The view from a faculty learning technologist
Simon Starr
Q1: Is technology a catalyst for learning & teaching enhancement?
..o r more cynically is the technology the tail wagging the learning & teaching dog?)
Q2: Is this a problem – is a debate needed?
•Strategic imperative to embed e-learning beginning Spring 03 (e-learning committee)
In spring 2003, a faculty wide e-learning committee was established to raise issues of e-learning and build the capacity for e-learning and teaching amongst all academic staff. The other prong of this impetus was to build ‘e-working’ amongst all support staff. This lead to the e learning committee developing a plan for ‘e-ness’ which was highly responsive to the faculty development plan alongside centre/department plans and national guidance. Eg QAA precepts on e-learning
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This plan build on the pockets of good practice across the faculty but also aimed to extend this practice through professional development and support for staff wanting to develop their e-capability.
My role as a learning technologist was to support this process with all members of staff of a very large faculty. Very often the first conversion with a member of staff expressing an interest in ‘e-learning’ followed this pattern:
Me “ What do you want to do?”
Staff Member : “ I don’t know what’s possible!”
Me “OK. what are your learning & teaching objectives”
It was frequently not obvious how to tie one to the teaching and learning objectives down to e-learning opportunities as there are not always pre-determined learning and teaching objectives especially amongst education academics who will be critical of behaviouristic targets.
By demonstrating the potential of VLEs such as black board, gentle but obvious starting points were identified so that staff could experiment and ‘have a go’.
These included
•Posting Lecture notes :
•Communication to a group via an group email or a web discussion
•Saving on photocopying by posting handouts and guidance on to the VLE
This led to a first round of small scale developments which have been derogatively called the ‘development of shovelware’, however this may just have been an amplification of existing photocopy practice due to the ease and cost of transferring hardcopy costs on to students.
This was, however, quickly followed by an enhancement model in which developments were more informed by questioning, planning and more elaborate demands of the VLEs. This began a spiral of enhancement.
Some examples through this process can be briefly listed but show a developing ownership of e-learning across the faculty:
•Primary science subject knowledge audit: individual feedback came out of initial experimentation …
•Secondary (also science) web site reviews – came out of experimentation with publishing own learning materials –Also includes the use of digital pictures of whiteboard use and mind-mapping …Now extended to BA Primary (which were initially photocopying with lecture notes …)
•MA Ed Studs – a simple website now to be a -VLE (also Ed D)
•ORGANIC! Growth of PGCE Sec History and Foundation Degree WebBoards for learner support, reading groups and pedagogical discussion
REVIEW QUESTIONS
Q1: Is the tail wagging the dog here? Is the technology dictating the teaching and learning or is it the other way round?
Q2: Is this a good or bad thing either way?
Q3: MY ANSWER - Can learning technologies be developed ANY OTHER WAY?
–Theorise then develop (plan enhancement/jumps in pedagogy, can you mandate what matters?)
OR
–Develop, theorise, develop, theorise – SPIRALLING – tail wags dog, dog gets a bit smarter, wags tail …
Back to pedagogy – a thought … There’s a staff development cycle here based around active and experiential learning. No curriculum for e-learning development is being written down. Colleagues are having a go at learning technologies, taking ownership of developments, reviewing, planning (asking more and more informed questions. This is along way from ‘I don’t know what’s possible’.
The way forward may be through social constructivist approaches which is not really surprising as socially mediated learning is an aspiration of VLE usage.