The SWANI project concluded its work with the final Stakeholder Workshop/Steering Group meeting yesterday. The meeting reviewed the work of the project and noted that all of the key objectives had been achieved and outcomes delivered. It recieved the draft project report and discussed the content. Some minor amendments were made, principally the updating of the number of WBL forms now available in digitised form on the Joomla platform, and the report was then approved for submission to JISC.
The follow on work, dissemination and benefits realisation activities were discussed. It was agreed that a six month period of implementation, testing and evaluation would begin in January 2012, in parallel with the existing paper based WBL administration processes. The outcomes of that evaluation would then be discussed with all the WBL partners, with a view to full implementation thereafter. It was agreed that the successful outcome of the project would be disseminated through appropriate channels in 2012 and this would be led by Prof Toole who would identify and prepare for suitable conference presentation opportunities in the first half of the year. The possibility of organising a Webinar was also discussed.
The meeting concluded by thanking all of the stakeholders for their contribution and commended, in particular, the work of the technical team who created the digitised version of the WBL management and administration system.
Wednesday 14 December 2011
Monday 12 December 2011
End of Project Planning
The SWANI project is due to complete at the end of this month and the project team is in the process of producing the necessary paperwork, particularly the project final report. The latest draft was discussed with the Programme Manager, Rob Englebright, this morning and the final version will be released following the final stakeholder meeting scheduled at Coleg Sir Gar tomorrow.
The plan will now be, following the end of the project, for the new digitised system to run in parallel with the paper based system during the first half of 2012. A review of the system will then take place, in collaboration with all WBL partners, to decide on the future implementation of digitisation on a wider basis.
In terms of project dissemination, it is expected that the project outputs will be included in conference presentations in the new year, and that a journal publication will be planned, possibly as a technical note, that would be of value to others in the community of practice planning similar development.
The plan will now be, following the end of the project, for the new digitised system to run in parallel with the paper based system during the first half of 2012. A review of the system will then take place, in collaboration with all WBL partners, to decide on the future implementation of digitisation on a wider basis.
In terms of project dissemination, it is expected that the project outputs will be included in conference presentations in the new year, and that a journal publication will be planned, possibly as a technical note, that would be of value to others in the community of practice planning similar development.
Thursday 8 December 2011
Acceptance of Digital Pen System
Feedback from the WBL Manager and Auditor in the Welsh Government DfES has confirmed that the use of the digital pen system for signing off all audit documents in the work based learning system is acceptable. Their response states that it meets the requirements of the EU audit process and can be used as planned to complete the digitisation of the management and administration of the programme.
Monday 28 November 2011
Digital Signature Testing Complete
All of the digital forms created for the SWANI WBL project have now been successfully tested with the digital pen and shown to work as planned. The recent steering group meeting discussed the results and approved them. The information is now being presented to the relevant WBL authorities for their agreement to proceed to a full trial during 2012.
Tuesday 18 October 2011
Testing fastdox
To begin the process,the fastdox software was installed and the digital pen registered for use. Although the documentation implied that a postscript laser printer would be needed, a standard Lexmark ink jet printer was tested to see if it had adequate resolution for the pen to record the written script. It had, and this implied that any modern printer would be OK.
The printer was configured for digital paper printing using the setup menu. The effect of this was to add 'fastdox' as a new printer in the list available when using any application that has a print function.
When the print function in a
ny application is selected and the 'fastdox' printer option chosen, the software prepares to print the document concerned on top of a dot matrix that will be recognised by the digital pen. This results in a printed page with a light grey background.
The process of preparing the page for printing also creates a PDF copy of the page which can be stored in any location. All pages are uniquely identified and date-stamped by the software.
The digital pen can now be used to write on the digital paper. All writing is recorded by the pen in an inbuilt memory for subsequent processing. When the pen communicates with the computer hosting the fastdox application (either by a direct docking cradle or via bluetooth/mobile phone), the software is activated and the page is displayed, together with any writing added using the digital pen.
A key feature of the software is the way it allows modifications to the documents to be time-stamped. The original printing date is automatically recorded, as is the most recent 'inking' when it was last annotated. An option is for each alteration to be saved as a separate PDF file which records the date and time the alteration was made. This provides the audit trail for signatures that the project is looking for.
The printer was configured for digital paper printing using the setup menu. The effect of this was to add 'fastdox' as a new printer in the list available when using any application that has a print function.
When the print function in a
ny application is selected and the 'fastdox' printer option chosen, the software prepares to print the document concerned on top of a dot matrix that will be recognised by the digital pen. This results in a printed page with a light grey background.The process of preparing the page for printing also creates a PDF copy of the page which can be stored in any location. All pages are uniquely identified and date-stamped by the software.
The digital pen can now be used to write on the digital paper. All writing is recorded by the pen in an inbuilt memory for subsequent processing. When the pen communicates with the computer hosting the fastdox application (either by a direct docking cradle or via bluetooth/mobile phone), the software is activated and the page is displayed, together with any writing added using the digital pen.
A key feature of the software is the way it allows modifications to the documents to be time-stamped. The original printing date is automatically recorded, as is the most recent 'inking' when it was last annotated. An option is for each alteration to be saved as a separate PDF file which records the date and time the alteration was made. This provides the audit trail for signatures that the project is looking for.
Monday 3 October 2011
Digital Signature System
The Fastdox digital pen system testing began last week. The system was chosen as it allowed physical signatures to be recorded on all formal audit documentation, and a digitised version of the same documents to be transmitted by mobile phone to the central recording system.
The system will be trialled for a further two weeks as operational procedures are devised for efficient use by Training Advisors in the field. The use of the pen will then be incorporated in the overall field testing of the digitised WBL administration system to be carried out over the next two months.
The system will be trialled for a further two weeks as operational procedures are devised for efficient use by Training Advisors in the field. The use of the pen will then be incorporated in the overall field testing of the digitised WBL administration system to be carried out over the next two months.
Steering Group Meeting 26.09.11
The steering group noted that the digitisation of the WBL administration and management documents was at an advanced stage of development and that the use of the digital pen signature system was planned for testing over the next two weeks.
It was agreed that plans could now be put in place for the field testing of the system with the Training Advisors, employers and learners. This would determine the operational procedures that needed to be put into place for the recording of WBL activity, learner progress, and the securing of appropriate audit documentation.
The meeting concluded that the project was on track to achieve all of its targets by the end of the year.
It was agreed that plans could now be put in place for the field testing of the system with the Training Advisors, employers and learners. This would determine the operational procedures that needed to be put into place for the recording of WBL activity, learner progress, and the securing of appropriate audit documentation.
The meeting concluded that the project was on track to achieve all of its targets by the end of the year.
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