ELearning for flexibility: lessons from experience

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E-Learning for flexibility lessons from
experience

• Chris Shiel

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• Presentation Outline
• INTRO TO EBAM
• BENEFITS OF E-LEARNING
• PEDAGOGIC APPROACH
• THE CYCLE OF LEARNING AND ENHANCEMENT
• THE E-TUTOR AS FACILITATOR
• COMMENTS FROM STUDENTS/STAFF
• UNIT SPEC to e
• THE FUTURE?

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• EBAM (www.ebam.ac.uk) FdA In Business and
  Management
• Originally designed for Armed Forces in
  partnership with Leeds Met for UKeU
• Three year programme
• Combines knowledge, skills and WBL
• Chunked 2 modules at a time 8 sections per
  knowledge module variety of learning activities
  per section

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• Developed to exploit the potential of e
• Flexibility of time/place (attractive to service
  personnel)
• Widens participation/access
• Enables development in the workplace
• Efficiencies over time
• Collaborative/constructivist potential learning
  communities can enhance learning
• Enhanced access to resources/support etc

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• BUT aware of a need for caution
• the history of technology is replete with
  promises and disappointment. (Rosenberg 2001)
• Major failures
• Empirical evidence that e-learning introduced
  without clearly thought out strategies either
  institutional or educational.
• (Morris Rippin 2002 Meredith Newton 2004
  Weller 2003)
• Cannot solely rely on champions

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Addressing flexibility

• Students
• Flexibility of access
• Opportunity for students in work/with family
  commitments to engage with learning
• Work relocation is not an issue
• Asynchronous conferencing provides variety in
  learning process time to reflect control over
  learning increased participation record of
  learning
• Opportunity to learn collaboratively from
  students in different organisations/ locations
• Access to information resources, tutors,

• Staff
• Flexibility of access
• Flexibility to tutor from home
• Flexibility to control input
• Increased participation and deeper learning
  motivating
• Record of learning
• Time to reflect
• All students can access taught material
• Opportunity to constructively align learning
  activity
• Visibility of group activities/projects

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Pedagogic approach

• Content Constructivist
• - passive deeper learning
• - transmissive interactive
• - reductionist creating knowledge
• - expensive to develop less costly to develop
• economies - expensive to deliver
• cheaper to deliver - training for e-tutors

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Content (Salmon 2005)

• Teaching
• content experts
• build online libraries resource pathways
• become e-lecturers
• captivate big audiences
• (support of the elite few
• needs high level of research)

stand deliver
stand deliver
content is king
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Content approaches

• Developing content is resource intensive/ lots of
  content already available
• Transmissive approach
• Despite what the world needs, -what the world
  is getting is a thousand different versions of
  Introductory Trigonometry. It makes no sense
  (Stephen Downes)
• The technology delivered learning of tomorrow
  will be assembled, not authored from large
  reservoirs of content presented to the learner
  Emphasis will be on building knowledge bases
  that can be published on the fly. (Elliot
  Masie)

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Dialogue, networking, collaboration Cafélattia
(Salmon,2005)

• social context for
• learning,
• acquisition, argument
• application,
• find interact with
• like-minded others,
• free expression,
• intellectual extension by dialogue
• reflection,
• professional communities,
• sharing of tacit knowledge

• Developed Internet
• (beyond the browser!)
• technologies
• as mediating devices
• as contexts
• community space,
• asychronous
• synchronous groupware,

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Laurillards Conversational Framework for the
learning process
Students specific concept
Teachers Concepts
Teachers constructed environment
Students specific actions
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• The cycle of learning and enhancement
• Developing the material getting it right from
  the outset
• Setting communicating design parameters
  (balancing consistency variety)
• Critical friends/checks on documentation (content
  and administrative)
• Constructive alignment
• Project planning development and refreshment

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• Importance of induction (socialisation and
  preparation for e)
• Good signposting (continue induction through
  early modules)
• Build sense of community (student forum)
• Importance of calendar and clear messages to
  students
• Assessment criteria need to be clear and easy to
  find on platform
• Monitor retention continuously

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Cohort 5
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• The e-tutor as facilitator
• Importance of training
• Takes time to develop technique
• Emphasis on engaging, motivating, providing
  feedback
• Needs to be on message (team player)
• Needs to note areas for enhancement as part of
  refreshment cycle)

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• Comments from e-tutors
• It takes a lot of work!..I am really enjoying
  this now, they are great students
• I have learned so much about technology
• Its good to be able to work from home
• You need to be clear about when you are
  available they can expect 24/7
• The discussions forums can be really interesting

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• Comments from students "The flexibility of the
  course is great, I can study when I want. It
  means that I can balance work, family and
  study."
• Joanne DignamCurrent StudentCivil Servant

• People are unaware of the opportunities that are
  available and they are impressed when I tell them
  about our e-learning experience Sylvia Hamilton,
  Global Taxation specialist.
• I am really glad that I enrolled on this course
  and when I finish I would like to continue with
  my studies to make this an Honours degree Keith
  Chinn, WO2

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• So how do you get from Unit Spec to E?
• Start with ILOs how will learning be chunked
• Identify support material (text book, articles,
  web resources etc)
• Decide what activities the student needs to
  undertake to demonstrate achievement of ILOs
• Align activities with assessment
• Set discussion questions for forums
• Plan induction/introduction for students
• Set expectations/guidelines
• Reinforce aims of conferencing
• Reassure students, explain how to contribute
• Remind students of netiquette
• Facilitate learning through conference forum

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• Where to next?
• Continuous enhancement
• Fulfilling needs of students through technology
  not vice versa
• Remembering students needs for print CD ROMs
• Implementing BA (Hons) International Business
  Management (IBAM)

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• Capitalising on new techs and opportunities
• Information is becoming embedded in things, and
  associated with places - presenting grave dangers
  and unprecedented opportunity.
• (Howard Rheingold 2002)

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RP Futures Now

• Blogs
• Make your life easier
• Share Research reading with your students
• Journal contents, Abstracts
• Share which journals you read with your students
• Make notes/comments on papers etc. (publicly or
  privately)
• Publish your notes through your blog

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Identify Feeds To Subscribe To
?
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View Feeds Articles
?
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Write Your Comments
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Share Your Thoughts
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Government Cumulus
Peaks of Duty
Mount Administration
Research Heights
Isle of Instead Of
Shadowlands Techno Jungle
Early Adopt River
Temple Of Pedagogy
Techie Firewall
Management Camp
Spring of Innovation
Crafters Plain
Opportunity Falls
Fresherslanding
As Well Bay
Dot.com Marsh
E-learning Land. By Gilly Salmon
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The problem with technology is not technology
itself but rather its implementation (jochems,
van merrienboer, koper, 2004)

• Thank You
• Any questions?

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• Activity
• Demonstrate a critical appreciation of the
  complexities of globalisation.
• What content and learning activities might
  facilitate the achievement of this ILO?