Case Study: Using Mobile Technology

to deliver eILPs for NEETS

By Sarah Hoss
Exec Summary
This is a report to inform the mTransition project (led by Pembrokeshire College) of a
short pilot study conducted in the summer break 2014 to trial the use of the mTransition
App to deliver a short intervention of one month to two groups of VET learners (14
learners) attending an engagement course to encourage them back into education and
training.
By giving learners the opportunity to participate in the planning and completion of their
eILP and monitor and document progress against agreed targets through the use of
mobile technology, we aimed to enrich their experience by increasing engagement and
introducing them to online learning resources.
It is hoped this intervention will assist Pembrokeshire College improve outcomes of these
young people.
The ambition is that what we learned through this pilot can help and inform our partners
to deliver similar activities to learners and progress the use of the mTransition App for
mobility learning, pastoral support and virtual tutoring.
Key to the success of this pilot was the face-to-face as well as remote support offered to
assist the learners develop their IT skills to make the most of the experience.





Introduction

Mobile learning at its best is where the equipment isnt the main focus of the activity, but enhances
the experience of the learner and encourages them to want to progress their learning by making it
an enjoyable, empowering experience.
Traditional desktop computers can be barriers to learning amongst small groups and less
experienced learners, Almond, Chawla, Brydges (2007) whilst mobile devices, because of their size,
mobility and wide adoption for social experiences, have the potential to engage learners in such a
way that the equipment becomes secondary.


Weiser (1991) stated the most profound technologies are those that disappear a perceptive
observation at the time. What Weiser was referring to was how technology becomes invisible once
it becomes the norm. One doesnt reflect on the remarkable thinness and opacity of paper; the way
the ball in a biro rolls seamlessly to deliver a thin layer of ink onto the paper; we just write things
down. The same is true of IT equipment when the context and equipment match. Young learners are
completely comfortable using hand held devices which disappear as they are used for texting,
keeping a diary and taking photos.
Hand held devices not only liberate the learner from the traditional classroom setting, but also
foster a sense of ownership. Most of the young people handed tablets greeted them with delight
and learned very quickly how to operate them.




The Pilot
The pilot would help achieve these aims and objectives of the project:
-use of the App as part of the pedagogical framework
-evaluate the App used with VET learners at risk to prevent them from becoming NEET
-Evaluate the App in learning mobility to address the problems of communication between involved
parties and the recording of learners non-formal learning experiences systematically.


Location
Pembrokeshire College is the largest provider of post-16 education in the county of Pembrokeshire,
located in rural west Wales, UK. The college employs about 500 staff and has over 10,000 learners.
The College delivers a wide range of academic and vocational training particularly focused on
delivering work-based learning and apprenticeships.
The college is committed to investing in IT and innovating in the application of IT in education,
specialising in the use of mobile technology for fostering engagement with those identified as being
NEET or at risk of becoming NEET.
As part of the transfer of innovation, the mTransition project is promoting its eILP App to tutors and
Learner Coaches who have direct contact with learners at risk of becoming NEET currently on work-
based learning programmes.


Methodology
Two groups of learners were identified. The learners were attending an ICT and an Engineering
taster course in the summer holiday having left school for a variety of reasons. The learners arrived
at college having been referred by the local careers service. From their referral form we were able to
ascertain their current educational position. Individual learner accounts were created on Moodle.
The main aim of the course was to up-skill and inspire the learners to progress to further study,
employment or work-based learning after completing the course. In the event we engaged with 14
learners.
Each learner was introduced to the project through an initial registration form which allowed them
to document their agreed personal statement of learning after consultation at the outset and
completion of the course.
The methodology was to engage face-to-face initially, introducing the learners to an android tablet
and train each learner in its use. A user name and password was created for each learner. A short
course was built onto Moodle and all learners enrolled onto the course.
An eILP was drawn up to encourage each learner to fully participate in their course. Targets were
agreed and completion dates were set up to enable learners to manage their time. Activities that
they could undertake on their own outside of the formal classroom setting to complete their course
were set up on their devices. Learners were also shown how to contact their mTransition tutor via
Instant Messaging. Progress was checked daily.




The learners were required to complete a course built around eight key elements:

1 Personal Development and Wellbeing
2 Employability
3 Health and Safety
4 Enterprise/selling
5 ESDGC
6 Welsh Language and Culture
7 Numeracy
8 Literacy


A short course on Moodle was developed covering these eight areas and activities were set to help
the learners fulfil them. Individual targets were discussed and agreed assist the learners through this
process.

The learners were also required to assist the project by feeding back their experiences of using the
tablet and the App. They were also empowered to exercise their learner voice using an online
platform (VocalEyes Digital Democracy) to register their own ideas for improving the course and rate
and debate each others ideas. This information was sent to the Colleges Managers. Some of their
ideas were turned into tangible actions. The most highly-rated ideas included changing the course
time to start later in the morning; having a higher rate of student allowance paid and cheaper food
made available in the canteen. The engineering uniforms were also highlighted as being not suitable
to fit female students feedback which helped the institution meet the learners needs.











mTransition activities to be accessed via the App outside the formal classroom:


Pathway link Targets/Goals
1&2 Personal Development/Employability 1. Do your TRaCIO at outset of course

Target: Increase score 2. Do your interim TRaCIO test

3. Do your final TRaCIO test


EVIDENCE: automatically generated on TRaCIO
which measures key soft skills via self-assessment by
learners and assessment by tutor with the results
showing any differences.
2 Employability 1. Research potential careers/jobs

Target: Develop career pathway
EVIDENCE: post a potential job on Padlet (an online
noticeboard platform for collaboration)

2. Research qualifications needed and courses

EVIDENCE: Prepare a route-map
5 ESDGC 1. Participate in digital decision-making in-house

Become a digital citizen
EVIDENCE: Show user account activity on VocalEyes
(a digital engagement tool)

2. Participate in Government consultation online


EVIDENCE: show 'Wales We want' activity on
VocalEyes.
7&8 Numeracy/Literacy
1. Gain knowledge of online learning thro web-based
tool e.g. Khan Academy; (maths) BBC
Bitesize;(curriculum-based fun activities) Topmarks
(maths utility).

Generate content and progress EVIDENCE: set up user account, participate.

2. Improve your LIT/NUM


EVIDENCE:Scores improving on the platforms used
and reported via the App.
The cross-cutting themes of equality/diversity and sustainability were also reflected.

Examples of user journeys

Student A
Student A had agreed to attend the engineering course following advice from her careers advisor.
Aged 16, student A had spent recent months in a pupil referral unit having had disciplinary issues in
the past. As a result of extended periods of absence and disrupted schooling student As educational
progress had been somewhat limited and she expressed at the initial meeting frustration that she
had not achieved what she felt she was capable of. In the Initial Assessment (online test) she had
achieved a level 2 grade in literacy an entry level 3 in numeracy the highest mark in her class. She
was keen to pursue learning and a possible career path into motor vehicle.
Student A did not have her own mobile device. Therefore, a Nexus android tablet was loaned to her
through the project. She was familiar with gaming and social media functions but had no prior
experience of using a mobile device in an educational context.
She quickly became familiar with using the App and was able to send instant messages to the tutor.
She was provided with access to the tablet whilst at College (using the institutions wifi connection).
This learner required face-to-face as well as virtual tutor support. As part of the course she was
introduced to an online learning resource (Khan Academy). This particularly sparked the learners
great interest. She spent some of her own time working through mathematical assignments. By the
end of the course, this learner was progressing to being able to take more charge of her own
learning and progress.
As part of the course, she participated in providing feedback to the institution via an online ideas
and crowd-sourcing system VocalEyes - and saw her suggestion (for better-fitting protective
overalls and boots for female students) turned into action. This experience, along with her mobile
learning, helped to increase her confidence levels and feel more engaged.

Student B
Student B was a young man hoping to gain employment as a coder/games designer attending an
introductory IT course. He was open enough to admit he had issues with attendance and
punctuality. He had achieved level 1 in both literacy and numeracy on his initial assessment. He
played an active role in the classroom and seemed to be really enjoying his course. He also
volunteered to make a film about using the App but struggled to recruit learners to take on the
presenting roles.
By the end of the course, he was proudly reporting that hed managed to attend each day on time.
As part of his individual targets he was tasked with researching job vacancies. By the end of his
course, with help, he had successfully researched potential job opportunities, and applied online for
two vacancies. This was seen as a very positive outcome for this particular learner. Since then, the
learner has enrolled onto a full-time college course.



Learner Feedback
Id rather use a tablet because its easier to use and I get my work done quicker.
I enjoyed doing the targets the tutors set. I would like to continue using a tablet.
Using the App helped make the learning more enjoyable and interesting.
The App was great and easy to use. I will use it again in the future.



Tutor Experience
The mTransition project has its own dedicated
tutor working directly with learners and
subject tutors (Sarah Hoss). One of the first
College tutors Sarah worked with on this pliot
was an IT tutor who was very enthusiastic
about using mobile technology for learning.
As part of the pilot, Heather (pictured) was
also issued with a tablet device and enrolled
as a tutor onto the Moodle course.
As had agreed that the learners were not
allowed to remove the devices from the
college campus, a negotiation took place in
which it was agreed that Heather would use
the tablets to deliver some of her classroom
based activities, such as taking photos and researching certain topics online, to assist the learners to
operate the tablet and manage the physical safety of the equipment by supervising the students
signing for the tablets and storing them in small lockers.
The tutor then agreed to give over some of her contact time to this pilot because we needed to give
the learners some time where they took ownership of their own learning outside of the classroom.
On two afternoons, Heather allowed the learners to be away from their main classroom and did
their own work completing targets set on the eILP with support from Sarah, their mobile learning
tutor.


Tutor Feedback
Using the tables improved the students self-confidence enormously. They loved using them
and felt that they had ownership of their learning.
I gave them a topic to research using the tablets they came back with great ideas. Then they
emailed each other the links for the webpages.
I feel that tablets are the way forward in learning and I look forward to the day that all
students at Pembrokeshire College will be able to be provided with tables to use with their
studies.
Being able to keep track of progress via eILPs is crucial for assisting at risk learners to
complete their studies by deepening the engagement between learner and provider.




Dissemination and Awareness Raising

During the delivery of this pilot, the mTransition tutor wrote a blog contemporaneously - see the
blog page of the mTransition website: www.mtransition.eu capturing the challenges and progress as
the project progressed. These were also shared via Twitter. It was planned to involve the learners in
filming a short video about their experience with the project (using the tablet video function) but in
the end this did not happen as time ran out, having struggled to recruit a presenter.

Course Evaluation
Upon completion of the course, all participants were invited to provide feedback via a survey
conducted by our independent evaluators, NIACE.
Outcomes
NIACE survey results:

Summary
(For details see the results box below provided by dissemination partner NIACE)




The learners who participated in the online survey reported that:
Of 11 students who participated in the online survey; eight reported the mobile app very or
quite useful in supporting their learning; eight reported they would like a tablet for keeping
track of their learning in future; seven agreed or strongly agreed it made learning more fun.
The App functions that they enjoyed the most were the individual targets; instant messaging
and courses. Two learners reported that they didnt enjoy using any parts of the App.
The majority used the App to demonstrate they had completed tasks; to keep track of their
work and to set and keep track of learning goals.
Eight of the 11 reported that they felt the App had benefited them by helping with their
employability skills (2 strongly agreed, 6 agreed), five agreed it helped with motivation (4
disagreed); that it made learning more interesting.




Critical Reflection
We set out to road-test a concept that eILPs could be delivered in a short intervention via the
mTransition App and provided tablets to ensure all learners had access. We had hoped that many
learners would use their own devices to ensure sustainability of the engagement. However, it
became clear at the outset that only one individual had their own device. This meant that the
intervention would only last for the duration that the learners had access to a project-owned device.

Based upon previous experience, the project also concerned about the need to safeguard the tablet
and ensure that it was not misused, lost, stolen or damaged. For this reason, it was agreed to issue
the tablets to the learners each day and ensure that they were returned. A locator App was also
installed into each device. The devices were all labelled and asset-tagged. They also needed to be
charged up safely. We used a special locker cupboard that had individual compartments with power
points to enable each learner to take ownership of the device during the day, returning it to a
dedicated locker on charge each evening. Ideally learners would have the App installed on their own
device and this would then remove this layer of complexity to the situation.
The advantage of using in-house devices was that the project tutors could be more prescriptive
about the sort of activities that the learners were required to do using the tablet. It created a
professional digital space for the learners and tutors to occupy in terms of online searches, which
Apps they had access to and the sorts of activities they did. Learners were introduced to various
learning platforms available online including BBC Bitesize (for topping up on their school work) and
Khan Academy (for mathematics).
The course tutor also used the tablets for other learning experiences such as taking photos and
creating presentations.
One learner brought in her own android tablet and the App was installed onto it.
The project pilot did not get the chance to try out the App on a mobile phone because none of the
cohort had an android phone.
Tablets look and feel more like
mini-computers than phones.
They are becoming much more
popular. Many are using tablets
for TV viewing and playing games.
It could be argued that this is a
good space for learning Apps
because it creates a sense of fun
and playfulness essential to
learning.
For example, a learner can be
tasked with undertaking an hour
of Khan Academy (maths) or to
reach a certain level, before
moving on to spending time on a
gaming App as a reward. In
practise this worked well in the
pilot - on one occasion the
learners had to be prompted to
pack up and go home because
they had become so engrossed in
their maths challenge they hadnt
noticed it was time to go home!
This was a startling and welcome
response in a group of learners
who had previously struggled to maintain concentration in the classroom and illustrated the
importance of finding a way to spark intrinsic motivation and fun in the learning environment.
One learner was very adept at operating the tablet. He was set a target to deliver training to the
other learners something he achieved with great confidence. Learners were encouraged to start
self-organising, rather than relying on the tutors. With encouragement, they started to help each
other, becoming teachers at certain points where one had the knowledge that the others lacked.
By the end of the pilot, the feeling was that learners had generally enjoyed using the tablets, had
treated the devices and each other with respect.
One wondered what would have happened if we had handed over the devices for the learners to
take home, once trust had been established. Some would have perhaps sustained their learning
even after they had left the course. Others may well have simply switched off the device if they felt
they didnt want to be in communication with the institution once they had finished their course.
The engineering group generally grasped the notion of e-learning and m-learning quickly and
expressed great support for this method of undertaking tasks and completing targets. As hands-on
learners, they seemed to really enjoy using a tablet instead of paper and pen and this also helped
some overcome their low levels of ability in writing clearly.
The greatest success was in helping these at risk young people research, find and apply for jobs
online. They were able to quickly send emails to prospective employers. They also enjoyed accessing
their own social media profiles via the tablet.
Two of the learners had learning difficulties. This raised an issue. Whilst they delighted in playing
with the tablets and accessing gaming Apps, would they find the text-based nature of the
mTransition App a barrier? And how would they manage the very small font size and the text-based
instant messaging facility? Accessibility was clearly an issue. In this pilot both learners received one-
to-one support to participate. One of these learners overcame her fear of the technology and
engaged in class-based activities using the tablet. This was a very satisfying outcome for her.
The IT group all expressed a desire to keep the tablets and to return to college in the following
academic year. Many discussions took place in-house about how we could realise this wish and also
use the equipment effectively to hit our project targets. It was decided to issue the tablets to new
learners to ensure more learners had the experience, whilst also communicating the outcome of the
pilot to the IT directors with the hope that more tablets would be purchased and used as learning
tools in the future to enhance learning inside and outside the classroom and to see such devices
disappear in the Weiser-sense.
Words and Photos: Sarah Hoss
mTransition Tutor, Pembrokeshire College, Sept 2014 s.hoss@pembs.ac.uk (+44) 07949 087111
For further information about the project and App please see:
www.mtransition.eu
Blog: http://mtransition.pembs.ac.uk/news
Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/m_Transition
Email: mtrans@pembrokeshire.ac.uk