The WEA in south east Scotland in partnership with NHS Lothian and UNISON developed the use of Tablets in workplace literacies delivery. WiFi was not available in the teaching spaces and therefore a solution to providing access to the internet had to be found. It was also important that the technology be up to date, portable for tutors to take back and forth, and not too costly. UNISON was able to source funding for the technology, for a Mobile Internet dongle (MiFi) and some apps such as Quick Office for word-processing.
We continue to use the tablets for delivering courses in workplaces where staff have no Internet access. We allocated a small amount from our budget for a tutor who devised and delivered training in using the tablets for teaching. The benefits we have found so far using this technology with literacies learners includes:
- they are very encouraging for learners when starting off, as they are less intimidating than a larger PC
- the Tablets are easy to handle and can be used virtually anywhere.
- There is no need for learners to leave familiar workplace and go to intimidating training suites
- saves time as managers of staff in ancillary jobs would otherwise find it difficult to release them for longish periods of time to travel to another site/venue.
- improves confidence and self-esteem
- uses modern technology with which many are just becoming familiar.