We’re happy to report that on Thursday, 11 December, we finished the last of the FE Digital Student learner focus groups. We’re really grateful to the six Colleges who provided for their support in organising these events with us:
Borders College, Sussex Downs College, Activate Learning, Myerscough College, City of Bristol College, Coleg Gwent
220 FE learners contributed their ideas across the six Colleges in two focus groups each; one consisting of learners at the start of their studies and the other a group of more experienced College learners.
We feel we’ve learned a lot from these events with learners. For example, we’ve learned some things about how to engage FE learners in research activities such as this. Learners did card sorts and discussed their ideas in small groups and open plenary discussions. We’ll shortly be publishing printable versions of the cards we used and the focus group protocols so Colleges can replicate these activities themselves; watch this space!
It’s too early yet to report findings from the learner focus groups, but we can say already that it is clear that learners have important messages to give Colleges about their needs and aspirations for using technology. We’ll be sharing outcomes with FE staff and students at the consultation events in January-April 2015. Sign up now and let your voice be heard.