This document discusses using personal smart technologies to support learning in higher education. It addresses the opportunities, challenges, and inevitabilities of smart learning. The author outlines an activity called the "Challenge and Opportunities method" where participants identify challenges and opportunities in three areas: pedagogic readiness, organizational readiness, and technical readiness. Participants then analyze and discuss their responses in small groups. Key attributes that define smart learning are also presented, including ubiquity, learner-centeredness, and connectivity. The author concludes that while intervention can stimulate innovation, change may also happen naturally as conditions evolve. Holistic leadership is needed to connect strategies across pedagogy, organization, and technology for enhancement and transformation.

1. Is it possible to be smart?
addressing the inevitabilities,
opportunities and challenges of
using personal smart technologies to
support learning in higher education
Andrew Middleton
Head of Innovation & Professional
Development
@andrewmid
#smartSEDA
19th Annual SEDA Conference 2014
Opportunities and challenges for academic
development in a post-digital age
13th November 2014 -14th November 2014
NCTL Learning and Conference Centre, Nottingham

2. About this session

Smart Learning - the opportunities, challenges
and inevitabilities of personally owned smart
technologies for teaching and learning, and

Academic innovation - the capability of
academic innovators to effectively transform their
own practice and influence the practice of others

by developing emerging thinking using a
communal agency method

3. Innovation
Challenges
Opportunities...
or Inevitabilities
cc US Army

4. 
Based only on what you know please complete the

Challenge and Opportunity cards

You will use these as the basis for beginning to
explore the idea of smart learning in this session

Just 3 minutes – first thoughts only
The Challenge & Opportunities method

5. 
In small groups

Compare your Challenge and Opportunity cards

Quickly note:
1.Are the statements about:

teaching and learning?

technical barriers?

the need for leadership or support?

something else?
2.How ambitious is the challenge statement?
The Challenge & Opportunities method

6. The Challenge & Opportunities method

Examine and compare
preconceptions

Establish focus

Establish contextual
complexity

Valuing participation

Promote productive
networking

Develop communal agency

Elicit the range of issues

Elicit benefits

7. Analysing Challenges & Opportunities
PEDAGOGIC
READINESS
of learners and teachers
ORGANISATIONAL
READINESS
strategic
TECHNICAL
READINESS
personal and institutional
AWARE AWARE AWARE
ENHANCING
ACCOMMODATING
DEVELOPING
SUPPORTING
ABLE & STABLE
TRANSFORMING ADVOCATING FLUENT & FLEXIBLE
1
2
3

8. Challenge results: Pedagogic Readiness
of learners and teachers
AWARE
• Resistance from staff (Careers)
• Current role. Breaking barriers/habits
• Pedagogical support for iPad for teaching
ENHANCING
• How can communication skills be developed via smart
technology?
• Get away from the assessment=exams and essay regime
(Academic)
TRANSFORMING
• Technology is fully embedded and well-used. Not a
gadget for gadget's sake (Learning Technologist)
• Non-linear innovation (TEL)
1
2
3
• Quote (attribution by role)

9. Opportunity results: Pedagogic
Readiness
of learners and teachers
AWARE
• Explore all available technologies rather than focussing on
one or two.
• Experience of learning is more valued and integral to life
ENHANCING
• Expanding student experience... Making learning more
differentiated
• Collaborative learning (Learning Technologist)
• [Access to] huge range of people and skills (Student)
• Participating in change...
• Feedback (Academic)
• Liven up delivery (Careers)
TRANSFORMING
• Social networkers... make shift to social learning (Ed Dev)
• Open learning (PicBod/Phonar) new digital degree. Take
this into Journalism (Academic)
• Considering the blending of traditional methods with new
technology (Senior Lecturer)
1
2
3
• Quote (attribution by role)

10. Challenge results: Organisational
Readiness
strategic capacity
AWARE
• To get all the staff interested... (e-learning Developer)
• Myself- finding time to learn how to use the different
devices. I work P/T...
• Reason to leave comfort zone
• BYOD argument! ...So, do we buy students devices or
allow them to BYOD (?)
• ...There must be support from above (Ed Tech)
• Budget to implement technology (Faculty Dean)
ACCOMMODATING
DEVELOPING
SUPPORTING
• Scalability..: money, ethics, time, energy
• Attitude ...using smart technology in the classroom
(Int. Advisor)
• Time!... space to innovate... I want it! I need it! (SL)
• Lack of knowledge/support for academics to integrate
[smart technology] into teaching (HoT&L)
ADVOCATING
• Mindset and culture
• Innovators valued as leaders
1
2
3
• Quote (attribution by role)

11. Opportunity results: Organisational
Readiness
strategic capacity
AWARE
• Smart technology should be embedded into the
physical environment with QR Codes - huge potential
in our university - bilingual environment (Learning
Technologist)
ACCOMMODATING
DEVELOPING
SUPPORTING
• Embracing new technology and ideas for use
• Seamless solutions - Joining up the thinking and
breaking down barriers (Academic)
ADVOCATING
• Learning analytics - personalise/tailor student
learning (Academic)
• Timeliness as when students want to engage
(Academic)
• The chance to offer more creative forms of
assessment across all disciplines (Information
Specialist)
1
2
3
• Quote (attribution by role)

12. Challenge results: Technical Readiness
personal and institutional
AWARE
• IT infrastructure, wifi capacity and plug sockets
(Academic)
• Ensure wifi coverage is robust enough
• Connectivity and policy issues so our IT services can be
supportive of this and not be scared of it!
ABLE & STABLE
• Institution only speaks 'Microsoft' (Lecturer)
• Not all students will be able to take part if they do not
have compatible devices (Careers staff)
• Is technology moving too fast..?
• Robust wi-fi (Lecturer)
• Access to devices within the classroom (e-L support)
FLUENT & FLEXIBLE
• Variety of platforms used on student devices
(Lecturer, Fieldwork)
• Not everyone has a device (Student)
• Create an open media citizen-journalism app to
enhance our Journalism & Media course (Academic)
1
2
3
• Quote (attribution by role)

13. Opportunity results: Technical Readiness
personal and institutional
AWARE
• Increased independence and flexibility
• Less dependence on the wired environment and
infrastructure
ABLE & STABLE
• Apps usually free or cheap, task oriented and
simpler to support
• Opportunities for learning and knowledge creation
'on demand' not within a prescribed timetable or
working week.
FLUENT & FLEXIBLE
• Anytime, anywhere, anyhow
• Make university greener by facilitating distance
learning. Use devices to get students to study
'smarter' more autonomously, self directed.
1
2
3
• Quote (attribution by role)
13:40

14. Smart: mobile
Meaning

portable handheld devices

on the move

being in remote, non-traditional,
or authentic places

using non-wired environments

teaching and learning in, across
and through a range of physical
and virtual spaces seamlessly

enhancing formal spaces

enhancing informal spaces

enhancing or transforming

experience across spaces
cc Giorgio Luciani

15. BYOD
 Employees find it more
productive to use their own
smart devices rather than the
technologies provided for them
 Personal devices bypass the
constraints and protocols of
provided technologies
 Employees to be more
productive as they work across
formal and informal spaces
(Caldwell, Zeltman & Griffin,
2012).
Caldwell, C., Zeltman, S., and Griffin, K. (2012). BYOD (Bring Your Own Device). Competition Forum, 10(2), pp. 117-121
cc Gailjadehamilton

16. "the planned curriculum"
"the unplanned curriculum"
Smart:
formal-informal
Everywhere.
Anywhere.
In between and across
locations…
Lecture theatres,
classrooms, corridors,
outside, pub, home
office, student rooms,
workplace,
placements,
professional settings,
international settings,
online, on the move…
13:45
Where does learning happen?

17. Middleton (2015) 'Introducing Smart Learning' In: A. Middleton (ed). Smart learning: teaching and learning with smartphones and tablets in post compulsory education.
MELSIG and Sheffield Hallam University
RICH DIGITAL
MEDIA
USER
GENERATED
MEDIA
BYOD
MOBILE
LEARNING
OPEN
LEARNING
SOCIAL MEDIA
FOR
LEARNING
incorporates
and multiplies
related
opportunities
disrupts
formal
models of
delivery
disrupts
one-to-many
model
disrupts
dependency
on text
disrupts
provided
content
model
disrupts
provided
"classroom"
model
disrupts
provided
technology
model

18. connectivity
social reach
AUTHENCITY
maturity of the
technologies
affordability of
software
multiple
functionality
location sensitivity
personalisation
computing power
real and virtual
capacity
device neutrality and
interoperability
range of media
SPONTANEITY
CREATIVITY
CO-OPERATION &
COLABORATION
LIFE-WIDE & LIFELONG
UBIQUITY & ACCESS to LEARNING
PRODUCTIVITY
LEARNER-CENTREDNESS
CONNECTIVITY
"Defining factors and attributes of Smart Learning" from Middleton (2015) 'Introducing Smart Learning'
In: A. Middleton (ed). Smart learning: teaching and learning with smartphones and tablets in post compulsory education. MELSIG and Sheffield Hallam University
portability and
compactness
personal
ownership

19. Innovation
Complexity and
Inevitability?
cc Jenny Downing
 How necessary is intervention
anyway?
 To what extent does change
just 'happen'?
 For a paradigm shift to occur
conditions for change need to
be in place - adjacent
possibilities (Johnson, 2010)
 C&O method is useful for
stimulating academic
innovation
 Also, describes complexity
 Complexity requires holistic
leadership for enhancement
and transformation,
connecting:
 Pedagogic strategy
 Organisational strategy
 Technical strategy
Conclusions
Thank you
email:
a.j.middleton@shu.ac.uk