eet Catreona Collier: she spent 2 years studying on a Level 3 BTEC in Sporting Excellence with Competence with Wigan Warriors, before pursuing a degree in sport through our Higher Education partnership with the University of South Wales.
Reflecting on her journey, she shares her thoughts on her decision to enrol on a BTEC at Wigan, which stemmed from challenges during her A-level studies at her previous school.
“A-levels were all about the grades you got at the end, rather than the learning you did along the way, and how that learning affected you as a person. It was all about the number and it wasn't very motivating”.
At Wigan, she felt her holistic development was being supported and she relished the opportunity to study Sporting Excellence. She goes on to talk about the platform so pivotal to all of the courses we deliver, also called Competence (available as a native app for any mobile). Competence was introduced to her on day one of the course and was used throughout her time at the college:
“Using Competence was brilliant. You'd come in every morning, you'd be able to access content through your laptop or through your phone.”
The idea is to simplify the whole learning process. One way it does this is by offering a clear picture of the learner’s own development.
“You get to see an overview of the whole course, how many assignments you've done, how many you've got left to do. You can also see how far through the course you are - tracking your progress. You can track your grade as well,” said Catreona.
Tracking progress in real time saves hours for both the learner and the educator. Another way that the app saved time for Catreona was by providing a central repository for all content and materials.
“It was great that the whole course was on the same platform. You didn't have loads of books that you had to bring in every day. It made things really easy, really accessible and a lot less stressful”.
By making things easily manageable, the app’s design allows the learner to spend more time focusing on what is important: learning and development.
“You didn't have all these different sheets that you have to stick in or take home with you. It's just all in one place with the presentations and all the rest of the information.”
Learners can study anywhere they have access to their smartphone, tablet or laptop, supporting people with different studying preferences.
“For me, I'm more productive in the evening. I could go home with my laptop, which I can take anywhere or on my phone, and I can sit on my sofa and get all that work done. Some people are more productive in the mornings and they can sit and get their work done when they're feeling at their most productive.”
This exposure to a digital learning experience for her BTEC prepared Catreona for her university’s online learning platform. Looking back, she can see how well the presentation style of Competence worked for her.
“No offence to universities out there, but their online platforms can be a bit boring. So Competence, with the amount of visuals it has, is really helpful.”
Through a combination of presentation styles, features and resources, the Competence app is designed to support many different learning styles:
“If you do find writing out your thoughts and feelings difficult, you can speak into it and watch the app type out your words and paragraphs which is absolutely amazing. You can do this for both assignment work or progress assessments in the review periods. You don’t have to type everything out. A lot of university platforms don't do this. I'd say Competence is a lot more aesthetic and it definitely keeps up with the modern trends and how we as young people learn.”
Competence places the learner at the centre of the programme of education - enriching the experience of learning and fast tracking progress. It helps people develop whatever their environment and is ideal for Continuing Professional Development within a work setting as well as within formal education.
Our thanks go to Catreona for taking the time to reflect on her experience of using Competence. To find out more about how Competence can help your organisation, please get in touch.
Let's talk: send an email to info@competence.team if you'd like to discuss your next project.
