© University of Reading 2006 www.reading.ac.uk/ccms

Destinations® Evolutions

David Stanbury, Joint Acting CETL Director

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Alfred North Whitehead

“… Each individual embodies an adventure of existence. The art of

life is the guidance of this adventure.”

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Of the many

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Partner Fellows

PILOTS

• Birmingham

• Bradford

• Cornwall

• Limerick

• Roehampton

• Ulster

OTHERS

• Brunel (International issues)

• Leeds Met (FDs)

• Liverpool (PBL)

• Oxford (Careers interviews)

• Westminster (Interactives)

• Wolverhampton (Pebble Pad)

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Outline

1. What is Destinations®?

2. Innovation in the Curriculum

3. Experimenting with VLEs

4. Building bridges

5. Redesigning web sites / reinventing Destinations®

6. Exploring new technologies

7. Reaching out to individual clients

8. Forming friendships

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CCMS - a HEFCE funded CETL

1. Development – 40 Fellowships (at Reading and elsewhere)– Destinations®– Beyond the PhD

2. Debate– Research (led by Dr Julia Horn)

3. Dissemination– 8 July Careers Education and Technology conference with

AGCAS – 22 and 23 Sept International Careers Studies Symposium

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Destinations® - What is it?• Advice, information, interactive activities

– 450+ pages– 150 Videos– 50 downloads

• Fully functioning website

• Learning tool configured for flexible curriculum use

• Comprehensive DOTS coverage

• Comes with T&L materials and curriculum models

• Used by 46 educational organisations

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TOPICS VLE

Values

Interests

Careers

PG study

Philosophy

Values

Interests

Careers

Physics

Interests

Careers

PG study

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Wolverhampton

Reading

Bradford

Liverpool

Ulster

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Innovation in the curriculum• Reading

– From 5 to 10 credits– From a one hit wonder to

programme level pattern– Ownership and green light for

change

• Liverpool – PBL for Medical education

• Wolverhampton– PDP and Pebble Pad

• Bradford– Applying for fictional internships

with a Pharmacy company

• Ulster– 16 programmes

• Six lesson plans– Interview skills– Making work experience

work– Assessment centres– Developing employability

skills– Making choices: an

introduction to career planning

– Application forms

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Brunel

Reading

Bradford

Limerick

Cornwall

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Experimenting with VLEs

• Bradford : Course Genie

• Brunel: U-link

• Reading: BlackBoard

• Limerick: Saki

• Cornwall College: Moodle

• Highs and lows– Steep learning curve– More work!– More professional product– Better T&L engagement

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Roehampton

Bradford

Cornwall

Birmingham

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Building bridges• Cornwall

– FD – Professional development modules

• Roehampton– Eddie Tunnah: “Destinations® proved an excellent vehicle for

engaging teaching staff in issues around career management skills… It provided a visual context … for explaining the relevance of sometimes abstract notions e.g. self awareness and reflective practise.”

• Bradford– Roadshow at annual T&L – External Examiner “Another encouraging feature is … Destinations …

It is likely to enhance access to learning opportunities and its potential for customisation to the needs of Bradford students is another positive element.”

• Birmingham– Part of institutional re-positioning of careers service for employability

• Quality T&L resource owned by the CAS

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Brunel

Westminster

Ulster

Limerick

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Limerick

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© University of Reading 2006 www.reading.ac.uk/ccms

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Redesigning web sites

• Limerick– 770 files ammended– Content and branding for Irish context

• Ulster– Extensive contextualisation (e.g. work experience)– Destinations® rebranded forms the core of the Career Development

Centre main site - Ulster GradNav

• Brunel– Whole new Topic for International Students

• Westminster– New interactive exercises for Destinations

• Opportunity to build on extensive resource; but challenge of how to integrate with existing online information

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Bradford

Birmingham

Ulster

Limerick

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Exploring new technologies

• Birmingham– 4 in-depth professionally produced videos with international

students

• Bradford– Local legal employers and ex-placement students videoed

• Limerick– 7 employers > 50 new clips– 12 students > 40 clips

• Ulster– 40 clips to be integrated

• Provides foundation, structure and context

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Roehampton

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Reaching out to individuals

Roehampton• Destinations® icon on the PCs used with students in

interview rooms• Destinations® part of the tool kit of resources Advisors

use in guidance interviews• Non-linearity of Destinations® = important to guide

individual users• NEW ‘Advice’ section

– Addresses commonly occurring presenting problems (e.g. preparing for an assessment centre)

– Links to specific pages within Destinations®

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Limerick

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Forming friendships

• Limerick • Have shared their Irish version with 14 other HEIs that

have bought Destinations®

• Collaborating via the Graduate Careers Ireland (GCI) careers education group with own webportal

• Friendships are about– Trust– Professional encouragement– Fun– Sharing– enrichment

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Development is…

“… a continuous and sometimes unpredictable voyage throughout life, sailing from seas that have become familiar into oceans as yet uncharted toward destinations to be imagined, defined and redefined as the voyage proceeds...”

(Ford & Lerner, 1992)