,
read the case study.