JISC

Audience Pro-Vice Chancellors, and those responsible for developing learning and teaching, ICT and human resource strategies.

This briefing paper outlines:

• How this study relates to current agenda and issues
• Findings relevant to senior managers
• The emergence of new roles and cross-boundary working
• Recommendations and actions for institutions

New roles, structures and alliances

UK higher education (HE) is among the world leaders in the development of the Internet and the accumulation of electronic resources. The same information revolution, however, is challenging many of the traditional functions and structures of the sector. The agenda for using 'learning technology' or e-Learning ¹ in all its forms is no longer a simple matter of disseminating new tools to teachers. Learning technology is set to change the prevailing teaching paradigm as well as helping to address other national drivers such as widening participation, increased student numbers and accessibility.  

Staff working within this area are at the forefront of such changes. New specialist roles are emerging, traditional roles, such as those of academic and librarian, are changing and others are becoming blurred. Until now, staff employed in a learning technology context in UK HE have, to some extent, lacked visibility, leading to a lack of understanding of their roles and needs. As e-Learning becomes pivotal in pedagogical and institutional changes, it is increasingly important that these are properly understood, supported and rewarded.  

¹   For the purposes of this paper, the terms learning technology and e-Learning are used synonymously.

A study into learning technology roles and contexts

It was becoming clear that a wide range of staff and initiatives exists within institutions to support the embedding and development of learning technology. A national study was therefore commissioned by the JISC to investigate the staff and activities behind the 'learning technologist' label: "A study into learning technology roles and contexts". The study set out to investigate the spectrum of people involved with learning technology at all levels. It identified common patterns of skills, distinct and emerging roles, and the practices, values and needs of this growing community. Recommendations for further study and strategic focus by the JISC and guidelines for institutions on staff recruitment, deployment and development for effective support of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) for learning and teaching were also included. 

The findings from this study will assist senior managers in planning the roles, structures and working practices required for effective implementation of learning technology at all levels and identifying institutional support required to carry this forward.

Findings

Emerging and changing roles

The study identified three categories of individuals with a distinctive range of roles for each type:

1. new specialists
2. academics and established professionals
3. learning support professionals

New specialists included the role of learning technologist, but also those of educational developer, educational researcher, technical researcher/developer, materials developer and project manager. In practice, most individuals have responsibilities across at least two different areas. 

In addition, the study demonstrated the changing roles of academics and established professionals and learning support professionals who are now taking on more responsibility for access to learning technology. While academic staff are often seen as a client group for learning-technology support, they in fact play a crucial role in learning technology development and have a wide range of essential skills to offer. 

Location

New specialists were found in a wide range of locations including the central services of most HE institutions. This was seen as an obstacle to effective coordination of effort, but not necessarily an obstacle to promoting change overall, because it allowed individuals with learning technology expertise to work across a range of institutional cultures, structures and practices. Most notably:

• Half of audited institutions had a dedicated learning technology unit, but the presence of such a unit did not lessen the number of other locations in which new specialists were found: if anything, it was associated with a proliferation of learning technology roles in other areas of the institution and helped promote a learning technology culture
• Central units appeared to be most effective where they acted to coordinate and facilitate activities in multiple locations around the institution
• Learning technology staff were often not securely located within the institutional structures
• New specialists in particular, tended to be identified with projects, initiatives and short-term agenda, often working across institutional boundaries

Institutional strategies

The study found that learning technology appears to be moving to the centre of institutional strategies, particularly learning and teaching strategies. However, learning technology work is marginal in terms of the practices and cultural values of most academic departments. A common theme in the audit of institutions was the presence of 'pockets' of activity and innovation, while senior managers still talked about 'the enthusiasts' as a small but precious minority. 

In the audit study, institutions with nationally recognised expertise in learning technology were all found to have the following:

• Good collaborative networks, internally and with other institutions
• Targeted support for teaching staff to integrate learning technology into their courses
• Department/service teams with their own local planning to meet strategic aims
• Specialist learning technology development teams within computing services
• A requirement on programmes of study to address student ICT skills
• A requirement on departments to demonstrate pedagogical research/scholarship of teaching  

Encouraging multi-disciplinary working

The study found that multi-role, cross-disciplinary teams are effective at delivering change in learning and teaching practices. Recognising and valuing the different contributions and roles of new specialists, technical, educational development and learning support staff is essential to the success of integrating learning technology within courses and curricula and developing new models of learning and teaching. Academic staff have a critical role to play in bringing together different partners to support student learning. They also need to adapt to different roles themselves, either as part of a team or as the 'client' for curriculum or infrastructure development projects. 

Professional support and career development

The study highlighted the poor provision of support for learning technology staff across the sector. Learning technology staff and new specialists in particular did not feel that there were career progression opportunities within their current institutions: progress could only be made by moving to another institution or moving sideways into more managerial or mainstream academic roles. Because of the wide ramifications of their work, learning technology staff have highly effective networks of contacts across different parts of their institution. This allows these staff to become highly effective at networking and facilitating but tends to exclude them from the long-term reward structures and career pathways. 

Recommendations and actions

Senior managers should:

• Make clear, informed statements about the role e-Learning, or learning technology, should play in achieving institutional objectives
• Recognise and reward staff, both academic and new specialists, and provide consistent career frameworks. These staff, with their broad range of skills, play a critical role in delivering any e-Learning strategy: skills are being lost to other sectors faster than they are being replaced; HE cannot afford for this to happen
• Provide an appropriate organisational and managerial framework to ensure effective collaboration across service boundaries: multidisciplinary teams and cross-boundary working are essential for making e-Learning work
• Carry out a learning technology audit to inform the above; the actual process is equally as valuable as, if not more so than, the end result

Further information

This paper can only serve as an introduction to the study, which is large and wide-ranging. A series of briefing papers has been prepared to present the most relevant findings to different audiences. In addition to the briefing papers, the original audit tools used in the career development study with a full training pack and comprehensive guidance notes are available. 

Copies of the full career development report, briefing papers and audit tools are available under the JOS work programme.