Peter Heilbuth is East Gippsland Institute of TAFE’s Manager of eLearning. This role provides operational management and leadership for the Institute’s ongoing move into online learning. Peter was a Flexible Learning Leader in 2002.

Email: PHeilbuth@egtafe.vic.edu.au

 

Using BLOGS for strategic planning

East Gippsland Institute of TAFE (EG TAFE) believes implicitly that staff input is essential to ensure lasting success for any new initiative. However, the logistical reality of consulting with staff spread across 15% of Victoria is an ongoing challenge.

EG TAFE management needed to consult with staff across the Institute about the proposed new 'Strategic Directions Statement 2004 - 2007'. All the traditional means of consultation were used, including face-to-face meetings, and circulated discussion papers. In addition, the 'Director’s Strategic Directions Website' was developed by the Institute’s e-learning and IT Services teams, to provide an online tool for input.

The strategic directions website was an opportunity to share the latest information on the strategic directions process with all interested staff. It also served to provide an innovative solution to the distance factor, through an innovative e-forum—BLOG (Weblog)—that encouraged staff to have their say.

We were keen to get as many staff members as possible involved in discussing the issues that affect their future. The e-forum, through BLOG, was an obvious vehicle for this process as all staff have access to our Intranet,' said EG TAFE Director, Mr Ray Griffiths.

BLOG was deliberately kept simple, with all comments visible to all readers.

‘We made sure that author details were optional so staff felt encouraged to say what they really thought in the e-forum,’ Mr Griffiths said.

For six weeks, the Website provided a background discussion paper, the previous strategic directions statement and six simple questions for comment within the e-forum. In all, fifty-five separate BLOG entries were posted to the site.

‘I was delighted by the response and the process,’ Mr Griffiths reported. ‘Apart from the valuable staff input through the e-forum, the nature of the medium meant that comments were captured and easily incorporated into the final draft of the new strategy.'

‘Over the last few years, the Victorian VET system has invested substantially in ICT technologies to support our staff and students with their individual learning plans. The e-forum presented a great opportunity to demonstrate the potential that technology provides to us in terms of access to information and opportunity for direct participation.’