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Some of the best sites with a range of information, advice, resources and other items, and which don't fit in a single category.
ACLearn.net is a really useful site for all of us, but especially for those of you working with Adult and Community Learning (ACL). It is there to provide e-learning support for the ACL sector. It's at http://www.aclearn.net/about/
Acronyms -Add this page to your Favourites to find an instant answer to any future queries regarding lifelong learning acronyms. Provided by NIACE (National Institute for Adult and Continuing Education) http://www.niace.org.uk/Information/Guides/Acronyms/Default.htm
Big Dog's Bowl of Biscuits - is a really good site, produced by Don Clark, with detailed content on training, large numbers of links and much more. http://www.nwlink.com/~donclark/index.html
Deliberations is designed to act as:
a resource for academic and all other staff supporting learning and teaching in higher education around the world. Material is arranged under the headings of "generic" and "subject-specific" learning and teaching issues, and "other" educational matters.
an interactive forum for participants to discuss and develop ideas, and identify resources that will develop their practice. For further information on the forum see deliberations-forum.
http://www.londonmet.ac.uk/deliberations/
When you call your website an 'Excellence Gateway', as a large section of the newly refreshed Quality Improvement Agency - QIA website is now, you have a lot to live up to. What then is it really like?
The site draws together a large number of resources from diverse sources and web sites across the sector, including the Adult Learning Inspectorate, FERL (Further Education Resources for Learning); INTUTE, and others. This means there are many resources available. Unlike the TTRB however, they aren't critically evaluated, so it is a bit of a challenge to find things which are really useful. There doesn't seem to be a very sophisticated way of searching, so you can end up with thousands of resources, and only a maximum of 30 per page displayed. A bit disappointing overall, but do have a look.
Geoff Petty - Geoff is one of the best-selling writers and most engaging thinkers about education, and he has a very useful web site with much available for teachers at all levels. The site is at http://www.geoffpetty.com/index.html and is a must to visit.
'Gold Dust' Resources 'These resources are designed to support the development of generic skills, knowledge and understanding of trainee teachers and trainers in the lifelong learning sector. They have also been used very effectively by many of the providers who took part in the 'gold-dust' pilot project, as part of an organisation's continuing professional development programme. Some of the sections are more comprehensive than others in terms of coverage of the themes. One of the roles of the proposed Centres for Excellence in Teacher Training is that they will disseminate, develop and update these resources. This should ensure that there is a good range of resources for all themes and that the resources are updated appropriately.
The resources include:
Information sheets
Video footage
Activities
Well worth taking a look at at http://www.goldust.org.uk/
Guide to Effective Teaching and Learning is the result of a standards fund project between Sparsholt College Hampshire and the South East Land Based Colleges. It contains a good deal of useful content.
Infed.org, the site for Informal Learning, is simply one of the best educational web sites around. It's a comprehensive, accessible, absorbing, authoritative and well designed site. In fact it's an absolute gem, with masses of excellent content. The main site sections are :
Make sure you browse, as there is a huge amount on this site. http://www.infed.org/index.htm
The Institute for Learning (IfL) describes itself as 'the professional body for teachers, trainers, tutors and student teachers in the learning and skills sector. By listening to and supporting the needs of our members, we continue to raise the status of teaching practitioners across the sector. We celebrate the diverse nature of the sector, including: adult and community learning, emergency and public services, further education colleges, Ministry of Defence and armed services, the voluntary sector, offender education and work-based learning. We are run by a Council, over half of whom are elected from the membership. Council directs the strategic policy of the Institute, which is managed and implemented by staff.' At: http://www.ifl.ac.uk/
IfL Professional Formation Support Pack - added 20/10/08
During Autumn 2004 nine Initial Teacher Training (ITT) centres started developing models for introducing or improving mentoring practice in their institutions. This initial group was joined the following year by a further and much larger group looking to develop new ways to deal with initial assessment, individual learning plans and teacher observation practice.
The pilots were part of a Department for Education and Skills (DfES), Standards Unit programme of work, commissioned as one response to the challenges set out by the Equipping our Teachers for the Future: Reforming Initial Teacher Training for the Learning and Skills Sector. More specifically, the pilot programme of work looked to respond to some of the proposals contained in theme 3 (Developing leaders, teachers, trainers and support staff of the future).
The pages are a very useful resource for Initial Teacher Training, and start at: http://www.ittpilotresources.org.uk/introduction.html
Learning and Skills Network
The Learning and Skills Network (LSN) is an independent not-for-profit organisation committed to making a difference to learning and skills. Good sections on research, publications (including many LSDA publications freely downloadable), and others. At www.lsneducation.org.uk
Learning and Teaching from James Atherton is 'three linked sites exploring learning and teaching in college, adult and professional education'. Excellent throughout, with sections on theory and practice, which are authoritative, informative and thought-provoking. http://www.learningandteaching.info/
DOCEO is one of the other sites, and is described as 'this site contains ideas and supporting material to complement my more focussed stuff. Most of it relates to learning and teaching, based on handouts and lecture digressions developed over the years.'. http://www.doceo.co.uk/
The more 'focussed stuff' is 'about theories of learning in a post-school educational context'. http://www.dmu.ac.uk/~jamesa/learning/index.htm
There is a how to teach section at http://www.dmu.ac.uk/~jamesa/teaching/contents.htm
Oxford Centre for Staff and Learning Development at Oxford Brookes University, which does a good deal of work with teacher training, so well worth a look. The section on learning and teaching is at: http://www.brookes.ac.uk/services/ocsd/2_learntch/2_learnt.html
The home page is at: http://www.brookes.ac.uk/services/ocsd/index.html
Quality Improvement Agency describes itself as follows: 'QIA funds programmes and provides services designed to raise the quality of education and training in the further education system.' www.qia.org.uk
Talking Teachers - Extremely good site to visit for talking through any problems relating to teaching practice. School focussed, but still worth a look. http://www.talkingteaching.com/resources/archive.cfm?cat=5
teacher training resource bank (ttrb)
The Teacher Training Resource Bank (TTRB) is a three-year project supported by the Training and Development Agency for Schools which aims to:
Make the Initial Teacher Education (ITE) professional knowledge base more easily accessible.
Reference effective practices in all subject areas and across phases.
Increase the quality and range of ITE resources available.
Raise the status of ITE research and knowledge.
Promote and effect change by supporting tested knowledge transfer and adoption strategies.
Provide a personalised support service for teacher educators and those training to teach.
It's aimed at teacher training in schools but there is much relevant content on the site for all teacher training. For example:
Tutors and trainees will find this guide useful in developing a critical approach to searching for education-based material on the web. It was produced by library staff from the University of London's Institute of Education and forms part of INTUTE's Virtual Training Suite.
It complements and follows on from the Internet Detective tutorial that is a more widely based guide to using the web for research.
The Behaviour 4 Learning website aims to ensure that teacher educators and trainees are provided with high quality relevant resources that enable trainers and trainees engage with the principles of behaviour for learning to improve the management of classroom behaviour, enable achievement and foster the emotional wellbeing of learners.
The TTRB is at http://www.ttrb.ac.uk/
Teachers tv has masses to offer, as it can be an excellent source of video which can be shown as long as you have a reasonably fast internet connection.
The web site has a really good video browser to navigate through the extensive library of videos, and content can be streamed or downloaded at any time.
You can also comment on any videos, sign up to desktop alerts, find out what's on TV using our online guide and get more involved with the channel through our Associates scheme. There are 69 Further Education specific videos, but plenty of others you could make use of. http://www.teachers.tv/
Teachmysubject.org.uk 'provides resources for teachers and trainers in the Learning and Skills sector to use with their students. They are organised on the basis of the specialism that is being taught and learned. They are then classified as one of three types of resource, and as available at one of three levels. There are hundreds of resources here. They are easily searched and users are invited to comment on their usefulness. This helps other teachers find appropriate resources quickly and to make appropriate selections.
http://www.teachingmysubject.org.uk/open/
Vocational Learning a really good site including a range of materials which will be useful to any teacher. Take a look at the 'Teaching and Learning' section at http://www.vocationallearning.org.uk/teachlearn/
Home page at http://www.vocationallearning.org.uk
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