RP - Etna Vol IV - On The Right Track - An Analysis of Skills and Attitudes To Technology in Scottish Further Education - JSC Regional Support Centre Scotland North &amp East 2010 - 123pg

ETNA vol IV
On the right track

an analysis of skills and attitudes to technology in Scottish Further Education
JISC Regional Support Centre Scotland North & East 2010
The ETNA Report

This report is the latest in a series published by:
the JISC Regional Support Centre Scotland North & East,
www.rsc-ne-scotland.ac.uk
Chief Author: Hugh Dailly (RSC Deputy Manager)

Series Editor: Sarah Price (RSC Manager)
Feedback
If you have any feedback to offer on this document, please contact:
RSC Manager
JISC RSC Scotland North & East
support@rsc-ne-scotland.ac.uk
Acknowledgement
We are grateful to staff and students in all further education colleges in Scotland for their
participation in this ETNA survey. We are grateful also to staff in both JISC Regional Support
Centres in Scotland for publicising the survey widely to all colleges, and for their critical
commentary on early drafts of this report.
Copyright
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution- Noncommercial- No Derivative Works 2.5 UK: Scotland
License.
2
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 7
2 INTRODUCTION 9
2.1 Background .................................................................................................................................9
2.2 The Survey Instrument ..............................................................................................................9
2.3 The Sample..................................................................................................................................9
2.4 Structure of this Report ...........................................................................................................10
3 DISTANCE TRAVELLED 11
3.1 Introduction ..............................................................................................................................11
3.2 Computing Access and Power .................................................................................................11
3.3 VLE Use.....................................................................................................................................12
3.4 Other Technologies...................................................................................................................13
3.5 Application of the Technology.................................................................................................14
3.6 The Standard Skills Set............................................................................................................15
3.7 Training Delivery......................................................................................................................15
4 ACADEMIC STAFF 18
4.1 Introduction ..............................................................................................................................18
4.2 Use of the Virtual Learning Environment (VLE)..................................................................19
4.3 Other College Technologies ..................................................................................................... 23
4.4 Connectivity ..............................................................................................................................27
4.5 ICT Skill Set..............................................................................................................................29
4.6 Training .....................................................................................................................................34
4.7 Attitudes to ICT ........................................................................................................................37
5 STUDENTS 39
5.1 Introduction ..............................................................................................................................39
5.2 Key Findings .............................................................................................................................41
5.3 Technology Skills ......................................................................................................................42
3
5.4 Popular Technology..................................................................................................................44
5.5 Web 2.0 Technologies ...............................................................................................................45
5.6 Technology and You.................................................................................................................48
5.7 Using Technology as Part of the Course .................................................................................49
5.8 Attitudes to Technology ...........................................................................................................53
6 ADMINISTRATIVE & SUPPORT STAFF 56

6.1 Introduction ..............................................................................................................................56
6.2 Access to Technology................................................................................................................57
6.3 Most Used Technologies ...........................................................................................................58
6.4 Training Needs and Delivery Preferences ..............................................................................61
7 LEARNING RESOURCES STAFF 65

7.1 Introduction ..............................................................................................................................65
7.2 The Sample................................................................................................................................65
7.3 Key Findings .............................................................................................................................66
7.4 Detailed Findings ......................................................................................................................67
8 TECHNICAL STAFF 79
8.1 Introduction ..............................................................................................................................79
8.2 The Sample................................................................................................................................79
8.3 Gender Age and Breakdown....................................................................................................80
8.4 Technical Posts and Activities ................................................................................................. 80
8.5 Key Findings .............................................................................................................................81
8.6 The College Network ................................................................................................................83
8.7 VLEs and Video Conferencing ................................................................................................86
8.8 Emerging Areas ........................................................................................................................87
8.9 Skillset and Training Needs .....................................................................................................92
8.10 Training and Support...............................................................................................................93
9 MIDDLE MANAGERS 96
9.1 The Sample................................................................................................................................96
4
9.2 Key Findings .............................................................................................................................99
9.3 Teaching and Learning Technology...................................................................................... 100
9.4 Making Connections............................................................................................................... 104
9.5 Technology Connections and Uses ........................................................................................ 106
9.6 Management Skills ................................................................................................................. 108
9.7 Qualifications and Training................................................................................................... 110
9.8 Attitudes to ICT ...................................................................................................................... 112
10 SENIOR MANAGERS 114

10.1 The Sample.............................................................................................................................. 114
10.2 Key Findings ........................................................................................................................... 114
10.3 Setting the College e-Learning Agenda ................................................................................ 115
10.4 College VLE ............................................................................................................................ 117
10.5 Connectivity ............................................................................................................................ 118
10.6 Legal Issues ............................................................................................................................. 120
10.7 Managing New Technologies & Training Needs.................................................................. 120
10.8 Overview of the Application of Technology in Colleges...................................................... 122
11 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 123
5
ETNA: Executive Summary
6
1 Executive Summary
1.1 Technological Environment
Technology has become embedded in colleges in Scotland; it affects all contexts and roles.
The situation has been encouraged, accelerated and facilitated by the Scottish Funding
Council’s capital funding initiatives. New and refurbished buildings have grown up alongside
virtual learning environments (VLEs), interactive whiteboards and wireless networks,
bringing a potential flexibility to teaching and learning and to college business processes
which has not yet been fully exploited.
Such changes in colleges are mirrored by changes in society more widely, where access to
high-speed broadband networks, computing technology and increasingly sophisticated
mobile technologies has opened up new, reliable channels of communication and delivery.
1.2 Access to Technologies

In the college context, the vast majority of staff and students report that the technology is
sufficient to cope with the demands that they make upon it. Target ratios of staff and
students to computers have been almost achieved and the networks which support them
have become increasingly robust and, with the introduction of wireless connectivity,
flexible.
1.3 Virtual Learning Environments

VLEs are now a central feature of all college networked environments, with high awareness
and engagement rates across the survey cohorts and a shared sense (among staff and
students) that the systems enhance the quality of teaching and learning. However,
awareness is still far higher than actual engagement with the technology and the VLE is
often used in a manner which mirrors traditional delivery, without using the attributes of
the systems which make them distinct, such as online discussion, assessment and student
progress tracking. There is consequently room for innovation and expansion in this area and
a need for ongoing staff development. There is also a growing need to monitor quality
output and enhancement in relation to the VLE.
1.4 Other Technologies

Interactive whiteboards are a specific technology which is almost ubiquitous across
colleges. However, there is an element of resistance against use among some staff and
ongoing training is still required.
Usage levels of video conferencing (VC) have been almost static since the first ETNA report
nearly a decade ago, though the current report of the series points to a recent slight
increase in use among senior managers. In the light of the developing sustainability agenda
(allied to pervasive and greatly enhanced connectivity), VC is a technology which needs to
be reconsidered and embedded more actively in college ICT strategies.
1.5 Training
Staff skills levels, as measured in the survey, are extremely high across the more common
software applications, though there is residual demand for training in some areas. As the
basics are covered, ongoing training is becoming increasingly targeted, and will probably
become yet more specialised. There is an ongoing need to monitor general technological
developments, to assess which of these are applicable to the college context, and to
deliver appropriate training.
Traditional methods of delivery still command the highest satisfaction ratings across all
cohorts, perhaps as these represent the best guarantee of safeguarding uninterrupted time
for training (lack of time is still seen as the greatest barrier to effective staff
7
ETNA: Executive Summary
development). There is demand for training to be delivered incrementally to allow staff to

integrate and use what they have learned before moving on to more advanced stages of
development. This is particularly the case in relation to VLEs and interactive whiteboards.
Other specific areas where training is required in the short to medium term are online
assessment, mobile technologies, online pedagogy, establishing and maintaining online
quality standards and assistive technologies.
1.6 Attitudes to Technology

One of the most positive features of this study concerns attitudes towards the application
of technology which are common across the board. The vast majority of staff see the
application of ICT not only as essential to keep pace with modern society, but as
intrinsically enhancing the teaching and learning process. There are, of course, some
reservations and an insistence that technology should never wholly supplant traditional
delivery and human interaction. (These reservations were repeatedly voiced both by staff
and students). This underlines the particular value of technology if used as part of a
carefully developed and communicated teaching and learning strategy.
However, with these provisos new technologies are now seen as fully integrated into the
processes of the college.
1.7 Wireless Networking , Connectivity and Mobile Technologies

Developments in these areas offer new means of reaching out to students, which have as
yet been barely tapped by most colleges. Embracing them more fully will have major
implications for teaching and learning and college business processes.
1.8 Technology and the Learner

Learners surveyed are largely very comfortable with the technology they encounter, though
a sizeable minority (14%) require additional support in areas such as using the VLE. Overall,
learners feel well supported by colleges.
Only a small minority feel that too much emphasis is currently placed on technology.
However, there is strong feeling among learning resources staff that students may not be
equipped to derive the maximum benefit from access to the technology and that
information literacy requires more emphasis.
1.9 Online Repositories and e-Portfolios

These areas are currently underdeveloped across much of the sector in Scotland and should
be a focus for training.
1.10 The Personalisation Agenda

This developing trend in the way that technologies are used is causing some difficulties for
colleges and the trend is likely to increase. The demand from learners for untrammelled
access to sites and to be able to connect their own devices – from memory sticks to laptops
– to the college network is already generating friction in some places; this is reflected in
some of the comments in the student chapter of this report. Acceptable use policies need
to be reviewed to take account of ongoing technical developments. The implications of
‘cloud computing’ need to be considered especially carefully in this context.
1.11 Information Demand

Information and communication technologies present a constantly changing landscape
where, as one senior manager commented, ‘the status quo is never an option’. There is no
doubt among this group that technology will play an increasingly crucial role in college
business processes - 80% of senior managers, for example, see the VLE as ‘essential’ to
college activities. There is consequently a high demand among managers for reliable
information and advice to underpin the development of learning and teaching strategies
and the deployment of relevant technologies.
8
2 Introduction
2.1 Background
This is the fourth instance of the ETNA longitudinal study by the JISC Regional Support
Centre of staff (and now in the current volume, of students) in further education colleges in
Scotland and their attitudes toward ICT. The series began in 2001 and was repeated in 2004
and 2006. The surveys have had a common objective but because of the rapid pace of
technological developments within the sector, the technical environment of each has
inevitably been unique.
In 2001, technology was only just beginning to make any kind of measurable impact on
colleges. Previously the preserve of a small number of diehard enthusiasts and ‘early
adopters’, technology was poised to enter the mainstream of teaching and learning where
it was about to be welcomed by a mix of enthusiasm and suspicion. But a decade of
development and investment lay ahead, spurred on by a wave of newbuilds and
refurbishments, supported by the Scottish Executive’s college estates programme.
By 2004, Virtual Learning Environments were well-established, and interactive whiteboards
graced gleaming new walls in gleaming new colleges. College libraries had metamorphosed
into Learning Resource Centres. Meanwhile, methodologies for teaching and learning were
evolving to take advantage of new methods of communication and delivery. In the home as
well as in the educational sphere, powerful computers were becoming ubiquitous and these
increasingly were connecting to the internet.
By 2006, these trends and the revolution in mobile telecommunications, which put a small
but powerful computer in the pocket of every student in the form of a mobile phone, had
the potential to alter the educational landscape out of all recognition. This has not
happened, of course, and despite Web 2.0, virtual reality and social networking there are
still many aspects of teaching and learning which would be familiar to a college lecturer
from a previous century.
This latest version of the ETNA series is designed to tell the next stage of the story, to take
a snapshot of where we are now and to give some sense of how we feel about the place
where we’ve arrived. It is also designed to help predict where we may be going next and
how we need to gear up for that journey.
2.2 The Survey Instrument

Scottish FE in 2009 is a very different place to the one first surveyed back in 2001.
However, the purpose of the ETNA series remains consistent throughout the decade. The
objective of each survey has been to measure the level of engagement of staff with ICT
across all colleges. Each survey has contained a core of common questions, allowing us to
construct an evolving picture of the development of technology, teaching and learning.
Supplementing this common core have been further questions which have evolved to reflect
emerging technologies and varying perspectives; this evolution continues in the current
report. For the first time, this edition adds an extra important cohort to the survey to allow
expression of the learner’s voice. Here also we see the incorporation of new areas for
enquiry. For example, for the first time we raise the issue of sustainability and how
technology can impact upon a college’s carbon footprint, thereby reflecting the greater
emphasis on environmental issues that characterises the end of the first decade of the 21st
century.
2.3 The Sample

This report analyses data gathered in the early summer of 2009 via a survey which was
conducted entirely online (the option to complete a paper version was on offer but for the
very first time there was no demand for this opportunity).
ETNA was available in several different flavours designed to probe the experiences,
attitudes and training needs of six major groupings of college staff. In addition, as
9
ETNA: Introduction
mentioned above, for the first time we have collected the responses of a significant
number of learners to close the circle and give an all-round view of engagement with
technology and the impact of that engagement. The total numbers of responses is 3384 and
the percentage per cohort is indicated in Table 1.
Middle Senior Learning Technical

Academic Admin Learners
Managers Managers resources Staff
Total Responses 1275 766 365 72 108 120 678
Cohort as % of Total 38 22 11 2 3 4 20
Table 1: Total Responses

The voice of practically every college in the country has been collected, from large city-
based institutions to small rural establishments.
In the introduction to each survey since 2001, we have sounded a warning about a possible
inbuilt bias in these results. Despite the fact that access to technology is far wider than it
was at the beginning of this series and that the necessary skills are far more commonly
held, it is valid to repeat it here: it is likely that individuals who have ready access to
technology and those who might work with it as a primary part of their delivery (staff in
computing or business departments, for example) will be more heavily represented in these
results than those without access or the necessary skills. They may also feel more positive
about the technology than the ‘average’ respondent. As a result, the figures in this survey
may slightly overstate the positive side of the picture. Staff who are not enamoured of the
technology or who do not have a computer for their exclusive use may be less likely to
complete the survey and therefore it remains valid to flag the possibility of their under-
representation.
2.4 Structure of this Report

This ETNA Report is organised on a chapter by chapter basis, evaluating the needs of each
of the seven cohorts. Key and detailed findings are included in each section, some of which
are highly specific to the demands of respondents.
A further section has been added which charts the ‘distance travelled’ in technology usage
and awareness within Scottish Further Education over the first decade of the twenty-first
century.
10
3 Distance Travelled
3.1 Introduction
This fourth instalment of the nationwide ETNA enquiry allows a valuable opportunity for
backward comparison, providing an insight into how far the sector has progressed since the
survey began in 2001. A core of common questions has appeared in each of the surveys,
though, inevitably, some new elements have been introduced over the years to reflect
changes in the technological and social environments.
Lecturing staff are closest to the ‘coalface’ in terms of the core business of colleges; this
report will continue to look closely at this group as a means of understanding overall
evolving attitudes to technology. Trends observed here are, by and large, common to other
parts of the survey (excluding the student section which appears in this report for the first
time).
3.2 Computing Access and Power

The decade covered by the ETNA series has witnessed the ubiquitous rise of the personal
computer to the point where one machine per person is the norm in industry. Though the
technology is not quite that common in education, the period has still seen an inexorable
increase in the amount of technology available. The trend is depicted in Fig 1 and the data
collected indicates that two-thirds of all academic staff now have a PC reserved for their
personal use (the figure is much higher for administrative and support personnel). The
other interesting trend in this area is in the provision of laptop computers for staff which
has developed in tandem with the rise of wireless networks which have in themselves
experienced explosive growth in colleges.
On 2006, 38% of academic staff reported that they could connect to a wireless network in
their college; this has risen to 68% in 2009. 28% of academic staff had been issued with a
college laptop for their exclusive use in 2006, compared with 35% in 2009.
Fig 1: Access to computer equipment over the decade

The trend has also been toward computers that are increasingly powerful. Though staff
showed some dissatisfaction with the power or speed of their computers in the early years
of the ETNA series (which may, in effect, have been due to the ever-more-sophisticated
software they were trying to run, or to a sluggish network in the home college), the overall
trend has been up. Now in 2010, the vast majority of staff are satisfied that the computing
power available to them is equal to the demands they make upon it. See Fig 2.
11
ETNA: Distance Travelled
Fig 2: Satisfaction levels about computing power available
3.3 VLE Use

The most innovative technological development in the college delivery department across
the first decade of the twenty-first century was undoubtedly the Virtual Learning
Environment or VLE. In 2001 the VLE was just beginning to register on the radar of the
average member of college staff, but only a tiny minority of enthusiasts had engaged with
the technology. The situation has changed markedly as we reach the end of the decade.
While VLE use is still far from universal, and only a minority of academic staff indicate that
the technology is ‘essential’ to carrying out their roles, the influence of VLE technology has
spread widely through college practice. The trend in VLE use is illustrated in Fig 3.
Fig 3: VLE usage over the decade
12
In tandem with the increased use of VLEs has been a programme to train staff to operate
them and to create materials to populate them. As Fig 4 illustrates, the push to give staff
the necessary skills in this area was at its greatest between 2003 and 2006. The rate of
increase has slowed somewhat since 2006, but the trend is still upwards.
Fig 4: Have you created VLE materials?

These upward trends have taken place against a turbulent background in the industry of
rationalisation among the larger commercial VLE providers. Among these Goliaths, the now
powerful and popular open source platform, Moodle, has made significant headway. This
trend has in turn led to a degree of ‘churning’ of platforms within colleges and often to the
situation where more than one platform is employed in parallel within the same institution.
3.4 Other Technologies
3.4.1 Interactive Whiteboards

At the time of the initial survey, interactive whiteboard technology was a relative rarity in
colleges and therefore no related question was included. However, the landscape had
begun to alter by 2003 when 12% of the sample had experience of interactive whiteboards,
rising to 26% in 2006 and then to 53% making some use of the technology in the latest
survey. 94% of respondents now report that their college has installed the technology; a
trend, along with the proliferation of wireless networks, which has been accelerated by the
new build and refurbishment of college estates that has marked the last decade.
3.4.2 Video Conferencing

The trend in the use of studio-based video conferencing has been inexorably downward
since 2001, but the returns this time show a slight upturn. The overall trend is illustrated in
Fig 5.
13
Fig 5: Use of video conferencing over the decade

While the upward trend is so small as to be of little significance, it may indicate that
environmental pressures are making staff more conscious of the possibilities of the
technology to reduce travel and consumption. (The trend is even more marked among
senior staff who appear to be making more use of VC to attend meetings remotely.) Against
the more feeble use of official VC suite technology, the current study sees significant
increases in the use of user-controlled, desktop VC or IP technology, such as Skype. The use
of this technology is building in colleges, but is even more widely used in the home.
3.5 Application of the Technology

The ETNA series has been consistently interested in the most common technologies used by
individuals in colleges, and the specific uses to which they have been put. This area has
been looked at in great detail. In this consideration of distance travelled, it is useful to look
at the overall broad usage categories and how these have altered over the decade. We have
extracted three broad categories of activity pertinent to academic staff and measured how
technology has been used in relation to each. The picture is shown at Fig 6.
14
Fig 6: Trends in use of technology

It is still the case that technology remains most commonly used for administration (even
among lecturers) than for actual delivery of classes or learning materials. Using technology
for assessment is still on the increase, becoming a majority element for the first time in the
current survey.
3.6 The Standard Skills Set

Table 1 looks at the standard set of application skills which staff have been steadily
acquiring across the decade. Many of these now appear to be fully developed, while some
others (such as the creation of databases or web pages) seem to be skills which are only
necessary to a minority of staff in specific roles.
I can…… 2001 2003 2006 2009

Use email 90 98 99 100
Use a word processor 94 96 98 98
Search the web for information 86 96 98 99
Attach a file to an email message 83 91 96 98
Create tables in a word processor 81 86 91 91
Insert images into documents - 79 90 91
Use PowerPoint 60 76 89 91
Use a spreadsheet 63 71 76 73
Insert hyperlinks in documents 0 50 74 78
Use functions in a spreadsheet 54 65 64 63
Create databases 44 50 54 50
Use electronic discussion lists 30 41 48 48
Create a web page 20 26 36 35
Use an interactive whiteboard - 12 36 53
Table 1: Staff application skills over the decade
3.7 Training Delivery

As well as probing skills levels and attitudes, the ETNA series has been interested in
assessing staff preferences about any training felt to be needed to plug any skills gaps. The
trend in responses across all four instances of the survey throughout the decade can be
seen in Fig 7.
15
Fig 7: Training preferences
The trend toward traditional face-to-face delivery has only gained in strength over the years
while blended delivery has actually declined a little in popularity since 2006.
As we pointed out at the same point in the last survey (2006), it is clear that more staff have
been exposed personally to online learning over recent years and, therefore, it might have
been supposed that they would exhibit a higher regard for the value of training delivered in
this form – compared to other staff development methods. The trend would seem to suggest
otherwise (and this is mirrored in each set of staff surveys). However, the comments which
accompany these preferences make clear that staff feel that face-to-face methods are more
likely to preserve precious development time. There is a perception that training received
online, on the other hand, is not ring-fenced and time devoted may be easily eroded through
other demands.
16
17
ETNA: Academics
4 Academic Staff
4.1 Introduction
4.1.1 The Sample

Academic staff represent the largest element in the staffing complement of Scotland’s FE
colleges and therefore it is no surprise that they comprise the largest single element in the
ETNA survey. 1276 responses were received across all colleges, comprising roughly 10.29%
of all teaching staff employed within the sector.
Two thirds of respondents in this category were full-time staff and 82% of the total defined
themselves as ‘lecturers’.
4.1.2 Gender and Age Distribution

The demographic pattern of the academic sample and its gender breakdown mirrors the
distribution of staff across the colleges recorded in national figures. Females greatly
outnumber males as shown in Fig 1. The demographic pattern is heavily skewed towards the
higher end of the age range: 61% of the sample is over the age of 40.
no
response
21% female
48%
male
31%
60 or over, 5% no response,
22%
20 - 29, 3%
50 - 59, 29%
30 - 39, 14%
40 - 49, 27%
Fig 1: Gender and Age Distribution
4.1.3 Access to Computer Equipment

Before venturing into the survey proper, we tried to establish an identikit picture of the
computer equipment available to the average member of academic staff and their
perception of the access to computers available to students in colleges. As can be seen in
Table 1, two thirds of all staff have access to a computer for their sole use, while a third
have been issued with a laptop by their college. Four out of five staff are satisfied that the
technology they have access to is powerful enough for their work requirements. Similarly,
just over 80% of the sample feels that their students also have access to sufficient
technology to satisfy their requirements.
18
Access to Computer Equipment (%) Yes No
I have my own computer at work 66 28

I share a computer at work 44 56
The work computer I regularly use is powerful enough to
80 20
meet my needs
My college has issued me with a laptop for use at work
6 94
only
My college has issued me with a laptop that I can use at
38 62
home if I wish
My college has issued me with a blackberry/mobile device
2 98
to receive email
Our students generally have access to appropriate
85 15
computing equipment
Table 1: Access to computer equipment (N=1275)
4.2 Use of the Virtual Learning Environment (VLE)
4.2.1 The College VLE

This section seeks to establish the recognition factor for VLEs across a sector which has now
seen almost a decade of work and accompanying large investment in this technology. This
area has shown a continual advance during the almost 10-year history of the ETNA surveys
and is also evident here. While in 2006, 5% of respondents reported that their college did
not have a VLE and 10% claimed not to know whether they did, only a tiny minority of staff
are now unaware of the existence of their college’s VLE (Fig 2). This technology appears
now to have entered the mainstream of college delivery.
no
don't know
2%
4%
yes
94%
Fig 2: Does your college has a VLE? (N=1666)
However, there is evidence that VLE usage is in a state of flux as colleges continue to
experiment with alternative platforms or even have a number of platforms in use
simultaneously.
4.2.2 VLE(s) in Use

While nearly 1300 staff responded overall, the set of questions relating to VLEs and their
use saw a drop in response level in the current survey which is difficult to explain. Though
1166 respondents were happy to confirm that their college had a VLE, the number dropped
by a third to 807 when the questions became more specific about VLE usage. This might be
taken as indication of a lack of engagement with this particular technology.
19
ETNA: Academics
However this is interpreted, it is clear that trends observable in the last survey have firmed
up considerably to the point where the VLE market in Scottish Further Education is
dominated by two major players to the exclusion of practically all others. Both Blackboard
and Moodle have increased their share in the sector while other products which previously
had a significant share have dropped in popularity – this is principally evident in the case of
Virtual Campus and WebCT (which was bought out by BlackBoard), and to some extent has
been brought about by rationalisation within the industry itself. The decision by the UHI not
to continue with the development of the CLAN system has implications here.
Moodle Blackboard WebCT Virtual Campus Sharepoint Other N=
Primary VLE(s) 27 54 1 10 2 4 789

Secondary VLE(s) 9 9 3 2 4 3 233
Table 2: Which VLE in your college? (%; N=807)

If respondents had identified their college’s VLE as ‘Other’, they were invited to provide
supplementary information. This delivered 51 valid returns which provide further evidence
of both the trend towards greater consolidation of platforms (particularly towards Moodle)
and of a continuing diversity of provision and development which is often based in-house.
Details are shown in Table 3 below.
Other VLEs in Use or Development

In-House/Custom Development 15
Miscellaneous Platforms 12
Moving to Moodle 11
Don't Know 5
First Class 4
In Development 3
Moving to Dokeos 1
Total 51
Table 3: Other VLEs in use (N=51)
4.2.3 Using the VLE in Teaching and Learning

Here we seek to measure the engagement of respondents with the VLEs deployed. Roughly
two thirds of all respondents chose to answer this question.
More than nine out of ten respondents claim to have used the VLE at some point, while 63%
make regular use of it. A significant proportion, nearly half, state that the VLE has now
become ‘essential’ to their work. Once again this represents considerable progress on the
figures available from the last ETNA report (2006) where only 44% of respondents reported
that they had used the VLE as part of their work.
20
I have used the VLE 94% 6%
I use the VLE regularly 63% 37%
The VLE is essential

47% 53%
to my work
I don’t know what a

4% 96%
VLE is
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% 120%
Fig 3: Use of the VLE for teaching and learning (Yes / No; N=849)
A cautious conclusion that seems to be emerging is that we see here evidence for a shift in
working practices to the point where the VLE is becoming a regular feature of the pattern
of delivery in colleges.
This tentative view is reinforced by responses to the next topic which asked respondents to
quantify the percentage of their teaching which involves some use of the VLE. For the large
proportion of those who responded, the VLE is still very much a tool which is intermittently
used (43% use the technology for less than 10% of their delivery while only 6% employ it for
more than 80%). The figures mask large disparities between subjects where the technology
may find ready application and other more vocational subjects where use of the VLE will be
necessarily restricted. Detailed responses are shown at Table 4.
Please estimate the % of your teaching which involves the VLE %

less than 10% 43
11-20% 23
21-40% 15
41-60% 8
61-80% 5
more than 80% 6
Table 4: Percentage of teaching involving the VLE (N=829)

A further question probed respondents’ use of the facilities offered by the VLE. The results
are displayed at Fig 4. The two most popular functions used were for the delivery of
learning materials to students, and for the reinforcement of traditional approaches through
providing supplementary material. Other uses fall well behind these two with both online
assessment and the tracking of student progress, which is fundamentally related to it in this
context, being employed by under a third of respondents. This suggests that VLE
functionality may be underexploited at present in terms of the way its tracking capabilities
can ‘add value’ to teaching and learning.
The supplementary question at the end of this section yielded 57 responses. A third of
these indicated that staff were using the VLE for their own development as part of college
CPD (continuing professional development) programmes.
21
ETNA: Academics
to deliver learning materials 81% 19%
to supplement with addl materials 81% 19%
to post info & announcements 60% 40%
to store files 56% 44%
to deliver assessments 36% 64%
one to one communication 30% 70%
discussion groups 38% 62%
to track student progress 31% 69%
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Fig 4: VLE functions used (Yes / No; N=813)
4.2.4 VLE Training and Materials Authoring

This section examines the level of VLE training that staff have experienced both in the
operational aspects of technology and in authoring materials to run on the platform. The
figure of 82% which was returned here, once again represents an improvement on the 62%
of respondents who had received training at the time of the last survey in 2006. Since that
time, the numbers of those who have been trained in authoring increase similarly from 38%
to 51%. Despite these increases there is only a slight (2%) increase in staff reporting that
they have created materials for the VLE.
created materials for

64% 36%
the VLE
received training to
51% 49%
author
received training to
82% 18%
use the VLE
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Fig 5: Training received on VLE usage (Yes / No; N=845)
4.2.5 Attitudes to the VLE

The final question in this section widens the scope of the enquiry to examine more
generally staff attitudes to VLE implementation and their views on how its introduction has
affected the process of teaching and learning. The returns indicate a strong feeling that the
impact of the VLE has been positive on both teaching and learning as can be seen from Fig
6. It should be noted, however, that though the majority of staff feel that students are
22
comfortable with and enjoy using the VLE there is a significant minority of around 30% who
have misgivings on both counts.
I'm comfortable about

73% 27%
using the VLE
my students enjoy
70% 30%
using the VLE
the VLE enhances the

quality of the learning 82% 18%
process

73% 27%
quality of my teaching
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
Fig 6: Attitudes to the VLE (Yes / No; N=806)

This topic contained room for any further comment where respondents were invited to
elaborate on their views about the VLE. Nearly 200 comments were received which prove to
be revealing. To allow for analysis the comments were coded under a series of headings
which attempted to reflect the main element of each comment. A short analysis appears in
Table 5.
(Supplementary) Further Comments on your use of the VLE %

VLE Unsuited to the Student Experience 25
Technical Problems Experienced 18
VLE Still Under development 17
Training Required 13
Time Required 12
Miscellaneous 11
Not Applicable 4
Table 5: Further comments on the VLE (N=198)

Perhaps surprisingly, given the positive nature of responses so far, the majority of the
supplementary comments are negative on the impact of VLEs and their usage, or at least
contain negative elements. The main concerns of respondents centres round a lack of
training – particularly ongoing training in the use of systems and their development, and a
lack of time to take part in this or to produce effective materials.
There was also a high level of flux in the system; 33 respondents report that their college
VLE is in the midst of change, upgrade or replacement. However, perhaps the most
surprising set of comments here centre on the fact that the VLE may not be appropriate for
many of students and for the learning styles typically found in FE. VLEs are welcomed as
reinforcement to traditional delivery, but are felt to be inferior to face-to-face
communication methods.
4.3 Other College Technologies

The next set of questions in the academic staff survey examined the use made of a number
of technologies which can be employed to supplement traditional delivery.
23
ETNA: Academics
4.3.1 Supplementing Traditional Delivery

Email emerges as by far the commonest tool used by staff in this context, with all other
tools lagging far behind and none cited by more than 20% of the sample. However, it is
interesting that some of the Web 2.0 tools which have more fully emerged in the last few
years are now being employed in teaching and learning.
VOIP (eg Skype) 4% 96%
Social Networking (eg Facebook) 13% 87%
VC 10% 90%
Fils sharing networks (eg Flickr) 15% 85%
Blogs 18% 82%
SMS 20% 80%
Email 79% 21%
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% 120%
Fig 7: Other internet/electronic teaching tools (Used / Not Used; N=1120)
4.3.2 Interactive Whiteboards

One technology which has become ever more prevalent in the years since the first ETNA
survey (ETNA 2001) has been the interactive whiteboard, a focus of significant investment
in the sector, especially in colleges if a new-build project has been completed. This is
reflected in the fact that 94% of the sample report that their college has installed
interactive whiteboards. However, only two thirds of the sample claim to have received any
training in how to use the technology. A yet lower proportion, 53%, has used a board for
teaching and learning. Detailed responses are shown at Fig 8.
A similar question was used in the 2006 survey; significant distance has been travelled if we
compare the response gathered then. In 2006, some 77% of respondents reported that
interactive whiteboards were installed in their colleges, 40% had received training, while
only 26% had actually used one.
Respondents were invited to assess the effect of this technology on learning and teaching.
Responses here mirrored those received in the context of the VLE: a high majority of
individuals felt using the boards enhanced both teaching and learning and were comfortable
with using the technology.
24
Do you have access

to classroom with 65% 35%
IWB?
Have you used IWB in

53% 47%
your teaching?
Have your received

65% 35%
training in IWBs?
Are IWBs installed? 94% 6%
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% 120%
Fig 8: Use of interactive whiteboards (Yes / No; N=1154)

27% of respondents state that they do not feel comfortable using interactive whiteboards. A
supplementary response was invited to give further details here. All 141 supplementary
responses received were tagged and then analysed, as shown in Table 6.
Reasons for feeling uncomfortable using interactive whiteboards %

Ongoing Training Required 43
Insufficient Access to Rooms where Boards Installed 21
Miscellaneous reservations 14
Technical Problems 13
Using Non-Interactively 9
Table 6: Reasons for feeling uncomfortable using IWBs (%, N=141)

The responses here indicate that many staff have not properly adjusted to the arrival of
interactive whiteboards and are not making maximum use of them. There seem to be two
major reasons for this. 60 staff cited lack of training as a barrier to increased use of the
technology. Many of the comments mentioned that initial training had been given but
unless this was followed by repeated use and therefore regular access to a room with this
facility, then the ability to use the technology was lost. Secondly, there are problems
reported with the technical support of the boards. It is clear from a number of comments
that, in many cases, the boards are being used as a static rather than a dynamic resource,
often just being used as a projection screen or as a high-tech whiteboard. The ETNA survey
did not investigate the type of training that has been offered on IWBs; it is possible that it
has been mainly on the technical aspects of the equipment, ignoring the more imaginative
and pedagogical applications of the technology. If so, this may explain the above figures
which seem to indicate relatively high use, but low perceptions of effectiveness or impact.

Video conferencing, its establishment and use have been a common feature of all the ETNA
surveys completed to date. Yet, despite advances in technology which bring the ability to
use video conferencing to the desktop and remove the need for complex, expensive
conferencing suites, and also despite the growing environmental pressures which make this
technology a more sustainable option, use of the technology seems at best static.
Though the majority of respondents have access to video conferencing in some form or
other (see Fig 9), the use of the technology has increased only marginally since 2006. At
25
ETNA: Academics
that time only 2% of respondents described themselves as ‘regular users’, a figure which
has risen this time to 4%. Meanwhile 84% of the 2009 sample claim never to use VC
technology, compared with 87% in 2006. (Fig 10)
does your college

26% 74%
support desktop VC?
does your college

support VC access via 43% 57%
a VC suite?
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
Fig 9: Access to VC technology (Yes / No; N=978)
occasionally
12% regularly
4%
never
84%
Fig 10: VC frequency of usage (N=1127)

Those respondents who use video conferencing were asked to give some details of the
purposes for which they use it. 167 responses were received. It is clear that many of these
individuals are employed within Academic Partners of the UHI. Although there were some
staff who use the technology for a mix of reasons, including meeting, teaching, tutorials
and conferences, the major reason cited is to take part in meetings, followed some way
behind by teaching, which was cited by just under a quarter of respondents.
Use of Video Conferencing %

Meetings 48
Teaching 24
Variety of Reasons 17
n/a 11
Table 7: Use of VC (N=164)
26
4.3.4 e-Assessment
One area of major expansion in the national context has been online assessment. This is
due to a variety of reasons, notably that extended support has been available from the JISC
Regional Support Centres and due to initiatives like SOLAR from the Scottish Qualifications
Authority. We examine here how widely e-assessment is used across the sector.
Use of Online Assessment Never Occasionally Regularly Frequently

I have used formative online
56 26 10 8
assessment
I have used summative online
69 18 6 7
assessment
I have created online assessments 67 21 7 5
I have used e-Portfolios for
88 7 3 2
assessment
My department uses online
50 30 12 8
assessment
Table 8: Use of online assessment (%; N=1116)

Table 8 makes clear that 49% of respondents indicate that their departments make some
use of online assessment. This shows an advance on the use of formative assessment, 35%,
and summative assessment, 26%, in 2006. Despite this improvement, e-assessment is clearly
one area where considerable support and staff development continues to be required,
particularly in the growing related area of e-Portfolios.
4.4 Connectivity
Connectivity has grown exponentially within society as a whole since the first ETNA survey
in 2001 and is a useful focus for how the computing power available has shifted locus from
the institution to the home in the intervening years. So, for example, four times more use
is made of internet telephony, such as Skype, in the home than at work.
4.4.1 Internet Telephony

Awareness of internet telephony is relatively high with nearly two thirds of the sample
aware of technologies such as Skype. Only a tiny percentage of respondents make any use
of the technology at work though almost a quarter of all respondents use it at home.
This serves to illustrate a point already made elsewhere in the survey which is that in
comparison with the first such exercise in 2001 where computing power was, to a high
degree, centralised within institutions, access to the technology is now ubiquitous; the
power available to users at home or even on the move is often at least the equal of the
speed of technology available to them at work.
Do you use internet telephony such as

Skype (%)
Skype?
I have heard of it 69
I can access this technology at work 9
I use it at work 3
I use it at home 27
Table 9: Use and awareness of internet telephony (N=1122)
27
ETNA: Academics
4.4.2 Work & Home Computing Access

Responses on this topic serve to amplify the observation above and to illustrate once again
that the connectivity boundaries between the individual and the institution are becoming
ever more blurred. The advent of wireless networks and remote connectivity to college
networks means that, for the majority of the sample, it is technically as easy to work from
home as it is to work on campus. Indeed 87.5% of respondents indicate that they already do
college-related work at home (a slight increase from 86% in 2006). Practically all
respondents have access to a computer at home and the high majority of these have access
to a broadband connection (compared to just over 75% in 2006).
Meanwhile, if we examine the connectivity context within the boundaries of college
estates, then clearly there has been enormous growth in the provision of wireless networks.
In 2006, 38% of respondents reported that they could link to a wireless network within their
college – a figure which has now more than doubled to 67.5%.
Work & Home Computing Access Yes No

I can access a wireless network within my college 68 32
I can access the VLE when I'm not on campus 73 27
I can access my work email when I'm not on campus 94 6
I use a computer at home 98 2
I have a broadband connection at home 94 6
My home computer has internet access 96 4
I regularly do college-related work at home 88 12
Table 10: Work and home computing access (%, N=1131)
4.4.3 Uses of Technology

This area of the ETNA survey sets out to look at the most basic uses of technology in an
educational context. It represents a straight repeat of a sequence of questions which have
appeared in similar form throughout the decade-long ETNA series. The results can be
viewed in Table 11. Practically all respondents (97%) now use the technology to find
information or resources, a figure which has stayed remarkably constant over the years.
However, if there has been little change at the top of the table, there have been steady
increases across all other areas, averaging an advance of between 6 and 8 per cent. 70%
now use the technology to improve accessibility and e-inclusion, as opposed to 62% in 2006;
80% use it to teach students as opposed to 73% in 2006. The overall picture then is one of
maturing use of technology, which is embedded ever more fully across the range of routine
activities undertaken by academic staff.
I’d Like
I can use technology for the following purposes Yes No Partly
Training
To find information or resources 99 0 1 2
To communicate with colleagues 95 1 4 2
Administration 91 4 5 2
To make information available 88 4 6 5
To teach students 80 8 9 5
To communicate with students 79 10 9 4
To improve accessibility for students 70 11 12 9
To assess students 52 29 11 11
Table 11: Uses of technology (N=1130)
28
4.4.4 Using Technology to Communicate with Students

The next question probes in more detail how technology is being used to communicate with
students, which channels are being employed, and to what extent. This is shown in Fig 11.
Not surprisingly, email is the primary communication tool. It may be more surprising to
note the extent of that use, which at 45% is close to entering the mainstream as majority
behaviour for academic staff. Other technologies lag far behind; including text messaging
at 9%, while blogging has yet to make any significant impact at 3%.
3%
course blog 85% 12%
SMS/texts 69% 22% 9%
email 16% 39% 45%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
Fig 11: Technology for communicating with students (Never / Occasionally / Regularly; N=1128)
4.5 ICT Skill Set
4.5.1 Skills with Basic Application Software

Table 12 shows a question sequence which has survived almost intact from the first ETNA
survey (2001), only changing at the margins as new technologies have arrived on the
educational radar. As can be seen from the figures displayed, many of the basic skills now
appear to be fully embedded in this staff group, even making allowances for any inherent
sample bias as indicated at the start of this report.
I’d Like
I can…tick all that apply Yes No Partly
Training
use email 99 0 1 0.5
search the web for information 98 1 1 0.8
use basic file handling techniques 98 1 1 1
use a word processor 98 1 1 1
attach a file to an email message 98 1 1 1
use PowerPoint 91 3 6 3
create tables using a word processor 91 5 4 4
insert images into documents 91 4 5 3
insert charts into documents 84 8 6 5
use extended features of email packages 80 10 10 6
insert hyperlinks in documents 78 12 10 7
use a spreadsheet 73 12 15 8
use a database 63 23 14 11
29
ETNA: Academics
write functions in a spreadsheet 63 16 15 11

create databases 50 26 14 15
use mind mapping to plan projects 47 31 12 15
use electronic discussion lists 47 39 7 12
create a web page 35 43 9 21
use authoring tools (eg Course Genie, Reload) 27 46 12 25
use project management software 25 51 11 19
Table 12: ICT skill sets of academic staff (N=1056)

Responses fall away to lower percentiles in areas which might not be part of the normal
role of staff or where tools have been mentioned to which they are not exposed in their
work environments. However, even in areas such as project management and the use of
authoring tools, there is evidence of steady progress and the acquisition of increased skills.
Both of these areas are up some 5% since the last (2006) survey.
Staff were asked in a supplementary question to identify areas of ICT in which they require
development. 127 responses were received. These were highly varied and often were
clearly based on a specialised need such as CAD training. There were, however, fairly high
returns registered for VLE authoring training and further training in different aspects of
multimedia. The full list is shown at Table 13.
Type of Training Training Requests

Authoring 23
MultiMedia 23
Miscellaneous 20
Basics 13
Web 2.0 9
Smartboards 7
Web Skills 7
CAD 6
Assessment 5
Podcasts 5
Programming 4
PowerPoint 3
Accessibility 2
Table 13: Identified training need (N=127)
4.5.2 Legal Issues Associated with Information Technology

This section examines the level of knowledge which exists on key legal issues related to
information technology. Only a minority of respondents claim to have no knowledge of the
five key issues flagged up, with the lowest rate recorded for Data Protection (at 4.3%). Full
results in Table 14. The areas of highest demand for staff development were related to
accessibility, specifically the DDA/SENDA legislation and the Equalities Act. As elsewhere in
this survey, slight improvements on the corresponding figures for ETNA 2006 are recorded.
A supplementary question on other legal concerns produces no significant responses.
30
I understand legal issues associated with IT (%) Yes No Partly I’d like training
DDA/SENDA (Special Ed Needs and Disability Act 2001) 53 20 23 12

Equalities Duty (Equalities Act 2006) 57 17 22 10
Data Protection 79 4 15 7
Freedom of Information 69 8 21 8
Copyright & Intellectual Property Rights 70 6 21 10
Table 14: Understanding of legal issues (N=1051)
4.5.3 Awareness of ICT Strategies

Deployment of ICT in colleges and staff engagement with it is driven in most cases by the
colleges’ ICT strategies, which are in turn influenced by the Scottish Funding Council’s
strategic objectives. As in earlier years, there is a high level of staff awareness that the
college strategy exists, though far less awareness of the details of it. Awareness of the SFC
strategy is even further back at 21% (one percent lower than the response in 2006).
does your college

95% 5%
have an ICT strategy?
are you familiar with it? 57% 43%
are you aware of

SFC's strategic 21% 79%
objectives?
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
Fig 12: Awareness of ICT strategies (Yes / No)
4.5.4 Use of ICT to Deliver Learning

This section of the survey sets out to measure overall understandings of the role of online
learning and its application among academic staff. Awareness appears to be very high,
especially in the context of combining electronic and traditional delivery methods (which
has come to be termed the ‘blended’ approach to online learning). However, this might be
seen as quite a surprisingly high number given that responses to a later question indicate
that only around a third of the cohort have participated as a tutor on an online course,
while fewer than two thirds have taken part as a learner.
Use of ICT to deliver learning Yes No
I understand how online learning can be combined with traditional delivery 94 6

I understand how online learning can be used to deliver the curriculum 90 10
I understand how learners can be supported online 89 11
I understand how learning performance can be improved online 80 20
Table 15: Using ICT to deliver learning (N=1042)
31
ETNA: Academics
4.5.5 Training of Greatest Benefit

We next consider the type of training which respondents feel would be most advantageous.
The most popular choices here reflect the stage of development that the sector is currently
passing through: the technical infrastructure is for the most part in place and progressively
embedded in current delivery and plans for the future. It can be no surprise then that the
main demand is for materials to run within the new delivery systems and there is an
underlying desire to keep this process in the control of the practitioner, which explains why
training in various aspects of design for e-learning appears as the most popular elements in
Table 16, as indeed it did in 2006. The table also makes clear a strong and ongoing demand
for support with e-assessment; this is the second most popular choice for training.
Which elements of e-learning training would be of benefit to you? Response (%)

designing and developing new online learning materials 78
designing online assessments 65
designing for flexible/blended delivery 64
online tutoring and mentoring 62
making online materials accessible 60
ensuring quality in online learning materials 58
evaluating online learning materials 53
locating third-party online learning materials (eg NLN) 52
understanding the theory, practice and pedagogy of online learning 52
introduction to Assistive Technologies within the online environment 48
making the most of built-in accessibility options 45
Other (please specify) 3
Table 16: Elements of e-learning training felt to be of benefit (N=958)

The fact that only just over half of respondents select training in the theoretical aspects of
online learning mirrors the responses in the last survey, and may suggest that many
respondents feel themselves to be beyond this stage in their professional development. The
supplementary question which closed this set invited respondents to suggest other areas in
which training may be of benefit, but no consensus emerged in these responses.
4.5.6 Current ICT Qualifications

Just over a third of academic respondents answered this question and results are displayed
at Table 17. As has been true since the beginning of the ETNA surveys, the European
Computer Driving License (ECDL) in both its basic and advanced forms is by far the most
common of qualifications held, with PC Passport falling some way behind. As has been
pointed out in the past, ECDL is primarily an ICT qualification and is less useful in terms of
conveying how technology works with the pedagogy of teaching and learning.
Qualification Working Towards (%) Completed (%) N=

ECDL 35 65 448
Advanced ECDL 42 58 124
PC Passport 57 43 54
Table 17: ICT qualifications held

Once again, a supplementary question invited respondents with other formal qualifications
to provide details. Over 130 responses were received here (see Table 18), reflecting the
fact that a high proportion of the overall cohort have a degree or other higher level
32
qualification underpinning their appointment to teaching posts in curricular areas such as

computing and business.
There is little that can really be drawn from these figures other than the fact that there are
some new qualifications making ground since the last ETNA report, notably EPICT in its
various forms. The other significant trend is towards the holding of a formal qualification in
online learning.
Other qualification held N

Degree 24
Miscellaneous 19
MOS/IC3 14
Vendor 13
Online Learning Qualification 13
Higher National 10
EPICT 8
Experience 7
National Certificate 6
Basic 6
College In-House 4
Post Graduate 3
Baseline 3
Part Degree 2
Table 18: Other formal qualifications (N = 132)

The next question in this set examines any demand for advanced ICT skills training. Around
two thirds of the sample chose to respond to this question. Training in multimedia and the
creation and manipulation of multimedia assets prove most popular (Table 19).
Which advanced ICT skills training would be of most benefit to you? %

creating flash movies and animations 63
creating and manipulating digital images 63
creating and manipulating moving images (video) 61
creating and manipulating digital sound files 48
Table 19: Advanced ICT training felt to be of use (n=751)

In the years which have elapsed since the 2006 ETNA survey, an area which has received a
great deal of publicity has been Web 2.0. Here a great deal of anecdotal evidence exists for
the adoption of Web 2.0 or social networking technologies in the intervening years up to
the present. A question in this area appeared in the earlier survey and the corresponding
question this time indicates large advances in awareness of tools like wikis. For example,
22.5% of respondents are unaware of wikis in the current survey, compared with 57% just
three years earlier. In fact, a significant minority of staff are already employing these
technologies in their teaching as can be seen in Table 20.
33
ETNA: Academics
Please indicate your awareness of emerging technologies for teaching and learning (%)
Already I’d like I’d like

Unaware Aware
Using info training
Blogs 8 69 14 11 24
Wikis 22 53 14 11 22
Podcasting 14 66 6 12 25
Videocasting 21 62 3 12 22
Animation 20 59 6 11 24
Mobile Technologies 23 56 7 12 20
e-Portfolios 27 53 6 14 24
Virtual Worlds (eg Second Life) 40 45 2 12 15
Micro-blogging (eg Twitter) 32 54 3 12 15
Serious Gaming 47 42 3 9 9
Table 20: The use of new technologies in teaching (n=1033)

Of the technologies listed, only virtual worlds and serious gaming failed to be recognised by
a majority of respondents. However, it would appear that the bulk of these technologies
find very little utilisation in colleges to date. The highest demand for training is for
podcasts and e-portfolios. A follow-on question asked for any other areas of emerging
technologies where training might be required. 18 diverse replies were received under this
heading from which no clear trend could be discerned.
4.6 Training
The next section of the survey closely examines all aspects of training, the respondents’
experience of it, preferred methods of delivery, and factors which shape its uptake.
4.6.1 Participation in Online Study

As can be seen from Fig 14, the returns here fall out rather neatly in that almost two thirds
of the sample have taken part in an online learning course themselves as a learner, while
just over a third have acted as a tutor. These figures represent significant advances on 2006
where the corresponding totals were 46% and 28% respectively. However, a glance back to
2001 gives the strongest indication of distance travelled by the sector. In that year the
respective figures were only 23% and 10%.
I have taken part in an

online course as a 38% 62%
tutor

online course as a 61% 39%
learner
Fig 14: Participation in online courses as tutor or student (Yes / No, N=1029)
34
4.6.2 ICT Training Over the Last Session

Given the central role which technology now plays in college delivery and the major
investment which has flowed into creating the infrastructure to implement this delivery, it
might be assumed that technology training would play some part in the staff development
of the majority of staff across the session when the survey was carried out. However,
among academic staff 45% claim to have received no ICT training in session 2008-9.
No
45%
Yes
55%
Fig 15: ICT training over last session (N=1029)

A supplementary question here asked respondents to describe any ICT training experiences
which had been found to be particularly effective. 341 comments were received which cite
362 separate elements of effective training received over the session. These comments
reflect some of the current key technology concerns of staff in colleges.
The most commonly cited positive training experience is in connection with the VLE. The
perceived usefulness of this kind of training is perhaps not surprising given the central and
growing role this technology occupies in college delivery. This was followed in frequency by
interactive whiteboard training (reflecting the fact that many colleges have been moving to
new premises over the session concerned) and training in aspects of Microsoft Office as
many colleges upgrade to newer versions of that software.
4.6.3 Staff Development Modes

We turn to examining the attitudes of staff to various possible modes of development. This
has been a constant topic since the first version of the survey and has influenced the
methods adopted by sector support agencies, such as the JISC Regional Support Centres, to
satisfy the needs of staff. Responses are displayed at Table 21.
Most suitable methods of training (%) Yes No N/R

Traditional face-to-face workshops/courses? 92 5 3
A 'blended' model (flexible/supported online?) 67 21 12
Occasional attendance at forums 66 21 13
Open and flexible learning supported wholly online? 41 43 16
Advice by phone, email or electronic discussion lists? 39 44 17
Table 21: Preferred methods of training (N=1033)

As has consistently been the case across the four ETNA surveys to date, traditional face-to-
face delivery of staff development training is the method most favoured by respondents.
Indeed there has been a slight increase in this view since the last survey, rising from 89% to
91.8% this time round. Despite an overall drop in favour from 71% last time to 67% now, the
blended method has nudged its way into second place in the table. A supplementary
question here invited respondents to describe any factors which influenced their choice of
training method. 311 replies were received and these fall into broad groups (see Table 22).
35
ETNA: Academics
Factors influencing training preferences %

Time 47
Face-to-Face Preference 27
Access 4
Support 3
Distance 3
Prior Knowledge 1
Miscellaneous 10
Blended Learning Preference 1
Online Learning Preference 3
Table 22: Factors influencing training preferences (N=311)

The key factors that influence training preferences are in tune with information gathered
from previous surveys. ‘Time’ (meaning ‘lack of time’ in the working day) was cited by
nearly half of all respondents and has remained the key influence in selection of training
method since the initial ETNA survey in 2001. There is also a trend in these responses to
cite a direct preference for face-to-face training.
Although initially it may seem inconsistent that respondents feel themselves to be short of
time, while at the same time preferring to receive any training in a face-to-face context
(which is arguably more time-consuming than online and time-flexible training), there
would appear to be a linked reason which can explain the paradox: the expectation of
respondents is that ring-fenced time would normally be available for the traditional forms
of study, whereas time risked being eroded in the online context. There is also a
straightforward suggestion that the direct human contact associated with traditional
training methods is preferable.
The final question in this section asked respondents to provide details of any other training
needs they have in relation to technology. These are displayed in Table 23.
Other Technology Training Needs

Practical Support 18
Miscellaneous 9
On-going 8
Multimedia 7
Basics/File Management 7
Multimedia 7
VLE 5
Interactive Whiteboard 5
Advanced Applications 4
Online Development 2
Table 23: Other technology training needs (N=72)

No real consensus emerges from these comments but there are echoes of concerns
expressed elsewhere in the survey. There is a need for ongoing, locally-based and
supportive provision of training - though perhaps the notion of training expressed in that
way is too formal. What emerges is a need for professional development which would put in
place all the necessary ingredients for staff to be able to take learning into their own
36
hands. That means time and the developmental environment as well as a context where
practical help can be provided at the right time for individual members of staff.
4.7 Attitudes to ICT

This was the final main section of the survey of academic staff and in many ways perhaps
the most important in that it seeks to identify the range of attitudes displayed by the
sample. Respondents were asked to select their level of agreement with a series of
statements, where 1 was to agree strongly and 4 represented strong disagreement.
Attitudes to ICT (%) 1 2 3 4

The use of technology is a positive step 75 22 2 1
The use of technology is a negative step 2 3 19 76
Technology has the potential to enhance teaching and learning 72 26 1 1
Learners welcome the use of new technologies 36 52 11 1
Learners generally have the ability to use the new technologies 24 50 23 3
Learners generally have access to the new technologies 16 49 31 4
Table 24: Attitudes to ICT (N=1030; 1=agree strongly: 4=disagree strongly)

The question attracted over 1000 responses and, as can be seen from Table 24, respondents
viewed the application of technology to teaching and learning as overwhelmingly positive.
They were slightly more reserved when asked to consider the implications of the
application of technology from the point of view of the learner; while learners are
generally felt to welcome new technology there are reservations about their ability to use
it and the level of access to technology that learners enjoy. Lecturers’ perceptions of
learners’ attitudes may be compared with what learners said directly in the following
chapter of this ETNA report.
37
ETNA: Students
38
5 Students
5.1 Introduction
5.1.1 The sample

For the first time in the ETNA survey series, which has specialised in gathering the views of
staff over a number of years, we incorporate a chapter on the learner - a step which is in
line with JISC’s own committed research into the ‘learner voice’. The move chimes well
with an increasing appreciation of students as consumers of education – consumers with
economic and other important rights that institutions must place centrally within their
focus. Having decided to bring in the student voice, establishing the channels through
which the voice could be heard proved challenging.
Student Representative Council presidents in colleges around Scotland were contacted by
email and their support requested. This was reinforced with publicity materials developed
and sent widely by the Regional Support Centres. Perhaps inevitably, however, returns from
across the country were sporadic; while some student voices were not heard at all, literally
hundreds of returns were received from one institution.
Our thanks are due to all those SRC officers who supported the survey around the country.
5.1.2 Survey responses

Given that there were close to half a million enrolments in colleges in Scotland in 2007-8,
our sample is inevitably small. 678 learners started the survey, with 86% of these
completing all questions.
A wide geographical spread of responses encompassed a wide range of curricular areas. As
elsewhere in the wider survey it is useful to remember that learners responding online are
probably those who, by and large, are most comfortable users of technology and that the
returns will therefore contain an inbuilt bias which may overstate both the level of
engagement with technology and the fluency of its use by learners. Despite this, both the
qualitative questions responded to and, particularly, those questions which invited an
evaluative comment make for interesting reading.
It should also be noted that while figures for the session 2007-8 record that part-time study
accounted for 84% of all enrolments with full-time students at 16%, our study effectively
reverses this position. 82.9% of the learners who responded to ETNA were full-time students
with only some 9.1% following part-time courses. In practical terms, full-time students will
have had more time and opportunity to complete the survey so this balance of returns may
not be surprising. However, a potential positive benefit of this bias may be that the
learners responding here are more familiar with their college’s technological infrastructure
than if they were attending college for a strictly limited period of time per week.
5.1.3 Gender and age breakdown

As can be seen from Fig 1, females outnumbered males in the survey by a considerable
number though this is almost entirely consistent with the gender pattern displayed in
enrolments across the country where women comprise 56%.
male
44%
female
56%
Fig 1: Gender
However, in one further demographic area the ETNA sample diverges somewhat from the
representative national pattern of enrolments. In colleges, according to the statistics for
2007-8, 51% of students were over the age of 25. Returns to the ETNA survey showed a
39
ETNA: Students
higher proportion of younger students among the sample. Students over the age of 25 here
represented 37% of responses.
over 60 10
50 - 60 19
46 - 50 21
41 - 45 46
36 - 40 41
31 - 35 39
26 - 30 74
21 - 25 121
19 - 20 113
16 - 18 189
Under 16 2
0 50 100 150 200
Fig 2: Age (N = 675)
5.1.4 Course details

Respondents were asked to select both the level and the year of the course they were
enrolled upon. The level of course is illustrated at Fig 2, while year of study is illustrated at
Fig 3.
The typical ETNA respondent is a first year student following a full-time Higher National
course which contains a strong element of ICT (of the 668 respondents who identified their
course of study through this question, 155 were following courses in which IT itself was
either the focus of the study or provided a crucial tool). Over a third of respondents (39%)
claimed some form of formal prior qualification in IT, acquired before entering their
current course, ranging from PC Passport and elements of ECDL to a full IT-related degree.
Professional
Qualification,
2%
Degree, 2%
Introductory
Course, 14%
HND, 26%
National
Certificate,
HNC, 20% 18%
City & Guilds,
SVQ, 3%
2%
Fig 3: Level of course
40
Third, 4%
Second, 22% Fourth, 1%
First, 73%
Fig 4: Year of study
5.2 Key Findings
5.2.1 Strengths and weaknesses of the ETNA student survey

Although these findings are based on a relatively large sample (678), this is small in relation
to the large number of enrolments at colleges each year and this survey points to the
desirability of a larger-scale research exercise which would be able to look in more depth
at the diversity of the FE audience. The findings presented here are on the basis of a
sample which may be younger than the FE average, and which is enrolled on full-time
rather than on the more typical part-time courses. A larger scale study could address these
defects and also use focus groups to enhance the study data.
5.2.2 Technology skills

The majority of students declare themselves to be ‘comfortable’ with using technology.
5.2.3 Technology and study

95% of respondents see technology as ‘essential’ to the satisfactory completion of their
course.
5.2.4 Accessibility
Though 12.5% of the sample felt they had ‘additional support needs’, only a minority of
these have used any kind of assistive technology to help with these needs.
5.2.5 Portable technology

Students commonly use a range of portable devices, the most common being a mobile
phone – owned by 98% of respondents. The majority of these devices are very powerful,
three quarters being capable of displaying web pages. Little formal use is made by colleges,
as yet, of this potential delivery channel.
5.2.6 Web 2.0

Levels of awareness of Web 2.0 technologies were high though engagement is often passive
- with the exception of social networking and file sharing. Again, little formal use is yet
being made by colleges of this potential delivery channel.
5.2.7 College network security and site blocking

A significant minority of students object strongly to those college networks which deny
access to some sites, particularly social networking sites (though some other respondents
agree with this action). Site blocking represents a point in the survey where institutional
and individual views can diverge widely.
5.2.8 Student ownership of technology

PC ownership and home broadband connectivity are all common within the sample.
41
ETNA: Students
5.2.9 Laptop connection

Only a minority (25%) of students bring laptops to college and connect these to wireless
networks.
5.2.10 College technologies

Students are generally very satisfied with their access to technology in colleges, with the
numbers of computers available, and with the speed of college networks.
5.2.11 Virtual Learning Environments

This was a major focus of this study and the following key points emerged:
• The majority of the sample have used the VLE in their studies
• Respondents feel that VLEs are easy to use
• VLEs are used in college and at home and in other locations
• VLEs are largely used to store and access course materials
• Discussion and reflection tools within the VLE are under used
• The high majority of the sample feel the VLE ‘enhances’ their studies
• The majority are ‘comfortable’ using the VLE but a significant minority (14.4%)
state that they require more support.
5.2.12 Online assessment

Online assessment is a minority experience to date. A small majority of students are against
increasing the frequency of its use, though there are grounds for thinking that this may be
due to unfamiliarity with the technology as greater exposure seems to generate higher
approval levels. It is therefore possible that rejection of increased online assessment may
in some cases be more to do with a fear of the unknown, rather than representing an
informed rejection of technology for this purpose.
5.2.13 e-Portfolios
These have made very little impact to date and are used by under 10% of the sample.
5.2.14 Teaching and technology

There is a preference for classroom-style traditional delivery, though nearly half felt that
computer-based delivery is acceptable.
5.2.15 Attitudes to technology

There is a wide acceptance that technology is an essential component of all courses and
part of the ‘hidden curriculum’ necessary for successful participation in life in the 21st
century. Most respondents prefer to see a mix of traditional and online delivery, though
there is concern that human interaction is not eroded by too heavy a reliance on electronic
delivery.
5.3 Technology Skills
5.3.1 Common applications

The ETNA survey aimed to find out how students feel about using the most common
applications – both in college and in the wider world. The results are presented at Table 1:
How do you rate your skills with the following? (%)

None Beginner Intermediate Advanced
Word Processing 1 9 49 41
42
Spreadsheets 6 26 50 18
Presentations 4 18 49 29
Web 2 7 44 48
E-mail 1 6 43 48
Table 1: Basic IT skills (N=674)

These figures represent the respondents’ own interpretations of the meaning of the
qualifiers. It is clear that most students consider themselves to be fairly proficient in the
use of common applications. It was therefore no surprise that in a supplementary question
in this section 95.8% of respondents declared themselves ‘comfortable’ with the technology
they use in their course. 140 respondents provided additional information on areas where
they feel further training could be useful. (See Table 2).
Where do you need to improve your technological skills? %

Spreadsheets 33
Databases 10
Word Processing 4
Presentations 10
Generally 12
Miscellaneous (often course specific) 31
Table 2: Desired improvements in IT skills (N=140)

The largest area of concern for respondents is in connection with using spreadsheets, where
roughly a third feel that they need to improve.
5.3.2 Additional support needs and assistive technologies

Respondents were next asked if they considered themselves to have any additional learning
support needs. The 85 responses received were broken down into the categories illustrated
at Fig 4.
Of these 85, only 15 use assistive technology ‘all the time’ while 28 use it ‘sometimes’. 13
other respondents would like to know more about it. This section does not assume that the
needs of those with additional learning support needs are necessarily resolved through
assistive technology; it is perfectly possible that these needs are met in other ways.
Literacy, 31% Numeracy,

28%
Mobility, 16%
Hearing, 9% Sight, 16%
Fig 5: Additional support needs
43
ETNA: Students
5.4 Popular Technology

This section of the survey looks at the technologies which are available directly to learners,
often owned by them and therefore independent of the college. This is one area where the
pace of change appears to have been extremely rapid.
5.4.1 Mobile technologies

Respondents were asked to select from a list all of the types of mobile technology they
currently own. Answers are displayed in Table 3.
Which of the following portable devices do you own? %

MP3 Player (e.g. iPod) 80
Video Player (e.g. iPod with video playback) 35
Gaming Device (e.g. Nintendo DS or Sony PSP) 44
Digital Camera 73
Digital Video Camera 28
USB Flash Drive 83
Table 3: Portable devices owned (N=633)

Each of these devices has the potential to store or to create information and each therefore
has the potential to be useful as part of the learning process. Of course, the one ubiquitous
portable device which increasingly combines much of the functionality of all of these listed
devices is the mobile telephone (owned by 98% of all student respondents).
Something of the sophistication of these devices can be gauged from the next question
which asks respondents to list the facilities available on their own mobile phone. The
results are shown in Table 4.
Features of your Mobile Phone %

Camera 97
Music Player 89
Video Player 79
Video Recorder 79
Can connect to the internet (display web pages) 77
Can read email 61
Wireless (wifi) Access 40
Can read documents 34
Can write documents 29
Table 4: Features of my mobile phone (N=603)

The range of facilities available on the standard phone is truly staggering if compared to
the power and specification of the average personal computer at the time of the first ETNA
survey in 2001. The ability to connect to the internet, to send email and to read and write
documents means that mobile phones have evolved into something far more powerful than
simple communication devices. Such devices clearly offer potential for use in education,
but only 14.7% of students informed the ETNA survey that have used mobile technologies as
a ‘formal part’ of their course.
44
However, when this 14.7% were asked to elaborate on how these technologies are being
used, little evidence was provided for formal involvement in their courses. The most
commonly-used application on the mobile is the camera – either still or moving images.
Next to that, phones are used for storing information.
Given the ubiquitous availability of personal mobile devices, it would seem that further
work could be done to establish how the potential of this technology could be better
exploited within the college context.
5.5 Web 2.0 Technologies

An area of technology which has seen major expansion in the last few years is that of ‘Web
2.0’. Under this heading, we decided to review knowledge of a range of relevant
technologies in the ETNA survey of 2006. This review is carried forward in the current work,
with the objective of establishing what formal use there is – if any – of Web 2.0
technologies in taught courses in colleges.
5.5.1 Blogs and wikis

ETNA sets out to establish levels of awareness about blog and wiki technologies by students,
as well as ascertaining student levels of engagement with them. All three elements can be
viewed at Table 5.
Blogs & Wikis Knowledge and Use Blogs (%) Wikis (%)
I'm aware of them 77 52
I know about them, but am not interested 38 26
I read other people’s 41 21
I contribute to other people’s 20 7
I know how to set one up 38 16
I have to use one as part of my course 10 10
I have my own, and update it regularly 14 5
I have my own, but don’t update it regularly 20 5
Table 5: Awareness and use of blogs and wikis (N=570)

While awareness of blogs and wikis appears to be relatively high there seems to be a
certain amount of resistance, with large numbers of students declaring a lack of interest,
despite an awareness of their functionality.
Both blogs and wikis are treated by the majority of respondents as passive media – in other
words, while 41% of respondents are happy to read the blogs of other people, far fewer
contributed to others’ blogs or established and regularly maintained their own. Still fewer
claim to use either blogs or wikis as part of their course, though wikis are marginally more
popular here. It may appear initially surprising that a large number of respondents claim to
know how to set up such online tools, but this may be linked to the high proportion of
computing and IT students who responded to the survey.
5.5.2 Podcasting
Awareness of podcasting by students is displayed at Fig 6. The numbers of students who are
actively engaged with podcasts – at least to the level of being subscribed to one - is
relatively small at 10%, though the perception that they are useful is shared by a far higher
percentage. The lack of interest displayed earlier in relation to blogs and wikis reappears
here with 31% aware of the technology but ‘not interested’ in it.
45
ETNA: Students
I don’t know I subscribe to a

what a podcast podcast
is 10%
30%
Podcasts are
useful
29%
I'm aware but

not interested
31%
Fig 6: Podcasts
5.5.3 Sharing pictures and videos online

Sharing files through common sites such as YouTube or Flickr perhaps attracts the highest
levels of interest in the student body, which illustrates the sites’ general popularity in the
world. This popularity may also be at the heart of a tension, which we will examine later in
more detail, between the decision in some colleges to restrict access to certain sites and
the desire of students to access them. The other major point to note in this context is that
here students appear to be far less passive than in other areas, uploading both videos and
still images to file sharing sites.
Sharing pictures and videos online Yes (%) No (%)

I watch videos online (e.g. on YouTube) 95 5
I’ve uploaded videos to the internet (e.g. to YouTube) 49 51
I share pictures online (e.g. on Flickr/Bebo/MySpace) 79 21
Table 6: Sharing pictures and videos online (N=618)
5.5.4 Social networking and virtual worlds

Some of the factors already observed above recur when we come to look at the category of
online applications and student engagement with them. Social networking scores a
remarkably high recognition factor here and nearly 60% of the sample claim to make regular
use of such networks. The engagement rates for both virtual worlds and micro blogging
(such as Twitter) suggest that both have some distance to travel before they are widely
accepted by this cohort.
Experience of Social Networking, Virtual Worlds & Micro Blogging (%)

Never heard of Know about it, but Got a login, don’t Got a login, use it
it not interested use it regularly regularly
Social Networking 3 16 22 59
Virtual Worlds 24 55 12 9
Micro Blogging 40 43 11 6
Table 7: Experience of social networking, virtual worlds and micro-blogging (N=623)
5.5.5 Web 2.0 and my studies

Putting a further spotlight on the use of Web 2.0 tools, ETNA asked students if any Web 2.0
tools are in use in their college course. The results were a resounding 80% for ‘No’, and 20%
for ‘Yes’.
46
For those who had replied affirmatively, a supplementary question gathered further detail.
Mostly, the further information consists of an identification of the technology used; very
few evaluated the effectiveness of it. However, when evaluative judgments were supplied,
with one exception, these are uniformly positive.
It is clear for most students that there is a blurring of the distinction between using
technology for informal and for formal use on their course. Though some courses and
individual staff are clearly making considerable use of blogs and wikis in particular,
students themselves mostly use these as tools for research or for maintaining contact with
one another. Table 8 consists of an analysis of students’ open text comments, which have
been tabulated and sorted to allow the emergence of common themes.
Examples of web 2.0 used in your course %

Misc 38
Blog 26
Wiki 18
Wikipedia 8
Bebo 4
Flickr 3
VLE 3
Table 8: Examples of Web 2.0 technologies used in your course (N=96)
5.5.6 Blocking of websites

The way that institutions ‘police’ their networks can be a controversial issue. One policy
commonly deployed by colleges is to block websites that are judged to present a risk.
Websites can also be blocked if they are felt to be inappropriate, or for moral reasons, or
for reasons of taste. This becomes an issue where certain blocked sites are also very
popular with some (or many) learners. Over 600 students were moved to respond to
questions about website blocking. These responses are almost exactly split between
students at colleges which did not block some websites and those at colleges which did. 237
open text comments were received, showing up an area about which respondents feel
passionately. In this they are often opposed to college policy. Some sites and facilities were
mentioned directly – particularly Bebo, by 139 of the 237. The full list can be seen in Table
9 below:
Blocked Site(s) Mentioned by Name N

Bebo 139
FaceBook 48
Social Networking 29
MySpace 26
YouTube 24
Games 5
Table 9: Sites blocked by the college (N=237)

While a minority of responses are in agreement with the action of colleges in blocking sites,
many students express anger at the restrictions imposed on them, some arguing that some
blocked sites contain essential course materials. This seems an area where more research
might be illuminating, particularly as the responses appear to indicate that there is a wide
divergence of policy on blocking policies within colleges. Site-blocking represents an area
where some colleges may be widely out of step with the demands of their clients. However,
47
ETNA: Students
given the rise in the availability of powerful handheld devices mentioned elsewhere in this
survey, this also represents an area in the near future where students may be able to
access whatever they want on the internet, without having to depend on the college
network in any way. For this reason, though it may be currently controversial, website
blocking will continue as an avoidable college policy. However, it will only have a
temporary effect in preventing students from accessing whatever they choose since they
are increasingly frequently able independently to do so through their own portable devices.
5.6 Technology and You
5.6.1 PC ownership
ETNA is interested in student access to technology both within the college and in the home
environment. This represents a major area of change since the first ETNA survey was
conducted. At that time (2001) college provision of ICT generally offered far more to the
student than was available through personal or home routes. The spread of high-speed
broadband home connections in tandem with a lowering price structure has altered this
picture dramatically.
In this current report we attempt to establish ownership of technology within the sample.
605 responses were received with 70% of the sample having access to a desktop PC or Mac
at home. For four fifths of those with a machine at home, that machine is a laptop. This
high proportion of laptop owners coupled with advances in the availability and reliability of
wireless networking poses further questions for colleges which are highlighted in Table 10:
Use of laptops. If you own a laptop… Yes (%) No (%)

…do you currently bring your laptop to college? 23 77
…is your laptop wireless enabled? 91 9
…do you connect to the college's wireless network? 26 74
Table 10: Use of laptops (N=503)

Roughly a quarter of laptop owners have connected to their college wireless network,
though many more clearly have the equipment which would permit this. Respondents were
asked to comment on the connection experience. 90 comments were received but no real
consensus emerges as to satisfaction levels. Some respondents felt that networks could be
difficult to connect to, slow and available only in certain parts of the buildings. Others,
however, had exactly the opposite reaction. The picture is clearly patchy and evolving.
5.6.2 Internet connection outside college

Over 90% of the sample claim to have some direct access to the internet at home. With the
exception of 2% of the sample, all of those connected are on broadband. This has clear
implications for the delivery of learning in the future.
Not sure, 3%
Mobile
broadband, None, 4% Network
9% access from
halls, 2%
Dial-up, 2%
Broadband,
80%
Fig 7: Internet connection outside college
48
5.6.3 Communication with the college

Given that most students can take advantage of broadband connectivity and that colleges
are themselves networked and web-enabled, the next set of questions looks at how
communication links are currently being used.
Not surprisingly, 80% of those questioned claim to use email to stay in touch with their
lecturers, while 61% use email as a means of submitting assignments. Blogs have not yet
achieved these rates of penetration though 16% of students use blogs to stay in touch with
lecturers. Other uses of the common communication channels are displayed in Table 11,
though some of the options take the form of wishes rather than actual usage. It is clear
from the table that there is ample room for the expansion of online communication in the
context of course information and assessment.
College communications %
I use email to keep in touch with my lecturers 80
I can use the course blog to communicate with my lecturers 16
I use email to submit assignments 61
I would like to receive course info from college by email 50
I would like to receive assessment/exam results by email. 63
I would like to receive assessment/exam results by text message. 34
Table 11: College communications (N=574)
5.6.4 Video conferencing

One channel which seemed to be very little used, in common with all other sections of the
ETNA survey, was video conferencing. This is experienced as part of the course by only 3.7%
of respondents. This figure was lower than the proportion (5.2%) who had received training
to use VC technology.
5.7 Using Technology as Part of the Course
5.7.1 Access to technology

General responses to the survey so far have clearly indicated how technology is embedded
in the life of the modern student at home, at college, and on the move. It has therefore
been important to ascertain whether the general availability of technology within colleges
has matched the demands that students are making upon it. Responses to the three key
questions here indicate that demand and supply are indeed fairly closely matched.
Practically all respondents feel that computers are available whenever they have a need for
them and that those computers are by and large powerful enough and fast enough to meet
needs. Full details are shown in Table 12.
Access to Computing Facilities at your College Yes (%) No (%)

A computer is available in college when I need one 96 4
The computers are powerful enough to meet my needs 87 13
The college network is fast enough to meet my needs 79 21
Table 12: Access to computing facilities in college (N=583)

Respondents were invited to provide open comments to reinforce their choice of answers to
the above and 230 took the opportunity. Perhaps surprisingly, given the generally positive
nature of the yes/no part of the question, the open comments are heavily skewed towards
the negative (148 comments) as opposed to the 63 positive comments recorded. The major
criticisms of computers in college are that they are too slow and unreliable. This, of course,
can be a criticism of a sluggish college network as much as it can be of an individual
49
ETNA: Students
machine that a student is working on. The dissatisfaction expressed here may also be
influenced by the high numbers of computing students among the sample, individuals who
might be expected to have higher then average expectations of equipment performance.

The questions targeted at students about the VLE have been designed to provide
comparison with similar questions asked of other cohorts within the ETNA survey,
particularly with academics. The survey highlights a wide range of responses to VLE
technologies from those who claim to be unaware of the existence of the VLE (a fact which
might be explained by the nature of the course being followed) to the 66% who claim to use
VLE technology as part of their course. The full picture of engagement with the VLE is
presented in Fig 7
I want more help in

8%
using the VLE
I don’t know if my
19%
college has a VLE
I've had training in the

26%
VLE
I find the VLE easy to

64%
use
I've used the VLE as

66%
part of my course
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70%
Fig 8: Student use of the VLE

Two thirds of those responding have used the VLE at some time though only a quarter of the
sample has received training in how to use it. However, this seems to present no barrier to
the majority of learners: 64% feel that the VLE is easy to use. A small but significant
number of learners, 7.8%, feel that they need more help using the technology.
Rough estimate of how often learning involves the VLE (%) %

Every day 25
Several times a week 38
Once a week 16
Less than once a week 21
Table 13: How often learning involves the VLE (N=462)

The next question tried to establish more clearly the frequency of usage and whether the
VLE could be said to be becoming ‘embedded’ in the delivery of learning in colleges in
Scotland. It is interesting to note that for three quarters of those responding, the VLE is
used at least weekly, while for a quarter the VLE is in daily use.
We build on this basic store of VLE data by trying to establish exactly where the VLE is
being accessed. The results, displayed at Table 14, indicate a spread of use with
surprisingly high figures for access from home and a large proportion of users accessing
courses from work. These figures seem to indicate that a change from the traditional
classroom-based pattern may be underway.
50
Where do you use the VLE? %

In class 71
At home 78
In college/library/IT centre 71
At work 9
Table 14: Where the VLE is used (N=475)
5.7.3 Functions of the VLE

Virtual Learning Environments are capable of a range of functions from serving as a simple
document store to a more complex system which caters for group discussion, online
assessment and the tracking of learner progress. In constructing a picture of student
engagement with the systems across colleges, we next examine the range of VLE facilities
in use and students’ experiences of them. This is displayed in Table 15.
The functions of the VLE (%) Effective Not Effective Not Used
To download or access learning materials 82 6 12
Communication of course or module information 77 9 14
As a communication tool for learning 75 9 16
Submission of assignments or coursework 56 6 38
Computer marked assessment 48 10 42
Group working or discussion 30 15 55
Personal reflection(blogs/wikis/portfolios) 19 12 69
Table 15: The functions of the VLE (N=496)

It is clear from responses in this table that the VLE is still most commonly used as a storage
depot for course materials and information - a facility rated as ‘effective’ by the large
majority of respondents. There is less evidence for usage of the platforms as tools for
communication or reflection.
5.7.4 Student opinion of the VLE

The final direct question on virtual learning environments was a synoptic one which invited
respondents to provide a general response on their thoughts about the VLE. 484 students
responded to this question and the feeling is unmistakably positive as shown at Fig 8.
51
ETNA: Students
I need more support in

14% 86%
using the VLE
I'm comfortable about

89% 11%
using the VLE

quality of the teaching 80% 20%
process

80% 20%
quality of my learning
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% 120%
Fig 9: Student opinion of the VLE (Yes / No)

Nearly 90% of the sample claim to be ‘comfortable’ using the VLE, though 14% feel that
they need more support. The views here echo those expressed elsewhere across ETNA and
particularly those expressed by the academic cohort who agreed equally strongly that the
VLE enhances both teaching and learning.
5.7.5 Online assessment

A major innovation in teaching and learning, which is sometimes linked to the introduction
of the VLE, is online assessment. We therefore examine here the level of exposure to online
assessment and to e-portfolios and students’ reactions to that exposure. As can be seen in
Table 16, it is still a minority of students who have encountered e-assessment as part of
their course, while only a small fraction of the cohort, 8.2%, have used an e-portfolio.
Experience of online assessment Yes (%) No (%)

Have you experienced any online assessment as part of your course? 42 58
Have you used an e-portfolio as part of your course? 8 92
Table 16: Experience of online assessment (N=578)

We followed up this question by asking respondents if they would support the increased use
of online assessment. Responses here were almost equally split with 49% welcoming such a
move and 51% rejecting it.
However, it should be noted that if we look more closely at the sample, then those who
have already experienced some online assessment are far more keen to have more of it.
63% of such respondents are in this category. Among respondents who had no prior
experience of online assessment, this figure drops to 39%. The implication is that fear of
online assessment can be ascribed in some part to fear of the unfamiliar.
An open follow-up question on assessment was offered to respondents to gather further
views. 260 opinions were expressed, some of them passionately. The majority of comments
were favourable. After analysis, these opinions can be tabulated as shown in Table 17.
Views on increasing the amount of assessment done online %

No preference 4
In favour: Already heavily using online assessment 5
52
In favour: (various reasons of ease and convenience) 45

In favour: (other miscellaneous reasons) 7
Against (on the basis of personal preference) 24
Against (because of the lack of human contact involved) 10
Against (due to fear of technical problems) 4
Against (perceived lack of accessibility) 1
Table 17: Views on increasing the amount of assessment done online (N=260)
5.7.6 IT support from the college

ETNA has examined student perceptions of how they are supported in their use of college IT
systems. By and large, respondents are satisfied that at least enough support had been
offered to allow them to complete their chosen course(s). However, there is a significant
minority, 11%, who would welcome more support than is currently available. When this
minority was asked about the kind of extra support they would ideally like, no common
themes were identified in their responses, which were quite often highly-specific to the
individual, their course or their college.
In your use of IT at the college, how well have you been supported? %
Extremely well 41
Enough to get me through the course 48
I could have done with more support 7
I've received no support 4
Table 18: How well supported by college in using IT (N=574)
5.8 Attitudes to Technology

This final section of the student survey widens the focus to look at general attitudes to
technology and its use for teaching and learning in colleges. Similar synoptic question have
been posed at the end of the staff variants of the survey to allow for comparisons of
perceptions and reality between groups.
5.8.1 Elements of the learning mix

This question asks students when they feel they are able to learn best. The options offer a
mix of the traditional and the new and attracts 579 responses. It is perhaps no surprise that
the option of including the notion of ‘fun’ in the learning experience produces the highest
level of support: an idea which can influence the design of learning materials, as well as
activities in the classroom.
When do you feel you learn best? %

when it's fun 78
classroom style learning 59
computer-based training 47
through mentoring/coaching 46
through social/informal setting 44
from my peers 34
when it's multi-sensory 28
Table 19: When learning is easiest (N=579)
53
ETNA: Students
Traditional classroom-style learning scores highly with nearly six out of ten respondents.
The notion of peer learning, often identified as the core of the constructivist approach to
education, is not rated very highly by learners themselves. Perhaps surprisingly, multi-
sensory learning achieved a similarly low response.
5.8.2 Integrating technology into the course

The ETNA survey provides a suitable opportunity for enquiring into the general level of
technology employed by colleges and whether this is running roughly in line with demand
from the students. As can be seen from Fig 10, there is wide acceptance that a moderate
level of technology is essential to the high majority of courses offered in colleges today. In
fact, over a quarter of the 573 learners who responded welcome the ‘extensive’ use of
technology on their course (though the high numbers of IT students represented in this
sample should be remembered at this point).
no
extensive use technology,
1.2% only limited
of technology,
technology,
28.5%
6.6%
a moderate
level of
technology,
63.7%
Fig 10: How much technology is the right amount?
5.8.3 General attitudes to technology

ETNA gave students a final opportunity to voice their open opinions on the application of
technology to teaching and learning - opinions untrammelled and undirected by the narrow
wording of a specific question. Here they were invited to make any comment on whether
overall the application of technology is a positive step, on the advantages or disadvantages
that flow from it, on any steps the colleges could take to improve the implementation of it,
and, in short, on anything at all that they finally wanted to get off their chest with respect
to using technology in their education.
The majority of the cohort (368 from 678) took the time to provide a response here,
building a mountain of data but at the same time constructing a valuable composite picture
of the student attitude to technology, teaching and learning. Here a positive view of
technology is fully reflected, though it is tempered by a more cautious strand of opinion
worried that the nature of the educational process risks being eroded by a technology
applied at the expense of human interaction.
54
55
ETNA: Administrative & Support Staff
6 Administrative & Support Staff

6.1 Introduction
6.1.1 The Sample

Since the second ETNA survey in 2003 we have included a section which focuses on the
training needs of staff in administrative and support roles in colleges. Since this cohort of
staff now accounts for almost half of the total workforce, recognising their training needs is
essential to the construction of a holistic overview of attitudes to ICT across the sector.
6.1.2 Survey Responses

Responses were received from 766 staff from the large majority of colleges in Scotland.
6.1.3 Gender and Age Breakdown

More than half of all respondents are aged over 40 (56.1% of the sample). 78% of
respondents are female; 22% male.
60 or over, 5% under 20, 1% 20 - 29, 19%
50 - 59, 23%
30 - 39, 24%
40 - 49, 28%
Fig 1: Age of respondents
6.1.4 Post and Departmental Details
other 32%
ICT 3%
finance, marketing, HR 17%
estates and related 4%
technical (including AV)

5%
support to learning & teaching
admin support in acad

39%
depts and service units
0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% 45%
Fig 2: Departmental Details
56
6.2 Access to Technology
6.2.1 Access to Basic Computer Equipment

Appreciation of the quality of the technical infrastructure is recorded as mostly very
positive by this group. Nearly 90% of respondents have access to their own computer at
work and a similar proportion is happy that the technology available to them is powerful
enough for their work needs.
This group of college staff makes extensive use of computing technology for a wide range of
purposes.
Access to Computer Equipment Yes No

The work computer I regularly use is powerful for my needs 90 10
My college has issued me with a laptop for use at work only 5 95
My college has issued me with a laptop that I can use at home if I wish 15 85
Table 1: Access to equipment (N=765)
6.2.2 The College VLE

Though admin and support staff are not actively and directly involved in teaching and
learning, their indirect contributions can be significant. Fig 3 shows that the high majority
of such staff are aware of the college VLE. Only a very small percentage, under 10%, claim
to be unaware of its existence.
Don’t know
8%
Yes
92%
Fig 3: Awareness of the college VLE

Those staff who were aware of the VLE were asked to identify the local platform in use. As
elsewhere in this survey, the figures show that Blackboard is dominant, with Moodle in
second place. No other platform covers even a 10% share of the installed base. About 12%
of the sample did not know the name of the platform in use (See Fig 4).
57
WebCT 1%
Sharepoint 2%
Other 3%
Virtual Campus 6%
Don't know 12%
Moodle 27%
Blackboard 48%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%
Fig 4: Types of VLE

About a third of respondents claim to use the VLE in their work, with a similar proportion
having received training in VLE usage. As elsewhere in the survey, a much smaller
proportion, 13.5%, had received training in authoring materials for the VLE. By contrast,
97% of the cohort is aware of their college’s intranet, upon which may be presumed to lie
the bulk of college internal documents and policies.

In common with questions asked of other staff cohorts, final questions in this section cover
the awareness and use of video conferencing. Of the responses received, just over half
claim that their colleges support this technology via a dedicated conference suite, while
almost a third gain access via the desktop. Direct use of VC technology is minimal for this
staff group, as can be seen in Table 2. 85% of the sample claim ‘never’ to use it.
Never (%) Occasionally (%) Regularly (%)

Use of VC 85 13 2
Table 2: Use of Video Conferencing (%)
6.3 Most Used Technologies

This section concentrates on the range of connectivity options open to respondents,
starting with mobile technologies, an area of enormous expansion since the first ETNA
survey in 2001.
6.3.1 Communication and Connectivity

As for other groups participating in this survey, some technologies are more likely to be
used in the domestic sphere than in the context of work. In the case of Skype, staff are six
times more likely to use them at home than at work (see Table 3).
Do you use internet telephony, eg Skype? No (%) Skype (%) N/R (%)
I have heard of it 26 61 13
I can access this technology at work 74 9 17
I use it at work 86 3 11
I use it at home 59 19 78
Table 3: Use of internet telephony (N=776)
58
Connectivity for administrative and support staff is provided both on campus and remotely,
allowing access for most to the college VLE, the intranet and email (see Table 4).
Connectivity: I Can Access... Yes (%) No (%) N/R (%)

…the wired college network via my work computer 87 8 5
…a wireless network within my college 57 33 10
…the college VLE 64 25 11
…the VLE when I'm not on the college campus 42 42 16
…the college Intranet on campus 93 4 3
…the college Intranet when I'm not on campus 55 38 7
…my work email when I'm not on campus 85 13 3
Table 4: Connectivity (N=756)

In common with all other cohorts in the survey, the spread of computer use and
connectivity into the domestic context is very marked. Nine out of ten respondents have
broadband internet access at home. More than three out of ten regularly do college-related
work at home.
Home/Work Computing Access (%) Yes No

The computer I use at home can access the internet 92 8
Table 5: Working at home, working at work
I’d Like
I can use technology for the following purposes Yes (%) No (%)
Training (%)
To find information or resources 99 1 2
To make information available 90 6 5
To communicate with colleagues 98 2 1
Financial administration 61 35 5
Other administration 89 9 3
Table 6: Reasons for using the technology (N=762)

The software tools used across this group are dominated by Office applications. The range
can be seen in Table 7. The large number of ‘Other systems or software’ at the foot of the
table refers to technology connected with some of the more specialised administrative
roles within colleges.
The software tools commonly used in the course of work %

Email (eg Outlook, Groupwise) 98
Word processing (eg Word) 98
College Intranet 89
Web browser (eg Explorer) 88
59
Spreadsheets (eg Excel) 88

College website 80
Presentations (eg PowerPoint) 52
College MIS (Management Information System) 37
Timetabling systems 23
Procurement systems 15
Accommodation systems 8
Other college systems or software 28
Table 7: Commonly-used software tools (N=765)

This trend toward high skills in Office applications and email is confirmed in a question
which invited respondents to identify their primary computer skills. Email and basic file
handling are now close to universal on this list, while many of other skills, from inserting
charts to placing hyperlinks in documents, are well understood by the majority.
Only towards the foot of Table 8 do the numbers drop away, as the skills mentioned are
applicable for only a small minority of roles across administration and support. This is also
the case with multimedia skills in manipulating sound and images. Any generic training
offered to this staff group could focus on those areas just after the middle of the table
where the general level of competency takes a sudden dip. However, this would reasonably
be guided by individual job descriptions and requirements in each case.
Yes No I’d Like

I can...
(%) (%) Training (%)
…use email 100 0 0
…use basic file handling techniques (open close save files) 99 1 1
…attach a file to an email message 99 1 1
…use a word processor 98 1 1
…search the web for information 97 1 1
…create tables using a word processor 95 3 3
…use a spreadsheet 94 4 4
…insert images into documents 93 4 4
…use advanced features of email packages 91 4 6
…insert charts into documents 87 7 7
…use functions in a spreadsheet 86 7 9
…use a database 85 9 9
…use PowerPoint (or similar) 82 9 8
…insert hyperlinks in documents 79 13 8
…create databases in Microsoft Access (or similar) 68 19 15
…use the college VLE 45 42 13
…create and manipulate digital images 44 41 17
…understand how VLE integrated with other college info systems 30 51 19
…use mind mapping 28 54 19
…create a web page 27 51 25
…create and manipulate digital sound files 22 59 21
60
…use video conferencing facilities 21 63 16

…create flash movies and animations 15 63 25
Table 8: The range of Skills (N=765)

A related question probed respondents’ understandings of the legal issues associated with
different elements of the use of IT. Here are revealed some deficiencies in areas of
understanding, most particularly in relation to DDA/SENDA. It is likely that training is
needed in some of these areas (see Table 9).
Partly I’d like

I understand the legal issues associated with IT Yes (%) No (%)
(%) Training (%)
DDA/SENDA 39 23 33 13
Table 9: Legal Issues (N=762)
6.4 Training Needs and Delivery Preferences

This section gathers from respondents details of other areas where they feel training might
be useful.
6.4.1 Generic Skills Training

Here we widen out from a narrow focus on IT and considered some related but more
generic skills. Delegates were asked to evaluate different categories of training and to rank
the respective benefits of each. The ranked skills are displayed at Fig 5. Project
management clearly emerges as the skill which most respondents cite to be of most
immediate value.
other 8%
risk management 28%
time management 55%
Project management 62%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70%
Fig 5: Generic skills requirements
61
6.4.2 ICT Qualifications

Respondents were asked to name any current ICT qualifications held and here a large
number of respondents (351 of the 776) failed to provide an answer, perhaps suggesting
that they have no formal qualifications in this area. Those who responded, in common with
other groups in the survey, are most likely to hold some form of European Computer Driving
Licence (ECDL). Details are presented in Table 10. PC Passport has clearly made little or no
impression and poses no threat to ECDL as a de facto standard, while over a third of
respondents identify ‘other’ qualifications.
PC Passport ECDL Advanced ECDL Other

1 74 9 37
Table 10: ICT qualifications (%, N=425)
6.4.3 Online Study and Training

In common with other groups of the survey, only a minority of staff have any experience of
studying online and in the present cohort only 38% have received training in any aspect of
ICT during the previous academic session.
6.4.4 Effective Training and Preferred Delivery Methods

Respondents were asked about recently received training that they felt had been especially
effective. 187 replies were received. In such a diverse group, where there is a wide variety
of different activities and interests, it is extremely difficult to arrive at a consensus. The
most common form of successful training is in applications such as Word and PowerPoint,
usually delivered in-house within the wrapper of ECDL, and boosted during this period by
the fact that many of colleges are migrating to a new version of Microsoft Office as
standard. There were also significant, if not huge, numbers wishing for help with a variety
of management information systems as well as college VLEs.
6.4.5 Preferences in Training Delivery

In common with other sections of the ETNA staff survey, respondents were asked to give
their view on the most acceptable methods of training delivery. These can be examined in
detail at Fig 6. Here respondents identify the methods which they find to be acceptable or
unacceptable. Methods which contain implicit face-to-face contact score most highly here –
at 94%. By contrast, those methods which promise least potential contact attract least
support. The most unpopular learning style is ‘flexible learning supported wholly online’,
which was rejected by 43% of respondents (though found to be acceptable by 57%).
flexible learning
57% 43%
supported wholly online
occasional attendance at
72% 28%
forums with similar colleagues
advice by phone, email

60% 40%
or online discussion list
a 'blended' model of training 73% 27%
traditional face-to-face
94% 6%
workshops etc
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% 120%
Fig 6: Training Preferences (Yes / No)
62
Respondents were invited in their own words to describe any factors which influence their
decision on training methods. A familiar pattern emerges from the 216 individuals who
contributed with nearly half of them citing (lack of) ‘time’ as the key factor which drives
their choice. A sizeable element of the sample expresses a preference for training delivered
on a face-to-face basis. See Fig 7.
Preference for
face-to-face,
Preference for
26%
online
learning, 5%
Time, 48%
Preference for
blended
learning, 3%
Misc., 15% Distance, 2%
Equipment,
1%
Fig 7: Further detail of training preferences

The last substantive question of the survey asked respondents to identify any other training
needs they had in relation to technology. The wide range of roles within this staff cohort is
evident in the range of training identified. However, some trends can be discerned. After
analysis, the categories which emerge are represented in Table 11. There was clearly a
demand for ongoing training to keep pace with regular changes made as successive versions
of standard applications are released. A demand was also expressed for regular formal
updates or reviews of the software used within the institution.
Training %
Regular Updates 26
Miscellaneous 25
ECDL/Applications 22
Assistive Technologies 7
Web/Web 2.0 7
VLE 6
MultiMedia 4
Interactive Whiteboards 3
Table 11: Other training needs (N-69)
63
ETNA: Learning Resources Staff
64
7 Learning Resources Staff

7.1 Introduction
Learning resources staff play a pivotal role in providing access to both technologies and
resources in colleges and, consequently, their understanding of the relationship between
the learner, technology and the institution is an important one. Whether the place that
students associate with books and quiet study is known as the ‘Library’ or the ‘Learning
Resource Centre’, there is no doubt that a sea change has occurred in this area as online
resources augment or even replace some paper-based media. The increasing importance of
e-books and online resources, which can also be accessed outwith the physical perimeter of
the library, causes a gentle revolution in users’ perceptions of what a library actually is, as
well as impacting upon the complex tasks demanded of librarians themselves. The 21st
century college library is a space that offers a lot more than shelves of books; the twenty-
first century college librarian is a multi-tasking individual who knows how to use
educational resources in both the material and the online world to support students and
staff in their institution.
7.2 The Sample

108 learning resource staff from almost every college in Scotland responded to this part of
the survey. The typical respondent was likely to be female (outnumbering male respondents
by 6 to 1), as can be seen from the demographic breakdown presented at Fig 1.
no response, under 20, 1%

60 or over, 3% 22%
50 - 59, 34%
20 - 29, 12%
30 - 39, 19%
40 - 49, 31%
Fig 1: Age distribution
Such staff perform a multiplicity of roles (and have a multiplicity of job titles to match).
Although the issuing and curation of resources remain central, such staff are to be found in
a supportive role across a spectrum of areas from induction to information literacy. An
overview of these functions is presented at Table 1. Learning resources staff interact with
learners from a range of disciplines and with a wider range of abilities than would be
normal for academic staff, and are therefore in a position to judge learner engagement
with technology and its effects.
65
ETNA: Learning Resource Staff
Daily Weekly Monthly Once or Not Yet

Typical learning resource activity
(%) (%) (%) twice/year (%) (%)
Issuing books/learning materials 90 6 1 0 3
Other support (eg
78 14 3 2 2
scanning/copying/research)
Helping users find online resources 58 26 9 4 2
Admin of user logins & permissions 45 10 6 10 23
Planning cataloguing and acquisitions 42 22 9 3 18
Management of staff & budgets 27 2 3 0 41
Student induction 9 11 14 56 8
Information literacy training 9 11 12 20 50
Table 1: Typical LR activity (%; n=109)

Adding to this perspective is the growing number of learning resources staff who find
themselves closely involved with the deployment of the college VLE
7.3 Key Findings
7.3.1 Computer access

There has been little change in the figures for access to computers since 2007 and staff in
this area are still the most likely group to be required to share a computer. However,
despite this fact, 82% of respondents felt that the computer power available to them was
sufficient.
7.3.2 College technologies

VLE technology is becoming increasingly embedded in the work of this cohort.
Rationalisation is evident in the VLE market, leading to a dominance by two major
platforms. Nearly three quarters of the sample have used the VLE, with a quarter going
further to say that the technology as ‘essential’ to their role. Learning resources staff hold
an essential mediating role in colleges with respect to the use of technology.
7.3.3 Training needs

There is demand for training in the following areas:
• Creating computer-based materials, including induction guides
• Metadata
• Project management
• The legal implications of IT
7.3.4 Engagement with emerging technologies

Significant engagement with some Web 2.0 technologies, particularly blogs, wikis and social
networking has been recorded. However, engagement with e-portfolios is generally low and
if colleges include them in their strategic plans, then this suggests another area where
training may be required.
7.3.5 Online repositories

Repositories represent a growing element of the learning resource landscape, though it is
still a minority of colleges which has begun implementing the technology, and an even
smaller percentage which has integrated it with the VLE. This is another area where
training is required to provide essential skills.
66
7.3.6 Access management

Access management is an area of major change facing the learning resource sections of
colleges, but a fifth of institutions have taken no action to date. This is another area where
training could be assigned high priority and its importance understood and supported by
managers.
7.3.7 ICT training

Despite the training needs identified above, less than half of this cohort took advantage of
any ICT training in the academic session in which this survey took place. This is likely to be
the result of a combination of reasons, though, when library staff described perceived
barriers to training in their own words, about 70 percent cited lack of time. In busy, and
especially small, college libraries, it is often difficult for staff to leave the information or
issuing desk for training purposes.
7.3.8 Staff development delivery

Traditional methods of receiving training remain most popular with this group, though there
is growing acceptance of some form of blended approach.

Attitudes are generally positive and the new technologies welcomed, but there is a
perception that impact can only be maximised if part of a diverse approach which combines
different methods. There is the suspicion that learners may not be fully equipped to derive
maximum benefit from the technology due to a lack of discernment in part encouraged by
the technology itself. This points to a need for increased support for ‘information literacy’.
7.4 Detailed Findings
7.4.1 Access to computer equipment

Although there has been an observable and growing trend for each member of staff to have
a computer for their exclusive use, this cohort of college staff still lags behind others in this
respect. However 81% now enjoy exclusive access compared with 58% at the time of the
last ETNA survey (2006). Other figures have remained remarkably similar since then, though
there has been a rise in the proportion of the sample which feels that the technology they
have access to is powerful enough for their needs: from 71% in 2006 to 87% now (a trend
observable across all cohorts).
Access to Computer Equipment Yes % No %

The computer I regularly use at college is powerful enough for me 87 13
Table 2: Access to computer equipment (n=119)
7.4.2 The college VLE

This section looks at access to the college VLE, its operation, and the engagement of
learning resource staff. In previous years the first question in this section has tested that
staff recognise whether or not there is a VLE installed at their college. By 2006 this
recognition factor had reached 93% of the cohort; in the current report 98% of staff are
aware of the college VLE, with over 80% having access to it.
But the VLE landscape is more fluid than these bare statistics would seem to suggest and it
would appear that many colleges either have more than one VLE in operation or are
67
experimenting with a number of different platforms before deciding next options. Some
impression of this complex picture can be gleaned in Table 3, where respondents were
asked additionally to identify any secondary VLE platforms.
Virtual Learning Environments in use

Primary VLE Moodle Blackboard WebCT Teknical Sharepoint Other
VLE(s) Used 38 37 0 20 2 2
Secondary VLE Moodle Blackboard WebCT Teknical Sharepoint Other
VLE(s) Used 36 0 0 0 36 18
Table 3: VLEs in use (%; n=109)

In common with other places in the survey, the dominance of two platforms, Blackboard
and Moodle can be clearly seen in the responses, though there is an anomaly here which is
difficult to explain. From the data which is displayed here, it would appear that Moodle is
the slightly more dominant of the two platforms. However, this is the reverse of responses
given by the academic cohort. The dominance of one or other platform is possibly less
important than the significant reduction in complexity of the picture displayed in the
current survey, compared to the more diverse pattern in 2006. Since then BlackBoard and
WebCT have merged, the planned CLAN package (UHI) has not materialised and other
smaller players have withdrawn from the market or have less prominence. These factors
have contributed to the emergence of the two dominant players in the VLE market.
ETNA now turns to look at the use made by this cohort of VLE technology. The majority of
those who responded (95% of 79 individuals) had used the college VLE at some time with
just over 50% using it on a regular basis. However, in contrast to earlier surveys there is
now a significant percentage which sees the use of the VLE as ‘essential’ to their work. The
full results are shown at Table 4.
Using the college VLE Yes (%) No (%)

I have used the college VLE 95 5
I use the college VLE regularly 51 49
The college VLE is now essential to my work 41 59
I don't know what a VLE is 8 92
Table 4: Using the VLE (n=79)

The percentage of respondents who have been trained to use the VLE has risen from 58% to
75% in the current survey, while there has also been a small rise in those who have been
trained to author materials to 35%. (The numbers who have created materials actually
outstrips the numbers trained to do so at 42%.)
VLE Training...I have Yes (%) No (%)

…received training to use the VLE 75 25
…received training to author materials for the VLE 35 65
…created materials for the VLE 42 58
Table 5: VLE training (n=80)

Staff were asked to describe the range of ways in which they used the VLE. The 36
responses received to this open question were tagged and the pattern of usage is shown at
Table 6.
68
Learning Resources Staff Use of VLE N
Integrating Resources 8
Staff Development 7
Course and Library Information 6
Courses 4
Administer/Manage VLE 4
Learning Support 3
Induction 3
Miscellaneous 3
Table 6: LR staff use of VLE (N=36)

The integrative role of Learning Resources staff emerges from the activities in this table,
both in terms of resources and induction and development activities for staff and students.
7.4.3 Interactive whiteboards and video conferencing

This section deals specifically with interactive whiteboards (IWBs) and Video Conferencing
(VC). As with elsewhere in the survey the installation of interactive whiteboards is
widespread. Though fewer than 25% of respondents have been trained to use this
technology, 28% actually use it. This either reflects a reluctance, or wariness, in using
technology that this group does not understand, or it may indicate that learning resource
staff do not have a wide need for IWBs in their professional lives.
Using an Interactive Whiteboard Yes (%) No (%)

Has your college installed IWBs? 97 3
Have you received IWB Training? 25 75
Have you used an IWB? 30 70
Do you have access to a classroom with an IWB? 35 65
Table 7: Use of IWB (n=99)

Video conferencing lags far behind the level of engagement seen with interactive
whiteboards. The first thing to note is the generally far lower level of awareness of this
technology across the cohort in comparison with IWBs, which itself is much less well known
than the VLE. The majority of respondents are simply not aware of (or do not need to use)
the type of facilities their college has on offer in this area.
Yes No Don’t
Video Conferencing (VC)
(%) (%) know (%)
Does your college support access to VC via a VC suite? 37 13 50
Does your college support access to VC via the desktop? 12 13 75
Table 8: Availability of VC in college (n=109)

This lack of awareness of the technology is reflected in the slim use of it by this group;
there has been no significant change here since the last survey in 2006. At that time, only
4% of the sample claims to use this technology regularly and the majority of these are
employed by academic partners of the UHI, which is by far the largest user of VC in the
college environment in Scotland.
69
Occasionally
18%
Regularly
4%
Never
78%
Fig 2: Use of VC
7.4.4 Internet telephony

This is another area of rapid growth in society in general, though the use of internet
telephony, such as Skype, outside of the workplace seems far more marked than usage
within it. Awareness is high, as can be seen in Table 9: staff are almost five times more
likely to use Skype, for example, at home than they are at work. In fact, in the majority of
cases they are unable to access this kind of technology at work.
Using Internet Telephony (eg Skype) %
I have heard of it 79
I can access this technology at work 16
I use it at work 6
I use it at home 27
Table 9: Using internet telephony (n=101)
7.4.5 Technology at home and at work

As with elsewhere in the ETNA survey, a clear trend is visible in the growth in availability of
wireless networks. As shown in Table 10, nearly 58% of respondents can connect to a
college wireless network. The comparative figure is 37% for 2006. Connectivity, which was
already very high in 2006, has remained at that high level or progressed slightly so that the
vast majority of those surveyed have a broadband internet connection at home through
which they can and do access their college email accounts or the VLE.
Work & Home Computing Access (%) Yes (%) No (%)

My work computer is connected to the fixed college network 94 6
Table 10: Access at home and at work (n=101)

Responses to the next set of questions serve to demonstrate how deeply embedded are the
key skills associated with the use of ICT among this group. Indeed, the only areas where
there are skills gaps – and where training would be welcomed by a significant proportion of
the sample – are in accessibility and information literacy.
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Yes No Partly I’d Like N/A

I can use technology to…. (%)
(%) (%) (%) Training (%) (%)
…find information or resources 100 0 0 1 0
…communicate with colleagues 97 2 1 0 1
…make information available 86 4 7 6 1
… handle other administrative functions 86 4 6 0 3
… improve accessibility 67 9 12 8 5
…provide financial administration 47 24 14 0 14
…provide information literacy training 47 20 13 7 13
Table 11: The uses of technology (n=101)
7.4.6 ICT SKillset

The questions asked in Table 12 were included in the original ETNA survey in 2001 in order
to map the uptake of basic ICT skills across the target population. The updated picture now
serves to indicate the widespread acquisition and advancement of those skills in the
intervening years. Now in 2010, it is clear that most of these basic skills have now been
mastered (at least by those staff responding to the ETNA survey).
Yes No Partly I’d Like

I can... (tick all that apply)
(%) (%) (%) Training (%)
…use basic file handling techniques

100 0 0 0
(open, close and save files)
…use a word processor 100 0 0 0
…use email 100 0 0 0
…attach a file to an email message 100 0 0 0
…search the web for information 98 0 1 1
…create tables using a word processor 97 1 1 1
…insert images into documents 95 1 1 4
…use a spreadsheet 92 0 6 5
…use extended features of email packages
89 1 7 5
(address book, calendar etc)
…insert charts into documents 88 3 8 5
…insert hyperlinks in documents 86 6 5 5
….use PowerPoint (or similar presentation software) 84 3 9 6
…use a database 82 1 14 6
…write functions in a spreadsheet 64 7 24 10
…create databases in Microsoft Access (or similar) 57 12 21 13
…use mind mapping to plan learning or other projects 44 28 18 10
…create a web page 32 30 19 28
…use project management software 11 58 15 22
Table 12: Computing skills (n=100)

There are some areas where a demand for specialist training has been registered such as in
the creation of web pages and in project management, but it is most likely that these are
of interest to only a minority of staff.
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A similar mastery of the basics of the legal issues surrounding ICT, particularly in those
areas related to information storage and handling are demonstrated by this group, though
there is still demand for training in the area of copyright which is complex and shifting as
the technology itself changes.
Learning resources staff seem less certain of their ground in the area of accessibility and e-
inclusion. Therefore, demand for legal training is strongest in relation to legislation
covering this area.
Partly I’d Like Training

Understanding of key legal issues Yes (%) No (%)
(%) (%)

DDA/SENDA
(Special Educational Needs and Disability 54 8 31 19
Act 2001)
Table 13: Understanding of legal issues (n=100)

Here we focus on specific skills which are highly relevant to this group. The responses
presented in Table 14 indicate that the key skills here are well understood particularly in
selecting and evaluating electronic resources which underpin the development of effective
learning materials. The main demands highlighted here are for the skills of taking these
resources and building them into computer-based packages as induction packs, or as guides
to specific resources and materials.
Yes No I’d like

I can…….
(%) (%) training (%)
…identify and select electronic resources to support staff and students 87 7 11

…evaluate electronic resources to support staff and students 77 16 12
…use an LMS to organise access to resources and information 67 21 11
…make resources & information available via a website or similar 60 29 23
…create computer-based induction/information/study skills materials 60 25 29
…create computer-based guides to resources and materials 59 27 24
…use electronic systems to organise access to ICT equipment and resources 55 34 14
…use metadata (eg MARC21/LOM) to describe electronic resources 39 46 27
Table 14: LR-related skills in technology (%; n=100)
7.4.7 Engaging with Web 2.0

At the time of the 2006 ETNA survey, the applications and services which are collectively
known as Web 2.0 were new. Although awareness levels were relatively high at that time,
practical experience of using them was fairly limited. The latest version of the survey
indicates clearly how the landscape has now changed. In 2010 only a tiny percentage of the
sample is unaware of these technologies: a third are already using blogs while over a fifth
are making some use of wikis and of social networking sites. Table 15 shows the main areas
where training and information are still required, with a high reading on each count
showing for e-portfolios.
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Unaware Aware Already I’d like I’d like

Engagement with Web2.0 Technologies
(%) (%) using (%) info (%) training (%)
Blogs 2 64 34 7 17
Wikis 5 71 23 6 17
Mobile technologies 12 70 10 9 21
e-portfolios 28 51 4 13 24
Social networking sites (Bebo, MySpace etc) 0 83 22 6 12
Table 15: Engagement with Web 2.0 (n=97)

Respondents were invited to give more detail of how they are currently using Web 2.0
tools; 35 responses were recorded. From comments received it is clear that Web 2.0 tools
are is in use across a wide spectrum of activity: from a personal communication tool, to an
e-portfolio, to a way of managing team communications. Typically, respondents who use
such methods for one task then reel off a list of other uses of similar tools. The numbers
may be relatively small at around a third of the sample being active in this respect, but this
group is a highly enthusiastic one.
7.4.8 Use of local online repositories

The growth in the use of learning management systems and the creation of electronic
materials has increased the interest in and the demand for online repositories. Repositories
are seen as tying in with the remit of learning resources staff and this section attempts to
measure the progress in their adoption across colleges. As can be seen in Table 16,
repositories represent a very new area of college activity and one with which only a
minority of colleges are currently fully engaged. 86 responses were received here.
Online Repositories/Digital Repositories Yes (%) No (%)
Does your college currently use an online repository system? 40 60

Does your college plan to implement a local online repository in the
30 70
near future?
Do you feel you have the skills to maintain a repository? 30 70
Is your repository integrated with your VLE? 19 81
Are you aware of the issues surrounding digital repositories? 42 57
Table 16: Online repositories (n=86)

A minority of the sample reported that their college is currently using an online repository
while another quarter of respondents report that such a move is currently at the planning
stage. Only a small number indicates that their repositories are integrated in some way
with the college VLE.
Seven out of ten respondents feel that they do not have the necessary skills to maintain a
repository. This seems to point to an area where training could usefully be provided, and
this may have to be in both general and specific respects. Generally, there is a demand for
exploration of the issues related to repositories and which apply to all systems. The final
open text question in this section revealed that there are several repository systems in use
in colleges, which may indicate the need for a much more specific kind of training. The
repositories named in the 27 responses are shown in Table 17.
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Which online repository do you use (or plan to use)?

COLEG 7
Don't Know 7
Miscellaneous 4
Mr Cute 3
Core 2
JORUM 2
Sharepoint 2
Table 17: Online repositories in use (n=27)

Another area linked to the development of VLEs, and which has been a focus of interest in
recent years, is e-Books. The group was asked whether their college currently makes use of
e-books or whether it plans to do so. As can be seen in Fig 3, over a third of colleges have
already purchased e-books, while over 70% have procurement plans for the near future.
do you plan to
purchase 72%
e-books in the future?
do you currently
40%
purchase e-books?
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80%
Fig 3: e-Books
In the short intervening time since the ETNA survey closed for responses, there has been
significant development in the area of e-books, largely due to JISC’s ‘e-Books for FE’
Project1 which has made over 3,000 e-books available free to colleges and works with
librarians to embed and promote the collection locally within their institutions.
Finally in this section, staff were asked whether their college holds special resource
collections that it might like to digitise. Ten responses were received, indicating material
ranging from an ecology collection to a set of college-based images.
7.4.9 Lending technology

One other increasingly important role for the learning resource centre is to administer the
lending of technologies to learners. Just under half the sample responded to this question
but amongst these responses, laptops were far and away the most common technology
loaned out as can be seen from Fig 4.
MP3s 18%
sound equipment 26%
cameras 26%
other 30%
laptops 85%
Fig 4: Technologies on loan
1
http://fe.jiscebooksproject.org
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7.4.10 Federated Access Management

The last few years have seen a flurry of activity in the area of access management with
demise of Athens as a JISC-supported service and the advent of Shibboleth and FAM
(Federated Access Management). Shibboleth is an open source technology that ultimately
enables single sign-on to internal and external online resources and services (so that
staff/students do not need to remember a variety of usernames and passwords). It provides
a secure mechanism for the exchange of information, protecting both the privacy of the
individual and the security of the data. As can be seen in Table 18, action on implementing
Shibboleth-based authentication procedures has been relatively slow to date, with over 80%
either taking no action at all or using Open Athens, the successor to the JISC-supported
service. Only around a fifth of colleges have implemented Shibboleth. JISC and the Regional
Support Centres in Scotland continue to offer general and bespoke to advice to colleges on
Federated Access Management.
Federated access management policies adopted %

Implemented shibboleth internally 13
Implemented shibboleth externally 21
Using Open Athens 61
Taken no action 21
Table 18: Policies on Federated Access Management (N=76)
7.4.11 Training needs

The penultimate section of the survey looks at the ICT-related qualifications held by the
group, and identifies further training needs. Respondents were asked to select up to three
options from the list shown in Table 19. The results indicate that the largest training need
is related to the introduction of new technologies such as repositories and Federated Access
Management.
Copyright, as always, is a major concern for staff in this area of work, while the demand for
accessibility and e-inclusion training reflects the increasing legislative and institutional
focus that has prevailed in recent years. Of the five open comments received in the final
part of the question, three requested training in the creation of websites.
Which training would most benefit you? %

Repository systems (eg Jorum) 45
Federated Access Management systems (Athens/Shibboleth) 38
Metadata tagging 36
Integration of VLE and LMS 36
Making materials accessible 34
IPR (Intellectual Property Rights/Copyright) 26
Using the college VLE 25
Interoperability 20
Effective use of LMS 19
Plagiarism 15
Electronic discussion lists 9
Electronic mail 2
Other 6
Table 19: Training desired (n=85)
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7.4.12 Current ICT qualifications

This section looks at specific ICT qualifications held by the sample. As with other cohorts,
the most commonly-held qualification is some form of the European Computer Driving
License (ECDL). PC Passport has, as yet, made no impression whatsoever while the ‘other’
qualifications held ranged from SVQ Level 3 to a BA in Information Management.
Current ICT qualifications %

European Computer Driving Licence 86
Advanced ECDL 11
PC Passport 0
Other 20
Table 20: Current ICT qualifications (N=64)
7.4.13 Online study

As noted elsewhere across the survey, participation in online learning is becoming more
common. Of those responding to this question, two thirds have taken part in some form of
online study as a learner. In common with the trend elsewhere, a far smaller percentage
has acted as a tutor.
Online study Yes (%) No (%)

I have taken part in online course as learner 67 33
I have taken part in online course as tutor 14 86
Table 21: Experience of online study (N=94)
7.4.14 Training frequency

Respondents were asked whether they had received any kind of ICT training in the previous
session. The perhaps surprising response is that those who had were in the minority (Table
22). This is even more surprising as it represents a considerable decline from the 2006
survey where almost two thirds of respondents had received such training.
Those responding positively here were asked in a supplementary question to identify any
training which they had found to be particularly effective. No real consensus emerges from
the 28 comments received, though training in Moodle, Web 2.0 and Multimedia were all
named as positive.
ICT training in previous session Yes (%) No (%)

I have undertaken ICT training in previous session 40 60
Table 22: ICT training undertaken during previous session (N=94)
7.4.15 Preferred Training & Support Methods

Learning resources staff, in common with all other staff groups, selected the traditional
face-to-face methods of delivery as the optimum for their needs, though a ‘blended’ model
was felt to provide a viable alternative which was almost as attractive.
Preferred methods of training and support Yes (%) No (%)

Traditional face-to-face workshops/courses? 92 8
A 'blended' model of paper-based open or flexible learning supported
87 13
online?
76
Occasional attendance at forums with other staff with similar

85 15
professional interests?
Open and flexible learning supported wholly online? 66 34
Advice by phone, email or electronic discussion lists? 56 44
Table 23: Preferred methods of training and support (n=93)

A supplementary open space was offered to gather respondents’ related thoughts on
training. 38 individuals made a response, of which 24 cited ‘time’ as the most important
factor which influenced their uptake of any training. A request to nominate other training
needs closed this section, producing 7 diverse responses and no consensus.

In common with other cohorts surveyed by ETNA, the final questions are of a synoptic
nature, inviting respondents to take a wider view on the introduction of technology to
teaching and learning, its effects and implications. Once again, there is no doubt whatever
of the perceived value of the technology. In fact, there is only one voice which is in any
sense dissenting from this view. The use of technology is unequivocally seen as a positive
factor with the potential to enhance teaching and learning.
1 2 3 4
Which of these statements do you agree with?
(%) (%) (%) (%)
The use of technology is a positive step 75 23 0 1
Technology has the potential to enhance teaching and learning 75 23 1 1
Technology has the potential to enhance service delivery 71 25 2 1
Library staff generally have the ability to use the new technologies 42 45 13 1
Learners welcome the use of new technologies 21 63 15 0
Learners generally have the ability to use the new technologies 12 48 36 2
Learners generally have access to the new technologies 15 60 20 2
Table 24: Attitudes to Technology (n=94; 1 = agree strongly; 4 = disagree strongly)

However, the remaining questions in the set find a smaller measure of agreement. 42% of
respondents strongly agree that library staff have the ability to use these technologies but
there is a sizeable minority, 13%, who feel that there are deficiencies. This unease grows
stronger as the focus turns to look at how learners engage with technology. While the
majority view is still towards the positive side of the equation, there are reservations which
peak in the area of the learners’ ability to use new technology. 38% of the sample disagrees
to some extent with this statement. There are also some reservations about learner access
to new technologies.
The survey’s final open question invited respondents to flesh out their selections with a
more detailed presentation of their views. 33 responses were received. The structure of a
typical comment from this set contains the word ‘positive’ in the first part but then goes on
to express reservations connected with implementation. The increasing use of technology is
seen as positive as it matches the expectation of students, of industry and of society more
generally, which demands a general familiarity. However, technology is deployed to
maximum effect as part of a careful (blended) mix of delivery methods.
There is demand for training for both staff and students and a feeling that a familiarity with
Google and other search engines has made students too ready to accept the first answer
they find without question. Training is required particularly in information literacy and in
the implications of online copyright.
Finally a number of respondents express the view that college networks need to be still
more robust to cope with the needs of learners
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78
8 Technical Staff
8.1 Introduction
The technical staff group is an interesting one, standing as it does at the intersection of
various trends highlighted elsewhere in this report. Emerging strands in technology,
particularly as it is applied to teaching and learning may conflict with the traditional role
that technical staff have seen themselves as playing.
For example, a primary responsibility of networking staff has been to preserve the integrity
and security of the college network. However a number of recent developments pose a
threat to this. The spread of wireless access, the demand from users to attach their own
equipment to the network (from memory sticks to laptops), the rise of ‘cloud computing’ ,
Web 2.0 and social networks have combined to create a tension between an increasingly
personalised view of access to technology and the necessity for an institution to regulate its
network. Increasingly, tensions arise between ‘personal’ and the ‘institutional’
perspectives.
Site filtering is a case in point. Many colleges block access to social networking sites such as
Bebo, while many students see such ‘filtering’ as overly restrictive and almost an abuse of
their human rights. Many students would like to be able to use open source portable
applications running from USB sticks connected to the college network, but some colleges
restrict such access believing that it exposes them to threats from viruses and malware. By
contrast, other colleges seem more relaxed in their attitudes to these developments,
allowing free access to social networking websites and the connection of USB devices.
There has also been a huge rise in the sheer size of network systems and these networks are
more complex, accommodating increased flexibility of access both within the college
precincts and beyond. User needs are similarly more complex and, consequently, demands
on the networks intensify.
Two further issues help to contextualise the responses from the technical staff cohort.
The first is that they have been at the hub of the ambitious estates new-build programme
in Further Education across the country, incorporating grand developments and state-of-
the-art technologies to match the new physical environments.
The second, linked, issue is that of sustainability. There is an ever growing emphasis on
environmental impact in the wake of the Stern Report2 and initiatives from the Scottish
Funding Council resulting in pressure to reduce the carbon footprint of every institution. As
information technology is a major contributor to this, technical staff find themselves in the
vanguard of such developments.
8.2 The Sample

120 technical staff from across Scotland responded to the ETNA survey, which is almost
three times the number recorded in 2007. Responses were received from practically every
college in the country, representing the full spectrum of institutions, large and small, urban
and rural.
However, there is something of a problem which needs to be considered when looking at
the general sample. Colleges structure their staff in different and often changing ways and
the heading of ‘technical staff’ may incorporate audio-visual support, lab assistants and
other technical support staff who are not directly concerned with the design, maintenance
and support of computer networks and technologies, though the questions in this section
concentrate very closely on these technologies.
2
The Stern Report 2006: http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/sternreview_index.htm
79
ETNA: Technical Staff
8.3 Gender Age and Breakdown

In contrast to much of the rest of the sector, and indeed to the composition of other
cohorts in the ETNA survey, the technical cohort was heavily male-dominated. There were
almost exactly four male respondents to every female among the 120 replies received.
female
19%
male
81%
Fig 1: Gender
With respect to age, however, the pattern was much closer to that observed elsewhere and
heavily skewed towards the older end of the age scale. Almost 60% of the sample was over
the age of 40. The vast majority of respondents are full-time permanent members of staff.
under 20, 0%
60 or over, 3%
20 - 29, 6%
50 - 59, 19%
30 - 39, 35%
40 - 49, 37%
Fig 2: Age
8.4 Technical Posts and Activities

The responses to questions about postholders’ duties highlight a difficulty for
interpretation. Different colleges assemble their teams of technical staff in different ways.
In some, for example, audio-visual support staff are nominally members of the IT
department, whereas in others similar staff will be part of either academic support sections
or a separate AV support department. The questions in this section of the survey were
heavily skewed towards staff who worked in the areas of pure information technology and
network support. This might help to explain the marked decline in the frequency of
responses in the latter half of the survey.
Not my
Involvement with technical roles Frequently Occasionally Rarely
role
First-line provision of service to staff 80 10 1 7
Telephone based helpline support to users 68 10 4 16
Repair & maintenance of computer equipment and

54 13 7 23
software
80
Direct support for delivery of learning and

46 11 6 24
teaching
Development/maintenance of network
34 10 13 38
infrastructure
Network monitoring & security 31 16 10 37
Management of network staff & resources 30 15 8 43
Design/development of software or systems 24 17 20 33
Maintenance and development of college MIS & LIS

16 16 12 52
systems
Table 1: Role (N=115)

Among those who gave responses in this area, the most common duties involve the direct
support of staff, whereas a smaller core of roughly a third of respondents seems to be
directly involved with the design, development and maintenance of college networks. A
supplementary question was asked to collect information on job functions not covered by
the categories set. The 20 additional contributions reveal roles ranging from laundry and
preparation of chemistry labs to creating online learning content and maintaining the
college website.
The final question in this preliminary section of the survey – in common with other sections
– looked at how well equipped this group of staff feels it is for carrying out its role. As
elsewhere, the vast majority of respondents have access to a computer powerful enough to
meet their needs and, once again, just over half the staff in this cohort have been issued
with a college laptop.
My college has issued No, 88.1

me w ith a laptop for use
at w ork only Yes, 11.9
The college has issued No, 58.2

me w ith a laptop that I
can use at home if I w ish Yes, 41.8
The w ork computer I

regularly use is pow erful No, 11.2
enough to meet my Yes, 88.8
needs
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Fig 3: Equipment available for work role
8.5 Key Findings
8.5.1 College Networks

Microsoft is still the dominant player in the market and the migration from Windows 2003 to
2008 is now well underway. As in the past, the open-source Linux platform is deployed by
around a third of institutions, often as part of an environment which supports multiple
networks, including a significant number based on Apple systems. Cisco continues to
dominate in the area of network technologies.
81
College networks have grown ever larger and more sophisticated. Whereas in the 2007
survey 50% of respondents supported networks with more than 700 users, this has increased
to the point where 64% of networks support more than 800 machines, while 55% have more
than 1000 devices.
8.5.2 Wireless Networks

One other major area of growth across the decade has been in wireless networks and this
has continued unabated. 86% of respondents reported that their college supports a wireless
network compared to 61% at the time of the last survey. With other colleges reporting plans
to implement similarly, such networks will soon be a universal feature. Allied to this
proliferation is a widening of access to all potential college users and a wider reach of
networks across the college estate, with increasing emphasis on providing connectivity
outside formal learning areas.
8.5.3 Student Laptop Connection

As detailed elsewhere in this survey, it is becoming increasingly common for students to
own wireless-enabled laptops and portable devices – as is true for society in general – and
the expectation is growing that they should be able to use them in college. 44% of colleges
now allow the connection of student devices to their networks, as opposed to only 16% at
the time of the last survey.
8.5.4 VLEs (Virtual Learning Environments)

Increasingly, the VLE landscape in colleges is dominated by two platforms: Blackboard and
Moodle. This trend is even more evident this time round as, in the period since the last
survey, the UHI has abandoned plans to introduce its own proprietary platform. These two
major VLE players now account for well over 80% of the installed base with other platforms
encountered often in only one or two locations.
8.5.5 Sustainability
A major emerging trend is the increased awareness of the environmental impact of
information technology and the steps that can be taken to limit or reduce a college’s
carbon footprint. 60% of all institutions responding had carried out a review of
consumption, with a high proportion adopting new techniques as a result.
8.5.6 The Personalisation Agenda

This dynamic area which encompasses ‘cloud computing’, the use of USB memory sticks,
web filtering, and site blocking is one which colleges are adapting to with some difficulty.
Acceptable use policies need to be reviewed to take account of ongoing technical and
social developments.
8.5.7 Virtual Worlds, e-Portfolios and Repositories

These technologies have made little impact in the vast majority of responding colleges,
with only a minority developing plans to make systematic use of them.
8.5.8 Job-Specific ICT skills

Results have remained largely static in this area and demand for training is very similar to
that recorded in 2006. Highest demand is for training in the networking of assistive
technologies and for general training to cope with the impact of new technologies on
information design and teaching and learning.
8.5.9 Learning Preferences

As elsewhere across the survey, respondents are fairly unanimous in their choice of
traditional face-to-face training as the most acceptable, though there is also a very high
level of acceptance of self-guided learning with resources and study guides.
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8.6 The College Network

This segment of the survey sought to establish a snapshot of the standard network
infrastructure in the colleges reviewed and a series of questions was asked to try to build
up this picture.
8.6.1 Network Platforms and Technologies

As can be immediately seen from Fig 4, colleges typically employ a multiplicity of network
platforms to accommodate the different functions they are called upon to support. Thus
Windows and Apple platforms will co-exist. Windows 2003 is currently the most common
platform but the migration to Windows 2008 is also well underway.
Other 8%
Apple 25%
Novell 30%
Unix/Linux 32%
Windows NT 7%
Windows 2000 26%
Windows 2003 86%
Windows 2008 27%
Fig 4: Platforms
A similarly mixed picture emerges in the context of the type of network technologies in use
in colleges. Again, colleges typically employ more than one technology, with Cisco
emerging as the most popular. This information is displayed in Fig 5.
Lucent 4%
Other 22%
D-Link 28%
3Com 37%
HP 40%
Netgear 44%
Cisco 82%
Fig 5: Network technologies
8.6.2 Network Support

There has been a growing trend in recent years to outsource at least some of the functions
of college network support. Perhaps this is a necessity, at least for smaller institutions, as
networks became ever more complex. ETNA supplied a range of common resources and
asked respondents to identify which of them their college supports in-house and which are
outsourced. The results are displayed in Table 2. It is clear from this that most resources
are still largely supported in-house.
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Support for College Network Resources (%) In-House Outsourced

General Administrative Systems 96 4
Student Record Systems 92 8
Email 89 11
Firewall 86 14
VLE (Virtual Learning Environment) 80 20
Web Hosting 73 27
External DNS 73 27
Network Cabling 69 31
FAM (Federated Access Management) 56 43
Table 2: Network resources: in-house or out-sourced (N=79)

The typical network is fairly large scale. More than half of respondents described networks
supporting more than 1000 PCs, while only 3% of responses came from colleges with
networks supporting fewer than 100. The full picture is displayed at Fig 6.
over 1000 55%
800-1000 9%
700-800 7%
500-600 4%
400-500 7%
300-400 7%
200-300 3%
100-200 1%
Fewer than 100 3%
Fig 6: No of PCs on the network

The majority of colleges also support outreach centres as shown at Table 3.
Supporting Outreach Centres (%) Yes No

Do you provide technical support to outreach centres? 85 15
Is support or advice available to you when you need it? 80 13
Table 3: Outreach Centres (N=79)

However, no matter the scale of the network supported, one pressing decision which
network managers have had to make is whether or not to install the new version of Office,
which is the most commonly used applications package across the sector. Table 4 shows
how this change is progressing with almost half rolling out the software to staff machines,
while a further 30% are considering such a move. So far, under a quarter have upgraded
across the whole college system.
Have you rolled out Office 2007? (%) Yes No Considering

For Staff 41 26 29
For Students 24 35 35
Throughout the network 22 30 41
Table 4: Office 2007 (N=80)
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8.6.3 Wireless Networks

One area which has seen major expansion since the first ETNA survey in 2001 is the support
for wireless networks. This has major implications for the delivery of teaching and learning
in colleges and has been fuelled in part by the major estates refurbishment and new-build
programme that has taken place over the decade. Installation of a wireless network has
major implications for the flexibility of learning provision in a college and for the security
of the network itself. See Table 5.
Wireless Networks (%) Yes No

Does your college currently support a wireless network? 86 14
Do you plan to install a wireless network in the near future? 40 14
Table 5: Wireless Networks (N=80)

Once the decision has been taken to set up a wireless network there are further
judgements to be made on the scale of its coverage and the level of access which is
permitted to types of users. This can vary from college to college as can be seen from Fig 7.
While two thirds of networks are open to staff, students and even visitors, a minority of
colleges restrict access either to specific groups or to designated locations.
only in LR areas 19%
only in staff rooms 22%
staff only 33%
for staff and students 62%
in social areas 73%
campus-wide 69%
for staff, students and visitors 67%
Fig 7: wireless network permissions and availability

One further major consequence of the establishment of wireless networks is the possibility
it allows for users to connect their own equipment, laptops or other portable devices, with
implications for network control and security. While some colleges seem comfortable with
this, the majority do not allow the connection of student laptops. This is shown in Table 6.
Connecting Student Laptops to Network (%) Yes No

Can students connect personal laptops to your college network? 44 56
If no, are there plans in place to allow them to do this in the future? 18 40
Table 6: Student laptops on network
85
8.7 VLEs and Video Conferencing

Work & Home Computing Access (%) Yes No
8.7.1 College Virtual Learning Environment

In common with other sections of the survey, the next set of questions focuses on virtual
learning environments and the engagement of staff with such technology. As might be
expected, awareness of VLEs in the current group is very high.
Don't Know,
7.3
No, 1.2
Yes, 91.5
Fig 8: Does your college have a VLE? (%)
Having established general awareness we then examined the dominant platforms in use
across colleges and the pattern which emerges is depicted at Table 7.
Types of VLE in use (%)

Blackboard 46
Moodle 38
Virtual Campus (Teknical) 8
Sharepoint 3
Other 3
WebCT 1
Don’t know 1
Table 7: Types of VLE (N=82)

As elsewhere, the two most significant players are Blackboard and Moodle with the former
still in the ascendancy and other players barely clinging to a presence in the market at all.
One other area of connectivity which has undergone rapid expansion and which has major
implications both for college networks and for the way that staff structure their working
patterns is the spread of high-speed broadband connectivity. Practically all staff who
responded have computing equipment at home with broadband internet access capable of
accessing college resources remotely. 60% of this sample already regularly use this
equipment for college work, as shown in Table 8.

86

Table 8: Work and home access (N=82)
8.8 Emerging Areas

The next section of the survey might be the most interesting in that it covers technologies
which are becoming more prominent and which mostly did not even exist at the time of
earlier ETNA surveys. Technology is a rapidly changing area and colleges seek to be aware
of developing trends in order to react in an appropriate manner.
8.8.1 Sustainability
The first area considered is sustainability and the steps which colleges are taking, if any, to
become more aware of the environmental impact of their activities and how they can
minimize that impact. Nearly two thirds of those surveyed claimed that their college had
taken steps to review the sustainability of their current systems, see Table 9.
Sustainability (%) Yes No Planning to

Have you taken steps to review the sustainability of your current systems? 62 25 9
Do you employ 'virtualisation' within your supported systems? 59 23 14
Do you employ 'thin client' solutions within your supported systems? 23 43 28
Table 9: Reviewing sustainability issues (N=65)

At present, server virtualisation is used by the majority of colleges. It is not yet proven
whether thin client is the most sustainable technology for all cases, though about a quarter
have adopted it, and a further quarter are looking into it. II individual comments were
received about sustainability which suggests that awareness is high. There is indication that
a sustainable perspective now influences the procurement process.
8.8.2 Cloud Computing

Awareness of the emerging area of ‘cloud computing’ does not appear to be high with just
over two thirds of respondents claiming an awareness of the concept. One important aspect
of cloud computing is that users with net access no longer need to depend on the host
institution alone for access to software tools and applications. This clearly has implications
for network security which colleges are only now beginning to react to. This was indicated
by the fact that less than 10% had developed a policy on acceptable use in this context.
(See Table 10).
Cloud Computing (%) Yes No

Are you aware of the term 'cloud computing'? 69 23
Does your college have an acceptable use policy covering 'cloud computing'? 8 49
Table 10: Cloud computing (N=73)
8.8.3 Memory Sticks

Similar problems relating to control and network security exist in relation to the use of USB
memory sticks. As this has become a common means of storing data in a portable format,
then colleges are forced to allow connection of them to the college system, despite the
threat to network security that this may carry. However, to minimise this threat some
colleges restrict the running of portable applications from USB sticks as can be seen in
Table 11. This has clear implications for the access that students might have to a range of
popular open-source software which can be run from the sticks at little or no cost. The few
87
additional comments received in relation to this question confirmed that the main focus of
college restrictions was on executable files.
Yes No
Do you allow USB memory sticks to be connected to the college system? 100 0
Do you allow portable applications to be run from memory sticks? 55 45
Table 11: The use of applications on USB sticks (%)
8.8.4 Acceptable Use Web Filtering and Site Blocking

Network security is also the focus of the next subsection which examines how colleges
define and publicise ‘acceptable use’, how they monitor their networks and filter out
content which they deem to be unsuitable. Respondents identified from a list of common
‘Web 2.0’ sites any to which they currently block access. The results are available at Table
12. A slender majority of colleges surveyed did not block any sites at all.
Do you block any of these sites? %

Bebo 39
FaceBook 35
MySpace 33
YouTube 28
Twitter 22
Second Life 20
Wordpress 14
Blogger 14
Flickr 12
Slideshare 12
None 53
Table 12: Site blocking (N=51)

Blocking of sites such as these are clearly seen by some colleges as performing a very
important function but, as can be seen elsewhere in this report, it can be at variance with
the needs of certain system users – both academic staff and students – who see such
restrictions as a curtailment of their activities, leading to a potential impoverishment of
the quality of the learning experience.
A range of filtering software is in use in colleges. Of the products and services named by
respondents, JANET web filtering is the most popular, followed by Bloxx and Websense. In
some partners of the UHI, the responsibility for filtering is a function of the central UHI.
Finally, the ETNA survey probes who has the responsibility for deciding which sites are
blocked by college filters. In most cases, this is a decision taken by a member of the
technical team, as shown at Fig 9. (Even where respondents chose the ‘other’ category they
most commonly mentioned other IT staff for making this decision.)
88
SMT, 21.7
Other, 30
Technical
Committee, staff, 31.7
16.7
Fig 9: Who makes the decisions on blocking? (%; N=60)
8.8.5 Virtual Worlds

Virtual Worlds such as Second Life have had a great deal of exposure since the last ETNA
survey but so far their impact appears to be limited. As can be seen in Table 13, the vast
majority of respondents have no personal experience of Virtual Worlds and the majority of
institutions currently prevent access to them. Nearly 90% of colleges make no use of the
technology at present and almost as high a proportion anticipate no engagement with it in
the near future.
Virtual Worlds Yes % No %

Do you have any personal experience of virtual worlds such as 'Second Life'? 28 72
Do you permit access to virtual worlds via college systems? 41 58
Is virtual worlds technology in use in any way in your college currently? 11 89
Does your college have any plans to use virtual worlds in the near future? 18 82
Table 13: The use of Virtual Worlds technology (N=67)
8.8.6 e-Portfolio Systems

A very similar picture emerges in the area of e-Portfolios, with similar proportions not
engaged with the technology and not planning to do so.
e-Portfolio Systems Yes No

Does your college currently use an e-portfolio system? 13 85
Does your college plan to implement an e-portfolio system in the
21 70
near future?
Table 14: The use of e-portfolios (N=53)

Of the twelve respondents who went on to identify an e-Portfolio system currently in use in
their college, 6 mentioned Moodle’s Mahara system.
8.8.7 Federated Access Management (FAM)

In the area of FAM, 52 respondents indicated the steps their college has taken. It is clear
that over half have implemented Shibboleth either internally or externally. See Fig 10.
89
Implement Shibboleth (Externally) 15.4
Implement Shibboleth (Internally) 38.5
use Open Athens 38.5
take no action 30.8
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45
Fig 10: Implementations of Federated Access Management
8.8.8 Online Repositories

Only a small number of respondents claim that their colleges are using an online repository
and a large proportion of colleges seem to have no plans in train to do so. 8 respondents
identified a repository system locally in use, but no consensus emerged.
Online Repositories Yes No

Does your college currently use an online repository system? 25 75
Does your college plan to implement an online repository system in the near future? 18 57
Table 15: Online repositories (N=51)
8.8.9 SMS Short Messaging Service

There appears to be a degree more engagement with Short Messaging Services (SMS) than
with most of the other emerging technologies featured in this section. Nearly 60% of
respondents report that their college currently provides access to this service with a further
19% planning to provide such facilities in the near future.
SMS Short Message Service Yes % No %

Does your college currently provide SMS? 58 42
Does your college plan to implement an SMS in the near future? 19 32
Table 16: Use of SMS (N=59)

Fig 11 shows the most common college uses for SMS, with student support showing as the
most popular.
90
Other 10
Marketing 30
Learning &
42.5
Teaching
Administration 47.5
Student support 62.5
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
Fig 11: The purposes for which SMS is supported

On being asked who is providing the local SMS facility, 19 open text replies identified Text
Tools, JANET Text and Text Anywhere as the most common providers.

The final technology covered in this section of the survey is one which is used commonly
across all cohorts: internet telephony, such as Skype. As with other groups, this technology
is used more often at home than at work.
Do you currently use internet telephony such as Skype or are Yes No

you considering it? % %
At work 36 59
At home 57 39
Table 17: Use of internet telephony at home and at work (N=69)
8.8.11 Legal Issues

Innovations such as those above have legal as well as technical implications for colleges and
we therefore reviewed the knowledge of key pieces of legislation related to information
technology and the duties placed on colleges. The results are presented in Table 18.
I understand the legal issues associated with Information Yes No Partly I’d Like
Technology % % % Training %
DDA/SENDA (Special Educational Needs and Disability Act 2001) 53 18 23 13

Acceptable use Policies 76 1 14 16
Table 18: Knowledge of related legislation (N=70)

The returns in this question indicate that there is a need for further training and
information in this area, most particularly in the area of copyright and IPR.
91
8.9 Skillset and Training Needs

This section establishes the key skills required by technical staff and also evaluates how far
respondents feel they have mastered these skills. Finally, we identify where more
information and further training may be appropriate.
8.9.1 Understanding Key Technologies

I’d like to
I understand the following….. Yes No N/A
Learn
The key issues surrounding network security 78 6 13 5
Basic network design & operation, including the JANET
network 77 6 16 6
Storage and transmission technologies 67 9 17 2
Virtual Learning Environment (VLEs) and Intranets 66 16 16 3
Emerging network technologies 63 11 30 3
How to create roving/roaming profiles for network users 63 9 19 9
Issues surrounding Open Source software 55 16 25 6
The impact of new technologies on ICT infrastructure design 52 16 33 2
Assistive technologies 48 19 28 8
How to set up and support video conferencing 47 22 27 9
Emerging technologies in teaching and learning 44 25 30 2
How to network assistive technologies 31 31 34 3
Table 19: Understanding key technologies (N=64)

The list of key skills which appears in Table 19 has been sorted on the basis of the level of
positive responses received. It is clear from this that the basic networking technologies
seem to be well understood. The greatest demand for training arises in the areas of
emerging technologies. This is an area where timely and accurate information is required
for this group of staff, who need to be aware of the new demands placed on systems so that
they maintain the integrity and security of these systems. This is an issue in the areas of
teaching and learning, infrastructure design, and assistive technologies.
8.9.2 Network Technology Support

Earlier questions have established that there is a good level of general understanding of
networking technologies. Here a set of further questions breaks the subject of networking
into its component parts to identify the presence of any more finely-defined areas of
training need. The perennial concerns of technical staff – network security and firewalls –
appear close to the top of the list but the greatest demand appears to be for VoIP (Voice
over Internet Protocols). The lowest demand is for Video Conferencing Technical Support.
The full list can be viewed at Fig 12.
92
Other 20%
VC tech support 31%
Network implications of new build 33%
Win 2007 server 35%
Router config 35%
Wireless network tech support 46%
Exchange server 46%
LAN/WAN design 46%
Internal Security 48%
Firewalls 52%
VOIP 54%
Fig 12: The finer points of networking
8.9.3 Professional Qualifications

Due to the technical nature of the work which is often related to particular platforms or
proprietary techniques, there is a wide range of courses and qualifications open to
technical staff. Qualifications held and courses currently followed are shown at Table 20.
As with other staff cohorts, ECDL has made significant penetration here.
Don't
Do you have - or are you working towards - any Working
Yes know what N/A
of the following professional qualifications? Towards
it is
(Microsoft) MCP 46 6 4 17
(Microsoft) MCSA/MCSE 21 23 2 17
(Novell) CNA 10 4 6 21
(Novell) CNE/MCNE 6 4 6 23
(Cisco) CCNA/CCDA 19 4 2 25
(Cisco) CCNP/CCDP 4 4 4 23
(European Computer Driving Licence) ECDL 27 8 0 19
ECDL (Advanced) 4 6 2 17
Table 20: Qualifications (N=48)

Details of other professional qualifications held were gathered by an open question which
returned 19 responses, ranging from a BSc in Network Computing to a Prince II project
management qualification.
8.10 Training and Support

This final section of the survey looked at the engagement of technical staff with online
learning and then with training more generally. Most of the questions in this section are
common features repeated throughout all ‘flavours’ of the ETNA survey.
8.10.1 Studying Online

As elsewhere, participation in online study is a fairly limited experience with only just over
half of the cohort taking part in an online course as a learner. See Fig 13. Given the staff
role, the figure of only 10% for taking the role of online tutor is not surprising.
93
No, 89.8
online course as a tutor
Yes, 10.2
I have taken part in an No, 49.2

online course as a
learner Yes, 50.8
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Fig 13: Teaching and learning online (%)
8.10.2 Methods of Training and Support

The group were asked to identify the methods of training and support found to be most
comfortable and least acceptable. As elsewhere, even amongst this group which might be
considered to be the most technically literate, the clear preference was for traditional
classroom-based methods. Amongst this group, who would most likely be comfortable with
the use of technical manuals and working methodically through a problem, access to the
appropriate equipment and a relevant study guide also scored highly. The full details are
contained in Table 21.
Which methods of training and support would you find most suitable? Yes No
Traditional face-to-face workshops/courses? 89 5

Access to equipment and study guides at the workplace? 79 11
Occasional attendance at fora with other staff with similar professional interests? 66 23
A 'blended' model of paper-based open or flexible learning supported online? 63 24
Open and flexible learning supported wholly online? 57 29
Advice by phone, email or electronic discussion lists? 55 26
Table 21: Methods of training and support most suitable (%, N=62)
A related question which asked respondents to describe the factors which led them to these
conclusions on training methods produced only 17 replies. Over half of these cited ‘time’ as
a factor which influences their choice.
94
95
ETNA: Middle Managers
9 Middle Managers
9.1 The Sample
Practically every college is represented in this sample of middle manager respondents to
the ETNA survey. At 365, total responses from this group have more than doubled since the
last survey in 2007. This layer of staff has a very difficult role in translating the strategic
vision of senior management into operational reality.
9.1.1 Age and Gender

In common with the age ranges observed across all staff cohorts in this survey, the
demographic pattern in the middle manager group leans heavily towards the upper end of
the scale, as can be observed from Fig 1. In fact, 71% of those staff who responded were
over the age of 40. Similarly, in common with other cohorts, females outnumber males by a
considerable margin. Again of those who responded 36% were male while 45% were female.
(See Fig 2)
N/R, 19%
N/R
60 or over, 4% 19%
20 - 29, 1%
male
36%
50 - 59, 37% 30 - 39, 9%
female
45%
40 - 49, 30%
Fig 1: Age Fig 2: Gender
9.1.2 College Estates Status

Elsewhere in the survey we have mentioned the major estates improvement programme
which has been in progress for the best part of the last decade in Further Education in
Scotland. Embarking on a new build or refurbishment programme has been a major
challenge to many colleges and has allowed for radical thinking in terms of the delivery of
learning and teaching and the implication for the delivery infrastructure. Many of the staff
in this section of the survey will have been present in colleges during this process, may
have helped in the shaping of it and are now often responsible for the realisation of
medium-term strategies related to these developments. Details of this involvement can be
viewed at Fig 3. As can be seen from the diagram, only a tiny proportion of colleges have
not been involved in some way or other with the estates replacement programme.
96
is being planned
has recently been

completed (w ithin 5
years)
is currently under
construction
is not being considered
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40
Fig 3: New build projected or past developments (%; N=359)
9.1.3 Roles and Responsibilities

Finally in this section of the survey it has been important to find out which aspect of
college operations respondents have been involved in, as this impacts upon the pattern of
their answers. Just under half of the total cohort worked in ‘academic’ departments. (See
Table 1). However, the large number of responses in the category ‘other’ indicates how
fluid such labels such as ‘academic’ and ‘administrative’ are becoming in colleges.
Area of Middle Management Responsibility %

An academic department of the college 45
An academic support section of the college 17
An administrative support section of the college 20
Table 1: Areas of middle management responsibility (N=361)

How these responsibilities are broken down departmentally is illustrated in the responses to
two supplementary questions, as illustrated in Tables 2 and 3. It is perhaps significant for
the answers which follow that the top four areas in the ‘academic’ responses are occupied
by curriculum areas which rely heavily on technology and where managers and staff would
be expected to have a better than average familiarity with it.
Academic Managers: Areas of Responsibility Response %

Business and Administration 8
Art, Design & Performing Arts 6
Computing and IT 6
Engineering 6
Hairdressing and Beauty Therapy 5
Learning Support 4
Other Health and Welfare 4
General Studies 4
Building and Construction 3
Communication 3
ESOL 3
97
Catering and Hospitality Management 2

Childcare and Administration 2
Science 2
Built Environment 2
Motor Vehicles 1
Pharmacy 1
Horse Management 0.5
Information Science 0.5
Languages 0.5
Land-based Subjects 0.5
Maths and Statistics 0.5
Counselling 0.5
Dental Technology 0.5
Travel and Tourism 0.5
Table 2: Areas of responsibility (N=195)
Admin Managers Main Work Areas %
Staff/Professional Development 12
Student Services 11
Commercial 9
Learning Resources 9
Quality 8
Marketing 5
Finance 4
Human Resources 4
Estates 2
Table 3: Main work areas (N=162)
9.1.4 Access to Computer Equipment

Middle managers are very well supplied with computer equipment which, by their
estimation, is usually powerful enough to cope with the demands they make upon it.
Indeed, the majority of such staff have been issued with a portable device by their college,
e.g., a laptop or personal digital assistant (PDA). The Scottish Funding Council’s target ratio
of one computer to one member of staff has been comfortably achieved within this cohort.
Access to Computer Equipment Yes% No%

The work computer I regularly use is powerful enough to meet my needs 90 10
98
My college has issued me with a blackberry/mobile device to receive email 23 77
Table 4: Access to computer equipment (N=363)
9.2 Key Findings
9.2.1 Virtual Learning Environments (VLE) Systems Development

The VLE landscape is dominated by two major platforms, though colleges often operate
more than one at a time. Blackboard is the most common VLE in use but this ascendancy is
strongly challenged by Moodle. Although the majority of colleges have an ICT strategy
which encompasses the VLE, a surprising number appear not to have publicised the strategy
very widely. Only a small number of colleges have systematic links established between the
VLE and other college information systems. The dream of a Managed Learning Environment
seems as remote as ever.
9.2.2 Operational Aspects of Virtual Learning Environments

The VLE is now an essential functional component of the majority of academic
departments, according to middle managers, though there is still concern about how to
encourage staff to use the technology and to develop materials for it. Only a small minority
of colleges set targets for the percentage of delivery to be achieved via the VLE. Where
targets had been set there was considerable variance with actual achievement.
9.2.3 Online Assessment

Three quarters of all colleges have an assessment strategy, though there is considerable
variation in adoption across departments. Currently only around half use formative online
assessment, and a third summative online. Large numbers of staff are unaware of some of
the major e-assessment initiatives in the sector.
9.2.4 Management Issues in ICT Delivery

Many management issues associated with the adoption of e-learning are well understood by
middle managers, but quality improvement issues and reviewing progress against HMI
performance indicators are areas where there is a demand for training.
9.2.5 Emerging Technologies

Awareness of emerging technologies is relatively high with examples being deployed to
some extent in colleges across the country. There is a need for both information and
training in all aspects.
9.2.6 Attitudes to Technology

The use of technology is overwhelmingly viewed as a positive step for enhancing teaching
and learning, but there is less unanimity on how to prepare learners to use it effectively for
learning, and some concerns that access to technology may not (yet) be uniform for all
learners.

There is low awareness of video conferencing in colleges and even lower use of it, with two
thirds claiming ‘never’ to use it.
9.2.8 Technology Connections and Uses

Respondents are well connected electronically, both within college and at home where
broadband connections are almost universal.
99
9.2.9 ICT Strategies and SFC Strategic Objectives

While practically all colleges have ICT strategies and three quarters of middle managers are
familiar with these, there is far less familiarity with the Scottish Funding Council’s Strategic
Objectives.
9.2.10 Management Skills

There is a demand for training and information across a range of skills from project
management to disaster recovery.
9.2.11 Environmental and Legislative Background

In developing areas like sustainability, the development of new communication
technologies and their implications, there is a major need for reliable information delivered
on a regular basis from a trusted source.
9.2.12 ICT Qualifications

A small majority of middle managers have a formal ICT qualification and the vast majority
of these have trained to ECDL standard.
9.2.13 Online Study

The majority of staff have some experience of learning online, though only just over a third
have been a tutor online.
9.2.14 ICT Related Training

Nearly half of the cohort has received no specific ICT-related training in the previous
session despite the increasing important role technology plays in college delivery.
9.2.15 Preferences for Training Delivery

Methods of training which involve some element of face-to-face contact enjoys the highest
approval ratings as this is often seen as being less likely to be disrupted by other demands
on managers’ time. A learning style which incorporates direct human interaction was
second only to (lack of) time as major factors influencing delivery preferences.
9.2.16 General Attitudes to ICT

Greater use of ICT is generally welcomed. It is seen as inevitable and as enhancing the work
of colleges at all levels. However, in the opinion of middle managers, development has to
be:
• Part of a clearly enunciated strategy
• Not used as an exclusive tool but in conjunction with other delivery approaches.
• Used sensitively with due regard to student demand and needs.
9.3 Teaching and Learning Technology

This section of the survey deals exclusively with aspects of teaching and learning, and so is
reserved for those staff who had designated themselves as ‘academic’. The objective of the
questions was to probe the operational and managerial aspects of the deployment of a
range of technologies.

Over the course of the series of ETNA surveys, the Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) has
gradually taken centre stage in colleges in the delivery of learning online. Every college
deploys technology to some extent and, as can be seen from the student section of the
survey, the majority of students in colleges come into contact with the VLE at some point
on their course. Deployment of VLE technology, and the related materials which are
necessary to populate it, are therefore of crucial importance to college developments.
100
Middle Managers were asked to name the VLE(s) currently in use in their college, both in a
primary and a secondary role (if any). A familiar pattern, repeated across the survey,
emerges. Two major platforms dominate over 80% of the market with the residue split
among a shrinking group of other providers. As elsewhere, Blackboard is the most
commonly-used primary platform though the situation is reversed if we consider secondary
VLEs. (Moodle, and to a lesser extent Sharepoint, seem to be alternative experimental
platforms). The detailed picture is shown in Tables 5 and 6.
Primary VLE(s) in Use in College (%)

Moodle Blackboard WebCT Virtual Campus Sharepoint Other
33 51 1 5 2 7
Table 5: (N=243)
Secondary VLE(s) in Use in College (%)

Moodle Blackboard WebCT Virtual Campus Sharepoint Other
31 20 7 1 17 23
Table 6: (N=80)
9.3.2 VLE Strategy and System Links

In many cases VLEs are free-standing systems without links to other systems which exist in
the college environment, such as the Management Information System (MIS) or college
content repository. This survey is interested in how this deployment is informed by college
strategy (where this exists) and has tried to establish the proportion of colleges that do link
their systems. Fig 4 presents relevant information in this regard.
252 responses were received in this part of the enquiry. The first surprise is that, after
almost a decade of investment and development, a considerable percentage of colleges
either does not have a VLE strategy, or does not widely publicise its existence. Links to co-
existing systems also still appear to have much potential for development, with only just
over a fifth of colleges having a direct link between their MIS system and the VLE, and just
over half that number linking to an e-portfolio system. Only a small percentage of colleges
without such links appear to be actively considering them. The millennial dream of an
integrated ‘Managed Learning Environment’ which seamlessly integrated all college systems
and tracked the learner from enrolment to certification seems as remote as ever from the
reality of most colleges.
the VLE links directly to an

13 23 23 48
e-portfolio system
the VLE links directly to the

23 31 31 38
college MIS
my college has a VLE

62 3 3 19
strategy
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
Fig 4: (%)
( yes / no / currently developing / don’t know )
101
9.3.3 VLE Operations

The next section turns away from strategy and looks at how the VLE is used day-to-day.
Three quarters of the sample had themselves made some use of the VLE, slightly more than
had actually been trained to use the technology.
Not all of individuals who responded had used the VLE and an almost equal number of
departments were said not to have used it. This may be explained in both cases by the fact
that the technology might not be suitable for deployment in certain specialised vocational
areas such as hospitality.
The other extreme, also represented in the diagram at Table 7, is where the VLE is now
seen by over half of the sample as ‘essential’ to the functioning of their department, which
itself is a testimony to how far this technology has become embedded in curriculum
delivery colleges.
Using the VLE Yes% No%

I have personally used the VLE 76 24
My dept uses the VLE 80 20
The VLE is essential to the work of my dept 51 49
I have training in how to use the VLE 71 29
Table 7: Using the VLE

The issue is one which has presented a challenge for some colleges and particularly for
middle managers. Once the VLE system is established in the college, how do you go about
encouraging staff to create materials for it and to begin using it for the delivery of
learning? One method for doing so is to set some arbitrary percentage of the curriculum or
of a specific course of study as a target to be available for electronic delivery by a set date.
The simple yes/no response to the question ‘does your college set targets for VLE use?’ is
displayed at Fig 6. It would be interesting to probe further into this area – targets, what
size? for which courses? with which learners? - although this is beyond the scope of the
current enquiry.
yes
17%
no
83%
Fig 6: Does your college set targets for VLE usage?
9.3.4 Online Assessment

While the majority of colleges have developed an online assessment strategy this does not
seem to have permeated down to all departments where a strategy exists in less than half
of cases (Table 8).
There is more engagement with formative than with summative assessment, where staff
may be more wary of deploying online technology because of the ‘high stakes’ nature of the
outcomes. There is also clearly still work to be done in making staff aware of the work
being done by the SQA, the RSCs and elsewhere - and indeed of the resources that are
available through item banks.
102
Deploying Online Assessment Yes No

My college has an assessment strategy 72 22
My department has an assessment strategy 47 38
My department uses formative online assessment 49 39
My department uses summative online assessment 34 53
I am aware of the SQA's SOLAR Assessment Initiative 68 29
I am aware of the COLEG COLA Assessment Initiative 59 36
Table 8: Uses of online assessment (%, N=239)
9.3.5 Implications of Using ICT to Deliver Learning

The next set of questions looks at the how well middle managers understand the processes
involved in incorporating online delivery into the curriculum, the benefits which accrue
from this and the particular advantages it offers in increasing the accessibility and
inclusiveness of learning in general. In all of these areas this staff group professed itself to
be very well equipped. (See Table 9).
Use of ICT to deliver learning Yes No

I understand how online learning can be used to support delivery of the curriculum 98 2
I understand how learning can be enhanced through using online technology 99 1
I understand how technology can be used to create an accessible curriculum 96 3
Table 9: Understandings about technology (%, N=246)

There are some areas within this development where training is required and this is
highlighted in Table 10, which provides responses on a range of specific issues from
enhancing staff competencies and developing a range of materials, to quality management.
A need for training was flagged up by significant proportions of the sample in each of the
featured areas with the greatest needs evident in the areas of quality, strategic planning
and materials development.
I understand… Yes No Train

how using new technologies will require different
90 0 25
skills/competencies in my staff
the range of materials available to my staff to deliver computer-
64 9 38
based learning
how to integrate e-learning into departmental strategic and
59 13 38
operational plans
how to integrate e-learning into the quality improvement agenda
54 15 41
across the college
how to review progress against college QA and HMI performance
61 12 34
indicators
Table 10: A range of competencies (%, N=247)
9.3.6 Emerging Technologies

Information Technology and particularly its application to teaching and learning is a rapidly
changing area and, therefore, it is important that individuals in the middle manager role
are aware of new developments, their potential value, and how they may be deployed. This
103
section reviews the level of awareness in the sample of a range of technologies which have
emerged in the last decade and which, indeed, in some cases are still evolving. There is
awareness of all technologies, to a greater or lesser extent, in all colleges, as can be seen
in Table 11. Blogs and wikis have found the widest acceptance. Training is needed for a
range of technologies, but the need shows strongest in podcasting and e-portfolios.
Engagement w/ Already Information Training

Unaware Aware
emerging technologies Using Needed Needed
Blogs 3 67 26 8 25
Wikis 9 63 22 10 27
Mobile technologies 8 63 15 12 29
e-Portfolios 8 64 16 15 30
Repositories 26 41 20 16 25
Table 11: Familiarity with emerging technologies (%, N=249)
9.3.7 Attitudes to Technology

Here academic middle managers are asked to pause from considering their part in the fine
deployment of technologies and to provide a synoptic view of the effect that trends and
technologies have had on teaching and learning. The picture that emerges is
overwhelmingly positive as can be seen in Fig 7.
learners generally have access

61%
to new technologies
learners generally have the ability
66%
to use new technologies
learners welcome the use
71%
of new technologies
technology has the potential to
96%
enhance teaching & learning
the use of technology is a negative step 1%
the use of technology is a positive step 90%
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Fig 7: Attitudes to technology

The only reservations which are expressed are not directed at the technology but
connected with their understandings of learners’ attitudes, abilities and access to the new
technologies. This may tend to undermine the stereotypical picture of the young learner of
today, fully aware of and engaged with new technology and fully equipped with the latest
gadgets. This set of responses finds echoes in a similar question posed in the lecturing
cohort of the survey.
9.4 Making Connections

At this point in the survey, academic middle managers are joined by their administrative
colleagues and further questions are addressed at the full middle manager cohort. As with
elsewhere in the survey, we are interested in the technologies that staff have access to,
and in the use made of that access.
104

Don't
Video Conferencing (VC) % Yes No
Know
Does your college support access to VC via a VC suite? 44 32 24
Does your college support access to VC via desktop
22 38 36
conferencing?
Does your department make any use of video
27 62 9
conferencing?
Table 12: Access and Use of VC (% N=312)

In common with practically all cohorts across the full survey, middle managers are often
unaware of which facilities for video conferencing are available in their institutions. This is
informed by the fact that two thirds of the departments represented make no use of the
technology at all. In fact, only just over 10% of respondents described themselves as
‘regular’ users of VC and these tended to cluster in the UHI colleges where it is used to
counter the effect of the large distances between institutions. (See Fig 8)
regularly
10%
occasionally
24%
never
66%
Fig 8: How often use VC?

In line with trends observable throughout this survey, there is awareness of IP technology,
such as Skype. It is three times more likely to be used at home than at work. (Fig 9).
I use it at home *
I use it at work *
I can access this

*
technology at work
I have heard of it *
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80
Fig 9: Awareness of IP telephony such as Skype
105
9.5 Technology Connections and Uses

The next set of questions explores the network connections enjoyed by middle managers
and, again, widely echoes findings elsewhere in the survey. Many respondents can access
key online systems of the college remotely; while in college, around three quarters have
access to a wireless network. The broadband connection enjoyed at home by practically all
respondents is said to be sufficiently fast and it is therefore no surprise that almost 90% of
the cohort claims regularly to do college-related work at home. See Table 13.
Work & Home Computing Access Yes No

Table 13: Work and home connections (%, N=312)

Having established the type and speed of connection, we next look at the uses to which all
this computing power and connectivity are put. Results appear in Table 14.
I can use technology for the following Training

Yes No Partly N/A
purposes Needed
To find information or resources 99 0 0.7 0.7 0.3
To communicate with colleagues 98 0 2.3 1 0
To make information available 96 1 2 2 0
Other administration 90 1 5 3 1
To communicate with students 74 11 6 2 6
Financial administration 65 13 12 5 7
Project management 61 15 11 12 3
To improve accessibility for students 60 11 11 6 12
Table 14: Uses of technology for job role (%, N=302)

The mastery of computer skills for finding, manipulating and communicating information
seems to be almost universal. A major area where there appears to be a demand for
training is in the area of project management, perhaps reflecting how middle management
posts are increasingly structured within further education.
Next respondents were asked about the standard skillset necessary on a daily basis for using
the most common computer applications. The results, sorted on the basis of high mastery
to low are displayed in Table 15.
Training
I can… % Yes No Partly
Needed
use email 100 0 0 0
use basic file handling techniques (open, close and save files) 99 0 1 0
search the web for information 99 0 0 0
use a word processor 99 0 1 0
106
attach a file to an email message 99 0 0 0

use PowerPoint (or similar presentation software) 95 1 4 3
create tables using a word processor 94 1 3 2
create accessible documents and presentations 91 2 7 3
insert images into documents 91 2 5 4
use extended features of email packages 89 3 5 3
use a spreadsheet 88 3 8 5
insert charts into documents 84 4 8 7
insert hyperlinks in documents 80 7 8 7
use a database 74 10 12 9
write functions in a spreadsheet 69 9 14 13
create databases in Microsoft Access (or similar) 50 19 20 18
use mind mapping software 42 30 13 21
create a web page 36 36 12 23
use project management software 36 29 18 24
Table 15: Standard skillsets for common applications (%, N=302)

Again, mastery of the standard applications and functions is manifest and these only fall
away at the end of Table 15 where the applications become more specialised. The demand
for project management software training is repeated across different groups in the ETNA
survey.
A supplementary question asked respondents to identify any further training thought to be
relevant to personal interests or work challenges. Though some 40 suggestions were
received, no pattern emerges from the answers which range from multimedia training to
work on databases.
9.5.1 Legal Issues and ICT
Training
I understand the legal issues associated with ICT Yes No Partly
Needed
DDA/SENDA
60 12 20 13
(Special Educational Needs and Disability Act 2001)
Table 16: Awareness of legal issues (%, N=302)

Awareness of legal issues varies across the range identified, with the highest awareness
registering for Data Protection. There is less certainty in the area of legal requirements for
accessibility and e-inclusion, and this consequently generates the highest demand for
training.
A supplementary question here produced only a small number of responses, identifying
further areas where legal training is necessary; no consensus emerged.
9.5.2 Awareness of ICT Strategies

Middle managers are asked here about their awareness of the strategies which drive college
ICT practice both internally and externally.
107
Does your college have No, 3%

an ICT strategy? Yes, 97%
Are you familiar with the No, 23%

strategy? Yes, 77%
Did you play a part in No, 84%

writing it? Yes, 16%
Are you broadly familiar No, 44%

with the SFC strategy? Yes, 56%
0% 100%
Fig 10: Involvement and awareness of strategies

As can be seen from Fig 10, middle managers are almost all aware of the existence the
college ICT strategy, while a lesser proportion is familiar with the details of it. Only a small
number of managers, fewer than one in five, have had a hand in the actual development of
that strategy, while just over a half have some knowledge of the Scottish Funding Council’s
strategic objectives which are, to some degree, responsible for shaping the college agenda
and therefore its policies.
9.6 Management Skills

This section looks at management skills, some of which are directly related to ICT; others
are related to managing staff or the work environment in order to bring about positive
outcomes.
9.6.1 Organisational Skills

In the context of organisational skills, we asked respondents to identify demands for both
training and information. As can be seen from Fig 11, the demand for project management
training is once again the most marked amongst the needs identified. Taking second place
in the list of training demands is ‘e-services development’, e.g., college intranet, email,
VC, VLE.
I, 40%
Project management
T, 69%
I, 54%
e-Services development
T, 58%
I, 59%
Compliance
T, 49%
I, 55%
Time management
T, 51%
I, 51%
Risk assessment/management
T, 60%
I, 64%
Disaster recovery
T, 44%
I, 71%
Procurement
T, 35%
0%
Fig 11: Demands for information or training on organisational skills (I = information; T = training)
108
9.6.2 Management/Transformation Skills

In the second category of management training the highest demand was for training in
change management while the largest number of requests for information came in the area
of constructing and managing an ICT strategy.
I, 56%
Benchmarking
T, 50%
I, 58%
ICT & inclusion
T, 48%
I, 55%
Online management issues
T, 55%
I, 50%
Change management
T, 58%
I, 53%
e-Business development
T, 55%
I, 53%
Transformation
T, 52%
Constructing & managing an I, 67%

ICT strategy T, 40%
0%
Fig 12: Demand for management/transformation skills (I: Information; T: Training)
9.6.3 Environmental/Legislative Background

The third set of ‘managerial’ questions looked at the background to the current ICT and
quality environments within colleges. The need for information in these categories proved
more popular then the need for direct training in itself.
I, 64%
New technological
developments T, 47%
I, 65%
Technology and the HMI
frameworks T, 48%
I, 61%
Sustainability issues
T, 41%
I, 62%
Complying with legislation
T, 43%
0%
Fig 13: Demand for environmental/legislative skills (I: Information; T: Training)

The greatest demand appears in the area of sustainability which has been rising up the
agenda in colleges recently as the serious nature of the environmental crisis facing society
has become clearer. The other major demand, though attracting marginally fewer votes
than sustainability, is the need for regular information on emerging technological issues and
their implications.
109
9.7 Qualifications and Training
9.7.1 Current ICT Qualifications

There are perhaps two important observations to be made when analysing the responses to
this question which are illustrated at Fig 14. The first is that a slender majority of the 290
managers who responded have no formal qualifications in this area at all, despite the fact
that such qualifications have been on offer in most colleges for the best part of a decade.
The second is rather more positive in that nearly 40% of respondents hold a standard or
advanced ECDL qualification. As with elsewhere, PC Passport hardly registers on the radar.
Other 20%
None 50%
PC Passport 1%
Advanced ECDL 6%
ECDL 33%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%
Fig 14: Current ICT qualifications

In the ‘other’ category, respondents cited a range of qualifications: from very basic to
postgraduate.
9.7.2 Participation in Online Study

A question was posed to all cohorts in ETNA to gauge the level of engagement with online
study that existed throughout the survey. Middle managers are fairly typical of the general
trend in that around two thirds have taken part in an online course as a learner, but only
around a third has taken the role of tutor on such a course. See Fig 15.
No, 62.5
online course as a tutor
Yes, 37.5
I have taken part in an No, 35.2

online course as a
learner Yes, 64.8
0.0 10.0 20.0 30.0 40.0 50.0 60.0 70.0
Fig 15: Participation in online courses as a tutor or learner (%, N=293)
110
9.7.3 ICT-Related Training in 2008-9

This section probes whether staff in this category have received ICT-related training in the
current college session. From the 298 responses received there is by no means blanket
take-up of training, as can be seen in Fig 16. If training had been received, respondents
were asked to identify any such training which had been found to be particularly effective.
104 replies were collected. As might be expected, the wide range of tasks performed by
middle manager resulted in a very wide range of training types, much of it related directly
to the role of the individual. No consensus emerged.
no
47%
yes
53%
Fig 16: ICT-related training received in current session?
9.7.4 Preferences for Training Delivery

Here we examine the preferences of middle managers as to the style of staff development
that they prefer. Here a pattern familiar across the survey emerges. Of the 295 responses
received from this group, traditional, face-to-face training finds the most favour, selected
by 93% of respondents. Typically, methods imply some element of interaction with the
trainer or other staff commands the highest approval ratings. By contrast, those methods
which had a minimum of direct contact such as the wholly online course were rejected
outright by almost half of all respondents.
Preferences for training delivery Yes No

Advice by phone, email or electronic discussion lists 53 47
Open and flexible learning wholly supported online 53 47
Occasional attendance at forums with staff in similar professional role 87 13
A ‘blended’ model of training, partly f-2-f, partly online 81 19
Traditional f-2-f workshops/courses 93 7
Table 17: Preferences for training delivery (%)

Respondents were additionally asked to describe the factors which had led them to the
choices shown in Table 17. 99 responses were received. These were tagged and analysed
and the results are as illustrated at shown in Table 18.
Factors Influencing Training Preferences %

Time 66
Preference for Face-to-Face 14
Preference for Online 4
Preference for Blended Model 4
Miscellaneous Reason 8
Distance 3
Table 18: Factors Influencing Training Preferences (N=99)
111
9.8 Attitudes to ICT

In common with other sections of the ETNA survey, the Middle Managers’ enquiry closed
with a synoptic question inviting respondents to evaluate the progress made in the
application of technology to teaching and learning and to judge whether the results were
positive for the learner, the college and the further education sector in general. 116
persons took the opportunity to share their view.
Many of the comments were fairly lengthy, but all of them provided a sensitive and
thoughtful perspective on the college experience of applying technology. Comments ranged
across a wide area, so analysis must inevitably be impressionistic.
Even with that caveat in mind, a large proportion of comments contained the word
‘positive’ or similar which implied that new developments were welcome and had proved
their value. Typical comments were that technology is ‘the way forward’, ‘vital’,
‘overwhelmingly positive’ and an ‘excellent tool’. One comment put very succinctly the
value of technology and the need to deploy it within a coherent and shared framework:
“Having a clear strategy specifically for how ICT is to be used in learning and
teaching, linked to a range of other supporting strategies (ICT infrastructure
and quality improvement, for example) provides a very clear message to
staff that the use of ICT is not an optional extra but an integral part of what
they do every day.”
There are clear threads in this comment that were echoed throughout: the notion that
technology has become central to the work of colleges but that it is not an exclusive
approach; its benefit can only be maximised when applied carefully. These ideas recur
frequently in the comments. Technology is ‘no panacea’; it’s not the ‘be all and end all of
teaching methodology’ but ‘a very valuable addition to other teaching methods’.
The point was made repeatedly that managers have to be certain that the technological
approach is the one that students truly welcome (there was some reservation on this in the
FE context) and that the deployment of ICT is inevitable.
“We must embrace new technologies to engage learners, further the direction of the
college and keep our workforce at the forefront of technology.”
112
113
10 Senior Managers
10.1 The Sample
10.1.1 Roles and Responsibilities

72 responses were received from senior managers in 31 colleges, which means that the
views of personnel from around 75% of colleges were represented in the survey. A major
renewal programme has been underway in colleges in the last few years and indeed
continues in some parts of the country. Moving to new buildings or refurbishing older ones
often provides the opportunity for a college to reconsider its ICT infrastructure and the
teaching practices which are linked to it. We therefore tried to establish how colleges
within the sample were affected by the renewal programme. The proportion of colleges
involved in this activity is represented in Fig 1. In total, 90% are involved in some way.
not being considered

10%
currently under
construction being planned
21% 43%
recently been
completed
26%
Fig 1: Involvement in estates renewal programmes

As to role, senior staff in the sample boasted a wide range of job titles. While Principals
and Deputy, Vice and Assistant Principals accounted for 42 of the returns, frequent other
titles included ‘head’, ‘manager’ and ‘director’.
However titled, teaching and learning and the application of technology is clearly integral
to this group’s areas of responsibility : 25 responses used the word ‘curriculum’ to describe
at least part of their responsibility, 15 for ‘learning’, 11 for ‘quality, and 9 for ‘ICT’.
10.2 Key Findings
10.2.1 ICT Strategy

Colleges typically (with exceptions) develop a separate ICT strategy in which senior
managers play a major role. However, a quarter of senior managers do not feel well enough
informed to contribute effectively to the development process. Two key areas of focus in
this respect are e-portfolios and personalisation. Senior managers appear to be keen to
receive more information about both these topics.
10.2.2 College Partnerships

Other educational providers –universities and other colleges – are the most common
partners for ICT collaboration.
10.2.3 Role of the VLE

The belief that the VLE is essential to the operation of the college is stronger in this cohort
than in middle managers and academic staff.
10.2.4 Targets for Electronic Delivery

A quarter of colleges have set formal targets for the proportion of the curriculum to be
supported electronically.
114
10.2.5 Virtual Classrooms

A third of colleges report that they are experimenting with virtual classrooms.

Senior managers are bucking the trend for the use of video conferencing observed
elsewhere in the ETNA survey; nearly a quarter of respondents report increased use of the
technology.
10.2.7 Information and Training Needs

In general, senior managers express a greater demand for information than they do for
training.
The highest demand for information is in:
• risk assessment and management
• benchmarking
• emerging technologies and their implications
Where demand was expressed for training, the most popular categories were:
• e-business development
• emerging technologies and their implications
• managing cultural change
• e-services development
10.3 Setting the College e-Learning Agenda
10.3.1 ICT Strategy

Here ETNA is interested in the range of strategies in operation within a college, particularly
those with a connection to ICT, how these strategies were constructed and their relation to
national strategies. The results can be viewed at Table 1.
College ICT Strategy Yes % No %

Does your college have a separate ICT strategy? 86 14
Is college ICT strategy embedded in other strategies (eg teaching and learning)? 86 14
Are you the primary decision maker for the college's strategic development in ICT? 27 73
Are you involved in setting strategy that relates to ICT? 79 21
If you answered 'Yes', do you feel well enough informed to contribute effectively? 72 28
Are you familiar with the SFC’s broad strategic objectives in e-learning? 83 17
Table 1: Information about college ICT strategies (N=72)

This table indicates that there may be some self-avowed gaps in the knowledge needed to
underpin the creation of college strategies. The Scottish Funding Council’s strategic
objectives set the larger framework within which colleges might be expected to operate,
yet a significant proportion of the sample are unaware of these objectives. Similarly, over a
quarter of senior staff with some responsibility for setting the college agenda for ICT feel
they lack enough information to be able to contribute to the debate.
115
ETNA: Senior Managers
10.3.2 Strategy Elements

This section looks at a range of typical elements that a college might be expected to
address in connections with the typical current ICT agenda. The results in Table 2 have
been sorted on the basis of the popularity of strategy elements.
I'd like
Does your college have a strategy on... Yes % No %
information %
Data Legislation/Compliance 96 1 3
Disaster Recovery 94 3 3
Network Security 93 6 1
Accessibility (including alternative formats) 79 12 9
Environmental Sustainability 70 22 9
Repositories 63 26 11
e-Assessment 59 32 9
Educational Sustainability 58 30 12
Use of Communication Tools 56 34 10
Institutional Sustainability 54 34 12
e-Portfolios 43 43 14
Personalisation 18 53 20
Table 2: Strategy elements (N=72)

The strategies here can be seen as covering ‘hard’ and ‘soft’ elements; the hard associated
with systems, the soft involving more direct human interaction. Clearly the most common
strategies in colleges relate to governance and compliance, whereas areas which impact
most directly on the individual learner such as e-Portfolios and personalisation are less
common. The latter elements also generate the highest interest in more information.
Looking at evidence from elsewhere in the survey, it appears that some of these strategies
have still to have a significant operational impact: for example fewer than 10% of the
student sample reported using an e-portfolio.
10.3.3 Promoting the ICT Agenda

Turning to look more closely at ICT, ETNA now explores how colleges organise their
activities internally and also how they work with external partners and agencies. The first
of these areas reflects two traditional methods for helping staff maximise the impact of
college ICT activity. Some colleges have typically tried to engage all academic staff with
the authoring of online learning materials, using ICT champions to promote this process
internally. The alternative strategy is to divorce academic staff from direct authoring
responsibility and to deploy professional materials developers to create learning materials.
For developing online materials, the college has… Yes % No %

ICT champions 83 17
A separate materials development team 45 55
Table 3: Internal organisation for creating materials (N=69)

From these results it would appear that a policy of trying to engage academic staff directly
in the creation of online learning materials is almost twice as popular as the setting up of a
discrete development unit. In some colleges both methods of development are used.
116
10.3.4 College Collaborations

This section looks at ICT projects currently underway with assistance or contributions from
external partners.
External partners contributing to ICT projects Yes % No % Like to %

agencies (eg JISC, Scotland's Colleges, SQA) 38 47 16
other FE colleges 72 22 9
Business partners 50 40 15
other HE institutions 79 18 4
schools sector 30 61 11
government (eg SFC) 55 38 12
European partners 28 64 16
Table 4: College collaborations (N=70)
10.4 College VLE

All senior staff are aware that their college has a VLE (producing the only 100% unanimous
result of all questions in all flavours of the survey).
VLEs in use at your college Moodle Blackboard WebCT Teknical Sharepoint Other
Primary % 31 44 0 14 1 10
Secondary (if any) % 39 23 12 0 8 19
Table 5: VLE in use (N=72)

As with elsewhere in the survey, the installed base of VLEs is clearly dominated by Moodle
and Blackboard, with Blackboard the most commonly used primary platform in a large
number of colleges. However, the fact that the relative positions are reversed when we
come to look at the secondary VLEs might suggest that the majority of the development
work which is underway concentrates on the Moodle platform. The ‘other’ platforms
mentioned in the final column include Dokeos and some in-house bespoke systems.
The final question relating directly to the VLE looked at key strategic decisions which the
college had implemented in relation to ICT, some of the results of these decisions, and the
process through which these results were monitored. The results appear in Fig 2.
college has a target % for online delilvery 26 58 19
The VLE links to an e-portfolio system 16 49 36
most acad depts make some use of the VLE 86 11 3
we quality control materials on the VLE 65 18 17
we evaluate the VLE's effectiveness 84 7 9
repository underpins VLE materials development 44 31 25
the VLE links to the MIS 30 52 18
the VLE is essential college activities 79 18 3
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
Fig 2: Strategic decisions and their evaluation (%; Yes / No / Unsure)
117
Some interesting features arise from this set of responses. For example, 86% of academic
departments are making some use of the VLE which in turn explains why nearly 80% of
senior managers consider the VLE is ‘essential’ to college activities - a far higher
percentage than can be found in any other cohort in the survey. A similarly high proportion
of senior managers (84%) report that evaluation of the VLE’s effectiveness is ongoing,
though only 65% appear to have VLE quality control procedures in place.
The integration of the VLE’s external system links also make for interesting reading. There
are three major systems with which the VLE can currently be linked: the management
information system, the repository and the e-portfolio system. Senior managers claim that
these systems are linked to the VLE in 30, 44 and 16% of cases respectively. These figures
are well in excess of parallel figures reported elsewhere in the survey.
10.5 Connectivity

Elsewhere in the ETNA survey, VC appears to be a technology which is little used (at least
outside the UHI) and is in decline despite the fact that environmental pressures on travel
might be expected to encourage more usage. Fig 3 provides information about the video
conferencing infrastructure supported by colleges.
is your college experimenting with 'virtual

31% 69%
classrooms'?
does your college support desktop VC? 37% 63%
does your college support access to a VC

44% 56%
suite?
0% 100%
Fig 3: Video conferencing systems supported (Yes / No)

Though the percentage of colleges which support video conferencing via a custom-built
video conferencing suite is almost exactly as it was in the 2006 survey, there has been a
considerable increase in the number of senior managers who now have access via desktop
conferencing. This has increased from 20 to 37% in three years. Interestingly, nearly a third
of the senior managers that responded indicate that their college is experimenting with
‘virtual classrooms’. These figures appear to indicate a trend towards greater use of this
type of technology more generally in the educational context (supported by evidence
elsewhere in the survey.)
Use of VC (1) (%) Never Occasionally Regularly
I make use of VC 53 28 18
Table 6: (N=62)
Use of VC (2) Increasing Decreasing About the same
My use of video conferencing is…… 28 2 70
Table 7: Senior management use of VC (%, N=62)

Although only slightly over half of the sample never use video conferencing there is a
feeling reflected by almost a fifth of respondents that their use of VC is in fact increasing.
The open question which rounded off this section asked respondents who used VC to
describe the purposes for which it is used. 28 responses were received. As might have been
118
anticipated the technology was used almost exclusively for taking part in meetings and
attending conferences remotely.

This section looks at the general awareness of internet telephony, such as Skype, comparing
its use in the work and domestic contexts. The results are shown at Fig 4.
I use it at home *
I use it at work *
I can access this

*
technology at work
I have heard of it *
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Fig 4: Use of technologies for internet telephony

In comparison with the 2006 study, awareness of this technology has greatly increased.
Though respondents are still far more likely to use it at home than at work, the gap seems
to be narrowing.
How I can connect to college systems Yes No
2009 2006 2009 2006

the wired college network via my work computer 99 98 1 2
a wireless network within my college 81 42 18 49
the college VLE 97 78 3 13
the VLE when I'm not on the college campus 81 60 17 29
my work email when outside the college 94 87 4 13
the college business systems on campus 88 n/a 8 n/a
the college business systems when I'm not on campus 40 n/a 56 n/a
Table 8: Connections (%)

Levels of connectivity have improved markedly, particularly with respect to wireless
networks; the incidence of these has doubled in the 3 years since the last ETNA survey.
We now turn to looking at connectivity between home and work. Senior managers are very
efficiently connected in both locations. Practically all of the sample regularly do college
work at home and connect via home via broadband.
I can use technology... Yes No N/A

To find information or resources 100 0 0
To communicate with colleagues 100 0 0
To make information available 99 1 0
To record and save information 99 0 0
To work collaboratively 96 4 0
For other administration 94 4 0
119
For financial administration 72 17 8
Table 9: The uses to which technology is put

A supplementary question asked senior staff to name further ICT-related skills they were
interested in developing. Only 14 responses were received and no consensus emerges.
10.6 Legal Issues

Can Find
I understand legal issues related to… Yes No Would like info
Out
Freedom of Information Act 91 1 6 4
Data Protection Act 90 1 8 3
DDA/SENDA 80 3 11 9
Table 10: Legal issues
10.7 Managing New Technologies & Training Needs
10.7.1 Managing Key Technological Issues

A series of questions in this section looks at a wide range of managerial skills and the
training and information needs of senior managers who are charged with making decisions.
One clear trend that emerges from all of these questions which are variously represented in
Tables 12 to 14 is that information is the key requirement for senior managers, and not
necessarily training.
Managing the Application of New

Little/no Some Good Advanced Not Applic
Technologies: I understand:
The implications of implementing ICT

across all departments (includes non- 1 18 49 32 0
teaching)
How to integrate ICT into the college
0 17 51 32 0
development plan
How to integrate accessible and
inclusive ICT into the college 3 25 49 24 0
development plan
The advantages/disadvantages of
creating content in-house against buying 6 26 43 25 0
in
The range of methodologies available to
6 35 42 18 0
staff to deliver computer-based learning
How to plan for the replacement of ICT
18 27 29 24 1
infrastructure
Emerging technologies and methods &
their potential impact on cross college 6 42 38 14 0
operations
How to review progress against college
6 21 38 35 0
QA and HMI performance indicators
Table 11: Understanding new technologies (N=72)
120
Managers need reliable information on a regular basis from sources which can be trusted in
order to make informed decisions on aspects of college policy related to ICT.
Not Not
Organisational/ Management Skills % Training Info
Needed Applic
e-Services development (internet, intranet, email, VC,
23 34 44 3
VLE)
Disaster recovery 20 32 47 4
Project management 19 33 45 3
Risk assessment/risk management 14 36 50 1
Time management 9 21 69 1
Procurement 6 24 54 16
Table 12: Organisational/management skills (N=71)
Not Not
Management/Transformation Skills % Training Info
Needed Applic
e-Business development 22 42 32 9
Managing cultural change 20 39 43 1
Transformation 19 42 41 1
Strategic applications of ICT in your college 13 39 46 6
Online management issues ( eg assessment, finance,
13 35 49 4
quality assurance)
Benchmarking 10 52 38 0
Constructing and managing an ICT strategy 10 26 56 10
ICT and inclusion 6 41 52 3
ICT & alternative/inclusive formats (large print, audio,
4 34 56 7
talking books, Braille)
Table 13: Management/transformation skills (N=71)
Not Not
Environmental/Legislative Background Training Info
Needed Applic
New technological developments and their implications 25 52 22 1
Integrating new technologies into new build projects 20 35 42 6
Complying with legislation 17 39 41 4
Technology and the HMI inspection frameworks 14 46 39 3
Table 14: Environmental/legislative background (N=72)
121
10.7.2 Participation in Online Learning

The figure for having some kind of experience in online learning is very similar for senior
managers as for others (roughly two thirds), though participation as a tutor is
understandably lower, as shown in Table 15.
Participation in online learning Yes No
I have taken part in an online course as a learner 59 41

I have taken part in an online course as a tutor 29 71
Table 15: Participation in online learning (%)

ICT training was received in the previous session by exactly 50% of the sample. When
respondents were asked to identify any training they had had which was particularly
effective, there were 22 responses but no real consensus emerged and the types of training
participated were diverse. Senior managers were further asked to identify any other
training needs. Once again, there was no real consensus between the 14 respondents;
responses included the effective use of mobile technology, wifi and Moodle.
10.8 Overview of the Application of Technology in Colleges

In common with other survey groups, senior managers were invited to provide a synoptic
description of view on the application of technology to their role and to the college more
generally.
Although only a minority of senior managers, 27, responded to this invitation, the majority
of those received commented at length and thoughtfully on the impact of technology so far
and the implications for the future.
Overall the consensus clearly is that the application of ICT has been a major benefit to all
colleges and that trends in modern society mean that there is no option but to embrace
technology. As one senior manager put it ‘the status quo is never an option’.
The effects on teaching and learning as well as college business processes, while
uncomfortable for some staff, are transformative: ‘…increasingly it is clear that technology
can transform a reasonable face-to-face experience into a remarkable one’.
Across the whole ETNA survey, in all cohorts, while dissenting voices are heard, the
dominant attitude toward the technological developments of the last decade is
overwhelmingly positive. However, that positive attitude finds its high water mark among
senior managers.
This might have been born out of necessity but now appears increasingly to be backed up by
hard evidence of the benefits and personal conviction of the correctness of the policy,
which is perhaps best summed up in the following comment:
“Colleges which do not embed this revolution within delivery models will
be replaced by those who embrace this technology for this purpose. Not to
do so is to fail twenty-first century learners who expect to develop skills
that will enable them to fully participate in twenty-first century society.”
122
11 List of Illustrations
All illustrations are sourced from Flickr (www.flickr.com) under creative commons license.
Credits as follows:
Cover: Blue Sky on Rails, by ecstaticist

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ecstaticist/2589723846/
Page 6: old railway track at finnieston crane, by bob the lomond

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bobthelomond/245838163/
Page 17: Austerlitz, by fliegender

http://www.flickr.com/photos/fliegender/13476440/
Page 38: 298 km/h, Shenghung Lin

http://www.flickr.com/photos/40764207@N00/2226537199/
Page 55: Speeding train, by Dunk the Funk

http://www.flickr.com/photos/dunk/463414619/
Page 64: IMG_039, by Driek

http://www.flickr.com/photos/driek/3863866583/
Page 78: singular essentials: 09, by clickykbd

http://www.flickr.com/photos/clickykbd/159721643/
Page 95: entering Hyperspace, by Éole

http://www.flickr.com/photos/eole/380316678/
Page 113: Four Seconds to City Centre, by ecstaticist

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ecstaticist/4345879898/
ode to bon scott, by s2art

http://www.flickr.com/photos/s2art/62309975/
123

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ETNA vol IV

On the right track

The ETNA Report

Chief Author: Hugh Dailly (RSC Deputy Manager)

2.2 The Survey Instrument ..............................................................................................................9

2.3 The Sample..................................................................................................................................9

2.4 Structure of this Report ...........................................................................................................10

3.2 Computing Access and Power .................................................................................................11

3.3 VLE Use.....................................................................................................................................12

3.4 Other Technologies...................................................................................................................13

3.5 Application of the Technology.................................................................................................14

3.6 The Standard Skills Set............................................................................................................15

3.7 Training Delivery......................................................................................................................15

4.2 Use of the Virtual Learning Environment (VLE)..................................................................19

4.3 Other College Technologies ..................................................................................................... 23

4.4 Connectivity ..............................................................................................................................27

4.5 ICT Skill Set..............................................................................................................................29

4.6 Training .....................................................................................................................................34

4.7 Attitudes to ICT ........................................................................................................................37

5.2 Key Findings .............................................................................................................................41

5.3 Technology Skills ......................................................................................................................42

5.4 Popular Technology..................................................................................................................44

5.5 Web 2.0 Technologies ...............................................................................................................45

5.6 Technology and You.................................................................................................................48

5.7 Using Technology as Part of the Course .................................................................................49

5.8 Attitudes to Technology ...........................................................................................................53

6 ADMINISTRATIVE & SUPPORT STAFF 56

6.2 Access to Technology................................................................................................................57

6.3 Most Used Technologies ...........................................................................................................58

6.4 Training Needs and Delivery Preferences ..............................................................................61

7 LEARNING RESOURCES STAFF 65

7.2 The Sample................................................................................................................................65

7.3 Key Findings .............................................................................................................................66

7.4 Detailed Findings ......................................................................................................................67

8.2 The Sample................................................................................................................................79

8.3 Gender Age and Breakdown....................................................................................................80

8.4 Technical Posts and Activities ................................................................................................. 80

8.5 Key Findings .............................................................................................................................81

8.6 The College Network ................................................................................................................83

8.7 VLEs and Video Conferencing ................................................................................................86

8.8 Emerging Areas ........................................................................................................................87

8.9 Skillset and Training Needs .....................................................................................................92

8.10 Training and Support...............................................................................................................93

9.2 Key Findings .............................................................................................................................99

9.3 Teaching and Learning Technology...................................................................................... 100

9.4 Making Connections............................................................................................................... 104

9.5 Technology Connections and Uses ........................................................................................ 106

9.6 Management Skills ................................................................................................................. 108

9.7 Qualifications and Training................................................................................................... 110

9.8 Attitudes to ICT ...................................................................................................................... 112

10 SENIOR MANAGERS 114

10.2 Key Findings ........................................................................................................................... 114

10.3 Setting the College e-Learning Agenda ................................................................................ 115

10.4 College VLE ............................................................................................................................ 117

10.5 Connectivity ............................................................................................................................ 118

10.6 Legal Issues ............................................................................................................................. 120

10.7 Managing New Technologies & Training Needs.................................................................. 120

10.8 Overview of the Application of Technology in Colleges...................................................... 122

11 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 123

1.2 Access to Technologies

1.3 Virtual Learning Environments

1.4 Other Technologies