YouTube contains an amazing assortment of videos, but as with any large collection it takes time and expertise to find the good stuff. Intelligent Life at YouTube: 75 Educational Video Collections does a great job in identifying some of the key contributors.

The Individual Learning Plan (ILP) form for Investigating the Work Setting includes some ideas from a discussion with Ian about plans and contracts. Ian tends towards the view that the plan is also a contract between student and tutor, whereas my view is that the plan is a personal tool for managing study time, checked by a tutor to ensure that the essential dates are appropriate and that there is a basic understanding of the required assignments. However, I agreed with Ian that some "contract" elements would be very useful, and included them in the design of the form.

As the form is new, there has been some discussion with students about what is expected in the section on consideration of issues, and I have provided the following example:

---

Workplace advocate / Line manager
My workplace advocate is the Programme Leader for the Learning, Technology and Research degree course. He fully supports my study and is prepared to arrange a meeting this semester to discuss any work-related issues. My line manager is the Director of Education Studies and has encouraged me to undertake the course.

Ethics
As a university employee, I will need to comply with both the policies on research ethics, and the Dignity at Work policy.

Resources and support in the workplace
My colleagues will be a key source of support.

Support for specific student learning needs
none

---

Some students will specify dyslexia in the last section, or other learning needs that need to be taken into account.

Resources for schools are often better for introducing ideas than texts for university students. The British Library introduction to research offers a straightforward yet interesting approach to creative research.

Shean Roberts uses a 10 minute video on YouTube to explain action inquiry. He explains the actions involved in buying a car as part of his definition, then outlines the main stages in reporting on an example inquiry into time management.

The video shows a clear understanding of the process. Although I had to wait for the video to fully load before being able to watch it properly, it was worthwhile to see how a video could be used as part of a submission to demonstrate understanding.

Students asked about creating folders in their mailboxes, so I used some of the replies to create a workshop page.