1. Sharing: from research to
practice
Gráinne Conole, Leicester University
11th June 2012, UNISA

2. Examples
• Technology paradoxes
• E-learning research at Leicester
• Case studies
– A framework for technological intervention
– From OER to Open Educational Practices
– Learning design
– Using the VLE as a Trojan horse

3. Technology paradoxes

4. Teacher practices: paradoxes
• Technologiesnot extensively
used (Molenda)
• Lack of uptake of OER
(McAndrew et al.)
• Little use beyond early
adopters (Rogers)
• Despite rhetoric and funding Pandora’s box
little evidence of
transformation (Cuban,
4
Ehlers)

5. Current status
• Beyond Distance Research Alliance (BDRA)
– Research focus
• Curriculum Design and Development unit
(CDDU)
– Institutional support for DL programmes

6. Future directions
• Merge BDRA and CDDU
• Rename the Institute of Learning
Innovation
– Shaping Policy, Supporting Practice, Enabling
Innovation in learning
• Focus on research, policy and practice
• Media zoo to be renamed the Learning
Innovations Lab

7. Mission and vision
• Mission
– To research and apply learning innovations to inform
policy and shape practice
• Vision
– To enable creativity, quality and innovation in learning
and teaching to enhance the learner experience

8. Structure
ILI
Research Service
MSc/PhD Projects Project

9. MSc in Learning Innovation
Dissertation
Case Studies of Innovation
Research Design and Methods
Learning Design
Technology-Enhanced Learning

10. Framework for technological intervention
Horizon scanning OER
Learning design
Virtual worlds
Research
Learner experience Web 2.0
Blackboard rollout Design practice
Policy Teacher practice
OER/iTunes
Use of technologies
Learning spaces
Cloud computing
Learner practice
Use of technologies Diversity/culture

11. Consultanc
Research Practice Policy Teaching External
y
JISC Roll out of Carpe
Learning Participatio
OULDI learning Dieme
design n in
project design workshops
internationa
EU-funded OER and OER l
Openness Horizon
POERUP iTunes workshops conference
scanning s and
Tailored
and other Use of workshops,
workshops,
Embedding VLE audit VLE audit activities to PGCert, technologie publishing
feed into s in journals
Masters in
relevant and books,
Learning Innovative
Flagship committees Innovation,
invited
Innovation Second Life (LTMG, case keynotes,
initiatives PhD
DLAG, VLE studies active use
programme
Digital project of social
Feed into board, etc.) media
literacy/creati iCreatNet Workshops
practice (blogs,
vity
wikis, fb,
Learner and Twitter,
Seek new Focus
teacher etc.)
projects groups

12. The VLE as a Trojan horse
• VLE as a safe nursery slope
• Shift from content to
activities
• Promote reflection and
collaboration
• Mobile VLE
• Integration with cloud
computing

13. Blackboard audit
• Data
– Online survey (260 returns)
– Departmental visits
• Key findings
– Used as content repository
and administration
– Pockets of innovation
– More support needed on
effective design strategies
– Tension between teaching
and research
– Usability issue

14. Blackboard+ at Leicester
BB plus Google+
Maths video-lets
Prof-casts
History conundrum Voicethread

15. Embedding -VLE relaunch
• Upgrade to 9.1 by Sept 2012
• VLE project board established
• Four themes: technology,
communication, staff development and
pedagogy
• VLE audit via survey and interviews
– Current usage of the VLE
– Gaps in provision (across institution and functionally)
– What kind of support do staff want
– Use of other tools and VLEs

16. Conferences A personal example
• Purpose:presentation & feedback
• Network, network, network!
• Potential collaborators & bid partners
• Put in a symposium of experts
• Expertvalidation workshops
• Put papers/presentations online
• Follow upcontacts afterwards: email, fb,
Twitter, blogs, etc.
• Work up into aresearch paper
• Work the hashtag
• Live blog or follow conference-related
blogs

17. Networking
• Build links with
international colleagues
• Get on national-level
committees
• Invite key researchers in
your field to be involved in
a joint research activity
• Invite people to give
seminars at your
institution
• Build connections online
via Twitter, facebook, etc.
• Participate in online events
• Leave comments on blogs

18. Publishing
• Write books - edited or single authored (post drafts)
• Become an editor for a special issue of an online
journal
• Keep publication list up to date in your research
repository
• Set up a writing group or workshop (real/virtual)
• Co-write with lots of different people (using a wiki)
• Disseminate publications via Tweet, fb etc
• Post up drafts for comment on blogs etc
• See Twitter, blogs, journals, books as complementary
GO OPEN!!!!

19. Final thoughts
• Participatory and social media enable new forms of
communication and collaboration
• Communities in these spaces are complex and
distributed
• Learners and teachers need to develop new digital
literacy skills to harness their potential
• We need to rethinkhow we design, support and assess
learning
• Open, participatory and social media can provide
mechanisms for us to share and discuss teaching and
research ideas in new ways
• We are seeing a blurring of boundaries:
teachers/learners, teaching/research, real/virtual
spaces, formal/informal modes of communication and

20. Activity
• What strategies do you adopt at UNISA to
promote the use of technologies?
• How effective are they?
• What are the challenges?

21. http://www.slideshare.net/GrainneConole/conole-workshop-jtelss
Conole, G. (forthcoming), Designing for learning in an open world, New York: Springer
Chapters available on dropbox
grainne.conole@le.ac.uk