A community approach to online staff development design Anne Campbell, Mark Jones The Open University SEDA Spring Conference, Newcastle, May 2014
A bit of background All OU students and tutors (Associate Lecturers, ALs) study/work at a distance, usually from home Huge institutional and faculty drive to online delivery of tutorials All Science L2 & L3 tutorials now run either in OU Live (BB Collaborate) or using Moodle forums Cross-institution staff development modules for working in online environment operates at scale
But for synchronous online Science (and other) tutors find it hard to use the medium imaginatively for tutorials Often stuck on what can be transferred from f2f rather than thinking within the new environment Apprehension & lack of regular experience Distrust of teaching ideas from outside own discipline Often end up with one pedagogical style: chalk & talk moved into online environment, with element of questioning Staff designing & writing modules also unaware of best practices in using synchronous online rooms
Challenges Getting staff engaged with staff development at all Making sure we get the context right teaching staff do not always perceive same development needs as do staff developers (Cannell & Gilmour, 2013) Need to make sure the development is grounded in tutors own working practices, or they won t come (Ottenbreich-Leftwich, 2010; Boud, 1999) Need some informal spaces for staff to meet, network & share, as this is where much of the learning takes place (Eraut, 2004)
Discussion - 1 What are the key challenges in staff development related to developments in teaching in your institution? Are these challenges policy driven, or driven by teaching staff? Is there a difference? How do we create meaningful staff development which furthers the institutional goals, but is driven by the needs and experience of practitioners?
An online conference Aims to share knowledge and good practice in use of synchronous online rooms across science faculty Ground in own discipline, so Science only To use the expertise already in the community relevant to tutors own working practices Background briefing note, including links to literature Live presentations including presentations by expert/imaginative tutors Forums discussion running alongside, moderated by tutors, but allowing opportunity for all to share informally Mixture of synchronous & asynchronous sessions can enhance sense of social presence (Campbell & Macdonald, 2011)
Setting it up Planning & preparation started 4 ½ months in advance Six expert tutors involved to prepare presentations & moderate forum Presenters forum became small community of practice Started with a few ideas on topics Led to a few more
Example 1: the role of silence Tutor perceptions of students reluctance to engage and the role of silence in an online synchronous session: We tutors can tend to allocate more value to the active participation by students in an online environment as it 'seems to suggest interest, responsibility, and attention However, silence should also be viewed as thoughtful reflection and as an important aspect of social presence (references to Salmon, 2002, and Zembylas & Vrasidas, 2007) If we were in a f2f tutorial and had given the students some problem to solve, in the physical sciences or in maths we would not be in the least bit fazed by silence in the room as students tried to work it out. But in Elluminate, for a tutor the silence can be pretty scary. I do agree that there is value in observing But how to deal with it, shape it, or manage it effectively, especially if 8 out of your 8 attending students want just to observe?
Example 2: student motivation & expectations What motivates learners to use online rooms & what expectations do they come with? Is it often a confidence issue with the students? or are we victims of our own success expecting them to cope with the myriad of links on StudentHome, wading through to find 'online tutorials/elluminate' tabs, having up to date Java in place, logging in then becoming overwhelmed at the number of icons? I think it's fair to say that it is very much driven by "tutor performance" - by which I mean that the tutor currently carries responsibility for pretty much everything. Clearly part of the role of the tutor is to determine the outcomes of the session and to try to decide how the medium should be used to best effect with the group of learners - but this is very difficult when students are pretty much an audience rather than participants in a learning process.
Example 3: thoughts on building student confidence Start by being confident oneself, this will of course require quality training and practice. Empowerment of tutor, they need to have ownership of their room Being comfortable with your abilities and not attempting something too adventurous. One can live without breakout rooms. Then it is almost a case of walking with the students until they can walk alone. This requires a pathway for the student to follow, one step at a time, showing them the right way to proceed. It also requires an understanding of the terminology used (break out room, web tour, chat box, audio, etc.). Reassurance that the system is not perfect, even the tutor may vanish!! So it s a clear initial pathway and then clear simple expectations, followed by play as all humans like to play.
Critical friends
The event One day event Moderated forums open throughout day (09:00 to 17:30) Synchronous presentation sessions 2 1hr (am/pm) At peak, had 130 staff online
Live sessions sample Confidently using the online environment: Building student confidence in using the online environment and in learning in the online environment Student interactivity: Different types of interaction in Online rooms, the role of silence, the role of breakout rooms, and a comparison with face to face tutorials Groups with different numbers of students: Looking at different types of activity and interaction suitable for different group sizes, from special sessions for 1 or 2 students, to Tutor groups of about 3 to 15, to Module wide tutorials with 50 or more Recording sessions: Pros and cons for students and tutors of recording tutorials, ethics of recording, student consent, creative solutions to recording to enhance attendance and interaction
Some forum discussion topics How do we engage and motivate students using online rooms tutorials? Is the type of session important? Does the subject matter make a difference? What do you think an online rooms tutorial is like from a student perspective? How would prior experience, no experience and their own pre-conceptions affect the student? What would be useful for ALs' continuing professional development in using Online rooms to promote student learning? Should this be provided by faculty, university or by peers?
Feedback from the event Well thought out day, with a good mix of forums and talks. Excellent presentations, with interesting topics. loved feeling part of a live community - interacting and contributing and learning the content was mostly very applicable to my role Good that people had an opportunity to have their say on the forums I felt I got a really good insight into best practice in using Elluminate and some of the issues surrounding its use. The forums were also very useful for exploring the issues and addressing specifics. all (presentations) were useful and food for thought
Presenter reflections Very helpful to gather thoughts and approaches together I liked getting constructive feedback from the other contributors as it improved my presentation, but it wasn't as daunting as putting yourself up for anonymous peer review! It stopped me feeling isolated which is something one gets used to, working as an AL The end result was that I went into the day feeling confident that the plan was a collaborative effort, but also ready to act on my own initiative depending on what happened. I have to say that being involved in the event as moderator was one of the most exciting and rewarding experiences I ve had in my work at the OU!
Discussion - 2 We created a mini short-term online community of practice in order to help create the event Could this idea be used in other institutions and contexts? How else might we make use of/tap into the deep knowledge and understanding that already exists in our staff, to share and enhance practice for all? Online communities can improve learning through dialogue, can improve access to learning by overcoming distance and time limitations, and can increase a sense of belonging (Kear, 2011)
Key points We used a mini short-term online community of practice of teaching staff to plan & develop content A strong sense of community was built in this forum This helped produce a coherent, focussed but reflective event that was relevant and useful for staff in their dayto-day jobs
Anne Campbell, Learning Development Team, The Open University in Scotland anne.campbell@open.ac.uk Mark Jones, The Open University in the North West m.h.jones@open.ac.uk http://www.open.ac.uk/blogs/learndevdist/