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Why it’s time to ‘click the brick’
23 May 2010
A new website, BlueBrick.ie, aims to help people to find more career-focused courses in Ireland’s institutes of technology. Dermot Corrigan reports.
An online initiative, launched earlier this year, is helping candidates affected by the downturn to find out about the flexible learning options on offer in Ireland’s 14 institutes of technology.
BlueBrick.ie went live in August, with the aim of helping people to research and apply online for career-focused courses.
‘‘BlueBrick.ie is a one-stop shop for people looking for part-time and flexible learning opportunities within the 14 institutes of technology," said Dr Richard Thorn, director of flexible learning, Institute of Technology Ireland.
‘‘You can go to the site and do basic searches for different course types or subjects, compare the different courses available, and see things like credits awarded and where the qualification might lead to. You can create your own account, save all your details, and then apply online."
Thorn said the site, which was launched by RTE ¤ News presenter Sharon Ni Bheoláin, would be of particular interest to individuals who had recently been made redundant, or were considering a career move.
‘‘The site was designed to be used by pretty much anybody, but people searching for new career options should certainly be attracted to BlueBrick," Thorn said. ‘‘The institutes did a lot of work last year on the government’s Labour Market Activation Initiative for people who have recently lost their jobs. We are just waiting on word from them now on this year’s programme, which we hope to be out before the end of May.
‘‘When they come out, we will run a promotional campaign and have a mini-portal on the site with the courses supported by the government funding."
Users who ‘click the brick’ to review the study options presented on the site can access information and advice on a wide variety of courses, from engineering to fashion design, with an emphasis on programmes with a strong workplace focus, according to Thorn.
‘‘The institutes have a focus on career-centred educational opportunities, so you will not find significant numbers of personal development course on BlueBrick.ie," he said.
‘‘We have already seen a lot of interest in courses which allow people to cross over into some of the newer technology areas."
Thorn said candidates who could show a diverse range of qualifications were at an advantage in today’s competitive labour market.
‘‘It is not just a question of going from diploma to degree to masters," he said. ‘‘It is also about considering gaining qualifications in complementary areas, to make yourself more employable. That is not to say that you dispense with your primary qualification, but you make yourself indispensable by having additional qualifications."
BlueBrick.ie features innovative web technology which intelligently suggests areas of interest which the user might not have thought of before.
‘‘The site makes suggestions of other courses or areas based on what you have searched for already, similar to sites like Amazon and Expedia," he said. ‘‘If you are looking at a green energy course, it will remember what other things people who looked at green energy before also looked at, and prompt you to look at those courses too. For example, someone with an electrical installation qualification might be pointed towards courses around sustainable energy."
The courses and modules listed on BlueBrick.ie are offered in a variety of formats such as evening classes, part-time courses and distance learning. One of the aims of the project is to double the number of part-time and flexible learning students within the Irish institute of technology sector.
‘‘We are seeing increasing evidence of colleges taking a very strategic and focused approach to seeing how they can convert more of their programmes to flexible learning," he said. ‘‘There is everything from traditional part-time format of Friday evening and Saturday morning, which is perfectly appropriate in many places, right the way through to programmes where a lot is done online.
‘‘We have 400 engineering students at one institute studying pretty much their complete course online. They only come into the classroom about once a month."
Thorn said visitor numbers to the site were growing at present.
‘‘We are currently at around about 2,500 visitors per month," he said. ‘‘We know what proportion of those are new, which are returning, how long they are staying and what sorts of things they are looking at. We find that people are using it as a research tool, with an average visit of four minutes, which is quite significant."
BlueBrick.ie is one element of a €16 million, four-year flexible learning reform of Ireland’s institute of technology sector, led by Thorn, whose previous job was president of IT Sligo, and part-funded by the Higher Educat ion Authority’s Strategic Innovation Fund.
‘‘The project’s two main objectives are to build flexible learning capacity within each of the institutes and to collaboratively promote part-time and flexible learning opportunities," said Thorn. ‘‘We provide central administrative support, run workshops around various aspects of flexible learning and review each institute’s annual flexible learning operational plan. In the two years the project has been up and running, we have seen a much greater awareness of flexible and part-time learning across the sector."
The flexible learning project fits with a refocusing of emphasis within Ireland’s institutes of technology towards providing more lifelong learning opportunities, Thorn said.
‘‘The IOTs were initially established to provide vocational higher education which focused on the needs of the workforce," he said. ‘‘Over the last 20 years, a lot of attention switched to the needs of school-leavers. About four years ago, we decided to refocus in particular on flexible and part-time education.
‘‘Initially this was to do with the whole skills shortage area but, as the project got going and problems started to hit the economy, it became apparent that we were doing something very valid. For example, IT Limerick responded to the redundancies at Dell by using funding allocated from this project."
Thorn said that the reform programme also involved the institutes adapting their course offerings to better suit the requirements of mature students and those who wish to study part-time while working.
‘‘We are seeing a massive increase in the use of minor and special focus awards. These are very much career-focused courses," he said.
‘‘The changes could be something as simple as rearranging the timetable, or it could be as complex as incorporating the use of online technologies."
Thorn said that, if the BlueBrick.ie project was successful, information about modules and programmes offered by all Irish third-level institutions could be incorporated.
‘‘We plan to continue to develop it this year and next year," he said. ‘‘Our hope is then that the state would see this as an important piece of infrastructure for Irish learners and continue to support it.
‘‘We understand the HEA would like to see all publicly-funded higher education institutions brought into BlueBrick, but work would be required to integrate it with each of the different systems at the universities."
Thorn said flexible learning developments coming down the line might include modular programmes combining subjects useful to learners from across different courses and institutions.
‘‘We are running some pilot programmes at the moment to see if we can get institutions to work together in particular areas," he said. ‘‘That is more an academic regulation and requirements matter than a technical issue. It is about getting institutions to work closely together, recognise each other’s qualifications, and so on."
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