Further Education Solutions: Creating an environment where study and research can thrive

Colleges have always competed for students and this competition has been increasing for many years. Being able to improve teaching efficiency, attract new learners and increase self directed learning will all depend on the college getting the best out of existing technologies.

Students that are enrolling at college now have increased expectations of the use of technology on their courses. Many have been taught in schools where e-learning approaches have been used successfully to support their learning. Technology provides the ability for a further education establishment to accommodate this increasing diversity of student's learning needs; however matching these possibilities to teaching and learning is the real challenge. Giving students access to the latest technology will generate a ‘wow’ factor, but the technology also needs to be integrated into teaching, so it should be part of the design process in developing the student experience of a course and the optimum teaching methods to use.