Presentations and recordings from Innovating e-Learning 2009 now available
Conference presentations and resources, including all the Elluminate recordings, from Innovating e-Learning 2009 (#jiscel09), are now available on the JISC website for general viewing: http://www.jisc.ac.uk/whatwedo/programmes/elearningpedagogy/elpconference09/programme.aspx or http://tinyurl.com/yeftze5
The JISC Online Conference, Innovating e-Learning 2009 ran from 24th -27th November and attracted 450 delegates numbers from 12 countries. The conference theme was ‘Thriving, not just surviving’ to reflect the challenges facing colleges and universities in the 21st century. Elluminate recordings of the keynote sessions are now available and include presentations from Charlie Leadbeater, one of the most influential creative people in the world and adviser to companies, cities and governments, Nigel Paine, Helen Beetham, Rhona Sharpe (Oxford Brookes University) and Peter Bradwell (Demos).
Excellent conference presentations and podcasts are also now available covering digital literacies and learners experiences; mobile learning; use of virtual worlds for learning and teaching; supporting and retaining learners through the use of technology; open educational resources; engaging employers and professional bodies in curriculum design and the design of technology-rich physical learning spaces. ‘Wonderful informed and passionate debates plus great keynotes all recorded for playback in your own time.’ Nigel Paine
Innovating e-Learning 2010 will be running from 23rd – 26th November 2010. More information on the themes for this year’s event will follow later in the year. #jiscel10
The second theme of the JISC online conference, Innovating e-Learning 2009, focuses on change
Author of the Demos report, The Edgeless University, Peter Bradwell opened the second theme of Innovating e-Learning 2009 with a warning note for higher education.
Universities are facing ‘a perfect storm’ of rising demand and strained resources, but Bradwell saw a solution in embracing what technology can offer. An explosion of free online resources and social media means that universities are no longer have sole rights over the generation of ideas, knowledge and innovation, he asserted, but technology should still be seen as an asset rather than a threat.
Technology helps learning by supporting collaboration, making information more readily obtainable and bringing people together. Technology can make research more freely available and enable more flexible and equitable access to learning. Universities, however, need to learn how to exploit this potential – the future lies in open, collaborative ways of working enhanced by technology rather than in the walled gardens of the past, Bradwell concluded.
The concept of ‘edgelessness’ appeared again in the sessions on virtual worlds. Virtual worlds researcher, John Kirriemuir, and session facilitator, David White, (Oxford University) explored the fine line between play and purposeful learning found in educational uses of virtual worlds and in games playing, but where were the familiar protocols and boundaries of traditional face-to-face teaching? Similar issues emerged in Alan Staley’s presentation of Shareville – a 3-D replica of a town created to support experiential and multidisciplinary learning at Birmingham City University:
‘We need to ask when should students play, when should they do it for real, and when should we try to replicate reality.’ Alan Staley
Virtual worlds, successfully harnessed, made irresistible viewing. Delegates were enthralled by Kathy Trinder’s demonstration in Elluminate of uses of Second Life at Glasgow Caledonian University. Kathy argued that the speed of change should not cause a rush to judgement about how new platforms should be used:
‘Perhaps we should consider how we can avoid repeating what we already do in the physical world, and, instead of building 500-seat virtual lecture theatres, embrace pedagogies beyond our traditional models.’ Kathy Trinder
Elsewhere in the conference the real world was more in evidence but the winds of change were still blowing. Mike Neary (University of Lincoln) explored the relationship between pedagogic principles and the learning landscape, while Mark Stubbs (Manchester Metropolitan University) and Peter Bird presented findings from the Supporting Responsive Curricula Project. The project is funded under the JISC Institutional Approaches to Curriculum Design programme and seeks innovative ways of engaging employers and professional bodies in curriculum design.
A closing keynote by Nigel Paine, former Head of People Development at the BBC, on 27th November concludes the fourth Innovating e-Learning conference with thoughts around the shift he sees taking place from learning on courses to learning in communities. Quote from Nigel on the conference: ‘Wonderful informed and passionate debates plus great keynotes all recorded for playback in your own time.’
Sessions at Innovating e-Learning 2009 remain open for reading and research by delegates until 1st January 2010. As in previous years, conference presentations and resources, including keynotes, will be made available within the next few weeks on the JISC website [www.jisc.ac.uk/ elpconference09] for general viewing.
Follow the conference on Twitter: #jiscel09
Day 1 of Innovating e-Learning 2009
The JISC Online Conference, Innovating e-Learning 2009 which opened on Tuesday 24th November has broken all records for delegate numbers. 12 countries are represented with delegates from Australia adding to the discussions overnight UK time. Follow the conference live on Twitter #jiscel09
The opening keynote by Charlie Leadbeater, leading thinker on innovation and strategy, was delivered live via Elluminate to 145 delegates none of whom had left their desks or homes. His message was a thought-provoking conundrum. Where do you place resources to achieve innovation – on improving or reforming mainstream formal education, or on supporting supplementary or alternative approaches, for example via the family or the community ?
Using a quadrant to explore the tension between formal and informal learning, Leadbeater expressed the belief that radical innovation is likely to come from the margins rather than the mainstream and that what we should be seeking are approaches that ‘pull’ rather than ‘push’ change. Perhaps we should stop asking how to improve the system, he said, and start asking how we can better support learning.
‘If you start by asking how can technology be used to improve current approaches you’ll end up with incremental innovation. If you start from outside you will see different possibilities. Then the question is how to enable that kind of innovation to happen and to go to scale. Too often this kind of approach is marginalised or completely informal (kids learning through games and YouTube.)’ Charlie Leadbeater
Delegates were invited over and over to present their views via the text and polling facilities in the software: ‘it is rare to see that level of interaction between a presenter and his audience’, said one participant, as Charlie paused to absorb the audience’s views before building them into his presentation.
Boundaries of place were also overcome with delegates joining from places as diverse as New Zealand and Dubai. Later, Brian Lamb joined for a discussion of OER live in Elluminate from the University of British Columbia. Mythical views about learners (especially those ‘digital natives’) were hotly debated in the Theme 1 keynote session led by Helen Beetham and Rhona Sharpe (JISC Learner Experiences of e-Learning theme); 120 delegates took part in this highly regarded session which continued asynchronously to debate the key capabilities of a 21st century graduate and the unexpected results of researching into learners’ expectations of technology use in higher education.
‘… there is no evidence that learners are demanding more cutting-edge technology for learning: in fact they are often more conservative than their tutors.’ Rhona Sharpe.
Helen Beetham challenged the consumer model of learning that is gaining acceptance, arguing that:
‘A consumer model sees learners’ needs and expectations as one and the same thing. Find out what learners want – or employers, in another version – and deliver it. But we know learning isn’t like that. If we see learning in the highest sense as self-reflection, self-realisation, self-transformation, we see that needs may be met by challenging expectations, and that both will change if deep learning is taking place.’
Elsewhere, delegates could were invited to undertake some learning themselves by trying out Elluminate, Second Life, digital video making, pedagogy planning and assessment tools in a new area aptly named the ‘Have-a-Go’ area. An enjoyable mix of showcase and activity, the Have-a-Go area featured the work of some of the JISC services and project teams from the JISC e-Learning programme.
Perhaps ‘Have-a-Go’ is the catchphrase for this conference. With much a reduced carbon footprint too.
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Some key quotes from Twitter
The mobile phone is only form of technology that really cuts across rich and poor. If you want to invest in education, invest in this! Re Leadbeater
Phone on divert, out of office on, meeting in progress sign on door, coffee in hand, all ready for #jiscel09 1st keynote
I didn’t realise it would be this exhausting
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From the blog
I am sure that there are quite a few people out there who are feeling slightly overwhelmed by the huge quantity of quality discussion which is happening here at the conference.
I am now looking at Theme 1 with 93 new messages…
Okay deep breath….
I am not going to be able to go through them all….
You don’t need to. James Clay
New e-Learning Publications launched at ALT-C
The JISC e-Learning Programme will be launching three new publications at the ALT-C Conference in Manchester on Tuesday 8th September.
Managing Curriculum Change
A new publication, Managing Curriculum Change, introduces two major JISC programmes of research commencing in 2008 that investigate how the use of technology can help make curriculum design processes more agile and responsive and the experience of learning more engaging, inclusive and rewarding. ‘Managing Curriculum Change’ gives an overview of the aims of the Institutional Approaches to Curriculum Design and Transforming Curriculum Delivery programmes alongside a vision for the enhancement of the curriculum design and delivery lifecycle through technology. The publication introduces the projects involved in the programmes and illustrates through a combination of text and graphics what might be achieved at different stages in the curriculum lifecycle, with a focus on who needs to be involved to enable institutional aspirations to become a reality.
The JISC Curriculum Design and Delivery programmes are supported by web based resources in the Design Studio . The Design Studio is a dynamic toolkit which draws together a range of resources around technology-enhanced curriculum design and delivery, including those that result from the work of the Curriculum Design and Delivery programmes and resources from previous JISC and Higher Education Academy programmes and other relevant sources.
The publication is available from http://www.jisc.ac.uk/publications/documents/managingcurriculumchange.aspx
Responding to Learners
This resource pack synthesises the outcomes from the Learner Experiences of e-Learning theme of the JISC e-Learning Programme which funded a total of ten projects from 2005 to 2009, and had the sustained involvement of over 200 learners and more than 3000 survey respondents to explore learners’ perceptions of and participation in technology-enhanced learning in a digital age. The content of Responding to Learners includes a series of five guides and a set of key messages postcards containing quotes from learners. The postcards summarise the key findings from this JISC-funded research and can form the basis for staff development activities. The series of guides offer recommendations on how institutions can better respond to learners’ expectations and uses of technology and offers practical guidance on how to embed the learners’ voice more effectively into institutional processes and practice.
The pack is available from http://www.jisc.ac.uk/publications/documents/respondingtolearners.aspx
Learning Literacies in a Digital Age
A new briefing paper summarises the recent JISC e-Learning Programme report, Thriving in the 21st century: Learning Literacies for the Digital Age, which explores examples of learning literacies provision in UK further and higher education. The Learning Literacies for a Digital Age (LLiDA) project reviewed the evidence of change in the nature of work, knowledge, social life and citizenship, communications media and other technologies, in the context of learning, and also explored the current responses to these changes from the further and higher education sectors. The project has collected substantial original data (available online) concerning current practice in literacies provision in UK further and higher education, including 15 institutional audits and over 40 examples of forward-thinking practice. Based on this, and on the body of existing research evidence, LLiDA offers a set of recommendations for institutions to consider as they examine their own provision and support in this area. By engaging with real examples of academic and learners practices we have provided compelling evidence of how effective digital learners develop and can be supported.
The briefing paper is available at http://www.jisc.ac.uk/publications/documents/learningliteraciesbp.aspx
Effective Practice in a Digital Age now available
Effective Practice in a Digital Age is designed for those in further and higher education whose focus is on designing and supporting learning: academic staff, lecturers, tutors and learning support staff, facilitators, learning technologists and staff developers. What unites this diverse group is their interest in enhancing the quality of learning and teaching, and a curiosity about how technology can assist them.
Much has changed since the publication of Effective Practice with e-Learning (JISC, 2004) – the first edition of this guide. National strategies for e-learning have now formally recognised the importance of technology in learning, teaching and assessment in all sectors of education in the UK, and in response many institutions have embedded the enhancement of learning and teaching through technology into their strategic missions.
As revealed by JISC research, the social context in which learning takes place has also changed, and in ways that were not foreseen in the early part of the 21st century. Learners are increasingly dependent on technology to help them fit learning into their complex, demanding lives. Ownership of personal technologies – from computers to mobile devices – is now pervasive, and use of the internet, including Web 2.0 technologies, is commonplace.
Effective Practice in a Digital Age combines the outcomes of research with examples of current practice. To reflect the different starting points of readers, the case studies are divided into colour-coded sections to indicate the different degrees of access to technology and institutional support that practitioners may experience. Definitions of acronyms and technical terms are provided in the glossary. The publication can be ordered in hard copy or downloaded in PDF and accessible text-only formats. In addition, a number of supplementary resources are available online in the Effective Practice Resource Exchange, including video clips, podcasts and extended versions of the case studies. All resources associated with this publication can be downloaded for use in educational contexts.
Effective Practice in a Digital Age
Effective Practice in a Digital Age’ has been commissioned by the JISC e-Learning Programme and is due to be launched at the Higher Education Academy Conference on 30th June 2009. This publication is an updated version of the 2004 JISC guide ‘Effective Practice with e-Learning’ and will supported by ten new and more detailed case studies, video case studies (institutional focus and a selection of practitioners voices) and podcasts made available as downloads from the JISC website www.jisc.ac.uk/practice . The audience of the publication is those new to teaching or those who have resisted adopting technologies as an integral part of their practice. The aim will be to outline for this relatively inexperienced audience how technology can assist them in meeting everyday challenges, and to support them in taking the next steps towards using technologies appropriately and effectively alongside traditional face-to-face teaching. To register your interest in ordering a copy of the publication please visit http://survey.jisc.ac.uk/digitalage
e-Learning Show - Podcast
The e-Learning Show podcast is now available if you missed the show, or want to listen to it again.
The programme also included a live panel discussion near the end with Oleg Liber (University of Bolton’s Professor of eLearning), Clare Newhouse (LLN National Forum) and Andrew Ravenscroft (Professor of Technology Enhanced Learning, London Metropolitan University).
The panel discussion centred around questions raised by listerners including the role of unique learner identifiers, change management strategies, mainstreaming and sustainability, adequacy of present elearning technologies for work based learning.
We’d welcome comments on this pilot show.
The e-Learning Show – Lifelong Learning
Thursday, 21 May sees the pilot programme of a new JISC live internet radio programme, the e-Learning Show.
The programme will be broadcast from 1800 - 1855 UK summer time and is based on issues raised at the recent JISC Lifelong Learning Symposium. A
report on the symposium is now available.
Issues discussed will include
• how university and college cultures need to change to support work based learning,
• who are the new students and what are their needs
• how e-Portfolios can be used both for recording learning and for providing information, advice and guidance and
• the use of mobile technologies to support lifelong learning
The programme considers both current and emergent practices in e-learning and the development of policies to support such practice.
The programme will be presented by Graham Attwell and guests include
• Derek Longhurst from Foundation Degree Forward,
• Clive Church from Edexel,
• Lucy Stone from Leicester College,
• Tony Toole from the University of Glamorgan,
• Bob Bell, HE in FE consultant for the northern region,
• Sandra Winfield from Nottingham University and
• Rob Ward from the Centre for Recording Achievement
The programme will also feature a live panel with the opportunity for listeners to skype or email their questions and comments and there will be a live chat room for listeners.
To listen to the programme go to http://radio.jiscemerge.org.uk:80/Emerge.m3u This will open the LIVE radio stream in your MP3 player of choice.
You can take part in the chat room at http://tinyurl.com/sounds08. Just add your name and press enter - no password required.
You can leave comments on the e-learning blog and also access a report on the Lifelong learning Symposium nearer the event. Links to the podcast will also be posted to the blog page so can listen to the show even if you miss the live broadcast.
If you like to send us questions for the panel in advance of the programem, email Graham Attwell - graham10@mac.com or skype to GrahamAttwell.
Welcome to the JISC e-Learning Programme
The JISC e-Learning team welcomes you to this blog which provides you with news from the programme and offers you opportunities of finding out more about the work we are doing.