English My Way – supporting people to improve their English language skills

In 2013 the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) ran the English Language Competition, an opportunity for organisations to propose projects, which would enable more people to learn English and integrate more easily into their communities.

Tinder Foundation worked in consortium with BBC and British Council to create English My Way, a classroom based learning programme aimed at people with English languages skills below Entry Level One. Whilst British Council and BBC used their skills as ESOL (English for speakers of other languages) experts to build the course curriculum and additional resources, we built the website and set about finding a group of UK online centres who had experience of teaching English. In April 2014, 56 centres began delivering the course across many of the 29 priority areas outlined by DCLG.

 

“The English My Way course takes a blended approach, providing resources in a variety of different mediums, including paper resources that tutors and volunteers can use with their learners, as well as video, audio and interactive e-learning sessions, giving many learners on the programme their first taste of digital skills.”

Craig Salisbury, Project Coordinator


 


And the project has been so successful than in March 2015 we learnt we had been successful in securing funding for a second year of the programme, which will see more UK online centres funded to deliver the course, as well as new content being added to the English My Way platform.

“I speak a little English with my children at home and when I go shopping or to the doctors. It really helps.”

Samina, an English My Way learner



Disrupting adult learning through technology – our project with Innovate UK

The project, which began in October 2014, aimed to disrupt the adult and community learning (ACL) sector by radically increasing the adoption of digital technologies within teaching and learning.

 

innovate

Funded by Innovate UK, the team carried out an in-depth examination of the technological, institutional and pedagogical factors that contribute to success in digital learning. The project aimed to test ways technology could open up adult and community learning to new audiences, and broaden its reach. As part of our research we talked to learners, volunteers, tutors and managers in the ACL sector, as well as key decision makers and OER providers about digital as an enabling tool, and barriers to its adoption.

We intend to use our research findings, along with our strong history of facilitating learning, to develop a service that equips ACL tutors and managers with the digital solutions they need to deliver learning that helps reach many more people, particularly those who wouldn’t traditionally engage with informal learning.


READ ABOUT SOCIAL CHALLENGES & DIGITAL SOLUTIONS