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Partnership with Cambridge Learning
We have worked with a number of educational institutions including Local Education Authorities in the UK, Ministries of Education and other partners worldwide, providing research, content and technical expertise to create a variety of leading-edge publishing programmes
Some recent partnerships
- The Cambridge CRUI Course
- Language In Use adapted for The Open University of Sudan
- The UK Department for Education and Skills (DfES)
B1 Online Cambridge–CRUI Course
B1 online is an interactive blended learning course, written specifically for Italian university students. The course is the result of a unique partnership between Cambridge University Press, Cambridge ESOL and CRUI (the Conference of Italian University Rectors). The course was commissioned by CRUI to help Italian universities increase the number of students reaching level B1 in English before they graduate.
Delivered online and face-to-face The course's innovative format means that teachers can maximise the effectiveness of limited teaching hours and use each lesson to consolidate work students carry out online. The face-face element also helps to ensure the continued motivation and enthusiasm of the students.
As the Cambridge CRUI Course is web-based, there are no installations for student or university; students can login from home or using university facilities. The course is highly interactive and includes many online resources, such as access to the Cambridge Learners Dictionary. Students receive instant feedback and can check their progress by taking tests at the end of each module.
To ensure its suitability for Italian universities, the course was developed following an extensive consultation process and in collaboration with leading Italian ELT authors. Once detailed specifications were written, sample materials were trialled with six Italian universities. This trialling provided valuable feedback that has helped to shape the course.
See a demonstration of the course
Language In Use adapted for The Open University of Sudan
In August 2003 the Ministry of Higher Education founded the Open University of Sudan (OUS). At the time, one of the aims of the OUS was to respond to a government policy that required teachers without a B Ed degree to enrol for this qualification by 2005.
As a new distance education academic institution their biggest challenge was the creation of appropriate student material specifically developed for the market. Due to the speed with which the programme implementation had to take place, we suggested the adaptation of existing teaching materials as a possible solution for the English component of the B Ed course. A Sudanese advisory committee evaluated a number of courses from Cambridge as well as other publishers and decided on Language in Use.
Over a period of three years, the original authors, Adrian Doff and Christopher Jones, reworked all levels of Language in Use into books for six levels, creating a course suitable for distance education as well as one that is culturally appropriate. Potentially offensive photos, illustrations and texts were replaced and high frequency word lists with their Arabic translations were added. To this were added six audio cassettes with the relevant reading passages. The last level, Language in Use Book 6, is due for publication in January 2007.
An addition to this package was the creation of six anthologies from 18 of the ELT readers. Stories were carefully selected to match the appropriate reading levels and questions were added to assess students’ comprehension.
The UK Department for Education and Skills (DfES)
The United Kingdom Government's Department for Education and Skills (DfES) approached Cambridge Learning to supply editorial, pre-press and manufacturing project management for its first National Numeracy Framework. Cambridge Learning was chosen because of our recognised commitment to pedagogical, editorial, production and manufacturing quality and our acknowledged educational publishing expertise.
Our success with this initial product led to the Department through the CfBT awarding Cambridge Learning further educational publishing contracts (including frameworks, training packs, guidance and presentational CDs) in numeracy, mathematics, literacy, English, science, ICT, modern foreign languages, skills and pedagogy. The DfES and CfBT needed their complicated, quality-critical, tight-deadline products delivered on time for key Primary and Secondary Education Strategy launches and training. Cambridge Learning delivered on time to agreed budgets.
The DfES and CfBT wanted an organisation that had the necessary skills base and subject knowledge across educational publishing and that was used to working with high profile writing teams. Cambridge Learning supplied designated project managers and worked closely with the DfES inputting valuable educational publishing advice and supplying ‘best value’ high quality solutions for their National Strategy roll outs.