New product to Revolutionise Time Management at FE Colleges

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“Have you ever wondered how your Further Education College could benefit from a new resource searching tool? Well wonder no more viewer, as you can now “Aspire” to a new level of learning!”

Apologies if the above seems akin to a home-learning advert on a forgotten channel lost in the chasms of digital broadcasting, but rumour has reached our ears here at FE News about a new product currently in its final phase of production. Is it a new funding system designed to target those provisions most in need? Is it a government minister who doesn”t recycle the same speech over and over? Is it recognition of the dreaded “globalisation” word?

Unveiling”¦

No. What we have is a revolutionary way to best utilise time and resources for FE Colleges across the country, and Loughborough have given it the thumbs up. Aspire is a new federated search product that makes the most of the online resources each college subscribes to. By using technological wizardry, a fair amount of intelligence (and, if you wish to believe so, a small pinch of magic pixy dust), the product is able to simplify student’s searching for information online by foraging through the masses of literature and knowledge available and presenting it in a simple format to said student.

“For the pilot, Aspire has been included in our induction programme for selected A-level courses”, explains Clare Holden, Learning Resources Manager at Loughborough. “Feedback from students has shown that by using Aspire, they have found useful information that they may well not have discovered by simply going to one source, or by using a search engine.”

Amidst the clamour concerning strikes, lecturer’s pay and the impending monstrosity of exams, Aspire swoops in, using its unique blend of revolutionary programming and simplicity to ease the furrowed brows of students across the country. Now for some management speak: Aspire utilises advanced technology and increases the visibility of online information, thus maximising institution investment in e-resources. See? Easy as a-b-c.

Targeting

The project however, is one of a kind, in that it targets FE colleges particularly. This is an intention Clare is fully aware of: “We haven”t seen any other portals like Aspire that have been built with FE College requirements and budgets in mind. We are very pleased with how the pilot is shaping up and the service will really take off with the new student intake in September.”

The acclaim does not end there. Robin Murray, Managing Director at OCLC PICA Ltd, who develop the product, said: “Federated searching is no longer just for the Higher Education sector. The overwhelmingly positive response we received at the road-shows demonstrates that FE College libraries are now ready to implement federated searching, as long as the service has been designed to meet their specific needs and budgets.”

So fear not, Federated Searching is here!

Vijay Pattni

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