09-71

=**Access All Areas**= toc =**RTO**= Coffs Coast Community College

**Contact**
Merren Asquith - Manager, Coffs Coast Community College, manager(at)ccae.nsw.edu.au Karen Plumbe - Education Officer, MNCDGP, kplumbe(at)mncdgp.org.au

**Category**
RTO-Business Partnership

**Business Partner**
Mid North Coast Division of General Practice

Executive summary
“Access All Areas” is designed as a pilot program, set up to deliver business administration skills via blended delivery to front office staff working in surgeries and offices from Macksville to Grafton and west to Dorrigo. As distance has long been a factor in limiting opportunities for face-to-face learning in rural or regional areas, the e-learning focus of this project is perfectly suited to this application. Online delivery will be supported by the use of a Learning Management System (Moodle) and a DiscoverE conference room, By using a number of e-learning resources, including selected Learning Objects, a course blog and/or wiki, the project will deliver a cost-effective program which will engage students in a flexible and interactive learning experience. Practical tasks and assessments will be largely based in the individual student's work environment.

After consultation with staff and practice managers, 4 units from a Certificate III qualification in the Business Services Training Package have been identified which would suit the skills needed by front office staff in such environments. The units broadly address OH&S, confidentiality, receipt & despatch of information and prioritising workload. If students are successful, they will gain a Statement of Attainment for those units in which they demonstrate competency. By choosing units from the one qualification, we have identified a learning pathway for students who may want to continue studying to gain their full Certificate III in Business Administration (Medical). Practice Managers have identified that, rather than undertake such formal learning themselves, as was initially scoped, they would prefer at this stage to learn the skills required to engage productively in the online conference room, and about other tools which would assist them to facilitate or engage in meetings, or sharing information with their colleagues. In this way, they can support their admin staff to maximise their learning opportunity, whilst developing their own skills which could lead to practice managers undertaking further accredited training at a later stage.  As part of the Mid North Coast Cluster of Community Colleges, Coffs Coast Community College is committed to directly “mentor Colleges in our Cluster (8 colleges from Coffs Harbour to Taree), using knowledge gained from this "Access All Areas" project to further develop the online e-learning capabilities of those colleges as they partner with local Divisions of General Practice. In the future it is hoped the reach of the project will extend beyond the Mid North Coast. It is anticipated that the program will also have application to other small businesses, particularly where flexible delivery is seen as an advantage.

Final report
The key outcomes of this project were to have the majority of the students complete the units offered. The project was to assess the viability of this type of blended learning for busy working practice receptionists.

Moodle was used as a basic Learning Management System and a discoverE online learning environment was used for weekly sessions.

Guest access to the Moodle site.


 * Details of Units completed:**

//Participate in OHS Processes (BSBOHS201A)// || // 11 competent / 15 students // ||  || Organise personal work priorities and development (BSBWOR301A) // || // 9 competent / 11 students // || // Handle Receipt and despatch of information (BSBINM303A) // || // 10 competent / 11 students // // (includes 1 new student) // || // Apply the principles of confidentiality, privacy and security within the medical environment (BSBMED305B) // || // 10 competent / 10 students // || Learners' experiences were captured via an online journal in which students were requested to write their views on the course, the content, the layout of the site and any problems they experienced, as well as the features they liked and those which helped them study more efficiently. The students were also encouraged to comment during discoverE sessions if they needed clarification or had any problems they wanted to discuss. The teachers involved, Kylie Walters, Judi Elliott and Kathie Warren (mentor) discussed and evaluated online experiences after most discoverE sessions. They also had regular face-to-face meetings to discuss the progress of the project; to coordinate and plan sessions, and to find solutions to any problems that were being experienced.
 * //__ Unit start July 6 __//
 * //__ Unit start August 3 __////
 * //__ Unit start August 31 __//
 * //__ Unit start September 28 __//

Powerpoint presentation of project will be linked here.