Rohan Slaughter 24/6/14

1. The DART Projects Rohan Slaughter 24/6/14

2. The DART Project Rohan Slaughter – Assistant Principal and Head of Technology Employed at Scope’s Beaumont College

3. Introduction to Beaumont College Scope run Independent Specialist College (ISC) based in Lancaster 96 learners in Lancaster, two satellite provisions with ~20 learners 330 FTE staff Ofsted “Outstanding” LSIS Beacon Status Curriculum focussed on personal development, independence, skills for life Creative arts specialism

4. The Technology Team at Beaumont

5. Definition of the Assistive Technologist The title ‘assistive technologist’ (AT) has a number of different interpretations: • One is Clinical, and refers to ‘clinical rehab engineers’ • This is common in the NHS • Beaumont College and the DART project uses a somewhat different definition: • If anyone wants the sample job description, person spec and role profile please contact me • This job is more education focussed, and as such the post holders: • Ideally should have a teaching qualification, minimum 7307/7407/PTTLS or equivalent, and preferably a PGCE/cert ed • Be educated to degree level in an IT related subject or have equivalent skills and knowledge gained from a suitable setting • We want ‘people’ people who are technically literate

6. Definition of the Assistive Technologist The Assistive Technologist • This role was developed during the Wheeltop Project at Beaumont College • Funded by BT from 2007-2010 • Integrate off the shelf Tablet PC technology in place of dedicated communication aids • Reduced the cost of the hardware and increased flexibility of solutions • The technologist role was the most important development from the Wheeltop Project

7. Definition of the Assistive Technologist

8. How the Assistive Technologist works at BC Caseload allocation, all students have a named technologist Each technologist is allocated a number of teachers/sessions to support Preparation of resources for SLT / Teachers, that could be student specific or subject specific Implementation of bespoke or customised hardware and software solutions Research and development in line with all of the above Project work

9. The AAC Community Of Practice (AAC COP) Is made up of: Speech and Language Therapists, Occupational Therapists, Physiotherapists, Teachers, Technologists Meets every two weeks for: • Case discussions, problem solving etc. New technology discussions Other matters arising

10. History of the DART project(s) 2010/12 DART1, an LSIS funded project • Beaumont College and National Star College worked with 8 colleges, in a ‘deep support’ capacity • Beaumont and Star are ISC’s : Independent Specialist Colleges • One of those DART1 colleges was Henshaws 2012/13 - DART2, a JISC Advance funded project: • Beaumont College, National Star College, Henshaws College, Colleges Scotland, NATSPEC, JISC all working together • 10 deep support colleges, 2 in Scotland • 3 workshops, delivered twice, once in Birmingham, once in Stirling

11. DART / DART2 The DART project sought to: Improve AT practice in the sector Enable the replication of the innovative Assistive Technologist role Produce AT case studies for the sector The project achieved this through: ‘Deep Support’ for ten providers • A Workshop series • A Natspec sponsored research project

12. Deep Support Following an application and shortlisting process that was overseen by JISC TechDis 10 Colleges were selected Applications for the ‘deep support’ element were heavily oversubscribed, with approximately three times more applications than places available This indicates that there is a large unmet need in the sector. Unsuccessful applicants received priority booking for the workshop series. After the priority booking period, places will are allocated on a first come, first served basis We plan to move to a paid consultancy basis for this support going forward, but fear that contracting budgets will limit the appeal of this

13. Deep Support Beaumont College, Henshaws College and National Star worked to develop a program of activities with each college individually Sought to identify what the college wishes to develop as part of the project, this included: Elements of the Technologist role to be embedded in an existing role Transfer of assistive technology knowledge to specific staff, work shadowing etc. Training and development for staff in the partner colleges Advice on sourcing equipment, software etc. and on adapting mainstream hardware Opportunity to review, adapt and change direction as emergent needs are identified Fostered two way learning - we learnt from all partner colleges The project created a legacy of web based resources that can be used by the sector more widely Assistance with recuitment

14. Workshops • Day 1: Assessment for Assistive Technology Feb 2013 • Slides from the events: • http://goo.gl/usih18 • http://goo.gl/2pZvNM • Day 2: Creating the Assistive Technologist role and it’s integration into a College structure, April 2013. • Slides from the events: • http://goo.gl/UWI2FB • http://goo.gl/9PnNE8 • Day 3: Specific Assistive Technology software training, Jun 2013 • http://goo.gl/I0IpvM • http://goo.gl/732XNY

15. Natspec Research Project • The Natspec sponsored research project ‘Assistive Technology in Further Education Organisations’ (now published on Jorum: http://find.jorum.ac.uk/resources/18808) was conducted via online questionnaire / telephone follow up, and sought to: • Inform the content of the workshops (give the sector what it required in terms of AT related CPD) • Define key themes around what is working well (or what is not working well) with respect to Assistive Technology in all types of FE College • A summative DART2 project presentation took place at the JISC RSC NW annual conference on 26th June 2013: http://www.jiscrsc.ac.uk/northwest/news/2013/february/jisc-rsc-northwest-annual-event.aspx • For more information please see http://dart.beaumontcollege.ac.uk

16. College structure and relationships between teams • The technology strategy in a College stands or falls based on: • Relationships between teams • The College Structure • Relationship of the IT/Technology team with: • Teachers • Therapists (where present) • Supporting staff • People in the AT role

17. Dart 2 Key Outcomes / Outputs • 10 Colleges provided with Deep Support, more than half have now created new Assistive Technologist roles • Note feedback from supported Colleges on the DART website • Well over 100 people attended the workshop series in England and Scotland • The Natspec sponsored report has provided an interesting overview of the status of Assistive Technology in the Colleges who responded • A community of practice spanning GFE and ISC College has been created around the Assistive Technologist position

18. Dart 2 Key Outcomes / Outputs • Feedback links: • Landmarks College: http://goo.gl/Senj8x • Seashell Trust: http://goo.gl/oE5ANI • Bridge College: http://goo.gl/hA9vUP • Myerscough College: http://goo.gl/CtSPev • Edinburgh College: http://goo.gl/yof3rK • Kilmarnock College: http://goo.gl/B0XZD1

19. Dart 2 Lessons learned • Project management system worked really well, and will be used again on other multi-partner projects • Workshop series proved to be very effective in terms of engaging providers • Application process should be revised in any follow on project to provide support for some providers at the start of their AT journey and other more established (in terms of AT provision) providers who wish to undertake a specific AT project • Some providers wanted a lot of extra input for the work shadowing days, which almost become like extra ‘support days’ • Despite getting a memorandum of understanding from senior managers at all 10 deep support providers one provider did not fully engage with the process, we will explore ways to prevent this in any future project

20. DART 2.1 We are running an expanded Dart project thanks to the ‘Jisc FE and Skills Development and Resources Programme - Embedding Benefits’ funding. This new project will provide the following support: • ‘Deep Support’ for an additional 10 providers (7 GFE, 3 ISC) • A second research project, managed by Natspec that has goals aligned to the original work, including similar questions in order to gain a ‘longitudinal view’ of AT development in the sector. This is based on a survey that aims to understand the development needs of the sector in order to inform the design and delivery of the workshops, and indeed future Jisc programmes • The design and delivery of three AT workshop days -open access to all, not just the providers who will receive ‘deep-support’. All three workshops will run twice, once in central England and once in central Scotland.

21. DART 2.1 A element of Dart 2.1 is further engagement with Jisc in order to: • Train the Access and Inclusion advisors in the JISC RSC’s who wish to learn more about AT through active participation in the Deep Support provision. • The RSC’s A&I advisors will be invited to all deep support events in the regions they support in order to both be up skilled by DART core partner’s staff members and to provide local knowledge and context. • An additional workshop will be provided for all A&I advisors from the RSC’s in consultation with their role group / JISC TechDis in order to promote sustainability of the projects outcomes. This workshop will be open to all interested Jisc staff.

22. Thank You • Email us: • rohan.slaughter@scope.org.uk • trevor.mobbs@scope.org.uk • Follow us: • @rohanslaughter • @mobbts

23. Any questions?