Shortlist 2021 - Category M

The Hospitality & Catering Team delivers a teaching programme alongside its operation of East Avenue; a highly regarded restaurant offering modern British cuisine to members of the public. Continual innovation keeps the curriculum and menus exciting and relevant, elevating the ambitions of learners by setting high quality standards.

During lockdown the team applied blended learning to continue to provide students with an advanced understanding of the industry. Learning technologies, digital strategies and media were applied to maintain the high level of enrichment activities, complement daily lessons and reduce paperwork.

This blended approach ensured standards and creativity did not slip.

This award submission is for a blended learning programme in Safeguarding Adults, required training for over half a million health and care staff in England.  The programme was a collaboration between Health Education England and NHS England & Improvement, the learning was co-designed with a large network of safeguarding professionals and with input from service users.  It comprises a three-week Massive Online Open Course (MOOC) and a half-day workshop delivered synchronously.

Since its launch in January 2020, the programme has had over 50,000 active learners.  Of those that completed the end of course survey (n=23,358 learners), 92% have applied what they’ve learned on the job.

The Police Uplift Blended Learning Programme was an ambitious three month (blended) learning programme to improve blended learning design expertise and provide ongoing support to 550 L&D staff across all 43 Police Forces. The medium was the message and the idea was to rapidly design, produce and deliver a flexible and agile blend to help L&D staff to both learn about, and experience, true blended learning first hand.

The result is an energetic, enthused audience who are experimenting with blends, forming communities of practice and sharing knowledge and resources; ready to drive this important cultural change forward.

Scottish business owners who want to export their products and services were challenged last year by the Covid-19 restrictions and logistical hurdles introduced by Brexit.

To help them overcome these challenges, economic development agency Scottish Enterprise collaborated with learning tech firm Mind Tools and management consultants Giraffe to create an integrated blended learning programme.

Far from focusing on ‘education’, our 12 online modules walked participants through the process of creating a practical ‘Export Plan’ that they then iterated with the help of peers and experts at a series of virtual workshops and coaching sessions.

The radical re-design of Teach First’s Summer Institute from a five-week residential, into a blended model called for a carefully curated suite of online tools in order to combine the flexibility of online learning with opportunities to discuss, collaborate and network in-person.

The procurement of these tools: Brightspace, a virtual learning environment; Steplab, an instructional coaching tool; Iris Connect, a video reflection tool; and Zoom for synchronous sessions; alongside careful and considered curriculum design supported a seamless journey between online and in person learning. This innovative approach to an intensive and crucial element of the programme was received with great success

The Ivy House Award is a blended learning programme, bringing executive-level personal and professional development to 15-18 year old students in schools and colleges - at a time when it can make all the difference. Developing leadership and life skills, it gives students the knowledge and confidence to take ownership of their lives.

The Award is a flexible learning programme delivered via a bespoke LXP. It uses a powerful combination of videos, interactive quizzes, psychometric tools, exercises, discussion topics and an engaging personal action plan - delivered to students’ smartphones, tablets or laptops - combined with classroom-based facilitated discussions.