Report OL196 Admin., Business Studies and Clerical NVQ materials

The Nuffield Interactive Book System ( NIBS ) is a software package, the development of which was sponsored by the Nuffield Foundation. NIBS was designed to enable severely disabled GCSE and 'A' level students to read and study on screen. This supplementary project was sponsored by the Employment Department and aimed to broaden the scope of the materials in order to encompass vocational courses. The project set out to create a body of materials covering the written elements of the first two levels of the NVQ in Administrative, Business and Clerical ( ABC ) Studies. The materials were designed to be used in an Open Learning or supported study environment. The primary aim of the project was to widen access to NVQs for people with severe physical disabilities. Within this overall objective certain key areas were identified, including the ability: to transfer sufficient ABC materials to meet the requirements of a disabled person studying for levels 1 and 2 (specifically two sources of text and one self-test for each element of the units); to create a single body of materials, as opposed to discrete books; and to provide a support tutor or lecturer with access to students' notes.

Hereward College in Coventry is a college for students with physical disabilities, offering 110 residential places to students from all over the UK. It specialises in teaching NVQ courses, as well as 'A' levels and GCSEs. The college was seeking to align its curriculum with the requirements of the new NVQs. Discussions indicated that the subjects covered by the Administrative, Business and Clerical Studies NVQ could usefully be converted into an interactive computer-based study programme. These would fit into the BTEC first and LCCI (London Chamber of Commerce and Industry) Office Skills courses. The system would incorporate a range of source materials to give a broad view of each subject area, rather than being simply an on-line version of a single resource. Key texts identified were the NEC Abacus series and selected extracts from Pitman publications.

NIBS was chosen as the most appropriate vehicle for the new system because it was designed to allow full access to text and images by severely disabled students. NIBS is not a Computer-Based Training ( CBT ) tool, but a free-form book-reading and self-study system. It can be adapted to serve in a CBT role but would not work well. The software is designed to run on an IBM-compatible computer under Windows. As it incorporates large amounts of text, it is distributed on CD-ROM. Parts or all of it can be copied onto a hard disc, which enables the user to work independently of the CD-ROM, for example on a portable computer. Students' work can be saved to disc or output via a printer.

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This page last updated 24 January 1999.