Playing leapfrog with technology enhanced learning

Preamble

In early September I was fortunate enough to visit the University of the South Pacific (USP), where I had been invited as the Key Note Presenter for their Vice-Chancellor's Forum for Learning and Teaching. In preparing for this event I was again provoked to strengthen my understand of the challenges some institutions in poorer (financially, not academically) parts of the world face, and how they are required to make significant allowances for the limited access they have to the internet. Linked with this, the challenge of dealing with students (and occasionally staff) with limited or no experience with technology, particularly in far and remote locations. 

In considering these challenges I was particularly investigating low barrier technologies and techniques that can make it easier for an institution to, in a sense, do more with less. In doing this there are some fundamental considerations I would like to share that may help address, not just the above scenario, but assist others in their thinking around these key issues. These ideas are presented with an understanding that some technologies, and new approaches to using these technologies, may be seen as equalisers, not differentiators. Let's begin:

Introduction

As Higher Education (HE) providers discover how to use their virtual learning environments (VLEs) more effectively, they are aggressively expanding their learning and teaching offerings into the online space. This is particularly true for those institutions who have not traditionally been seen as distance education (DE) providers. This growth comes in many forms, but ranges from offering a more blended mode of delivery (one akin to a ‘flipped classroom’ model); designed to provide students and staff with a bit more flexibility, through to fully online courses were there is no requirement to be on-campus. 

In many senses the traditional face-to-face institutions that have more recently adopted this stance, have in effect leapfrogged the years of learning that many of DE providers have thoughtfully worked through, in order to take full advantage of the burgeoning online space. This is clearly a frustration for those DE provider who have championed the online learning space. However, this should really only serve to spur these institutions on to break through to the next threshold of online learning and reclaim the mantle of ‘leaders’ (for the time being at least).  

To help understand the shift that is required, the following points were addressed in my recent Key Note Presentation at USP. They are discussed here in some detail, along with a short summary video (5 min) that seeks to provide an overview to the following points investigating the need to:

• adjust to new digital literacies/fluencies,
• adopt leading edge use of social media, 
• provide informed student support, 
• embrace a range of learning communities, and 
• practice what we preach.

New digital literacy/fluency

Many of the students attending university today are digitally fluent with Facebook, gaming, messaging, Word, etc., but have very little or no experience dealing with complex learning management systems, e-portfolios, library databases, etc. In other words they are not fully digitally literate (not a new phenomenon, but one that is becoming more pronounced). It is therefore incumbent on those developing courses, particularly those where first year students reside, to be cognisant of this discrepancy. In practice, this means that there may well be some advantages in using tools that the students are more familiar with (Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram) and designing learning encounters that can be accessed on the devices that they are more familiar with using; such as mobile phones, pads, etc.

However, many staff, particularly those who have predominantly been teaching in a face-to-face mode, and who are now being told they need to teach online, may not be as digitally literate with these 'other' tools as their students are. So we are left with a conundrum, as we begin to transition our curriculum into the online space, but have not trained our staff in the advances in education theory for a digital world; such as using paragogical or heutagogical approaches.

One thing is for sure, we do most things online now. We have online enrolment, quiz assessments, e-assignment submission, accessing grades, forum collaborations, reflective e-journals, etc, etc. On top of that, most uni's have stopped printing-out materials for their students, expecting them instead to access them from their BYO device, or print them themselves.

There is an upside of this, as it means we can start using more adaptive technologies to better target a students learning based on their previous experience. Tools 'like' Smart Sparrow (this is not a product endorsement) that can allow educators to adapt their learning content, and deploy material to students based on an analyses of how a student has progressed/learned from their responses to the material they have already been exposed to. A solution based squarely in the domain of learning analytics.

More-so, for this to be effective there also needs to be a level of consistency in the way our online learning environments are set-up. Let me be very clear here; consistency does not mean sameness. For years we have been getting student feedback telling us they want some consistency in their courses/units. That is, they do not want to go from course to course and have to relearn how to navigate that environment. They should be able to find-out about their assessment in the same place in each environment, and not have to go hunting for it. The same would apply to 'getting started' information, 'resources' and 'communications'.

Leading edge use of Social Media

A few years back there was quite a bit of discussion around the fact that the LMS was not a walled garden. Although this debate has largely been put to bed now, there are still those who would suggest that all the activity in a course/unit must be conducted behind the the password protected space of the LMS. I do not have the space to deal with this debate here in any depth, other than to say (by way of analogy), when I go out to play a round of golf I like to go out with a full set of golf clubs. When I was younger I had a set of clubs that only had the bare essentials, a 2 wood, a 3, 5, 7 and 9 iron, a sand wedge and a putter. I got around the course OK, but from time to time it was a bit frustrating not to have the right club at hand. But now I have a full set of clubs and I no longer get frustrated (not with my selection of clubs anyway). Similarly, no LMS (yet) has everything we need to do all the things that can make learning great. There are a wealth of other tools now available to make learning online even more real, tangible and ultimately enjoyable, and we need to find ways to embrace these options.

A great recent example of this is how augmented reality has come to the fore over recent years. Applications like Aurasma (again not an endorsement) that you can use to augment a real-life situation with a virtual overlay; providing extra information when required via a mobile device. For example in nursing, when dealing with a patient and you need some additional info, or an example of how to perform a certain action, like giving an injection, the information can be right at your fingertips. This and similar low bandwidth app's have huge potential for education, particularly if Pokemon Go is any guide of the popularity of mobile friendly augmented reality ;-)

Most LMSs today allow for the syndication of information from one system to another using LTI (Learning Tools Interoperability), allowing for authentication within and across different learning environments. For example, you may have student blogging as an activity. What if they could choose their own platform and syndicate their blog it into the LMS, there by giving them the ability to potentially repurpose this material, possibly for professional interests? They can. The trick here is enter information once and use it for multiple scenarios. This can reduce the overhead on the university system, while at the same time allowing the students much more freedom, and with the opportunity to build their professional public profile from early on in their learning journey.

However, if we are expecting our students to be using these technologies, as teachers we need to be also using and experimenting with both current and emerging tools. Why? Because we want to reclaim the mantel of leadership in the online space. We want to be leaders not followers, the head not the tail. We want our student to know they are coming to an institution that is leading the way, not dragging its heals kicking and screaming. Emotive? absolutely it's emotive, and I make no apology for that.

I was in a PD session recently being led by a person from KPMG. In this session we were told that two thirds of all professionals have a well populated LinkedIn Profile, and that for every job applicant that KPMG consider shortlisting, they will go to that persons LinkedIn profile to check them out. So, if we are training our students to be professionals by the time they get out of uni, they should have a really developed profile. Who is going to teach them to do this? We are. But how can we do this is our own profile sucks? We need to lead by example!

But I hear people say "I don't really have anything to share, or say about myself", or "I don't have time". My response to this usually is, but you are a subject matter expert, teaching kids every day about engineering, math, nursing, psychology, business, law (or what ever your field is), you have something to say then, and you don't even have to reinvent the wheel. You have thoughts and ideas about your subject area, and they are worth sharing. If you don't feel comfortable sharing your ideas, share the ideas of other experts (with due citation) and add some of your own thoughts to theirs. This is called 'thought catalysing', and it is a great way to start. The more you practice this, the sooner you will be sharing your own ideas and only referencing others.

Informed Student support

Clearly learning and educational analytics is top of the agenda for many institutions at the moment. The focus of this over recent times has been on student retention, however there is such more to this. At this point, you could also see the interviews I did with George Siemans and Shane Dawson.

It is helpful, when thinking about analytics, to frame this thinking within two parallel steams using the metaphor of a journey; the student learning journey and the staff learning journey. The journey for the students (as far as the uni is concerned) actually starts well before they get to uni, even as early as year 10, when data may be accessed as to where students are considering attending after their year 12 is complete. And the journey continues way past the successful completion of their degree. To help understand this I have developed a brief checklist of potential key interaction points through the student learning journey. At each points in this journey there are data that can be used to better inform the student journey. However, not all this data needs to be seen by everybody, in fact this could cause quite a bit of confusion.

While studying online, student's spend most of their time in the institutions LMS, so where should they find a comprehensive view of what help is available to them? Not from the portal and not the Uni's website (though they will find it in these places also), but from within the LMS itself. Let's take the analogy of hospital emergency room (when somebody is desperate for help). They use a Triage model, but in this case we are talking triaged online help. In practical terms this means one dropdown link with the top 4-5 options of where they will find the first level help for things like, study assistance, technical help, library support, etc.

The notion of triage goes further than this, if somebody is in dire need sometimes they really need just to speak to somebody. The human voice is so important, as ultimately we are communal beings (a point I will return to later). This is where the USQ model of the Student Relationship Officer (SRO) is so important. A person who will follow a student through their entire program (journey), instead of the academic/lecturer who may only interact with a student for as little as 18 weeks during their 3-4 year program of study. Each student at USQ has a named person that they can get in touch with if they need help, either via email or on the phone; the 'real' person. The human voice is also powerful when used in recordings (video/audio), and in asynchronous communications.

As alluded to above, once enrolled at Uni that's when the fun really begins, particularly as regards the student learning journey. Notionally, from day one the student is working towards being a professional, be that as a Nurse, Journalist, Engineer, Teacher, etc, etc. To help reinforce this notion, if the Uni can provide the student with the option of a having a personal learning environments (PLE) they make it possible for that student to start to record and chart their journey. Some conceive this as an ePortfolio, others may do this by other means. The important thing is that a student has the opportunity to align themselves with, and have the option to evidence, the attainment of the professional attributes they will require to operate as a 'professional'. Of course nowadays one would also expect a student to exit their studies with a reasonably well developed LinkedIn profile, referencing their attainments back to their PLE.

This is precisely where we need to think in terms of designing our courses to engage with 'Authentic Assessment', that is, assessment tasks that are true to (linked to) the profession the student is aiming to enter. How better to align the learning outcome of a course, with the professional attributes a student needs to attain on their way to becoming a professional, than to then demonstrate this evidence of this within the PLE.

Similarly, for academic staff members, working towards tenure or academic promotion, what better way to evidence your practice than through a professional portfolio (or website) for other to enjoy, and then linking this back through their LinkedIn and other social media sites/profiles. Here is my ePortfolio by way of example.

Embracing learning communities

There is a famous line by the poet John Donne (circa 1624) in his work ‘Devotions upon Emergent Occasions’ that reads:

‘No man [one could now read 'person'] is an Island, entire of itself, every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main.’

In this case the ‘continent’ represents how we are all (in the HE sector) coming to grips with the rapid advances in technology enhanced learning (TEL), and how we can sometimes feel we are doing things all alone, where in actual fact we are part of a much broader learning community. In my 26+ years within HE I have found that people are very willing to help and share the information that have gained. I am actually part of a an amazingly diverse learning community that is usually very happy to work with me to find solutions to a range of particular needs. At the end of the day we are communal beings and we thrive on being part of a range of communities, both within and external to our place of work.

For example, you may become part of a campus-wide community of practice (CoP) for staff (or even one for students), wishing to understand more about how to apply the concepts of digital literacy within your first year courses. Or you may like to start one for the teachers within a particular discipline (say Arts), on how to better use technology in the online space for your teaching.

At the sector-wide level, there are some great examples of professional communities within the Australasian context. One of these is the work of ACODE (Australasian Council on Online, Distance, and eLearning). This body has a mission to enhance policy and practice in Australasian HE around TEL and teaching at institutional, national and international levels. Similarly, bodies like ASCILITE (Australasian Society for Computers in Learning in Tertiary Education), that has become Australasia’s leading networked community fostering research, innovation and evidence-based practice in the effective use of educational technologies for learning and teaching in the tertiary sector.  

Then there are more international communities that have a broader remit, such as the Open Education Consortium. This is a global network of educational institutions, individuals and organizations that support an approach to education based on openness, including collaboration, innovation and collective development and use of open educational materials. These are just examples, but there are similar bodies just waiting for us to get involved.

Practicing what we preach

A famous man once said, "do not just be hearers of the word, but doers" (paraphrased). In other words, if we are to be leaders within HE, particularly in these areas of TEL, we need to be getting in there and using as many of these tools and techniques as we can in our day-to-day practice. This may mean we need to maintain may different entry points to our professional profile. So you will notice (as above) that I have a well populated ePortfolio, that ePortfolio provides links to the various social media sites I regularly use, such as LinkedIn, Slide Share, Research Gate, Twitter, Wordpress, Instagram, etc. But in return I always reference back to my ePortfolio, to always point people back to the substance of who I am as an academic leader.

Incumbent upon this notion of leadership is also the need to provide mentorship to those aspiring to better themselves in similar fields to my own. So in my case (I only use me as an example as I have not sought the permission of others, of which there are many, to use them as an example) I formally participate in the ASCILITE mentoring program, working with staff from other Uni's in researching elements of TEL. I also lead the ACODE Learning Technologies Leadership Institute to mentor staff aspiring to be future leaders in TEL.

Another way to practice what we preach in the area of TEL, is to move ourselves away from the sage on the stage model of teaching, embracing a more flipped approach to the professional development (PD) we offer. If we want our teaching staff to engage in this approach (as most Uni's are trying to do) then we need to be demonstrating this in how we approach the PD we offer our staff. For example making it possible to link artefacts associated with the PD we have done with our ePortfolio, or Open Badges to our LinkedIn Profile.

Lastly, and by no way least, I want to return to this thought about us being both 'thought leaders' and 'thought catalysers'.  For as you will note in this presentation, there are a combination of original thoughts and the promotion or other's thoughts. This is not a new thing in academia, but in this social-media rich world it is about looking to do a similar thing, but in a more open way. In other words I do not have to wait to have an original thought before I say something that others can benefit from. I can use somebody-else's great idea/thought (with due acknowledgement) and expand on it, thereby promoting not just the original thought, but the extension, reach and influence of that though. The trick is to get into the habit of doing just that on a regular basis (without spamming everybody).

In summary

As far as the presentation of these ideas is concerned, they were originally presented in the context of a L&T Forum at USP in Fiji. The focus of this was to encourage USP staff around the notion that, it is not about just creating better ‘packages’, it’s about facilitating better L&T options and opportunities. It's about being thought leaders and thought catalysers of great L&T ideas.

We are all part of a global learning community who need and want to hear from 'YOU', for we are not alone, we are in this together with many others who are very willing to help. None-of-us can do it on our own.