Mon, Sep 1 2014, 12:05pm – 1:05pm

This presentation will explore the findings of a 2014 study at the University of Birmingham into the use of video feedback by faculty from a range of subjects. Video feedback is especially relevant in the context of two sector-wide trends: 1) the increasing use of online written feedback, and 2) students’ consistent dissatisfaction with feedback as expressed in the NSS. Video feedback is potentially a way to provide higher quality feedback to students, and may be more efficient than written feedback (Mathieson, 2012). The University of Birmingham has recently launched a new Virtual Learning Environment, Instructure’s Canvas, and also a...more

Mon, Sep 1 2014, 12:05pm – 1:05pm

Assessment and feedback has become a big focus for improvement at universities and the University of Essex has been ahead of the wave with their innovative use of an in-house online coursework submission service, originally implemented over 10 years ago. In November 2012, they started work on the Making Electronic Feedback Effective (MEFE) project which aims to build upon this service and provide an excellent educational experience for students. The project was created in response to three factors – user demand for improvement of the existing service, the institution’s focus on improving student achievement and satisfaction through assessment and feedback...more

Mon, Sep 1 2014, 12:05pm – 1:05pm

here are a million ways to surf, and as long as you’re smiling you’re doing it right. Author Unknown This paper details the experience of bringing together all the universities across Wales to collaborate on a Higher Education Wales project to embed open educational resources (OER’s) and open educational practice (OEP) across the Welsh Higher Education Sector. The results show that we can ride the large waves in Wales but you cannot surf the wave without getting wet and you also need to paddle out away from the safety of the shore if you want to catch the good waves....more

Mon, Sep 1 2014, 2:05pm – 3:05pm

In recent times there has been an increasing wave of interest in the use of Social Media for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education (HE). In particular, the micro-blogging platform Twitter has been experimentally used in various Universities world-wide. There are relevant publications reporting on experimentations with twitter for reaching diverse learning goals, including better engagement (Junco et al. 2011), informal learning (Ebner et al. 2009), collaboration among students (Kassens-Noor, 2012). Most advanced papers also discuss the connections between learning theories and the practical use of Twitter (Junco et al 2011). Existing research papers on the use of Twitter however...more

Mon, Sep 1 2014, 2:05pm – 3:05pm

There are many barriers to the uptake of technology for teaching and learning. These have been called ‘the usual suspects’ and include lack of time and technical skills (Cooke 2008; Walker et al. 2012). However some lecturers overcome these barriers to make changes in their teaching and learning practices. This paper examines lecturers’ motivations to make use of social media tools in their teaching and learning practices based on a small scale phenomenological study of the ‘early adopters’ of these tools. The paper draws on a framework proposed by Kennedy and Lefevre (2009) for understanding the features Web 2.0 tools. The framework suggests...more

Mon, Sep 1 2014, 2:05pm – 3:05pm

Research-intensive institutions are not renowned for moving fast when it comes to technology-enhanced learning and teaching innovations. However, in the last year,  many similarly minded institutions had to respond quickly and firmly to the establishment of FutureLearn, the UK’s answer to massive open online courses (MOOCs). The University of Bath found itself in a position replicated in each of the fellow FutureLearn partner institutions.  It had around 6-8 months to design, develop and deliver a number of courses, to be delivered on the a platform that was still being developed, from scratch and with continuously emerging functionality, to a worldwide...more

Mon, Sep 1 2014, 3:10pm – 4:10pm

Universities can see a clear benefit from working collaboratively with business (Wilson, 2012) especially those involved in education, such as publishers, to innovate and improve educational resources to make them more appropriate for real-life teaching and learning contexts as well as improving scholarship overall (Fritsch and Lee, 2011). Here, we report on two universities which have worked in partnership with a major educational publisher to develop online resources to support a generic subject area, employability, and a specific discipline, accounting. The nature of digital resources allows a higher level of flexibility than traditional paper-based textbooks (Young, 2013). In pedagogical terms,...more

Mon, Sep 1 2014, 3:10pm – 4:10pm

In April 2013, a team of one e-learning technologist and five subject matter experts were tasked with developing a brand new suite of online resources, to be launched at the start of the next academic year. After identifying twelve key content areas, the team was left with the question of how to achieve the design and development of all these resources in such a short time frame. The newly appointed e-learning technologist had arrived after working for five years in a similar team at a different institution. In the old team, the SMEs were used to working on e-learning content...more

Mon, Sep 1 2014, 4:40pm – 5:40pm

The use of immersive digital games and 3D virtual environments has led to an increasing amount of educational research over the last decade exploring constructivist approaches to teaching and learning. Developing from this researchers are now investigating how the use of recorded video productions (or machinima) can be used to stimulate task-based learning in which learners interact in authentic cultural environments (e.g., learning German in the virtual city of Berlin). Arising from the two-year EU-funded CAMELOT project (CreAting Machinima Empowers Live Online Language Teaching and Learning), this paper investigates the use of machinima through the lens of sociocultural theory, exploring the potential of...more

Mon, Sep 1 2014, 4:40pm – 5:40pm

This session will present the findings of a Higher Education Academy (HEA) funded “Changing the Learning Landscape” (CLL) project. The iPad (and other tablets) Coffee Club was piloted at the University of Huddersfield during the 2013/14 academic year to help academic staff members use their iPads and other tablet devices effectively.  This initiative was based on a successful iPad coffee club scheme implemented at the University of Southampton. This session’s presenter/author conducted an iPad project, funded by the British Educational Research Association (BERA), which found that academics at the institution relied mainly on informal support systems (peers, friends and the...more

Mon, Sep 1 2014, 4:40pm – 5:40pm

The introduction of new digital technology to enhance learning needs to begin, not with the technology itself, but with enabling an ontological shift among teachers (Cochrane et al., 2014, p. 208). The ontology of most such strategies involves a shift in the locus of control of learning from teacher to student. This is a Eurocentric view of learning which may not be appropriate in settings where the cultural underpinnings of these roles are markedly different. An aid project in which mobile technology was introduced for the first time in two secondary schools in remote, rural Fiji threw this into sharp...more

Mon, Sep 1 2014, 4:40pm – 5:40pm

The introduction of fees and additional pressures faced by learners and institutions brought about by the global recession means that the traditional model of higher education is coming to a time of significant change. Modern learners demand a product that delivers graduate attributes such as employability within a subject-specific context but that also provides a quality return on their investment. While notions of delivery of a quality product within the HE agenda are not new, the changing demands of students in the international HE market has concentrated institutional attention on the need to respond to learner demand for increased value...more

Mon, Sep 1 2014, 4:40pm – 5:40pm

Initial Teacher Education (ITE) has seen enormous changes in recent years. One of the most fundamental is the move from university based training to school directed training. As this transition takes place, ITE is faced with supporting teacher trainees through myriad training routes with reduced resourcing and increased accountability. Monitoring and tracking through paper based systems is difficult and time consuming and e-mail/web postings have not proved effective in large institutions. Effective, efficient systems to monitor and support trainees’ progress across different training placements and with many stakeholders are vital to ensure success for both trainees and training institutions. Stakeholders...more

Tue, Sep 2 2014, 9:00am – 10:00am

The internationally acclaimed DigiLit Leicester project is a knowledge exchange between Leicester City Council’s Building Schools for the Future programme, De Montfort University and 23 of the city’s Secondary Schools. In consultation with the schools, the project team created a digital literacy framework, situated in secondary level practice, designed to support staff in reflecting on their use of technology to support teaching, learning and whole school community development. The framework focuses around six key areas of digital literacy: Finding, Evaluating and Organising; Creating and Sharing; Assessment and Feedback; Communication, Collaboration and Participation; E-Safety and Online Identity and Technology Supported Professional...more

Tue, Sep 2 2014, 9:00am – 10:00am

From personal feedback to documentary like productions, there is now a resurgence in interest around video which is quite strongly felt by institutions involved in Massive Open Online courses (MOOCs), but also throughout the education spectrum. The Enhanced Learning and Innovation Production team (ELIP) have been working on a range of video productions for MOOCs and typical heavy users within the university. We would like to share the challenges we faced and the techniques that have proved most effective with practitioners, technical teams and researchers alike. These have been informed by the work in both the HE sector and Broadcast....more

Tue, Sep 2 2014, 9:00am – 10:00am

A big challenge facing learning technologists is the redevelopment of existing curricula to incorporate digital learning approaches.  When whole, complex curricula are involved, this can feel like “turning a giant”.  Here we present the holistic approaches adopted and lessons learnt in undertaking this process within a large, traditional, complex pre-registration nursing programme. In September 2011, we were tasked with the development of a radically new programme of which 50% of the students’ learning would occur online.  We based our approach around Laurillard’s conversation framework (Laurillard, 2002). We recognised the need to develop a Community of Practice within the faculty for...more

Tue, Sep 2 2014, 9:00am – 10:00am

The Next Gen report [1] highlighted that whilst the UK has around 100,000 tech vacancies that we are struggling to fill, we also have a million young people not in employment, education or training (NEET). European Commissioner Neelie Kroes states that there are around a million unfilled tech vacancies across Europe. Clearly there are massive opportunities in and around digital technologies, but the Next Gen report argues that a step change will be required in skills if the UK and other EU member states are to fully exploit them.Popular perception of “NEETs” is of young people whose education ceased at GCSE...more

Tue, Sep 2 2014, 11:35am – 12:35pm

At ALT-C 2013, FELTAG opened a conversation about the future of learning technology in FE. Their report, published in February, recommends several key points which relate to the ALT-C 2014 ‘Learning to Ride’ theme; starting with the need for staff to be taught the skills needed to innovate and meet the digital challenges of putting courses online (FELTAG recommends 10% by 2016, p. 23). Additionally, funding bodies have to recognise the additional skills that students need to enter employment in the 21st century and all sectors need to acknowledge that learners should not be expected to ‘catch’ what they need...more

Tue, Sep 2 2014, 11:35am – 12:35pm

Lectures are now routinely recorded in many institutions, but the approach remains controversial and is often branded as ‘bad’ educational technology. The argument of this session, developed from projects and experience in a range of universities that lecture capture is a genuinely transformative technology in higher education, benefitting our students, our staff and our institutions. The session will draw together user experiences from Imperial, UCL and the ViTAL (video in teaching and learning) community. We will also explore evidence from the literature and the recently-finished REC:all project which UCL led. REC:all tried to identify some concrete educational benefits, starting with...more

Tue, Sep 2 2014, 11:35am – 12:35pm

The Change Agent’s Network (CAN – http://changeagentsnetwork.co.uk/), funded by Jisc and supported by the HEA, HEFCE, QAA and NUS, is a network of students and staff working on curriculum enhancement and innovation projects. Key CAN activities include facilitation of networking and peer support; development of an accreditation framework for students as change agents; formation of a new Journal of Educational Innovation, Partnership and Change and reviewing and evaluating current and past institutional projects relating to student-staff partnerships and students as change agents. This has led to the formation of a range of resources and effective practice guides for institutions wishing to set up...more

Tue, Sep 2 2014, 1:35pm – 2:35pm

Research into the learner experience of using technology for learning in UK Higher Education suggests that although students may be comfortable with digital technologies and devices, particularly in their everyday social applications, they are often less well-versed in the critical, social and personal knowledge practices which lie at the heart of any discussion of ‘literacies’, and tend to take their lead from teachers or other academic staff. (e.g. Benfield, G. & Sharpe, R., 2011) This idea is supported by preliminary research undertaken with students at our institution. At the same time, staff digital literacies are often portrayed in terms of...more

Tue, Sep 2 2014, 1:35pm – 2:35pm

In 2008 the Department of Health stated that sophisticated information management and technology were crucial to improving the quality of patient care and patient safety (DH 2008). The General Medical Council then specified that doctors should make effective use of computers and information systems and apply the principles, method and knowledge of health informatics to medical practice (GMC 2009). Clinical Information Systems (CIS) are now firmly embedded in clinical practice: essential for facilitating communication between multidisciplinary teams and enabling coherent long term care for patients.  However, Cave et al (2009) found that 42% of newly-qualified UK doctors felt that their...more

Tue, Sep 2 2014, 1:35pm – 2:35pm

This paper outlines the experiences of our Learning Technology team as we discovered that accidental engagements can create better relationships and learning experiences than formal training. It shows how the creation of a podcast about digitally enhanced learning revealed the need for collaboration with staff from across the institution and improved engagement with the technology agenda demonstrating that creative and collaborative activities provide the best opportunities for progressing such outcomes. Engaging academics with learning technologies is a key issue in Higher Education. Student expectations of their learning environment include access to relevant hardware, software and networks, and support for personal...more

Tue, Sep 2 2014, 1:35pm – 2:35pm

In blended and online education, educators have an almost infinite number of decisions to make when designing a course. Furthermore, given the inherently complex and dynamic nature of learning processes, educators find they have to continuously fine-tune these learning designs while riding the waves of learning. Over the last twenty years, a range of pedagogical approaches and learning designs have been suggested (Beetham, 2012). Nonetheless, few such learning approaches have been robustly analysed to ascertain whether they indeed lead to consistent learning designs that enrich and improve learning performance (Kirschner et al., 2006). In a review of 118 learning designs...more

Tue, Sep 2 2014, 1:35pm – 2:35pm

The problem: Assessment is often viewed as a series of one-off events. This means that learners do not benefit from feedback; they lack a sense of longitudinal progress and do not develop self-reliance in managing assessment. Interestingly, although Virtual Learning Environments (VLEs) provide tools to manage submissions and feedback, they tend to be organised in module silos. Moodle, for example, does not have a straightforward default solution for tracking a learner’s complete assessment history, despite holding all information required, provided an institution is committed to online submission and feedback. The idea: The JISC Assessment Careers project aimed to reconceptualise assessment...more

Tue, Sep 2 2014, 1:35pm – 2:35pm

A project case-study is presented which uses an innovative platform to promote the development of entrepreneurial activity between engineering and design students at the University of Huddersfield. The principle of the networking-platform is formed on the open-innovation principles: increase capacity, research engagement, entrepreneurship, knowledge, understanding, employability and impact on learning (JISC, 2009). It provides a network for potential collaboration between second-year students across 8 subject areas and the opportunity to co-develop knowledge and skills. The open aspect of the platform is that it is situated outside the curriculum and provides the opportunity for UG programmes with no formal engagement to...more

Wed, Sep 3 2014, 10:30am – 11:30am

As e-learning has moved to the mainstream in universities and colleges the online environment has become central to the student experience but the systems to support and sustain this are underdeveloped. Although the academic remains central to the design of the learning experience it now requires diverse teams to deliver and maintain it. Who ‘owns’, develops and monitors the assessment and feedback process, maintains and develops online resources, manages online communications, processes data analytics, engagement monitoring and so on? These roles are ill-defined and emergent, sometimes uncoordinated, and spread across academic and admin staff who vary in their skills. UCL’s...more

Wed, Sep 3 2014, 10:30am – 11:30am

Digital badges have emerged as a new tool for engaging and motivating online learners.  These badges have been adapted from online games into online learning spaces and are being used both as a representation of achievements and as an incentive to guide learner behaviour (Anderson et al., 2014).  Educators have found that awarding badges has become a key ingredient in motivating online learners and as a means of engaging learners in the course (Anderson et al., 2014). It can also provide an alternative form of assessment to increase learner motivation (Abramovich et. al, 2011). However, it appears that badges have...more

Wed, Sep 3 2014, 10:30am – 11:30am

Creating a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) is a team endeavour (Scopeo 2013). Scanning MOOC directories reveals large numbers of finely focused subject offerings, and the literature documenting production suggests a predominance of small production teams, often closely linked to the content authors and presenters. Coordinating all of the individual team members towards producing a homogeneous end product is a challenging task due to both the variety of roles involved and the wide range of backgrounds and areas of expertise. Typically, MOOCs have been created with either one or two key academics within a single subject area.  This challenge gains even...more

Wed, Sep 3 2014, 10:30am – 11:30am

There has been a major push and significant investment in the direction of Open Educational Resource (OER) and Open Educational Practice (OEP) over the last decade in the UK. As expanding educational markets has become more pressing, OER activities are becoming widely used by many UK institutions as a means of marketing – to increase institutional recognition and attract students to specific courses of study through ‘tasters’ (McGill et al., 2013). Against this backdrop, the University of Northampton funded the Open Northampton project (http://www.northamptonilt.com/open-northampton), which aims to release high quality, properly licensed learning and teaching content into open repositories to enhance Northampton’s...more

Wed, Sep 3 2014, 11:35am – 12:35pm

A number of online interactive video platforms have been developed in the last few years that utilize a new way of encoding videos, allowing users to add hypertext-links and interactivity as layers to online videos. These new online interactive video platforms can integrate high quality online videos with layers of text, images, social media feeds and even navigation systems allowing users to have some level of non-linear navigation and interaction with the videos and its’ layers. These platforms potentially can enable learners to immerse themselves in an interactive and audio-visual rich environment, revisit the same information from multiple perspectives, explore...more

Wed, Sep 3 2014, 11:35am – 12:35pm

There is clear evidence of a growing interest in, and engagement with, the electronic management of assessment (EMA). UK universities and colleges are increasingly using technology to support the whole assessment and feedback lifecycle, from the e-submission of assignments, to e-marking and e-feedback (see for example Ellis and Reynolds (2013) and Newland et al (2013)). The strong drivers for seeking to move to electronic management of assessment, include: process improvement for reduced duplication and efficiency savings; enabling flexibility of provision and environmental considerations. Most important however is student demand for EMA and the evidence that  EMA can help improve the...more

Wed, Sep 3 2014, 1:35pm – 2:45pm

The Community Systems Strengthening for Equitable Maternal, Newborn and Child Health (COSYST-MNCH) project is funded by Irish Aid/ Higher Education Authority (of Ireland). It involves a collaboration between higher education institutions and non-governmental (NGO) partners in in Ireland and Malawi to undertake research as well as develop a blended learning M.Sc in Community Systems Health Research. This abstract outlines our approach as we dive into the development and implementation of our first blended learning programme. The challenges of collaboratively crafting a post graduate degree to take account of the needs and capacities of multiple stakeholders and the technology-enhanced learning (TEL)...more

Wed, Sep 3 2014, 1:35pm – 2:45pm

Overview In 2013 a culture of flexible learning from both a departmental, learner and institutional perspective was cultivated in order to deliver an enhanced ‘Welcome to the University’ orientation for staff and build capacity for future developments at the University of Leeds. One year on this paper looks to see how the wider aims of the ‘Welcome to The University’ original project to “create a space where staff can collaboratively and individually create online resources for colleagues and students to access” (Little, 2013) have developed.  This has been a process of ‘learning to ride’ (ALT, 2014) and a journey across...more