Running Your Own Hi5 Scheme
From the very beginning, when first devising the region-wide Hi5 eLearning Awards, the RSC South East was looking to create and migrate a version for internal use by individual learning providers. The aims of such local Hi5 schemes are to encourage organisations to recognise and share effective e-learning practice, improve levels of e-maturity, and to expand into an invaluable staff-development tool.
The JISC RSC South East’s regional Hi5 eLearning Awards was launched in May 2008 with the aim of promoting and embedding e-learning in all the educational sectors that we support.
It quickly became apparent that providers could utilise such an award scheme within their own organisations to: reveal and highlight excellent but often unrecognised e-learning practice; encourage staff to share ideas, resources and methodologies; further improve engagement, attainment and retention of learners; and become an invaluable tool for staff development.
In addition, such an initiative will: help to embed ILT within the curriculum; develop an organisation’s level of e-maturity; raise the profile of the provider within the education community; and provide tangible evidence to outside agencies of ILT development.
The JISC RSC South East is well aware of the work involved in organising such an awards scheme. As a result, the RSC has developed a Support Pack for learning providers wishing to run their own version of the Hi5 eLearning Award, containing a comprehensive suite of templates for posters, leaflets, certificates and letters plus guidance material (see How to Use the Support Pack for full details).
Whether you adopt wholesale the regional Hi5 eLearning Awards model contained in the Support Pack, cherry pick those aspects that suit your organisation or run your own unique awards scheme, the RSC will be delighted to provide any guidance and assistance that you may require in order to realise such a progressive and worthwhile initiative.
Just like the RSC SE regional awards, your own Hi5 eLearning Awards will celebrate and recognise (at all levels) the innovation and efforts of staff in engaging students through the use of ILT, thereby improving understanding, raising attainment and increasing retention. The provider-led Hi5 Awards are suitable for a wide variety of educational establishments across many sectors. Organisations in Further Education, Higher Education, HE in FE, Specialist Colleges, Adult and Community Learning and Work Based Learning will all benefit from running these e-learning awards schemes.
In order to increase awareness across the South East region and to further improve the dissemination of good practice, all Winners and Runners Up within individual organisations will automatically be nominated for the JISC RSC South East regional Hi5 eLearning Awards.
The RSC SE firmly believes that these provider-led awards schemes represent an ideal opportunity for educational establishments to make significant progress in developing levels of e-maturity and give due recognition and reward to the increasing numbers of individuals and teams that are making successful e-learning a reality in the South East.
For any further information, advice or support, please do not hesitate to contact the JISC RSC South East or talk to your regular RSC Adviser.
