A selection of

ILT/eLearning comments from

Ofsted Annual Assessment
Visits of
Colleges in the West Midlands

Jim Judges jim.judges@wlv.ac.uk Dec.2007

JISC RSC West Midlands www.rsc-wm.ac.uk
(1) 11/10/07
How effective is the use of information learning technologies
(ILT) across all sector subject areas?: Significant Progress

At the last inspection, inspectors found that in better lessons the use of
ILT was good, as was access to computers across the college for staff
and learners. However, the use of ILT in lessons was limited in many
sector subject areas, an area for improvement noted in the college’s
self-assessment report. The college has taken substantial action to
address this issue. A review of ILT resources and the skills of staff has
taken place. The college established action plans to remedy identified
problems and initiated training programmes for staff, and in sector
subject areas where ILT skills and use were weaker. Staff now receive
regular training on the use of ILT and specific training for particular
areas of need and interest. Observations of teaching and learning now
refer clearly to the use of ILT by teachers. The college has nearly
doubled the budget for ILT between
2005/06 and 2006/07 to provide learners with resources which are of a
high standard, motivating and innovative. Teachers’ and learners’ use
of ILT has increased very substantially by over five fold between
2005/06 and 2006/07 including in the sector subject areas where there
were issues.

(2) 05/07/2007
How effective is the use of information learning technology
(ILT) at
the college?
The 2005/06 self-assessment report noted a key area for improvement
in the use of ILT in some lessons. Managers have taken substantial
action to resolve this issue. Investment in ILT over the last two year has
been marked. Training for staff to improve their use of ILT is frequent
and regular. Within sector subject areas, staff use a variety of good
approaches with ILT. These include the preparation and presentation of
learning materials, the innovative use of these materials in lessons
through ILT by teachers and learners, visits to educationally relevant
chat rooms and the checking of understanding and knowledge. All
course reviews make sure the use of ILT is effective. Since the last
inspection, managers and staff have ensured the use of the college’s
virtual learning environment is no longer restricted to some sector
subject areas only.

(3) 19/06/2007
What actions has the college taken to further improve the
quality of teaching and learning? What has been the impact of
these actions?
The college has a clear focus on improving the quality of teaching and
learning, and regularly reviews staff training, the use of learning
resources and curriculum development to promote further
improvements.

All teachers are observed by a member of the college lesson

observation group once every two years. In addition, all staff are also
observed annually by their line manager. Observation forms are
detailed and judgemental but lack specific and focused actions for
improvement. The outcomes of lesson observations are used in staff
performance reviews and to inform self-assessment. These outcomes
are also used to plan staff development activities and share good
practice across the college.

The college notes improvements in teaching and learning in the

current year against the areas identified in the 2005/06 self-
assessment report. These include more active involvement of learners
in lessons, greater account taken of the individual needs of learners
and increased use of integrated learning technology (ILT) to support
learning. The proportion of lessons judged to be good or better
increased from 64% in 2005/06 to 79% in 2006/07.

(4) 15/06/2007
Quality of education and training
How is the college maintaining good quality teaching and
learning?
The college has built substantially on the good teaching and learning
identified at the last inspection in November 2006. Managers set high
standards for teaching and learning. Teachers take pride in their work
and want to make teaching and learning better for learners. The
college has improved on the good aspects of teaching and has added
further strengths including stronger checks on learners’ progress.
Teachers continue to make better and more effective use of ILT and
make very good use of pertinent examples from life and the workplace
to ensure teaching and learning is relevant.

A group of fully trained and experienced staff observe lessons and

give constructive feedback to teachers. Their work has led to
continuing improvement in teaching and learning. In addition to being
observed and graded once, teachers observe an experienced or
outstanding teacher to help them improve their teaching. Moderation
of observation is rigorous. The college has made good progress in
moving satisfactory teaching to good. Effective staff development and
support is effective in addressing weaker teaching.

What progress has taken place to resolve the dull teaching and
insufficient account of individual learning needs in a minority
of lessons?
 The last inspection identified that in a small minority of lessons
teachers did not take sufficient account of individual learning needs
and teaching was dull. The college has provided extensive staff
development and supported staff well through a range of initiatives to
resolve these issues, particularly for new staff by the use of mentors.
Support for staff in handling poor behaviour is now stronger. Training
sessions encourage teachers to talk less and to provide learners with a
range of activities.
These initiatives have an effective focus on meeting learners’
individual learning needs and preferred ways of learning. To support
these initiatives staff make good use of the virtual learning
environment and electronic discussion boards.

(5) 21/06/2007
Quality of education and training
How successful have initiatives to improve the quality of
teaching and learning, including the revisions to the lesson
observation arrangements, proved to be?

The quality of lessons has improved with close to three-quarters of

lessons graded good or better. The proportion of lessons judged
inadequate is very small. The areas for improvement are identified
clearly using analysis of observation reports. These include several
recurring weaker areas, namely, less effective questioning techniques
and a lack of variety in the use of teaching methods. An extensive
range of staff development takes place, including twilight session for
up to four evenings a week throughout the year. However, some areas
of teaching and learning requiring improvement are not always given
high priority in the overall planning of staff development.

The work of three advanced practitioners is proving successful. Their

role as a mentor and as a facilitator to ensure that teachers are given
support and helped to develop their skills is becoming increasingly
influential in improving teachers’ practice.

The college has supported all its teachers to strengthen their literacy
and numeracy skills and is about to undertake an audit of IT skills to
help provide appropriate support and development work. The
resources available to support greater use of information and learning
technology (ILT) in lessons have been improved by the addition of well-
resourced learning centres based in curriculum areas in various parts
of the college.

(6) 12/06/2007
Quality of education and training
How effective have actions taken to improve the quality of
teaching and learning, including the use of information and
learning technology (ILT) since the last inspection proved to
be?

• Work is ongoing to improve the quality of teaching and learning.

The college is part-way through its cycle of lesson observations
in the current year and has completed three-quarters of the total
number. All teachers are observed. The process is very rigorous
and used well to support and develop teachers. The focus is
clearly on evaluating learning and this has been well supported
by relevant staff development and guidance.
Observers and teachers have taken this very seriously. The profile of
grades from lessons observed indicates, based on observations to
date, that the quality of lessons is similar to the previous year, with
about two thirds of lessons graded as good or better. The very small
proportion of inadequate teaching has largely been eradicated. The
college’s target of a higher proportion of good or better teaching in
2006/07 is unlikely to be met.

• The sharing of good practice is increasing, but takes place

largely in subject areas and is not yet widespread across the
college.

• The use of ILT has increased and students gave many good
examples of how it is used in learning. Increased, up-to-date
resources are planned and budgeted for, to be in place for the
next academic year. A detailed ILT development plan is in place,
which covers relevant training needs.

How have physical resources and accommodation been

improved to ensure an adequate learning environment in the
areas judged at inspection to be unsuitable or poorly
equipped?

• The college has been involved for several years in careful

consideration of various options to improve its overall
accommodation….

• The college has also funded considerable improvements to the

ILT resource base, including more data projectors and digital
media systems as well as a new server to allow remote access to
the intranet for staff and students.

How well is information and learning technology (ILT) used to

enhance the learning experience for students?

• The college recognises that the use of ILT to support and

enhance teaching and learning is underdeveloped. Practically all
classrooms have a data projector coupled with an internet-linked
computer. Discussions with students and curriculum area leaders
suggest these are used regularly and appropriately. Provision of
interactive white boards is very limited. A virtual learning
environment (VLE) is under development. The college’s
experience of using Digital Brain was not particularly successful
and the use of Moodle is now being trialled by several curriculum
areas before an expected roll-out across the whole college next
academic year. Developments are properly supported by an
action plan. An ILT ‘champion’ promotes the use of ILT and is
improving teachers’ understanding of its advantages. A very
useful monthly newsletter is produced to increase teachers’
awareness of sources of e-learning resources. Students can
access e-mail and some parts of the VLE from home and
appreciate the opportunity to submit their work and receive it
back once assessed by this method and have marked work
returned in the same way.