Depending on where you work you might use the title Learning Technologist, Education Technologist, Instructional Designer, or something else, but essentially these roles are the same.

• See the ‘related posts’ section below for links to the previous 4 posts in this series.

Here are a few excerpts from job descriptions for these roles that I found with a quick Google search, see for yourself:

• “Provides pedagogic advice, guidance, encouragement and support on the use of technology to staff involved in teaching. Such processes involves mutual learning, and frequently contrast with the clear division of labour that characterises Instructional Design.”
  Source: JISC – Recommendations for an accreditation scheme for learning technologists v. 4.6 (Consultation document 19/03/04)
• “Promoting and the appropriate pedagogical use of e-learning through resources,
  communication and assessment tools.”
  Source: Bournemouth University – Job Description & Person Specification (PDF 55.70kb)
• “Develop and institute logistical, instructional, and pedagogical policies for the creation and delivery of online courses.”
  Source: UTD – Job Description

While reading this post last night - Learning Technology Trends To Watch In 2012 – I found the section on “Expanded Instructional Designer’s Role” quite interesting, not least as the expanded role sounded an awful lot like the work I am already engaged in?

“Captured in Clive Shepherd’s book, The New Learning Architect, the idea that an instructional designer has one only one function – course creation – seems outdated. Although many will continue to develop courses, instructional designers will need to think in broad terms about how to close learning gaps. This means understanding the strategies that underlie diverse possibilities for learning, both formal and informal, traditional and nontraditional, online and print and face-to-face and virtual.”

Many of the people I converse with on Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+, Facebook, at work, at conferences, etc, are also of this opinion: that it is more than just the final result that the LT (Learning Technologist) is interested in, that the LT can be a vital part of the whole process in getting the learning materials researched, set up, assessed, etc. Convincing others of this is not always easy.

“For example, instructional designers are managing communities of practice, curating content, facilitating online discussion groups, organizing events and supporting of social media for learning. Instructional designers are often the proponents of innovation and the persuaders who convince upper management that interaction and collaboration will make for a smarter organization. As more instructional designers and educators see themselves as learning architects, the world will become a smarter place.”

Wow, this is me, am I now a Learning Architect?

Do you have a view or comment on this, or any other aspect of the role or industry you work in? If so then please leave a comment and open the discussion.

Related posts:

1. What is a Learning Technologist (part 2)?
2. What is a Learning Technologist? (part 3)
3. Learning Tools: what do you use?

Today I confirmed the abstract of my presentation to the eAssessment Scotland Conference, hosted by the  University of Dundee, on August 25/26, 2011 – www.e-assessment-scotland.org.

Here is what I will be delivering to the distinguished delegates:

Title: “24-hour Papers: the Open-Book Alternative to Exams for Online Assessment”

Abstract: “Common unit specifications covering delivery of subject-identical units across different courses, often with different delivery methods, are increasingly being implemented. The inclusion of a ‘coursework’ element of assessment allows for flexibility. This is different when an ‘exam’ is required; with students on a fully-online course, unable to attend an exam centre, due to differences in time zones and/or locations, the concept of an open-book exam is used. The exam paper is released to students through our VLE (Blackboard) at a time that is agreed and broadcast to students in advance. Submission of their work is required within a 24-hour window via an upload of their files to the VLE (using either the standard submission tool or Turnitin).”

“This presentation will draw upon the Bournemouth University’s substantial experience of presenting ‘Time-Constrained Papers’ to students studying at a distance and will consider the issues surrounding this approach. Particular consideration will be given to the importance of question design to limit scope for academic dishonesty and the University’s plans to modify this approach in the forthcoming academic year.”

I will be following Dr. Sharon Flynn on Friday morning (Parallel session A), where I will also talk about the use of Turnitin with distant learners within the scope of Time-Constrained Papers. I hope you can join us there.

Related posts:

1. Reading: "Developing a better understanding of technology-based pedagogy"
2. Reading: "Learning from the Learners' Experience"
3. Distance Learning / Distance Education

Many thanks to Brian Knotts (@briankotts) for linking to this Infographic on “how teachers think technology works best in the classroom”.

“Todays students are technologically savvy and spend hours a day online. Why are we still trying to teach them with textbooks when we have a wealth of digital options? These are teachers’ responses after being asked to gauge the effectiveness of various forms of education materials.”

Click to view full version

Related posts:

1. eLearners Lose Focus
2. Infographic: Online Education & Learning
3. Reading: "College technology 'catching up' with students"

What are the benefits of collaborative learning, for the students? Well, here are my selection from the 40 or so listed on the Global Development Research Centre’s website which I had not considered before;

1. Develops higher level thinking skills

4. Builds self esteem in students

9. Promotes positive race relations

14. Involves students in developing curriculum and class procedures

22. Encourages alternate student assessment techniques

25. Students are taught how to criticize ideas, not people

34. Classroom anxiety is significantly reduced

These are good, but not aspects of collaboration I had considered. The more ‘normal’ (for want of a better word) are, for me;

5. Enhances student satisfaction with the learning experience

6. Promotes a positive attitude toward the subject matter

7. Develops oral communication skills

10. Creates an environment of active, involved, exploratory learning

15. Students explore alternate problem solutions in a safe environment

20. Students develop responsibility for each other

29. Greater ability of students to view situations from others’ perspectives (development of empathy

33. Promotes innovation in teaching and classroom techniques

36. Classroom resembles real life social and employment situations

What would you add to this list (or the original list; link above)?

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I have been writing this blog for almost 18 months now, and thought it time to reflect on whether I have stayed true to what I wanted to do here, and to see if ‘the art of blogging’ exists?

I started with a view to organising my thoughts and random reading materials in a vain effort to collate and share with anyone who was interested in the same things as me; eLearning, mLearning, eAssessment, Social Media and Networks, twitter, Web 2.0, etc … all these and more in the world of higher education. Where I have ended up is with a monthly readership of +7000 unique visitors and +500,000 hits, over 1500 people following me on Twitter, and +8000 views of my SlideShare presentations (not to mention 51 instances of the most popular presentation on Twitter embedded on other blogs).

Firstly, what is the ‘Art of Blogging‘?

I write for pleasure and to share my experiences, readings, and rambles around the Internet. Some people like it, some don’t, but blogging is so much more than this.

If you want to be a better blogger the least you should do is participate in ProBloggers “31 days to build a better blog“. The book is the result of a series of daily tasks I signed up to (with several thousand others) last year, covering all sorts of activities such as;

• Reader audit,
• Dead-link hunt,
• Post promotion,
• etc

While much of what is covered can be found elsewhere, and is a case of common-sense, the overall delivery and approach of ProBlogger’s work is bringing it all together, along with other uniquely insightful activities that I have not seen elsewhere.

Nicholas Cardot writes about his 6 sure-fire strategies for better blogging, listing;

1. Grammar,
2. Content (fresh),
3. Content (targeted),
4. Content (creative),
5. Content (original), and
6. Content (entertaining)

So, content is important then? Of course, without it there wont be any readers, but of the list above which is more important than others? Is targeted content more important than original, or entertainment over creative? In over 280 posts I’ve made here I’d say each blog entry has it’s own hierarchy from the list above, and no two posts should be looked at in the same way; the the content stand on it’s own.

Does this answer the point of the ‘art of blogging’; I don’t think so, no. I don’t know if there is such a thing as an ‘art’ to blogging that can be easily defined for each of us, other than we all have our own reasons to blog, our own individual need, as well as background and requirement to what we want to get from it.

At the same time as I started this blog entry off I also posted to Twitter;

Within minutes I had some excellent comments, and links, from my PLN including the following wonderful email from Anne-Florence Dujardin, Sheffield Hallam University (thank you Anne);

I’m an experienced e-tutor with Blackboard and Moodle, but it wasn’t always that way. I learnt a lot the hard way by trial and error (nothing unusual here), but didn’t record my journey and part of me regrets that. However, with the advent of social media, I am having to learn a lot of new skills – not so much in the moderation area, but in terms of design and integration of diverse media into a coherent learning ecology. Its to try and capture small moments of insight or difficulty that I have set up a blog. I write mostly about practice, but I throw in comments on readings too.

This blog is mostly for me, but a few colleagues look in and contribute, which I find really valuable. It’s also been used as part of a formal peer review exercise. Having a public to blog to is really useful, even if this public is largely imaginary in my case (I’ve set things up so that my blog can’t be found by search engines).

I am focusing on social bookmarking at the moment. I’ve been using Delicious for my own purposes, but bookmarking is quite a different experience when trying to make it social with students. So there is a lot of new learning for me here. There are practical considerations to using social media in education, which I am capturing on my blog, so that I don’t forget what to do in future, get inspiration when using other social media, and possibly share with colleagues too. Because I am essentially at the design stage right now and only have a small pilot one the go, I make a lot of comments that are practical in nature. I’ve provided a summary of such considerations about Diigo at http://escalate.ac.uk/6764.

I also comment on my teaching practice, to identify what works and what needs changing in future (I am a fan of action research). For example, I’ve written about the first time that I assessed a student’s work in Diigo. Some of the comments are obvious when I read them now, only a few days or weeks later, but they’re still valuable they are recording experience, and sometimes just writing things down pushes me towards new insights or new conundrums or even possible solutions. I also revisit old posts occasionally and comment on them – it may look a bit strange, but I’d rather work that way to try and track how my ideas develop.

Anne-Florence Dujardin, Senior Lecturer in Communication Studies, Sheffield Hallam University
Twitter: afdujardin

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Steve Wheeler (aka Twitter timbuckteeth) has been writing a series of articles on how distance education has “developed and the influences it has had on our current education provision”.

I am not going to repeat what he says, but I would strongly recommend you read the articles, and the comments, and join in the discussion on his blog – http://steve-wheeler.blogspot.com/

Below are a few thoughts I’ve had, and submitted to Steve as comments too;

“The space between us all” : Pt. 1

“Distance is almost always conceived of as being geographical in nature. In class I often ask my students ‘what is the distance between you and I?’ Their first answer is always an approximate measurement of feet, yards, or (if they live in continental Europe) in metres. I then ask them to reconsider their response. I ask them what other distances there are between us. After a little consternation and head scratching, the light comes on and they begin to respond in terms of other ‘distances’.”

I’m sure a lot of us already understand this concept, but then it’s been our business to know the differences between the different types of distances (geographical, religious, emotional, etc). It is those who think only in terms of distance measurement that we need to get through to. The techniques in distant learning offer very different, but still positive enhancements to learning experiences when ‘merged’ (I hate that word) with face-to-face contact time.

“Short hand, long distance” : Pt. 2

“Even today, in the advent of digital technology, ubiquitous communications and web based learning, the vast majority of distance education is still reliant on mailed out, paper based material and the humble correspondence course.”

Very true, but is this out of necessity or because it is what is (wrongly) expected by the students? Distant education courses do not equal eLearning courses, although that is not to say they can never be the same. Distant education does not imply any kind of deliverable expectation, only an expectation on the type of learner and learning. eLearning, on the other hand, does imply a specific tool set (computer based or online) through a specific medium of delivery.

“First degree burns” : Pt. 3

“Moulton’s [1849-1924] …  innovative ideas could go no further at Cambridge – they crashed and burned. It’s probable that Moulton’s colleagues were concerned about issues such as quality assurance and the means through which assessment of learning would be achieved and authenticated.”

In some respects we are still encountering the same issues today. With more online tools coming to the market each week (some even free), people like me (Learning Technologist) are forever badgering the academics to look at this or that and trying to show them how it can improve student engagement, or reduce time in assessing and providing feedback. Not everyone is in favour of using technology in education, and not everyone is comfortable with it either. I hope we’re not as backward as they were in the late 1800′s but we must recognise that the educator has to be ready to sue the technology, and so does the student. While Moulton was trying to use a model of distant education based on the postal system, we are trying to base ours via the always-on Internet and tech-hungry student population. As Steve says, Moulton “realised his dream and in 1892 was able to establish the first degree programme delivered via correspondence”. Well done.

“Making a difference” : Pt. 4

“We must remember though that good pedagogy does not just happen because technology is being used. Good pedagogy takes place when teachers use technology appropriately and creatively. That is what can make the difference.”

This comes back to what I have always said; don’t use technology because you can, use it because it is appropriate to what you want to do. This is what I call my “considered approach” to designing learning materials, assessments, collaboration, work, etc.

“Come the revolution…” : Pt. 6

“… in order for students to learn effectively from new technology, it will first be necessary for their teachers to accept a new model of learning. This new model is premised upon educators rejecting the role of the model where the teacher is the ‘knowledge provider’ and instead, adopting of the role of the facilitator.”

In many cases this is the only stumbling block to using new techniques and new technology in an otherwise ‘known’ environment. For every innovator who welcomes new tools and tries their hand at something new, even if it may not work, there are the detractors who will stubbornly stick their heads in the sand in the hope that it will all blow over and they can go back to their acetate overheads.

“Computers brought the world to the classroom. Now smart mobile versions are taking the classroom out into the world.”

We are living in exciting times, we are constantly at the pinnacle of human endeavour, as Stephen Fry puts it. Advances in technology, and how we see and use it, will always require someone to try it out and push the boundaries. I am humbled by the company I keep that I am among some of the greatest innovators.

“The sage on the stage is rapidly becoming the guide on the side.”

“Ringing the changes” : Pt. 7

“The social presence of the telephone (the perception that you are connected to the other person) is very high, and many prefer it to so-called richer media such as videoconferencing. We often forget that telecommunication methods are the backbone upon which the Internet and other global communication methods have been based.”

What I am finding is that, as we have all grown up with the telephone, we are comfortable with this media to ‘converse’. Video conferencing is relatively new and, therefore, an unknown medium for communication. Most people shy away from cameras and video cameras, and that is when they are at home or on holiday. The same is true for when they are at work; they get very self conscience when they know the camera is pointed at them.

If the invention of the telephone lead us to the Internet and video conferencing, where could the Internet possibly be leading us?

“Man of vision” : Pt.8

“The computer and television together provide the basis upon which visual communication and global information access is achieved.”

The work of a few pioneering individuals has shaped the world we live in. They did it for the adventure and not for the acclaim or cash – that was when adventurous people like Nelson or Edmundson were hero-material, not pop-stars or wannabe famous talentless wasters like Beckham or Hilton!

But what of today’s innovators? Are they doing it for the right reasons? All technical development is being done by ‘employees’ of a few big companies (Apple, Sony, LG, etc) so can we say they’re doing it for the fame and cash (they’re certainly not doing it in their shed like the pioneers of the 19th and early 20th century innovators were).

“University of the second chance” : Pt. 10

“The OU’s current foray into electronic forms of learning such as web based learning and computer mediated communications is an extension of its tried and tested model of distance-blended learning.”

My only query about the OU is are they still the leaders in the field of distance education (as they once were) or are they playing catch-up? I know of many instances where online submission of assignments is standard (whether the programme is fully online or not) but from conversations from some local OU tutors and OU students it seems that the OU is only just starting this practice.

“Spinning the Web” : Pt. 11

“[Tim] Berners-Lee has campaigned tirelessly to keep the World Wide Web open and free, and this is possibly one reason why it remains largely an un-policed, imaginatively fertile and unpredictable aspect of distance education.”

This is also why it has become so popular and such a source of amusement and contention; anyone can have their 15 minutes of fame via the Internet (remember the Star Wars Kid, and the inevitable remixes?). The availability of hardware to access the Internet has become cheaper as we strive to improve (and shrink) technology, which has led to more ad more people owning Internet-ready devices, and for companies to blend different hardware (the camera-phone?).

Thank you for this series Steve, it’s been great reading the history behind where we are today, and to gain insight on where we may be heading.

View more presentations from Steve Wheeler.

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For those who read this blog with any kind of regularity you will know I’m always trying to find new tools to use, and new ways to use them. I find a lot of my information via my Twitter network (PLN: hopkinsdavid) but every now and then something actually comes to me via the print-media … yes, that old fashioned thing called a book, or journal (in this case).

But what of finding a new area of Higher Education where Learning Technologists can be readily utilised, with our background and knowledge of technology and pedagogy?

In the July edition of ALT-J (Association of Learning Technology Journal) there was an article on “The role of learning technologists in supporting e-research”.

Not everyone is going ot be able to read this online with Informaworld, but for those who have access (through UK HE Institutions) you an use this link:

• “The role of learning technologists in supporting e-research” ALT-J, Volume 17, Issue 2 July 2009 , pages 115 – 129

For those who can’t … I’m sorry; I don’t think it’d be a very good idea to download and make available, I’m sure I’d break a few rules!

The abstract says;

“This article explores how the role of learning technologists … may be diversifying to include supporting e-research. It [the group] contributes to the current debate about the emerging profession and the roles it should play in contemporary higher education. Previous studies have shown that, typically, the profession’s role has focused almost exclusively on curriculum development; traditionally, learning technologists work with students and tutors to enhance the learning environment with technology.

“It is suggested that many learning technologists could extend their roles, transferring their knowledge to include supporting e-research. A more inclusive model of the learning technologist’s role in academia could help address the potential polarisation of the profession into researchers and practitioners.”

One aspect of ‘our’ role is to provide assistance to any staff member that needs or asks for it. But how many researchers know about this, or indeed have thought about using technology to, as an example, implement an online focus-group?

With Higher Education Institutions becoming increasingly focused on research then why not use us to help you with this, as well getting us to work on new presentation tools for your under-graduate students?

This article highlights very nicely the way we can bring a different and possibly new viewpoint to the traditional research activities, especially where (as in the article) there are sensitive issues being discussed and individuals involved want a certain degree of separation and anonymity from each other. Even putting that aside, using technology (wiki, blog, discussion board, etc) means you can get a far wider selection of people to include in your research.

With research being conducted by Institution members, it is only natural that they will want to (or have to) use the Institution’s VLE, and can therefore “call upon the learning technologist for individual expert advice and assistance”. The article concludes by saying that;

“an e-research support role is within the scope of most learning technologists, many of whom are also accustomed to carrying out a diverse range of activities in their posts and are used to transferring their knowledge from one situation to another. This paper proposes that rather than endorsing the ‘bipolarisation’ of learning technologists into practitioners or researchers, we should view multi-skilled posts within the profession as a strength, with a set of core values held in common by all that work in a diverse profession.”

I believe that, in order to continue and grow the LT profession and our own individual skill-set, involvement in e-research (I prefer using eResearch, but that’s another discussion for another time) should be encouraged and supported by management and the Institution’s structure.

The conclusion supports this, saying;

“E-research is becoming commonplace and seems certain to increase in the next decade …  it is feasible to use e-learning tools to collect a wealth of rich, qualitative data in OFGs [Online Focus Groups]. Simultaneously, e-learning tools are becoming more sophisticated (especially Web 2.0 tools) and such tools have the potential to support qualitative research in many subject areas across an institution. As a result, learning technologists in the future are likely to be asked to provide expert support for the use of e-learning tools by researchers.”

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I found a reference to this paper recently (yes. through Twitter!) from the Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. It’s called “Developing a better understanding of technology based pedagogy” and you can read it online with this link.

Published in the Australasian Journal of Educational Technology (Volume 25, Number 5, 2009), the paper focuses on exploring a mixed-method study “… of learning to teach with information and communication technology (ICT)”.

I am still re-reading this to fully understand the article, but please feel free to read and digest yourselves, and if you have anything you’d like to discuss, on any aspect of it … leave a comment.

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Kathleen Gray has written this article on College technology ‘catching-up’ with students and has highlighted some of the short-falls many of us have witnessed. It’s nice to see our observations being taken notice of.

So, what’s interesting about it?

“Today’s college classrooms are high-tech marvels, with overhead projectors and grease pencils replaced by document cameras, handheld clickers and interactive white boards.”

Indeed. In fact it’s worse than this. My wife teaches in a primary school; all the teachers have their own individual laptop, every classroom has a high-spec PC and projector and (quite often) a smart board. Children of ages 5 and upwards are better equipped that the majority of Higher Education institutions.

“Faculty, for the most part, see technology as a way to better connect to students in their interactive, multitasking, apps-ready world.”

Not everyone is like this; some still view technology as something to overcome, something that gets in the way of doing the proper job.

“Jose Bowen says … today’s faculty should offer podcasted lectures, hyperlinks and online study sessions to prep the students with materials before class — leaving classroom time for discussion and debate.”

Yes, yes, and thrice yes!

Go on, read it and let me know your thoughts below please.

Related posts:

1. Reading: "Developing a better understanding of technology-based pedagogy"
2. Students: Using Technogolgy to cheat isn't cheating?
3. Reading: "Global Mobile Learning Research Report 2009"

Giving audio feedback is something I have heard talked about by a few people recently.

One of the advantages I can see in using audio feedback for assessment is that it can take significantly less time to process each individual student than the typical and traditional hand- (or PC-) written feedback. If you think it might take 10 minutes per student to give written feedback and include or upload it to the VLE, it could take something like 4 minutes to produce the short audio clip and load this instead.

Not bad, a 60% reduction in time needed per student. So, let’s look at an example of a cohort of 200 students:

• Written feedback for 200 students @ 10 minutes each = 2000 minutes, or 33.3 hours
• Audio feedback for 200 students @ 4 minutes each = 800 minutes, or 13.3 hours

Wow, that’s just saved you 20 hours! And when you consider there is often a time limit from submission deadline to feedback to be adhered to (at Bournemouth this is set as a three week turn around) that is a substantial saving of time.

There is of course an initial investment of time needed to become familiar with using the software, but even counting a couple of hours to do this, you are still saving in the region of 17-18 hours.

There are several tools you could use, but I prefer Audacity. It is free, well supported, available for both PC and Mac, and you can cut/copy clips together very easily. The full list of features is here for you to read if you want to full scope of the software.

One limitation of Audacity is that it does not output to MP3 format unless you download the LAME encoder (also free). This is as easy as Audacity to install and is strongly recommended.

So, now you’ve got Audacity and LAME working, what next? Easy, get on with your assessment as you normally do. When it comes to feedback, get the students work in front of you (paper or electronic, your choice), open Audacity, get the microphone connected and start recording.

I like to think logically, so I would work on one student submission at a time; record the feedback, export the recording (get a file naming convention and structure in place before you start; I use the PC hard-drive and the student number, not their name, for the ‘file name’), and upload to myBU (our VLE) before starting the next one.

Here are some comments I received on twitter from my quick question “Who uses Audacity for audio recordings? Any good?”;

• floramcdora I have used Audacity for a number of years, including for making podcasts. V.good and easy to use.
• teachlearn Audacity is useful and fairly easy to learn. Great notes from @macloo here http://tr.im/AJMC
• scubagirl02 my colleagues prefer Audition over Audacity (quicker to edit) but not free
• ianmcnaught Good considering it’s free, but not so good when compared to commercial apps such as Adobe Audition
• ajwms I use Audacity a good bit. Not bad for the price! A good microphone makes a lot of difference
• dsugdenI use iPadio because i can do it whenever there’s a phone connection (which with landline, there usually is) www.ipadio.com

Thanks to CarolineCooke for introducing me to the above YouTube video on how to create a Podcast using Audacity.

How do you handle audio feedback? Please comment below and share.

Image Source

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