Discovering academics' key learning connections: An ego-centric network approach to analysing learning about teaching

The aim of this exploratory study is to investigate the role of personal networks in supporting academics’ professional learning about teaching. As part of a wider project, the paper focuses on the composition of academics’ networks and possible implications of network tendencies for academics’ learning about teaching. The study adopts a mixed-method approach. Firstly, the composition of academics’ networks is examined using Social Network Analysis. Secondly, the role of these networks in academics’ learning about teaching is analysed through semi-structured interviews. Findings reveal the prevalence of localised and strong-tie connections, which could inhibit opportunities for effective learning and spread of innovations in teaching. The study highlights the need to promote connectivity within and across institutions, creating favourable conditions for effective professional development

Who do you talk to about your teaching?' Networking activities among university teachers

As the higher education environment changes, there are calls for university teachers to change and enhance their teaching practices to match. Networking practices are known to be deeply implicated in studies of change and diffusion of innovation, yet academics’ networking activities in relation to teaching have been little studied. This paper extends the current limited understanding, building on Roxå and Mårtensson’s work (2009) and extending it from Sweden to the UK and USA. It is based on two separate studies, one from the Share Project led by the University of Kent, and one from Glasgow Caledonian University, exploring the composition of personal networks, and the characteristics of interactions in order to understand the networking practices which may support change of teaching practice. We conclude that academics’ personal teaching networks are mainly discipline-specific and strongly localised. This contrasts with the research networks found by Becher and Trowler (2001) and may reduce innovation, although about half the respondents also had external contacts that might support creativity

Tweetstorming PLNs: Using Twitter to Brainstorm about Personal Learning Networks

Sie, R., Boursinou, E., Rajagopal, K., & Pataraia, N. (2011). Tweetstorming PLNs: Using Twitter to Brainstorm about Personal Learning Networks. In Proceedings of The PLE Conference 2011. July, 10-12, 2011, Southampton, UK.We start off by giving a short introduction. The introduction defines the scope of the workshop, the purpose, and the means. Particularly, the participants will be asked to identify their personal online learning network. They should identify how they are connected to others (Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, offline), and what they think their peers’ expertises are. This will provide us with an elaborate view on how participants perceive their learning network. Next, the Tweetstorm (brainstorm over Twitter) will be introduced and explained. During the Tweetstorm, we discuss what contributes to meaningful cooperation within a learning network. A twitter hashtag (#usePLN) will be used to monitor and aggregate the participants’ utterances. A ‘Twitter wall’ (hashtags.org) will be used to visualise the brainstorm, such that participants see what others have posted, building upon their ideas and reacting to their ideas. Finally, we collect the results and conclude our session with an overview of the learning network and the outcomes of the Tweetstorm session

The ESG and students' involvement in European quality assurance of higher education

This thesis is an empirical analysis of the nature of compliance of European external QA agencies with the ESG’s criterion on students’ inclusion on external review panels. The data derived from the reports of the panels of ENQA coordinated reviews of various European QA agencies is used as the main source for this study, agencies’ self-evluation reports and articles on students’ engagement and participation in QA activities are used as secondary source materials. The new institutional theory and overview of cultural/value/norm systems dominating within the Higher Education sector have been applied to explore, clarify and justify variations and similarities detected among European QA agencies in respect to students’ inclusion in their local activities. A classification of QA agencies has been made in accordance with three pillars of institutions: Regulative, Normative, Cultural-Cognitive and three mechanisms of compliance: Coercive, Normative and Mimetic prevailing within the individual agency’s structure/culture while adopting the ESG’s requirements. This study’s major finding is an enhanced theoretical understanding of the factors explaining the variations in the practices of students’ inclusion in QA agencies’ activities, exploring the extent to which European QA agencies are adapting to the requirement of students’ engagement in external reviews of HEIs and identifying the value added by having student representatives in peer review panels. The classification invented by me also gives a different approach to the explored topic and presents the research findings in a precise and novel form of typology

How and what do academics learn through their personal networks

This paper investigates the role of personal networks in academics, learning in relation to teaching. Drawing on in-depth interviews with eleven academics, this study examines, firstly, how and what academics learn through their personal networks; secondly, the perceived value of networks in relation to academics, professional development; and, thirdly, whether and how network participation affects professional learning and extant teaching practice. Findings suggest that personal networks equip academics with a diverse pool of knowledge and skills about teaching, offering both professional and emotional support. What academics learn through personal networks subsequently becomes embedded in their teaching practice. In this sample, change in teaching practice is focused on application of new learning technologies and new teaching and assessment strategies

Goals, motivation for, and outcomes of personal learning through networks: results of a tweetstorm

Recent developments in the use of social media for learning have posed serious challenges for learners. The information overload that these online social tools create has changed the way learners learn and from whom they learn. An investigation of learners, goals, motivations and expected outcomes when using a personal learning network is essential since there have been few empirical studies in the domain. Previous research focused on the factors that influence learning in virtual environments, but these studies were mainly conducted in an era in which online social media were not yet used for personal learning networks. The current paper reports findings of a study that examined factors impacting professional learning through networks