E-Learning in the Disciplines | slide 1

e-Learning in the Disciplines

John CookCentre Manager, Reusable Learning Objects CETL

Helen BeethamResearch Consultant, JISC e-learning programme

E-Learning in the Disciplines | slide 2

Aims

Articulate the essential features of learning and teaching across different subject areas and educational approaches

– curriculum outcomes, challenges, learner characteristics…

Relate these to features of different e-learning technologies and applications

– to identify aspects of e-learning that may be of benefit to different communities

Encourage discussion (this Symposium) around:

– differences between disciplines and educational approaches

– similarities and what we can learn from each other

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Two key commitments

e-learning is not a separate kind of learning

– we need to re-articulate learning in a new technological context

People learn in a multitude of ways

– different subject areas and educational approaches rely on different capacities-to-learn

– different communities have evolved different cultures of learning and teaching

– we need to recognise these differences, while learning from one another

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Reflective tools

Download a reflective questionnaire

– articulate educational priorities, outcomes and challenges

– consider relevant e-learning technologies and applications

– can be shared with your own and other communities

View examples of completed reflections

– see summaries of previous ‘cognate’ group discussions

– post your own completed reflection by emailing it to liz.pearce@heacademy.ac.uk

NB these materials are no longer hosted by the HE Academy but are separately available on the Design Studio

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Useful questions

In an ALT-C 2005 Symposium, Pearce, Gulc et al. asked: Is subject difference a factor in the use and uptake of e-learning?

Put another way: What technologies and approaches are used in the different communities?

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Blinded by our paradigms?

First ATM was located inside a bank and was available only during banking hours.

Real innovation did not occur until ATMs were placed outside the bank

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Disciplinary patterns

Academic tribes and territories (Becher and Trowler, 2001)

– definitions of knowledge, disciplinary organisation

Teaching and learning regimes (Trowler and Cooper, 2002)

– tacit knowledge, troublesome knowledge

... need to develop genuinely shared language

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Disciplinary patterns of educational technology adoption

“Discipline differences appeared to be potential barrier to the building of new communities of practice around educational technology, and there was a need to know more about how disciplinary factors are influencing the early adopters who form the core of our new communities.”

Carol Russell (2005, p. 64)

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applied pure

soft

hard

discoveriesexplanations

processesprotocols

productstechniques

understanding interpretation

based on Becher and Trowler (2001), taken from Russell’s ALT-C slides

maths

chemistry

art theory

sociology

education

engineering

physics

law

design

history

medicine

english literature

biology

information management

Knowledge territories

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Disciplinary patterns of educational technology adoption

Note that the placing and configuration of the disciplines on the above model will vary between institutions

Where do technologies and approaches fit in? Russell found the following.

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Common features of strategies forhard applied disciplines

External changes in profession/industry (industry and student context)

Technology now essential in gaining core discipline knowledge

Educational technology helps students learn

– more engaging or flexible

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Common features of strategies forsoft applied disciplines

Professional knowledge being redefined

– technology can help develop new skills

Technology for skills and information transfer

– to free class time for developing core knowledge

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Common features of strategies forhard/soft pure disciplines

Technology can help students engage with core concepts

– when staff time and resources are limited

Knowledge is created through research

– Technology can help develop research skills

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Computers: what are they good for?

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The ‘new’ paradigm

Digital computer marked a paradigm shift

– networked computer

– mobile and wireless networks

But all learning involves ICT, broadly understood

– all learning is potentially e-learning

Different technologies revolutionise different subject areas/approaches in different ways, at different moments in time

ICT is having major impact on learning organisations:

– centralisation/unification of admin systems

– differentiation of subject, department and individual needs

– continuous or ‘whitewater’ change

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Narrative or representational uses

ICT used to present information

Potential advantages include:

Multiple media

Rich media: video, audio, animation, simulation…

Hypermedia: multiple pathways

(Interactive and adaptive media)

Ubiquity and access

Learner control of production and distribution: file sharing, wikis…

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Communicative or social uses

ICT used for communication and to support collaboration

Potential advantages include:

Multiple media

Explicit nature of communication

Learner control of pace and timing

Recording, review, reflection

Ubiquity, access and sharing

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Productive uses

ICT used to manipulate data or information

Potential advantages include:

Processing power – text, images, numbers, scenarios, gameplays etc

Automation of routine tasks – focus on higher order skills

Repetition and consistency Discipline-specific uses

Enhanced skills for professional/research employment (e.g. using ‘authentic’ tools)

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Interactive or Adaptive uses

ICT used to adapt to, or return information based on, user input, e.g. computer games, simulations: also search engines, database-driven resources and services, assessment systems…

Potential advantages include:

Active engagement

Intrinsic feedback that is rapid and consistent

Powerful, time-saving information management

Low cost and risk simulations (compared with ‘real-world’ interactions)

Accessible and ubiquitous

Learner skills (relevant to professional/research employment)

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Integrative uses

ICT used to integrate or manage learning

Potential advantages include:

Information relevant to learning can be efficiently organised, managed, captured, and presented for assessment/review

Time savings for teachers, learners and assessors

Reliability and transparency of information processes

Consistent identity or ‘brand’ for learners to relate to

Improved monitoring

Potential for learners to have greater control over their ownlearning, and records of learning

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Classification based on Laurillard (1992/2002) Rethinking University Teaching

Narrative

Communicative

Productive

Adaptive/Interactive

(Integrative)

Could also think about uses of technology in terms of:

Access and accessibility

Differentiation

Learner control

Collaboration and sharing

ICT skills for professional/research practice

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Group work

In subject groups (NB you may find as many differences as likenesses!)

11.30-12.00 Focus on key curriculum outcomes: reflective question 2

Identify at least 3 outcomes (areas of skill, knowledge or understanding) that are characteristic of your subject communities

What new outcomes are emerging in response to new demands, including ICT?

12.00-12.30 Focus on key challenges facing your community: reflective

questions 2-4

Identify at least 3 challenges (e.g. relating to learners, changing curricula etc) that are characteristic of your subject communities

What new challenges are emerging, including those arising from ICT?

(If time) identify any technologies, or uses of technology, that might help to address these outcomes and challenges

Facilitator to feed back to the plenary session (5 mins)

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Reporting back to your community

Share reflective document

Communicate e-learning advantages in pedagogic rather than technical terms

Discuss how e-learning support can be integrated with other activities of the Subject Centre or CETL

Identify key priorities for e-learning support

Identify key projects and developments in e-learning that may be of benefit to the community

Identify gaps or biases in current e-learning developments that mean community needs are not being met