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Staff experiences of transitions into blended learning Josephine Adekola, Vicki Dale & Kerr Gardiner ELESIG Scotland, 23 November 2015

Staff experiences of transitions into blended learning

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Page 1: Staff experiences of transitions into blended learning

Staff experiences of transitions into blended learningJosephine Adekola, Vicki Dale

& Kerr GardinerELESIG Scotland, 23 November

2015

Page 2: Staff experiences of transitions into blended learning

• QAA-funded Quality Enhancement project, 2014-2017

• Student, staff & institutional perspectives on transitions to blended learning

• Various aspects:• Definitions• Motivations• Benefits• Challenges & barriers• Support• (Enablers)

Overview

Page 3: Staff experiences of transitions into blended learning

MethodsLiterature review into blended learning & change management

Semi-structured interviews with 20 staff (learning technologists, teachers, management)

Thematic analysis (Löfgren 2013 based on Alan Bryman’s (2008) approach)• Reading & annotating transcripts• Generating individual codes• Codes grouped into categories/themes

Half of interviews coded by a second researcher

Page 4: Staff experiences of transitions into blended learning

Mix of traditional face-to-face and online

Definition

“A combination of what we would class as traditional, so face-to-face, and more on the online sphere … it’s using the online tools to enhance what we would normally do face-to-face.” (Learning technologist)

“A mixture of face-to-face and supported distance learning … using technology, online resources.” (University teacher)

Page 5: Staff experiences of transitions into blended learning

Sector-wide• Open education movement• Changing digital landscape• Employability agenda• Internationalisation

Institution• Perceived efficiencies

•High costs of face-to-face delivery

•Reusable nature of online learning (value for money)

Teachers• Opportunity to learn about online

learningStudents

• Pedagogically more effective learning• More flexible learning experience

Motivations

Page 6: Staff experiences of transitions into blended learning

Changing digital landscape“Technology is driving peoples’ lives from such a young age … The way people are living their lives around technology, communication, has changed dramatically in the last ten years.” (Learning technologist)

Innovating pedagogy“… changing the pedagogy, encouraging teaching staff to think about different ways of delivering learning that’s going to match their student needs.” (Management)

Internationalisation“We are becoming increasingly internationalised. So we want to open up our courses and our teaching to international students who perhaps want to access [our education] but not necessarily come to the country.” (University teacher)

Page 7: Staff experiences of transitions into blended learning

Institution• Enhanced reputation of the institution• Saving on physical learning spaces

Teachers• Enhanced teaching experience• Saves teaching time in long run• Can reuse materials• Developed new skills for future teaching

Students• More self-directed learners• Development of information literacies• Collaborative learning opportunities• Better prepared students (e.g. with

flipped classroom)

Benefits

Image by normanack, CC BY 2.0https://www.flickr.com/photos/29278394

Page 8: Staff experiences of transitions into blended learning

Students’ lifelong learning literacies“It’s a set of skills we’re giving [the student] that allows them to become a professional learner.” (University teacher)

New teaching skills“I feel I have a skill that I didn’t before, which may allow me to do other interesting things in the future.” (Lecturer)

Efficiencies / enhanced student experience“There are scopes for efficiencies but that’s a very dangerous thing, because the move from an analogue to a more digital delivery … is a change process and you need additional resources to enable that … But I think what it’ll do is it’ll improve the student experience.” (Management)

Page 9: Staff experiences of transitions into blended learning

Institution• Research-teaching tension• Traditional university, risk-averse culture• Perceived lack of investment in BL• Inadequate IT infrastructure

Teachers• Workload models

•Time-consuming to develop

• Copyright• Pedagogical e.g. Western pedagogies &

international learner mismatch• Variable digital literacy levels

•Anxiety about new technologies

Students• Variable digital literacy levels• Still equate F2F with value for money

Challenges & barriers

Image by Cathy Cole, CC BY-NC-SA 2.0https://www.flickr.com/photos/mmewuji/2804301013

Page 10: Staff experiences of transitions into blended learning

Research-teaching conflict“Part of why we’ve been so stressed here is that there is this general tendency to down-prioritise teaching for research. We all know that we are going to be promoted on the basis of our research and our grant capture and not on the basis of our teaching … [Teaching innovation] should be in the promotion criteria.” (Lecturer)

Workload model“Our workload … allows for about 30, 35 hours to develop an online course. I know from experience it takes me at least double that. So that’s 30 odd hours that haven’t been recognised on my workload.” (University teacher)

Technical infrastructure“Staff want to use the technologies, and whilst things are getting better … they’ve not necessarily been reliable, or been available when they’ve needed them.” (Management)

Page 11: Staff experiences of transitions into blended learning

Institution• Review staff workload & promotion criteria• Recognised appointments in digital

learning• A Centre for Technology Enhanced

Learning• Expand specialist distributed support

•Employ more instructional designers/ learning technologists across the colleges

• Responsive IT infrastructureTeachers

• Staff development

•Peer-mentoring•Multiple methods of good practice dissemination

•Local academic champions

Students• Digital learning literacy support

Support required

Page 12: Staff experiences of transitions into blended learning

Recognised appointments / local champions“We need to have local champions that are recognised by senior management. So perhaps … a chair in digital learning or … emerging technologies.” (University teacher)

More learning technologists across the disciplines“[Colleges] where they have the learning technologist they tend to do more online learning … the colleges … need to buy into this idea that it’s a specialist job, and they should be paying for somebody to do it.” (Learning technologist)

Review promotion/reward criteria“What we need to do as an institution is create the enabling framework … it’s putting in the correct supporting frameworks, the correct incentive systems to make it all happen.”(Senior management)

Page 13: Staff experiences of transitions into blended learning

Institution• Integration of TEL into L&T strategy• Stakeholders represented on committees• Helpful learning technology support• Learning from other institutions• Support from senior management

Teachers• Early adopters• Academic colleagues who see benefits

of BL and are committed to L&T

• ‘Friendly colleagues you can trust’

• Having locally available kitStudents

• All have mobile devices

Enablers

Page 14: Staff experiences of transitions into blended learning

Support from senior management“Senior management has been encouraging it and if they want this kind of thing to happen, they need to keep encouraging it.”(Lecturer)“We have a key responsibility around making sure that all staff at the university are properly supported.” (Senior management)

Support from colleagues“We’re lucky because we have a good colleague community in [our school] and we talk nicely to each other and support each other.” (Lecturer)

Early adopters / showcasing good practice“I produce a TEL newsletter for the college and it’s all about showcasing good work that people are doing. Even if it’s small they’re changing something.” (Learning technologist)

Page 15: Staff experiences of transitions into blended learning

Management & organisation

Ethical & legal

Pedagogy

Learning technology supportPhy

sical

infras

tructu

re

Institu

tiona

l cult

ure

• Flexible learning spaces• Robust IT infrastructure• New L&T hub working in

synergy with all services

• Addressing individual student needs & expectations

• Digital literacies• New approaches to L&T

• Teacher as facilitator• Student as co-producer

• Providing leadership• Providing support & resources• Rewarding staff engaged in BL

• Enabling innovation, being mindful of risks

• Greater tolerance towards failure

• Equity of access to technology• Learner support for engaging in BL• Copyright compliance, training &

support• Internationalisation of curriculum

• Distributed learning technology specialist support

• Peer mentoring by early adopters

Aligned findings to six reinterpreted domains of Khan’s (2005) framework

Page 16: Staff experiences of transitions into blended learning

Work has resulted in an integrated, holistic framework of key considerations, derived from literature & research:

• Key external drivers• Six reinterpreted

domains of Khan’s (2005) framework

• Elements of Chern’s (1976) organisational preparedness framework

• Core stakeholders

Page 17: Staff experiences of transitions into blended learning

Holistic, integrated framework to be shared with staff & students in context of e-learning strategy implementation activities

Identify & implement ‘anchor points’ to ensure institution does not regress

This year’s research: focusing more on blended learner experiences

Next steps…

Page 18: Staff experiences of transitions into blended learning

QAA Scotland for project funding

All interview participants from the University of Glasgow

Acknowledgements