JISC

What are we learning about technology-enhanced assessment and feedback practices?

An introduction to the newly funded Assessment and Feedback programme together with an update on the emerging findings to date. The programme is focused on supporting large-scale changes in assessment and feedback practice, supported by technology, with the aim of enhancing the learning and teaching process and delivering efficiencies and quality improvements.

 See http://www.jisc.ac.uk/whatwedo/programmes/elearning/assessmentandfeedback.aspx and the projects’ blogs http://www.netvibes.com/jiscinfonet#%23jiscassess  for further details of the programme.

An update from the TLRP Technology Enhanced Learning (TEL) Programme,

TLRP-TEL is a £12m initiative funded by the Economic and Social Research Council and Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (UK).  We have 8 major projects running between 2007 and 2012. We aim to understand and develop the roles of digital technologies in improving the quality of learning and teaching. Richard will be providing an overview of the programme and the emerging findings. See http://www.tlrp.org/tel/ for further information.

Richard Noss, Director of the TLRP-TEL Programme, Institute of Education
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Rethinking 'Rethinking Pedagogy'

In 2007 'Rethinking pedagogy for a digital age' was published by Routledge, featuring chapters from many contributors to the JISC Expert's forum and many JISC project teams of the time. The book has been so successful, particularly as a set text on masters' and PGCert courses, that it is now being prepared for a second edition. The authors are in some cases significantly revising their original chapters to reflect changes in the e-learning landscape. There will be a completely new introduction and a new collaboratively-authored conclusion as the chapter authors reflect together on the future prospects for e-learning in higher education.

Rhona Sharpe and Helen Beetham will report back from that collaborative writing experience. Members of the Experts' forum will be invited to subject the new book's conclusions to a rigorous reality check before they are committed to print.

Members Showcase

Members from the Experts Group are invited to showcase their work or invite feedback on specific areas they are working within. The session will run as three 30 minute roundtable discussions offering members the opportunity of attending two of the three sessions.

Session 1: Manipulating Media: Collaborative Online Learning

Break-out room: Proceed Suite
Manipulating media is a course taken by all first year media studies students at the University of Winchester. The course was new in 2010/11, and is now going into its second iteration. Students taking the course work upon a number of live team briefs that present problems that require the use of academic literacy to be solved. The projects make extensive use of collaborative online learning. Students produce and deliver work using a number of web 2.0 applications and platforms, including reflective blogging. The course has proven very popular with students. This session will give an overview of the rationale behind the course, it’s implementation, and a number of learning points for us as tutors.

Bex Lewis, University of Winchester
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Session 2:  Getting to understand the use in reuse

Breakout Room: Propel 1
Is it really possible to create a synopsis of a 100k word thesis as a set of 36 playing cards?

Chris has 'reused' and condensed the high points of eight years of PhD research on reuse of digital online learning resources into a card game on reuse (reusable of course). Yes, reuse generates chicken-egg questions of what comes first – sharing or use – but that is just the simple stuff. This session invites you to explore the tensions of promise and practice in reuse, including reuse of open educational resources (OER). You will be asked to play with cards, view cartoons and trade views triggered by interesting questions and research-informed insights. This is one output of the ORIOLE project (Open Resources: Influence on Learners and Educators). (http://orioleproject.blogspot.com) and will lead into discussion of other shareable resources and research findings from that project.

Chris Peglar, The Open University
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Session 3:  Consultation session on the Distributed Virtual Learning Environments Programme: How can WAGS (Widgets, apps and gadgets) and Mash-Ups  allow  you to extend your learning environment?

Break-out room: Propel 2
What learning applications would you like to see in your institutional learning environment? Have you ever wished that you could download an app to your VLE as easily as you can from the Apple/Android app store to your phone?  A new generation of administrative/educational tools and mobile apps is emerging which offers great potential to create more flexible learning environment for both teachers and learners.  The distributed VLE projects have explored some of the key institutional issues around the development and integration of widgets, apps and gadgets within existing learning environments.

This session will launch a briefing paper which outlines key issues learned from the programme, implications for senior managers and practitioners, and examples of benefits to end users (staff and students).

JISC in partnership with the ROLE project are developing an education specific widget store where educators will be able to find and share educationally specific widgets. Feedback of the prototype store will be sought from participants, as well as views on how to encourage and sustain engagement with the store.

In tandem with the widget store developments, over the next year JISC is planning to support a series of community development events. The aim is to bring together developers; teachers and students to take forward developments from a number of JISC funded programmes including the Distributed VLE programme. 

Participants will also be invited to share their views/ideas on what they perceive would be the most effective ways of engaging the teaching and learning community with these events and what WAGS they would like to see in their institutional learning environment.