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Executive Summary

1 Introduction

2 Context

3 Methodology

4 - 9 Findings, Analysis and Discussion

10 Summary of Findings

11 Discussion of Findings

12 References

13 Case Studies

Acknowledgments & Partners

 

Case Study Map 
 

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Institution H4

10 Impact of networked learning on access

There was good deal of discussion about access in terms of flexibility, provision for disabled students and widening participation. This level of interest might have been promoted by part of the university mission statement, which indicates a strong commitment to flexible and accessible courses responsive to the changing needs of students, employers, and the wider community.

Flexible access

All respondents spoke about ways in which learning opportunities had been made more accessible and flexible. Two particular aspects were discussed: online registration, and remote access for the wider community through access courses at FE colleges and local libraries.

… registration process is hugely simplified because the fees have been dealt with in one way, it means that the data has been captured more reliably [and] more quickly. Ultimately if the student is on the wrong [module] it is their own fault. So if a student hasn’t enrolled you can say oh you’re not on and provide them a route to an online enrolment and get them enrolled immediately. That won’t get them on immediately but it will get them on within 24 hours… (H4I3)

All the libraries in Northern Ireland are now connected, [via] local area networks, so they are all connected to the Internet. … all the PCs in the local libraries have now got a link to our online campus here, so every single library in Northern Ireland is basically a resource centre for the university. (H4I4)

… we also have a network of partner institutions, FE partners, so in fact it is possible … for people to engage in … programmes pretty near to them. The full range isn’t offered everywhere, … [but] certainly the access course provision is very wide spread…. Because I would imagine anywhere that you were living in Northern Ireland that you could have relevantly short distance to get to an FE college and do an access course, that provision is very well established. And the provision [is very vigorous] and very robust in terms of the student numbers. (H4I6)

Disability

Four respondents mentioned that there was special provision for students with disabilities and that all the new online material was checked to ensure it is accessible.

… one of our web development officers, whose key role is making sure everything we develop is as accessible as possible. So everything we do if we put on graphic images we use <alt> tags where we can describe [the image], we have facilities so that [users] can use [screen and text] readers. We are very careful about the colours and the fonts that we use and basically check everything that we produce. (H4I4)

Widening participation

Widening participation is an important commitment of the university, and efforts have been made to use networked learning in support of this commitment. Particular groups were mentioned as potential new students: numbers of remote learners were growing as a result of the online opportunities, and provision for students of particular specialist subjects via online courses.

If you are going to define it in terms of do we have people coming to the university and doing courses that wouldn’t [come] before for reasons of social responsibility or community reasons, [then] yes it has improved dramatically. We have a lot of students who have said this is the only way they can do the course. But if you look at in terms of access to university for 18, 19 year olds, we’re not really using [networked learning] to address that. We’ve got Access course provision in various other ways, so we are not using ICT to do that at the minute. But it is improving access for people who cannot go to on campus courses. (H4I4)

We have a disaster relief nursing course which has a very wide range of students from a wide range of countries who would never come to any of our campuses. They wouldn’t have time because of their jobs, and distance learning is particularly effective for that kind of student... (H4I6)

Summary

The university mission statement indicates a strong commitment to flexible and accessible courses, and there was good deal of discussion of access in terms of flexibility of access, provision for disabled students and widening participation. Two particular aspects of access were discussed, online registration and remote access for the wider community through access courses at FE colleges and local libraries. There is special provision for students with disabilities and all the new online material was checked to ensure its accessibility. Widening participation is an important commitment for the university, and efforts have been made to use networked learning in support of this commitment.