The issue of continuous professional development (CPD) in relation to Technology-Enhanced Learning (TEL) has recently been raised by Graham Attwell in his Pontydysgu blog. Graham aims to write a literature review around the subject, and is keen to get input from a wide audience. His blog highlights the importance of the role of TEL in  teachers’/lecturers’ CPD , which has perhaps received less attention than the impact of TEL on learners. However, as JISC studies on learners’ experiences of e-learning have shown, learners’ appreciation of TEL is often greatly influenced by the guidance and example given to them by their teachers.

Some teachers are natural innovators, but most follow rather than lead when it comes to using technology in their teaching, and some will be highly resistant to change (the so-called ‘laggards’ in Rogers’ ‘diffusion’  theory ). It makes sense to find  methods of CPD that might bridge the ‘chasm’ (as described by Moore) between the innovative minority and the slower majority. However, there may always be the barriers of insufficient time and money to hurdle!
Significant effort has gone into the development of schemes, frameworks and standards of CPD for TEL, particularly in the Lifelong Learning sector. Up to date guides can also be of great value, and also resources of the sort produced by JISC.  But  perhaps less thought has gone into the actual delivery of training, though TEL practitioners such as Joyce Seitzinger  have ideas. It seems sensible to me to apply similar pedagogic (or andragogic in this context) principles to the delivery of CPD for teachers as they themselves would apply to their students. Hence, the outcomes of CPD should be well-defined and their value and relevance made clear. Training activities should be varied and active, address a range of learning preferences, and incorporate an element of personalisation or self-direction. Positive reinforcement should be used where appropriate, and existing knowledge and skills should be taken into account. It is probably also benefical to provide training in a ‘little and often’ way rather than in large, infrequent chunks. In short, CPD  delivery should be as enjoyable, motivating and informative as the best lessons/lectures, and should avoid too much passive listening or pages of small print . ‘Testing’ scenarios, as in inspections or peer observations,  may also have  limited developmental value.

Based on the above thoughts, here are some approaches to CPD that I believe are worth exploring:-
• Discuss TEL within regular team/departmental meetings, or in informal gatherings, making reference to subject-specific good practice. It may be useful to look at technology use from different angles (as described in a recent blog post by Paul Richardson), and important to respect differing points of view
• Ask teachers individually about what has gone well in their teaching – ie. appreciative inquiry. Use this to find examples of good practice, and identify situations where TEL could have a positive impact
• Liaise with Education/Initial Teacher Training (ITT) departments to set up projects with teachers to explore particular technologies in the context of their teaching.  Action research and other scholarly approaches could be incorporated.
• link TEL CPD to wider schemes of accreditation and progression.

In addition to these approaches, organisations need to raise awareness of useful technologies (because ‘you don’t know what you don’t know’),  via a range of methods  including bite-size, visual chunks (eg. TeacherTube/YouTube videos on an intranet). Organisations could also make use of ‘champions’ to aid dissemination  and promote good practice, and their managers should aim to provide  leadership in the use of TEL.

What other approaches/factors are should be considered? Conversely, what hasn’t worked? Your experiences and comments are most welcome!

How many times do you hear that in a classroom, lecture hall, workshop, conference …? Increasingly so perhaps as more people start to take advantage of the fact that so many learners, colleagues, delegates, trainees, have a handy piece of communications technology in their pocket.

JISC RSC Wales have had a text wall (a text messaging service where we can receive texts from mobile phones or internet enabled devices and display them on a web page) for over a year now and we have used it as a way of collecting comments or questions during the events, workshops and forums that we run. For us it means we can offer the delegates or participants a way of feeding back to us or asking questions about things as they happen at an event … and they only need to be able to send a text from a mobile phone to do this. It is also great because we can share the feedback or the questions very easily as they come in by displaying the web page they are listed on for everyone to see. At one event we were even able to send the link to the web page (and login details) to Martin Dougiamas, who was presenting to us in Wrexham from his office in Australia, so that he could answer attendees questions as they sent them via text message to the text wall.

This year we also embarked on a series of roadshows, one of which included a session on tools and technologies that can be used to record the learners’ voice. The text wall was one of those tools and as part of the road show we offered any interested delegates the opportunity to borrow a sub account of our text wall in return for some feedback about what they used it for, how the learners (or staff) responded, what they did with the responses and whether they would consider investing in their own text messaging service like this.  A number of people took up our offer (at these and other events) and although a few were unable to actually use the text wall and some are still waiting for the right opportunity to use it, we have had some really interesting feedback as to how organisations have and will be using text walls in the future. The feedback we have had so far shows that this tool has been used in a number of different ways, some of which have worked very well and others that haven’t. Here are some of the uses:

• to gather opinion on how students rated the new library space
• as a method of renewing books in the Learning Zone
• to try and glean some feedback on learning technologies
• as a way of getting feedback about events
• to gain feedback on what residents of the community would like to see offered in the Curriculum
• for feedback on aspects of teaching
• for feedback on a new website
• as an out of school hours revision facility
• to explore possible uses with colleagues

The full feedback can be found here: http://tinyurl.com/textwalluses

Like every technology, tool or resource, text messaging services like this will have disadvantages, as well as advantages. The need to have a mobile phone or access to an internet connected device to participate, the cost of a text message or even the distraction of allowing a mobile phone in a setting where they are usually discouraged may be disadvantage enough for some people BUT we have so many tools available today to be able to communicate with each other, is seems a shame not to take advantage (as these people, who we are very grateful to, have done) of this one to engage with and find out what our learners (and teachers) are thinking.

(If you would like this blog post as an audio file please click this link or right click the link and choose to save the mp3 file. Please note: the audio file was created quite simply by pasting the text into Balabolka (one of the tools available as part of My Study Bar/EduApps) and saving as an mp3 audio file).

Bridgend College was the winner of the Outstanding Use of Technology Award at ColegauCymru’s prize-giving ceremony last Thursday (27th May). Their submission, BRAVO  (Bridgend College Risk Assessment and Value-added Outcomes), was deemed to best match judging criteria that included having an impact on quality, using a strategic approach, and having a direct benefit for the college community, in particular learners. However, there were other excellent entries for this award, and it was not an easy task to choose one prize-winner from the short-list.

BRAVO, though based on best practice from the FE sector in England and Wales, is unique to Bridgend College. Three online learner questionnaires form the heart of the system: an essential skills test employing the college intranet, a student support questionnaire, and a prior qualifications questionnaire, both of which are accessed via Moodle. The results of the three assessments are fed into a calculation which is used to band students according to risk, and this information is made available on the staff portal. The risk band informs learners’ ILP (Individual Learning Plan) discussions; predicted grades, based on the average GCSE score, are also used to estimate risk. These data, along with final grades, can be used to calculate ‘Value Added’ when courses have been completed. BRAVO is considered to have made a significant impact in the college: completion and attainment have both risen; learners’ feedback indicates that they valued reviews based on BRAVO data; Estyn awarded excellent grades in the college’s 2009 inspection, and identified BRAVO as an example of ‘outstanding practice’.

The other short-listed entries for the award all had outstanding aspects: Swansea College’s French-language podcasts were highly commended by judges of the 2009 Beacon awards, and are much appreciated by language-learners in the college; Pembrokeshire College’s use of thin client technology for virtual desktops has major implications for savings of energy and cost; Coleg Llandrillo’s e-planning tool has proved invaluable for managing courses and costings. Congratulations to all of them, and also to Yale College for winning the ColegauCymru Digital Learning Resources Award.

Moodle and how it can be used effectivley to support learning and teaching is just one of the many things that JISC RSC Wales offer advice and guidance on. I am very conscious that over the last month or so I have been tweeting lots of really interesting stuff that I have seen about Moodle BUT that as not everyone is a Twitter fan (or follower) it might be an idea to collect all of the Moodle stuff I have seen in one place … so here goes:

Moodle 2.0 is due any day now (I think) and there have been a few good introductory videos including this one on You Tube from @moodlefairy: ‘A brief tour of Moodle 2.0′ . There is also a Moodle 2.0 demo site if you are interested in fnding out more for yourself at: http://qa.moodle.net/

A new Moodle Educational demo site is in the process of being put together and details about how it is progressing can be found on Tomaz Lasic’s website.

The recent Moodle ‘Cool Course’ competition winners were announced a few weeks ago. All of the winning courses can be found and downloaded on the competition site

2 Moodle plugins that have come to my attention recently are:

• Moodle plugin for Microsoft Office 2007. I have plugged in and tried this one and after a bit of help from this blog it worked well. I can see how useful it would be for anyone who has Word documents that they want to update in Moodle or who wants an easy way to upload new documents … although I have to admit that I won’t be using it very often myself because I rarely upload Word docs to our Moodle, preferring to go for a more accessible pdf version, a Google Doc or other potentially more accesible and flexible alternatives. More about the tool can be found here on Moodle Monthly
• Easy Voter for Moodle, from Solihull College. I discovered this when I was looking for (free) alternatives to the audience response systems/voting sytems, like Turning Point and Qwizdom. It is a free plugin that basically enable you to create an interactive quiz to use in real time with learners BUT the learners need to have access to computers in order to participate. Here is more information about how Solihull College (the developers) use Easy Voter as well as  a case study from Cumbernauld College about how they are using it too.

Moodle use seems to be growing and growing, not just within the education sector but also within industry. Tesco, Subaru and Cisco are just some of the big names in industry that I have heard of recently who are using Moodle to support workplace learning. This article in the Western Mail (Wales Online) from Dr Geoff Elliot, Pembrokeshire College, also highlights the Moodle situation in Wales.

Moodle events are happening worldwide all of the time but closer to home the recent MoodleMootUK 2010 appears to have been a success, with more information available on their website. In the wake of MoodleMoot UK 2010, the first UK TeachMeetMoodle has also been organised for 3rd July in London. Closer to home again (for JISC RSC Wales) we helped to organise another of the very well attended ‘Moodle Meets’ for the Moodle-Wales users and videos and resources from the ‘Prepare to share’ event can be found online in our Moodle. Moodle also features in a number of the sessions in our forthcoming ‘Learning in a Digital Wales – Dysgu mewn Cymr Digidol’ event on 30th June in Cardiff.

I shall end this post on that final note of blatant promotion for our annual big event … but will no doubt be tweeting oodles more Moodle stuff over the coming months.

(If you would like this blog post as an audio file please click this link or right click the link and choose to save the mp3 file. Please note: the audio file was created quite simply by pasting the text into Balabolka (one of the tools available as part of My Study Bar/EduApps) and saving as an mp3 audio file)

We generally assume that technology enhances education, and often have anecdotal evidence in support of this. But how much concrete evidence do we have? Given the costs associated with acquiring and using educational technologies,  I think this is a question worth asking.

There are quite a few case studies that highlight the benefits of specific technologies in specific contexts – for example, in HE, ‘Exploring Tangible benefits of e-Learning’ (JISC Infonet, 2008), and in HE/FE, ‘Effective Practice in a Digital Age’ (JISC, 2009). However, there are very few studies that attempt to measure effectiveness – one of the few examples I’ve found is the ImpaCT2 project in schools (Becta, 2002) which compared time spent using technology (mainly PC use) with ‘value-added’ scores in a range of subjects.  (Becta also discuss the impact of technology in the FE and Skills sector in England in their recent review publication, and note that there is a positive correlation between ‘e-mature’ colleges and Ofsted inspection results). Some literature on this subject can be found in a RSC Wales Moodle area, and I’d be very interested to learn about any other relevant studies that you may have come across.

Perhaps it is no surprise that there have been relatively few quantitative studies in the field of e-learning. For a start, it is difficult enough to study ‘discrete’ aspects of technology in this way – for example, a particular  application or an online course – but it’s a real challenge to apply a numerical approach to the more realistic blend of online, mobile and classroom technologies that many learners now encounter. And what exactly should be measured? Cost-savings might be a priority for some, but  indices of achievement or retention are usually preferred. However, it is almost impossible to separate the effects of e-learning from the many other factors that have an influence on learning.  Learner surveys can generate quantitative data on learners’ preferences and experiences of technology, but interpretation depends on the proportion responding and their profiles.  Similarly, teaching staff could be surveyed to look at technology in the context of delivery of learning. 

This last approach is currently of particular interest to me, and I am keen to get feedback from educators about their experiences of specific educational technologies. To this end, an evaluation form has been devised which asks respondents to comment on and grade a technology of their choice. This is not a particularly scientific approach, but it may give an indication of relative usefulness from the point of view of teachers/trainers/tutors. If we receive sufficient responses we hope to compile a ‘TechAdvisor’ Moodle area – so please do visit the ‘Evidence of Efectiveness’ area on the RSC Wales Moodle and download and complete in the ‘Evaluating your Technology’ form in section 7 ( and return it  to us!)

Yesterday I eventually managed to catch up with the latest JISC Inform, when I took myself and a paper copy to the coffee shop to get away from my computer! One article that particulary took my eye was ‘Blue sky thinking or head in the clouds?’ which considers if and how ‘cloud computing’ could be used effectively in education.

It is a great article (that, for those of you who aren’t sure, starts by describing what cloud computing is) and I will be following the JISC work on this one with interest from now … but it also got me thinking about whether I have my head in the clouds. My initial conclusion, just from a few things I have done this morning before writing this, is that my head is much more in the clouds that it has ever been … but it is all so integrated in what I do regarding using technology that I wasn’t aware of it. Here’s what I mean:

So far today my head has been in the clouds when I have used:

• Google Docs – to update a document I am collaborating on with a colleague

• Delicious to bookmark a Moodle resource

• Dropbox to store a document I might want to access on another computer but which I also wanted to share (via a URL) with others

• Twitter to share my (RSC Wales) thoughts on a resource I’ve found and also to serve as another sort of bookmark for me too

… but then my feet have been on the ground as I am drafting this in my One Note and I guess I was ‘hovering’ when I accessed my emails from my Outlook client and then replied to a few

The point of all of this is that the cloud has become so much a part of the way that I do things that I don’t even realise I’m using it … and my choices about the tool I use are not to do with if they are cloud based or not but if they are the most effective for the job (to be able to quickly and easily access, collborate, share with others in the examples above) … and at the end of the day isn’t this how we should all (organisations, teachers and learners alike) be choosing if and how to use any technology?

The AoC Beacon Awards for 2009-2010 were announced on 17th November, with Welsh Colleges winning several awards, or ‘punching above their weight’- as ColegauCymru (formerly fforwm) put it. One of the Welsh winners was associated with a technology-related project: Coleg Gwent received the CLA Award for promoting the value of copyright as a result of the development and use of plagiarism-awareness modules for use in Moodle. More information about this success can be found on the Coleg Gwent web-site, and a modified version of the resource can be viewed on the RSC Wales Moodle.

Swansea College was also highly commended for its entry to the FENC Award for the creative production, adaptation, and delivery of learning resources.  Their project involved the production of French-language podcasts as a flexible resource for adult and community students in particular. Podbean was used for free online hosting, and the very popular podcasts mainly involved brief weekly round-ups of news and events in France. Accompanying transcripts were also provided on a specific Podbean site to help learners, along with lists of key vocabulary. Further information about the award can be found on the Swansea College web-site.
   
Congratulations to both colleges, and all the other award-winners and entrants from Wales. A full list of all awards and winners can be found on the AoC site

I’ve long been a fan of voting systems (eg. Turning Point, Quizdom) because of their capacity to add interactivity into formative assessment. The trouble is, though, that such systems cost – generally, around £2000 for 16 handsets. Many of us have hoped that voting in this way might become possible using mobile phones (not actually free, but a lot cheaper!), and now it seems that this is a reality.
For a start, there is the option of using a text wall (eg. xlearn: http://www.xlearn.co.uk/sms.htm) in which sms text responses are displayed on a web-site, and visible to all participants with screen & projector. There is a cost to this, but quite low for a standard service. At this level of service, text entry is possible, so words, numbers, ‘yes/no’ etc can be viewed, though there is no analysis of responses and hence no graphs etc (this can be done, but at greater cost).

Another option that I have just discovered (via the e-Assessment Association newsletter) is to use Twitter. Power-Point Twitter tools, developed by Timo Elliott, allow Tweets to be input into power-point slides. If Tweets with a unique ‘voting string’ are made in response to a question, eg. multiple choice, the tool can feed data into charts/graphs (Tweets can be made from a mobile device as well as a PC). The tool can be downloaded from the SAP Web 2.0 web-site at http://tinyurl.com/yecmh86 : it’s basically a power-point presentation from which you can copy and paste slides (they have to be in ‘presentation’ or ’slide-show’ mode to be fully functional). In addition to the ‘Twitter voting’ slide, there is a ‘Twitter feedback’ slide that displays Tweets in speech balloons, and a ‘Twitter Ticker bar’ that can be embedded into a Power-Point master slide to give real-time ticker-tape updates. I have tested all of these, and they work (hurray!), though there is sometimes a bit of delay as Twitter updates. These options are not quite as slick as using an up-to-date voting system, but they’re not bad, and definitely worth trying.

I’ve just returned from the RSC UK 2009 conference and one of the main things that I learnt was a bit more about one of the RSCs ‘relatives’ in terms of the JISC family of services, JISC Digital Media (formerly TASI). I haven’t blogged (although I’ve continued to microblog via Twitter, passing the 500 marker earlier this week) for a few weeks but the rediscovery of this service has inspired me today… so here goes with a quick reminder of the services JISC Digital Media can offer:

• Advice on still images, moving images and audio via documents, case studies, a helpdesk …
• Training on a wide range of digital media topics. Most training costs but there is a follow up service to check how the training has helped you … and JISC Digital Media are now offering FREE online surgeries on a range of topics, the first of which was yesterday covering audio podcasts. The surgeries are recorded and archived and can be viewed by scrolling down the online surgeries page. The archived ‘Recording Audio Podcasts’ is worth watching and will hopefully encourage you to login to the others that are coming up – camera skills, using screencasting, using Flickr …
• Blog posts about all things Digital Media, including new and very useful resources, such as Aviary Software’s new browser based audio editor/mixer/recorder called Myna. I’ve had a quick look at this and managed to create a basic audio recording, which I embedded into our Moodle, all in a matter of minutes (thanks also to @SHSSTELLS for bringing this one to my attention).
• Newsletter – a new service that can be accessed as a pdf and which this edition covers mobile learning, podcasting, using Flickr and pinhole photography.
• Video Assist – another new service whereby you can apply to JISC Digital Media for specific project support for projects which involve the creation of new moving image resources. 2 projects are already underway for the first term of the 2009-2010 academic year but support for 4 more projects is still up for grabs. Visit the Video Assist pages of the JISC Digital Media website for more information, application guidance and deadlines.

A great range of services and support – hopefully you will be inspired too!

Over the past year there have been a series of meetings and consultations to develop a guide to aid teachers in the Lifelong learning Sector in their use of technology. The aim was to update the existing Fento ‘ILT Standards’ (2003) whilst building in more functionality and an awareness of the educational scene in Wales. LLUK (Lifelong Learning UK) led the developments which were funded by the Welsh Assembly Government, and input was obtained from several key organisations in Wales including NGfL Cymru, NIACE DC, NTfW, JISC RSC Wales, Fforwm. The Steering Group for the guide’s development also comprised representatives from all the key Post-16 sectors including FE, ACL, WBL, HE.
Following the example of the previous Fento publication, the guide was developed in three parts:
• A section for Teachers, Tutors and Trainers: this follows the format of the ‘New overarching professional standards for teachers, tutors and trainers in the lifelong sector in Wales’
• A guide for Leaders and Managers: this follows the format of the National Occupational Standards (NOS) for Management and Leadership 2008
• A series of case-studies

The first two of these sections are now available bilingually both as hard copy and online on the LLUK web-site (yng Nghymraeg, and in English). The Managers’ Guide should be of great value in highlighting the importance of educational technology at an institutional level, and outlines the responsibilities of senior staff. The Teachers’ Guide should prove really useful both for ILT Managers and Teacher-Training Co-ordinators when preparing courses/cpd, but the Guide was also designed to be of direct use to teaching staff. Each part of the guide (eg. Planning, Assessment, Specialist teaching) contains specific advice and examples that should be helpful both to beginners and those who are already well-versed in technology. The online version of the guide also provides hyperlinks to an extensive glossary as well as to key external web-sites. In due course, the case studies will give concrete examples of the uses of technology in teaching and learning that should be useful for all sectors and levels.
Any feedback about the guide is welcomed, especially with respect to ways in which it can be used in the professional development of existing and trainee teaching staff. In due course, I hope to use this blog to disseminate further ideas about the ways in which the guide could be used.