LEAD – Living Equality and Diversity eLearning Programme

Posted on: 09 May 2012

The LEAD, Living Equality and Diversity, eLearning programme is an innovative resource aiming to provide University staff with an awareness of the key equality and diversity issues in a university context. Delivered online, the programme has been developed by six Irish Universities Equality Network member institutions, TCD, DCU, NUIG, UCC, UCD and UL, in conjunction with Aurion Learning and supported by the Equality Authority.

LEAD programme is being implemented in Trinity College Dublin by the College’s Equality Officer and Human Resource Office, with the support of the Equality and HR Committees. The programme is relevant to all staff, academic, administrative and support, and it is envisaged that it will be embedded in other core College programmes relating to recruitment and induction. Two key elements of the LEAD programme are the development of tailored content that addresses issues unique to the third level sector and the flexibility that the online resource offers for staff to complete the programme.

“The LEAD programme builds on shared expertise and collaboration across the University sector to promote staff engagement with equality and diversity issues,” stated TCD’s Equality Officer, Karen Campos Mc Cormack. “By participating in this interactive and multimedia programme staff will have the opportunity to consider and reflect on the part they play in building an inclusive culture in the university.” The programme is a self-paced modular learning tool that features an intuitive navigation system with content split into five learning modules: ‘Understanding diversity’; ‘What’s it got to do with you?’; ‘From compliance to commitment’; ‘Recruitment and Selection’; and ‘Dignity and Respect’. Each section contains video and multimedia stories and scenarios, including interviews with university staff and students, interactive games and quizzes, and online instant assessments to offer staff valuable feedback on their learning. The programme also offers a completion tracking system.

The programme, which was officially launched by Minister Fergus O’Dowd in March 2012, has the potential to reach a wider audience of approximately 16,000 staff in the university sector and was recently awarded ‘Outstanding Achievement’ in the category ‘Most Innovative Use of Technology’ at the Irish Institute of Training and Development’s National Training Awards.