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Innovative construction training: introducinginformation communication technology into thecurriculumTricia Le Gallais aa Stourbridge College , United KingdomPublished online: 20 Dec 2006.

To cite this article: Tricia Le Gallais (2001) Innovative construction training: introducing information communicationtechnology into the curriculum, Research in Post-Compulsory Education, 6:3, 285-304, DOI: 10.1080/13596740100200109

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Research in Post-Compulsory Education, Volume 6, Number 3, 2001

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Innovative Construction Training: introducing Information Communication Technology into the curriculum

TRICIA LE GALLAISTRICIA LE GALLAISTRICIA LE GALLAISTRICIA LE GALLAIS Stourbridge College, United Kingdom

ABSTRACT It is evident that many colleges are seeking to use information communication technology (ICT) as a way of transforming the teaching and learning process and, as a consequence, adding value or increasing efficiency outcomes. Whilst to some construction might not seem the most verdant curricular terrain for the introduction of ICT, it has been pointed out by Evans (2000) that there is an increasing need within this sector of the economy to grasp the benefits of the new technology – not only in terms of what might be regarded as the more ‘traditional’ applications of design and development but also in the development of ‘hands on’ skills. With this in mind and using funding from the European Social Fund (ESF), Stourbridge College in the West Midlands, United Kingdom set out to explore the ways in which ICT can play a meaningful part in supporting construction skills development through the creation of an Advanced Technology Centre (ATC). Keen to take a systematic approach the college appointed a project researcher to assist in identifying the barriers and opportunities associated with the introduction of ICT into the construction curriculum. This report forms part of an ongoing evaluation by the researcher. It incorporates changes made by the college in response to earlier feedback from the researcher. In summary it is argued that ICT does have the potential to be both cost effective and efficient in providing ‘state of the art’ training to the construction industry, thereby facilitating the IT upskilling of its customers. However, amidst all the ICT excitement, the human dimension has proved to be the pivotal ingredient for the success of the venture, both in its embryonic stages and in the realisation of the dream.

Introduction

In this article, I have sought to offer an overview concerning the impact of introducing information communication technology (ICT) into the curriculum, together with a brief consideration of the issues facing the construction industry and its training providers. The article closes with a study of the particular,

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namely Stourbridge College, a further education college in the West Midlands, United Kingdom, which has sought to respond to this need through the creation of a £7 million Advanced Technology Centre. This centre is to be unique – the first whole campus to be completely reliant upon state-of-the-art ICT hardware and software for its delivery of construction training.

This article sets out to explore how the dream is becoming a reality. Issues of innovation, change and implementation within an educational context are explored and it is hoped that the lessons learned along the way will help smooth the path for others on their journeys of innovation and change.

As part of this research over 30 staff were interviewed and about 40 students were involved in piloting multimedia materials and in giving feedback via interviews and/or questionnaires.

Perspectives Concerning the Introduction of ICT into the Construction Curriculum and Its Impact Upon the Educator, the Student and the Industry

A Consideration of the Driving Forces Involved

Pressure from successive governments to increase student numbers year on year whilst funding decreases creates obvious problems of finance, staffing, space and quality of provision. The use of ICT may enable more students to be taught without the same need for an increase in teaching accommodation and staffing, necessary with ‘conventional’ teaching methods. Well-designed ICT packages should ensure that quality does not suffer with increasing numbers of students, due to the flexibility offered to learners to work on their own, in groups and/or with their tutor, in real time or asynchronously. It is anticipated that this increased flexibility will have the added advantage of responding to those students, who choose or need to study part-time. Such students need training providers to be flexible in their provision to accommodate their particular demands. ICT and e-learning have the potential to meet these needs. Being able to study when, where and how they choose is likely to be a major factor in students’ decision-making about educational establishments. Anne Wright, Chief Executive of University for Industry, sums up her vision of e-learning as follows:

The e-learning revolution is primarily a revolution for learners. Self-managed e-learning enables people to get the skills they need when they need them, and to learn when, where and how they want to in ways that fit their lives and work. (Wright, quoted by Caseley, 2001, p. 22)

The impact of globalisation and the need for constant re-training and lifelong learning means that education can no longer be presumed to end at 16 or 18. Training providers are now faced with customers with a wider range of needs than has been the case to date. Being able to offer a variety of teaching and learning strategies will be vital to their success and to that of their customers.

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Government and the European Social Fund (ESF) financial incentives encourage innovation in the field of ICT in recognition of the economic imperative to keep Britain and Europe up to speed in this technological age.

Technology, Training and the Construction Industry

Prior to a consideration of the particular, it would seem appropriate to set this research within the general context of the construction industry.

In his article ‘Building the Future’ Evans (2000) highlights the problems facing those involved in construction training. These include the reluctance of some employers to provide adequate training, the generally low retention and achievement rates of students, the ageing nature of the workforce, which accentuates the problems of poor recruitment, the public perception of construction as a career and the vulnerability of the industry to global pressures on the economy. Evans (2000) goes on to refer to Institute of Employment Research (IER) data from 1998, which draws attention to the preponderance of small to medium sized enterprises (SMEs) within the industry, high levels of self-employment and low levels of profitability with large fluctuations in demand. Financing training is likely to come low on the list, when survival is a key issue. What training there is, is likely to be very sector specific and yet, as Lucas (2000, p. 15) points out, quoting the National Skills Task Force:

... Employers require not only specific vocational skills but also the softer and transferable employability skills, and the capacity for creativity, initiatives, and continuing learning and development, for the new and flexible forms of work organisation which will be tomorrow’s norm.

Training providers need to consider how they will respond to such requirements.

Construction and Training Providers

Further education (FE) colleges, which have traditionally been the key training organisations for the industry, naturally suffer from recruitment in times of recession, when firms have to economise to survive. Construction training is seen to be a high cost provision and, if this is coupled with fluctuating low numbers, then one can appreciate why so many FE colleges have withdrawn from this area of the curriculum in recent years. This increases the problem for the industry, which must strive to maintain its competitive edge through ongoing staff training.

This could and should be an opportunity where the use of educational technology in the training of construction employees could herald the utilisation of innovative practices within the industry itself, supported through the increased digital literacy of their staff.

Lee (2000) writes of the concern about how to get SMEs on board the ‘Internet bandwagon’, commenting that lack of capital and internal IT expertise

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are some of the reasons for this reluctance. Hopefully ICT-based training programmes will play their part in improving SMEs’ IT capabilities in a cost effective way.

La Velle & Nichol (2000, p. 102) are optimistic that the new technology will be able to support SMEs in moving forward:

ICT can also provide an interface between the cutting edge of education and training and the outdated industrial and commercial practices embedded in the culture of regionally isolated small and medium sized firms and businesses ... The incentive is ICT’s role in enabling local commerce and industry to function effectively in a world where ICT gives competitors a clear advantage.

The Need for Funding

Evans (2000) comments that in order to achieve this there should be increased funding for training providers and support given to employers to finance the training of their workforce. This is after all in the best long-term interests of the country. We can no longer get by with inadequate training. Competition is now global and time, tide and technology wait for no man. At a time of rapid technological advance it is vital for the industry to keep abreast of such change and ensure that their workforce is equipped with the necessary skills – with re-skilling and multi-skilling seen as the norm. Evans (2000, p. 23) goes on to stress the continued importance of the construction industry to the national economy, notwithstanding the decline it has suffered – giving as an example the fact that in 1996 construction still represented 33% of all manufacturing output in the United Kingdom.

As noted by Evans (2000) a particular problem facing the construction industry is the number of small firms involved, which do not have the slack in their budgets for innovative exploration. Far-sighted training providers, who address not only the training needs of their customers but also the need for constant improvement and innovation, could fill this gap. Staff at the college have identified this financial problem for SMEs. They see the role of the college to be to facilitate the introduction of new technology into SMEs via the training offered in the Advanced Technology Centre (ATC). As one member of staff comments:

Design packages are too expensive for SMEs to afford. The college can show the value of these by using European Social Funding to purchase the hardware and software. This can then be used to support the SMEs through training.

The Place for ICT in the Curriculum

Technology should be judged on its usability – it needs to be the right tool in the right hand at the right time for the right job.

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During a meeting with the author in January, 2001, Richard Riley, Director of ICT Business Development at the University of Central England in Birmingham (UCE) made the above comment as he cautioned against the misuse of technology. This issue will be explored through the comments of both college staff and writers in this field. The positive impact that multimedia can have on the curriculum is already acknowledged by staff at the college. They are keen not to waste its potential to make their subject come alive:

Multimedia in the classroom increases the flexibility of teaching strategies available to the teacher. I am excited about the potential of multimedia packages for offering ‘virtual reality’ to our students in a way that traditional classroom teaching has not been able to do.

Staff stress the importance of bringing the college into the world of 21st century ICT. They anticipate that the flexibility of space and time, which ICT can offer, will enable the college to attract people into training, who may not usually take up learning opportunities. The potential for making this training accessible to all through ICT and e-learning is seen by them to be both challenging and exciting.

Bates’s (2001) comments regarding higher education (HE) are equally applicable to FE students, namely that the skills they require involve the ability to apply their knowledge to real-life situations. This is particularly the case for students studying vocational courses, where they are expected to take back to the workplace the knowledge they have gained and to apply the skills they have acquired to actual work related tasks. It is therefore important that the multimedia materials available offer opportunities to the student to model and practise the relevant skills and evaluate their performance.

Chambers (1999, p. 151) refers to further advantages of the educational use of multimedia packages, namely their ability to assist with facilitating skills:

(to) support and enhance a range of skills associated with deep level processing and meaningful learning such as metacognition, problem solving and critical thinking.

Other claimed educational advantages of ICT include the use of hypertext, which, it is hoped, will encourage students to inquire further for themselves, to go beyond the parameters of the initial training focus. It is also argued that the flexible structure of multimedia material offers the student the capability to enter at any point in the programme, skip sections and repeat areas as necessary to their learning.

If it is possible to utilise ICT to imbue students with greater self reliance, then this will be hailed as another major benefit of ICT, for they will be better prepared for the independent frame of mind necessary for work or HE.

La Velle & Nichol (2000) write of how ICT has the potential to change the educational environment, in which we teach and learn. Teachers and students can meet face-to-face or via the internet/in real or virtual situations/in real-time or asynchronous. Where this freedom is advantageous, then the use of ICT multimedia packages could prove to be of real educational value:

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... with the help of learning environments, which are independent of time and place, it is possible to break out of limitations imposed by the classroom and individual educational institutions and offer new opportunities for training for companies and adults. (Ruokamo & Pohjolainen, quoted by La Velle & Nichol, 2000, p. 102)

Similarly Wilson (2000a, p. 18) considers the place for e-learning within the educational experience of the learner. He believes it should be viewed ‘holistically’ – as part of ‘the overall package of how all learning will be delivered in the future’. He concedes that e-learning is a potential threat to traditional teaching but he clearly feels that the ‘change to more integrated models of learning will represent a positive step for the quality of learning delivery’ (Wilson, Ibid.). He views e-learning not as an add-on but as a learning strategy, which will enhance rather than replace the core business of classroom teaching.

One can appreciate this viewpoint for, whilst a well-designed package can provide extensive access to information and offer opportunities to the student to expand their knowledge and develop their skills, it cannot respond to every situation and problem facing the student. Similarly Bates (2001, p. 9) points out that the computer is still unable to respond to the creativity and original ideas of individual students – hopefully staff might find that educational technology can be harnessed to deal with the more mundane and straightforward work, leaving them to help students to explore the more challenging and exciting aspects of their subject.

Hardin & Ziebarth (2001) warn that the new technology should not be seen by staff to be solely another tool in their box of teaching tricks, the success of which is measured in achievement grades – rather they see technology and the Web as a new environment for learning and teaching and the information it contains to be vital to the competitiveness of every student and teacher.

There appear to be definite advantages to the introduction of ICT as far as more practical matters are involved. Training providers, who are flexible in response to customer requirements for training at a time of their choosing, face the difficulty of students starting at different points throughout the year. This brings with it enormous problems in terms of paperwork. Each student needs his own individual work plan and packs of work sheets. There is also the problem of keeping the logging of individual progress up to date and making this information accessible to students and their employers. ICT will hopefully enable staff through the use of a ‘virtual campus’ system to improve the quality of provision for all parties. It is anticipated for example that students will be able to access work online, removing the need for stocks of worksheets to be kept in college. Students will also be able to access information and staff lecture notes and check on their progress, since staff will hopefully be carrying out assessments online. As college staff comment:

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Time-wise students will be able to access work from outside the college, whether at home or work or wherever. They will not need to come into college to collect paperwork. This will widen access to learning for some people.

Using ICT will answer the very real problem with the paperwork in construction, especially since most of our students are non-traditional and do not enjoy writing. We are expecting the new technology to free us of all this paper. Hopefully much more can be done via the system being put in place. We hope this will be easier for students ... and staff!

Whilst acknowledging the value of utilising technological advances to enhance training packages, it is necessary to exercise some caution. Bates (2001, p. 6) stresses the importance of taking account of ‘both the nature of the course’ and ‘the skills specific to the subject area’ and he, like Riley (UCE), warns against the use of multimedia just for the sake of it. The college staff are mindful of this caveat:

It is vital that we retain the flexibility in our teaching. If something exciting or difficult turns up we need to stop everything and discuss it. We must not allow the technology to remove the moments of inspiration.

This concern is reinforced by Wilson’s (2000b, p. 18) comments about ‘value rather than just volume’. He expresses anxiety that in the hasty transference of materials into on-line, interactive packages, we are losing sight of the avowed purpose of such materials – ‘to facilitate flexible and accessible quality teaching and learning packages’.

Notwithstanding these concerns, the words of La Velle & Nichols (2000, p. 106) in the conclusion of their article about intelligent communication and ICT would seem appropriate to end this section:

Seminal is the role of ICT in enhancing and developing the positive and constructive elements in our personal, educational, social, commercial and recreational lives. Its greatest potential is in serving as a tool that extends and improves the human lot in the same way as the wheeled cart replaced or complemented the pack animal ... the printing press the hand-written manuscript ... the telephone the letter.

Challenges Facing the Training Provider

Changing Roles?

There needs to be an acknowledgement of the change in teaching strategies demanded by the use of multimedia in education. La Velle & Nichol (2000, p. 103) stress that:

Both staff and learners have to adapt their existing values and attitudes and expectations to accommodate the demands that the new technology represents.

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Staff will need support and training if the benefits of such innovatory teaching methods are to be fully exploited. An understanding of different learning styles and how these impact upon the use of technology in teaching is another area, which should be addressed. La Velle & Nichol (2000) suggest several source materials for further consideration of this area of research. Bates (2001, p. 7) is very forceful about the issue of staff training:

Bluntly, faculty need training, not in just how to use the technology, but more importantly, in understanding how learning takes place ... without this ... it is almost impossible to design high quality multimedia learning experiences.

Regular workshops to support staff with the creation of multimedia materials and/or to help them to understand technology and its effective use in the classroom should therefore be an ongoing feature of any staff development programme. To this end a skills audit of staff competencies with regards to the use of technology, both personally and within their teaching, is a vital stage in planning for the successful implementation of multimedia into the curriculum.

Anxieties on the part of educators, who face the advent of ICT in their curricular area, are to be expected and the college staff proved no exception. Concerns were expressed initially that they might become redundant with the onset of more and more multimedia educational packages:

Our role will change. Teaching will be more informal with the teacher there as facilitator, rather than in the traditional sense of teaching. It is a little frightening. Will our expertise still be needed if the computer can do so much?

However their students have no such doubts about the continuing need for the teacher’s expertise. This is reflected by their comments, showing an overwhelming appreciation of the role played by the teacher in their learning. Students acknowledged the potential of the multimedia packages they piloted and were, for the most part, both impressed and excited about them; but they did not wish to lose the human dimension to their learning.

Both students and staff at the college pick up the issue of the teacher as motivator and as vital to the student’s understanding. The teacher is able to see where the student went wrong and why. A computer cannot yet respond to the ‘why’. One student commented:

Computers can’t explain in the way a teacher can. A computer might have all the data but it does not have all the answers that a teacher can give us.

This comment reflects the views of Bates (2001, p. 9) that:

... computers are not smart enough to anticipate all the questions, misunderstandings and wrong answers ... thus the need for ... student/teacher (and student/student) interaction.

When students spoke about the lessons they most enjoyed, the key factor was the teacher and the interpersonal relationship achieved with that member of staff. A teacher can use his own experiences of trial and error and draw analogies, which help him to meet the student at his level of competence and

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draw him up. A teacher’s response has the capacity to be more focused upon the individual’s needs, particularly from the point of view of lack of confidence and the impact of previous negative educational experiences. The teacher’s own learning experiences can enable him to place the learning in context.

Designing Multimedia Packages

Using the right person for the right task is as important as using the right tool for the job, yet so often staff are attempting to design and develop software, when their expertise lies elsewhere.

Riley (UCE) described the above dilemma as the DIY mentality, which can pervade the use of computers in education. All too often it is anticipated that, once equipped with a computer, the subject specialist can become a programmer, creating his own ICT packages.

The problem with such novice ICT designers is that they tend to create their multimedia package from material prepared for classroom delivery, such as lecture notes. This does not fully utilise the possibilities of multimedia technology. Staff need to feel in control of the material because they are going to be teaching it – but this does not mean that they have to design it all themselves.

Bates (2001, p. 2) recommends that the subject specialists should be responsible for ‘defining’ the content and the skills, which their students need to acquire in their subject and that an instructional designer should be employed to help advise on the ‘most appropriate choice of delivery technology in terms of student access and the learning tasks to be achieved’. The value of an instructional designer is that they have knowledge both of teaching and of designing software, such that they can fully utilise the opportunities, which ICT has to offer.

This may seem expensive initially but using an expert should ensure that the learning opportunities offered through the use of multimedia packages are fully utilised. Good instructional designing would enable the learner to interact in a wide range of learning activities with the computer interface. The material is also more likely to have enhanced marketability, since it will have been created from a wider perspective than a solely in-house production might offer.

Bates (2001) goes on to recommend the appointment of a project manager to oversee the production and flow of materials and liaise between the instructional designer(s) and the subject specialists. Having a good team of project manager, subject specialists and instructional designers will cut down the time needed to create the packages and increase the quality of the finished article, thereby leading to both efficient and effective use of staff and resources.

Another cautionary note offered by Riley (UCE) is that of avoiding the not invented here syndrome. Reinventing the wheel is inefficient and expensive. This opinion has been reiterated by staff at other educational centres, who have found to their cost that it is vital to spend time investigating prototypes

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elsewhere, rather than starting unnecessarily from scratch every time. Bates’s (2001, p. 11) research supports this recommendation.

There is no shame in ‘standing on the shoulders of giants’.

ICT and the Student

IT literacy and training needs. The students accessing construction training are by no means a homogeneous group and their needs with regards to different levels of IT literacy must be borne in mind. Not only is there the inevitable problem of students coming from different feeder schools with varying levels of competence, but there is also an increasing number of mature and non-traditional learners, who may not have had previous experience of IT. Morgan et al (2000) stress the importance of previous computer experience, when using computer-based learning packages, if the student is to feel confident with the material being taught. The vehicle of delivery must not bar students from the content.

Concern is also expressed that in the same way as present and past students have suffered through disabilities such as dyslexia, some students will have particular difficulties mastering computer technologies and will feel educational failures. Anxiety about coping with ICT can obviously impact upon a student’s general level of confidence.

As with staff facing the introduction of new teaching methods, a skills audit for the student is equally appropriate. Lucas (2000, p. 15) in an article about e-learning refers to a survey, in which only 4% of students questioned did not want support with their e-learning but, in contrast, 37% of employers did not offer e-learning support to their employees. This is a shortfall that the training provider must be prepared to address.

Access to IT facilities. Consideration needs to be given to issues of access to the materials. Is it envisaged that students will access courses from sites outside of college and if so have the problems of low speed modems and poorer quality equipment in students’ homes or places of work been considered? A possible solution put forward by Bates (2001) is to consider offering material on CD-ROMs as well as via the web. He also recommends that the institution should investigate leasing arrangements with local firms, so that students could lease computers, thereby ensuring equality of access. His concern is that organisations tend to assume that students will have access to high-range computers and CD-ROM players, which are suited to the requirements of the multimedia materials, and this will not always be the case (Bates, 2001, p. 9).

Student involvement. It is imperative that materials should be piloted and evaluated at regular stages in the creative process. Students’ views should be solicited and shown to be of value. They can assist through feedback on the ease with which they are able to navigate their way around the packages. They can also offer concerns about restrictions and constraints, which they identify with regards to

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their learning. They may well point out examples where the use of more traditional teaching methods would prove more effective. Some students will have far more experience of dealing with computer software than their staff and may well be able to refer staff to examples of CD-ROMs or other multimedia materials, which contain useful teaching and learning approaches.

Male friendly technology? With construction being a predominantly male oriented industry, it is interesting to note Morgan et al’s (2000) findings that ICT may well meet the learning needs of this group more successfully than other learning strategies.

In research, which has investigated this, it is reported that males learn more with computerised instruction than by any other method including that of a human teacher. (Hammond et al, quoted by Morgan et al, 2000, p. 75)

They also refer to other research by Forsyth & Archer (1997), which supports the finding that computerised instruction can aid a student’s appreciation of information and help him/her develop new ways of gathering it, thereby improving learning potential in a way superior to traditional teaching methods.

Efficiency, Cost Effectiveness and the Human Dimension

Using the right person for the right task is both efficient and cost effective – and failure to do so has cost implications beyond just the financial.

This is particularly the case, where staff are being taken away from their core function, i.e. lecturing, to work in an area, where they may lack the necessary confidence, expertise and skills. One needs to be mindful of the fact that vulnerability in one area of their work may impact upon other areas and lead to low morale and anxiety, even with regards to their core role of teaching. It cannot be easy for highly professional and competent staff to contemplate delivering their subject through a medium, about which they do not feel confident. Morgan et al (2000) in their exploration of psychological developments in high technology teaching and learning environments refer to the widespread appearance of ‘technostress’, where a feeling of incompetence with regards to IT leads to a general sense of failure. They warn of the impact of badly designed technology on both learner and teacher, which can cause increased pressure, frustration and a feeling of inadequacy.

Further Financial Considerations

The cost effectiveness of designing material from scratch is questionable, when there is so much material already available, particularly since the costs for preparing and producing multimedia packages are ‘front-loaded’ (Bates, 2001).

However, although starting from scratch with the design of multimedia materials is expensive in comparison with classroom teaching, once the materials are in place, there is little extra cost in relationship to increasing

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numbers of students. This is not the case with conventional teaching methods. Bates’s (2001, pp. 9-10) research into these issues has led him to the following conclusions:

Most universities and colleges have absorbed extra numbers of students in recent years by either increasing class size, or by using more and more low-paid and inexperienced teaching assistants (or both); in other words the quality of teaching has been reduced.

... for smaller numbers of students, conventional classroom teaching is likely to be less costly than multimedia and computer conferencing combined. However, as numbers increase the new media become increasingly more cost-effective.

Bates (2000, p. 7) goes on to caution that multimedia teaching will be more expensive if it is simply added to what is already there, warning that ‘there must be a major change in the process of teaching and learning if the benefits of multimedia are to be fully exploited.’ This view reinforces the research of Wilson (2000a,b), La Velle & Nichol (2000) and Hardin & Ziebarth (2001).

Returning once more to the comments of Evans (2000), Lucas (2000), Lee (2000), and La Velle & Nichol (2000) it is clear that they consider the introduction of ICT into the curriculum to be not a choice but an urgent challenge, which should not be ignored.

The choice facing the educator lies in how to meet the challenge.

The Stourbridge College Experience

Meeting the Challenge

Empowerment, Neill concludes, is not the things you do to or for people, it’s the impediments you take away, leaving space for folks to empower themselves. (Peters, 1995, p. 6)

It is evident that the willingness on the part of the construction staff at the college to take on board the new technology is due in no small part to the confidence they feel the management has shown with regards to their capabilities and their positive response to change. As one lecturer commented:

Under the present management we can be innovative and this is welcomed with ‘go for it.’ We don’t feel we’re for it if things go wrong, we’re encouraged to try.

This reflects the views of David Kelley, IDEO, as quoted by Peters:

To learn, fail ... If nothing ever breaks, you don’t really know how strong it is. Strike out fear of failure ... reward success and failure equally – punish inactivity. (Kelley, as quoted by Peters, 1995, p. 93)

According to the staff interviewed, the culture of the college is one conducive to innovation:

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The ethos of this college is that we are encouraged to go out and do things, which are not traditional for FE colleges to do.

You don’t want clones if you are seeking innovation. When people ask ‘what are we?’, I reply ‘what do you want to be?’

Whilst there is excitement amongst the staff about what the future holds, there is also some understandable anxiety about their teaching role with the onset of ICT in the curriculum. This reflects Bates’s (2001, p. 11) description of the new technologies as being ‘both seductive and threatening’. Most staff believe that, whilst their contribution to the learning process cannot be replaced by computer packages, their role will change. One lecturer spoke of how the teacher’s role would become facilitative rather than didactic. He was keen to see students having greater opportunities to access independent learning packages, which would enable them to think for themselves and to become independent learners and researchers. Further education would be the transitional phase for them between the ‘spoon-feeding of school and the world of work or HE.’ However he was also concerned that multimedia packages should not distract the student from the learning process. Riley (UCE) also warned against the student becoming too obsessed with the vehicle of delivery to the detriment of the content:

A hammer is only a tool. If one starts to take notice of the hammer for itself, then it hinders the task. It is the same with IT. If students start to discuss the computer program rather than the learning, then the software has failed. A hammer is only there to knock in the nail.

Responses to the challenge of upskilling have varied amongst departments. Most have selected one or more colleagues to take on the bulk of the multimedia preparation of materials. Riley (UCE) cautions against the over dependence on such ‘champions’, who, whilst they embrace innovations wholeheartedly, may offer their colleagues the opportunity to bask in reflected glory, whilst not progressing themselves. ‘Champions’ did emerge at the college, with colleagues supporting their ‘champion’ in various ways in order to free him up to work on preparing multimedia packages. It has taken the immediacy of the move to the ATC to concentrate minds upon the need for all to be as ICT aware and literate as possible. As Bates (2000, p. 3) stresses, teamwork is vital:

Teamwork, a recognition by each member of the team of their own limitations, and the contribution that other members of the team can make, are critical to success.

One departmental head has set up an outside link with the British Plumbers’ Employment Council (BPEC), which is keen to work with him on multimedia packages to enhance the quality of their members’ training throughout Britain. In other cases staff have written traditional work packages for the two multimedia designers to ‘transform’ into interactive computer packages. The

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issue of instructional designers, as recommended by Bates (2001), has been met in part by the fortuitous enthusiasm of a couple of the construction staff for the new technology, whose understanding of the curricular aspects complements the ICT skills of the multimedia designers. Discussions with other centres working on multimedia materials have however indicated a higher ratio of ICT multimedia designers to subject specialists than is the case at the college.

The Right Tools for the Job?

A specialist room was set aside for staff to work on preparing materials and the technology support staff were based there. This facility was fully utilised by those, who felt comfortable with the challenges of the new technology. However for those, who are anxious about their IT competence, the room remained a place ‘for the experts’.

Whilst the ATC was to be equipped with state of the art technological teaching and learning aids, the construction staff at the college were faced with preparing materials, for which there was little easy access to suitably equipped classrooms for trialling the packages. This meant the forfeiture of the essential process of preparation, piloting, evaluation and modification.

Since raising these concerns, there has been a swift response and negotiations are underway concerning designated appropriately equipped classrooms to be made available to the staff for trialling materials. Materials can now become practical aids to present teaching rather than theoretical applications for some future time and place.

The Student Perspective

Staff foresee many benefits for their students, which will accrue from the use of ICT multimedia packages in their learning experience. They anticipate, for example, that students will be able to access their learning materials to use for revision purposes or to catch up following an absence. They see these packages to be valuable in that they allow the students to work on their own; however a caveat is added here. To benefit from this a student needs to be self-disciplined and self motivated. Younger students coming straight from school may be more used to being ‘spoon-fed’ and may not cope with the apparent freedom being accorded to them, as some staff point out:

This new way of teaching is good for those, who are independent learners and who relish the freedom and flexibility of distance learning, but we must remember that this will not be right for everyone.

Not all students will welcome ICT in the same way as not all staff did – we have a marketing exercise here too. Teachers need to be aware of these conflicting experiences, perceptions and needs.

Indeed several students commented in like vein:

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I liked the package but I am worried if the teacher is replaced because not everyone is that good with computers.

I could see computers taking the place of teachers but it wouldn’t be a good thing, because students would muck about and there wouldn’t be anyone there to control them.

The students training in Construction and Electrical Installation (EI) at the college come from a range of backgrounds and consequently their needs with regards to their IT competence are very varied. Likewise their access to IT equipment outside of college will also be variable – hence the need for student as well as staff audits to assess needs. Many students are enthusiastic computer users at home and may well be able to offer very valuable comments upon the packages being prepared for their use.

Certainly the student response to trials of materials carried out to date has identified flaws in the programs and pointed the way forward for further work. The majority of students were very positive about the multimedia packages, although no one felt they could or should replace the teacher. They felt that the lecturers were able to turn their mistakes into learning experiences, whereas all that the computer did was to tell them they had given the wrong answer. Of particular value were the real life anecdotes their teachers shared with them, which could link theory and practical application in a meaningful and memorable way. One student said that ‘a computer may have all the data but it didn’t have all the answers that a teacher had.’ Another student said that the best teachers are the ones, ‘who give you a belief in yourself, that you can do it if you try’.

The general response in the pilot feedbacks was one of enjoyment of the packages; students appreciated the varied media, the ease of navigability of the programs, the ‘quiz’ element of the interactive material, the immediacy of feedback and the ability to work on their own and at their own pace. The potential of micro-customisation of course materials appealed to them.

A small number of the younger students identified possible feelings of isolation if they worked on packages without staff, reflecting the findings of Lucas (2000). Other students expressed anxieties about their computer literacy. Most of the younger students seemed to have access to computers, either at home, at work or in libraries. The majority of students felt that they would use the packages outside of college to catch up or revise work.

Some of the mature students, who took part in a pilot session, were very wary of the computers. They were here to learn ‘scaffolding not computing’. They were also less willing to use the computer if the lecturer was available. However, once their initial wariness had subsided, most found the package had merit and that ‘computers were not that bad after all’.

What has been highlighted by these pilots is that mature students may well have a range of concerns with regards to the use of ICT in their training sessions. In the above trial most of the students were receptive to change but anxious about coping with the computer skills they envisaged needing. The

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students exhibiting this anxiety were however pleasantly surprised to find how easy it was to navigate their way around the package. A couple of students remained rigidly opposed to using the package at all, even to the extent of taking much longer to complete the practical than the other trainees.

This indicates the need for very careful handling of the introduction of ICT packages across the board – particularly with mature students. The benefits to the students and to their company will need to be emphasised. The impression gained by the researcher from observing the ‘scaffolding’ students was that initially they felt ‘short changed’ – i.e. they expected their tutor to teach them and they were disgruntled and wary of being referred to a machine. Once into the package the majority recognised it to be valuable as a reference tool. They found it easy to use and good for checking their progress. Most felt it was best used alongside the tutor, expressing concern at the idea of the computer replacing their tutor.

When the packages form an integral part of the training session with computer material easily to hand, such attitudes may well change, but there will be teething problems as there have been for staff adjusting to the new approach.

Staff are also mindful of the fact that, whilst ICT may be a ‘wow’ factor to many of them, younger students have grown up with computers in the classroom and will expect more from the packages than perhaps the mature student, who might be daunted by the new technology:

We must take on board the anxieties of some of our students, who are not computer literate and whose anxieties match our own in some cases.

They were also concerned that mature students and indeed younger students might be distracted from the learning object by the vehicle of ICT – Riley (UCE) warned against this very problem. Staff acknowledged the need for vigilance against the negative potential of using ICT. As one staff member said:

We need to bear in mind that just because we are introducing computers into our teaching, our clientele will not change.

Communication

As is often the way with such innovatory projects there have been the inevitable delays with deadlines being put back again and again. For staff anticipating a move in September 2000 this led to a degree of mission fatigue, aggravated by the lack of information. Rumours abhor a vacuum and gloom and doom merchants seem to have the loudest voices. Once highlighted by the researcher however, this concern was responded to by the introduction of regular ‘in touch’ meetings, which were to involve all construction staff.

There is still an issue of communication with staff in general in the college about the ATC and its impact upon staff and students. One administrative staff member commented:

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We admin’ staff don’t know what is happening with the ATC. We do not know if we are moving there or not. I haven’t seen it yet. I do not know if it concerns me.

Every member of staff in the college is a walking marketing opportunity and should be kept as fully informed as possible. Communication should not be approached on a limiting and selective ‘need to know basis’. Keeping staff informed about what is likely to affect them is only common courtesy. Sharing the excitement of what is happening is only common sense.

In interviews with students it was clear that they had been undervalued for the contribution they could make towards the preparation for the ATC. Many did not know much about the Centre and few realised the impact it would have upon the learning opportunities of future students. Whilst this was advisable during the times of setbacks and delays, it was foolish to continue ignoring the potential of this resource. Students are now becoming more actively involved in discussions about the packages, their worth as learning tools and their design and user appeal. Hopefully their enthusiasm for this innovative style of delivering construction training will ensure its high profile both with employers and within the local community.

Conclusions

Issues to be addressed

Staff skills audits and training. Training with regard to the development, potential and implementation of ICT packages should never be seen to be a one-off programme. Staff will need ongoing training as they progress and develop ever more challenging ways to deliver their subject through the medium of ICT.

Students’ skills and access to IT equipment. A serious issue is the question of access to computers outside of college. It is important that staff are aware of the facilities students have at their disposal in the same way as a student skills audit has been recommended. If the use of ICT is to really take hold, then we need to be sure that students can access all relevant materials, both geographically beyond the confines of the classroom and in terms of their computer literacy. The advent of new technology must not bring in its wake a new group of disadvantaged students – those without access to its potential.

Communication. There have been tremendous strides forward in response to the research findings concerning the negative impact of inadequate lines of communication. But there must be no relaxation in the college’s vigilance. It is important that the sphere of information sharing is widened to involve everyone who has a stake, however small, in the ATC and its success. Both students and staff, all staff, should be enrolled to spread the word about what will be happening there.

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The Employer and ICT. This research has not encompassed the response of employers to the ATC, nor is there to-date any clear picture of the state of IT literacy within local firms or for that matter, what ICT equipment they have and use at present. The ATC is offering training, which has the potential to draw these firms into the 21st century technological world but it is questionable as to how far this message has spread.

Feedback from the National Skills Task Force (Lucas, 2000), shows concern about the tardiness with which SMEs are adopting new technology. Construction trainees are for the most part from SMEs; thus we have the dual task of convincing the employer as well as the employee that these skills are well worth acquiring alongside and through their vocational training. Both Lee (2000) and Evans (2000) stress the vital need for the country to see its SMEs becoming digitally literate in order to remain competitive in today’s global economy. To repeat the words of La Velle & Nichol (2000, p. 102):

ICT can provide an interface between the cutting edge of education and training and the outdated industrial and commercial practices embedded in the culture of regionally isolated small and medium sized firms and businesses.

It is no longer just an issue of marketing high quality vocational training – the ATC has the potential to offer real add-on value training. Not only will trainees benefit from professional tuition in their trades, they will also be taught through the medium of state of the art technology, which can be fed back into their firms through upgraded computer skills and IT competence and confidence. The construction departments of the college intend to play their part in enabling our industries to become more competitive:

Governments regard ICT education and training policy as a link between the present and society’s future health, wealth and relative prosperity. (La Velle & Nichol, 2000, p. 100)

Carpe Diem!

There is a tide in the affairs of men, Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune. (Shakespeare, Julius Caesar)

The college is ready to seize the opportunity before them, to use educational technology in the training of construction employees, thereby heralding the utilisation of innovative practices within the industry itself, supported through the IT literacy of its workforce. It is very exciting to be the torchbearer and what the college seeks to achieve at the ATC is not only important for the success of the college and its students, but also for the industry it serves and for the country.

Whilst it has not been a trouble-free journey, the road to the ATC has been paved with the determination to listen and to learn, to respond and to adapt. Communication short circuits have been rectified, the views of

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participants are being actively sought and state of the art equipment is being accessed now not later.

Through the setting up of the ATC the college aspires not only to meet the demands of the 21st century as a training provider but also to play their part in the technological upskilling and consequent global competitiveness of the construction industry.

However, what came across most strongly from this research was that, exciting as the ATC may be, it is the people, who have brought life to their vision and who will make it a success:

Of course the Advanced Technology Centre (ATC) is a wonderful building but it is the people, who made it happen. (The Principal)

We’ve got to be dynamic! Our industry is going through a sharp learning curve. We need to go through a time zone – we need to be thinking about the potential for the next ten years, not now, now’s gone! So many colleges still seem to be working ‘as they always have done’ – we must look forward and seize this opportunity. (College lecturer)

Correspondence

Tricia Le Gallais, Stourbridge College, Hagley Road, Stourbridge DY8 1QU, United Kingdom (tricia.legallais@stourbridge.ac.uk).

References

Bates, A. (2001) The Impact of Multimedia on Higher Education Institutions. Date accessed 3 January. http://www.ecel.uwa.edu.au/gse/erp/vol23no2/1Bates.html.

Caseley, C. (2000) Looking into the Future: learning 2010. ‘t’ magazine, December, pp. 20-22. (Quotes Wright, A., Chief Executive, Ufi.)

Chambers, P. (1999) Information Handling Skills, Cognition and New Technologies, British Journal of Technology, 30, pp. 151-162.

Evans, D. (2000) Building the Future, ‘t’ magazine, September, pp. 22-25.

Forsyth, D. & Archer, C. (1997) Technology Assisted Instruction and Student Mastery, Motivation and Maltriculation, Teaching of Psychology, 24, pp. 207-212.

Hardin, J. & Ziebarth, J. (2001) Digital Technology and its Impact on Education. http://www.ed.gov/Technologies/Futures/authors.html#hardin.

La Velle, L. & Nichol, J. (2000) Editorial. Intelligent Information and Communications Technology for Education and Training in the 21st Century, British Journal of Educational Technology, 31, pp. 99-107.

Lee, A. (2000) Small Firms Must Take Internet Plunge or Risk Being Sidelined, The Engineer, 17 November, p. 10.

Lucas, B. (2000) The Learning Curve: the real skills agenda, ‘t’ magazine, September, pp. 15-16.

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Morgan, K., Morgan, M. & Hall, J. (2000) Psychological Developments in High Technology Teaching and Learning Environments, British Journal of Educational Technology, 31, pp. 71-79.

Peters, T. (1995) The Pursuit of Wow. London: Macmillan.

Wilson, D. (2000a) Learning in the ‘E’ World: a positive shift, ‘t’ magazine, October, pp. 18-19.

Wilson, D. (2000b) E-conomics of Volume or Value, ‘t’ magazine, November, pp. 18-19.

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