Cambridge Institute of Continuing Education: A Gateway to Lifelong Learning

The Cambridge Institute of Continuing Education (ICE), also known as the Professional and Continuing Education (PACE) headquarters, is located in Madingley, Cambridgeshire. It offers a diverse array of subjects and courses for personal and professional development. The institution is focused on educational quality.

A Wide Range of Courses

PACE offers a vibrant and diverse array of subjects and courses for personal and professional development. These include:

Residential courses
Weekend courses
Summer courses
Part-time courses
Distance learning courses
Public lectures

The duration of study varies, ranging from one and two-day courses to two-year part-time master's degrees. Courses are often taken for personal interest or for professional development.

Academic Structure and Accreditation

PACE employs a group of academic directors across its major discipline areas. A number of these academics are also university teaching officers, and some hold college affiliations.

The undergraduate courses cover over 30 subjects and are all accredited via the United Kingdom's Credit Accumulation and Transfer Scheme (CATS). The undergraduate award-bearing courses are studied part-time over an academic year. A certificate is a FHEQ level 4 award, a diploma is a FHEQ level 5 award, and an advanced diploma is a FHEQ level 6 award. PACE offers undergraduate certificates, diplomas, and an undergraduate research-based advanced diploma, which lasts two years and is equivalent to the completion of the third year of full-time undergraduate study at a BA level.

Innovative Programs

In 2020, PACE offered two new vocational master's degree courses:

A master's degree in writing for performance, covering theatre, performance poetry, film, TV, radio, and stand-up comedy.
The UK's first-ever master's degree in the responsible use of artificial intelligence.

Between 2014 and 2019, PACE supported The Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Trust to deliver the Queen's Young Leaders Programme.

International Programs

The University of Cambridge International Summer Programme provides an intensive one- to six-week learning experience with over 200 courses across eleven programs. The Cambridge International Pre-Master's Programme is a nine-month full-time program for students who want to prepare for study at master's degree level at an English speaking university.

Bursary Programs

In the summer of 2020, PACE announced it was launching a £1 million bursary program to help adults hit hardest by the COVID-19 pandemic. As part of the program, the institute offered 1,000 bursaries, each worth £1,000, to go towards tuition fees for more than 30 part-time courses. To support postgraduate students who studied during the COVID-19 pandemic, PACE launched another bursary scheme in February 2021.

Professional Development and Coaching Courses

PACE's professional courses are developed with guidance and expertise from professional and employer bodies and specialists in their field, and with input from University departments and academics. Through this way of working, PACE is able to deliver innovative programs for both the public and private sector, which are responsive to market demands and trends, whilst maintaining the academic standards expected from the University of Cambridge.

Studying coaching and leadership at ICE provides students with the vital communication and interpersonal skills necessary for establishing and maintaining an effective and developmental coaching relationship. ICE offers a growing range of coaching courses, for newcomers to the subject and for those who have studied or worked in the area before. Award-bearing qualifications start at Certificate level, from which you can progress to Diploma level. The Certificate course provides the opportunity to develop skills in coaching other people within a chosen sphere of activity.

The Importance of Continuing Education

Technological change demands stronger and more continuous connections between education and employment. A rapidly changing employment market demands employees who will continuously develop themselves, which in fact requires a lot of self-reliance, lifelong learning, and community-building. Building new skills is a constant in the ever-changing world but does not necessarily mean a heavy-duty, multi-year qualification. The opportunities for continuing education are just a tap away.

Educators need to ask themselves if they are doing enough to reach out to their communities and the different kinds of learners who don't fit the traditional learners' demographic anymore. Cambridge University has seen the benefit of entering and investing in online education and in directly addressing the needs of today’s professionals. Their mission is clear: they want to become a thriving center for continuing and lifelong education.

Benefits of Lifelong Learning

Acquiring new knowledge and filling skill gaps comes with many advantages:

Improved employability
Increased self-confidence
Increased overall quality of life

Lifelong learning leads to the growth of perseverance, mindset, and important socio-emotional skills.

Read also: Finding Accommodation in Cambridge

Cambridge Advance Online

To prepare students for life, Cambridge University has seen the benefit of entering and investing in online education - and in directly addressing the needs of today’s professionals. Their mission is clear - they want to become a thriving center for continuing and lifelong education: they already have the experts, a large alumni network and world´s number one learning management system: Canvas. By choosing Canvas as the learning platform and Drieam as their partner, they will improve professional thinking and performance through flexible online learning.

It was very clear to Cambridge that this new program of courses, Cambridge Advance Online, would need to meet a high bar in terms of the expectations that professional learners have these days for online learning. At the same time, it was very important that the courses - even though the format is very different from that of a traditional degree - would still retain some of the DNA of a Cambridge educational experience. Specifically, that meant incorporating things like high-quality contact time with Cambridge academics, low student-to-tutor ratios and personalized feedback, but it also meant ensuring that opportunities for social learning, collaboration and the exchange of ideas not just from teachers to learners but also between learners were present throughout the learning journey.

A big part of the reason why Cambridge chose to work with Canvas, was its modern, intuitive platform that is regularly updated and improved to ensure that it continues to keep pace with user’s expectations. Moreover, because Canvas is an open platform, Cambridge was able to make use of best-of-breed LTI apps developed by their Canvas learning platform partner, Drieam.

Eduframe supports modular and personalized programs - online, blended and face-to-face and is therefore perfect for cohort-based learning. It also allows extensive reporting options and supports resource planning like teachers, rooms, and materials for an automated administration process.

Having the technology in place is one thing, using it to the best of its advantages is another. To fully exploit Canvas´ potential, an effective technical, functional, and didactical implementation was a must. Drieam provided in-depth training to the team at Cambridge on how to work with Canvas to get the best outcomes. Working together day to day has helped Cambridge to use and manage Canvas to the best of its ability. By implementing Canvas Course templates, the Canvas front-end is on-brand and visually appealing which makes teaching easier and provides a better learning experience for students.

Qualtrics LTI for Canvas enables Cambridge to use the extensive functionality of Qualtrics integrated within their Canvas environment. By seamlessly integrating the online collaborative whiteboard platform Miro into Canvas, students will be brought together to experience an engaging, in-person experience either in real-time or asynchronous.

Learning cohorts will be the learning format of the future, as they combine the advantages of live online training with on-demand learning content and learning in groups (social learning) - all in a digital learning environment. Cohort-based learning has proven to be an enormous amplifier for learning transfer because the students learn in groups (cohorts) in a hybrid format, i.e., alternating between synchronous and asynchronous learning activities. Learning in groups increases motivation and thus also the learning success - the completion rates also increase to over 80%.

Drieam helped with implementing PeerConnect into Canvas to stimulate cohort-based networking. As networking is an important part of the learning experience, PeerConnect facilitates a professional network environment by using custom profiles cards.

The future of education will be consumer- and product-led: interactive, engaging, and propelled by a global pool of instructors and peers. Although in person-teaching will remain at the heart of Cambridge education, the experience of the pandemic has highlighted opportunities to enhance teaching with digital technologies.

Cambridge Advance Online is the perfect high-level program with interactive courses, Cambridge tutors and academic leading discussions and gives the university the freedom to create a truly unique and seamless learning experience. This is made possible through personalized and flexible programs for better engagement and peer interaction. By giving more focus on cohort-based learning Cambridge also improved and supported community-building which is another major part of getting ready for the future of work.

tags: #cambridge #institute #of #continuing #education #courses