A lesson on new ways to deliver learning

Those involved in organising learning opportunities right across the Highlands and Islands will be getting together to share their experiences and learn from one another this week.

Over 100 delegates are expected to attend the Learning Centre conference at the Drumossie Hotel near Inverness on Thursday (May 18).

Martin Wright, the UHI Millennium Institute's director of marketing and communications, explained: "The local learning centre should be as much a part of the fabric of a community as the church, the pub or the post office and might be one or all of these, too.

"Learning centre managers need to be social entrepreneurs; responsive to the training and educational needs of local people and employers but also developing innovative business models to ensure sustainability and future development."

Organised by a partnership of Highlands and Islands Enterprise, UHI Millennium Institute, learndirect and Highland Council, the event aims to raise the profile of the learning centre network by demonstrating the importance of access to learning in rural areas. It will allow learning centres to network together with key agencies to share experiences.

Subjects discussed will include future target markets, integration with UHI Millennium Institute and the pooling of resources and experience to improve the delivery of learning opportunities.

Delegates will also spend time with researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to look at how new technologies could be used by the learning centre network to serve students.