MOOCs and educational sustainability? An educational developer's perspective

This article explores the author's views and open questions on the potential use of different open educational approaches to promote educational and professional sustainability. The debate is contextualised around my personal experience in relation to open structured non-accredited education opportunities for continuous professional development. This offers a contrast between open education models that focus on escalability versus those that focus on community and connections

Peer electronic mentoring for transition into university: a theoretical review

The European Space for Higher Education and the calls for lifelong learning highlight the responsibility universities have to facilitate their students´ access and success, and places career guidance (especially in the early transition phase) as a central element of institutional quality. While doing this, it is important to promote community development as part of the integration of each student in the higher education system, so peer mentoring initiatives have become widely adopted across European universities. In this context, information and communication technologies can help to reduce isolation and distance between students, facilitating student collaboration, creating community feelings among students and making it possible to European universities. In this context, information and communication technologies can help to reduce isolation and distance between students, facilitating student collaboration, creating community feelings among students and making it possible to create new guidance programmes that improve access, support and guidance to students. In the confluence of three main areas of research and practice (transition to university, student guidance through peer mentoring, and computer mediated communication (CMC), this paper proposes peer electronic mentoring (e-mentoring) as a new guidance alternative to facilitate student transition to university. Therefore, we review the scarce literature existing in the area, gathering theoretical reviews, anecdotal experiences and programme results, and finally we propose questions for future research

E-mentoring: an extended practice, an emerging discipline

This chapter integrates existing literature and developments on electronic mentoring to build a constructive view of this modality of mentoring as a qualitatively different concept from its traditional face-to-face version. The concept of e-mentoring is introduced by looking first into the evasive notion of mentoring. Next, some salient e-mentoring experiences are identified. The chapter goes on to note the differences between electronic and face-to-face mentoring, and how the relationship between mentor and mentee is modified by technology in unique and definitive ways. Readers are also presented with a collection of best practices on design, implementation, and evaluation of e-mentoring programs. Finally, some practice and research trends are proposed. In conclusion, the author draws an elemental distinction between both modalities of mentoring, which defines e-mentoring as more than the defective alternative to face-to-face contact

E-mentoría: avanzando la investigación, construyendo la disciplina

Aunque la mayoría de las iniciativas de mentoría electrónica están basadas en buenas intenciones y a menudo buena financiación, su efectividad ha sido raramente investigada. Unos pocos autores han sugerido marcos teóricos a priori para cubrir esta laguna de investigación, a menudo derivando sus hipótesis de la literatura en comunicación mediada por ordenador (CMO) y mentoría presencial. Este artículo describe y analiza la e-mentoría con especial atención a su aplicación en entornos de educación superior, exponiendo las diferencias entre la e-mentoría y su versión presencial. Se recogen las preguntas de investigación propuestas en las escasas publicaciones en el tema, y ofrece nuevas ideas sobre futuras vías de investigación. El artículo concluye que la e-mentoría ha de ser considerada “en su propio derecho” y no en comparación con su versión tradicional presencial

Current developments around open education in Irish higher education

This paper explores open educational practice in the context of the recommendations by the National Forum for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning Digital Roadmap around open education (National Forum, 2015); and a subsequent focused research project which aimed to explore the use of learning resources and open access in Higher Education institutions in Ireland (Risquez et al, 2015). In addition, the author explores the recognition of structured non-accredited opportunities as a valid professional development activity by the National Forum through its recent digital badges initiative. In order to open the debate, the author goes on to discuss her recent personal experience in relation to open structured non-accredited education opportunities for continuous professional development. This offers a contrast between open education models that focus on scalability (as MOOCs) versus those that focus on community and connections

Anti-plagiarism software in an Irish University: three years later

A variety of anti-plagiarism software applications have appeared in recent years, but the pedagogical and institutional practices underpinning their use remains largely unexplored. It is essential to increase the amount of evidence-based literature that investigates the use of anti-plagiarism software in higher education. In the light of this, this chapter explores the integration of anti-plagiarism software in an Irish university since early 2006 and the progress made to date. We use data gathered from our own context to show how instructors are using this software to date, what trends emerge and what can be deduced about the adoption of the system to guide future research questions. Best practices are suggested for educators in order to help them to use anti-plagiarism software in proactive, positive, and pedagogically sound ways

Engaging students through the VLE: comparing like with like using the #VLEIreland student survey

Virtual learning environments (VLEs) provide the core infrastructure for the digital learning experiences for many students in Irish and international higher education institutions. Hence the student experience and voice offer an important perspective to understand to what extent this proves a strategic choice, and investment of institutional resources and lecturers' time. However, surveys comparing a diversity of institutions at different moments in time offer serious methodological limitations to data analysis. In this paper, results of the #VLEIreland student survey are presented for four Irish higher education institutions, which were surveyed using the common questionnaire with 3,332 student responses in 2011 and 5,170 when the survey was repeated in 2013. To some extent, this allows us to analyse the data while relatively controlling for institutional influences. This snapshot of students use and perceptions at two points allow for tentative trends to be drawn as to any changing patterns over time. The comparison of results indicate a consistent finding of high frequency of use (with almost half using daily in the more recent findings). The VLE thus provides a stable base for sharing learning resources, managing assignments and student communications. The consistency of the findings indicate a certain maturity of use of the VLE, albeit with a continued emphasis on disseminating notes and other learning resources to students. As the student VLE experience is largely determined by their lecturers' use, a continued emphasis on the development of digital capacity of lecturers (as well as students) is needed

Exploring feelings about technology integration in higher education: individuation and congruence

Purpose - This study utilises two key psychoanalytical concepts – individuation and congruence – in order to analyse individual responses to organisational change and to propose a tentative framework for considering psychoanalytical dynamics when organisational change is proposed, or underway. Design/methodology/approach - We analysed 146 responses to an open ended survey, which focused on respondents’ attitudes to the introduction of learning technology in a higher educational context. We asked organisational members to share their views about the proposed organisational change, and clustered these anonymous responses into meaningful categories, based on the psychoanalytically relevant notions of congruence and individuation. Findings – As well as generating a proposed list of archetypes associated with individual responses to organisational change, we emphasise how strongly our own tentatively generated categories align with the notion of authentic individuation as an important aspect of motivated organisational behaviour. Originality/value - This tool could provide a useful analytical backdrop for organisational change in general, and it could help to focus organisational attention on the importance of a psychoanalytically informed discussion on change by paying attention to privately held views, and partially articulated feelings about change

Using anti-plagiarism software to promote academic honesty in the context of peer reviewed assignments

A variety of free and commercial software applications designed to detect plagiarism from Internet sources has appeared in recent years. However, their effectiveness and impact on student behaviour has been assumed rather than confirmed. The study presented here explores the responses and perceptions of a group of first year students at an Irish university after their first contact with anti-plagiarism software in the context of peer-reviewed assignments. The results indicate that the use of anti-plagiarism software led to a decrease in Internet plagiarism and to lower grades being awarded in peer reviews. Additionally, students were found to have a positive attitude towards the anti-plagiarism software in the context of peer reviewed assignments. Implications for educators on the use of this software are discussed

‘Lessons Learnt’: the student view in the #VLEIreland project

This paper offers an overview of general results and of longitudinal aspects of the data collected to date from student populations which generated from the #VLEIreland project. We argue how results shed light on common misconceptions around VLE usage, and what VLEs can offer from a pedagogical perspective. Building on previously published research results; this paper incorporates a total of 22 data collections, representing almost 24,000 responses, and deals with the general findings and some trends emerging from the data. Overall results year on year have shown that VLEs are used frequently and increasingly by the respondents, but much remains to be done in order to incentivize their use to generate student engagement, and move beyond the use of VLEs as content repositories. While being mindful of the methodological limitations of survey methods relying on self-selection, the breadth and scale of the data gathered across thirteen institutions over a decade offers a degree of reliability, and we attempt to mount a strong challenge to some common myths around the use of VLEs in our discussion