The Learning Exchange – Open For Business

Ian Watson, Knowledge and Information Manager at SIESWE, tells Care Appointments that the Learning Exchange – the pioneering interactive online library of digital learning resources designed especially for the social services – is now available to the whole of the social services workforce in Scotland.

Since its launch by SIESWE (the Scottish Institute for Excellence in Social Work Education) in 2005, the Learning Exchange has established itself as an invaluable educational resource in the higher education sector, providing access to case studies, policies and interactive learning objects.

This invaluable resource is also suitable for practitioners, trainers or managers and it was always our intention to open up access to a much wider audience. Now, through an arrangement with NHS Education Scotland, the Learning Exchange is available as part of the NHS eLibrary.

Anyone employed in social work agencies in the statutory, voluntary and private sectors in Scotland may register as a member of the NHS eLibrary and make use of its extensive resources, including the Learning Exchange.

Content

The rich and varied content includes new multimedia materials created by SIESWE which explain key concepts, illustrated by case studies devised conjunction with educators and practitioners. For example, Brain Behaviour and Dementia, presents a series of short video presentations and 3D graphics of the brain explaining how symptoms are caused and how they affect the behavioural patterns of people with dementia. Animated Minds – a set of animated documentaries using real testimony, combined with engaging and sometimes humorous visuals – offers a graphic insight into the mind of the mentally distressed.

The legal, ethical and practice issues surrounding child protection are explored in case study based on the fictitious Sharon Donnelly, against whom allegations of child abuse are made. As the case moves from allegations of abuse to planning for permanent care, learners are asked to interpret and assess an unfolding scenario of complex need and to consider a variety of responses designed both to promote the welfare of the children and ensure parents’ rights are actively considered.

Five short video clips show the case as it progresses, offering the different perspectives of key players: an anonymous caller; social workers involved in the initial investigation; a neighbour; a foster carer; and Jasmine Donnelly the thirteen year old daughter of Sharon.

As well as this ‘rich media’ material the Learning Exchange catalogues many resources available on the open Internet and brings them together in one place, making them much easier to find.

The Joseph Rowntree Foundation, for example, has a formidable output of high quality research on a whole range subjects from dealing with drug abusers in the family, to support for black disabled people to monitoring poverty and exclusion. There are also links to the online output of bodies such as Research in Practice and even BBC radio programmes.

Working with Communities

The Learning Exchange was conceived as something more than a database of pre-selected material. As the name implies, we wish to foster the sharing and exchanging of experience, techniques and good practice. We are working with specialists in, for example, child protection to create collections of high quality, semi-published training materials that might otherwise have a rather limited distribution. According to Peter Ashe of NHS National Services Scotland:

“The Learning Exchange approach helps support ‘Communities of Practice,’ which bridge across organisations and localities, like the one we are beginning to develop for Scottish Child Protection. The commitment to work closely with resource providers in partner agencies like the NHS e-library is really welcome.” In this way we intend to establish a network of external curators who will use the Exchange as a vehicle for sharing training materials in their specialist area.{mospagebreak}

Organisation

All the content is classified according to specially devised classification schemes that make it easy to find relevant materials by browsing, much as you might do in a traditional library. It’s also possible to search using keywords, or for different types of content. For students, educators, trainers, practitioners and managers, this rich variety of material is invaluable for keeping up to date with policy and practice.

Key Housing Association provides accommodation and support services to people with learning disabilities and Staff Development and Learning Manager Donald Mackinnon is excited about the possibilities opened up the Learning Exchange: “As an organisation employing a large number of social care staff, geographically dispersed across Scotland, access to the Learning Exchange will be of immense value to Key Housing.

“The content is wide-ranging and impressive and the format, which includes script based files and animated documentaries, is both engaging and informative.  Bringing a vast store of knowledge to staff, when and where they need it will augment our in-house training programme and will allow for a blend of approaches to staff development and learning. It is a very welcome addition to social care in Scotland.”

In the academic sector Jo Burns, a lecturer in Social Work at Glasgow Caledonian University, uses the Learning Exchange to bring something new to the lecture room: “I try to be as innovative as possible in teaching students within the social work programme.  The Learning Exchange has enabled me to bring some of the material to ‘life’ by using video scenarios that I can interweave with my teaching.”

How To Get Access – Register With The NHS eLibrary

To obtain access you must first register with the NHS eLibrary, which uses the Athens authentication system. The process is quite straightforward.

• – Go to the NHS eLibrary home page at www.elib.scot.nhs.uk and click on the Need to Register? link at the top of the page
• – You will then see a page describing the eLibrary and who may register. Click register now
• – After agreeing to the terms and conditions, enter your details
• – On the page that appears select your category (local authority staff or NHS partner organisation)
• – You should receive notification of your user name and password within one working day. Please use a work-related email address, e.g. [email protected]. Once you have your NHS eLibrary Athens password and user name you can sign to the Learning Exchange either through the Quick Link on the left hand side of the eLibrary page www.elib.scot.nhs.uk or go directly to learnx.sieswse.org

Handy Hint: Your Athens password is a valuable possession. To manage your account and find out about all the sources available go to My Athens auth.athensams.net/my where you can change password, contact the Athens administrator and create a list of your favourite resources. You can also add a My Athens toolbar to your browser (Internet Explorer or Firefox) which will give you rapid access to your favourites.

A Note On Technology

The majority of the Learning Exchange content is provided in the form of pdf files and is accessible from any Internet connected PC using a modern browser with Adobe Acrobat Reader installed.
However, accessing multimedia content within the Learning Exchange requires a computer with a soundcard and a modern browser with up-to-date versions of the appropriate multimedia player. For the best experience we recommend installation of the most recent versions of the following media players: Adobe Flash player ; Adobe Shockwave player; RealPlayer; Apple Quicktime player; and Windows Media Player.

We appreciate that accessing multimedia – especially streaming multimedia – from a work-based PC may be problematic for a number of well-grounded organisational, technical and security reasons. Agencies may have put in place special multimedia PCs, or special staff development or training rooms for this purpose. We are happy to discuss requirements and firewall issues with agency-based IT or training staff.

If you would like to discuss any aspect of the Learning Exchange please make contact. We would be happy to demonstrate uses of the Learning Exchange to your staff, and/or discuss technical requirements with your IT services.

Contacts

NHS Scotland eLibrary: www.elib.scot.nhs.uk
The Learning Exchange: learnx.sieswe.org
Learning Exchange support: [email protected]
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