Skills2Learn News
University conference highlights skills needs in Bedfordshire
20th November 2008
Skills2Learn have presented at the University of Bedfordshire in Luton. The event brought together academics and local businesses to discuss how they can work more closely to build a highly skilled workforce in light of recent research by Bedfordshire County Council which revealed that business skills in Bedfordshire are below regional levels.
Almost 90 percent of employers in Bedfordshire believe improving the skills of their employees is very important to ensure they remain competitive. That was one of the findings at the recent Skills to Innovate conference, which was held at the University of Bedfordshire.
Barry Maurer, Business Development Manager for Skills2Learn presented their award winning e-learning programmes created using leading edge technologies such as Virtual Reality, 2D and 3D animation. The programmes are always fully interactive and engage the learner in skill tests and scenarios, making the learning process dynamic, immersive and enjoyable. Barry also showed their latest programme Electrotechnical 2330 just released, which has already received a high level of interest from FE Colleges and Training Centres, Solar is to follow shortly with many more programmes in the pipeline.
Eamonn Keenan, Associate Director at the University said: ”It’s very clear that employers want to address the skills of their workforce. We held interactive sessions to allow delegates to discuss the barriers that are preventing them from making better use of higher-level training. The two major issues that were highlighted by the groups were insufficient time and cost. Employers want to work to overcome these obstacles, which is why we have introduced the Higher Level Skills Partnership – so we can work with employers to find novel ways to address the problems.”
The conference also saw the launch of the Higher Level Skills Partnership – a collaboration between the University and local employers and professional bodies that aims to deliver higher level skills through the development of accredited courses.
