Dear Jocleyn,
as I am sure that you know, there is no one answer to this...
At London Met we have many different locations for Learning Development
- and I really like being placed in the Learning Centre on the North
Campus. This is because when we previously inhabited rooms in a Faculty
we could not customise them nor make them feel like nor be dedicated and
resourced LD spaces. They were not permanent rooms so you could not
build up student familiarity with that space...
In the Learning Centre we have a contained space supported by both Study
Skills & Maths Collections maintained by the library - we have filing
cabinets and cupboards for resources - and places to put up posters,
flyers and leaflets. Students know that we are there and pop by that
space to see what we are up to even if they have not seen any of our
more recent advertising. Recently we have been allocated an adjacent
teaching, learning & staff development room and that too enhances what
we do - and how we are seen.
At the same time I can see that if you had those attributes in a Faculty
space then you would be gathering around you both the real resources and
the more ephemeral 'feel' of high quality Learning Development provision.
Previously I have seen presentations by Learning Learning Development
people (Margo Blythman and Susan Orr) that argue that in order to gain
adequate funding & resources for Learning Development the real location
is within site of senior management so that they can actually SEE what
you do - and how many students use your services and resources...
Best,
Sandra Sinfield
JOCELYN DONACHIE wrote:
> Dear all,
>
> I am fairly sure this issue has been raised previously but it has now
> become an issue for me so I would welcome comments, invitations to
> visit, etc.
>
> At present I lead a Learning Development Unit based firmly in one
> faculty. Our work is a mix of one to one support and targetted
> lectures, much as Pat Hill describes.
>
> There is a suggestion that this support becomes centralised: ie placed
> within the uni library rather than in a faculty. Although I understand
> the rationale behind this, I would welcome comments from similar
> experience elsewhere.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Jo
--
Sandra Sinfield Coordinator Learning and Language Development
_______________________________________________________________________
The Learning Development Unit (LDU), London Metropolitan University,
North Campus, LC2-12, The Learning Centre, 236-250 Holloway Road, N7 6PP.
Direct line: call Sandra Sinfield: (020) 7 133 4045
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For LDU City Campus, contact: [log in to unmask]
or call Pam Dorrington on: (020) 7 320 1125
http://www.londonmet.ac.uk/college-of-london/ldu/
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