VQManager e-Portfolio for the Construction Industry

“I estimate that through using the system I save around 25% of the time I usually spend assessing”.  Brian Mitchell,Plumbing Department Guildford College

The construction sector has always presented challenges to assessors and learners wanting to embrace the advantages of technology.

It’s true that construction sector assessors have just as great a need for scheduling, evidence recording and report generation as in any other sector – and apprentices have just as great a need to use digital devices to record their skills – but the on-site construction environment is particularly unfriendly when it comes to using devices such as PCs.

We witness great best practice when our construction-sector customers use VQManager, for example:

• Assessors and workplace managers using ruggedized tablets to access VQManager directly on site
• Apprentices using their mobile devices to access VQManager
• Apprentices using the very simple ‘native’ recorders on their phones to record images, video or voice, then a single-click upload
• Apprentices using their phones to easily record OTJ training hours and reflective accounts

Through using these approaches:

• Any party involved with the assessment process can participate without any training whatsoever
• Apprentices and workplace managers can gather evidence at the moment it naturally occurs, rather than scheduling certain activities to coincide with assessor visits.
• Apprentices often enjoy using their phones, so quite easily become more engaged and become good recorders of evidence.
• Training Providers are fed with a good stream of evidence of competency or training hours.

Here are some qualification used in VQManager by some existing Construction clients:

• Award in Health and Safety in a Construction Environment L1
• BTEC Diploma in Construction and the Built Environment L3
• Certificate in Marine Construction, Systems Engineering and Maintenance L2, L3
• Diploma in Bricklaying (Construction) L1, L2, L3
• Diploma in Painting and Decorating (Construction) L2, L3
• Diploma in Plastering – Solid (Construction) L2, L3
• Diploma in Roof Slating and Tiling (Construction) L2
• Diploma in Stonemasonry – Banker (Construction) L2, L3
• Diploma in Wall and Floor Tiling (Construction) L2
• Low Risk Operator Competence for Construction Waste L4 
• NVQ Certificate in Highways Maintenance (Construction) – Laying Kerbs and Channels L2 
• NVQ Certificate in Interior Systems (Construction) – Ceiling Fixing L2 / Dry Lining L2