Welcome to the TLM How To pages.

These pages will act as a general guide to the features on this site, as well as a more specific guide to users of the site.  Depending on why you are here, you will find different sets of how to pages to help you. 

What is TLM all about?

• The original purpose was to provide qualifications in ICT that are of value to the learner, reduce costs for schools and colleges and reduce a lot of the tedious work associated with coursework assessment by using on-line systems. We are now using this proven model to extend to a wider range of qualifications [1].

• TLM works with its international partners and local centres to provide a service to their learners. Each Centre has a Principal Assessor and perhaps other assessors who are accredited to assess learning in particular fields and at particular levels. Assessors request awards based on evidence against assessment criteria on behalf of their learners.

• The bottom line is that to approve certification TLM needs to be sure that evidence is available that shows the learner meets the assessment criteria and that this is sufficient to provide confidence that the learning outcomes have been achieved for the particular unit being certificated.

• The facilities provided here are to support the process of presenting evidence and providing certification. We hope to make life easier for our assessors, reducing costs and streamlining bureaucracy while supporting the involvement of the candidate in the assessment and learning processes. If you have a better way of providing evidence, or evidence exists already in a different format we will accept it. Contact your Account Manager. [2]

What is on the Website?

This site consists of two specific sites which link from the same page.  One site is for creating and managing resources, registering users and for registering for tests.  This is the Learning Site.  You can see the header for this site and the login with this graphic The other site is for assessment, managing learner's units and for printing certificates.  This is the Markbook Site.  You can see the header for this site and the login with this graphic   In addition, the colours of the Markbook site are different and from a blue and grey palette such as this:

Many of the features of the sites are interchangeable, so some of the How To pages will show the same processes, but highlight the distinct way they are handled for each site.

Please refer to the specific site sections for each site.

What is the Baseline Testing all about?

The Baseline Testing system [3] was set up by TLM in collaboration with NAACE [4] in order to provide a measure of where students currently reside in terms of their understanding of the new Computing Curriculum.  This is an excellent opportunity to find out the impact of teaching on a new qualification.  The collected data will be available to all registered schools who use it and we expect there to be comparative data available for schools to compare their cohorts nationally and internationally.

Please refer to the Baseline Sections for more details.

Assessment Methods

There are two main types of assessment used in TLM qualifications although there could be some variations due to specific circumstances. The two main types are:

1. Evidence that directly matches the assessment criteria that originates from day to day work
2. Evidence from controlled tests or tasks that are related to the assessment criteria
3. Both of these are broad categories and will provide scope for sub-categories. The advantage of type 1 is that it most closely matches the learning outcomes in a representative accurate context. The disadvantage is that there is less confidence in this type of assessment and it is less straightforward to grade achievement. The advantage of type 2 is that when externally set and marked they generate the most confidence. The disadvantage is that tests don't necessarily demonstrate competence against the full range of learning, they can end up measuring what is easy to measure rather than what is of most value and they can result in a narrowing of teaching to what is likely to be in the test. TLM generally favours a combination of both of these assessment methods.

Please refer to the assessment sections for more details.

What are the Grading Levels?

The INGOT assessment process is designed to enable the learner to participate in their own assessment. Learning outcomes are described by criteria and the learner has to demonstrate competence against these criteria. Assessors record progress in the on-line mark book for coursework using the following system:

    If they are fully competent and self-sufficiently secure in matching the assessment criterion "S" is assigned to the criterion statement.
    If there is some evidence but insufficient to award a "S" eg because additional help and support is needed,  "L" is assigned.
    If they are operating beyond requirements "H" is assigned
    "N" denotes no evidence is yet available that they match this criterion and this is the default starting point.

S means "secure",

L means "lower"

H means "higher".

N means "no evidence".

Some qualifications are graded using externally set and marked exams. The coursework must be completed so that all criteria are judged to be at least "S" secure in order that the candidate is eligible to take an exam. The marks in the exam aggregated with the coursework mark then determine the final grade. Having a fixed mark for competence in coursework means the assessment is weighted more towards practical competence for the lower grades and more towards academic and theoretical understanding for the highest grades. 

What qualifications does TLM offer?

The core qualifications that TLM offer are STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) subjects, either directly, or through partners.  We focus on qualifications which are technical in nature and offer technical solutions and resources to make those qualifications engaging and rewarding for learners, as well as easy to administer and support by teachers and trainers.

The full list of qualifications can be accessed here [5].

Where do I login?

Pupils/learners

Login to the Learners site . The Markbook site is only for assessors .  If you try to login to the Markbook site, you will receive a warning message

See: How do I create an account? [6]

Assessors

See: How do I get started as an assessor? [7]

How do I contact you?

The contact details are on the Contact Us menu at the top of this website.  You can also contact us on our main corporate site here [8].

Where do I find the handbooks to support your qualification?

These are here. [9] We hope to produce on-line versions before too long with links between web pages and to make referencing easier. You can get a professionally published version from Lulu.com [10].

Do you have an overview of the Learning Site?

The Learning Site is designed for creating and sharing learning content, assessing it, tracking progress through it and reporting on it.  This content is mostly generated by learners, in order to provide evidence about what they have learnt. Assessors can also create content, quizzes and other learning resources for their learners.  All of the generated content is linked to the Markbook and criteria through the qualifications specifications making it easy to track progress. The design is such that you can use as many or as few of the facilities as you want.  The graphic link will take you to an overview video about the Learning Site.

Do you have an overview of the Markbook site?

The Markbook Site is for assessors to manage and administer their academy.  It allows you to create groups of learners, assign them to units of study, track their progress through the assessment criteria, claim awards and print certificates.  it can be used independently of the learning site or in conjunction with it depending on how many of the additional facilities you want to use to support your learners. Groups created in the Markbook are automatically assigned to learning criteria in the Learning Site where they can create evidence for self-assessment or assessment by staff and learner accounts on the Learning Site can be generated automatically from the Markbook.   The graphic link will take you to an overview video about the Markbook Site.

Where can I see some videos of how to use your systems?

We have produced a number of videos to show some of the functionality of our systems and many of them can be found on YouTube here [11].

If your school has a problem with filtering videos from YouTube, we are also using our own media management system here [12].