University Of Winchester Blended Learning

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Always like todefine terms before trying to work with them – if we don’t have an agreed definition, how do we know what we’re working with... This text gives a lot of practical examples, but true to the spirit of my presentation, I’ve gained my information from both standard textbooks, and harvested a lot of information from online!Want to give a bit of an overview, which will cover The 21st Century Learner What’s at the University of Winchester already? What are some of the current debates (according to ALT conference last week, and associated Twitter/blogging streams)? What are some of the practical applications? Sources of information

Einstein: “Knowledge is experience – everything else is just information” – current problem with e-learning is that it’s e-information, not e-knowledge! Race, p.177Is possible to EYE-BALL vast quantities of information, clicking away without reflection.Red Magma, the writers of this Slideshare presentation (a space in which to upload/share presentations), entitled this presentation “E-Learning Sucks”, and was picked up by David Hopkins (Bournemouth University) who heartily applauded it!

The students we are engaging now are part of the digital generation (yes, a contested term, I’ll come back to that), used to informal learning in every situation (e.g. “Oh, where is Egypt, I’ll just look it up on Google maps”, “Who wrote “To be or not to be”, it’ll be on the web somewhere, I might even be able to watch it.They are used to interacting, sharing and creating content, and didactic modes of teaching become less and less effective, as students engage less and less with the process.

Game too often seen as a solitary, extra-curricular activity, but game creators place engagement first, whilst much elearning places engagement behind academic rigour. Much eLearning is like getting on a train – one speed, set stops, and doesn’t fit the personalised world students are expecting to receive these days. Race, p.178: Huge amount of investment in gaming industry (as this presentation says, with a primary focus on engagement), means that student expectations are higher, and when faced with basic interfaces, the “want to learn” is damaged. (E.g., did a websitecheck on http://www.winchester.ac.uk, and it said that doctoral level understanding was required – not a good start) Elearning can facilitate more individualised learning – as students can each work in their own FLOW, as we already saw in the web accessibility project this summer – few learn in the same way

I found this diagram helpful, although it refers to K-12 level students (USA, pre-College)As transferable skills have been highlighted by the need for career progression, these kind of ‘soft’ skills become more important.And if this is the approach that educators at pre-HE levels are taking, how much do we work with what students are used to, and how far do we challenge and re-train them?

Everything here could be highlighted more, but it’s a case of making decisions/prioritising, then promoting through e.g. CET lunches (less reinvention of the wheel, rexcitement)Moodle: Open Source, have used it as requirements dictated, but know there is plenty more to find, and if could make it easier for users, more engagement, rather than e.g. Design for Digital Media using ningPodcasts: Talked to Ryan about his experiments with these, generally successful, but less engagement this year.Wikis: Had a discussion with Carolin on Skype last night, we were talking more about bigger issues!Wimba: Many options, know David has been using this, and would need to investigate more, but used the chat functions...Electronic Submission: Know there are strong arguments for/against this, especially as time-pushed students prioritise assessment over learning. Has to be appropriate to the type of assignment, but for written essays, allows easier checking of plagiarism, and online marking (if desired), or print/mark if not. This is a SENSITIVE ONEClickers: Interesting results in Ryan’s sessions for Landmark, especially when they failed mid-session (so how far do you rely on technology), demonstrated very different results through clickers, and the impact of the physical environment.YouTube: Care with material chosen for use, but also potential to put material online and then use the sessions for more interactive time.

Interesting to see the work that Loykie is doing on mobile learning, and have a friend who works for the OU, and this is his specialism... Look to develop e.g. iTunesU.This: A future lookA University structured around the iPhone – everything done through it! Still some time til reality but in envisioning the future, can see potential benefits for learning/retention, etc.The “Convergent Life”: Making University life “easy”, allowing students to feel “connected”Phones mum to say arrived (on her own iPhone presumably!)Given an iPhone by the University, which it describes as the ‘lifeline’, for both academic and social purposes.Book informationMaps – GPS trackedCourse calendarAdmin functions (e.g. change courses)EbooksPodcastsPaymentsWeatherRegister (GPS indicates have entered the room, image appears on teacher’s iPhone, so names are not a problem)Other friends know when you’re in class, so wait until afterwards to contact.Receives SMS from teacherAlerts re, e.g. massive thunderstormNo need to carry backpacksGet choice in class (made on the iPhone) as to whether to take a face-to-face or a hybrid class (meeting f-2-f- once a week still).Information in iTunesUOnline ForumAnother class, using a Twitterfall/Word Cloud projected up onto the wall. Asks students for suggestions – can be posted to the wall/the class website, students can check facts online.Being aware of what is coming is important so can head in that direction, assess the usefulness

Last week, through Twitter, found out about the ALT Conference in Manchester. Not something I could afford to go to, but could watch keynotes online, follow the debates on Twitter, and read reports on blogs throughout/afterwardsOne of the big topics was very much about going where the students are.Need to be prepared to experiment as the game players do, with allowances for failure, need innovation/creativityDragon’s Den @ Media Conference

Interestingly, accessed the conference through Elluminate – video/whiteboard and audio streams, which I can see is also available in Wimba, which I know the University is committed to, at least for this year. Also checked Webex site, but not gone into really.Not going to sing to the choir... David knows far more than me!

Moving into the 21st C, Marc Prensky popularised the classificationsDigital Native (technology their first stop) See Jake, used to sharing through peer-to-peer networksDigital Immigrant (had to learn to use/adapt)Digital Aliens (don’t want to use)The expectation is that more DN’s like Jake (aged 14) are coming to University, and we need to be prepared for them...The classifications, identified, or maybe just popularised by Marc Prensky: http://www.marcprensky.com/blog/archives/000045.html

However, at the ALT conference this term was very much contested, as being over-used. Heather Fry noted that not all are equally savvy, although others find University a real drop-back on what they have experienced beforeSTUDENTS and TUTORS may need training alongside, to demonstrate the advantages. As we can see in Lisa Harris’s presentation (and also mentioned by Fry at the conference - what students want and what students need may be two very different things) They may be used to using social networking, but for leisure, rather than for learning, so the term educational networking has also been coined, partly to remove those negative connotations.

ALK: Considered the options that are out there – rather mind-boggling, don’t you think?!

I found this diagram a bit more useful, as we need to look through the tools that are available, see where they have real value and train users in implementation, being aware of the ever-changing nature, so Twitter may be the big thing this year, but what’s coming next (Google Wave). TwitterBlogosphereFacebookFlickrYouTube/VimeoSocial BookmarkingConvergence

We have to measure value in 2 ways... Both tangible and intangibles as returns on investment – this is for a charity, but the concept is similar, and needs to be identified as a tool, in order to gain staff/student buy-in!

A project that I’ve been working on is SkillsNet – an example of e-learning, including educational-networking.So far we’ve had around 40 hours to spec out the site, so you can see good progress already, to produce more student engagement with Skills Aiming forWell presented material, visually appealing, well structured (within the scope of the pre-existing portal, with plans to move to the new external site, which will feature a lot of social networking options)Opportunities for student engagement, with YouTube helping viral (care with choice of material), Twitter where can identify a hashtag and have running conversations, maybe ask for helpWe considered using WordPress to host the blog, but wanted to keep it within the University system, but are going to test on students to see what works for them, and have tried to use appropriate languageWorking with Skills staff (Rosie), and also going to test on students.Currently hosted in Arts, so that we can work in practice, look at the social tools we’re using, but at all times we’re keeping THE AUDIENCE in mind, largely for the students (the keen ones and the panicking ones), but also academics who need to persuaded to endorse/contribute...

So, in all this, as Paul Race says, we need to ensure that the LEARNING is put into e-learningAvoid technology-driven approaches, but use interactive/feedback driven approaches! JUST ANOTHER TOOL, to be used with reference to learning objectives...Use technologies for what e-learning is really good at, and abandon everything else..Race, p. 177: Few e-learning materials use it for what it’s really excellent for... Giving learner interesting things to do, providing quick/responsive feedback, helping them make sense of what they did, and deepening learning. These provide benchmarks to work towards, in 10/20 years won’t even think of using such material, but process needs to be hastened by collaboration...Associationist/Empiricist perspective – characterised much early learning re: knowledge transmission, building skills from the bottoms upCognitive: Learning as achieving understanding, development through intellectual activity, rather than absorption of information.Situative: About becoming a ‘community of practice’ (where e.g. use of Second Life has a value, practice without “harm”.

So many possibilities are already available online, needs a careful assessment of the value of these, some suggestions here... Less punitive, more encouraging. Using e.g. CET: get some face-to-face sessions going, with conversations which can then be continued online!Creative Commons licenses?

Great example can be seen here – using face-to-face here, and then online engagement with another group in JapanStudents took their assessments more seriously with a real audience, and could see the applicability in offline life.

Definitely need a lot of thought, and a number of texts have diagrams for setting up a proper process, which emphasises the learning outcomesMust be built into the strategy for teaching, and used where APPROPRIATE – not everything is appropriate to become electronic, and to make the most of it, assess the true value.As Race again says, the medium is current immature, but once it becomes mature it will simply blend with other methods (p185, gives a great checklist)

In all this, have not forgotten the tools that are already in use at Winchester, and the need to bring on board senior management (who are a mix of digital immigrants/aliens!)And aside from aiding as a teaching tool, there is also the issue of research informed teaching, and educational networking can aid the academics in many waysPromote own research, and pass that promotion expertise onto students.Squidoo: Place for staff to place expertise PGCLTHE (Blended Learning module) – could be crowdsourced.

NOTE: Christianity in the Digital Space – we emphasised need to use online/offline, rather than real/virtual, just another way of making contact with people which is not time/geographically dependent, which aids the way that learning is currently going (more online), and gives opportunities to exchange knowledge – with others in appropriate professions and with similar research interests.

Used these texts to different degrees

Thank you Happy to answer anyquestions!Why me?Experience, via digital-fingerprint.co.uk, includingSkillsNet (awaiting new capabilities on new external site)Know the IT team and have good relations with them from having worked with a number of them, and with Saffron, as we’re talking convergence – learning/marketing have some overlap to ensure students feel a part of the institution. Learn quickly, not afraid to experiment.Teaching across the disciplines – lots of ideas (and have also worked outside academia, e.g. The Gathering is looking at ways for people to LEARN about the Christian faith, without SERMONISING – a very new media way of doing things).Strategic thinker.Know where to find the tools.

On LTDU site was a section for Blended Learning. It looked very undeveloped/out of date, so we’ve taken it off for now. This, however, would be an excellent base from which to draw resources (add info from conversation with Saffron), and I would also be developing my own site in my spare time, and certain amounts would cross-reference, bringing benefit to both Uni of Winch (bringing in my visitors, which am growing through Twitter, etc. and as I develop a strategy for blog content), and me, thus encouraging me to invest more time!Under the new external site, however, learning doesn’t yet have a home... So how to overcome this?WIN-WIN

You TubeVimeoHow much of this if for marketing, and how much for teaching & learning purposes, and how far is there a crossover?!

Business focused, but how can such plans be adapted for use in education, so that students are using it for learning, rather than for social life, or for straight ‘consumerism’?

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University Of Winchester Blended Learning - Presentation Transcript

The Potential Impact of Blended Learning on the Learning and Teaching Experience of Staff and Students at the University of Winchester
Dr Bex Lewis
bex@bex-lewis.co.uk
What is Blended Learning?
“The term is commonly associated with the introduction of online media into a course or programme, whilst at the same time recognising that there is merit in retaining face-to-face contact and other traditional approaches to supporting students. It is also used where asynchronous media such as email, forums, blogs or wikis are deployed in conjunction with synchronous technologies, commonly text chat or audio.”
Janet Macdonald Blended Learning and Online Tutoring: Planning Learning Support and Activity Design, 2008, p2
Learning/Pedagogy
http://www.slideshare.net/redmagma/elearning-sucks?src=embed
With the web you can...
The 21st Century Learner
http://mscofino.edublogs.org/2008/11/30/a-meeting-of-minds/
What is already on the radar at the University of Winchester?
Moodle-Based Learning Network
Podcasts
Wikis
Wimba Pronto
Electronic Submission
Clickers
YouTube (including http://www.youtube.com/edu)
Mobile learning, inc. iPhone Apps
http://digital-fingerprint.co.uk/2009/09/fully-convergent/
Latest debates
http://www.alt.ac.uk/altc2009/index.html
Synchronous Conferencing
http://www.elluminate.com/; http://www.wimba.com/; http://www.webex.co.uk/
A Digital Native: Jake’s Story
“Jake told the executive that he never goes directly to a brand like this man’s newspaper or even to blogs he likes. ... he reads a lot of news – far more than I did at his age. But he goes to that news only via the links from Digg, friends’ blogs, and Twitter. He travels all around the internet that is edited by his peers because he trusts them and knows they share his interests. The web of trust is built at eye-level, peer-to-peer.” (Jarvis, p.86, my emphasis)
http://www.slideshare.net/lisaharris/crossing-the-chasm-1831246
What’s out there?
http://blog.twingly.com/2009/08/19/guest-post-social-media-adresses-the-hierarchy-of-needs/
More Useful?
http://dd.dynamicdiagrams.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/58299511_2bcff18db2.jpg
How do we measure value?
http://skillsnetwinch.wordpress.com/
http://twitter.com/SkillsNetWinch
http://www.youtube.com/user/SkillsNetWinch
http://www.winchester.ac.uk/?page=11134
SkillsNet, Winchester
But how can we use it?
Technology is just a tool?
http://www.camb-ed-us.com/school/standards-assessment.asp
Practical Ideas?
Blogs: Real-time engagement, formative feedback
Twitter: “Backchatter”, concise summaries of arguments/texts.
Delicious: Bookmarking within a course, sharing links
Online treasure hunt: leading to the library!
Second Life: museum for Creating and Consuming History
E-Portfolio: Space for reflective journaling
Wiki: Non-linear development of an argument
Facebook Group: Industrial placement students, maintaining community
YouTube: Session tasters
http://www.slideshare.net/cristinacost/communicating-our-culture
What is the purpose of this?
Three factors in all those empty wikis:
“There is insufficient purpose to the e-intervention; it is solving a problem that does not exist;
It is not built into the regular face-to-face teaching of the course or its assessment structures;
Insufficient time is available to set up and then diligently maintain the activities.”
Fry, H., Ketteridge, S., Marshall, S., Enhancing Academic Practice: A Handbook for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, 2009 (3rdEdn), p.91
What else can staff do?
Presentation: Dr Lorraine Warren
http://www.slideshare.net/lisaharris/using-social-media-for-research
Key Online Contacts
David Hopkins (Bournemouth University): http://www.dontwasteyourtime.co.uk/; @hopkinsdavid
Steve Wheeler (University of Portsmouth): http://steve-wheeler.blogspot.com/ @timbuckteeth
Lisa Harris (University of Southampton): http://www.lisaharrismarketing.com/ @lisaharris
Jane Hart (Centre for Learning & Performance Technolgies) http://www.c4lpt.co.uk/ @c4lpt
Johannes Ahrenfelt (Secondary School Teacher):http://www.innovativeict.net/ @ahrenfelt
Offline Bibliography
Fry, H., Ketteridge, S., Marshall, S., Enhancing Academic Practice: A Handbook for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, 2009 (3rdEdn) (Routledge)
Gillespie, H. Et al., Learning and Teaching with Virtual Learning Environments, 2007 (Learning Matters)
John, P.D. & Wheeler, S., The Digital Classroom, 2008 (Routledge)
Lynch, M.M. Learning Online, 2004 (Routledge)
Macdonald, J., Blended Learning and Online Tutoring: Planning Learning Support and Activity Design, 2008 (Gower)
Mayes, T. & de Freitas, S. ‘JISC E-Learning Models Desk Study: Review of e-learning theories, frameworks and models’, 2004
Race, P., Making Learning Happen: A Guide for Post-Compulsory Education, 2005 (Sage)
Thank you for your timeQUESTIONS?
Digital Fingerprint
Stanford University: Field Leader
A Visual Guide to Twitter
Facebook