Can one chameleon make a difference?

personal perspectives, opportunities and dilemmas of an academic developer

Chrissi Nerantzi, Academic Developer @chrissinerantzi

27 May 2013 Centre for Medical Education, Karolinska Institutet, Sweden

my brief

• Overview of educational- and academic development (accreditation, programs etc.) and the new eLearning landscape in the UK context

• Your way of working as academic developer at Salford and your experiences

• Experiences from FDOL131 • Discuss perspectives on the

changing learning landscape and the role of academic developers and the challenges we are facing and the opportunities we have in flexible, distance, open and online learning.

what we are going to do

• Getting to know each other

• the UK HE landscape through my eyes + what about Sweden?

• Academic Development in the UK, my perspective + and in Sweden?

• My way + your way – our way ;)

• Open, is this a new thing?

The UK landscape through my eyes

UK HE

White Paper Students at the Heart of the System

“Our university sector has a proud history and a world-class reputation, attracting students from across the world. Higher education is a successful public-private partnership: Government funding and institutional autonomy. This White Paper builds on that record, while doing more than ever to put students in the driving seat.

We want to see more investment, greater diversity and less centralised control. But, in return, we want the sector to become

more accountable to students, as well as to the taxpayer.

Our student finance reforms will deliver savings to help address the large Budget deficit we were left, without cutting the quality of higher education or student numbers and bringing more cash into universities. They balance the financial demands of universities with the interests of current students and future graduates. Students from lower-income households will receive more support than

now and, although many graduates will pay back for longer, their monthly outgoings will be less and the graduate repayment system will be more progressive. No first-time undergraduate student will have to pay upfront fees. We are also extending tuition loans to part-time students, increasing maintenance support and introducing a new National Scholarship Programme.

But our reforms are not just financial. We want there to be a renewed focus on high-quality teaching in universities so that it has the

same prestige as research. So we will empower prospective students by ensuring much better information on different courses. We will deliver a new focus on student charters, student feedback and graduate outcomes. We will oversee a new regulatory framework with Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) taking on a major new role as a consumer champion. We will tackle the micro-management that has been imposed on the higher education sector in recent years and which has held institutions back from responding to student demand. We must move away from a world in which the number of students allocated to each university is determined in Whitehall. But universities will be under competitive pressure to provide better quality and lower cost.

Responding to student demand also means enabling a greater diversity of provision. We expect this to mean more higher education in further education colleges, more variety in modes of learning and wholly new providers delivering innovative forms of higher education. The Coalition will reform the financing of higher education, promote a better student experience and foster social mobility. Our overall goal is a sector that is freed to respond in new ways to the needs of students.”

David Willetts, source http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/+/http://discuss.bis.gov.uk/hereform/introduction/

stu

den

t(s)

Quality: What does really matter?

class size: 1 tutor 20 students tutor load: 1 class

tutor full-time

tutor has teaching qualification

students: time on task

‘close contact’ student tutor interactions and relationship for educational gains

focus on formative assessment

quick feedback

for learning intellectual challenge

positive

research environment

tutors as

reflective practitioners

active learning

collaborative and social learning

clear and high

expectations

peer assessment

learning hours matter

programme teams to work together social

relationships programme team

students as partners

students using feedback

Prof. Graham Gibbs

today: evidence-based practice

Gibbs, G (2012) Implications of ‘Dimensions of quality’ in a market environment, York: The Higher Education Academy

Gibbs, G (2010) Dimensions of quality, York: The Higher Education Academy, pp. 19-37

Prof. Graham Gibbs

http://www.qaa.ac.uk

http://www.enhancementthemes.ac.uk/

student voice

NSS focus on satisfaction instead of engagement

rewarding good teaching practice

http://www.heacademy.ac.uk

The UK PSF recognition - accreditation

The Dimensions of the UK Professional Standards Framework

15

Areas of Activity (WHAT)

• Design and plan

• Teach/support

• Assess/give feedback

• Develop effective learning environments and approaches to student support/guidance

• Engage in CPD incorporating research, scholarship and evaluation of professional practices

Core Knowledge (HOW)

• Subject

• Appropriate methods of teaching and learning

• How students learn

• Use and value appropriate learning technologies

• Methods for evaluating effectiveness of teaching

• Quality assurance and quality enhancement

Professional Values (WHY)

• Respect individual learners and learning communities

• Promote participation and equality of opportunities

• Use evidence-informed approaches and the outcomes from research, scholarship and CPD

• Acknowledge the wider context in which HE operates recognising implications for professional practice

The Descriptors of the UK Professional Standards Framework

16

D1

Associate Fellow

•early career researchers with some teaching

•staff new to teaching including part-time staff

•staff supporting academic provision (learning technologists, library staff

•demonstrators, technicians with some teaching responsibilities

•experienced staff new to teaching or with limited teaching portfolio

D2

Fellow

•Early career academics in full teaching role

•Academic related, support staff with substantive teaching responsibilities

•Staff with teaching-only responsibilities, including within work-based settings

D3

Senior Fellow

•Experienced staff who demonstrate impact and influence through leading, managing organising programmes, subjects/disciplinary areas

•Experienced subject mentors and staff supporting those new to teaching

•Experienced staff with departmental and/or wider teaching and learning support advisory responsibilities

D4

Principal Fellow

•Highly experiences/senior staff with wide-ranging academic/academic-related strategic leadership responsibilities linked to teaching and supporting learning

•Staff responsible for institutional strategic leadership and policy-making in teaching and learning

•Staff who have strategic impact and influence in relation to teaching and learning that extends beyond their own institution

The landscape in Sweden through your eyes

Academic Development in the UK, my perspective

At the heart of academic development are people, networks and communities. (Neame (2011)

Academic Development • Academic Developers

– Academics – Academic related

• internal offer: – Academic Development Units

• HEA accredited institutional (cross-) disciplinary PgCerts, CPD Frameworks, non-accredited open workshops, consultancy, support, research activities

– Academic Developers within Faculties/Departments – L & T/TEL champions/fellows

• external offer (HEA, SEDA, ALT, JISC etc.) • networks (social media) • conferences • projects and research • open educational practices, open educational resources

• working with learning technologists, IT, academics, professional services, managers, leaders • influence and implement strategy and policy within an institution • introduce and spread innovative practices

Changing nature of Academic Development

• emergence from a focus on the classroom to a focus on the learning environment

• changing emphasis from individual teachers to a focus on course teams and departments, and also leadership in teaching

• a parallel change from a focus on teaching to a focus on learning • a developing emphasis from change tactics to change strategies • a changing focus from quality assurance to quality enhancement • a changing focus from ‘fine tuning’ of current practice to

transforming practice in new directions

Gibbs, 2013, 5-9

Prof. Graham Gibbs

SEDA: Developing the Developer http://www.seda.ac.uk/

SEDA Values

1. An understanding how people learn

2. Scholarship, professionalism and ethical practice

3. Working in, and developing learning communities

4. Working effectively with diversity and promoting inclusivity

5. Continuing reflection on professional practice

6. Developing people and processes

source: http://www.seda.ac.uk/professional-development.html?p=2_1_1

http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/cll

http://www.jisc.ac.uk/

http://jiscdesignstudio.pbworks.com

http://www.jorum.ac.uk/

http://www.alt.ac.uk/http://www.alt.ac.uk/

http://www.nmc.org/publications/2013-horizon-report-higher-ed

social media

• Professional communities and networks – LinkedIn – Twitter – Instagram – YouTube – Facebook

Academic Development in Sweden,

your perspective

My way ;)

So, what do I do?

PGCAP T & L projects support Support academics and programme teams, VC DTA Winners PGR Students teaching programme Observations of teaching T&L Resources Teaching Essentials programme HEA Fellowship support Research ...

38

Postgraduate Certificate in Academic Practice (PGCAP)

“At present there are very few barriers to teaching in higher education. It is almost the only profession in which someone can work without any qualification or licence to practice. Students go to university to learn, and good teaching is integral to effective learning. But there is as yet no requirement that academics who teach students in Higher Education should hold a teaching qualification or be qualified to teach”.

(Craig Mahoney, 2011, HEA Speech)

•l onger programmes more effective •learning towards credits seems to increase motivation •changes to teacher attitudes and conceptions •positive association between participating in teacher development programmes and develop learner-centred teaching methods •impact may more readily achieved for established teachers •substantial potential for transfer to practice among ‘novice’ or aspiring teachers where a critical mass of pedagogic knowledge is achieved •participants become more comfortable with TEL •richer exchange in cross-disciplinary programmes •research gap of such programmes: real impact on the student experience

The PGCAP

• an exciting opportunity to learn and develop with colleagues from different disciplines and professional areas

• to be open, creative, and experiment in a safe environment and within a learning community

• to discuss, debate and challenge anything linked to teaching and learning, practice and theory

• to engage in conversations about teaching and learning at the University of Salford

• gain a recognised Teaching Qualification in HE

• a programme accredited by the HEA and NMC

reflection active experimentation

linking theory and practice

modelling variety of creative learning and teaching approaches research-informed

teaching innovate

PGCAP

student

peers

module tutor

personal tutor

feedback buddy

action learning

set

mentor

personal learning network

PGCAP structure and modules from September 2013 (to be approved)

Learning and Teaching in HE (LTHE)

Assessment and Feedback for Learning

(AFL)

Flexible, Distance and

Online Learning (FDOL)

Academic Leadership for Learning Gains

(ALLG)

all modules: 30 credits at Level 7 (MA)

What is teamwork?

visualising theories together

learning students’ names

social media portfolios

reflecting: preparation for professional discussion

http://stripgenerator.com/

learning journeys

students capturing their learning journeys

learning through games

active experimentation

students creating

resources

students sharing

experiences

capturing collaborative

activities

sharing reflections

having fun learning together

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Researching together publications Nerantzi, C (work-in-progress) A “quick ‘n’ dirty” OER video series or food for thought for teachers studying towards the Postgraduate Certificate in Academic Practice Nerantzi, C and Despard, C (submitted) Lego models to aid reflection. Enhancing the summative assessment experience in the context of Professional Discussions within accredited

Academic Development provision, Innovations in Education and Teaching International Nerantzi, C (submitted) Using web-conferencing technologies to enable wider learning conversations for professional development, Education and Culture DG, Lifelong Learning

Programme, Education, Audiovisual and Executive Agency (University of Salford is a partner) Nerantzi, C, Lace-Costigan, G, Jackson, R, Currie, N, Despard, C and Peters, L (2013) Tweet-tweet who is there? Using Twitter in teacher education, Madhouse of Ideas, available at

http://madhouseofideas.org/?page_id=502 Nerantzi, C (2013) OER video series Food for thought: CPD on-the-go and for teachers in Higher Education, OER13 Conference Proceedings, Nottingham 26 and 27 March 2013 Nerantzi, C (2013) An open peer observation experiment within the Postgraduate Certificate in Academic Practice (PGCAP) at the University of Salford, Issue 14.1, March 2013,

Educational Developments Magazine, SEDA, pp. 15-19. Nerantzi, C and Currant, N (2011) Using e-portfolios for learning and assessment within the Postgraduate Certificate in Academic Practice (PGCAP) at the University of Salford, Centre for

Recording Achievement, available at www.recordingachievement.org Nerantzi, C (2011) To act, or not to act, upon feedback? A case study in Academic Development, Students’ experience and student feedback, HEA Education Subject Centre, available

at http://escalate.ac.uk/studentfeedback Nerantzi, C, Currant, N, Avramenko, A & Harvey, V (2011) Feedback conversations in a blended classroom, TEAN STOREHOUSE,

athttp://www.cumbria.ac.uk/AboutUs/Subjects/Education/Research/TEAN/TeacherEd Nerantzi, C (2011) ‘I didn’t know this was possible’ – exploring technology-enhanced learning and teaching approaches within Academic Development, Working with Diverse Groups of

Learners in the Digital Age, HEA Education Subject Centre ESCalate Publication, available at http://escalate.ac.uk/8538 book chapters Nerantzi, C and Hannaford, L (accepted) Action learning sets flipping the classroom, advantages and challenges. An example from Academic Development Smith, C and Nerantzi, C (in print) ePortfolios: Assessment as learning using social media, Waxmann publishers, series ”Gesellschaft for Medien in der Wissenschaft” (Association for

Media in Science, www.gmw-online.de) (more details will follow) Nerantzi, C (2013) Using Voicethread to enable media-rich online collaborative learning, in: Middleton, A ed. Digital Voices, Sheffield: MELSIG. Nerantzi, C (2013) “Sell your bargains” Playing a mixed-reality game with academics to spice-up teaching in HE, Cases on Digital Game-Based Learning: Methods, Models and Strategies,

Information Science Reference, Hershey: IGI Global, pp. 131-144. presentations, workshops 6 June 2013, Creative learning through creative teaching, invited webinar for the University College Suffolk 17 Apr 2013, Would Plato love Lego? or making models to aid reflection within Academic Development, invited inspirED presentation at the Univesity of Dundee, Scotland 26-27 Mar 2013, “OER video series Food for thought: CPD on-the-go and for teachers in Higher Education, OER13 Conference, Nottingham 15-16 Nov 2012, ”Let’s play! – the value of game-based learning in Academic Development” Workshop with Craig Despard, 17th Annual SEDA Conference, Excellence in Teaching:

recognising, enhancing, evaluating and achieving impact, Aston Business School. Birmingham 29 Aug 2012, “Social media eportfolio for learning and assessment”, with Dr. Chris Smith and Craig Despard, eAssessment Conference Scotland, Feeding back, Forming the future (online

contribution), http://www.e-assessment-scotland.org/?page_id=1030#pgcap 19-22 June 2012, “Engaging learners through time-bound online role-play activities: using Elluminate to promote learner engagement” workshop with Dr. Chris Smith, STLHE 2012

Conference, Montreal, Canada 19 Apr 2012 “Social media portfolios for learning and assessment”, invited presentation with PGCAP students, Sheffield Hallam University 3 Feb 2012 “Playing games in Higher Education”, discussing a mixed-reality game developed for the PGCAP, Thunderstorm session during the MEL SIG event, University of Salford with

Kirsty Pope and Neil Currie 11 Dec 2011 “Play ‘n’ learn, spicing up teaching in Higher Education using a mixed-reality game, invited” webinar delivered with academics studying towards the PGCAP at the University

of Salford, Creativity and Multicultural Communication (Massive Online Open Cource), organizer: Empire State College, State University of New York, site:http://www.cdlprojects.com/cmc11blog/contents/week-13-untitled/

17-18 November 2011 “e-portfolios for learning”, 16th Annual SEDA Conference 2011, Using Technology to Enhance Learning, joined presentation with Currant N. 6-8 July 2011 “Feedback conversations in a blended classroom” with Currant, N., Avramenko, A. and Harvey V., Education in a Changing Environment, 6th International Conference,

Creativity and Engagement in Higher Education, Salford. 25 Jan 2011 “Formative Feedback in the blended classroom – how an e-portfolio can create a student-tutor dialogue to improve learning” joined presentation with Neil Currant, Dr. Alex

Avramenko and Vicki Harvey during the Good Practice Event: Students’ Journey with Technology Enhanced Learning, ADU, University of Salford

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seed-> tree>apples>apple trees

where we should measure impact core sep11:

32 participants/3448 students 108 students/per participant plus impact on colleagues!!!

PGCAP success stories Paul Tracey Best Teacher 2012, Student Led Teaching Award of the Salford Student Union, University of Salford shortlisted for the Times Higher Education Awards in the category of Most Innovative Teacher of the Year 2012

Sarah Bodell and Denis McGrath VCs Distinguished Teaching Award in 2012

Neil Donohue VCs Distinguishes Teaching Group Award in 2012

Sam Ingleson Funded research project linked to game-based learning

Udayangani Kulatunga Funded research project with Sri Lanka

Neil Currie

Won as members of the Civil Engineers and its Structures team, Laurence Weekes, Neil Currie, Phillip Leach, Jinyan Wang & Jonathan Haynes, the The IStructE 2012 Award for Excellence in Structural Engineering Education 2012

“I would like to say thank you to the whole team as I enjoyed the programme immensely and think you all do a wonderful job with the programme and also helping us through the process of being students again, which was a bit daunting at first. Once again many thanks.”

“The biggest thing I gained from the PGCAP was the opportunity to reflect on my teaching practice. The lectures and assignments gave me space to stop and think about my session design and delivery and how it could be enhanced. Most importantly, through finding out about the range of teaching and learning styles it allowed me to put the learner at the centre of the learning experience and also reflect on my own particular learning style. The PGCAP is a great way to meet other people who teach and support learning and I gained a lot from the exchange of ideas and networking in classes and online.”

“My time as a student on the PGCAP has enabled me to really think about what is means to be a “Good Teacher” and in particular to always put the student at the heart of my teaching. This sounds obvious; however on reflection it is not so obvious and sometimes I really need to think about what the students are experiencing, thinking and assimilating during my teaching session. If my teaching session is not going to plan or did not go to plan I think- what would my colleagues on the PGCAP team do differently? And then change it accordingly.”

“We are following your lead and embedding eportfolios into our undergraduate programme. I thought it was a fantastic way to be assessed. Thanks.”

Your way ;)

Open. Is this a new thing?

learning through time

from experience, informal learning: family & community

Socrates, Plato’s Academy > formal learning = education – closing down

Knowledge for a few, books > typography > more accessible, opening up

Digital revolution > informal learning wide open, formal learning > opening up

Education Everyday

Analog Digital

Tethered Mobile

Isolated Connected

Generic Personal

Consumers Creators

Closed Open

Differences between Higher Education and the Supersystem in which it is Embedded (Wiley and Hilton, 2006, 3)

“Openness is a fundamental value underlying significant changes in

society and is a prerequisite to changes institutions of higher education

need to make in order to remain relevant to the society in which they

exist. There are a number of ways institutions can be more open,

including programs of open sharing of educational materials. Individual

faculty can also choose to be more open without waiting for institutional

programs. Increasing degrees of openness in society coupled with

innovations in business strategy like dynamic specialization are enabling

radical experiments in higher education and exerting increasing

competitive pressure on conventional higher education institutions. No

single response to the changes in the supersystem of higher education

can successfully address every institution’s situation. However, every

institution must begin addressing openness as a core organizational

value if it desires to both remain relevant to its learners and to contribute

to the positive advancement of the field of higher “ (Wiley and Hilton,

2009, 1)

OER OEP OER

integrated in OEP

social media

• 2010-2011 • open course linked to PgCert provision • using PBL task: assessment and feedback

Dr Keith Smyth MSc BOE Programme Leader Edinburgh Napier

PBL Conference

2011

Lars Uhlin Educational Developer

Karolinska Institutet, Sweden

#FDOL131 organisers and facilitators

Chrissi Nerantzi Academic Developer University of Salford, UK FDOL organiser PBL facilitator

Lars Uhlin Educational Developer Karolinska Institutet, Sweden FDOL organiser PBL facilitator

Maria Kvarnström Educational Developer Karolinska Institutet, Sweden PBL facilitator

https://fdol.wordpress.com/

today: opening up

#FDOL131 PBL group 1, unit 3:

opening-up

https://learningandteachinghe.wordpress.com/

http://www.text2mindmap.com/ Live mindmap at http://www.text2mindmap.com/m3LTyK

https://www.edx.org/

challenges opportunities

habits

time

digital literacies

pedagogies

resources

institutional technologies

own devices, social media

fees

competition

open (teaching, learning and research)

diverse student body (international, part-time, work-based, mature)

students as consumers?

rapid knowledge advancements

Opening up education. What are your thoughts?

SEDA values: flashcards

SEDA Values

1. An understanding how people learn

2. Scholarship, professionalism and ethical practice

3. Working in, and developing learning communities

4. Working effectively with diversity and promoting inclusivity

5. Continuing reflection on professional practice

6. Developing people and processes

source: http://www.seda.ac.uk/professional-development.html?p=2_1_1

References

Gibbs, G (2010) Dimensions of quality, York: The Higher Education Academy Gibbs, G (2012) Implications of ‘Dimensions of quality’ in a market environment, York: The Higher Education Academy Gibbs, G (2013) Reflections on the changing nature of educational development, International Journal for Academic Development, 2013, Vol. 18, No. 1, 4-14. Neame, C. (2011) Exploring Models of Development of Professional Practice in Learning and Teaching in Higher Education: What Can We Learn from Biology and Marketing? Educate~ Vol. 11, No. 1, 2011, pp. 9-19. Wiley, D. and Hilton, J. (2009) Openness, Dynamic Specialization, and the Disaggregated Future of Higher Education, in: International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning, Volume 10, Number 5, 2009, pp. 1-16., available at http://www.irrodl.org/index.php/irrodl/article/view/768 [accessed 25 February 2013]

Can one chameleon make a difference?

personal perspectives, opportunities and dilemmas of an academic developer Chrissi Nerantzi, @chrissinerantzi

27 May 2013 Centre for Medical Education, Karolinska Institutet, Sweden