This document discusses the Digital Support Partnership project at a university in Scotland from June 2020 to August 2021. The project aimed to support staff in online teaching during the Covid-19 pandemic by building on their existing knowledge and practices. It also sought to investigate staff and student experiences of learning and teaching during this time through collaborative research across university departments. An ecological model is presented that influenced how staff approached digital education based on their own skills and beliefs as well as departmental, institutional, and societal contexts during the pandemic. Challenges for developing sustainable digital education in the future are also discussed.

1. Evolving ecologies in digital education –
A perspective from Scotland
@louisedrumm

2. The Digital Support Partnership (June 2020-Aug 2021):
 Support staff in online
teaching
 Build on existing knowledge
and practice
 Evidence-informed
 Create partnership &
collaboration across
university departments
 Build a collegial community

3. Digital Support Partnership
Research Project
Overarching aim: to
investigate staff and
students’ experiences
of learning and
teaching during Covid-
19
Identified gap: changes
in staff’s conceptions of
learning and teaching

4. Positive
Neutral
Negative
End of Tri 2
March
2020
Reflections
on Module
outcome
First online
tutorial Tri 1
Reflection
on Honours
projects Tri 2

5. Departmental
context
Institutional context
HE sector
Society and culture
Digital lives
Wider context of Covid-19
Covid-19 HE guidance
Other institutions
Departmental culture
Colleagues
Students
DSP support/
Uni directives
Subject/
Discipline
context
Professional
context
Interdisciplinary & interdepartmental interactions
Institutional directives influenced practice
Agency at the departmental level allowed
experimental practice. Some developed a strong
culture of sharing practice, long-term changes
possible.
Beliefs about teaching/learning in discipline
affected feelings, decisions, and evidence-
gathering
Confidence increased as tech skills improved and staff
reflected on and evaluated their digital practice
Student experience and engagement fed into staff
reflection and evaluation of their digital practice.
Adapted by Zike and
Drumm from:
Shelton (2018, p 292)
Self-efficacy
Skills increasing over
period
Self
An ecological
model for
teaching online
during COVID-19

6. Challenges ahead
1. Agents of change were de-centred, distributed and non-hierarchical
2. Agile evaluation and rapid change – through action research
3. Staff peer-to-peer conversation was locus of transformative thinking
4. Digital education scholarship was empowering (fed in from MSc)
Findings

7. Sustainable Digital Education
Ecosystems?
 Integration of new skills, networks and understandings into existing
systems – but somewhat invisible
 A ‘pendulum swing’ back to on-campus – cycles of ‘swings’ until a
rebalancing
 Hybrid – a ‘new species’ of learning and teaching – remains ill-
defined
 Risk of rapid modifications not given space to evolve into effective
widespread practices
 Need to reflect back and champion what was done, through an
evidence-based lens

8. PgCert/PgDip/MSc in
Blended and Online Education
@louisedrumm
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practice learning tool for students and practitioners. Practice, 19(1),
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Education, 37(2), 225-231.
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Education, 30(2), 279-297.
• Wall, K. (2017). Exploring the ethical issues related to visual
methodology when including young children’s voice in wider research
samples. International Journal of Inclusive Education, 21(3), 316-331.
References
l.drumm@napier.ac.uk