E-learning support for accredited work-based learning

An increasingly important strategy for higher education institutions (HEIs) operating in a highly competitive globalised education market is to adopt and embed technology enhanced learning in order to better serve both home and overseas learners. The global economic downturn has also focused HEIs on the need to support work based learners who are less willing and able to trade off learning for earning. The University of Glamorgan in the UK has developed the Learning Through Employment (LTE) framework designed to allow individuals already in employment to work towards a university-level qualification relevant to their specific area of work. Its main feature is that the majority of learning takes place through active and reflective engagement with work activities, underpinned by the appropriate academic knowledge and skills. Courses can be tailored around any subject and are negotiated between the learner, the university and the employer. This paper will focus not only on the way the University of Glamorgan, acknowledged to be a leader in UK e-learning provision, provides e-learning support for work based learners, but also on how this flexible approach to accrediting informal learning meets the growing demand for accreditation of work-based learning programmes to meet the needs of both learners and employers.