Never mind the technology, where’s the learning?

Vital, the ICT CPD service launched at BETT 2010, began its first set of online moderated courses this week. Take-up however has apparently been disappointing. It’s early days, of course, and I believe that the service is a significant step in ICT CPD provision and needs time to become known and develop its clientele. It’s worth reflecting on the issues such as service faces.

1) The value message and the budget holder

One can immediately make a comparison with Naace’s ICTCPD4Free site, also launched at BETT, which has had over 1000 sign-ups. This does not necessarily mean true engagement with the courses and such a statistic should be tempered with the fact that to look at most courses you have to enrol. To simply look at the content of the VITAL courses you also have to enrol, but going further and signing-up to a moderated course requires both a cost and clear time commitment from the teacher. This is about getting the ‘value for money’ message across to InSET budget holders in schools. A strategy that targets not only teachers who want or need to do a course, but also helps them get the commitment from the InSET budget holder is crucial. Cost is not the barrier to overcome, getting the value message across is.

2) What’s in it for me

Sorting out the accreditation is another key value proposition. Value for the teacher, as they will spend their own money on professional development, and, after all £50 is a concert, football match or theatre seat these days, can only be overcome if it’s clear what the benefits to the individual are. Many teachers are motivated by accreditation, status or whatever, and will not only pay, but also work hard to achieve those things if the incentive is great enough.

3) Marketing to schools and teachers does not bring instant success

Education is notoriously difficult to market to, and the choice is often to either spend a lot of money, or settle for incremental steps. There is a huge amount of ‘noise’ in the education market place, and to get noticed you have to accept it’s going to take a long time.

4) Influencing the key influencers

VITAL has a paradox, which I clearly saw in Vital’s Director Peter Twining’s session at the Naace Conference this week. LA consultants and advisers are key influencers that need to be on board, yet this is the very time their jobs are under threat. Many have been told that to survive they have to bring in revenue, this makes them very wary, if not hostile, to what they see as potential competition. Peter did a brilliant job at explaining the different and inclusive models of participation to allay the competition fear and explain the opportunities available. At the same time, to take up these opportunities is not a risk-free option, and many have not started to think what those risks might be. The interesting thing is, that until a market of CPD options using the VITAL materials is available, VITAL courses may continue to be perceived as more of a threat than an opportunity. A “Catch 22″ situation. It might be that VITAL needs to ‘create’ this market, rather than simply present it as an opportunity by ‘investing’ in a partner that provide a model that others can follow.

5) Hiatus and inertia in a time of political change:

Let’s face it, launching anything when times are uncertain is extremely difficult. Schools and teachers don’t know what the next few years might be like, that leads to playing save and a ‘wait and see’ attitude. This shows itself in financial spending, but more critically in their wish to invest in change. All CPD (that has value) is about investing in personal change. This in itself is difficult enough, and of even higher risk when the future direction of education is uncertain.

Image credit: James Carter