Shetland College UHI wins national E-Learning Award

Learning Assistant is a revolutionary software E-Portfolio tool for use in SVQ courses, and saves hours of time for students, tutors and verifiers alike.

Shetland College UHI recently participated in a national competition run by ‘Learning Assistant’ resulting in two staff and two students being winners.

Using Learning Assistant, students are able to study whenever it suits them, in the evening, during their lunchtime at work or at the weekend. And because ‘Learning Assistant’ is an on-line tool, students, tutors and assessors are able to access ‘Learning Assistant’ wherever there is internet access. Easy access means tutors can regularly check on-line the progress their students are making and provide instant written feedback to them, providing a clear up to date view of the work submitted by the student and feedback comments from the tutor to the assessor; a clear audit trail.

Students often want to keep in touch with each other informally, maybe they want to check out a piece of coursework or discuss a problem they’re experiencing, but don’t want to bother their tutor. This networking is part of the Learning Assistant experience. Tutors are able to access the forum, providing on-line support and to check out any difficulties students may be experiencing.    

This method of study is ideal in remote island communities like Shetland. Students and tutors wanting to meet to discuss the work often make long, expensive and time consuming journeys that, along with frequent printouts, enlarge their carbon footprints. The ‘Learning Assistant’ software cuts down on the number of physical journeys that both student and tutor have to make and yet still provides the contact and support on-line between tutor and student, which is so vital if the student is to succeed. Gone, too, are the heavy portfolios students once had to keep.   

Click on the video clip to hear a tutor and student from Shetland College UHI talking about the benefits of ‘Learning Assistant’.