Background
Griffith College(external link) is Ireland’s largest independent third-level institution with locations in Dublin, Cork and Limerick. Established over 40 years ago, Griffith College enjoys a national and a growing international reputation for student success. The College has gained an enviable, award-winning reputation for providing students with first class programmes and excellent learning facilities.
Ireland’s recently appointed Minister for Higher Education and Innovation, Simon Harris, intends to expand the apprenticeship model of award delivery into a wider variety of sectors within the Irish economy as it recovers from COVID-19. The Action Plan for Apprenticeship 2021-2025 launched with 18,000+ people under the apprenticeship scheme, which is oriented towards a wide range of occupations.
Griffith College is the coordinating provider for the Advanced Healthcare Assistant Practitioner apprenticeship programme. The consortium Steering Group includes representatives from Nursing Homes Ireland, Home and Community Care Ireland, the Private Hospitals Association and the Alliance of Healthcare Assistants in Ireland.
Griffith College is also the coordinating provider for the Bar Manager Degree apprenticeship programme in Ireland and intends to expand into other disciplines.
Opportunity
Griffith College needed a digital platform where students could evidence their workplace learning and assessment and their achievement of the workplace learning outcomes to replace a paper book system. So students could record evidence of achievement off campus.
After some research, Griffith College decided to utilise the SmartEvidence feature in Mahara to create a structured ePortfolio where apprentices could easily evidence their achievement of the workplace learning outcomes.
Through an iterative process, Griffith College built draft structured ePortfolio templates using pages and collections attached to SmartEvidence frameworks. However, there were several unresolved issues with the structure and workflow. Griffith College quickly realised they needed specialised support to complete the implementation project. Staff from Griffith College had seen Sam Taylor, one of our eLearning Consultants, at a recent MoodleMunch event presenting work on Moodle and Mahara and promptly got in touch.
Griffith required guidance on-site set-up and structure, user journeys for each stakeholder, onboarding, course design, landing pages, and pushing SmartEvidence collections to apprentices' accounts. They also wanted help with Groups, submissions of assignments, and transitioning between Moodle and Mahara.
Solution
Catalyst advised on how to set up the site into institutions. Learners received portfolio templates matching the competencies they needed to evidence - including a SmartEvidence framework for each portfolio. Catalyst advised on how to set up module groups for apprentices to submit their portfolios to for marking and how to manage users and roles.
The creation of help resources for apprentices followed. The theme configuration used for Griffith to facilitate the development of this new feature has been integrated into core Mahara. Many institutions, therefore, will benefit from these portfolios adapted for the apprenticeship award delivery model.
Catalyst and Griffith College were involved in frequent workshops to design a seamless journey for each role. For instance, apprentices, teachers, workplace mentors, and site administrators.
The developmental strategy of using the first three staged modules, visible to the learner, avoided overwhelming the students.
Results
The Digital Learning Department at Griffith College were impressed from the outset with the meetings and the training provided by Sam.
Griffith College aims to grow IT skills with learners and mentors in as many subject disciplines as possible. For example, expanding to hospitality as a next step and other faculties within the College. IT literacy skills have also significantly improved for both staff and students.
The process is much clearer and swifter for external examiners and moderators to view and assess portfolios.
Ultimately, Griffith College wants to promote and invest in lifelong learning for their students and provide the opportunity to sustain a professional Mahara ePortfolio, evidencing the continuation of their professional journey.