Social networking for further education providers
By TJ (21-02-2008)
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Social networking could take on a whole new meaning for further education staff, thanks to new features on the Excellence Gateway – the online home for all post-16 learning and skills providers.
Visitors to the Excellence Gateway, a website for post-16 learning and skills providers, can now use its new social networking feature to instantly find and interact with others in the further education system. According to a QIA survey, the Excellence Gateway is regularly used by 42% of further education providers.
By creating a personal profile, users can discover others in the sector with similar interests, share ideas and resources, and get the answers to the issues most on their mind – everything from understanding how to work better with local employers, to what steps to take when dealing with disengaged learners. In turn, it will see the development of a dynamic online community, which brings together the knowledge of staff from right across the sector.
Social networking is just one of several new features that have been recently added to the portal. As well as the entire contents of the well-established Ask Butler e-learning website, it now boasts links to a range of FE-related Teachers TV videos, plus the Gold Dust resources – a suite of materials to help trainee teachers develop their professional skills.
The Quality Improvement Agency (QIA), which is developing the web-based portal, believes growth will be fuelled even further by the new social networking feature.
Barry Kruger, Director of Knowledge and Intelligence, said: “Clearly staff in the further education system are already benefiting from the resources found on the Excellence Gateway, and we are confident that this dynamic new range of features will increase its appeal still further.
“Whatever support further education staff require in their day-to-day work – from how to prepare for an imminent college inspection, to how to find new methods for dealing with a disengaged class – the Excellence Gateway has something which can help.”
The Excellence Gateway can be found at http://excellence.qia.org.uk/.
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