Key Matters Relating to Technology Enhanced Learning

Associate Professor Michael SankeyDirector, Learning Environments and MediaUSQ

Presentation at a Professional development workshop at Christchurch Polytechnic Institute of Technology. New Zealand. 18 March.

Toowoomba Springfield Harvey Bay Stanthorpe Sydney (partner)

• Founded in 1967

• A distance education provider since 1977

• Fully online programs since 1997

• 2 Faculties with 11 Schools

• All faculties have external programs

• More than 200 under-grad and post-grad award programs

University of Southern Queensland

Enrolled students USQ

• All students 27,235

• On-campus 7,235

• External/online 20,000 (73%)

• International 5,824 (1,100 ONC)

The vast majority of USQ students access information services online

Most Students and Staff know what they’re getting themselves in for when they come to USQ

Some current strategies

Every course has an online presence Every student has a named person to contact Minimum standards for all courses Threshold expectations – a common wireframe Learning Innovation & Teaching Enhancement

(LITE) teams Significant media enhancement available Strong focus on the Student Learning Journey

(SLJ) and personal learning environment (PLE)

Some current trends

Print – Progressively reducing but still wanted by some - but will be gone within Feb 2015

Digital content – Increasingly more accessible & able to be used on mobile devices

CDs – popular for many years but will also be gone within Feb 2015

Physical spaces – Comfortable places to meet, study, eat, talk and recharge.

BYOD – Closed two computer labs

Moving to mobile

Discernable periods in SLJ

Student Learning Journey

Decision to enrol

Application & offer

Enrol

The early weeks

Experience of first semester

Continuing study

Unforseen events

Completing study

Graduation

Alumni

The SLJ is a series of interactions between students & the Uni. Identified 9 student groups with some 150 individual points of interaction.

SLJ Online ServicesENGAGE• Enquiry Management (RightNow)• Future Student Website• Application• Information in 8 languages• Open Day & Info Evening

Programs• Residential College Applications• Careers Resources• Scholarships & Application Forms• Disability Resources• Student Representation• Web Campaign pages• New International website• New program Guide• Chat for enquiries

Now

ENROL• Admission/Offer/Accept/Defer/

Decline• Course re/Enrol (add, swap,

drop, edit)• View exemptions processing• Create/Amend Study Plan• View Class Enrolment• Enter/Update Personal details• Enter/Update/Request Support

–Disability• Fee Inv’s, calculator &

payments• Student ID Cards• Student Loans

Now

• Program Enrol (Cancel, Reinstate, Leave of Absence)Coming

ORIENT & TRANSITION• Orientation on Moodle• Access to StudyDesk• Access to UConnect• UConnect Announc’s & Alerts• UMail activation and passwords• Oncampus timetable• Personal SRO details• Student Services Videos• Tutorial Registration• Res College Invoicing & Pmts • Fee Acc. Enquiries & CAS

Forms• Student Guild Website• Current students website• Online Forums – Clubs &

Societies

Now

LEARNING SUPPORT

• AWARE Program• ALS Online Resources (TLC)• Enquiry Management (RightNow)• Counselling Resources• Careers Counselling• Employment, WIL, Mentoring• Intern. Stud. Assistance Line• Digital Learning @USQ site• Wimba workshops in maths• Counselling & Health Promotion• Academic Intervention Form

Now

• Personal Counselling• Learning Centre web page update• TLC in other languages• Student Services CO Engagement

Coming

PROGRESS

• Check Study Package Status• View & Print Unofficial

Transcripts• Exam Timetables• View & Update Exam Centres• Results• USQ Handbook• Policy Library• View & Update Statistical Data• Scholarships & Loans• Disability Support• Employer Speed-Networking • The Honk (Student Guild)

Now

• CRM Retention InterventionComing

GRADUATE

• Academic Dress ordering• Ceremony Registration• Graduate Employment

Resources• CareerHub Jobs Database• Graduation Ceremony Videos

Now

• Online Payment for Graduations & replacement TestamursComing

• Send/Update Profile form• Alpha list of Alumni Profiles• Chapter listings• Chapter tool-kit• New Chapter EOI form

• e-Newsletter• Alumnus of the Year Awards• Personal, Professions and bus.dev. opportunity listings•CareerHub Mentoring

ALUMNI

Some key things

Student relationship officers Academic learning support Peer assisted learning (Meet-Up) USQ Retention strategy Communities of Practice (CoPs) Staff professional development Mapping Graduate skills and capabilities ePortfolios (students and staff) Closing the loop Alumni

USQ Website (Sitecore) the public facing site

Different layers of the VLE

USQStudyDesk• Student Portal• All Course-

based activity_______________

• Repository

USQStaffDesk• Staff portal• Staff facing for

PD activities_______________

• Repository

USQOpenDesk• OER/OEP• Inter-institutional

activities_______________

• Repository

USQ ePortfolio (Mahara), Blackboard Collaborate, EASE, Voice tools, Turnitin, etc…

Technologies

Learning & teaching systems

group

Emerging technologies

Coretechnologies

Supportedtechnologies

Allowedtechnologies

The role of Mentors and Champions should not be underplayed

Threshold standards level playing field

Defined minimum standards

1. An introductory message, posted before the start of semester, which: welcomes students to the course; introduces the teaching team for the course; describes how the StudyDesk space will be used throughout the semester;

and explains how students may obtain support by appropriately directing

academic or technical. enquiries.

2. Checking of discussions and other student access areas on at least three [3] working days per week in order to: monitor and moderate comments and discussion by students; manage course operation by responding to student enquiries and learning

activities.

3. Student requests for clarification or assistance should be responded to as soon as possible, but certainly within 48 hours during the working week.

The role of the teacher

They are our interface

In most cases they want to engage

But are not confident And not overly

aware of what others are doing

Staff need to be using the same tools they use to teach to also learn

Example short course

A Key: Get the staff using the same tools as the students (if it’s good for the students it’s good for us)

Staff Development Gateway

ICT online training site

Staff portfolio

Professional portfolio

Evidence forpromotion

Teaching tool Interest group

interaction Linked with the

LMS 15,000 Portfolios

47,000 pages

Staff Development Gateway

Working Together

Tools Matrix

Key eLearning trends

Lots of opportunities emerging for HE all closely aligned with educational technology: Ongoing evolution of online, blended and collaborative learning

Growing ubiquity of social media (scaffolding towards a profession)

Open education practice (OEP) aligned with massive repositories open education resources (OERs), Open Badges, etc.

Rise of data-driven learning and assessment (using analytics)

Personalised learning and agile approaches to change (innovation)

Shift from students as consumers to students as creators (flexibility)

Some are capitalising on these opportunities, others are watching closely, but being slow to commit.

Because “there be dragons in them there hills”

Not

eLearning enablers Locally we are seeing:

A much greater emphasis on flipped classroom

More focus being paid to learning and educational analytics

Opportunities around, HTML5, App’s, 3D Printing

Some would say Games and Gamification. But I’m yet to be convinced – it’s a lot of work – not sustainable longer term – better

ways to spend our money

Notions of the Quantified Self Making it possible for students to link learning with their career to create a

professional social presence

Virtual assistants to help students at times when they are struggling

Linked with CRM and KM systems

Challenges

The days of the LMS as the monolithic system are numbered

The Library

From and To

The LMS

The Tutorial

The Lecture

The Student

Multimodal resources

+HTML5

LMS+ LTI+

Apps+

Cloud

E-Portfolio

The Library

+ OERs

The LectureTutorial

The socialspace

Challenges

The days of the LMS as ‘the monolithic system’ are numbered

Low digital fluency/literacy among Academic staff

Emerging TEQSA standards for e-Learning

Relative lack of rewards for teaching in the e-environment

Competition from new models of education – agility

Scaling of teaching innovations – limited innovation pipelines

Expanding access – it comes with a cost

Importantly; consistency, consistency, consistency

Taking the bull by the horns

To aspire to be flexible, collaborative, learner-centred, technology enabled and grounded in sound pedagogy

It’s noble aspiration and very easy to say

But it’s much more than just being about the eLearning systems

It’s about having our whole house in order

That means ensuring we have a quality management framework in place

One predominantly built around the practice of distributed leadership

and the learning community (staff and students).

ACODE Benchmarking

1. Institution policy and governance for technology supported learning and teaching

2. Planning for, and quality improvement of the integration of technologies for learning and teaching

3. Information technology infrastructure to support learning and teaching

4. Pedagogical application of information and communication technology

5. Professional/staff development for the effective use of technologies for learning and teaching

6. Staff support for the use of technologies for learning and teaching

7. Student training for the effective use of technologies for learning

8. Student support for the use of technologies for learning

Establishing a quality framework

6EOLE Quality Management Framework

Resourcing

Evaluation

Organisationalstructure

Planning

Technologies

Governance

Planning

Implementation

EvaluationReview

Improvements

Building distributed leadership

Quality experiences &outcomes:

Aligning elements

Interacting formally & informally

Through & acrosshierarchies

Palmer, S., Holt, D., Gosper. M., Sankey, M., and Allan, G. (2013) Exploring distributed leadership for the quality management of online learning environments. European Journal of Open, Distance and e‐Learning, 16 (2). pp. 61-75

Staff Development Gateway

USQStudyDesk

What’s New? New look and feel – simplified, clear and branded Use existing data to minimise manual input by academics & reduce

human error e.g. pulling key dates & activities from Peoplesoft Consolidation of online assessment; EASE functions in Moodle Explore analytics – evidence base for enhanced L&T

What’s different? New design heavily influenced by student feedback and reflects

contemporary website design e.g. Facebook style icons etc. Navigation – now consistent across the StudyDesk Add in-context features to improve student experience and make

learning process easier; e.g. direct access to Umail

How are students affected? Some students participating in usability testing Students being exposed to elements of the new StudyDesk through

managed trials e.g. assessment and accessing course materials Final design planned to be introduced to students by end of 2014

Student View

Student View

StudyDesk

Learning Objects Repository - Equella integration in Moodle

Learning Objects Repository - Contribution Screen

Learning Objects Repository - Copyright Information Tab

Academic Staff Development

What’s New? Framework for personalised academic staff

development – Personalised Learning for Academic Staff (PLAS)

What’s different? Personalised learning pathways Guiding principles of need to know, need to see /

hear, need to do and need to learn more

How am I affected? Within MyStaffDesk will be access points to just-in-

time and targeted development opportunities, in blended formats

Personalised Learning for Academic Staff

About PLAS

Personalised Learning for Academic Staff (PLAS) is a professional development initiative, the aim of which is to provide learning opportunities within a collegial, supportive learning environment. The sharing of ideas and practices, to help address your teaching needs and requirements, is one of its main goals.

Take a guided tour…

Watch this space

Latest news and announcement digest appear here… These include learning systems update and new developments, as well as featured newly contributed opinion piece, etc

Latest news and announcement digest appear here… These include learning systems update and new developments, as well as featured newly contributed opinion piece, etc. Latest news and announcement digest appear here…

Read more…

FEATUREDL&T Exemplary Practice

Web-based group work

Trevor Black from our Fraser Coast campus uses Blackboard Collaborate to facilitate group activities online. Student teams work in allocated ‘Rooms’ to interact with each other and complete assigned learning tasks.

“I share what I do with my colleagues at Fraser Coast. They are trying out things with Blackboard Collaborate too. We help each other out…”

Explore this exemplary practice…

Do you know…

The MOODLE Glossary has an FAQ function which you can use in your course to answer frequently asked questions. You can build this resource over time with different cohorts of students.

Learn more…

Personalised Learning for Academic Staff

About PLAS

Personalised Learning for Academic Staff (PLAS) is a professional development initiative, the aim of which is to provide learning opportunities within a collegial, supportive learning environment. The sharing of ideas and practices, to help address your teaching needs and requirements, is one of its main goals.

Take a guided tour…

Watch this space

Latest news and announcement digest appear here… These include learning systems update and new developments, as well as featured newly contributed opinion piece, etc

Latest news and announcement digest appear here… These include learning systems update and new developments, as well as featured newly contributed opinion piece, etc. Latest news and announcement digest appear here…

Read more…

FEATUREDL&T Exemplary Practice

Web-based group work

Trevor Black from our Fraser Coast campus uses Blackboard Collaborate to facilitate group activities online. Student teams work in allocated ‘Rooms’ to interact with each other and complete assigned learning tasks.

“I share what I do with my colleagues at Fraser Coast. They are trying out things with Blackboard Collaborate too. We help each other out…”

Explore this exemplary practice…