The Learning Machine Ltd

The Learning Machine Ltd (TLM) is an OFqual [1] accredited Awarding Organisation endorsed by e-skills [2] (the sector skills council for IT and Telecommunications) and the Open Source Consortium [3] of companies. It specialises in qualifications that provide a progression route from special needs to Level 3 in the new european Qualifications framework with an emphasis on self-sufficiency in using free and open digital resources from the internet. Unusually for a small business, TLM has active partners in Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia, India, South Africa, USA, Germany, Poland, Spain, Portugal, Romania, Bulgaria and the Czech Republic.

Business development includes building a custom LAMP [4] web site for managing certification, developing a Drupal [5] site for sharing resources and provding community support including Blogs and e-portfolios and a Moodle [6] for supporting free on-line courses to support learning. The company goal is to lower the cost of learning using free and open resources from the internet to enable previously disenfranchised learners to participate.
 
The company currently employs 5 full-time staff, 1 part time and one sub-contracted (based in Germany) but also benefits from a non-Executive Chairman who was formrly Comercial Director of IBM UK and a Main Board Member. In addition the Principal Moderator who currently works on a voluntary capacity is a Chartered Assessor. The company is based in Tamworth, West Midlands B79 8AQ and operates from a large Victorian House.

The company policies and procedures are available here [7].  These have been agreed with the UK regulators and provide the basis of the company's quality assurance. The qualifications handbook [8] provides the assessment details for the qualifications offered by TLM. Teacher training and coninuing professional development is built into the INGOT programme. The model fits the requirements of the General Teaching Council's Teacher Learning Academy. [9]

European Projects

TLM is committed to expansion in Europe. There are already EU projects [10] in progress and further projects in application. In the longer term we aim to use the economy of scale across Europe to generate income from qualifications that can sustain the development of an entirely free on-line curriculum. As broadband coverage becomes more widespread and prices fall we hope to get to a position where on-line general education is free for everyone.