Since April 2012 Sero has been playing a key role in the development of the Open Discovery Space (ODS). ODS runs from 2012 to 2015 and is one of the European Commission’s largest technology-enhanced learning projects. The ODS consortium comprises over 50 partner (Universities, government agencies, educational networks, private sector research and industry) organisations from more than 20 countries.  More importantly, during the main phase of the project, ODS will support 2,000 pilot schools; the evaluation and validation process will involve 10,000 teachers and 30,000 students. There are already well over 200 active pilot schools across Europe.

The Open Discovery Space has three core objectives

• to empower stakeholders through a single, integrated access point for eLearning resources from dispersed educational repositories.
• to engage stakeholders in the production of meaningful educational activities by using a social-network style multilingual portal, offering eLearning resources as well as services for the production of educational activities.
• to assess the impact of the new educational activities, which could serve as a prototype to be adopted by stakeholders in school education.

ODS is very much a ‘user-centred’ undertaking with the emphasis on bringing teachers together and helping them to access and/or create the resources, tools and services they require to enhance the way they want to teach. The initial ODS focus has been on Science Technology Engineering and Maths (STEM) but it is only natural that this extends to other areas of the curriculum and to cross-curricular activities. Students, parents and policymakers have all been engaged in the initial phases and will continue to be valued members of the ODS community. Several European-wide (and indeed global) ODS activities have already taken place. These include:

• the virtual linking of rural schools,
• a pan-European, ”Space Exploration Competition”,
• a live virtual tour of CERN and
• numerous summer schools and workshops for teachers.

Sero’s role is to coordinate many of the research, foresight and horizon-scanning activities and to provide the reports that will inform the future shape of the Open Discovery Space project.  Amongst the many important research issues already covered are Open Educational Resources, Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), Emerging Business Models, Responses to Austerity, Learning Object Repositories and Open Learning Management Systems.

‘Making IT Personal: Joining the DOTs’ was a highly successful EU-funded project which we ran, on behalf of Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council, from 2009-2012. Many such projects cease to operate once the EU funding has expired.  Not so the DOT scheme!

Although external funding stopped in September 2012, the project has refused to lie down because the model (mobilising the digital expertise already present in the community to help others) is such a compelling one.  Digital Outreach Trainers know enough about technology to help others make the first steps in a way that responds to their individual needs, whether that be using Skype to see and talk to distant relatives, shopping online or using BBC iPlayer to watch TV programmes when they missed the live broadcast.

The Sheffield College continues to use the scheme, with volunteer students helping peers and members of staff to make better use of technology.  Game2Engage, an offshoot of the DOT scheme where iMedia students introduce digital games to students with special needs, is making a huge contribution towards better integration of special needs within the mainstream of student activity.  This voluntary work by DOTs also helps them: it improves their chances of finding work after college, since their CV can describe the positive contributions they have made.

Beyond the College, Sheffield Adult Education’s Community Learning Trust is using the DOT model to help their teachers and learners make better use of technology in lessons, homework and administrative tasks.  By using online learning, it should be possible to reach more learners than is currently possible without extra funding.

Similarly the NHS in Sheffield is using DOTs in its outreach Therapy Services to help those with mental illness to find jobs and accommodation.  But the non-hierarchical nature of the scheme means that service-users who feel comfortable with technology are also becoming DOTs and helping members of staff, thereby improving their own self-esteem, which is so critical for recovery from mental illness.

Too often externally-funded projects provide bright sparks of innovation which quickly die down once the funding runs out. Happily this has not been the case with the DOTs scheme, thanks in part to strenuous efforts by members of the Sero team to maintain and share the model, which we’re convinced has much to offer for the Digital Inclusion agenda.