1. Harnessing technologies to
prevent early school leaving
Gráinne Conole, University of Leicester
20th September 2013
ETUCE Workshop – ICT and early school leaving
Athens, Greece
National
Teaching
Fellow 2012 Ascilite fellow 2012EDEN fellow 2013
2. About me…
• Irish but living in England
• PhD in Chemistry
• Two girls (14 and 18)
• Professor of Learning
Innovation at the
University of Leicester
3. Institute of Learning Innovation
• Research
• Teaching
• Supervision
• Consultancy
• Visiting scholars
• Institutional advice
4. Outline
• Why e-learning?
• E-learning timeline and
digital landscapes
• Emergent technologies
• Pedagogical approaches
• Learning design and digital
literacies
• Challenges for education
5. Why e-learning?
• For learning
– Potential to support interaction, communication
and collaboration
– Developing digital literacy skills
– Promoting different pedagogical approaches
– Fostering creativity and innovation
– Connecting students beyond the formal course
– Helping to prevent early school drop out
• For life
– Preparing students for an uncertain future
– Improving employability opportunities
– Increased importance of technology in society
13. Mobile is important
• In mid-2012, 51% of UK
citizens owned a
smartphone (The Paypers,
2012)
• 14% of adults in Europe
owned tablet in 2012
(Lomas, 2013)
• 35% of UoL Medical School
3rd years own an iPad
Terese Bird
14. Flexibility and mobility
Small, compact size
Readability
Easy on the eyes
Access from a single
device without internet
Portability Capacity
Long battery life
Continue reading, Bookmark
Photo by Kzeng on Flickr
Photo by Yummy Pancake on Flickr
Terese Bird
16. SWIFT – Learning in virtual worlds
Features:
• Harnesses imagination
• Experiential learning
• Creates learning context
• Computer as personal tutor
Example applications:
• Practical subjects
• Language practice
• Abstract concepts
• Artistic creation
Paul Rudman
17. SCENE – Problem-Based Learning (PBL)
Aims:
• Promote the use of PBL
as a teaching method
in the EU
• Train teachers, trainers
and head teachers on
PBL pedagogy
Online course
video, discussion
forums, virtual
classrooms
PBL repository
To share PBL
scenarios
Virtual
Facilitator
To assist learners
Paul Rudman and Pal Edirisingha
19. Promise and reality
Social and
participatory media
offer new ways to
communicate and
collaborate
Wealth of free
resources and tools
Not fully exploited
Replicating bad pedagogy
Lack of time and skills
20. The 7Cs of Learning Design
Conceptualise
Vision
CommunicateCapture ConsiderCollaborate
Activities
Combine
Synthesis
Consolidate
Implementation
http://www2.le.ac.uk/projects/oer/oers/beyond-distance-research-alliance/7Cs-toolkit
21. Conceptualise
• Vision for the course,
including:
– Why, who and what you want to
design
– The key principles and
pedagogical approaches
– The nature of the learners
Conceptualise
Course Features
6 design frames
Personas
22. Course features
• Pedagogical approaches
• Principles
• Guidance and support
• Content and activities
• Reflection and demonstration
• Communication and collaboration
http://cloudworks.ac.uk/cloud/view/5950
23. Principles
Theory based Practice based Cultural
Aesthetics
Political
International Serendipitous Community based
Sustainable
Professional
25. Guidance &
Support
Learning pathway Mentoring Peer support
Scaffolded
Study skills
Tutor directed Help desk Remedial support
Library support
Step by step
28. Communication &
Collaboration
Structured debate Flash debate Group project
Group
aggregation
Group
presentation
Pair debate For/Against debate
Question &
Answer
Group project
Peer critique
29. Capture
• Finding and creating
interactive materials
– Undertaking a resource audit of
existing OER
– Planning for creation of
additional multimedia such as
interactive materials, podcasts
and videos
– Mechanism for enabling
learners to create their own
content
Capture
Resource Audit
Learner Generate
Content
30. Communicate
• Designing activities that foster
communication, such as:
– Looking at the affordances of
the use of different tools to
promote communication
– Designing for effective online
moderating
Communicate
Affordances
E-moderating
31. Collaborate
• Designing activities that foster
collaboration, such as:
– Looking at the affordances of
the use of different tools to
promote collaboration
– Using CSCL (collaborative)
Pedagogical Patterns such as
JIGSAW, Pyramid, etc.
Collaborate
Affordances
CSCL Ped.
Patterns
32. Consider
• Designing activities that foster
reflection
• Mapping Learning Outcomes
(LOs) to assessment
• Designing assessment
activities, including
– Diagnostic, formative,
summative assessment and
peer assessment
Collaborate
LOs/Assessment
Assessment
Ped. Patterns
33. Combine
• Combining the learning activities
into the following:
– Course View which provides a
holistic overview of the nature of
the course
– Activity profile showing the
amount of time learners are
spending on different types of
activities
– Storyboard: a temporal sequence
of activities mapped to resources
and tools
– Learning pathway: a temporal
sequence of the learning designs
Combine
Course View
Activity Profile
Storyboard
Learning Pathway
34. Course View
E-tivity Rubric: http://tinyurl.com/SPEED-e5
Purpose: To start mapping out your module/course, including your plans for
guidance and support, content and the learner experience, reflection and
demonstration, and communication and collaboration.
35. Activity profile
• Types of learner activities
– Assimilative
– Information Handling
– Communication
– Production
– Experiential
– Adaptive
– Assessment
37. Consolidate
• Putting the completed design
into practice
– Implementation: in the classroom,
through a VLE or using a
specialised Learning Design tool
– Evaluation of the effectiveness of
the design
– Refinement based on the
evaluation findings
– Sharing with peers through social
media and specialised sites like
Cloudworks
Combine
Implementation
evaluation
Refinement
Sharing
39. Challenges facing edcuation
• Disaggregation
of Education
• The new for
new digital
literacy skills
• Supporting
learning from
enrolment to
completion
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mrsdkrebs/6400358699/
43. POERUP outputs
• An inventory of more than 100 OER initiatives
http://poerup.referata.com/wiki/Countries_with_OER_initiatives
• 11 country reports and 13 mini-reports
http://poerup.referata.com/wiki/Countries
• 7 in-depth case studies
• 3 EU-wide policy papers
44. OER community case studies
• 7 case studies
– Futurelearn
– OER University
– MOOC UVA
– BC Campus
– Wikiwijs
– HwB
– Book in progress
• Data collection
– Survey
– Interviews
• Methodology
– Social Network Analysis
to identify the nature of
the interactions and key
players
POERUP outputs
45. The emergence of MOOCs
• CCK08
– Connectivist MOOC (cMOOC)
– Siemens, Downes and Cormier
– Evaluation (Fini, 2009)
– http://www.irrodl.org/index.php/irrodl/article/view/643/1402
• Emergence of large-scale xMOOCs
• UK-based FutureLearn
• What are MOOCs?
– http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eW3gMGqcZQc
• List of MOOCs
– http://www.mooc-list.com/
• EFQUEL series of blogs
– http://mooc.efquel.org/
46. Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs)
Free
Distributed global community
Social inclusion
High dropout rates
Learning income not learning outcome
Marketing exercise
http://alternative-educate.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/audio-ascilite-2012-great-debate-moocs.html
47. Dimension Characteristics
Context
Open Degree to which the MOOC is open
Massive How large the MOOC is
Diversity The diversity of the learners
Learning
Use of multimedia Extent of use of rich multimedia
Degree of communication Amount of communication incorporated
Degree of collaboration Amount of collaboration incorporated
Amount of reflection Ways in which reflection is encouraged
Learning pathway Degree to which the learning pathway is supported
Quality assurance Degree of quality assurance
Certification Mechanisms for accreditation
Formal learning Feed into formal learning offerings
Autonomy Degree of learner autonomy
A taxonomy of MOOCs
http://e4innovation.com/?p=727
48. Learning pathways
• Guided pathways
through materials
• Can promote different
pedagogical
approaches
– Associative
– Constructivist
– Situative
– Connectivist
Collaborative Pedagogical Patterns
51. Tackling early school leaving
• Technologies can assist by
providing virtual support on:
– Advice on effective study
skills
– Listening to students’
concerns
– Creating a virtual community
of peers
– Providing rich multimedia
resources
– Offering ideas on post-school
opportunities
52. Conclusion
• Nature of learning, teaching
and research is changing
• Changing roles
• Technology Enhanced
Learning spaces
• It’s about
– Harnessing new media
– Adopting open practices
• New business models are
emerging
54. References
• Conole, G. (2010) Review of pedagogical frameworks and models
and their use in e-learning,
http://cloudworks.ac.uk/cloud/view/2982.
• Conole, G. and P. Alevizou (2010) Review of the use(s) of Web 2.0 in
Higher Education.
• Conole, G., M. Dyke, et al. (2004). "Mapping pedagogy and tools for
effective learning design." Computers and Education 43(1-2): 17-33.
• Dewey, J. (1916). Experience and Nature. New York, Dover.
• Jarvis, P. (2004). Adult education and lifelong learning. London,
RoutledgeFalmer.
• Laurillard, D. (2002). Rethinking university teaching, Routledge %@
0415256798, 9780415256797.
• Secker, J.(2011), http://www.slideshare.net/seckerj/information-
literacy-e-learning-and-the-changing-role-of-the-librarian
• Learning Design workshop resources http://tinyurl.com/LD-
workshop
Editor's Notes
§
VW: 3D space; represented by avatarCreate any context in which to learnSimulation – real, imagined, impossibleDemo: SWIFT Genetics lab (experiential; computer as tutor)Demo: Language-learning in context / with nativesDemo: SWIFT XP3 (Abstract)Demo: Artistic (Castle)SL; OpenSim; HTML5
PBL:Constructivist approach to learningLearner focusedLearners develop problem-solving, self regulated learning and team based learning skillsGeared toward “real world” tasks; projects or problems have more than one approachEmphasis on authentic, performance based assessmentContext: EU-funded;10 partner organisations ; 6 languages; adapted for each culture (GR,RO,IT,TU,PG,EN)Theoretical andpracticalelements - participants work alone &in groups engaging and interactiveEmploysSalmon’s (2002) E-tivity model:Stage 1 - Access and motivationStage 2 - On-line socializationStage 3 - Information exchangeStage 4 - Knowledge constructionStage 5 - DevelopmentVirtual Facilitator: expert system to guide learners in designing PBL sessions by asking questions/offering suggestions.An open access area for participants to share their own PBL scenarios / designPBL repository: An open access area for participants to share their own PBL scenarios / design
