ulster.ac.uk

Encouraging the adoption of technology facilitated learning (TFL): Communities of Practice as a possible solution?

Clare CarruthersChristine WightmanHeather FarleyUna McMahon-Beattie Steve Peake

Objectives

• Outline the UUBS Communities of Practice project;• Demonstrate the project resources developed;• Provide an opportunity for workshop participants to explore

and comment on the resources;• Share and develop ideas on how the resources might be used

in other business school contexts. 

Communities of Practice and Technology Facilitated Learning: An Ulster University Business School ProjectAim:• Extend the evidence base as to the application and

effectiveness of TFLObjectives:• Develop user friendly guides, case studies and wiki

support:o Wimba voice authoring/emailo E-portfolioso Turning Pointo Turnitin/Grademark

Project Outline

• Digital Futures 2015-2018 - a strategy to shape the future of Blended, Open and Online Learning at Ulster

• Greater Belfast Development and Campus Developments• Learning Landscape Project – transition to active learning

• Academic, Spaces and Technologies Advisory Group

This Project aimed to support staff in the transition to this digital future

Ulster University Business School Context

o Staff confidenceo Accesso Supporto Trainingo Time

o Resistance to changeo Lack of awareness of benefits/pedagogic rationaleo Expectation of technical failure at point of delivery

o Scarcity of resourceso Structures inhibiting innovation

(Bradley and Russell, 1997, Cox and Sorensen, 1999, Cuban, 2001, Pajo and Wallace, 2001, Jones, 2004, Nugent et al, 2008)

Project BackgroundBarriers to technology adoption

Can help support “the exploration of digital technologies and their integration into teaching

and learning” (Nugent et al 2008: 56)

Disseminate innovative HE approaches in their ability to “seed activities” (Treleaven, 2012: 747)

“share their experiences and knowledge in free-flowing, creative ways that foster new approaches

to problems” (Wenger and Snyder, 2000: 140)

Communities of Practice and TFL adoption

Communities of Practice and TFL adoption

Need for informed decision making around the selection of appropriate digital technologies:

“to be able to select those tool that are best suited to their learning goals – those that seamlessly integrate with and complement the subject matter”

(Nugent et al 2008: 52)

Could a CoP support such decision making?

Development of a range of support resources for staff:

o Guideso Case Studies

o Wikis

o Wimba voice authoring/emailo E-portfolioso Turning Point

o Turnitin/Grademark

Project outcomes/resources

Guides Case Studies

SupporTaL

Wikis

• Best Practice Guides - http://addl.ulster.ac.uk/images/uploads/TURNITIN-12-2014.pdf

• Case Studies - http://wiki.ulster.ac.uk/display/UA/CHERP+Supportal+Home

• Wikis - http://wiki.ulster.ac.uk/display/VLESUPPORT/Wimba+Voice+Authoring

Resources

Exploration and use of resources:– Guides – Turnitin, E-Portfolios, Wimba and

Turning Point– Case Studies– Wikis

Guidance:– Where - types and levels (4-7) of assessment – When – semester timing– Why - benefits– Challenges

Exploring the Resources

An effective and growing Community

of Practice

Sharing ideas, resources and support

Influencing the practice of others

Further Reading Boud, D. and Molloy, E. (2013) Rethinking models of feedback for learning: the challenge of design. Assessment and Evaluation in Higher Education. 38

(6), 698-712. Bradley, G. and Russell, G. (1997) Computer experience, school support and computer anxieties, Educational Psychology, 17 (3), 267-284. Chatterton (2010) Sustaining and embedding innovations: A good practice guide, JISC, https://sustainembed.pbworks.com/w/page/31632855/Welcome Cox, M. D. and Sorensen, D. L. (1999) Student Collaboration in Faculty Development: Connecting directly to the learning revolution, To Improve the

Academy, 18, 97-127. Cuban, L. (2001) Oversold and underused: Computers in the classroom. London: Harvard University Press. Gordon, N. (2014) Flexible pedagogies: technology enhanced learning, The Higher Education Academy HEFCE (Higher Education Funding Council for England) (2007) 2007 Teaching Quality Information Data. Bristol: HEFCE, available from

http://www.hefce.ac.il/learning/nss/data/2007/. Hepplestone, S., Parkin, H., Holden, G., Irwin, B. and Thorpe, L. (2009) Technology, feedback, action!: The impact of learning technologies upon students'’

engagement with their feedback, Enhancing Learning Through Technology Research Project report, The Higher Education Academy. Jones, A (2004) A review of the research literature on barriers to the uptake of ICT by teachers. British Educational Communications and Technology

Agency (BECTA), 1-29. Nugent, J. S., Reardon, R. M., Smith, F. G., Rhodes, J. A., Zander, M. J. and Carter, T. J. (2008) Exploring faculty learning communities: Building connections

among teaching, learning and technology. International Journal of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education. 20 (1), 51-58. Pajo, K. and Wallace, C. (2001) Barriers to the uptake of web based technology by University teachers, The Journal of Distance Education. 16 (1), 70-84. Treleaven, L. (2012) A dissemination methodology for learning and teaching developments through engaging and embedding. Studies in Higher

Education, 37 (6), 747-767. Wenger, E. (2000) Communities of Practice and social learning systems, Organisation,7 (2), 225-246. Wenger, E. and Snyder, M. (2000) Communities of Practice – The organisational frontier. Harvard Business Review, 78 (10), 139-145. Williams, J., Kane, D., Sagu, S., and Smith, E. (2008) Exploring the National Student Survey Assessment and Feedback Issues, York: The Higher Education

Academy.