Introduction to Unit 1

Welcome to the University of Birmingham as a new student!

The two year professional development course that you have been accepted onto is designed for teachers studying to be a ‘Qualified Teacher of Children and Young people with Vision Impairment’ (QTVI). The course is located at a large research-intensive institution in England and is structured to meet the training needs of teachers with a wide range of backgrounds and expertise. Approximately 100 students are registered across two cohorts in any given year (i.e. about 50 new students each year).

When the programme was first developed, most students worked at special schools for the visually impaired. With the advent of greater inclusive practice for children with special educational needs, students are now more likely to be part of a visiting teacher service, or to be working in schools where children with severe learning difficulties are educated, and where different knowledge, understanding and skills are required.

In response to the changing professional development needs of students enrolled on the course in recent years, the programme has undergone a process of restructuring and now utilises a range of online learning and support facilities that encourage greater collaborative learning. As you will find out in this module, it is delivered through a ‘blended’ learning approach that seeks to integrate ‘established’ face to face activities (e.g. campus-based sessions, regional tutorials, study days) with learning opportunities facilitated through educational technologies.

The programme is designed to include a range of activities, each of which can be captured within different pedagogical ‘perspectives’ of learning that we will introduce later. As examples, you will have opportunities to:

learn the braille code through guided step by step instruction;
undertake individual quizzes to test your knowledge and understanding of a particular topic;
participate in online tutorials and construct ideas through dialogue in your online groups;
engage in active discovery of the literature to complete individual study activities;
undertake collaborative online enquiry-based learning activities through engagement in online authentic learning scenarios.