Adult learners could get up to £1,000 towards their study with NEC to develop their skills and help them to get back into the workplace or to change career

The National Extension College (NEC), is celebrating a very special birthday in 2023 as they celebrate 60 years since the college was founded by Michael Young, Lord Young of Dartington.

Established in August of 1963 as a not-for-profit distance learning provider, NEC has a strong, proud and vibrant heritage of widening access to education. They aim to transform lives and open up possibilities for people of all ages by offering access to essential qualifications that can be studied flexibly, at any time and anywhere.

The NEC 60th Birthday Bursary will support one learner to get back into the workplace or to plan a change of career. One student will get a maximum of £1,000 towards their study with NEC. The college offers a diverse range of courses, including Functional Skills in Maths and English, business courses, GCSEs and A levels. Closing date for applications is Friday 4th August 2023.

NEC Chief Executive, Esther Chesterman, says: “NEC believes everybody deserves a chance to achieve their learning goals, no matter what their circumstances might be. We support learners of all ages to do this.

“The recipient of the NEC 60th Birthday Bursary will gain access to education that draws on NEC’s expertise, quality course materials and dedication to our students. Our flexible online courses will provide them with the freedom to study flexibly around their life and work commitments.”

The bursary is being funded by NEC Trustee and former CEO Dr Ros Morpeth OBE.

Applications for the bursary are especially welcomed from those from lower socio-economic backgrounds for whom finance may be a real barrier to study and who may otherwise miss out on educational opportunities.

Full details about the bursary and how to apply are available on the NEC website. 

What is the NEC?

Established back in August 1963 as a not-for-profit distance learning provider, the National Extension College (NEC) has a strong, proud heritage in widening access to education. Their aim is to transform lives and open up new possibilities for people of all ages by offering access to essential qualifications like GCSEs and A levels, as well as vocational qualifications in management, business and teaching.

Dr Ros Morpeth OBE has been involved with the NEC since 1987 and was a second chance learner herself. In 2002, she was chosen as one of five Britons to become an honorary fellow of the Commonwealth of Learning, receiving the honour at an international awards ceremony in South Africa. In 1994 she received an honorary doctorate from the Open University for services to distance learning.

Ros stepped down from NEC after 16 years as Executive Director in 2003 to follow her interests in international education. She returned to NEC in December 2011. In 2014 she was named the Further Education Leader of the Year by the Times Educational Supplement, and received an OBE for services to further education in the 2015 Queen’s Birthday Honours list. Ros retired as CEO of The National Extension College in 2021 but has remained on the board of Trustees.

www.nec.ac.uk

Get moving with dyspraxia

Campaign calls for greater understanding of dyspraxia to ensure dyspraxic people are supported and encouraged to take part in physical activity

90% of parents said dyspraxia affected their child’s participation in physical activity, while 73% of dyspraxic adults said negative experiences of PE.

Dyspraxia Foundation this week launches a new survey which reveals that people with dyspraxia a form of developmental co-ordination disorder are much less likely to be physically active than their peers, with concerning consequences for their health and wellbeing.

The nationwide survey1 of almost 850 people found that negative experiences of school sports and PE put dyspraxic people off physical activity for life. Only 29% dyspraxic adults and 32% of dyspraxic children achieved the recommended amount of physical activity each week, compared to 61% of adults and 45% of children in the general population. This is worrying due to the impact of physical inactivity on fitness, weight, health and psychological wellbeing in dyspraxic people of all ages.

90% of parents said dyspraxia affected their child’s participation in physical activity, while 73% of dyspraxic adults said negative experiences of PE and school sports had a significant impact on their willingness to take part in physical activity as adults:

“I was made fun of for the way I run, or how clumsy I am. PE lessons as a child were hideous.”

“In PE and in sports clubs as a child I always progressed a lot slower than others which can be very difficult emotionally even when people aren’t judging you. It’s much worse when they are.”

For many, the consequences of being ridiculed, yelled at or ignored were long-lasting with 75% of dyspraxic adults saying they lacked confidence to take part in physical activity. 58% feared embarrassment due to their motor coordination difficulties while 40% were worried about the risk of injury. Other barriers to participation in physical activity included difficulty learning and keeping up with movement sequences, fatigue and sensory overload.

Points out Jonathan Levy, Chair of the Dyspraxia Foundation: “This survey highlighted to us as a charity the worrying and long-lasting impact of negative experiences of PE and school sports on physical activity levels in dyspraxic people. 

"Dyspraxia affects people’s ability to follow instructions, coordinate their limbs and keep up with movement sequences. Having these difficulties pointed out really isn’t helpful, and a lack of understanding, encouragement and support from instructors and peers can seriously dent people’s confidence.”

“The benefits of physical activity for health and wellbeing are well known and it’s important that dyspraxic people feel they can take part. In fact, our survey showed that dyspraxic people who stopped or did less physical activity during the pandemic had the biggest decline in their mental health, while 78% of those who were able to increase their physical activity saw improvements in their physical or mental health, or both.”

“What we need is to raise awareness of dyspraxia and to share approaches and adjustments that encourage dyspraxic people of all ages to be physically active. People will benefit personally from improved sleep, mood and energy levels, while improved health outcomes are better for society as a whole.”

That’s why the Dyspraxia Foundation which is the UKs only national charity dedicated to raising awareness of the condition, is focusing on physical activity for Dyspraxia Week 2022 which takes place from 9-15 October. During the week the charity will be launching a series of resources for parents/carers, adults and professionals.

“Despite their coordination difficulties we know that dyspraxic people can do really well when they find a sport or physical activity that works for them. During Dyspraxia Week we’ll be sharing inspiring stories of dyspraxic people who have achieved sporting success and highlighting sports and physical activities that dyspraxic people enjoy. We hope this will give dyspraxic people the confidence to get involved. We’ll also be launching some resources to help instructors and others be more inclusive and supportive of dyspraxic people.”

Jonathan adds: “Whilst this survey has flagged up some very real concerns about the challenges of accessing physical activity as a dyspraxic person, our charity has a very positive outlook. We know many dyspraxic people who are achieving great things, despite their difficulties. At the Dyspraxia Foundation, we truly believe that nothing should hold dyspraxic people back from enjoying the physical and mental health benefits of physical activity.”

Dyspraxia, a form of developmental coordination disorder affects gross and fine motor coordination in around 5% of the population (2% severely). It also affects organisation, planning and time management, and can affect speech. Males are up to three times more likely to be affected than females. Dyspraxia sometimes runs in families and affects people of all ages.

Please contact 01462 455016 or info@dyspraxiafoundation.org.uk if you would like more information about the Dyspraxia Foundation or to become involved with fundraising or awareness activities during Dyspraxia Awareness Week (9-15 October).

Email: admin@dyspraxiafoundation.org.uk

Web: www.dyspraxiafoundation.org.uk.

How educated you are effects how long you work for

Educational inequality plays key role in how long you work for, according to new research by the University of Cologne.

The study, conducted by Institute for Sociology and Social Psychology researchers Jana Mäcken and Lea Ellwardt, analysed the differences in voluntary and involuntary labour market exit between lower and higher educated workers in 15 European countries.

They found that in 13 of the 15 countries, people with less educational qualifications were more likely to leave the labour market by being let go, or made redundant, than higher educated people.

This is because increased education provides individuals with opportunities to exit the labour market voluntarily as it is typically associated with more attractive, stable, high-income, and healthier working conditions.

“The demographic change represents one of the greatest financial challenges for European pension systems and, to counteract this, political measures – such as raising statutory age, or cutting early retirement options - have been adopted in almost all European countries.

“However, these measures affect older workers differently based on their level of education and runs the risk of exacerbating social inequalities. As lower income workers are more likely to leave the labour market involuntarily, this could widen the pension gaps after the end of working lives, this is known as the social gradient,” says Dr. Jana Mäcken.

This social gradient was largest in Czech Republic, Germany and Portugal, and was the smallest in the Netherlands and Denmark.

The research reveals that for lower educated workers, it is more difficult to reach the new political goal of extending workers lives.

For this reason, the researchers suggest policies that provide training opportunities specifically for low-educated workers to help reduce educational inequalities in labour market.

Furthermore, stricter employment protection legislation would lead to a smaller social gradient in involuntary labour market exit.

The study was published in the Journal of Social Policy.

https://portal.uni-koeln.de/en/sub/uoc-home.

Students recall online course content better when taking notes as a team, research finds

Students who collaborate together on note-taking activities perform better than individual note-takers when recalling course content from online lectures, while individual note-takers perform better on tasks focused on academic writing, finds new research from Nazarbayev University Graduate School of Education.

Matthew Courtney, Assistant Professor at NU GSE, and colleagues compared individual and collaborative note-taking and how the completeness of students’ notes is associated with performance on quizzes and academic writing tasks. 

They focused on 186 students on a course dedicated to learning how to compose a manuscript for an academic journal. Video lectures for the 10-week course were uploaded online.

Students were separated into two conditions, individual note-taking or collaborative note-taking, and used Google Docs to make notes on video content. Those in the collaborative group were asked to do so in small groups of three to five.

Towards the end of each week, students took an online quiz testing their knowledge of the video content. Students enrolled in the scientific writing course also submitted five individual writing assignments.

The researchers found that collaborative note-takers performed better in the weekly quizzes, indicating better recall of content, whereas individual note-takers performed better on the writing assignments, indicating better skill application.

The findings also show that note completeness, the extent to which notes accurately reflect meaningful information from the videos, has no effect on collaborative note-takers’ recall of course content and a negative impact on their skill application. However, note completeness has a positive impact for individual note-takers on both recall and skill application.

Prof Courtney said "Prior research has noted that students are often very poor note-takers. Findings from our study suggests that collaborative note-taking provides an antidote, as students working together create higher quality notes to improve recall. 

"However, despite benefits to recall, collaborative note-taking may not be the most effective way to learn to apply knowledge as a skill as applying knowledge to a real-world problem requires more than just recall.”

These findings were first published in the journal The Internet and Higher Education.

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