CURRICULUM VITAE
+33 (0) 553 88 96
44 email:
lesley@vantaggio-learn.com
07730
609646 www.vantaggio-learn.com
LESLEY
MACKENZIE-ROBB
Lesley
is an independent eLEARNING AND COMMUNICATIONS consultant, specialising in the
research, analysis, strategic design, management and deployment of technology
supported blended learning solutions for education and training in the post-16
sector. She has almost 20 years’ experience
in managing projects from strategic to implementation, with proven analytical
and problem solving skills. Lesley has
also researched and written numerous papers and studies on eLearning and
communications technologies, on subjects including technical frameworks and
interoperability, accessibility, quality frameworks for pedagogy, managing
change in the learning environment and Automatic Speech Recognition and
Assistive Technologies.
SKILLS & ACHIEVEMENTS
Effective strategic solutions for
enterprise wide personnel development and education requirements:
·
Blended
Learning Programme Manager for Cambridge
ESOL, University of Cambridge, responsible for the management, development
and launch of international blended learning systems and content, including
assessment of appropriate Learning Platforms and content design, taking account
of interoperability and accessibility requirements in various nations.
·
Responsible
for the design and build of a Learning and Skills portal (membership based) for
GoSkills Sector Skills Council, and
the negotiation of a single-sign on protocol and technology solution for third
party providers of content for access via the portal. Also, responsible for establishing an
internal e-Strategy team for the Council, and steering the development of the
e-Strategy.
·
Designed
and successfully implemented an all new blended learning system, including
bespoke Performance and Learning Management System and content, to deliver
vocational training and qualifications to more than 8,000 dealer based
technical personnel throughout the Peugeot
franchise network in the UK.
Ability to analyse complex issues
and develop pathways:
·
Led a
research team to investigate the use and benefits of controlled vocabularies
throughout the education sector as well as drawing comparisons with other
public sectors, resulting in a number of strategic recommendations, for Becta (British Educational
Communications and Technology Agency), and the DCSF Information Standards Board.
·
Worked
with the Environment Agency and Cabinet
Office to determine key competencies and skills required for Strategic
& Tactical Incident Management, and then transformed these into a blended
learning solution for 1000 senior managers to ensure consistent levels of
ability throughout the organisation.
·
Produced
a study which mapped and analysed the available e-learning expertise across
·
Researched
and reported on solutions to successfully engage with hard to reach learners
using technology based intervention programmes, for
·
Researched
and produced a paper for DfES synthesising
an approach to technical standards and frameworks for interoperability for ICT
in the education sector.
·
Led a
specialist team of eLearning experts from around
Strategic and tactical project
management and organisational skills:
·
Joined
with Qinetiq in a consortium
including Cranfield University to
analyse and develop a range of solutions for the delivery of technology
supported learning for military personnel on modelling and simulation
techniques to support synthetic environment based acquisition procurement
methodologies.
·
In the
role of project manager and co-ordinator, successfully launched Becta’s innovative new vocabulary
management services for both government agencies and industry. These web services enable owners of
controlled vocabularies to manage their assets and publish them dynamically to
one single portal for use by education content publishers. Also responsible for
bringing the service to the attention of the DfES Information Standards Board, resulting in being tasked with
setting up a system-wide Special Interest Group with the remit to develop a
strategy for controlled vocabularies for the whole system.
Innovative design skills:
instructional, creative & technical:
·
20
years’ experience in designing, developing and project managing technology
based learning solutions, including pioneering instructional and creative
designs for the Environment Agency, Ministry of Defence, Peugeot Motor Company,
BP and British Energy, as evidenced by the high success rates achieved by the
learning communities, plus innovative technical solutions such as the use of
live webinars and in-camera mentors to support both individuals and learning
communities.
2004 – Present Principal eLearning and communications consultant practitioner with
Vantaggio Ltd, a specialist
technology supported learning solutions
consultancy:
§
January
2008: commissioned by
§
November
2007: awarded the contract by Becta to
lead a study into the viability, values and benefits to be accrued through the
introduction of an education sector wide Controlled Vocabulary Strategy for
digital learning resources.
§
August
2007: commissioned by Cambridge ESOL,
Cambridge University, to research, analyse and report on voice
communications systems, including Automatic Speech Recognition, Assistive
Technologies and VoIP.
§
August
2007: commissioned by Doncaster
Metropolitan Borough Council to undertake an independent review of gaps in
technologies and e-learning provision for “hard to reach” learners, to assess
current activities and to make strategic recommendations for future investment
in technologies to support improvements in Basic and ICT Skills amongst
excluded citizens.
§
July
2007: commissioned by Serco to
research and write a paper detailing the feasibility and perceived values to be
gained by implementing federated access management, federated discovery and
push/ portlet technologies within the QIA’s
Excellence Gateway.
§
March
2007 - present: Commissioned by GoSkills
Sector Skills Council to research, develop and implement an organisational
e-Strategy focused on the recently launched learning and skills portal, and to
develop and implement an e-strategy for the organisation.
§
November
2004 – July 07: contracted by Becta to
project manage the development of new controlled vocabularies for the new QCA
Programmes of Study Key Stage 3 and 4 curricula and the new Early Years
curriculum, as an integral part of QCA’s development of a new Portal to host
Programmes of Study.
§
May 2006
– August 2007: contracted by Cambridge
ESOL, University of Cambridge as Blended Learning Programme Manager to
manage the development and launch of various internationally focused blended
learning systems and their content (ongoing).
·
April
06: commissioned by GoSkills Sector
Skills Council to develop Phase 2 of Learning / Membership services
solution for the passenger transport sector, including development of online
learning portal and membership services area.
·
February
06: commissioned by Becta to
research and produce a report on the current LSC requirement for repository
services in respect of NLN learning materials and other DfES learning
resources, and to analyse the market in terms of capability and availability.
·
November
05: Commissioned by Becta to
undertake a research and analysis of existing levels of e-learning related
expertise within government education agencies, mapping this to the DfES
e-Strategy priorities and requirements.
·
October
05: Appointed by Becta’s National
Learning Network to research and resolve a number of complex procurement,
risk analysis and IPR issues relating to content development for the Adult and
Community Learning sector.
·
September
05: Commissioned by Becta to write a
detailed analysis of the issues surrounding Accessibility and Inclusivity in
ICT, with reference to the legal requirements.
·
August
05: Appointed by GoSkills Sector Skill
Council to analyse and develop solutions for the delivery of technology
supported learning to the passenger transport sector which employs almost 1
million people.
·
August
05: Appointed by QinetiQ as the
eLearning expert to research and develop solutions for the delivery of
eLearning to military procurement personnel.
·
July
05: Commissioned by Becta to write
an advisory paper on technical standards and frameworks for interoperability,
for the DfES Content Advisory Board.
·
June
05: Appointed by PricewaterhouseCoopers
LLP as an expert consultant in the Post 16 sector to work as part of a team
tasked with researching productivity time issues in the Further Education
sector as a result of using ICT.
·
May 05:
Commissioned by the European Commission
eTEN project to lead the eLearning team of experts in the evaluation of
commercial tenders from throughout
·
December
04: Commissioned by Becta to
research and analyse the eLearning provision in the Post 16 sector to advise
and inform the future content strategy.
·
December
04: Engaged by the University of
Wolverhampton as commercial and communications strategist to leverage
commercial opportunities afforded by the University’s development of ePortfolio
technologies.
·
November
04: Appointed by Becta as Project
Co-ordinator on Vocabulary Management project (ongoing). Subsequently took over the project as Project
Manager.
·
October
04: Won a tender to undertake a research project into the use and values of
eLearning in the culture sector, funded by the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council.
·
September
04: Commissioned by Becta to
research and write a comprehensive set of best practice guidelines with
exemplars on content packaging and publishing.
·
August
04: Engaged by Rhema Consultants,
specialists in HR management, to design and develop an online personnel
diagnostic tool for HR.
·
January
04: Appointed by DVA as eLearning
consultant to develop internal capability to deliver eLearning.
1988 – 2003 Managing Director of Orchard
Communications, a multimedia and eLearning software developer.
1983 – 1988 Freelance Producer / Director and Writer
working on Channel 4 documentaries, and
in the corporate sector
on promotional/training videos, corporate events and live multi-channel
outside broadcasts.
1979 – 1982 Glasgow University, Master of Arts in
English Literature, Film & Television Studies.
CLIENT TRACK RECORD
Public Sector: Becta,
Museums, Libraries & Archives Council, European Commission, Ministry of
Defence, Environment Agency, DTi, Department of Health, OFWAT, GoSkills Sector
Skills Council, University of Wolverhampton, Bristol and Brunel Universities,
Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Council, Cambridge ESOL (University of
Cambridge).
Private Sector: Serco,
PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, QinetiQ, British Energy, Peugeot Motor Co,
Anglian Water, Southern Water, BP (including Amoco Oil Exploration and
Castrol), Smiths Industries, Westland Helicopter Group, Thales, Securicor
Information Systems, Royal Society of Medicine Press, Astra Zenca, Rhema
Consultants, DVA Ltd.
RESEARCH &
PAPERS
“Education
and Children’s Services Sector Strategy for Vocabularies”, February 2008,
Becta.
“Using
technology creatively to engage hard to reach learners,” October 2007,
Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Council.
“Computer
Based Speaking Tests,” September 2007,
“Excellence
Gateway: a vision for integration”, August 2007, Serco for Quality Improvement
Agency.
“Staring
you in the face: an investigation of the role of training in generating
constraint in problem solving activities”, January 2007.
“Climbing
Mountains: resolving interoperability and accessibility issues with
vocabularies,” March 2006, Learning Lab.
“Towards
a common vocabulary,” March 2006, Becta for the Ministry of Education and
“Hosting
and Repository Services for Post 16 education sector, a Report,” March 2006,
Becta for the LSC.
“Report
and Analysis of expertise within key Stakeholder Agencies mapped to e-Strategy
Priorities,” January 2006, Becta.
“The
effects of hierarchical schemes in encoding and free recall of word lists from
memory: effective learning strategies”, December 2005.
“Options
and recommendations for a commercially viable and sustainable learning solution
in respect of the Passenger Transport Industry,” December 2005, GoSkills Sector
Skills Council.
“The
noise and the silence: Making sense of accessibility and inclusivity in ICT,”
October 2005, Becta for the Content Advisory Board.
“Building
for the future of teaching and learning: technical standards and frameworks for
interoperability”, August 2005, Becta for the Content Advisory Board.
“The
Basic Cognitive Processes of Learning”, April 2005.
“A
study of the impact of eLearning in the Museums, Libraries and Archives
Sector”,
Museums,
Libraries and Archives Council,
“Packaging
and Publishing Learning Objects: Best Practice”, published by Becta, January
2005.
“Trends,
Challenges and Opportunities: the provision of eLearning for the Post-16
education sector”, Becta,
“Change
Management & eLearning: the Challenge”, presented at the
“Guide
to eLearning: a basic guide”, March 2004
“Blended
Learning: a perspective”, August 2004
“Change
Management and eLearning: a marriage made in Heaven”, seminar presented at the
NHS Informatics conference, November 2004.
OTHER
Currently
studying towards a BSc (Hons) degree in Applied Psychology, via eLearning,
through the
Part-time
teaching assistant (contract) with Yeovil College Higher Education Access
Centre lecturing on Research Methods and Statistics in Psychology.