PCA Blended Learning Strategy 2013/2014

Plymouth College of Art

Blended Learning Strategy 2013/2014

Sept 2013, Version (2), approved by Academic Board, owner: Associate Director (Quality), Review date: Sept 2014

1 Introduction and Strategic Overview This strategy provides an overview of the development of blended learning at Plymouth

College of Art (PCA) within the short term. Medium and long term horizon scanning and

additional information is provided in the blended learning vision guide. This strategy is written

within the context of a digital environment which is increasingly complex and nebulous and

therefore rather than providing specific named solutions, this strategy provides general

concepts and frameworks which shall underpin the development of digital scholarship and

academic practice at PCA. Specific short-term objectives and planning shall be detailed at the

end of this strategy in the “Blended Learning Operational Plan 2013/2014.” Within the context

of this strategy blended learning will be defined as follows:

“Education. The use of both classroom teaching and online learning in education”

The approach to change within this area will be formed on the basis of this strategy but the

operationalisation of the strategy will make use of a wide range of tactics to initiate change.

These are detailed in the blended learning vision guide and include libertarian paternalism, fun

theory and Garter’s hype cycle.

2 Internal and External Context The internal and external context relating to the development of PCA’s blended learning

strategy is provided in more detail in the blended learning vision guide. However there are a

number of key points to note in relation to the internal and external context.

• Globally new models of online educational are emerging which are leading to

increased competition and a changing global context e.g. Khan Academy, TED,

Coursera (MOOCs).

• Nationally a number of institutions have been developing their online provision for

some time and are established providers of online education within the UK e.g. The

Open University, University of Nottingham, University of Oxford.

• Nationally student are increasingly are now part of the IGeneration – a generation

which is immersed in technology, highly digital literate, online 24/7 and who use

technology as a preferred means of communication.

• Institutionally blended, online and distance learning have not been explored to a

significant extent previously and the Institution therefore is required to rapidly




embrace the use of digital technologies within both the existing curriculum and in

relation to possible new models of delivery.

• Institutionally the unique nature and position of the College as a specialist Arts

institution must result in the creation of high quality, visual, cost effective and well-

designed learning objects which are contextualised to the Art and Design community.

3 Goals and Ambitions

For PCA the vision of blended learning does not represent solely a top-down implementation of

technologies across the curriculum but rather a systematic use of technology within teaching

and learning which is strategic and always complementary to and supportive of high quality

face-to-face environments. Greater detail how the embedding of digital technologies within the

curriculum will be undertaken are provided in the blended learning vision guide however the

following areas have been identified as areas to which focus should be given within the next

academic year. The areas identified represent general areas of technological development and

do not refer to specific software, tools or hardware as this is subject to change very quickly in

the current climate.

1. Digital Content including Open Educational Resources (OER)

The extent to which digital content is created, reused and shared across the institution is

currently unknown. Generally it would appear that digital content largely consists of the

uploading or replication of offline materials to Moodle as PDFs.

In the future digital content which is interactive, reusable and designed for online use

should be made. It should be noted that not all learning materials will need to be created

“from scratch” by academic staff but the increase in the use of Open Educational

Resources (OER) and the provision of increasing amounts of free online materials will allow

existing resources to be repurposed for use within the curriculum

2. Virtual Learning Environment (VLE)

Debate continues and should continue within the institution and across the sector to

consider whether the VLE in its existing form continues to be the best fit solution for

educational institutions and specifically Art and Design institutions.

Currently the VLE is largely used as a document repository and this does not maximise the

opportunities the VLE provides for student collaborative and self-learning online. The VLE




therefore needs substantial redevelopment including the moving of the platform to an

external hosting provider and a redesign of the system to better meet the needs of the

institution. Following this whilst discipline differences may be seen, minimum participation

levels in relation to the VLE should be established enabling student expectations of the use

of technology within their learning to be met and where possible exceeded.

3. College repositories and platforms

Currently the College does not have an online area or repository (content management

system) in which academic staff are able to share best practice, resources and objects

created or repurposed with all academic College staff.

The creation of a repository or platform that allows this to occur should enable a greater

degree of collaborative activity enabling enhanced interaction between staff and the

creation of an academic learning community or community of practice.

4. Online and Distance Learning

The College does not currently provide distance or online learning opportunities which

could represent a significant new market for the College. The redevelopment of the VLE

should place the College in a better position to offer such courses as this will provide a

well-designed and fit for purpose learning platform from which to develop distance

learning and online courses.

Following the redevelopment of the VLE the establishment of short distance learning

courses will be discussed with the Creative Business Services team, developed, and if

appropriate, trialed in the next academic year. Consideration will also be made of the

Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) movement currently growing across the UK and the

manner in which this may enable “taster” courses to be offered for free as a feeder for

core curriculum courses.

5. Strategic Partnerships

As a specialist College of Art, the institution should seek, where possible, to work in

partnership with leading digital technology providers. Partnerships with organisations such

as Apple, Adobe and Lynda.com will be explored in more detail and where the formation of

such relationships would be beneficial to the student experience or the College reputation

these will made wherever possible.




6. Research

The presentation of research on a regional, national and international basis has resulted in

the College and blended learning team beginning to be recognised as experts within the

fields of educational technology and its use within teaching and learning.

The blended learning team will continue to undertake relevant research activities seeking

to engage academic staff in the linking of their teaching practice when using digital

technologies seeking to adopt empirical and methodical research methods.

Research will be undertaken within the area of digital technologies and eLearning and will

aim to utilise where possible opportunities that externally funded projects may present to

develop this area further and to present findings at conferences and events on a local,

national and international platform.

7. External Projects

In the last two academic years the blended learning team has been successful in gaining

over £135,000 from organisations such as JISC, JANET and the HEA. In order to maximise

on the successful delivery of funded projects the team will continue to seek appropriate

funding opportunities and to bid for funding where this would be in line with College

objectives.

In addition the team will start to consider opportunities for the initiation of projects that

may best meet College needs as opposed to responding to specific calls from funders.

8. Outside / Inside Space

In the current academic year the College has been involved in a trial of 4G technologies as

a result of a JANET funded trial. In order to maximise the learning that occurs as a result

of this project the project participants and blended learning team will reflect on the use of

4G technologies and the opportunities these might provide to immerse students in

contextualised learning outside of the classroom whilst still allowing the use of broadband

speed technologies to be used by all students.

The ability to ‘bring the inside, outside’ is a relatively new concept enabled by the

provision of 4G technologies and this is therefore an innovation which is expected to

become common place in the next 5 years and which the College should start to consider

now.




9. Multiple and changing devices

Whilst the College has traditionally been a mixed ecology of Mac and PCs the digital

ecology is changing and a much greater number of devices and platforms need to be

considered when planning technological changes within the institution. The need for a

greater understanding of the nature of these changes and the manner in which devices

might continue to evolve results in a need for horizon scanning by the blended learning

team and an assessment of the “state of technology” within the academic year.

10. Social Media, Web 2.0 and the Semantic Web

Academic staff are currently provided with relatively little guidance on the use of an ever

increasing range of Web 2.0 and Social Media and this will be resolved through the use of

Social Media Guidance for academic staff. This will enable academic staff to choose the

best fit solution from the wide range of tools available allowing a cross-platform, cross-tool

delivery of learning materials.

For each of the priority areas identified a brief outline of the area is provided within the

blended learning vision guide along with a long-term, medium-term and short-term

objective for the manner in which this will be developed in the future. An action plan for

the delivery of these short-term objectives is provided below.

4 Key Performance Indicators See the attached plan for KPIs.




Termly Implementation monitoring plan This strategy will be monitored via the teaching and learning subcommittee of the Academic Board/Corporation.

Objective (What) How Measure When Who Monitoring Digital Content including Open

Educational Resources (OER) – Creation

of Open Education Resources (OER) /

Reusable Learning Objects (RLO) to be

commenced

Blended Learning to work with staff to assess the current use of digital content and generate a map of existing use across the curriculum. Blended Learning to work with staff to develop digital learning resources as appropriate. Minimum of 5 areas (cross college curriculum or course/programme) to be reviewed and OER / RLO to be created for all relevant activities within the academic year. Activity to be commenced with Functional skills provision and resources followed by the Cross College Academic Practice area.

Map created and greater understanding of cross college digital content usage OER / RLO to be created and available across College for Functional Skills provision and Academic Practice area plus 3 courses / programmes.

July 2014

EG, MR, KD

Head of Blended Learning / Academic Head of FE /HE and VP Academic

Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) –

To redevelop the VLE and move to an

external hosting company

Tender process and consultation to result in redevelopment of Moodle and continued review of VLE as a service and whether Moodle continues to be the most appropriate solution for PCA Staff training area to be established within Moodle for new and existing staff Minimum participation levels to be established and practice of VLE usage to be mapped across the curriculum. This will result in an action plan for developing future usage. Best practice will be celebrated

Moved to host and implemented redesign of Moodle. Continued horizon scanning for alternative solutions. Staff training area established Minimum levels of participation to be established and mapped across curriculum. Demonstration of best practice demonstrated

Easter 2014 July 2014 July 2014

EG, KD EG, KD, MR

Via meetings with line manager Via meetings with line manager Via meetings with line manager and Academic Heads

College repositories and platforms –

LTIs to link platforms to VLE and ITunesU

Through move to hosted Moodle solution and identification of relevant LTIs and approved College platforms. ITunes to be populated with

LTIs link Moodle and other College platforms together

July 2014

EG, MR, KD,

Head of Blended Learning and




use to be developed

Functional Skills resources, Cross College curriculum area resources and other relevant resources. Plans for cross college repository / CMS to be formed and best solution to be considered

ITunesU to be populated with relevant content from functional skills and Cross College curriculum Paper to explore repository to be created

Easter 2014

TG EG, MR, KD

Head of Academic Practice VP Academic

Online and Distance Learning – Explore

online and distance learning opportunities

as short course options

Discussions with CBS and exploring possible models following redesign of Moodle. Models for future delivery to be created and provided for discussion to relevant SMT members for next academic year.

A plan is developed for online / distance learning provision

July 2014

EG, KD, MR & CBS

Vice Principal - Academic

Strategic Partnerships – Explore strategic

partnerships with relevant companies

Through networking and research identify potential strategic partners. In 2013/2014 to create relationships with Apple and Adobe if approved by SMT

Relationships explored and partnerships made with Apple and Adobe where appropriate. Future plans for partnership established

July 2014

EG Via meetings with line manager

Research – To continue to undertake

research which is recognized as expert on a

regional, national and international basis

To continue undertaking relevant research utilising opportunities for dissemination where possible and ensuring research meets institutional, departmental and national themes and areas. To present at regional, national and international events and publish at least one journal paper.

Research to be accepted for Conference or Journal publications

July 2014

EG Via meetings with line manager

External Projects – Opportunities for

relevant external projects are maximized

and explored

Through the development of project proposals and ideas subject to external opportunities. Bids to be submitted for at least 3 identified opportunities. Opportunities for European Funding to be explored. £10,000 to be gained as a minimum in funding in 2013/2014 assuming funding opportunities are available.

At least 3 relevant opportunities to be applied for. £10,000 to be secured as a minimum assuming funding is available

July 2014

EG, KD

Via meetings with line manager

Outside / Inside Space – Opportunities to

develop inside and outside spaces due to

technology to be explored using 4G

technology to allow the creation of an

Through research and experimentation within 4G project and plans for continuation after the end of the project.

Research and ideas to be formalised and explored in more detail with proposals for future

July 2014

EG / MB

Via meetings with line manager and Academic Heads




outside classroom

Multiple and changing platforms – To

continue to ensure availability of

information in range of formats and testing

range of platforms. Technology updates to

be provided via blog and end of year report

to be published.

Explore use of range of platforms and gain a greater understanding into the different platforms utilised and reasons for use. On-going information to be provided via blended learning blog with formal summary of the direction of technology at end of academic year.

Availability of resources in range of formats and identification of standard formats required. Report to be written as a summary of technology changes at end of year

July 2014

EG, MR, KD

Via meetings with line manager and via blended learning blog

Social Media, Web 2.0 and the

Semantic Web – Guidelines for pedagogic

use of social media (supported

organizationally permitted and non-

permitted)

Guidelines created for use relating to the Social Media and published for College use. This should incorporate blog, social networking, etc.

Guidelines created and published for wider College use.

Easter 2014

EG / KD

Via meetings with line manager and via blended learning blog

Documents

PCA Blended Learning Strategy 2013/2014