EMPLOYABILITY EXPERTS FOCUS ON QUALITY IMPROVEMENT WITH NEW ONLINE OBSERVE TOOL

Employability and skills provider Fedcap is one of the first organisations to invest in a new online technology system to enhance learning and assessment through collaborative observations. 

Fedcap, which delivers employability programmes across the UK to people who have been in long-term unemployment, have disabilities and /or health issues, is currently rolling out education software specialist Mesma’s insightQ Observe module across East and South West of Scotland as well as the Midlands. 

Eighty people at Fedcap will have access to the modulein a move that will not only improve their quality levels but will also provide them with more self-ownership and help identify good practice, which then can be further adopted company-wide.

Replacing a paper-based system, insightQ Observe will be an enhanced strategic tool, allowing provider to centrally schedule and capture the outcomes of ongoing and wide-ranging observations, throughout the learning journey. 

It will place the emphasis on individual ownership of resulting actions to improve learning practice. The module will offer people readily accessible information for more rapid and effective monthly reporting and feedback, helping to identify trends and direct resources to where they are most required.

A key feature of Fedcap’s application will be to encourage personal reflection, greater transparency and peer observation as part of the wider quality improvement model.

Sandra Russell, head of quality assurance for Fedcap, said: “Quality levels are expected to improve through the promotion of smarter working practices and better monitoring of systems.

“We have been using insightQ, which is a great tool, for some time now to support improvement planning and self-assessment. Introducing the Observe module will bring a new dimension, enabling the team to take even more ownership of continuous improvement processes and support ISO9001.

“We expect it to also help us identify good practitioners whose ideas and working methods can be shared amongst colleagues and adopted across all our operations to drive quality assurance and raise standards.”

Fedcap is also assessing Mesma’s Enquiremodule,which enables training providers to determinethe detail of planned reviews, create an action calendar and allocate to team members, capturing the findings and any required remedial action.

A versatile and cost-effective web-based resource, Mesma insightQ enables important areas of the self-assessment process and the associated improvement plan activities to be allocated to authorised people within a training environment. Its key purpose is to drive accountability to improve educational provision for students and learners. Fedcapintroduced the Observemodule as part of its online quality improvement software offer, boosting the range of services currently provided across the education spectrum.