Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council’s adult skills and community learning (ASCL) service made it a priority to offer the new digital entitlement to Barnsley residents as soon as it became available in September 2020. The team, led by Skills and Qualifications Manager, Diane Cooper-Ramsden, is rolling out free Essential Digital Skills Qualifications (EDSQs) based on the national standards using the Gateway awarding body and also embedding Essential Digital Skills (EDS) training across all curriculum provision as part of a three-year digital strategy. They have found that an introductory course has been necessary to scaffold learners’ skills and confidence up to Entry 3 level and have now had success in helping learners to achieve EDSQs.
We interviewed:
Diane and her team believe that the new national standards and associated qualifications for essential digital skills are a real breakthrough:
Lesley Beckwith, Subject Lead Tutor for ICT at Barnsley ASCL Service, reflects on the need for Essential Digital Skills training.
The overhaul that was needed…
A real eye opener…
The first step in realising the vision of the digital strategy was to build the skills and confidence of tutors across all provision to deliver EDS courses. When the Covid-19 pandemic dictated remote delivery, there was a further need to support tutors to make the transition from classroom delivery.
The Barnsley ASCL team turned to the Education and Training Foundation’s Essential Digital Skills CPD Programme. They found the online resources on the ETF’s Enhance Digital Teaching Platform very useful for self-directed learning, not just to prepare tutors for EDS delivery but also to support tutors’ use of educational technology (EdTech) for remote teaching. They also found the EDS webinars a valuable opportunity to speak to other providers in the same position and swap ideas.
As a starting point, they asked tutors to undertake the Essential Digital Skills self-assessment on the platform, which generates a capability profile signposting which training modules are relevant depending on the particular spikey profile of each practitioner.
They established a digital skills champions group with a tutor representative from each curriculum area. The group meets regularly to share good practice and leads on staff training and use of digital tech within teaching and learning, to supplement tutors’ self-directed learning. They try out tools and pedagogical approaches which can then be cascaded.
Two members of the group, including ICT Tutor Jayne Smith, successfully applied to become EdTech Mentors supported by grant funding from the ETF. The EdTech Mentors have built a Padlet to look at different platforms and technologies which can be used across all teaching areas and have created video tutorials for staff. At the next staff CPD day, they are planning to introduce the EnhanceDTP EdTech modules to all staff. They will also support tutors by helping them to identify the modules that will help them develop the specific aspects of their practice they have chosen to improve.
Barnsley ASCL service has now signed up for the ETF’s EdTech and Essential Digital Skills Management Dashboard which will allow them to track and support staff progress.
Lesley Beckwith, Subject Lead Tutor for ICT at Barnsley ASCL Service, and Jayne Smith, ICT Tutor, found the ETF’s CPD programme useful.
Diane Cooper-Ramsden, Skills and Qualifications Manager, at Barnsley ASCL Service says it’s important to recognise where staff have already embedded essential digital skills.
Speaking to other providers implementing EDS
… actually this already happens
The team focused on recruiting existing learners to EDS courses to start with, to build on the established rapport they had developed with these learners. This also helped to overcome recruitment difficulties caused by lockdown that made it impossible to market via paper-based materials to those who are digitally excluded.
When they put the learners through initial assessment, they found that none of their learners had the necessary digital skills to start an Entry 3 course, so they had to create an introductory course as a stepping stone to the Entry 3 level course. Jayne commented that they were surprised to find that even on Level 2 courses learners lacked some of the key skills set out in the EDS framework – for example, “some learners were very scared at recording a video.” They found that “people often had the kit but didn’t have the skills”.
Diane Cooper-Ramsden, Skills and Qualifications Manager, at Barnsley ASCL Service reflects on the skills required for EDSQ Entry 3.
Entry 3 is a little too high?
From September to December, they delivered a short introductory course followed by an EDSQ programme at Entry 3. They started with a blended approach with 2.5 hours in class and 2.5 hours online a week but changed this to three hours in class and two hours online as learners needed more face-to-face support. The introductory course focused in the beginning on giving learners the confidence and skills to go online.
Two cohorts of 12 learners in total completed the EDSQ and nine learners passed with really high marks. The team found it a learning curve and have decided to introduce the online exams platform much earlier in future courses as learners found this challenging to use.
The team was able to start another EDSQ course fully online during the third lockdown. The plan (in March 2021) is to pursue a blended approach and to continue with a short introductory course but to adjust the content. The new introductory courses will focus on addressing the specific skills gaps related to the national standards which have been identified from the learners’ initial BKSB assessments. Barnsley believes that their introductory courses can be funded through the new entitlement as well as the actual EDSQs.
Barnsley ASCL service is also taking part in the Essential Digital Skills Action Research programme, focusing a project on ESOL learners to explore the barriers that exist to EDS across the curriculum.
At Barnsley ASCL Service, the plan is to embed Essential Digital Skills across all areas of curriculum provision according to Skills and Qualifications Manager, Diane Cooper-Ramsden.
The ASCL service is now working towards embedding EDS training across all curriculum provision.
Diane Cooper-Ramsden, Skills and Qualifications Manager, is helping to introduce Essential Digital Skills in Barnsley Council’s workforce development programme.
This golden thread
EDS for Council staff
Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council’s adult skills and community learning (ASCL) service provides courses to around 2,250 adults with approximately 700 learners on adult learning programmes and the remainder on accredited programmes. The service focuses particularly on areas of disadvantage and has been rated by Ofsted as ‘Good’. Learners follow courses in maths, English, ESOL, social care, childcare, information and communication technology (ICT), learning support, independent living skills, sugarcraft, sewing, photography and art. A higher proportion of Barnsley residents have no qualifications compared with national and regional rates.