Education and Training Foundation launches new management dashboard to support EdTech staff development

The Education and Training Foundation (ETF) has today launched a Management Dashboard for the Enhance Digital Teaching Platform. The dashboard will help learning providers in the Further Education (FE) and Training sector to support staff in adopting educational technology to improve learner outcomes.

Learning providers using the dashboard will be able to capitalise on the growing range of free, bite-size EdTech training resources available on the Enhance Digital Teaching Platform, funded by the Department for Education. These free resources are aligned with the national competency framework for EdTech, the Digital Teaching Professional Framework (DTPF).

The dashboard is designed to support a staff development strategy based on the DTPF in which managers can direct staff to relevant training modules on the platform and then track their progress completing modules and gaining digital badges. Providers can see how staff are progressing as individuals, as a cohort or across the organisation as a whole. The dashboard also includes a powerful reporting tool which allows reporting by curriculum area, department or directorship.

To encourage peer-to-peer support, provider facilities will include a dedicated discussion forum where staff involved in EdTech development can exchange views and queries and share good practice. The aim is to foster communities of practice in use of EdTech across the organisation, helping to break down departmental silos and maximise the input of those who are more confident and experienced.

Vikki Liogier, ETF’s Head of Learning Technologies, said: “The Management Dashboard allied with use of the Enhance Digital Teaching Platform will support innovation in teaching and training and this, in turn, will help to improve learner outcomes. We know that increased use of technology in the learning process will help to equip learners for the changing world of work where using technology is now becoming essential.”

The new dashboard facility was piloted between April and July (2019) with 19 learning providers across the UK. The pilot involved 136 staff who have completed 624 EdTech training modules and gained 336 digital badges. Feedback from it has been used to add further features to the dashboard.

Pilot participant, Mark Beetlestone, who is leading on digital learning strategy at Fareham College, said: “We are aiming to upskill staff right across all departments, so we are going to use the ETF’s online training service and the underpinning Digital Teaching Professional Framework to form the basis of our digital CPD offer this year. The Management Dashboard is useful for monitoring uptake of the online training modules and to see which are the most popular modules. It helps us to tailor our use of the platform and the framework to our own CPD strategy.”

The Enhance Digital Teaching Platform Management Dashboard is available at 50% discount to Corporate Partners of the Society for Education and Training. Full details of costs and the range of benefits available to learning providers are available on the website.