Supporting and Enabling Scholarship: Developing and Sharing Expertise in Online Learning and Teaching

In a highly competitive, rapidly changing higher education market, universities need to be able to generate pedagogical expertise quickly and ensure that it is applied to practice. Since teaching approaches are constantly evolving, partly responding to emerging learning technologies, there is a need to foster ways to keep abreast on an ongoing basis. This paper explores how a small-scale project, the Teaching Online Panel (TOP), used scholarship investigations and a bottom-up approach to enhance one particular aspect of academic practice – online learning and teaching. The experiences of TOP are useful for identifying: - how a scholarship approach can help develop academic expertise - its contribution to enhancing understanding of staff’s different roles in the University - ways of developing the necessary supportive network for those undertaking such scholarship - the effectiveness of staff development which is peer-led rather than imposed from above - how practical examples can stimulate practice development - the relevance of literature on communities of practice and landscapes of practice for scholarship - the important role of ‘brokers’ to facilitate the dissemination of scholarship findings - the benefits to the brokers’ own professional roles - the challenges of sustaining such an approach and lessons learnt. This study has relevance for those involved in supporting scholarship or delivering staff development in Higher Education

“Why bother?” Learner perceptions of digital literacy skills development - learning design implications

Digital literacy skills are essential for today’s citizens. These skills are expected for everyday personal use, learning and effective performance at work. The UK’s Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (HE) and employers therefore require graduates to be able to demonstrate these skills. However, the cost of UK university education is rising substantially and cash- and time-poor learners must decide what to prioritise. In this context they may favour subject-specific learning rather than skills development. How therefore can we engage learners in developing their digital literacy? The UK’s Open University is a distance learning institution. Its Faculty of Health & Social Care (FH&SC) has evolved different approaches for digital literacy skills development using technology-enhanced learning, based on skills resources that are either generic (usable by any FH&SC module) or are context-dependent and module-specific. Our Evaluating Approaches to Developing Digital Literacy Skills (EADDLS) project is exploring learner experiences of digital literacy skills development to identify their needs and preferences, to inform how we can optimise learning designs to better engage and support learners. Furthermore, since skills activities are widely required across different programmes, there is keen interest in the pedagogical and resourcing implications of using generic activities, as opposed to module-specific activities that are more challenging to share and maintain. We therefore also explore the influence of design features such as generic or module-specific contexts. We gathered data from online questionnaires (n=298) and interviews (n=18) involving learners from three modules. Focusing on the qualitative interview data, we explore what learners value and why, including links between attitude, motivation, and preferred learning designs. We identify reasons for certain findings from our quantitative data, e.g. a preference for integrated, module-specific activities over separate, generic activities and suggest a framework for managing activity complexity based on familiarity with the skill and the context

“What do I need?” – evaluating learner perceptions of digital literacy skills development to inform enhancements to learning design

The ability to demonstrate digital literacy skills, defined by the European Commission as the confident and critical use of ICT for work, leisure, learning and communication, is a key requirement for graduates, demanded both by the UK Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education and by employers. These skills enable learners in the current digital environment to engage effectively in study programmes, in the workplace and at home. The Open University’s Faculty of Health & Social Care (FH&SC), working closely with the OU Library, has evolved different approaches to digital literacy skills development using technology-enhanced learning and based on activities which are either ‘generic’ (usable by any FH&SC module) or are context-dependent and module-specific. The Evaluating Approaches to Developing Digital Literacy Skills (EADDLS) project explores learner perceptions of their digital literacy skills development in modules using different approaches, and considers the implications for learning design, including the pedagogical and resourcing implications of using generic versus customised activities. The project aims to identify design features which optimise learner engagement in skills activities, looking in particular at factors motivating learner engagement in skills development and at how design features (such as contextualisation of skills activities in terms of relevance to subject or working practice) influence learner perceptions and experiences of their skills development. This paper focuses on the initial analysis of qualitative data collected from interviews (n=18) across three modules. We reveal what skills learners value and why, and suggest features of learning design that may be important motivators. For example, learners with greater prior knowledge of a skill need to be able to easily identify which parts of an activity deal with skills they already have and which parts develop new skills

Prepared for Practice? Exploring and Evaluating the First Six Months of Post-qualified Practice in Social Work

This project explores how effective the Social work degree has been in enabling graduates to feel prepared for the practice of social work. Quantitative and qualitative data from online questionnaires and interviews with twelve graduates revealed that graduates perceived they were more confident, despite coming from a background where they were already practicing. They identified ways that this confidence (including in ICT and IL skills) has contributed to their preparedness for practice and their willingness to shape and challenge practices. Areas of practice where graduates felt least prepared included working with hostile service users. In terms of ICT skills development, variations in systems and technologyrelated practices resulted in tensions between the degree providing supportive guidance which fit particular software or social work settings compared with less supportive generic guidance which might be more widely applicable. IL skills were perceived to have more generic applicability

Collecting Questionnaire and Interview Data: Evaluating Approaches to Developing Digital Literacy Skills

This case study describes a method of collecting data on students’ experiences of developing digital literacy (ICT) skills as part of their course at the UK’s Open University. An online reflective quiz was integrated into three health and social care modules, offering students the opportunity both to reflect on their experience of developing skills, and to give feedback to module authors. To make this quiz engaging and motivate students to complete it we used a variety of question types, including some that were interactive. We also used the quiz, very successfully, to invite students for interview. Recruiting interviewees can be a difficult process, especially with distance learners. Although there was no evidence of higher response rates, there are indications our data quality may be better than often achieved with standard questionnaires. Respondents value the reflective and interactive aspects of the quiz. Some question types, while improving the respondent experience, require extra work to extract data for analysis, but we suggest the effort is worthwhile in terms of the quality of data generated. Our method reaches all students on a module, not just a sample, and allows us to collect longitudinal data from repeated module presentations

"Why should I?" Engaging learners in digital literacy skills development

In the current digital environment, it is becoming increasingly vital for learners to develop digital literacy skills. The UK’s Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (HE) requires graduates to be able to demonstrate digital literacy. Employers consider these skills to be essential in the workplace. Recent changes to the funding of HE by the UK Government mean that the personal cost to the learner is rising dramatically and, as a result, learners themselves increasingly expect UK university courses to demonstrate relevance to the workplace. But despite all this, some learners may not fully engage in digital literacy skills development, instead concentrating on the subject-specific content of their modules. We explore learner experiences of digital literacy skills development in an attempt to understand why learners fail to perceive the relevance of the skills content of their module, or at least give it low priority. The UK’s Open University (OU) is a distance-learning institution. Its Faculty of Health & Social Care (FH&SC) has evolved different approaches to digital literacy skills development using technology-enhanced learning, based on skills resources that are either ‘generic’ (usable within any FH&SC module) or context-dependent and module-specific. Our Evaluating Approaches to Developing Digital Literacy Skills (EADDLS) project is exploring learner perceptions of skills activities and our overall skills development strategy, with data collected from online questionnaires (N=298) and interviews (N=18) involving learners from three modules. This paper presents findings from an analysis of the quantitative questionnaire data, comparing types of skills resources, and approaches to digital skills development in terms of learner perceptions and degree of engagement. We also look at learner perceptions and engagement in relation to the demographic factors gender, age and previous education and explore whether demographic factors influence individual learner preferences for the type of learning design, such as use of generic resources versus contextualisation of skills activities that emphasises the relevance of skills to the subject and/or working practice. Our aims are to identify good practice in learning design and what demographic factors, if any, need to be considered in learning design to support individual learners appropriately, and so optimise engagement

Student experiences and perceptions of digital literacy skills development: engaging learners by design?

In the current digital environment, it is vital for learners to develop digital literacy skills. The UK’s Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (HE) requires graduates to demonstrate digital literacy. Employers consider these skills essential. With the high cost of HE in the UK, learners themselves also expect university courses to demonstrate relevance to the workplace. Nevertheless, some learners may not fully engage in digital literacy skills development, instead concentrating on the subject-specific content of their modules. The Faculty of Health & Social Care (FH&SC) at the UK’s Open University uses different approaches to digital literacy skills development, based on skills resources that are either ‘generic’ (usable by any FH&SC module) or module specific. By exploring student experiences of digital literacy skills development, we aim to understand what motivates learners to engage with the skills content of their module. We collected data from online questionnaires and interviews involving learners from three modules and present findings from an analysis of the quantitative questionnaire data, supported by qualitative interview data, where relevant. We look at learner perceptions and engagement in relation to the demographic factors gender, age, previous education, disability and financial status and whether these factors influence individual learner preferences for learning design, such as use of generic resources versus contextualisation of skills activities within the module. We aim to identify good practice in learning design and what demographic factors need to be considered to support individual learners appropriately, and so optimise engagement

Are learner perceptions of digital literacy skills teaching affected by demographic factors?

It is becoming increasingly important for learners to develop digital literacy skills (defined by the European Commission as the confident and critical use of ICT for work, leisure, learning and communication). The Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education requires graduates to demonstrate digital literacy and employers demand these vital employability skills. And, with the rising cost of university education, learners themselves increasingly expect courses to demonstrate relevance to the workplace. Despite this, learners may not fully engage in skills development, giving priority instead to subject-specific learning. We therefore explore learner experiences of digital literacy skills development in an attempt to understand why learners fail to perceive the relevance of the skills content of their module, or at least give it low priority. The Open University’s Faculty of Health & Social Care (FH&SC) has evolved different approaches to digital skills development using technology-enhanced learning, based on skills resources that are either ‘generic’ (usable within any FH&SC module) or context-dependent and module-specific. Our Evaluating Approaches to Developing Digital Literacy Skills (EADDLS) project is exploring learner perceptions of skills activities and our overall skills development strategy, with data collected from online questionnaires and interviews involving learners from three modules. We present findings from analysis of some of the quantitative questionnaire data in relation to three demographic factors: age, gender and previous educational level. We consider to what extent learners’ engagement in and/or perceptions of skills development correlate with demographic factors. We also explore whether demographic factors are related to learner preferences for the type of learning design, for example, use of generic resources versus contextualisation of skills activities that emphasises relevance to the subject and/or the workplace. Our aim is to identify what demographic factors, if any, need to be considered in learning design to support individual learners appropriately, and thereby optimise engagement

Technology-enhanced learning for social work education and practice

About the book: Social work practice in the twenty-first century is continually changing. Contemporary practitioners work in complex areas and have to do so quickly and competently. This text helps qualified social workers, as well as those about to qualify, to build on their initial studies in order to develop professionally. The volume considers not just what you need to know to practice, but how you develop in criticality and capability – in particular, how you can respond effectively in times of uncertainty and change to become more effective. It examines new roles, identities and contexts, including some international perspectives and the impact of globalisation. Each chapter discusses the contexts of practice (such as law, policies and theories); the contributions made both by those who practice social work and those who use its services; and the capabilities and skills that social workers need to develop in order to deal with complexity in social work. Making use of The Open University’s expertise in providing cutting edge but accessible course materials and its distinct approach to social work practice, this textbook includes underpinning knowledge, practical applications and critical reflexivity. It includes questions for further reflection and application , plentiful examples and suggestions for further reading. Aimed at the newly qualified practitioner and the developing professional, Professional Development in Social Work is written by a team of authors with extensive practice and teaching experience. It will be particularly useful to students undertaking post-qualifying training or in the final year of their qualifying studies