Group Admins
Description
Session Description
This lightning session will present an overview of the How To Moodle course for teachers and support staff at the University of Glasgow, developed by members of the Learning Enhancement and Academic Development Service (LEADS). Quality enhancement work undertaken between 2014-2017, to understand institutional transitions into enhanced blended learning (Adekola et al., 2017), revealed the importance of providing learning technology and pedagogical support, among other key considerations, to enhance the capability of staff in developing their technological pedagogical knowledge (Mishra and Koehler, 2006).
Using the ABC learning design framework (Young and Perović, 2016), a self-study resource was developed for staff, to introduce them to Laurillard’s six learning types: acquisition, discussion, investigation, practice, production and collaboration, and to discuss how different resources and activities within Moodle might be used in accordance with these learning types. This was an attempt to move teachers and teaching support staff away from information-focused, teacher-centred approaches towards communication and knowledge-focused, student-centred approaches to e-learning (González, 2012). As well as providing pedagogical suggestions for using different resources and activities, technical how-to guides are embedded throughout the resource for staff to access at point of need.
Alongside this academic development resource, LEADS staff are working with colleagues across the institution to develop a Moodle Minimum of standards to encourage staff to include key resources in all Moodle courses across the institution. This is currently focused on minimum requirements for quality assurance purposes, such as core information on learning, teaching and assessment. However, the Moodle Minimum is being realigned with the underpinning principle of Smyth et al.’s (no date) 3E framework, in considering teacher-centred (Minimum) to student-centred (Minimum+) to student-led (Minimum++) imperatives.
This work is also being undertaken alongside the Moodle Active Learning and Teaching (MALT) project, funded by the University’s Learning and Teaching Development Fund. Employing two student interns (co-authors Bojaca and Moss), the project seeks to develop interactive learning resources to augment and enhance the How To Moodle resource, and to promote active learning through Moodle; specifically, flipped classroom, group work, and peer review.
Session content: evaluation and reflection
The lightning session will serve to illustrate some of the key components of the How to Moodle course and associated resources. Participants will be encouraged to think about how the technological pedagogical knowledge of staff is being enhanced at their own institutions. Participants will be invited at the end of the session to share practice from their own institutions during the final Q&A minute.
Although beyond the timing of this presentation, the success of the How to Moodle and MALT projects will be undertaken through a longitudinal mixed methods case study; including surveys, focus groups, and analysis of log data in Moodle to measure the extent to which staff have increased and broadened their use of the six different learning types across the institution.
References
ADEKOLA, J., DALE, V. H. M. & GARDINER, K. 2017. Development of an institutional framework to guide transitions into enhanced blended learning in higher education. Research in Learning Technology, 25, 1-16.
GONZÁLEZ, C. 2012. The relationship between approaches to teaching, approaches to e-teaching and perceptions of the teaching situation in relation to e-learning among higher education teachers. Instructional Science, 40, 975-998.
MISHRA, P. & KOEHLER, M. 2006. Technological pedagogical content knowledge: A framework for teacher knowledge. The Teachers College Record, 108, 1017-1054.
SMYTH, K., BRUCE, S., FOTHERINGHAM, J. & MAINKA, C. no date. University benchmark for the use of technology in modules: 3E framework [Online]. Edinburgh Napier University. Available: http://staff.napier.ac.uk/services/vice-principal-academic/academic/TEL/TechBenchmark/Pages/home.aspx [Accessed 8 February 2016].
YOUNG, C. & PEROVIĆ, N. 2016. Rapid and Creative Course Design: As Easy as ABC? Procedia – Social and Behavioral Sciences, 228, 390-395.
Resources for participants
How to Moodle video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-U3vPAFDEPs
