Some 4159 Scottish librarians will be trained and the target in year one was 1336. The returns show that 38 percent have completed the training and 44 percent have commenced but not completed the training. Ten authorities reported delays to the commencement of the training for a variety of reasons - industrial action, contractual delays and delays caused by the tender process.
The feedback showed that the main concerns were lack of time for practice, difficulties and costs of releasing staff for training, and concerns about the quality of some training. Flexibility to take account of preferred learning styles had made a difference to the success of the training. Staff responses had, in general, been very positive and part of this was due to careful planning to maintain motivation.
Presentation: NOF ICT Training Discussions, 22nd Oct 2001 (requires a plug-in viewer for MS PowerPoint Show pps files)
Four presentations followed.
Dumfries and Galloway had reviewed and changed their training plan in the light of practical implementation. Following the Training Needs Analysis, the ICT training was to have been delivered by the in-house team, bringing staff into Dumfries for training sessions. D & G has a well-equipped Cybercentre, which holds ECDL test centre status, and is also MOUS (the Microsoft specialist training) approved. Some money was allocated to provide Institute of IT certificate training in Coventry for key members of staff. An additional post was created with the supplementary funding for an IT Officer, Shelagh McRae, to deliver the training. Following the outbreak of Foot and Mouth Disease, which had restricted staff travel, all this had to be reviewed. Senior staff were part of the Emergency Planning operation so that also had an impact. There was a knock-on negative impact on motivation. The decision was taken to move the training out to the branches. Staff were encouraged to take responsibility for their own learning, either managing their library time and inviting Shelagh to support them at a convenient time or going into Dumfries for training. A pool of staff is available for cover, paid for from the Special Fund. Library staff are encouraged to keep a diary of their formal ICT learning, with Shelagh or on the CD ROM and their experiential learning. Stranraer Library was also awarded ECDL test status. There was a negative reaction to compulsory ECDL testing so this was abandoned, however now staff are gaining in confidence they are anxious to have a certificate following their hard work. D & G have fast-tracked some learning and created a "buddy" system and coaching and mentoring skills have also been part of the training.
Presentation: Reviewing and changing the training plan (requires a plug-in viewer for MS PowerPoint Show pps files)
The Dundee plan was to use the two local colleges to deliver ECDL, feeling that learning was better in the college environment and not all libraries had access to hardware. After each training session "happy" sheets were circulated and Jayne took account of the feedback, coping out responses to staff so that they were fully aware of the on-going position. The training was very well received by staff, with most rating it as good or excellent and a high percentage recognising the value. A number of staff was identified for fast-track training to act as mentors. The first 37 staff were presented with their ECDL certificates in a ceremony at the City Chambers and their achievement was widely publicised in Council papers and the professional press. The time for practice posed problems as there were no computers for staff only use but the Council had other centres were staff could go to practice. The pace of the 10 week course was considered to be too fast but staff were more comfortable with the alternative 15 week course. In year 2 Jayne felt that she could brief staff better, having completed the ECDL herself. She discourages the comparison of scores from the outset as this leads to a negative competitive environment. Dundee have taken a bold decision to guarantee practice time and this takes staff away from the counter. A central pool of 15 staff is used for cover. Inevitably, something had to give way and other training is carefully considered. 20 staff are currently half-way through the ECDL. Staff are paired with a mentor from year 1 and staff have been keen to act as mentors.
Presentation: ICT training for library staff (requires a plug-in viewer for MS PowerPoint Show pps files)
Falkirk decided to go to their existing Council ICT trainers Infomatics CTEC for their ICT training and Scotia for the contextual/advanced outcomes on a year-on-year basis. The original Scotia training was reduced from 3 to 2 days at Falkirk's request. Falkirk decided not to put all staff through the ECDL but will support staff wishing to complete the process following year 3. Falkirk preferred the face-to-face formal delivery and felt that staff gained from mutual support. The NOF award coincided with the closure of the council training suite so innovative solutions had to be found. A meeting room in the library HQ was turned into a computer suite with 10 computers with a 2MB connection to the council intranet. Staff underwent pre-ECDL training where necessary and were booked on courses, spreading the load of staff release evenly. Cover was provided. The training and practice commitment was heavy on staff time and other training, such as customer care courses, were still run in parallel. 100% of staff felt that they had benefited from the training and staff perceptions were very good. Falkirk are aware that the training has been put into practice through the production of lists and posters and guiding in libraries.
The staff in East Renfrewshire started out with a reasonable level of existing ICT skills. So far, 14 ECDL certificates have been awarded and 7 more are on their way. Another 30 start next month. The original CD ROM package had a heavy time commitment, around 150 hours to complete. Presentations were given to the staff by SLIC and NOF so that staff could see the training in its context. Liz approached the training with value for money firmly in mind, and so reviewed the training in the light of her growing concerns. Other CD ROMs offered a fast-track option for higher skilled staff, preventing demotivation and stretching their learning. The training provider caused concerns both in terms of the quality of the training and in their communication with the authority. Following discussion with SLIC and NOF, East Renfrewshire decided that the lack of differentiation to take account of their prior learning was critical and that a "one-size fits all" approach was not good enough. Notice was given to the training provider that the contract would not be renewed and new providers were interviewed. Their learning materials were reviewed, references were taken from other authorities and costs were discussed. The new contract has started and there will be regular meeting to discuss feedback from staff.
The early experience was demotivating for all concerned but the situation has improved with the appointment of new providers. Staff will receive more support and the Special Fund will be used for this. Senior staff will be able to help input to the content of the contextual and advanced outcomes and that involvement is welcomed. Another motivating factor has been access to a fund to train community councillors and members of the local community groups, which has provided some money for staff overtime to carry out the training.
Presentation: East Renfrewshire Council Best value training (requires a plug-in viewer for MS PowerPoint Show pps files)
Edinburgh had also decided against the ECDL, preferring to develop their own courses for the contextual and advanced outcomes. Laptops are available for staff use for practice time and this has helped to motivate staff to take responsibility for their own learning. North Lanarkshire had put a number of staff through the advanced training so that they would be able to mentor other staff. The first of the fast-track ECDL courses had just started. Some staff were going to college, some through using the open learning method using the NetG CD ROM, but some staff had elected to go to night school and North Lanarkshire were supporting them.
Glasgow was very pleased with their training carried out by a local trainer CEDA based in Castlemilk. Staff were put through a training course a bronze, silver or gold level (bronze - expected outcomes, silver and gold - advanced outcomes). Fife were using college and CD ROM and had guaranteed practice time.
Moray raised concerns about the time it was taking staff to complete the open learning, some 7-8 months, but in discussion it was noted that they did have a high success rate from this learning approach. They had also reviewed their pre-ECDL in the light of this. Moray had also fast-tracked training the advanced learners to support the rest of the staff through the process. East Dunbartonshire were concerned about the preparation for the testing process. There were a number of test modules on the ECDL website and East Dunbartonshire had developed some of their own to help staff prepare for the process. There was general discussion about some of the CD ROM packages and the use of workbooks and complimentary learning tools. It is important that a broad range of learning materials is considered and it was very individual choice. The loan of laptops had provided a satisfactory solution to issues of access.
The issue about the use of staff's own time for learning was raised but it was felt that staff motivation was very high in some authorities and the commitment of staff to develop their ICT skills by using their own time had made a considerable contribution to the training process. Some authorities had checked this out with unions who had been supportive in assisting staff to acquire additional skills.
Some authorities were having problems with staff re-sitting ECDL tests and the associated costs. There was general discussion, some of which related back to the point about adequate preparation and development of examination technique. It was agreed to monitor this.
This report is available for downloading (PDF format).
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© Send comments, suggestions and queries about SLAINTE to Gillian Hanlon. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.5 UK: Scotland License 06-Mar-2012
