DIGITAL BUSINESS CERTIFICATE

Transcription

1 DIGITAL BUSINESS CERTIFICATE INVITATION TO TENDER FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF AN ONLINE TEACHING AND APPLICATION RESOURCE Introduction The Tech Partnership is being funded by BIS to develop and pilot a new, employer-defined, level, Level 3 Digital Business Certificate, to provide individuals with the digital skills that smaller businesses, in particular, need. The government announcement can be found at the following link: For this pilot, three training providers have been selected to deliver the programme each of whom will be developing their own delivery mechanisms, including online training material, which will be their own Intellectual Property. However, post pilot, the intention is that there will be an off-theshelf online resource owned by the Tech partnership that any training provider wanting to deliver the programme can licence to use to support the delivery of their blended learning-based courses. The Tech Partnership is looking to appoint a delivery partner to develop on behalf of the Tech partnership this online resource. This paper sets out the proposal, and invites anyone who is interested in doing this work to respond by 9am on 8th July Background The Digital Business Certificate is a new national initiative to increase the availability of digital skills to smaller businesses. Research shows that only 61% of UK SMEs have a website, only 14% sell online and only 1% use social media to generate revenue. The annual turnover of UK SMEs could be boosted by 18.8Bn if they all sold and marketed on-line. Employers, through the Tech Partnership, are collaborating to set the standards and to accredit high quality training, designed to tackle the shortage of digital skills in small businesses that have little or no online presence, and to enable them to access industry accredited professionals to support them. A pilot is currently being run, funded by BIS, to test a new type of provision whereby employers collaborate to define the learning outcomes for key roles, accredit high quality training programmes that train people to achieve these outcomes and then certificate the learners who achieve these outcomes. These employer-defined, short, intense, modular courses will deliver skills that

2 employers need. If the pilot is successful then the model could be used to develop additional provision in the digital sector or in other sectors. Background to the pilot Proposition A new industry certification is being established, supported by accredited training courses, which confirm the capabilities of an individual to establish or improve the online presence of a small non-it business. With this certification it is intended that employers will be able to make decisions about subcontractors, recruitment or staff development, with confidence, knowing that an individual has the skills to be trusted with their company s online presence. - The accredited training courses will cover the business, technical and personal skills required to create a customised website using standard development approaches and linking to paypal for payments including using HTML and Content Management Systems - Create web content - Create social media presence for business including Facebook, Linkedin, flickr and Twitter - Use social media to drive traffic to the website Businesses will be able to buy with confidence from the certificated individuals because the courses have been designed and accredited by industry leaders through the Tech Partnership. The learning outcomes Leading employers, through the Tech Partnership, have collaborated to identify the standards and the learning outcomes that underpin this new Digital Business Certificate. These learning outcomes are given at Annex A. Target Market The accredited courses will be relevant to learners from a range of backgrounds, for example Employees in businesses wanting to upskill their existing staff to build or improve their online presence Young people, unemployed people, graduates or returners to work looking to develop a digital business career People wanting to move into technology from another career, including freelance work People wanting to start their own business Those with the Certificate will have demonstrated the skills that businesses need and want to improve their online presence. The businesses looking to employ, or to seek the services of, people with these skills are likely to be:

3 Non IT SMEs with 2 30 staff Who already know they need an online presence Who may or may not already have an online presence but who are not getting the business benefits from this or have the potential to get more business benefits from it Delivery Model Who are businesses whose activities would benefit from an effective online presence Three training providers have been selected to design and deliver a programme to achieve the learning objectives. Each of these programmes will offer approximately 300 guided learning hours, which could for example, be structured as follows 100 taught classroom hours (equivalent to three full weeks) 170 hours of self-study and project work (including on-line learning and practice) 30 assessment hours (testing competence against the outcomes) BIS are interested in innovative approaches to delivery and these pilot programmes will be fastpaced, intensive and modular to provide individuals with focused, flexible training that quickly develops their skills. The detailed delivery model will, of course, need to be appropriate for the target market and will be determined by the training provider. Assessment will be completed through internal verification by the training provider. External moderation will be undertaken by the Tech Partnership who will also certificate the learners The Pilot The Tech Partnership has appointed three training providers to deliver their programmes in one of the following geographic areas: Manchester, London and Sussex. In total the programme will be delivered to 100 learners, with rolling profile of starts from late May and with all learners completing their training by the end of December If the pilot is successful the course is expected to be submitted to the SFA for approval for public funding from January 2016 and the model will be applied to other occupations and other sectors.

4 Summary specification for the development of the online resource What it is The online resource will support the delivery of the blended learning-based courses which in turn are designed to deliver the learning outcomes that are set out in Annex A. It is important to note that the online resource will not deliver the totality of a course, nor any particular learning outcomes; instead it will enable training providers to deliver blended learning courses. This means it will include the following functionalities: Teaching support for training providers Learning and application of the learning by the students Assessment of a learner s competence at the end of the course by training providers The objectives The overall objectives of the online resource are to enable: Training providers which don t currently have the ability to deliver online learning in this area to quickly and cost-effectively get to market with a blended learning-based course by utilising the off-the-shelf online resource, so they won t have to build their own Learners to benefit from the opportunity to learn and apply the learning away from the training providers facilities (at home, in the evening etc) Employers and learners to be confident that the quality of the online element of the training is of high quality because it has been developed by a competent organisation in the field, with input from training providers, learners and employers The approach we are looking for The successful applicant will develop the online resource using the following approaches: They will build on the learning from the current pilot and any other best practice in online learning The initial proposal and a beta version of the resource will be tested with the stakeholders: training providers, employers and learners and revised accordingly The online learning will demonstrably support the delivery of the learning outcomes in Annex A It will be future-proofed, enabling new content to be added in as necessary in a costeffective way It will support a modular approach to the delivery of courses It will facilitate both teaching (by training providers) and learning plus application of the learning (for learners)

5 The solution will need to be compatible to work on all platforms, accessible in the workplace, home and providers locations. Materials must support outcomes and be flexible enough to update as technology and outcomes change. Therefore continued development must be built into costs Our requirements There is a budget of up to 60,000 inclusive of VAT where applicable for the production of this resource. The final version must be completed by 30 November A beta version must have been tested with stakeholders by 18 September The successful bidder will have demonstrable experience in: (a) Developing online teaching, learning and application of learning capabilities (b) Digital marketing Selection Process If you are interested in being considered for this work, please submit a short proposal, covering the following areas Initial response and proposals in relation to how you would approach and undertake this work Preliminary thoughts on the design, structure and content of the on-line resources Background experience and skills, in relation to the development of online resources of this type Background experience, in relation to digital business and SME requirements as relevant to this work Timescales and availability Indicative costs Please e mail your proposal to Mark Heholt at mark.heholt@thetechpartnership.com Responses need to be received by 9am on 8th July 2015.

6 Annex A Digital Business Certificate: Learning Outcomes Overview This certification will be delivered through 300 GLH and will confirm an individual has the business, technical and interpersonal skills to do the following: - Design, develop and implement web content for a business containing linked pages and dynamic features using standard web development approaches - Create an appropriate social media presence to enhance a business presence - Manage and develop existing online presence, including web content and simple databases, to meet business objectives Entry Requirements There are no formal entry requirements but it is suggested that candidates should have some basic skills in IT Literacy and an understanding of the internet and the course will be open to the following groups of people: Employers wanting to upskill their existing staff to either create an online presence for the first time or improve their online presence Young people, unemployed people, graduates or returners to work wanting to move into digital business careers People wanting to move into technology from another career, including going freelance People wanting to start their own e-enabled business Business Competencies BC Module 1 Digital Business Objectives Ability to explain an organisations business objectives, including the products, service offerings, markets and organisational structure to remain competitive Demonstrate the ability to identify the brand and values of a business and how these are portrayed to the different types of audiences Ability to explain the role of digital technology, and in particular the web and social media presence, in contributing toward achieving the objectives of a business and its different departments

7 BC Module 2 Implementation and Design Demonstrate and understand the different types of Websites e.g. Personal, Mobile Device, Blogs, Informational, E-commerce Be able to contribute to the planning of the life cycle of a website for maximum business performance Contribute to a project plan for the design, development, implementation, optimisation and testing of a business website Contribute to the design of a specification for a website appropriate to the business needs Construct a project plan for the design, implementation, and optimisation of social media to meet the needs of a particular business BC Module 3 Digital Security Understand the importance of business data and of data privacy legislation, the role of analytics in providing business information, and the relationship between databases and management systems for the capture, storage and reporting of effective data Understand and implement the fundamentals of website and social media security Explain the key benefits and risks arising from the use of websites and social media in a specific business Technology Competencies TC Module 1 - Web Design, develop, implement and test at least two different types of web content for a business website Optimise website deployment for mobile devices (e.g. smartphones and tablets) Demonstrate how website design maximises the user experience and interaction Apply graphics to create relevant artwork for inclusion on web pages using standard tools Implement a range of relevant social media tools for a business environment (e.g. LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter) TC Module 2 Social Media Understand and implement Social Media Optimisation for a business Understand and implement Search Engine Optimisation to maximise the use of a business website TC Module 3 Data and Analytics Create and connect simple databases for data capture for digital marketing purposes Perform basic analytics and reporting of web traffic and social media activity to optimise the productivity and performance of the website Understand and explain how to maintain and reconfigure web and social media content on an ongoing basis aligned to changing business needs

8 Professional and Interpersonal Skills Demonstrate competency in questioning and active listening Consistently demonstrate timeliness, focus when faced with distractions, and the ability to complete tasks to a deadline with high quality Make concise, well-structured verbal presentations which take into account the audience viewpoint Communicate effectively in producing professional customer/audience focussed text copy for the web and social media to achieve the desired business outcomes (e.g. to raise awareness of new products and services) Understand and be able to work both independently and as part of a team Give and receive feedback constructively, demonstrating how it is incorporated it into the individual s own development Assessment Assessment will be completed through Internal Verification by the providers and external Moderation through the Tech Partnership Certification The Tech Partnership will certificate the course