National Learning at Work Day - 19 May 2011 - is the biggest celebration of learning and development in and through the workplace. Join the thousands of organisations that take part each year and make a public commitment to learning and skills by putting on or taking part in special events and activities. Or tell us what you've been learning at work - or what you'd like to.
How can business benefit from executive learning in the workplace?
How can business benefit from executive learning in the workplace? The Open University model of executive education is wholly innovative as it integrates real work and real projects…
Business gains competitive edge by investing in talent. This means recruiting the right people at the right time but business also reaps rewards by investing, and retaining, existing talent within the organisation.
In 2011, 32 per cent of businesses fell short of recruitment targets after complaining that graduate skills levels often “did not meet their requirements”.
This is clearly an issue for business, universities and government. The OU believes that practice-based learning is at the very heart of how higher education can help to bridge the gap between the theoretical and the practical aspects of learning.
OU research into flexible learning has provided us with a deep experience of bringing together work and learning, and we are confident of the impact of this upon students and their employers. In fact, over 71 per cent of OU students work full or part-time during their studies.
“Education wedded with the practical application of the knowledge a student gains continues to work well for my business and our talent. We derive huge commercial value from this approach,” says James Cullens, HR Director, Hays plc.
“The OU have worked with us to design the eLearning and discussion groups, facilitate them around the globe, and support us as we embed this new approach, providing both challenging and helpful feedback along the way,” adds Karen Reilly, Management Development
Manager, Reuters.
Accreditation and professional qualifications that are tied to organisations are increasingly important to many businesses. They recognise that people want to continue to develop and continue to build up transferable qualifications.
The Open University Business School has led the way in the sector by developing professional qualifications specific to each client by incorporating training from the organisation and supplementing it with OUBS modules as a good way of continuing to help people learn and develop. This can also give an alternative way to build up points that are transferable. Practice-based learning and courses provide the scaffold to implement the learning gained from academia.
How can business benefit from executive learning in the workplace? The Open University model of executive education is wholly innovative as it integrates real work and real projects… Business gains competitive edge by investing in talent. This means recruiting the right people at the right time but business also reaps rewards by investing, and retaining, existing talent within the ...
Celebrating Vocational Qualification Day
In celebration of VQ Day – a national celebration of vocational qualifications for students, teachers and employers – the OU’s Vocational Qualification Assessment Centre (VQAC) has launched a new website.
Vocational qualifications offer a way to ensure the skills and knowledge you demonstrate in the job meet national industry standards, offer a flexible way to learn while being assessed in the workplace.
All the vocational qualifications offered by the OU are on the Qualification and Credit Framework, the new system for recognising skills and qualifications, and the VQAC has launched a new website highlighting all the OU offers in terms of vocational training and qualifications - www.open.ac.uk/vq. Here you can find out more about the qualifications offered by the VQAC, the assessment process and how to register.
Vocational qualifications set standards expected in a particular sector or industry, achieve quality and consistency, recognise staff competence and offer a flexible solution for those with busy or unpredictable workloads - learning, acquiring evidence and being assessed as they work.
At The Open University Vocational Qualification Assessment Centre (VQAC) these qualifications are delivered through a flexible, distance-learning, modular approach. In most cases, an assessor will work with the learner providing support and guidance as they progress through the qualification.
VQAC offers a range of qualifications ranging from certificates at level 2 to diplomas at level 6 in the following areas:
- Advice and guidance
- Business and administration
- Careers guidance for adults
- Customer service
- Health and social care
- Learning and development
- Management
- Travel planning
- Vocational qualifications in assessment
- Working with substance misuse
For more information about vocational qualifications offered by the Open University, please visit the website.
Useful links
In celebration of VQ Day – a national celebration of vocational qualifications for students, teachers and employers – the OU’s Vocational Qualification Assessment Centre (VQAC) has launched a new website. Vocational qualifications offer a way to ensure the skills and knowledge you demonstrate in the job meet national industry standards, offer a flexible way ...
Ben Hunt-Davis: ‘Will it make the boat go faster?'
During the Learning At Work week, Olympic gold medallist rower Ben Hunt-Davis (MBE) came to the OU campus in Milton Keynes to deliver a talk entitled ‘Will it make the boat go faster?’. Here we offer you the thrust of his talk...
The question was always ‘Will it make the boat go faster?’ if the answer was no then it didn’t happen. The strategy was simple and used by the mens-8 rowing team as part of their two-year training plan in the run up to the Sydney 2000 Olympics. It meant personal sacrifice and missing spectacular events, including taking part in the Opening Ceremony.
Ben Hunt-Davis spent seven years rowing and competing for team GB without achieving a win. But in 1998 something clicked for the team and instead of just going back and working harder, they decided they would "learn faster than anyone else". Ben suggests businesses can employ the same strategy to help motivate staff and work towards a shared goal.
The preparation for a task is different for everyone. Just before the final of the Olympics the men’s 8 team had a 90-minute wait. One paced up and down, one listened to a song over and over again, and some just lay on the floor.
Every time the men trained or raced their strategy was to change one thing. The aim was to improve and develop every day. After each race the team discussed if it worked and what they learned: good or bad. If it was a bad, for example they hadn’t won a race, then they would look at what could be changed next ‘to make the boat go faster’.
In the two-year build up to the Olympic Games there were 16 rowers competing for the final eight places. The final team was only chosen 12 weeks in advance of the games. This meant not only were the team competing against each other for their place on the boat but they also had to support each other during all the training. In a squad this size there will always be someone you don’t get on with so well, but the key is to always keep the overall objective in mind.
The team were important to Ben. He said “there were good days and bad days.” On the good days you would bring your ‘colleagues’ up and on bad days your colleagues would improve your performance by pushing you.
Ben says he now lives by a phrase to make success happen: “today is going to be a good day because I’m going to make it a good day.” With a gold medal from the Olympics as proof, it is definitely a motto to adopt.
Listen to Ben talk about the importance of continuous development...
During the Learning At Work week, Olympic gold medallist rower Ben Hunt-Davis (MBE) came to the OU campus in Milton Keynes to deliver a talk entitled ‘Will it make the boat go faster?’. Here we offer you the thrust of his talk... The question was always ‘Will it make the boat go faster?’ if the answer was no then it didn’t happen. The strategy was simple and ...
Olympic gold medallist offers motivation tips for you!
He revealed how he and the 2002 coxed eights Great Britain Olympic team were able to raise their game and focus on achieving their gold-winning goal in Sydney, and how we can all use similar lessons to succeed.
Ben is now a speaker and performance coach, having worked with sports teams including the British Olympic Association, the England Women's Rugby Team, individual sportsmen and women, and wider businesses. He is currently designing a programme to help members of Team GB perform on the most pressurised sporting stage of all, the London Olympic Games.
Here he talks to Platform on how to stay motivated during difficult study periods...
Image:Telestar Logistics
As part of the Learning At Work week, Olympic gold medallist rower Ben Hunt-Davis (MBE) visited the OU campus to deliver a talk entitled ‘Will it make the boat go faster?’. He revealed how he and the 2002 coxed eights Great Britain Olympic team were able to raise their game and focus on achieving their gold-winning goal in Sydney, and how we can all use similar ...
Students blog about what they've learned at work
In keeping with the spirit of Learning at Work Day on 19 May, two OU students blog about what they've learned during their employment...
"So, the number one thing I have learnt at work: I work best on my own. Now, this isn’t to say I’m not a team player, but I definitely prefer working on my own and being left to my own devices..."
Read more at Nikki's blog Open All Hours
"I’ve been in my current job for nearly two years now, and not only have I made very good friends, I feel I’ve come a long way in skills and self-confidence..."
Read more at Hayley's blog My Open Experience
What have you learned at work? Share your comments below.
Useful links
In keeping with the spirit of Learning at Work Day on 19 May, two OU students blog about what they've learned during their employment... "So, the number one thing I have learnt at work: I work best on my own. Now, this isn’t to say I’m not a team player, but I definitely prefer working on my own and being left to my own devices..." Read more at Nikki's ...
How to... do a magic trick
How to do a magic trick... How do you free the coin without touching the matches?
How to do a magic trick... How do you free the coin without touching the matches? 2.5 Average: 2.5 (4 votes)
How to... exercise at your desk
Members of the Platform team demonstrate how to exercise at your desk...
Members of the Platform team demonstrate how to exercise at your desk... 2.75 Average: 2.8 (4 votes)
Help tackle isolation and unemployment - become a Digital Champion
"The largest cross-sector army to have ever been put together" will help reduce loneliness and isolation, aid people into employment and encourage learning as part of the Race Online 2012 campaign to get the whole of the UK using the internet by the end of the Olympic year.
The Open University is supporting Race Online 2012, officially launched at the National Digital Champions Day in London on Wednesday 11 May, and attended by OU Vice-Chancellor Martin Bean, uniting young and old faces with a shared interest - learning and teaching how to get online.
Prime Minister David Cameron spoke via recorded message to the conference's visitors, exhibitors and supporters to say: "Together we can make the UK the first place in the world to have everyone on the web."
Fronting the campaign is UK Digital Champion and OU honorary graduate Martha Lane-Fox (pictured) who told the conference inspiration, skills and price are the main reasons for not jumping online and that, by creating an army of Digital Champions, the barriers could be broken down. "We need to embed digital skills and gain a deeper understanding of technology and a fearlessness of using technology to put the UK in a really robust position... we're creating a new model for social change."
Computer buddy
She championed the offer of computer and internet packages for under £100 for the country's most disadvantaged and said there would be a big push at the end of this year, encouraging people to give the gift of the internet - and the skills to use it - this Christmas.
With 1,100 partners on board the Race Online campaign so far, Nick Hurd MP, Minister for Civil Society, branded it the "largest cross-sector army to have ever been put together".
"There are nine million people in this country who are not using the internet and they're really the people who need to be. We need to help the elderly, some are suffering really quite scary isolation," he added.
TV presenter Gloria Hunniford, who hosted the welcome reception, admitted the iPad had changed her life and praised Chris Sellers, of Sevenoaks Library, for becoming her "computer buddy" and helping to get her online.
Via video link during the reception, Gloria also spoke to a woman aged 102 - and five months! -who'd been learning to use Skype to talk to her children and grandchildren abroad, and her "baby brother" aged 89 in a neighbouring county.
A mother living in Aston, Birmingham, - an area of high unemployment - described a scheme to set her up with a computer and the internet as her hero as she would never have been able to find a job and improve her life without it.
Making connections
And Mavis, a pensioner, became tearful when she told the audience, via video, how getting online had saved her from a life of isolation and loneliness, connecting her to family, friends and nearby neighbours she'd never had conversations with before.
The day included interactive workshops, information stands hosted by some of the camapaign's partners, a game of bingo and guests were treated to a performance by X Factor finalist Stacey Solomon at the end of the day.
The Platform team was out and about at the Digital Champions Day, catching up with people and organisations supporting the campaign - watch the videos...
Platform asked five Digital Champions what their top tips are for getting the nation online...
Nancy Johnson, of Age UK, talks about refurbishing old computers and passing on IT skills...
Platform's student blogger Carrie Walton talks about how she first got online, her plans to become a Digital Champion herself and how valuable the internet is when you're an OU student...
"The largest cross-sector army to have ever been put together" will help reduce loneliness and isolation, aid people into employment and encourage learning as part of the Race Online 2012 campaign to get the whole of the UK using the internet by the end of the Olympic year. The Open University is supporting Race Online 2012, officially launched at the National ...
How to... use an eBook on the iPad
How to... use one of the OU's OpenLearn eBooks on the iPad...
How to... use one of the OU's OpenLearn eBooks on the iPad... 2.285715 Average: 2.3 (7 votes)
The value of free e-learning for the workplace
Tony Coughlan is a regional academic at the Open University in the South West and a Fellow of the Support Centre for Open Resources in Education. Here he blogs about the value of free e-learning for the workplace ahead of National Learning at Work Day...
This month’s celebration of National Learning at Work Day makes this a good time to consider the role of free and open learning in the workplace.
Free and open learning builds on the success of commercial e-learning, which became an established option for workplace learning for these reasons:
- Flexibility. Workers can study e-courses when they need to learn about a subject, rather than when a course is scheduled, and e-learning can be undertaken when it is most convenient for the employer and employee.
- E-learning allows individuals to study at their own pace and can be more effective for learners who are shy, reflective, or require more time to absorb information.
- E-learning is consistent and scalable, enabling large and dispersed organisations to provide staff development for all their employees and volunteers. Similarly, professional and occupational bodies can ensure that whole sectors have access to core training.
- In the process of e-learning individuals improve their familiarity and competence in processing information, using online forums and many other web 2.0 skills which are increasingly important.
The qualities of e-learning are familiar, but now “we are on the cusp of a global revolution in teaching and learning. Educators worldwide are developing a vast pool of educational resources on the Internet, open and free for all to use.” This free and open learning offers unique benefits over and above e-learning:
- The training resources are transparent, allowing their relevance and quality to be judged in advance.
- It allows employers to customise both content and delivery-mode for their organisation and circumstances, e.g. adapting online material for workplace seminars as Unison have done.
- Learning material from different sources can be blended; e.g. a social care organisation might go to SWAPBox for learning material about Social Work and OpenLearn for business and management resources.
- Free and open learning material can be cascaded throughout large and dispersed organisations or sectors without worrying about licensing restrictions.
- Learning material can be updated as required, e.g. to reflect political or legislative changes.
The Cape Town Declaration asserts that free and open learning nourishes “the kind of participatory culture of learning, creating, sharing and co-operation that rapidly changing knowledge societies need." To me, these qualities resonate strongly with the aims of the UK’s National Learning at Work Day on May 19.
Read Tony's blog here
Tony Coughlan is a regional academic at the Open University in the South West and a Fellow of the Support Centre for Open Resources in Education. Here he blogs about the value of free e-learning for the workplace ahead of National Learning at Work Day... This month’s celebration of National Learning at Work Day makes this a good time to consider the role of free and ...
Three things I've learned at work... what about you?
Three things I've learned at work, include...
Creating an online identity - since working here at the OU I've learned to blog, use Twitter and communicate in an online world, be it via community forums, tweeting, Facebooking, sharing photographs on Flickr or creating videos and audio on YouTube and Flickr.
To work to deadline - in my previous life as a newspaper editor, working to deadline was a huge part of my job. Here at the OU it's much the same and while the deadlines aren't often so regular or rigid, it's important to set them and work to them in order to get projects finished. I'm not sure I'd work so well without setting myself a deadline or two.
Confidence - since working at the OU I've not only developed new skills but also new confidence in my ability to use those skills. Hearing all the student/alumni success stories here also boosts my motivation and helps with the reality that (almost) anything is possible if you put your mind to it.
What have you learned at work?
Three things I've learned at work, include... Creating an online identity - since working here at the OU I've learned to blog, use Twitter and communicate in an online world, be it via community forums, tweeting, Facebooking, sharing photographs on Flickr or creating videos and audio on YouTube and Flickr. To work to deadline - in my previous life as a newspaper editor, working to deadline ...
