Linking development and innovation with mainstream activities

1
Linking development and innovation with
mainstream activities

• Grainne
• Conole
• Paul
• Browning
• Belfast, 25 June
• g.conole_at_bristol.ac.uk

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ICT RD - it can only get better?

• The current picture looks rosy, we have
• a wealth of good ICT research
• a growing mass of resources and developments
• new types of specialist ICT professionals
• emergence of niche units of expertise
• a wealth of supporting national and international
  agendas and initiatives
• Having lots of RD activities must automatically
  benefit mainstream university activities?

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But there is a gap..

• RD findings dont always relate to university
  strategy
• RD activities often occur in isolation and dont
  link to mainstream university activities
• There is a lack of communication and
  understanding
• Developments/resources are often built without
  enough reference to end users needs
• Resource are often not widely used across
  university
• There is sometimes a conflict between ICT RD
  interests and mainstream needs/focus

4
Key factors

• ICT research and development
• is a moving target
• will have a significant and growing impact in the
  future
• Scale up
• evidence of the area maturing, eg emerging
  standards
• need to look at issues of scale up and impact on
  organisational change
• Joining up
• imperative that wide range of disciplines
  impacting on this research area are brought
  together
• need wide range of skills and a multidisciplinary
  approach

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Harnessing the potential of ICT

• We need to
• close the loop between RD and mainstream
  activities
• have a clear understanding and focus on
  university needs
• provide mechanisms for best using ICT RD
  expertise into mainstream activities
• Benefits
• a more cohesive and focused set of activities
• more directly relevant to the university and end
  users
• better integration with mainstream activities and
  agendas

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A complex matrix of issues
Technical Functionality, interoperability,
robustness
Pedagogical Types of learning, integration,
support
Structural What structures, who should do what
Support Training and staff development, student
help
Strategy Institutional leadership, Joined up
strategies
Culture organisational change, ownership, time
to adapt
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The wider agenda
Research findings The Virtual Society and
PACCIT Link to practice
Research
National drivers NGfL, ufi, e-university The
International context globalisation,
competition/collaboration
Drivers
University learning and teaching innovation
funds Hefce quality enhancement funds CTI, LTSN,
TLTP, FDTL, JISC e_Lib and DNER
Resources
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Strategies for closing the loop

• a better understanding of the underlying factors
• provision of a communication route for RD
  activities
• reflection on experience in the field and feed
  back
• articulating the link between RD and strategy
• awareness of key university political agendas and
  drivers
• Constant communication and dialogue
• Representation on appropriate formal structures
• Mutual respect and understanding
• Critical projects - to act as flagships or
  testbeds

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Case study ILRT within a University of Bristol
context

• Outline of underlying philosophy
• Overview of
• ILRTs research and development activities
• main ingredients for sustaining RD activities
• key strategies for linking to mainstream
  activities
• Example of a critical project for joining up

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Institute for Learning Research TechnologyA
diverse range of RD, services and consultancy
Information gateways, digital libraries
Internet design, research and development
Digital image research and services
Virtual worlds, learning tools and environments
Pedagogical research and evaluation
Consultancy, courses, conferences
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People and supportgood practice, expertise and
resources
Cross-disciplinary Expertise, research and
development
Project-based, supportive structure Encourages
creativity, track record of sustainability,
supported by a strong virtual presence and
networking structure
70-80 staff with a wide range of expertise
Technical, pedagogical, research and
development, digitisation and imaging, teaching
and learning, project management, knowledge
management organisational change
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Inter-linked activities
Advice and consultancy
Projects and services
Technical RD
Pedagogical RD
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Advisory services, teaching, staff development
training
Services and resources, digital libraries and
information gateways
Pedagogical and technical research
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LTSS - harnessing project expertise
Internet Catalogue
Lunchbytes Workshops
Learning resources
Discussion fora
Interact
Try it
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ID - build and consultancy
Usability design
Virtual worlds
Bespoke VLEs
Advice consultancy
VIOLET
Intranet build
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A critical project - VIOLET

• VIOLET
• Virtual Integrated OnLine Environment for
  Teaching
• Sister project to IRIS
• The UoB "Research Enterprise" portal
• VIOLET aspires to
• deliver a "Teaching Learning" portal
• IRIS and VIOLET together
• underpin efforts to realise the vision of a
  University Portal.

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Builds on

• Internal Research and Development work
• Growing cross-institutional need
• Timely recent report from Learning and Teaching
  group
• Institutional strategies
• Learning and Teaching strategy
• Information Strategy
• Emergent CIT strategy

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Timescale and aims

• Four-month feasibility study
• which will conclude at the end of July 2001
• The project aims to
• explore the issues around an appropriate Virtual
  and Managed Leaning Environment for the
  University
• to make recommendations for the future

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3 main strands

• To implement
• a Commercial-Off-The-Shelf VLE (Blackboard)
• To ensure
• that the DataHub is populated by authoritative
  student and curriculum information from the
  Dolphin student system
• To create
• a bespoke VMLE (building on Medici and Law
  Intranet) that uses the DataHub information to
  provide a framework into which learning resources
  may be added
• Evaluation - Cross institution team
• To compare COTS bespoke, explore use, make
  recommendations

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Themes and strands
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Stakeholder involvement

• COTS VLE strand
• Medicine (link in with bespoke)
• Education (to explore learning aspects)
• Conversion from existing systems
• Bespoke VLE strand
• Builds on Medici and Law sites
• Reworking of Medici in zope
• Vets, Dentists, Education
• others in the pipe line

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Critical factors

• Key Strengths
• Pragmatic approach
• based on current need and demand
• the state of the technology
• Joined-up thinking
• Combining expertise across UoB
• Generating shared ownership
• Eye to the future
• Educating stakeholders
• Strategic perspective

• Key Issues
• Joining up can be hard!
• Technically - closed MIS systems, but glueware
  like Zope really helps
• Culturally - closed MIS mindset, but an
  Information Strategy really helps
• Adequate resources
• Problem still seems huge
• Integration of COTS and bespoke
• Resource implications
• Fostering ownership
• Training requirements

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Compromise

• Integration requires
• cross-institutional collaboration
• an understanding of the different perspectives
  and agendas involvement
• a belief in the process/expected outcomes and
  benefits

• Its a tricky balance!
• Researchers dont want to link into real
  activities
• What funders want doesnt always match local
  aspirations
• Developers not listening to end user needs
• Tension between commercial, local research

But. Thorough integration of RD activities
with mainstream agenda benefits everyone
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Whole greater than the sum of the parts?

• Each project builds on other RD activities
• There is ongoing communication with other
  projects in ILRT. What are they doing? How can
  the outputs from one project feed into another?
• The feedback loop is cyclical with research
  informing development and experience of use in
  the field feeding back into research
• Outputs are fed into other ILRT activities, the
  University and appropriate external channels
• Individual expertise and interests, role of staff
  development
• Influence of proximity
• Academic credibility and respect, mutual
  understanding

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Success factors

• a clear link between RD activities and
  mainstream
• a mechanism for communication back and forth
• evidence of relevance to end user needs
• utilisation of sector expertise and niche
  specialities
• a broad multidisciplinary perspective
• appropriate utilisation of national/international
  initiatives
• integration with local agendas