Open Flexible Distance Learning (OFDL) - Evaluation Report - Executive Summary

The Open Flexible and Distance Learninig (OFDL) Project

The OFDL resources include materials for:

– Core Skills at Access 3, Intermediate 1 and 2 and Higher
– Business Studies, History, Geography, Modern Studies and Art & Design at Advanced Higher

The OFDL resources are housed on the Learning and Teaching Scotland website and are currently available in a variety of formats such as Word, PDF and interactive downloads for VLEs, at: www.ltscotland.com/NQ/coreskills/index.asp

Current OFDL materials for the new Business Administration at Higher Level, are available on the Learning and Teaching Scotland website at:
www.ltscotland.org.uk/NQ/subjects/businessmanagement.asp

Evaluation Aim

This evaluation aimed to explore the impact of the OFDL Project on students, teachers and the FE lecturers. The key research questions are detailed below with the main findings of the evaluation.

Methodology

The research design employed a mixed methods approach. It involved both quantitative and qualitative methods to supplement and enrich the data sources, which were drawn mainly from teaching staff and students in a representative sample of secondary schools and FE colleges in Scotland. The approaches adopted included both open and closed questions on a survey, one-to-one interviews and focus groups with staff and students. The research also included the views of local council personnel from the eight education services with responsibility for the ICT provision in the study samples’ secondary schools.

Research questions and key findings

The main findings are highlighted below under the evaluation’s key research questions.

What is the level of uptake of the OFDL resources in schools and FE colleges across Scotland?

The survey respondents spanned the subject range of OFDL’s resources. However, prior to the study the majority of respondents indicated that they were not aware of the OFDL resources (53%: 38 out of 72 respondents). When the survey data was Study of Open, Flexible and Distance Learning (OFDL) Project broken down by sector, it was clear that the vast majority of FE respondents were aware of the resources (87%: 13 out of 15 respondents), whereas only a minority of the secondary school teachers indicated that they had heard of the resources (36%: 21 out of 59 respondents). In order of popularity were Numeracy, Communication, Problem Solving, IT and Working With Others.

Does uptake vary between local authorities, and between secondary schools and FE colleges?

The Core Skills materials were more likely to have been used by FE lecturers than by the secondary school teachers. A minority of teacher respondents indicated that they were aware of the resources (36%: 21 out of 59 respondents) prior to the study, compared to a majority of the FE lecturers (87%: 13 out of 15 respondents). A small number of survey respondents had used the subject-specific resources for teaching, this session or last session.

How effective are the resources in improving the quality of learning and teaching?

The FE case study interviewees (Cases A, B, C) all agreed that the Core Skills resources were useful for catering for multilevel classes. It enabled them to have the flexibility to allow students to work at their own pace and finish materials off at home either online or on paper worksheets derived from the OFDL materials. The evidence suggested that the OFDL materials were a useful addition to teaching approaches but were not used as a stand-alone resource. The recently updated OFDL materials for the new Business Administration Higher course were much appreciated in the Case Study school (Case D). There was some evidence that the Core Skills materials were used flexibly by Learning Support not only in FE colleges but also in schools. One suggested improvement for learning support purposes would be the addition of an optional audio component.

How effective are the resources in improving attainment for individuals, and overall for schools, colleges and local authorities?

The overall evidence suggested that the summative assessments used in practice by FE lecturers and teachers are predominantly only indirectly linked to these materials, although this may change in the near future. Paper-based assessments are typically used. However, the FE lecturers/teachers found these materials provided a very helpful comparator for the assessment levels of the new NQ framework. A minority of users of the materials in Numeracy and Communication said that their own students’ attainment had improved as a result of using the OFDL resources. The overwhelming evidence suggested that any observed improvements in attainment could not be attributed solely to one method of delivery because pickand-mix teaching approaches were the norm. Students in the case studies, however, said that the reinforcement offered by the exercises on the OFDL resources would probably help them to be prepared for their assessments in the future.

How effective are the processes adopted in identifying and utilising resources and skills available within the education community to produce the materials?

The overwhelming evidence suggested that the Numeracy resources were the most successful. In this study, the integration phase of the OFDL materials has been more successful in the FE colleges than schools. Local councils in conjunction with Learning and Teaching Scotland still need to provide CPD opportunities for teachers to review the materials and develop them further in their own settings. SCHOLAR was generally commended. There was a suggestion that it might be worthwhile for the producers of SCHOLAR to form a partnership with Learning and Teaching Scotland and local councils for future developments in online learning at Higher and Advanced Higher Levels.

Are there any discernable spin-offs from the OFDL project?

Due to the overall lack of awareness of the resources in schools to date, it was too soon to record spin-offs in this sector. The desire to contextualise the Core Skills materials in the FE colleges has lead to Core Skills lecturers approaching the subject specialists to find out what topics can best be included as part of courses in Communication and Numeracy. A Numeracy example is ratio for landscape gardeners, and a Communication example was the use of trade magazines, about motor vehicles and/or hairdressing, as source materials.

What is the impact of the OFDL project on other subject areas and levels?

There was limited evidence in this study’s sample that the OFDL resources had been utilised by subject-specialist areas in FE colleges and schools. However, some departments that indicated they had used the resources included Learning Support, Guidance, Computing and Business Studies.

How effective are the processes adopted to produce the materials in terms of product quality and value for money?

Overall the vast majority of respondents who had used the materials were favourably disposed to them. Eighty-three per cent (83%) of respondents were either ‘very satisfied’ or ‘satisfied’ with the OFDL resources (20 out of 24 replies). Seventy-three per cent (73%: 16 out of 22 replies) strongly agreed or agreed with the statement that the Core Skills materials were really good. Similarly, 91% of respondents familiar with the resources said that they were user-friendly (20 out of 22 replies). Most respondents who had used the resources also agreed or strongly agreed that the quality was good (86%: 19 out of 22 replies). The users’ guide was seen as helpful by a majority of survey item respondents (82%: 18 out of 22 replies). In terms of value for money, the fact that the majority of sample school respondents were currently unaware of the OFDL resources needs to be addressed with some further publicity and/or CPD made available through the sample local councils, in conjunction with Learning and Teaching Scotland.

How effective are the materials in improving the learning experience of young people?

Of the survey respondents who had used the resources, the overwhelming majority (89%: 17 out of 19 returns) indicated that they were very useful or somewhat useful. In fact eighty-three per cent (83%: 14 out of 17 returns) responded that the interactive IT element provides an interesting learning environment. For the purposes of formative assessment, however, the interactive nature of the resources needed to be further developed, according to the majority of survey respondents. It may be too early to evaluate fully the materials, but there was scant evidence to suggest that the students are positively enjoying using the OFDL materials, although they did clearly like being online. OFDL materials for Business Administration and History were generally seen as helpful, but it has to be noted that the introduction of interactive and animated sequences would be appreciated. The online materials were viewed as an invaluable stopgap measure, which was freely available to all schools.

How can the processes adopted inform future developments in the 21st Century?

This was a difficult topic because most teachers and lecturers said that time available to review the resources and develop new courses was limited. Email and hard copy channels of communication were problematic. Indeed in-house professional development events and working together with colleagues to develop and validate courses to be used in conjunction with the OFDL resources were seen as the most productive ways to promote materials. Certainly the FE colleges’ VLEs allowed student folders to be individually tailored to their needs. It was hoped that the Scottish Schools Digital Network (SSDN) might be able to facilitate the improvement of access arrangements for students in secondary schools. Both lecturers and teachers complained, nonetheless, of inadequate computer facilities. This was particularly problematic for teachers in ICT-impoverished areas of the curriculum, and was an area still requiring attention for subjects other than Computing and Business Studies. Certainly, a senior manager exclaimed: ‘ICT…is an exponential growth area at the moment!’

Concluding remark

In conclusion, the evidence suggests that materials have not been sufficiently publicised and reviewed to date in the study sample schools. However, where there is familiarity with the resources, as was apparent in the majority of the study’s FE colleges, they were highly regarded as useful materials. They are typically used with blended teaching approaches and are not seen as a stand-alone resource. Respondents who had used the Core Skills resources, mainly FE lecturers, preferred to contextualise the materials to suit the needs of their own students. Further development of online learning resources could be encouraged at the grass roots level by local authorities, in conjunction with Learning and Teaching Scotland, for materials to support the less motivated students in the middle to upper end of the secondary schools in their local settings.

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