Distance and Blended Learning

One barrier faced by many staff in social care and housing support services is shift work. Because staff cannot always predict when they will be able to study each week SCOTVQ provides all SVQ candidates with support and learning materials that allow candidates to take responsibility for directing when they will complete activities in-between meetings with their assessor. These high quality materials are regularly updated and provide a candidate with everything they need to complete a piece of work agreed in their assessment plan.

As SCOTVQ covers all parts of Scotland we are familiar with the sorts of challenges that face candidates in remote and island locations. We have been delivering supported distance learning courses for several years but from January 2009 we will offering distance learners additional support through on-line learning facilities. Tutor led discussions on pre-determined topics and activities will be a key feature of our blended learning approach. Blended learning quite simply means blending together a range of methods to give the candidate the best opportunity to meet their learning support needs. It includes e-learnning, paper based resources, telephone, email and personal contact with the tutor/assessor. However, blended learning is not a way of SCOTVQ avoiding candidates, or of leaving candidates to struggle on their own. We pride ourselves on the quality of support we give to candidates and on the positive feedback we consistently achieve regarding this. Prospective candidates and their employers should also note that blended learning with SCOTVQ is not about the creation of a paperless e-portfolio, which is a completely different notion.