www.epic.co.uk

Donald Clark - CEO

Epic Group Plc

Research: a consumer’s perspective

Research

What do we look for? What do we use? Real examples Where do we get it? What do we want?

Problems with learning profession

Gulf between theory and practice All art no science Legacy practice Few would be able to cite any research Professionals don’t read the research

Problems with the domain

Fuzzy set of concepts Mixture of psychology, sociology and

technology Technology is always ahead of the sociology But the sociology always wins out Technological base changes rapidly

Problems with the research

Faddish and non-empirical Not demand driven Skew towards education Often dated Confusing and contradictory Sometimes excellent

What do we look for?

Address practical problems Distinguish fact from faddish fiction Recognise that there’s empirical and non -

empirical research (Prefer empirical) Recognise quantitative and qualitative

techniques - welcome both Take and immediately apply

What do we use?

Market research Learning research Human factors research Technical research Standards research Implementation research

What do we use?

Market research Professional research companies (IDC, Gartner etc) European (Various DGs, CEDEFOP) OECD Analysts (largely US, some in London)

nobody knows the size and shape of the UK market

major investment decisions (UKeU, UFI, NHSU, OU in US)

life and death issues

What do we use?

Learning research general psychology (memory, cognitive overload,

retention, habituation etc) psychology of learning (NHSU - Peter Honey - no real

consensus theory)

a mass of confusing and contradictory theory no language and discourse - pedagogy base psychology often ignored - memory, practice

and retention behaviourism, cognitive psychology,

constructivism

What do we use?

Human factors research screen design navigation usability accessibility

media mix (Clark & Mayer) media psychology (Nass & Reeves) Nielson on usability

What do we use?

Technical research P2P open source (sourceforge.net, slashdot.org) blogs, RSS (wired.com, smartmobs.com etc) LMS/LCMS/VLE/MLE - Brandon-Hall problem collaborative software authoring tools

innovation largely in private sector Shawn Fanning, Bill Gates, Larry Ellison, Michael

Dell, Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak moves quickly - web is the obvious source no more technology please

What do we use?

Standards research interoperability reusability (lego brick problem) AICC, IMS, ADL, ISO

no tipping point on operability branding confusion over-engineered Occam’s razor enough is enough

What do we use?

Implementation research evaluation case studies conferences

really valuable success and failure criteria real projects in the real world not enough engagement with companies who do

this for real huge projects not being evaluated empirical research opportunities being lost

Where do we get it?

Web Useful sites Blogs RSS

Books Mostly US

Conferences Mostly US Techlearn/Online Learning/ASTD/Online Educa

Networking Trade associations Government

Research centres

Learning Lab (University of Wolverhampton) annual conference just cancelled companies listed in liquidation

Ultralab (Anglia Polytechnic University) good reputation schools focus

UKeUniversity elearning research centre no idea what’s happening does it exist?

NESTA futurelab not sure

Professional associations

BLA training

E-learning forum good meetings

ALT education

CIPD training

Fragmented and all too small Some dissemination but not adequate

EXAMPLE: Learning Styles

Widely quoted in education and training Learning and Skills Development Agency

Frank Coffield ‘bedlam of contradictory claims’ ‘proliferation of concepts, instruments and

strategies’ 71 competing theories most dismissed outright - 13 chosen

EXAMPLE: Learning Styles

internal consistency, evidence of application, reliability, predictive validity

‘they were found seriously wanting’ ‘serious deficiencies’ ‘over-simplify, label and stereotype’ worse than bad - downright dangerous

EXAMPLE: Pedagogy

term itself is problematic teachers lack an agreed vocabulary and

discourse Professor James Tooley Educational Research: A Critique (1998) ‘pretty grim business’ 41 articles from 4 leading journals

EXAMPLE: Media mix

Ruth Clark and Richard Mayer: E-learning and the science of instruction

strong empirical research media mix in e-learning text, graphics, audio, animation, video use of text/audio, text/graphics together extraneous & distracting graphics in learning animation and audio narration video can be harmful to learning

EXAMPLE: Media psychology

Nass and Reeves: The Media Equation media equals real life hypothesis 35 empirical studies, clear hypotheses social rules image fidelity on video/audio politeness feedback coaches voices and gender

EXAMPLE: Programme in Course Redesign

Center For Academic Transformation $8.8 m - Pew Charitable Trusts 30 x $200,000 experiments

Is it cost effective? Are we seeing better learning? Can drop-out rates be reduced?

EXAMPLE: Programme in Course Redesign

Is it cost effective?

all 30 reduced costs by 40% success = fundamental shift in practice brimming with proven ideas

online course management systems automated assessment online tutorials shared resources staffing substitutions reduced space requirements

EXAMPLE: Programme in Course Redesign

Are we seeing better learning?

transformational tactics concentrate on large courses don’t fiddle, redesign whole course don’t stay with unaltered model of classroom

instruction continuous assessment and feedback increased interaction among students continuous support online tutorials undergraduate learning assistants

EXAMPLE: Programme in Course Redesign

Can drop-out rates be reduced?

US term DFW (drop-failure-withdrawal) significant decreases across a range of

subjects 45% to 11% 42% to 25% 39% to 25% 28% to 19%

EXAMPLE: Military research (US)

military spending is $956 billion - almost half of this is the US

since 1950s DoD has spent $150m on research per year

ADL and SCORM superb work on simulations, games,

teamwork Tobias and Fletcher Training and Retraining American Psychological Association

EXAMPLE: Games and learning

Digital Game-based Learning Marc Prensky What Video Games have to teach us about

learning and literacy James Gee Military miles ahead on this one University of Abertay

L/DWP IOP Menu

L/DWP IOP Questions

Games and learning

L/Zaks wordgames

L/PwC Pistart Story

What do we do about research?

Email newsletter - monthly Think-tanks (14 to date) Case studies (lots) Show reports (16 over 3 years) Book reviews (30) Interviews (just started) Surveys, research, myths etc.

What do we do about research?General

Markets for e-learning

Return on investment in e-learning

Organisational benefits of e-learning

Innovation

Napsterisation of learning (P2P)

Interactive TV and e-learning

Simulations and e-learning

Games and e-learning

Customer e-learning

M-learning

Psychology

The psychology of e-learning

Media and media mix in e-learning

Motivation and e-learning

Education

Higher education and e-learning

Personalisation and e-learning

Blended learning

Blended learning

Blended learning in practice

DefinitionPedagogy and e-learningLearning design for e-learningCollaboration and e-learningInduction and e-learningDevelopmentOpen source and e-learningUsability and e-learningStandards and e-learningAccessibility and e-learningReusable learning objectsTesting and e-learningLocalisation and e-learningDeliveryContent and context in e-learningChange management in e-learningLearning management systemsKnowledge management and e-learningE-tutoringEvaluation and e-learning

Conclusion

more demand driven research less technical research less standards research more real world, empirical evaluation work with experienced companies more media mix, human factors more dissemination