Celebrating our 2nd Anniversary
More than 2,100 educators are now part of the thriving community of practice who share knowledge, insights and ideas through the Virtual and Hybrid Learning Faculty (VHLF) which reaches its second anniversary this month.
When VHLF launched on the TEL Learning Hub in October 2021, there were just 800 members and this number has continued to grow attracting educators and those involved in education delivery who are adopting new ways of working and sharing their knowledge with others.
The VHLF is a successful example of the evolution of education and training and is driving systemic and behavioural changes which will support the ambitions to grow and upskill the health and care workforce at scale.
The VHLF is a core programme for NHS England’s Technology Enhanced Learning (TEL) function and has continued to grow and evolve, increasing capability, professionalism and maturity levels of education professionals across health, care and further. It is focused on local solutions and supporting educators to choose the methods of learning which best meet their needs and the needs of their learners.
Alongside the community of practice, the Faculty offers CPD masterclass events and specialist resources to help the education community design, develop and deliver virtual and hybrid learning which is evidence-based best practice. It is accessible, equitable and quality driven and activity is continually evaluated to cater for new and emerging needs.
The NHS Long Term Workforce Plan (LTWP) was published in June, recognising the need to change how we educate and train to support its big ambitions to grow the workforce. This commitment to systemic and behavioural change is integral to the VHLF which, was included as a learning enabler in the LTWP.
The commitment to the expansion of the Faculty in the NHS LTWP notes the important role it plays in supporting “…educators to increase their impact, confidence and capabilities when designing, developing and delivering modern methods in simulation including using immersive learning technologies and blended learning approaches which are critical to underpin growth in education capacity.”
The VHLF is committed to supporting all educators across the professions in health and care. This year the pilot of a specialist Master Educators Programme ran with the dental community supporting 16 dental educators to apply virtual and hybrid educational reforms to their teaching. Feedback was excellent and this programme is now being accredited with a view to rolling it out across other specialties to transform the role of educators and the impact on the curricula.
The growth of VHLF shows how much knowledge is out in the system and reflects the commitment from the educator community and TEL to changing and improving how education is delivered.
VHLF numbers
Since VHLF launched in October 2021 we have:
- delivered of more than 220 CPD events
- had over 5,500 delegates attend a CPD event
- released over 60 resources on the Learning Hub which have been launched more than 2,000 times
- welcomed a selection of guest speakers to deliver masterclasses in our CPD programme
- have over 2,100 members in the Community of Practice (COP)
- successfully delivered a Master Educators Programme (MEP) pilot.
Get Involved
To join the VHLF Community of Practice (COP), please register here or scan the QR code
Visit the Learning Hub to access the Virtual & Hybrid Learning Faculty (VHLF) catalogues:
https://learninghub.nhs.uk/Catalogue/VHLF-getting-started
https://learninghub.nhs.uk/catalogue/VHLF-increasing-your-impact
https://learninghub.nhs.uk/catalogue/VHLF-community-of-practice
For further information, please contact england.tel@nhs.net