Using Technology-Enabled Learning Networks to Drive Module Improvements in the UK Open University

This paper describes a work-in-progress action research project to investigate how technology-enabled learning networks may achieve practical organisational improvement outcomes in the author’s own institution, a UK distance learning higher education (HE) context. Collaborative learning technology, typically used for academic learning or professional development, affords the geographically scattered and disparate practitioner stakeholders involved in distance learning module design and delivery the ability to grapple together with a problem area requiring improvement. In this particular context, there is a perennial organisational need to close a feedback loop between remote module tutors and campus based teams, to develop a joint understanding of teaching and learning design challenges, and to put tutors as close as possible to the development of solutions. However, there is insufficient conceptual and practical understanding about the mechanisms by which this unfolding process of technology-enabled organisational learning might happen. Conceptual frameworks in the field of learning networks and networked learning are still developing (Sloep, 2016). The aim of this research is to investigate the active use of learning networks to achieve practical improvement outcomes, and to explore a new conceptual framework covering all stages of the required learning process. The research aims to make an original contribution to the call for actionable knowledge in organisational research, using a collaborative, equitable and rigorous action-oriented and theory-building approach, which also aims to achieve measurable impact

Using Technology-Enabled Learning Networks To Achieve Practical Improvement Outcomes: A Pilot Project To Explore Impact Of Student-Made Videos On Student Engagement In The IET MAODE Programme At The OU

This project investigated how technology-enabled learning networks can be used to achieve practical improvement outcomes at the OU. Koper (2009) defines a technology-enabled learning network as ‘a technology supported community of people who are helping each other to better understand and handle certain events and concepts in work or life’. In a literature review of organisational learning in public service organisations in the UK, Rashman et al. (2009) observe that ‘learning within and between organisations has been identified as central to the processes of public service improvement’. However, little is known about the mechanisms of technology-enabled organisational learning to achieve practical improvement outcomes. Existing work on technology-enabled learning networks tends to be dominated by academic or professional learning, the primary objective being the improvement of knowledge or practice residing in individuals. The aim of this research is to address that gap, using an innovative technology-enabled participatory action research approach. Action research simultaneously seeks improvement outcomes whilst reflecting on the learning taking place. The project established a learning network, using the Masters in Online and Distance Education (MAODE) programme in the OU Institute of Educational Technology, as a case study. The practical improvement outcome sought was to increase the sense of student engagement with the MAODE learning community, by using student-made engagement videos. The project investigated the extent to which student-made videos assisted in providing the student with a sense of engagement within their learning community. It then reflected on the collaborative learning taking place in seeking the improvement.   Three conceptual frameworks from the literature were compared, applied to the learning network, and evaluated. Data from the learning network interactions was thematically analysed to determine the utility of the three identified frameworks, and whether a new framework was justified which would support the innovative technology-enabled participatory action research approach. Despite numerous challenges, the learning network was able to proceed as far as the evaluation stage in the first cycle of an action research spiral. Some insightful and useful feedback was provided by students, and two additional videos were produced. Future project work could include establishing the ongoing operation of the learning network within IET, following through the improvement suggestions which have been made, embracing a more systemic approach, and evaluating success in achieving practical improvement outcomes. The three applications of the identified frameworks to the learning network illustrated that they are indeed descriptive tools which can help to analyse component parts and critical success factors necessary in a learning network environment. However it appears that they are still not adequate in identifying the mechanism by which the learning happens. The data analysis suggests there is some justification for a new framework, potentially combining the necessary elements of the three frameworks identified in the literature, with a narrative based series of events which represent the collaborative mechanisms by which technology-enabled organisational learning may occur. This may form the basis of further PhD research

An Integrated Management Approach in a Higher Education Technology Support Unit

This case study is located in the Department for Education Innovation (EI), a teaching and learning support unit at the University of Pretoria in South Africa. The initial problem was the need to apply project management and quality management principles to the services offered by the department to faculty members. The authors describe the implementation of a formal, online, process-based Quality Management System (QMS) designed to self evaluate, document, and improve the Instructional Design (ID) process that guides the development of educational technology solutions in EI. The project was completed in 2005 and was included in a CEN (European Committee for Standardization) Good Practice Guide for outstanding implementations of quality approaches in e-learning. The QMS provides a mechanism to support a consistent project management approach, and the case illustrates successful integration between three cycles: Project Management (PM), Quality Management (QM), and the ADDIE (Analysis, Design, Development, Implementation, and Evaluation) instructional design process

Using Technology-Enabled Learning Networks To Achieve Practical Improvement Outcomes In The UK Open University

Collaborative learning technology is becoming ubiquitous across the globe for academic learning or professional development. However it also affords dispersed practitioners the ability to grapple together with a problem area requiring improvement. This process requires mutual and reflective learning so that each participant can bring to bear their professional viewpoint, experience and insights to the problem at hand. However, there is insufficient conceptual and practical understanding about how this unfolding process might happen. This thesis explores how technology-enabled learning networks can be used to achieve practical improvement outcomes amongst disparate and geographically separated practitioners. It is situated within a challenging learning design and delivery scenario in the UK Open University, a Higher Education (HE) distance learning context. The research investigated what practical improvement outcomes could be achieved; how the mechanisms of using technology-enabled learning networks to achieve improvement outcomes can best be conceptualised in the practice environment; and what factors enable or constrain the achievement of these outcomes. By embracing an insider action research and theory-building combined approach, the research both enacted and conceptualised a collaborative and equitable Pragmatic Inquiry process, and successfully demonstrated measurable impact. The new conceptual framework is entitled ULTIMATE - Using Learning Technology in Making Action-based Transformative Enhancements. ULTIMATE provides an enacting framework for a structured, flexible and recoverable collaborative action research process which can be used by practitioners and be systematically and rigorously extended to other contexts. A successful ULTIMATE learning network will consist of learning technology infrastructure integrated with this action research process, and with engaged individual participation based on problem-solving role or interest. Together, they provide a means for a profound and ethical shift in the way that disparate and geographically separated practitioners and stakeholders can share their experiences, mutually transform, and address complex fragmented practical challenges in HE and beyond

ULTIMATE: conceptual framework of a technology-enabled collaborative problem solving and improvement process. Open Issue 1.0 September 2023

The ULTIMATE framework (Using Learning Technology in Making Action-based Transformative Enhancements) has recently been conceptualised in original research (Boyd, 2022). ULTIMATE is a non-traditional approach aimed at practitioners and stakeholders who don’t necessarily know each other, have a routine working relationship, or strongly identify in a cohesive community of practice. It uses a dynamic 'learning network' approach in which disparate and possibly geographically separated participants can grapple together with a problem area requiring improvement. Together they follow a collaborative, equitable and emergent action research process, connected and enabled by a learning technology infrastructure.The methodology used is technology-enabled collaborative action research underpinned by grounded theory method (GTM). GTM was used to conceptualise the unfolding action research process, after comparing and critiquing three other frameworks concerning collaborative action in the literature (Boyd, 2022, pp.51-81). This OER takes the first steps towards a proposed series of OERs and an innovation of ‘Open Theory Building’, which makes ULTIMATE openly available for re-use, extension and adaption

Are financial incentives cost-effective to support smoking cessation during pregnancy?

Aims  To investigate the cost-effectiveness of up to £400 worth of financial incentives for smoking cessation in pregnancy as an adjunct to routine health care.  Design  Cost-effectiveness analysis based on a Phase II randomized controlled trial (RCT) and a cost–utility analysis using a life-time Markov model.  Setting  The RCT was undertaken in Glasgow, Scotland. The economic analysis was undertaken from the UK National Health Service (NHS) perspective.  Participants  A total of 612 pregnant women randomized to receive usual cessation support plus or minus financial incentives of up to £400 vouchers (US 609), contingent upon smoking cessation.  Measurements  Comparison of usual support and incentive interventions in terms of cotinine-validated quitters, quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) and direct costs to the NHS.  Findings  The incremental cost per quitter at 34–38 weeks pregnant was £1127 (1716).This is similar to the standard look-up value derived from Stapleton & West's published ICER tables, £1390 per quitter, by looking up the Cessation in Pregnancy Incentives Trial (CIPT) incremental cost (£157) and incremental 6-month quit outcome (0.14). The life-time model resulted in an incremental cost of £17 [95% confidence interval (CI) = –£93, £107] and a gain of 0.04 QALYs (95% CI = –0.058, 0.145), giving an ICER of £482/QALY ($734/QALY). Probabilistic sensitivity analysis indicates uncertainty in these results, particularly regarding relapse after birth. The expected value of perfect information was £30 million (at a willingness to pay of £30 000/QALY), so given current uncertainty, additional research is potentially worthwhile.  Conclusion  Financial incentives for smoking cessation in pregnancy are highly cost-effective, with an incremental cost per quality-adjusted life years of £482, which is well below recommended decision thresholds

A change in temperature modulates defence to yellow (stripe) rust in wheat line UC1041 independently of resistance gene Yr36

Background Rust diseases are of major importance in wheat production worldwide. With the constant evolution of new rust strains and their adaptation to higher temperatures, consistent and durable disease resistance is a key challenge. Environmental conditions affect resistance gene performance, but the basis for this is poorly understood. Results Here we show that a change in day temperature affects wheat resistance to Puccinia striiformis f. sp tritici (Pst), the causal agent of yellow (or stripe) rust. Using adult plants of near-isogenic lines UC1041 +/- Yr36, there was no significant difference between Pst percentage uredia coverage in plants grown at day temperatures of 18°C or 25°C in adult UC1041 + Yr36 plants. However, when plants were transferred to the lower day temperature at the time of Pst inoculation, infection increased up to two fold. Interestingly, this response was independent of Yr36, which has previously been reported as a temperature-responsive resistance gene as Pst development in adult UC1041 -Yr36 plants was similarly affected by the plants experiencing a temperature reduction. In addition, UC1041 -Yr36 plants grown at the lower temperature then transferred to the higher temperature were effectively resistant and a temperature change in either direction was shown to affect Pst development up to 8 days prior to inoculation. Results for seedlings were similar, but more variable compared to adult plants. Enhanced resistance to Pst was observed in seedlings of UC1041 and the cultivar Shamrock when transferred to the higher temperature. Resistance was not affected in seedlings of cultivar Solstice by a temperature change in either direction. Conclusions Yr36 is effective at 18°C, refining the lower range of temperature at which resistance against Pst is conferred compared to previous studies. Results reveal previously uncharacterised defence temperature sensitivity in the UC1041 background which is caused by a change in temperature and independently of Yr36. This novel phenotype is present in some cultivars but absent in others, suggesting that Pst defence may be more stable in some cultivars than others when plants are exposed to varying temperatures

Reprogramming of the wheat transcriptome in response to infection with Claviceps purpurea, the causal agent of ergot.

BACKGROUND: Ergot, caused by the fungal pathogen Claviceps purpurea, infects the female flowers of a range of cereal crops, including wheat. To understand the interaction between C. purpurea and hexaploid wheat we undertook an extensive examination of the reprogramming of the wheat transcriptome in response to C. purpurea infection through floral tissues (i.e. the stigma, transmitting and base ovule tissues of the ovary) and over time. RESULTS: C. purpurea hyphae were observed to have grown into and down the stigma at 24 h (H) after inoculation. By 48H hyphae had grown through the transmitting tissue into the base, while by 72H hyphae had surrounded the ovule. By 5 days (D) the ovule had been replaced by fungal tissue. Differential gene expression was first observed at 1H in the stigma tissue. Many of the wheat genes differentially transcribed in response to C. purpurea infection were associated with plant hormones and included the ethylene (ET), auxin, cytokinin, gibberellic acid (GA), salicylic acid and jasmonic acid (JA) biosynthetic and signaling pathways. Hormone-associated genes were first detected in the stigma and base tissues at 24H, but not in the transmitting tissue. Genes associated with GA and JA pathways were seen in the stigma at 24H, while JA and ET-associated genes were identified in the base at 24H. In addition, several defence-related genes were differential expressed in response to C. purpurea infection, including antifungal proteins, endocytosis/exocytosis-related proteins, NBS-LRR class proteins, genes involved in programmed cell death, receptor protein kinases and transcription factors. Of particular interest was the identification of differential expression of wheat genes in the base tissue well before the appearance of fungal hyphae, suggesting that a mobile signal, either pathogen or plant-derived, is delivered to the base prior to colonisation. CONCLUSIONS: Multiple host hormone biosynthesis and signalling pathways were significantly perturbed from an early stage in the wheat - C. purpurea interaction. Differential gene expression at the base of the ovary, ahead of arrival of the pathogen, indicated the potential presence of a long-distance signal modifying host gene expression

Multi-layer Biosensor for Pre-symptomatic Detection of Puccinia strifformis, the Causal Agent of Yellow Rust

The yellow rust of wheat (caused by Puccinia striiformis f. sp. tritici) is a devastating fungal infection that is responsible for significant wheat yield losses. The main challenge with the detection of this disease is that it can only be visually detected on the leaf surface between 7 and 10 days after infection, and by this point, counter measures such as the use of fungicides are generally less effective. The hypothesis of this study is to develop and use a compact electrochemical-based biosensor for the early detection of P. striiformis, thus enabling fast countermeasures to be taken. The biosensor that was developed consists of three layers. The first layer mimics the wheat leaf surface morphology. The second layer consists of a sucrose/agar mixture that acts as a substrate and contains a wheat-derived terpene volatile organic compound that stimulates the germination and growth of the spores of the yellow rust pathogen P. s. f. sp. tritici. The third layer consists of a nonenzymatic glucose sensor that produces a signal once invertase is produced by P. striiformis, which comes into contact with the second layer, thereby converting sucrose to glucose. The results show the proof that this innovative biosensor can enable the detection of yellow rust spores in 72 h