Plymouth University Institutional Story
Project Information
Project Title (and acronym) / SEEDPoD Student Experience Enhancement thru Driving the Plymouth Embedding Of Digital literacies
Start Date / 14/07/2011 / End Date / 31/07/2013
Lead Institution / University of Plymouth
Partner Institutions / Association for Learning Development in Higher Education (ALDinHE)
Project Director / Prof Neil Witt
Project Manager & contact details / Prof Neil Witt
Dr Anne McDermott
Project website /
Project blog and Twitter ID /
Design Studio home page /
Programme Name / Institutional Innovation
Programme Manager / Sarah Davies
Document History
Version / Date / Comments
1.0 / 31/05/13 / Draft final report for comments
2.0 / 25/07/13 / Final Report
1
/ Developing Digital LiteraciesPlymouth University Institutional Story
SEEDPoD Project
Final Report
Anne McDermott
Neil Witt
Rob Stillwell
June 2013
TABLE OF CONTENTS
0SUMMARY......
1HEADLINES......
2KEY DRIVERS......
2.1Strategic drivers
2.2Existing Skills and Practices
2.3Curriculum Design and Delivery
2.4Institutional Champions
2.5Students
3PLYMOUTH UNIVERSITY......
3.1The Institution
3.1.1Partner institutions
3.2Project Staff
3.3ALDinHE
3.4Stakeholders
3.5Baseline Audit
3.5.1Strategy, policy
3.5.2Curriculum Design Processes
3.5.3Human Resources
3.5.4Technology environment
3.5.5Student Support
3.5.6Staff Support
3.5.7Student Baseline Practices
3.5.8Staff Baseline Practices
3.5.9Curriculum design and delivery
3.6Models used
4APPROACH......
4.1Conceptual models
4.2Stakeholder engagement and communication
4.3Changing roles
4.4Strategic change
4.5Infrastructure
4.6Developing people
4.7Managing activities
4.8Changes to the project
4.9Evaluation
5DELIVERABLES and BENEFITS......
5.1Outputs, outcomes and impact
6OTHER IMPACTS......
6.1Organisational change
6.1.1Single point of entry for Digital Skills
6.1.2Business case for unified digital literacies booking tool
6.1.3Biennial survey of student use
6.1.4Staff development
6.2Cultural change
6.3Unintended outcomes
6.3.1Curriculum work
6.3.2DL Skills Module NW
6.3.3ASTI department and roles
6.3.4ASTI Working Groups
6.3.5Data management
7SUSTAINABILITY AND EMBEDDING OF PROJECT OUTPUTS......
7.1Outstanding
8LESSONS LEARNED and REFLECTIONS......
8.1Digital literacy audit and contextualisation
8.2Key Messages
8.2.1Senior manager buy in is essential
8.2.2Evidence, evidence, evidence
8.2.3Change can be good
8.2.4Use every opportunity
8.2.5Use existing networks
8.2.6Definitions can be a distraction
8.3Reflection on lessons learned
APPENDIX A – PROJECT EVALUATION LOGIC MODEL......
APPENDIX B – PROJECT DISSEMINATION......
0SUMMARY
Plymouth University has been committed to investigating and embedding Digital Literacy for a number of years. It was identified as a priority in the University’s 2008-2012 Teaching and Learning Strategy and a number of DL areas were investigated in 2010 by a JISC funded Building Capacity project.
The SEEDPoD project has built on earlier work by undertaking a range of activities including
- Audit of systems, policies, infrastructure and data
•Collating views from academic and support staff on use of, and practice with, existing software and hardware systems and identifying Digital Literacy concerns
•Surveying staff and students, and running focus groups around the current and future use of technology, confidence in using technology and identifying Digital Literacy and other support needs
•Recommending institutional change on Digital Literacy issues around:
•Infrastructure
•Support
•Curriculum Design.
At the start of the project, Plymouth like many HE institutions went through a rapid process of change following the publication of the ‘Students at the heart of the system’ White Paper. The process and outcomes of these institutional changes resulted in a number of key opportunities that allowed the SEEDPoD project to make a significant impact on the embedding of Digital Literacy in to many key areas of the Institution. These included:
- Strategic: to ensure Digital Literacy is part of new institutional strategies
- Process: to embed Digital Literacy into new and existing processes, such as the recently introduced Performance Development Framework
- Sustainable: to embed into Digital Literacy into Curriculum Design
- Restructuring: to design and implement a Digital Literacy support system that impacts on all areas of the institution – students, academic and professional support staff
These changes have been made possible because the project was able to utilise unexpected opportunities by providing evidence, advocacy and direction. It has been successful in embedding Digital Literacy into Plymouth University’s
- Digital Strategy
- Teaching, Learning and the Student Experience Strategy 2013-2020
- University Strategy 2020
- Academic Partnerships’ Digital Strategy.
These strategies contribute to Faculty/School Plans, which, through the Performance Development Framework, create a focus for staff Digital Literacy development needs. These are then fed through to appropriate support services, a significant part of which is offered through a new department - Academic Support, Technology and Innovation (ASTI). The recommendation for the ASTI structure was also based on the SEEDPoD baseline recommendations.
ASTI is made up of the SEEDPoD project team, Learning Technologists, and the newly created roles of Information specialists and Digital Skills Developers. In total ASTI has 35 members of staff and includes the following functions:
•Strong focus around Digital Literacy
•Faculty support via Learning Technologists based centrally and in the faculties
•Part of Technology and Information Services, to facilitate embedding and sustainability of innovation
•Single point of entry all Digital Literacy training, support and resources
•Developing a new Curriculum Design approach
•Focus on community development.
The opportunities taken by the project and the impact it has had on strategy, process and institutional structure has resulted in an embedded, sustainable approach to institutional understanding and adoption of Digital Literacy.
1HEADLINES
The most outstanding impact of the SEEDPoD project has been its effectiveness in embedding the digital literacies agenda into a range of areas of the institution.
It has been successful in providing the evidence and advocacy to get Digital Literacy (DL) into the key statements of Plymouth University aims that are its
- Digital Strategy
- Teaching, Learning and the Student Experience Strategy 2013-2020
- University Strategy 2020
- Academic Partnerships’ Digital Strategy.
These strategies contribute to Faculty and School Plans and the new Performance Development Framework (PDR), which replaces the appraisal system, draws on these plans to focus staff development. DL needs are identified through the PDR and fed to appropriate support.
SEEDPoD has also been active in this area in proposing improvements to how support will be accessed by both students and staff. Outcomes from this include work that are in progress are
- Single point of access
- Unified digital literacy courses booking tool
- Digital literacy skills module for students for 2014
- ASTI working group for DL support for postgraduate students
- ASTI working group for DL support to new Plymouth students at induction
- ASTI working group to examine how best to communicate and engage with stakeholders.
ASTI (Academic Support, Technology and Innovation) itself came into being as a result of the findings of the SEEDPoD baseline report and the Plymouth 2015 Review of University services. It is comprised of the SEEDPoD project team, Learning Technologists, and the newly created roles of Information specialists and Digital Skills Developers. In total ASTI has 35 members of staff.
Another area that will have a huge impact on the Plymouth student experience in the next year is that of curriculum design. The audit carried out by this project revealed a number of issues resulting in the formation of the Curriculum Design and Development Task and Finish Group chaired by PVC Teaching and Learning. This is now incorporated into a new SEEDPoD Plus project that will be making changes to curriculum processes and data management as part of the Plymouth University Curriculum Enrichment Implementation Group.
The project has run 20 DL workshops and webinars that have examined DL through the lens of a particular piece of technology, in this case an iPad. This was chosen due to its perception by staff and students as a cutting edge piece of technology and that a number of schools and faculties have introduced them for teaching purposes. The ’Talking about iPads/Digital Literacies’ workshop has also been run as webinars for SEEDPoD partner, ALDinHE.
2KEY DRIVERS
When the project was conceived, Plymouth University recognised that DL, to a greater or lesser extent,was having an impact on all staff, students and institutional practice and it had already undertaken a small scale DL review[1]as part of its 2009-2012 Teaching and Learning Strategy. This work highlighted areas for development, such as the need to better integrate university strategies and priorities into the process of course design, monitoring, review and validation and to ensure consistency of the use of technology across all programmes.
There was a need to build on this by undertaking a wider and deeper study to investigate the DL needs of a range of stakeholders and to identify a range of appropriate interventions required to make a step change in adoption of the digital skills across our stakeholder groups and to promote the 'normalising' of DLs as an integral part of the student experience across the University and partner further education institutions.
2.1Strategic drivers
Theme 9 of Plymouth’s 2009-2012 Teaching and Learning Strategy addressed the role of Technology Enhanced Learning (TEL):
To harness and exploit new technologies to enhance the teaching and learning experience.
Teaching and Learning Strategy 2009 – 2012, University of Plymouth
Specifically this centred on provision of flexible access to materials, support for staff to teach flexibly and providing the necessary infrastructure necessary to enable these aspirations.
A TEL action plan was developed as part of the University’s Teaching and Learning Strategy[2] to address the requirements of the University’s strategies and priorities whilst maximising the effectiveness of institutional investment into TEL and to exploit the outputs and outcomes from our externally funded projects. It aligned the University with the HEFCE strategy, JISC vision and the Higher Ambitions Report as this alignment will assist in aligning the University with best practice from the HE sector.
The primary activities arising from the mapping of priorities in the TEL action plan were:
- aligning UoP TEL services to national recommendations and good practice in areas such as e-assessment, e-portfolio, podcasting and exploiting web2.0 technologies;
- the use of OER and the introduction of a Learning Object Economy;
- further utilisation of TEL in assessment processes, including feedback;
- enhanced and co-ordinated staff development across the University to support the embedding of TEL and associated pedagogies;
- assisting the University in creating digitally literate students and staff.
Changes in these areas should be mediated by developments in the areas of unifying strategic priorities and stakeholder engagement and development. Building on the experiences of JISC funded UsPaCe project and the Higher Education Learning Partnership (HELP) CETL work into Communities and Communities of Practice, SEEDPoD aimed to develop cross-institutional, sustainable and scalable communities of stakeholders, linked to suitable support materials and resources.
2.2Existing Skills and Practices
DL has a much wider scope than skill acquisition. It should equip students and staff to maintain and grow their ability to use and choose from a wide range of digital media for the purposes of communication, collaboration and knowledge acquisition - all vital facets contributing to employability in the 21st century. Indeed there is ample evidence of the centrality of digital skills and practices to many, if not most, professions (e.g. Technology Insights, 2011[3]) but that graduates are not adequately prepared to fulfil this aspect of their future careers (e.g. Researchers of Tomorrow[4]).
Whilst there were pockets of excellence within Plymouth University, DLs were not sufficiently embedded within teaching or staff's own practice to be regarded as mainstream. Staff were finding problems in doing so because of a systemic lack of support and supporting structures. Responsibilities were not defined and there were no institution level commitments to guarantee learners parity of experience and opportunity in relation to DL.
2.3Curriculum Design and Delivery
Just prior to the SEEDPoD project, the JISC funded BCUP project found that students at this institution experienced a lack of consistency within academic programmes across a range of services e.g. accessing lecture materials, lecturer skills and preferences. It also noteda failure to differentiate across programmes where this would be beneficial to allow different:
- kinds of communication and collaboration
- professional ICT tools
- modes of access to learning materials
- evidence gathering and recording for learning outcomes
- use of personal devices
- choice of study location
- teaching styles
- modes of assessment and feedback.
This was exacerbated by uneven provision across the campus buildings and partner institutions.
2.4Institutional Champions
The importance of taking a whole institution approach to digital literacies was embraced and advocated at high level by several key senior managers including Bill Rammell the Deputy Vice Chancellor with responsibility for the student experience, and internationalisation, Professor Pauline Kneale, Pro Vice Chancellor Teaching and Learning, and Professor Mary Watkins also Deputy Vice Chancellor. Other senior managers who have been key to the success of the project are Professor Neil Witt, Head of Technology Enhanced Learning, Ajay Burlingham-Böhr, Interim Chief Information Office 2011-2012 and Mark Stone Associate Professor, Head of UK Partnerships in Academic Partnerships and a project team with considerable experience of JISC projects and large education related projects.
2.5Students
The baseline audit carried out as part of the JISC funded Building Capacity project produced a number of recommendations for further action to assist in the embedding of DLs in to the curriculum delivery (short term) and design (long term) processes of the University.
BCUP also noted that students could be effective drivers for encouraging the embedding of DL into academic practice, e.g. a module with good use embedding of DL that ran across several programmes prompted students to ask why all modules on their programmes weren't the same.
3PLYMOUTH UNIVERSITY
3.1The Institution
The University is based in the South West of England and has 30,000 students and 3000 staff, most of which are based at its Plymouth campus. It has one of the largest and longest established HE in FE partnerships in the country, which was identified as an area of good practice by the QAA[5]. The Partnerships Faculty brings together the strengths of an increasingly research-informed University with the local and vocational focus provided by FE institutions across the South West and has developed a genuinely collaborative approach to ensuring high quality learning for all HE students. The University is committed to harnessing and exploiting new technologies to enhance the teaching and learning experience in all its forms.
Plymouth aspires to be the enterprise university and, in partnership with business and the public sector plays a distinctive role in the development, application and exchange of knowledge in the city, the region and beyond. Lifelong learning, employability and workforce development are intrinsic elements within its strategies.
It is currently revising its Teaching and Learning Strategy. At this time, key themes are that the University will be responsive and opportunist, reflecting the changing needs of individual, professional bodies and the workforce. This is reinforced by the commitment to extend its provision to better support employers and those currently in employment and to harness and exploit new technologies that enhance the teaching and learning experience.
The University has voiced its commitment to digital literacies through at senior management level. According to the Vice Chancellor, Professor Wendy Purcell[6] it aimed to place emphasis on innovation and ...
- use of technology in course delivery, assessment, and learning resources
- employability
- entrepreneurship and social enterprise
- flexible pathways - part time, modular - which technology can help to knit up
- e.g. PebblePad - given digital literacy skills
- placements, internships, work experience - again which technology can support
- global citizenship.
3.1.1Partner institutions
University Plymouth Colleges (UPC) faculty is a partnership with 18 institutions in the South West of England. The partnership consists of mostly colleges of further education that are offering higher education in further education (HE in FE) validated by Plymouth University. UPC covers a vast area running between Gloucester, Weymouth and Cornwall and in the last academic year approximately 10,000 students were registered, though since many were part-time, the FTE (Full Time Equivalent) figure was around 7,000. These awards include around 350 Foundation Degrees, 80 HNCs (mostly “embedded” in the former), 5 HNDs, 15 Bachelor's degrees and a variety of CPD offers of up to 60 credits.
Plymouth University is responsible for assuring academic standards of these programmes part of which includes ascertaining how students will interact with technology, particularly in relation to mode of delivery.
3.2Project Staff
The project was made up of team members, already in place, with experience, knowledge and networks gained from a range of externally funded, technology and partnershipsrelated projects. These are shown in Table 3.1 below
Project title / Focus / Main aims/benefitsHELP CETL
/ Development and support of 40+ Communities of Practices
Tomoye knowledge management system
Videoconferencing network (18 centres) / Enable remote practitioners to share good practice, resources, experience virtually
UPlaCe Repository
/ None directly but supporting access to learning content / Supporting academic staff to search, access, use and repackage Learning Objects; enabling teaching/learning materials to be used across contexts
UsPaCe
/ Wide range of learning skills and attributes, particularly for work-based and foundation students.
Web 2.0 services to support learning.
Personalisation of learning / Personalise the learning experience (iGoogle)
Share resources by tagging (Del.icio.us)
Asynchronous collaborative working (mediawiki)
Peer/progression studentsupport (ELGG)
Collaborative distance working(Google Docs)
Pineapple project
/ Accreditation of Prior Experiential Learning (APEL)
Recording and showcasing achievements, planning learning
Emphasis on APEL in HE in FE setting / APEL processes for to multiple stakeholders
Diagnostic tool, tracker, outcome recorder
Core Pineapple engine usable for
- other kinds of competence mapping
- curriculum design at Staffordshire University
OER projects:
C-Change/EDOR and Learning from WOErk (LfW) / Access to learning content
Addressing needs of remote learners
Supporting flexible & online learning / Development of open access online learning materials in a range of subject areas, especially climate change and learning from work.
Building Capacity University of Plymouth / Digital literacy generally (this audit and associated activities)
Use of TEL by students, especially podcasts, OERs and other teaching/learning materials online, e-assessment, e-portfolio / LLiDA tool capture Plymouth TEL experience
Lecture Capture and on-the-fly creation of video material, for storage in UPMedia;
Investigated CAA options
Further deployment and use of PebblePad
DL audit and recommendations
Table 3.1.Team members’ experience with digital literacy focused projects at Plymouth University.