Guidelines on using the Virtual Training Suite in taught courses and VLEs

This page links to free teaching and training resources written to help staff at colleges and universities use the RDN Virtual Training Suite with their students. You are welcome to adapt these resources for use locally.

Case-Studies | Linking from your Web pages and Virtual learning Environments (VLEs) | Posters and Slides | Higher Education Resources | Further Education Resources

The RDN Virtual Training Suite is a free, national service offering online tutorials that can help students develop their Internet, ICT and information literacy skills.

It is becoming increasingly hard to keep up with the ever-changing world of online information resources, and yet these resources have a vital role to play in higher and further education. These tutorials can help students to become more effective Internet users and eLearners, and the subject-focus means they can learn in a context that has relevance for them.

Case-studies

How are others using the Virtual Training Suite? These case studies offer ideas and materials from lecturers and librarians which might be adapted for use in your institutions.

The case studies include lesson plans, resources (workbooks, handouts and powerpoint presentations) and ideas for class activities.

Using the RDN Virtual Training Suite in:

• a staff development workshop
• library information skills training
• teacher training / staff development in ICT
• courses, building in group work activities
• embedding in Virtual Learning Environments

Linking from your Web pages and Virtual learning Environments (VLEs)

Guidelines and examples on how to link to the VTS from your course materials

Posters and Slides

Posters

For your common room, computer room or department notice board, we offer A4 posters that you can download and print for free. There is one for each tutorial, or if you prefer, a generic one for the whole suite:

Poster Download Page

Slide Presentation

This is a thirteen-slide presentation that can be used in your own teaching and training sessions. It offers a basic introduction to the suite.

Download: Microsoft Powerpoint format (.ppt)

Resources for Higher Education Users

1. Workbook for New Users

This workbook contains exercises to help readers get to know the tutorials and gain confidence to use them in their work. (8 sides)

Download: Microsoft Word (.doc) format | Rich Text Format (.rtf)

2. Student Handout: Information for New Users

This is a short handout to introduce students to the tutorials. (2 sides)

Download: Microsoft Word format (.doc) | Rich Text Format (.rtf)

3. Information for Teachers and Trainers

This gives examples of how the Virtual Training Suite is already being used in Higher and Further Education and suggests further activities that you can do straight away. (6 sides)

Download: Microsoft Word format (.doc) | Rich Text Format (.rtf)

Resources for Further Education users

1. Subject specific Teaching Packs

Each further education (FE) tutorial in the RDN Virtual Training Suite contains an online subject specific Teaching Pack. These provide worksheets and case studies showing how the tutorial can be used in the teaching of particular curriculum areas and in Key Skills training. These Teaching Packs can be accessed from the left hand navigation bar of each tutorial and can be read online or printed in an optimised version.

2. Running your own training events/workshops

The RDN Virtual Training Suite provides training materials that teachers/librarians/ILT Champions can freely download, copy and use in staff development and training events.

For ideas on how to introduce staff and students to the Virtual Training Suite see:

"Spreading the Word"
Download: Adobe Acrobat format (.pdf) | Microsoft Word format (.doc)

For worksheets and teaching support materials for training events see:

"Guided worksheet to support hands-on sessions"
Download: Adobe Acrobat format (.pdf) | Microsoft Word format (.doc)

"Teaching Pack summary"
Download: Adobe Acrobat format (.pdf) | Microsoft Word format (.doc)

Please Tell Us How You Get On!

We are always very pleased to receive ideas, experiences and feedback on the use of these tutorials in your teaching and training. Send them by email to rdn-vts@bristol.ac.uk. Please encourage your students to fill in the online feedback form at the end of each tutorial in the training suite. If you produce your own handouts, presentations or assignments related to the tutorials, we would welcome the opportunity to share them with others via this page.