Tom Roper's Weblog

HE in FE: National Student Survey

An analysis of  results from the 2008 National Student Survey for students following HE courses in FE colleges, reported in today's Times Higher Education, shows students are mostly satisfied with the quality of teaching, but highly critical of the organisation of courses, with only 58 per cent saying courses were well organised and ran smoothly. And alarmingly for me and my colleagues delivering library services in the sector, 71 per cent said library resources were 'good enough' compared with 81 per cent in universities.

Ofsted on VLES

Ofsted publish today a report on the state of VLEs in schools and colleges, Virtual learning environments: an evaluation of their development in a sample of educational settings.
It's available as a pdf or Word file here

National Colleges week: Guardian supplement on Further Education

My heart leapt when I saw that the Guardian has run a paper supplement on the further education sector today, this being National Colleges Week. This supplement is not available online and closer reading shows it to be advertorial on behalf of the 157 Group, the  alliance of the soi-disant 'largest' FE colleges in England, though there is a web link to the more inclusive Association of Colleges on the front page.
The 157 Group, named after paragraph 157 in the Foster report, which reads, ' we advocate a quick review of reputation led by DfES, involving LSC and AoC to come forward with a range of practical proposals that capitalise on this lead. This review could result in a greater involvement of principals in national representation, in particular, those from larger, successful colleges where management capacity and capability exists to release them for this work. There is a strong need for articulate FE college principals to be explaining the services they give to society and how colleges can make a significant contribution to the economy and to developing fulfilled citizens.'
Will the FE sector end up like higher education, with multiple competing groups, like the 1994 group,  Guild HE,  Million+, the Russell Group and the University Alliance ?
Here's a little test.  Without checking their websites, match the statements below to the higher education group listed in the previous paragraph :
1. 'An association of leading UK research-intensive universities committed to maintaining the highest standards of research, education and knowledge transfer'
2. 'The member institutions have a balanced portfolio of research, teaching, enterprise and innovation'
3. 'An inclusive body, a key advocate for institutional diversity across higher education and a champion for the high quality and distinctive educational provision its members offer'
4. '...brings together [nnnn] internationally renowned, research-intensive universities'
5.  '...a major force in higher education, promoting aspiration and excellence, reaching millions through teaching and research'
Answers in the comments please. Candidates may wish to explain, for extra marks, the difference between 'leading research-intensive Universities' and 'internationally renowned, research-intensive universities', apart from the upper-case initial letter U in the first one.

No knowledge at LSC?

In an alarming but predictable article in today's Guardian, a TFPL report exposes the lack of co-ordination at the Learning and Skills Council, which controls  funding for  further education colleges. For those who, like me, work in colleges facing merger, there will be little joy at the quotation from one member of LSC staff who asks,  "faced with the merger of two further education institutions, how do I find out who has done this before?"
http://education.guardian.co.uk/further/story/0,,2290878,00.html