Constructing Online Work-Based Learning Placements: Approaches to Pedagogy, Design, Planning and Implementation

137 Pages·2023·1.673 MB·English

by  Lisa Taylor

‘This is a timely addition to the discourse on employability, written in an
engaging and accessible way. The book provides an important resource to
practitioners, academics, and pracademics alike to enhance the success of
their WBL offer. It offers a clear link between theory and practice, culmi-
nating in a workbook that provides a thoughtful and considered level of
practical support, submersing the reader into genuine action to develop
online WBL placements.’
Stuart Norton, Senior Adviser in Learning and
Teaching for Advance HE, UK
‘Work Based Learning (WBL) and the development of employability
skills have been growing, sometimes quietly, as an academic topic for dec-
ades. This book shines a spotlight on WBL as a key part of the curric-
ulum, highlighting the body of knowledge that underpins and endorses
what is often an undervalued subject area and focusing on an outstanding
example of (to paraphrase Plato) “need being the creator”. COVID-19
was the experiment that no one wanted. The higher education sector and,
in particular, WBL were hit significantly, with the cancellation of work
placements across all disciplines. This was a major blow to the students
who relied on these experiences to embed their theoretical knowledge
in practice and to gain the essential employability skills that employ-
ers want. In such a challenging time, creative approaches were needed
to ensure that the students gained essential skills, and PEEP was born.
If you want to gain a deeper understanding of WBL and its evolution
and importance in higher education; to reinforce or endorse an argument
for the development of WBL; or to develop online learning placements
using a toolkit, then look no further. This book has it all.’
Francesca Walker-Martin, Reader in Work Based Learning
at the University of Central Lancashire, UK,
and Chair of ASET, the Work Based Learning
and Placement Learning Association
‘If you want to know about approaches to design pedagogies, assess-
ment, and implementation to support online work-based learning place-
ments, this book is for you. I recommend this book because it is timely
and significant in the post-COVID context. Professor Lisa Taylor has
comprehensively discussed models, strategies, and pedagogical and assess-
ment activities to support relevant stakeholders to better engage with online
work-based learning placements and enhance students’ employability.’
Thanh Pham, Senior Lecturer in Graduate Employability, Globalisation,
and Intercultural Education in the School of Education, Culture, and
Society at Monash University, Australia
‘High quality work-based learning placements are essential to ensure
optimal preparation of students for their “life-wide and life-long employ-
ability journeys”. This robustly evidenced resource offers the pedagogical
and organisational principles to be considered in the design and delivery
of work-based learning placement opportunities. It offers a vital under-
pinning to the transformation of learning and online learning oppor-
tunities seen in recent years and is transferable across all sectors. This
resource has broad value to work-based educators and academics inno-
vating and pushing the boundaries of work-based learning opportuni-
ties across the globe, and its sound pedagogical underpinning to virtual
learning opportunities will ensure sustained efficacy, value, and uptake. I
congratulate and thank the authors for their invaluable and courageous
leadership during the COVID-19 pandemic, driving online work-based
learning opportunities with sound pedagogical foundations, academic
support, and evaluation to sustain the transformation to modern work-
based learning.’
Beverley Harden, National AHP Lead, Deputy Chief AHP (England),
and Multi-Professional Advanced & Consultant Practice Lead
at Health Education England, and Visiting Professor
at the University of Winchester, UK
‘The global higher education sector has had to find innovative and, in
most cases, technology-enabled ways of teaching and ensuring that stu-
dents continue to gain real-world work experiences during the COVID-
19 pandemic. Higher education institutes are increasingly under pressure
to provide high-quality work-based learning opportunities for students
through innovative means to support development of their GPS (global
professional skills) and improve their long-term employment outcomes
through assessment by employers regardless of their location. This book is
a potential game-changer for institutions looking to develop high-q uality
online work placements for students, providing a practical and rigorous
end-to-end framework covering access, quality, scale, technology, curric-
ulum, paedology, and assessment. It will support faculty, students, and
employers in delivering a sustainable, innovative, and high-quality online
learning experience that is outcomes-focused and enhances student
employability – an increasingly critical aspect of higher education.’
Cameron Mirza, Chief of Party for USAID Pre-Service
Teacher Education in Jordan and Board Member
for the Global Impact Initiative

Constructing Online Work-Based
Learning Placements
Constructing Online Work-Based Learning Placements offers a step-by-
step approach to understanding and applying the principles of design
and delivery in online work-based learning (WBL) placements for stu-
dents. A crucial component of employability strategies for higher edu-
cation students, WBL placements are increasingly in need of adaptation
to respond to today’s rapidly expanding online work environments. This
evidence-based book explores the emergent properties and additional
value that online WBL placements provide to student learning and
employability prospects, focusing on effective pedagogy, design, plan-
ning and implementation. The book also presents the Peer Enhanced
e-Placement (PEEP), a pioneering, positively evaluated and award-
winning online WBL placement model that is underpinned by peda-
gogical research and theory. The PEEP has been adapted and adopted by
numerous higher education teams organising online WBL placements,
and the case example included in these pages will guide readers through
their own implementation and collaborations.
Lisa Taylor is Professor of Employability and Learning Innovation and
Associate Dean for Employability in the Faculty of Medicine and Health
Sciences at the University of East Anglia, UK, and a National Teaching
Fellow. Professor Taylor has a decade of experience of employability lead-
ership within higher education, and is passionate about employability,
publishing and presenting widely.

Constructing Online
Work-Based Learning
Placements
Approaches to Pedagogy, Design,
Planning and Implementation
Lisa Taylor
Designed cover image: © Getty Images
First published 2023
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© 2023 Lisa Taylor
The right of Lisa Taylor to be identified as author of this work has
been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright,
Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or repro-
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means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and
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ISBN: 9781032325057 (hbk)
ISBN: 9781032326207 (pbk)
ISBN: 9781003315872 (ebk)
DOI: 10.4324/9781003315872
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This book is dedicated to my husband Ed, and our children Barnaby
and Isabella, for their incredible endless love and support for me,
and my work.