The concept behind "open educational resources" (OERs) has been around for several years. The principle of OERs is simply that teachers and lecturers make their learning materials freely available for others to use. At first, this might sound like a radical, even controversial, idea. Why, after all, should practitioners share materials that they…

An examination of the current government policy discourse on social value and the capturing of social impact leads immediately into the centre of the fast-moving and transforming public-sector reform agenda. The thinking around social value takes an individual to the heart of contracting, localism, the relationship between the public sector and…

People frequently hear competing media and research claims about the educational value of new technologies. But too often it is not clear how, if at all, these technologies are supporting learning. And there is not enough attention paid to the challenges of trying to introduce these technologies successfully into an educational context. To what…

The UK Government's consultation on informal adult learning recognises the importance of self-directed learning, learning in social movements, and learning that involves the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs). There is a much clearer picture of how computers and the Internet are used by people in their everyday lives and for…

"Who benefits from adult learning?" was the question explored at a joint WEA/NIACE conference in Coventry last autumn. The last decade has seen significant increases in the resources allocated to further education in the UK. Latest figures show 1.4 million public funded places on adult education classes have been lost in the last two…

People at the Quality Improvement Agency (QIA) are focused on the adult learning experience wherever it takes place--in classrooms, workshops, training centres, community centres, or at work. They exist to help those who teach to be better at what they do--and those who lead and manage to encourage this improvement--so that learners can receive a…