d13design.co.uk [ dave waller ]

After close to 2 years of planning and development the ALPS software solution, provided by MyKnowledgeMap, is now live with pilot users. Designed as a fully end-to-end solution for managing assessment of placement students within healthcare settings the suite of tools combines content authoring, content packaging, competency mapping, mobile completion of assessments, online e-portfolio and competency management. The resulting system is powerful, flexible and incredibly innovative and opens up a whole new dimension to mobile and digital assessment of competency based skills in real-world settings.

“Assessment and Learning in Practice Settings (ALPS) is a collaborative programme between five Higher Education Institutions with proven reputations for excellence in learning and teaching in health and social care: the University of Bradford, the University of Huddersfield, the University of Leeds (lead); Leeds Metropolitan University, and York St John University. There are 16 professions across the partnership from Audiology to Social Work, and a wide range of partners including Yorkshire and the Humber NHS, practice networks and professional bodies.”

“ALPS aim is to ensure that students graduating from courses in health and social care are fully equipped to perform confidently and competently at the start of their professional careers. We are achieving this by extending excellence and innovation in assessing practice, helping students learn both within their professions and across professional boundaries. ALPS is raising the status of teaching in practice. We work with practice-based educators so they can assess generic skills (e.g. communication, team working & ethical practice) and professional competences common to many groups. Practitioners who teach can benefit from and contribute to the work of ALPS and its networks. ALPS is rewarding staff, with opportunities for Teaching Fellowships, sabbaticals and teaching awards.”

Providing tutors with an easy-to-use online system for creating, packaging and delivering content it’s incredibly quick to deliver high quality assessments to remote students. Assessments can be pre-mapped to the core competencies of health care enabling tutors to clearly see which areas will be assessed with each content package.

The integration of the Nokia Intellisync software means that assessment packages can be sent directly to student’s mobile devices and PDAs. Working closely with Ecommnet a sophisticated mobile application was developed to allow students to complete assessments while “on the move” capturing text and audio from supervisors, peers and even patients.

Assessment response can then be sent back to the online system where each student has their own personal e-portfolio where they can interact with the tutors, build upon submissions and prove competence against all areas of the core competency frameworks.

You can find out more about the ALPS project at the ALPS CETL website or at MyKnowledgeMap.