“The unique value of a partnership approach lies less in the emulation of existing work than in the possibilities it creates for discovering learning and teaching practices, and institutional structures and working arrangements, that have not yet been experienced or even imagined.”
(Healey et al, 2014, p. 55)
If you are just starting out on your journey of developing a partnership model to underpin the development of a digital curriculum you may find it helpful to explore some of the following links which signpost initiatives, activities and resources to help you explore what might work for you and learn from what has worked for others.
The materials can be used by students and staff in a variety of ways – as stimulus material for discussions, in workshops, forums, as CPD activities and with programme and cross-institutional teams.
- Digital students are different posters - students have a lot to say about their digital environment, if we listen. But behind the headline messages what they want is complex and sometimes contradictory. Different learners need different kinds of technology and technical support to succeed. And the same learners want different things at different points in their learning career. These posters can be used to stimulate discussion between staff and students as a way of developing a shared understanding of the complexity of these issues.
- Conversations that count cards - these digital student cards are designed to support conversations about students’ digital experience. Our research has shown that conversations are critical to making things happen. The cards can provide a prompt to start a conversation or provide a tangible reminder that you can leave behind. They support both formal and informal conversations, can be used as a planning tool or to form a customised checklist for your practice and your institution.
- Enhancing the student digital experience: a strategic approach. A comprehensive guide that looks at seven different aspects or challenge areas for HE and FE institutions in the UK. The section on engaging in dialogue with students about their digital experience and empower them to develop their digital environment is particularly pertinent and includes suggestions about how you might develop your own practice.
- Jisc NUS benchmarking tool – the student digital experience. This benchmarking tool has been developed in collaboration with the National Union of Students (NUS) and our change agents’ network to help you assess what your organisation is already doing to support students' digital practices and what it could do to make things better.
- Case studies showcasing the work that institutions who are working with our Change agents’ network are doing to engage students in enhancing and developing their learning experience using technology.
- Driving institutional change through staff-student partnerships - watch this short video clip where students and staff give an overview of the impact working in partnership can have.
Be inspired
Summer of Student Innovation – recognising that improving the student experience is one of the most important strategic drivers for universities and colleges. The Summer of Student Innovation is a pioneering project designed to harness the talent and creativity of students to create real technology solutions and to have the technology they develop adopted by universities, colleges and learning providers. Successful projects receive funding and mentoring support to develop their products. The scheme was devised by Jisc, RLUK, RUGIT, SCONUL and UCISA as part of a co-design approach to innovation within UK education.
Read Lis Parcell’s blog post listen, understand, act: social media for engagement. Lis is a subject specialist for libraries and digital resources at Jisc.
The viewpoints detailed implementation guidance section offers a more comprehensive resource that will be of interest to those looking to develop a whole institution approach.
Get involved
- Join the change agents’ network – a network of staff and students working in partnership to support curriculum enhancement and innovation. You can also keep up to date via the project blog or the dedicated mailing list [email protected].
- Follow us on Twitter@CANagogy and join the conversation by using the hashtag #jiscCAN.
Get recognition for students and staff – the SEDA change leader award
This is not so much a quick start as a thoughtful introduction and a means of accrediting staff and student engagement in partnership work and receiving support throughout the process. Something worth thinking about as you start your partnership initiative.
The SEDA change leader award supports staff and students working in partnership on curriculum innovation projects involving technology in UK FE and skills and HE. It supports those about to undertake change agency work as well as those who have already started and it can also help staff and students to gain recognition for previous work. Find out more on the change agents' network blog.
Journal of Educational Innovation, Partnership and Change is a peer-reviewed journal that welcomes articles, case studies and opinion pieces relating to learning, teaching and assessment within the context of students and staff as change agents.