Online Staff Developmentfor Disability Officers

Phil GravestockUniversity of Gloucestershire

NADO Conference 2005

By the end of the session, you will:

• Have considered whether an online staff development course is appropriate for you, or for your colleagues

• Discussed the use of case study scenarios for staff development

• Considered the use of action learning sets for continuing professional development

• Discussed ways in which the course can better address the needs of Disability Officers

Context

• Based on an online staff development course ‘DisabilityCPD’

• HEFCE-funded project (Strand 2 ‘Improving Provision for Disabled Students’)

• Intended as a disability-awareness course

• Project has produced an online course and an associated ‘stand-alone’ guide

• Pilot project from February – May 2004

• Second presentation from February – May 2005

Online Staff Development

Advantages

• Flexible, i.e. can be done at a time convenient to staff (‘the course goes to the participant, rather than the participant going to the course’)

• Can take place over a longer period of time than a face-to-face workshop

• developments can be practised during the course

• can identify areas where change has occurred

• Accessible course materials

Online Staff Development

Disadvantages

• Can ‘consume’ time

• Difficult to timetable into everyday activities (does not always take priority)

• Often find high drop-out rates on online courses

• Can be impersonal – participants can feel isolated

• Difficult to get to know other participants

• Can be difficult to read information online

• Participants’ IT skills may vary

DisabilityCPD: Structure

• 10 week course based on Gilly Salmon’s model:

• Access; socialisation; information exchange; knowledge construction; development

• Weeks 1-2: socialisation through online activities – mainly using the asynchronous discussion area

• Front-loading of online discussion time

• Weeks 3-9: action learning set projects and case study scenarios

What Happened?

Pilot Course (Feb – May 2004)

• Too many messages for each participant to read

• Difficult to get to know other participants

• Confusion between the case study scenarios and action learning set projects

• Action learning set process not clear

• Activity died down whilst learning set projects were being completed

What Changed?

Second Course (Feb – May 2005)

• Set up ‘support groups’ to start, consisting of 3 participants

• Combined support groups to form action learning sets

• Case study scenario activity brought forward to avoid confusion with the action learning set projects

• Continued the case study scenario activity during the later stages of the courses

Action Learning Sets

• Action learning sets are groups of people who come together to address real issues or problems, often referred to as tasks or projects. The set comprises three main roles: presenter, facilitator and set member.

• The project should be something that the presenter wants to work on and should not be a trivial problem or issue, or one where there is one ‘correct’ answer. A good project is one where a problem or issue has been identified, but that the stages needed to reach a sensible conclusion are not clear to the presenter.

Action Learning Sets

‘When I join a set other people help me to understand my situation. It remains for me to decide how to act or to decide not to act as a result of this work in the set. With action learning I can be more powerful by bringing to conscious awareness feelings and reflections on my past and current situation which can usefully inform my next action. The members of my set will help me to do this by supporting my reflections and challenging my assumptions. The action that I decide as a result of this will be clearer, better informed and more likely to be undertaken.’

(McGill & Beaty, 2001)

Online Action Learning Set Projects

Rationale

• Motivation for participation

• the action learning set project will be an issue that the member of staff wanted to address

• the course will therefore be relevant to each member of staff’s individual situation

• the learning will be based on staff experience

• The development that had taken place will be ‘captured’ through discussions and final reports

Online Action Learning Set Projects

Structure

• The online action learning set projects take place over a 7 week period

• Each project aims to work through the action learning cycle (i.e. plan action observe reflect)

• All action learning set discussions take place online (in private discussion areas)

Online Action Learning Set Projects

• It is not a requirement of the course that everyone has to complete a learning set project (e.g. no contact with disabled students, sabbatical, maternity leave)

• Some participants are approached with suggestions for projects, based on previous discussion messages or areas of interest

Online Action Learning Set Projects• Accessible Virtual Learning Environment Design

for Students with Dyslexia

• Supporting Students with Visual Impairments in Libraries

• Supporting Dyslexia in Research for Independent Study and Dissertation

• Personal Emergency Evacuation Plans (PEEPs)

• Encouraging Disclosure

• Staff Disability Awareness Questionnaire

• Workshop for Disabled Staff

Case Study Scenarios

• Each participant asked to come up with a scenario, based on their context

• Small groups (3 participants) had to choose one of these scenarios to ‘challenge’ the remaining participants

• 2 or 3 scenarios presented each week (weeks 5-9) on a ‘random release’ basis

Scenarios – pros and cons

Pros

• Aid reflection

• Are relevant to the participants

• May provide answers to real-life situations

• Suggestions from participants with a range of experience and knowledge

Scenarios – pros and cons

Cons

• Scenarios may not be challenging

• Some scenarios too specific

• Not all participants felt that they could contribute

• Combining suggestions may result in complex, unrealistic scenarios

DisabilityCPD: Participants’ Issues• Knowledge of the Disability Discrimination Act

• Strategies for adapting practice

• Practical pointers, e.g. mobility-impaired students in a laboratory

• Persuading colleagues that consideration of disabled students is an important issue

• Developing trust and an atmosphere which encourages disclosure

• The responsibilities of the providers (staff) and recipients (students)

• Boundaries of ‘reasonableness’

DisabilityCPD: Participants’ Issues• Terminology

• Models of disability

• Dyslexia (do people, including students, feel that this is a disability)

• Do people really see disabled people?

• School-based disability coordinators

• ‘I refuse to hand it to students on a plate’ (Furedi, THES, March 2005)

DisabilityCPD: Evaluation

• Participant evaluations:

• 3 self-evaluations (start, middle and end of course)

• Reflection messages during course

• Final ‘end-of-course’ evaluation

• The moderators also post reflection messages during the course

• All reflection messages are ‘public’

DisabilityCPD: Effectiveness

• ‘My confidence [working with disabled students] has improved dramatically during this course. Definitely a result for me!’

• ‘Ever such a lot has come out of this course for me. I am now putting in a bid for funding to develop more multimedia resources to support our written learning materials, and issues of access for disabled students will be right up there at the front!’

• ‘Here’s my second [self-] evaluation, hopefully more humble. Have learned a lot from this course, so thank you’

DisabilityCPD: Effectiveness

• ‘The online discussion has been a revelation’

• ‘I like the structure of the course and it is proving me wrong, as I stated not long ago that I did not believe in full-distance courses. I thought that only ‘blended’ would work.’

• ‘And then there has been the mutual online support and information system that the course has also provided. I didn’t expect this as I thought that I was just signing up for a learning experience! … I also didn’t expect the online bit to be so addictive!’

What Next?

• Next presentation of the course: October 2005

• The course will be repeated in 2006

• Seeking funding for further courses

• Alumni area to be established

Further Information

Phil Gravestock

Email: pgravestock@glos.ac.uk

Tel: 01242 543482

Michele Hills

Email: mhills@glos.ac.uk

Tel: 01242 531014