Becta Archive: ILT in Specialist Colleges report 2002

This is the report from the follow-up survey, with LSC and NATSPEC very much on-side encouraging people to complete the survey. Everybody was very happy this time.

2002 Specialist Colleges ILT Report

Becta Archive: ILT in FE colleges report 2003

It came as a big surprise to be asked to survey the colleges again, but LSC were agreeable to a wholesale revision of the survey, because so much of the original things we measured had been done. Bob Powell and I spent an afternoon drinking coffee in the Village hotel in Coventry brainstorming what if anything could be kept and what new things we could ask. Shortly after this, there was a change of regime at becta and Bob moved on to pastures new. From here on these things were known as "Steve's survey".

2003 ILT in FE Report

Becta Archive: ICT in FE colleges in Scotland 2002

This was a two-part follow-up survey to the 1999 report. It involved a repeat of the quantitative survey plus a series of qualitative telephone interviews and college visits. I did the survey report and the analysis and report-writing for the qualitative appendix.

2002 Scotland ICT in FE Report

Becta Archive: ILT in FE colleges report 2001

In 1999 the FEFC (Further Education Funding Council) set a target for English FE colleges of achieving one internet-connected computer for every five full-time-equivalent students. One of the findings of this survey was that the sector had achieved that target. At the time I thought the job had been done in terms of these surveys, and we wouldn't be asked again. I was wrong.

2001 ILT in FE Report

Becta Archive: ILT in Specialist Colleges presentation 2001

The Specialist Colleges were the second group of non-mainstream FEFC/LSC-funded organisations that I surveyed at this time. LSC and NATSPEC were a bit disappointed with the response rate and pledged to use all their influence to get a better response. Which we did the following year. In the meantime this was a presentation I did for NATSPEC and LSC at Myerscough College detailing what the first survey had shown us.

2001 Specialist Colleges Presentation

Becta Archive: ILT in External Institutions 2001

When the FEFE (Further Education Funding Council) became the LSC (Learning and Skills Council) I was commissioned to to a couple of pieces of work looking at the use of technology in some of the less "standard" organisations that they funded. This one looked at what was called the "External Organisations" - largely adult education organisations of all shapes and sizes. A fascinating sector.

2001 ILT in External Institutions Report

Becta Archive: ILT in FE colleges report 2000

In 1999 Alison Page had carried out the first Becta survey of ILT in FE colleges. The next year, the need for a follow-up was identified in order to track the results of spending under the NLN (National Learning Network) initiative. Following my involvement in the Welsh and Scottish work the previous year, I was brought in to do the data gathering and analysis on this one.

2000 ILT in FE Report

Becta Archive: ICT in FE colleges in Scotland 1999

This was the first of the Becta FE surveys that I was substantially involved in. The Scottish funding council wanted a survey of their colleges following the study Becta had carried out of English FE colleges earlier in 1999. My main memory of this one is phoning findings through to Bob Powell who was sat in his car in a Glasgow car park in the snow. That story in itself shows how technology has changed over the last decade or so.

1999 Scottish ICT in FE Report

Becta Archive: e-enablement briefing 2010

This was some work I did for one of the Executive Directors at Becta who wanted to understand how certain measures were behaving. This sort of thing is often more useful than the published general reports as it involves responding to questions raised by people who are able to do something about it.

e Enablement Briefing

Becta Archive: Harnessing Technology Review 2009

The challenge when writing reports like this is that often it's only pointy-heads like me that read them. But if it's supposed to feed into "policy", how do you get busy people to take the time out to actually read it. Focus on the key questions. Make it shorter. That's what I tried to do here. With limited success, maybe.

2009 Harnessing Technology Review

Becta Archive: Harnessing Technology Review 2008

Following yet another restructure I took on responsibility for producing this report. The body of the report is all down to me and Vanessa Pittard cast her 'fluence over the "Issues and Challenges" part.

2008 Harnessing Technology Review

Becta Archive: Merging Cultures 2007

You know the sort of thing. Somebody gets up and says, "We have to change our culture." Unfortunately, because I'm me, I tend to say things like "How will you know you've changed it, if you don't know what it is now?" So I got the job...

I developed a short questionnaire and used it in anger 3 times at Becta. At times of change and restructuring. It proved a good way of comparing the two "sides" when departments got merged. Showed them where they differed, and where they were the same. Made for mutual understanding, I think. Anyway. This is the middle time of the three.

Merging Cultures 2007

Becta Archive: The progress of e-enablement in FE and sixth-form colleges 2007

After I had moved on from carrying out the FE surveys, I continued to work out the composite "e-enablement" measures from data provided by the external research contractors. This is a short briefing I did for Becta managers, looking at how these things had changed over the years.

2007 Progress in FE Report

Becta Archive: ICT and e-learning in further education 2006

This 2006 survey was the last one that was done by me. The subsequent work was "managed" by Becta and carried out by other organisations. The work was never as good. Too many people trying to please too many "stakeholders". I used to fight tooth and nail to try and keep these down to a reasonable number of sensible questions. Because people used to call them "Steve's surveys". Anyway. Rant over.

2006 ICT in FE Report

Becta Archive: ICT and e-learning in further education 2005

This sixth report in the series also gathered information on ICT expenditure in colleges.

2005 ICT in FE Report

Becta Archive: ICT and e-learning in further education 2004

This was the fifth of the Becta surveys of english FE colleges. It's the second one that I did entirely myself, from questionnaire development, through analysis to report writing. Plus all the organisation buy-in stuff.

2004 ICT in FE Report

I don't have pdfs of the earlier reports, so for now at least, I won't add them to this site.

Becta Archive: FPP pilot evaluation 2003

The Ferl Practitioners' Programme was a staff development programme that was launched by Becta in 2002 and ran for several years. This is the cover of the evaluation report I wrote in 2003.

This was a difficult report to write, as it was my job to be critical of the work of colleagues who sat next to me in the office. But I got through it in the end and I'm happy to see a list of practical recommendations at the end of the report.