Since the NLN programme first began in 1999, the NLN Materials have grown to nearly 1,000 hours of e-learning materials across a wide range of subjects from Floristry to Business Studies. Spanning the curriculum, they can easily be fitted into existing teaching and learning.
Access to the materials is available through a range of portals, depending on which post-16 sector you are a member of. You can link to these portals from this website.
The materials have been created as small episodes of learning to give plenty of flexibility, which generally take about 20-30 minutes to complete.
They are not whole courses but a series of small units selected from the curriculum. They allow learners the opportunity to remember and practice new information, and take part in some form of assessment to check that the learning has been understood and the learning outcome(s) achieved.
Because they give the learners things to do and a chance to think for themselves - and they are fun. The learner can make mistakes and have the chance to try again. There is plenty of inbuilt help if they get stuck but the materials are very intuitive. They are a great way to revise topics or to help prepare for a class. Some of the materials include educational games, which enable learning to take place without the student realising.
Commercial developers, along with subject matter experts, with the full involvement of a wide range of colleges and college consortia. All of the materials were fully tested by tutors and students, and trials took place at the Royal National College for the Blind.
The following PDF file provides a concise and compelling two-page introduction to the NLN Materials, and can be freely distributed. Note that the ILT Mentor programme mentioned is no longer running.
NLN Materials fact-sheet
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