Higher Education Academy WorkshopMiddlesex University

ENABLE e-Learning & Blended Leaning: Embedding Social Media in Academic Curricula: Exploring Technology, Enquiry, and Pedagogy

Dr. Peter Buzzi

A culture of Learning

“There are two human inventions that can be considered the most difficult: the art of governing and the art of upbringing.”

I. Kant

Culture and acculturation / Ethics and Professionalism

New behaviour New thinking New outcomes and artefacts (e.g. knowledge

artefacts)2

Defining Learning and Assessment Milestones

Congruence between the knowledge or technique being taught and the nature and style of the delivery (Ward, 1999)

Clear expectations and outcomes in terms of the qualities, thinking and behaviours

Clear path in achieving those outcomes

Decide on assessment point and assessment type and strategy

3

Strategies and Approaches

Making the implicit, explicit

Making learning visible (artefacts)

Engaging learners in experiential, action based learning

Milestones and Badges Emulation Simulation Gamification

4

Objectives

Objective are to develop:

Deep level Liquid learning

Meta-disciplinary collaboration and perspective

Meta-cognition: Critical and reflective thinking and learning how we learn

Meta-competence: Learning to learn and becoming “Learner Par Excellence”

5

Assessment & Learning

Assessment for Learning

Assessment of Learning (Barrett & Carney, 2004)

Assessment as Learning (Earl, 2003)

6

Some of the Benefits

Opportunities to model diverse practices

Develop reflective skills and habits

Media-rich and inclusive learning and assessment

Be creative, innovative and experiment

Learning conversations

Build personal learning networks and connect with others 7

Some Challenges & Barriers

Lack of familiarity with technology

Scepticism + lack of evidence & understanding of impact & outcomes

Different thinking and behavioural model (new ethics)

Continued and timely support requirement

Providing formative feedback on a regular basis is time consuming

Consider the impact of the above X group size

High-level of personalisation = Variety of Artefacts diversity & inconsistency of demand time consuming = resources intensive = additional (investment + operation + familiarisation) cost

Evolving tech = Shrinking reaction time + short decision life-span

8

Developing a Culture of Learning

& Continuous ImprovementWinning strategy is to develop a

culture of learning and continuous improvement

Knowledge and learning are “contagious”

Embodying learning:Tutor = “learner par

excellence” Investing in own learning and

developmentUsing social media to enhance own

and other’s professional and relational identities

9

Some Examples

Google Form

Poll everywhere

Socrative

Twitter

Voice thread

Linoit

Padlet

Twitter: class hashtag to follow the conversation 10