 Good morning. So our project is the Student Success Toolbox for flexible learners, supporting transitions from thinking about study to the first weeks. So the objective of our project is to produce a toolbox of eight digital tools that will address the needs of flexible learners during the early stages of the study bicycle. And we want to make these eight tools available to all Irish higher education institutions. So, wnaethwn ni'n meddwl yn bwysig? A wnaeth ddweud ohol ym mhyself ar gyfer ymlaen nhw'n meddwl yma, sy'n dweud ymlaen nhw'n meddwl ar gyfer ymlaen nhw'n meddwl, o fewn yma o bethau ymlaen nhw ymlaen, o fewn ymlaen nhw. Rydyn ni'n meddwl i'r llef, ymlaen, ymlaen, ymlaen nhw'n meddwl i'r ei wneud, ac yn oed yn cael eu cyfaint o ymlaen nhw ymlaen nhw, o'r gweithio ymlaen nhw eithaf o'r cyfaint. While their participation is increasing in higher education, a high percentage of first time of those embarking on higher education for the first time will fail to make effective transitions. This is a significant problem both globally and within the Irish context, so there is a major problem with completion and retention rates. We want our tools to address the issues they experience during the early stages of the study life cycle, and we want to build their resilience so they will successfully transition and progress with their studies. We've divided our project into five phases. The first phase is the setup that was formalising the team members from each partner institution. I think there are most somebodies from here from every single one of them, so it's Manutha University, Dundon Institute of Technology, Institute of Technology Slido and ourselves at DCU. It's being co-ordinated by DCU and led by James. We use Google Docs to share our project documents and we use Google Hangouts for virtual meetings. We're also just involved in the signing and setup of the memorandums agreement. The second phase of our project is the analysis of the literature review, so we looked at two topics, flexible learners and digital tools to support flexible learners in the early stages of the study life cycle. The findings of the literature review guided the eight tools that we have chosen to develop. Phases one and two are complete and we're now in phase three where we're creating the eight tools. The fourth phase will be the evaluation of the tools and we will have pilot evaluations across our partner institutions. In the fifth and final phase project we will produce a guide on the digital tools and that will detail how institutions can deploy the tools in their settings. We will also deliver three workshops at three different higher education institutions and we will make the tools available via Creative Commons license. I'll hand you over to James for the rest of the presentation. Looking at some of the outcomes that the project has achieved, we have created a project website from where we are promoting the project, disseminating information relating to the project such as its outcomes, events where the project is going to be discussed and eventually this is where people will go to access the tools. For us, the biggest output we have so far is the work that was done during phase two. Phase two of the project has produced a targeted analysis of these existing literature and an analysis of the existing tools available internationally that are put out there to support flexible learners transition into higher education. The documents relating to these outputs are going to release those through the project website in July. The analysis of the literature was carried out by a really good researcher, Keira Galvin, who worked under my direction but with input from all the project partners. That analysis of the literature was underpinned by a systematic review methodology and the way in which the analysis was targeted was that it focused on literature since 2005 in English in full text, or available from full text international journals using identified keywords and databases or where information was freely available online. There was a little more to it than that. There was a follow on of asking for expert opinion on where we should look, citation tracking, building up a body of literature to look at. The analysis of the existing tools then involved an intensive review of the website of 22 leading flexible learning institutions in four regions. Given that we don't have enough time today to go into a great deal of detail about what we found in that analysis of the literature given it's about a 45 page document, but we wanted to try and pick out some of the key points that came through in that phase two analysis. The key questions that drove the analysis are who are flexible learners, what do we know about student success and how does what we know about supporting transitions relate to those first two questions. A strength of this analysis is that it showed that there isn't that much literature specifically focusing on what tools are being used to support flexible learner transition into higher education and our analysis of the literature can now go towards starting to try and plug that gap. A finding where literature was found relating to tools that are being used in this way, it often tended to focus on initiatives within single institutions. The analysis found that the literature that is there doesn't match up that well to the range of tools that you find are actually being used in institutions. So there's a mismatch there between the literature and what you find when you look at institutional websites. The analysis supported the idea that during flexible learners transitions into higher education institutions should encourage engagement from the students and foster a sense of belonging in the students and that this should happen as early as possible in the study life cycle. Support was also found in the analysis of the literature for the idea that interventions should be strategic and should be targeted in their intended outcomes. The analysis of the existing tools that are out there then, this was created as sort of a database and a spreadsheet. The tools were then coded thematically and clustered into groups based primarily on their main function. These clusters were then linked back to what was found in the literature and the combination of these two threads was then used to make a potential list of tools that could be developed in the project. That list was then reviewed in terms of the aims of the project, the timeframe involved and out of this process the tools that are now being developed were chosen. So these are eight tools which are currently being developed using a design-based research approach. The tools are being built so that any programme team or institution can take what we make and adapt them to their needs. The development of the tools is also learner-centred. We are placing the tools in the world of the learner. Both in terms of the type of tools that we are creating and also in terms of the language use within those tools. That has to be in terms that the learner can engage with. So just to briefly go through what these tools will do. The first tool is a readiness for study self-assessment quiz that will help prospective flexible learners to decide if they are ready for study in higher education. The second tool is a workload calculator that will help prospective flexible learners to figure out do they currently have the capacity in their lives for studying and to try and gain an appreciation of the amount of time that will be involved in studying in higher education. The third tool will help learners to see what support networks are available to them in their lives as they study in higher education. For example, if they are having difficulties with technology, is there someone in their family who can help them out with that? The fourth tool allows students to assess whether or not they have the basic computer skills needed to undertake study, especially if it is off-campus study, and direct them to appropriate resources and support where they find that they do not yet have the required skills. The fifth tool raises learner awareness to the importance of study skills, of information literacy and also of the key role that the library has to play in the life of a flexible learner. The sixth tool is a short pre-induction socialisation course that will give those getting ready to study as flexible learners the information and advice they need about how to proactively prepare for studying. The seventh tool allows flexible learners to go to an online location where they can find study tips and advice that have been put there by other existing flexible learners so to learn from those that have come before them. Finally, the eighth tool is an online orientation for flexible learners targeted at the point of entry into the first academic year that will reduce entry shock for learners, orientate the learners to the institution, inform them of their rights and responsibilities, et cetera, the things that you really want to get done on day one with new learners. So, these are the eight tools currently under development. Moving on to impact, as part of the project's impact evaluation strategy, we are using the evaluation framework for teaching and learning projects which is used at a national level in Australia and New Zealand. This framework focuses on four dimensions of impact reach, impact on teaching practice, impact on learners and impact on the project team itself. Also, as part of our impact evaluation strategy, we have an international advisor who is acting as an external expert advisor for us on the project and that person is Professor Terry Anderson, who is a recognised expert in the area of flexible learning. Professor Anderson is the editor of the International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning and is the author of a recent textbook theory and practice of online learning. In terms of the three benefits that we see for this project, the first benefit is that at the end of the project there will be a suite of openly available tools informed by the analysis that we've done in phase two that any institution or programme team will be able to take, adapt, finish off to their needs and use with their flexible learners. This benefit is linked to the research or to the reach dimension of impact in that we are and will be disseminating the outputs of this project. We've already presented on the project national and international conferences and we will continue to do so. At the latter stages of the project we will be holding three workshops in different higher education institutions relating to the tools and how they can be used, how can they be effectively deployed. This benefit also links to the teaching practice dimension of impact in that those who use these digital tools with learners will be enhancing their experience and their skills and competencies in this area. The second benefit is that where these tools are used effectively with flexible learners it will have a positive impact on flexible learners transitioning to higher education. This benefit obviously links with the impact on learners dimension of impact where these tools are utilised, flexible learners will have an easier transition into higher education. The third benefit is linked to both the impact on teaching practice and the impact on learners linking to both the theme of transitions and to that of building digital capacity where these tools are used effectively by teachers with learners. This project has the potential to aid in the fostering of a culture that fully embraces digital learning and digital innovation. So thank you for listening to us for 15 minutes and also from the full project team only three of which aren't in the room. Thank you to the National Forum for the opportunity to do this work.