Friday 12 February 2021
School age children are not the only learners who have suddenly had to switch to distance learning as a result of this second lockdown.
The Guernsey Institute's Executive Principal Jacki Hughes wants to highlight how many of the organisation's learners are adults, looking to further their career or continue professional development.
"With many of our learners midway through some element of technical, vocational or professional learning, their plans have also been disrupted. Our team have worked hard to ensure all of its learners can continue their courses in some form through distance learning - 70 individual pieces of IT kit have been loaned to students, for example, to make sure that all our learners have access to the exciting and engaging opportunities and activities they usually would."
Each of TGI's three organisations have responded to the needs of their student groups and taken their own steps to continue teaching.
The Institute of Health & Social Care Studies has been working with its partner Middlesex University to ensure the vital training they are offering is not disrupted. The GTA University Centre adapted its face to face courses to a virtual classroom format using Zoom, where appropriate, to ensure local businesses could still keep their skills up to date. The Guernsey College of Further Education has ensured its students can still continue to develop their practical skills using innovative and creative distance learning methods.
Finally, the GCFE is also offering its Career Advantage Programme in conjunction with Employment & Social Security free of charge to anyone who has had their employment disrupted as a result of the pandemic. This includes a range of pre-recorded 'lockdown' learning short films, recorded by tutors and available via its website.
Tracey McClean, Head of the IHSCS, said:
"Middlesex University have been providing high quality on-line learning for their nursing students since the first lock-down last year. The lecturing team based in Guernsey have adapted to using these electronic solutions and in some cases have been involved in their production. Although we were able to revert back to some classroom based teaching for most of last year, it was agreed with the university that a more blended approach to student learning should continue. The move back to a predominantly on-line delivery in recent weeks has been smooth thanks to the continued use of the technology to deliver elements of the course over the past year. This last year has been a real eye opener as to what is possible in terms of delivering Higher Education in Guernsey; we have fully embraced new and evolving technology and look forward to the next exciting bit of kit to emerge from the cyber world to help us achieve even greater things."
Simon Le Tocq, Chief Executive at the GTA University Centre, said:
"The GTA University Centre has moved quickly as an organisation to meet ongoing training needs. Our courses are still being delivered in real time and, thanks to the Zoom platform that we use, delegates are still able to ask questions and to work collaboratively in break out rooms, ensuring that the courses are stimulating and interactive. The GTA moved both public and in-house courses online for the initial two weeks of the lockdown period and we are looking at options for the remaining courses scheduled for the rest of February should the lockdown continue."
Louise Misselke, Principal of the GCFE, said:
"Our students are experiencing a range of distance learning methods, including live online lessons, recorded lessons or tasks set. Online lessons might have practical demonstrations via google meet which our team deliver but we do record these as they are happening so that students are able to watch later, go over questions and knowledge content and continue to practice their skills. Students are set tasks which they can complete and record their skills and then share in the online lesson, this work is being discussed in relation to learning outcomes for their courses. In addition, most of our students have drop-in session through the week, to enable them to ask questions and discuss ideas with their lecturers. Our learning support team are working hard with those students who might need some additional support, either joining in with live lessons or supporting virtually while students are working on assessments."
