Ursula Howard’s scientific contributions

Rather like the pencil - whose departure was predicted in 1938 by the New York Times in the face of ever more sophisticated typewriters - the fax, the copier and paper documents refuse to be dismissed. People find them useful. Paper has wonderful properties - properties that lie beyond information, helping people work, communicate and think together. Historians have long argued that the story of the industrial revolution cannot be told by looking at the train alone. Historians might as well whistle for all the effect they have had. The myth of the train is far more powerful. Today it's the myth of information that is overpowering richer explanations (of) the changes society is experiencing.

Learning with information technology (IT) is at the top of the research agenda for further and higher education. It is also at the centre of many post‐16 investments and policy initiatives. The widespread use in recent years of the term ‘information and learning technology’ (ILT) in further education (FE) colleges illustrates the particular focus in that sector. This paper analyses why this conjunction of learning and technology is seen as so important and describes how it has been articulated in practice. It outlines the scope of related research and how this matches the political and social imperatives, the professional development concerns of staff in the sector, and the ever‐changing technological context. In its summary of the pertinent research questions, the paper shows how research priorities can be and are being matched by concrete developmental practice.

This report, which is an outgrowth of the Further Education Development Agency's (FEDA's) Learning Outcomes study, explores ways of identifying, recording, and valuing adult learners' goals and achievements in learning opportunities that are not designed to lead to qualifications. The following topics are discussed in the report's six chapters: the diverse and complex reasons for learning and increasing recognition of the inadequacy of existing procedures for formally assessing and accrediting education in the United Kingdom; the context, background, and approach of the FEDA study; current thinking regarding learning outcomes (the National Vocational Qualifications outcomes model, open college networks and the credit framework, and the issues of accreditation for organizations that maintain a broader mission of adult learning); practical application of learning outcomes in five case studies; practical frameworks for developing learning outcomes strategies; and movement toward a culture of lifelong learning. Appended are the following: specification of the Further Education Funding Council's and local authorities' duties regarding provision of lifelong learning opportunities; overview of activities conducted to investigate different conceptions of learning outcomes and related issues; membership of the FEDA colloquium and consultative group; FEDA specification of learning outcomes; and sample forms. The bibliography lists 20 references. (MN)

A further education college for adults used Britain's Investors in People program to improve staff development opportunities for part-time staff. The process necessitated balancing the tension between academic culture and the language of adult education on the one hand and the business/enterprise ethos of the IP program on the other. (SK)

Typescript (photocopy). Thesis (Specialist)--Central Missouri State College, 1972. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 98-101).