june 10-15, 2012 growing community; growing possibilities robert sherratt, patrick lynch library and...

June 10-15, 2012

Growing Community; Growing Possibilities

eCommonsRobert Sherratt, Patrick Lynch

Library and Learning Innovation University of Hull

2012 Jasig Sakai Conference 2

Thinking on this started last year Want to capture where we are Share with the community Listen to your feedback


UK and local context


Government reworking of funding has created a mess

Shift in cost to students◦ Fees generally increased from £3,500 to £9,000

Change in student expectation◦ More information to support choices

Shift in providers◦ Creation of pseudo-market conditions based on

price and qualifications◦ Entry of commercial providers – BPP, part of the

Apollo group, Pearson

UK HE – dramatic changes


Where is Hull?


Average sized UK institution – c. 20,000 students and 2,500 faculty and staff

56th overall in the Complete University Guide league table (out of 116)

Continuing positive feedback from students. Joint 8th of mainstream english Higher Education Institutions in the National Student Survey

What’s the University like?


Strategic context


Released late last year◦ pedagogical innovation, student engagement with

the research process, high quality developmental feedback, and the use of the resource rich environment for learning technology and communication

◦ encourage students to personalise their learning◦ ensure extensive digital collections are fully

integrated into the wider electronic learning environment’

University Strategic plan 2011-15


Project sponsored by the institutional lead for learning and teaching – Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Learning & Teaching (PVC L&T)

Described in the Learning, Teaching and Student Experience strategy:◦ ‘distinctive digital platform' to support learning,

teaching and student communications◦ supporting 'independent and group learning,

traditional and innovative pedagogical approaches, and effective communication to and among our students'

eCommons


Internal dialogue


Errrr, mmmm, well It’s a state of mind

Sounds great, what is it?


It is about joining things up. It is not a specific thing, such as a system(s), but the joining of existing and new systems into a coherent whole.

Isn’t that just a portal? A portal might be part of it, remember it is

not a specific thing. Also, we have had one of those for a long time now (since 2003)

What is it really?


Placing the student at the heart of the University – offering value to students

They have to work in a disaggregated environment – reflects the organisation and culture of the institution – Conway’s law

Want to provide a seamless, integrated, personalised experience for all students

So why are you doing it?


Addressing a need raised by student representative body – too many places to go online to do what they need to do

Seek to maximise investment in existing systems rather then having to build/buy new systems all the time

Generate efficiencies through the better connections between systems – remove duplication and unnecessary human intervention in processes – making the most of what we have

Why would you do that #2


The project


Create a formal project for approval by institution through Working Group

Take a snapshot of the current situation Build a picture of people’s, and by extension

the institution’s, desires and priorities Consider different ways to document the

outcomes – stories and other representations

Project phase 1


We have spoken to lots of people including:◦ Key faculty with responsibility for learning and

teaching◦ Directors of service areas ◦ Students via their representative bodies

We spoke to them about:◦ any current issues they had using our LMS (Sakai)◦ what they would like to be able to do in the short

term◦ projecting forward to an ideal world what they

would like to do

We started by talking to people


Acknowledged that this is a rolling programme of work: set direction of travel, and learn as we make progress

Not about building/buying and deploying a specific thing

Also looking for quick wins Deliver recommendations on what we do

next to senior management in early July

More on the process


Consultation results


Categorised and analysed by frequency 6 categories:

◦ Communication◦ Course Administration/Management◦ Learning and Teaching◦ Student Support◦ Supporting Academic Staff◦ Generic characteristics

Consultation data analysis


Specify how messages are received Make it easy to keep in touch with

students Throughout the student lifecycle – initial

interest to alumni Digital signage iTunes U

Communication


Online teaching timetable Notifications/reminders Electronic submission Electronic marking of feedback Online access to storage from anywhere Online course application Online assessment Office hours Locate a room Policy documents

Course Administration/Management


Finding what you need Progression analytics Reading lists Lecture capture and broadcast Developing tools resources and templates Building Distance Learning capability Open Educational Resource usage Research informed environment Single search across resources Ease of access across resource systems

Learning and Teaching


Transition/retention analytics Single gateway page Personal space (ePortfolio?) Handbook management Create personal and group spaces Digital Literacy Connecting services and academic

departments Adapting to student needs and not vice versa Customer Relationship Management FAQs

Student Support


Spaces for staff including profile Developing skills and digital literacy Information to support decision-making Freeing staff time

Supporting academic staff


Spaces for mobile Seamless/single sign on/management of

identity Integrated Personalised

Generic characteristics


We now have a map of institutional requirements

Need to understand:◦ The cartography◦ What further conversations are needed◦ Best ways to connect existing

systems/functionality◦ What new functionality we might need

Also, our current systems already have a lot of this functionality. What are the barriers that prevent this being used?

Results


Single gateway page for students Issue mentioned in consultation and in our

student’s annual submission A single page of links orientated around

what student’s need to do – going live for this September

A starting point and piece of learning to help the institution meet the needs of the students

Something tangible


eCommons is about continuing to improve what we do

Understanding how we can offer genuine value to our students

Does this also represent a change in role for the LMS? A disaggregation of functionality?

Reflection


The consultancy analysis provides a set of priorities

We need to align these with reality:◦ What is going on at Hull◦ What can we do to turn these priorities into value

for students, faculty and staff◦ Who needs to speak to who – joining up people as

well as systems◦ Submit recommendations to institutional senior

management

What next?


Exciting, already a success. Started conversations where they didn’t always happen

First baby steps of a long term programme to improve the student experience at Hull, and deliver on expectation for a distinctive digital platform for learning and teaching and communications

Summary


Robert Sherratt◦ [email protected]

Patrick Lynch◦ [email protected]

Thank you

mailto:[email protected]



june 10-15, 2012 growing community; growing possibilities robert sherratt, patrick lynch library and...

Documents

jasig sakai conference12what

group learning

learning technology

student engagement

existing systems

new systems

student experience strategy

student representative