I recently (June 2015) became a UWE Learning & Teaching Associate Fellow. I have a Postgraduate Certificate in Online and Distance Education from the Open University (PgCert ODE). I also have a Certificate in Teaching English as a Foreign Language for Adults (RSA/Cambridge CTEFLA) plus ten years’ experience of teaching international students. I taught university foundation courses in social sciences, computing fundamentals and academic skills; working with international students preparing for entry onto Bachelor’s and Master’s programmes in UK universities.

Teaching international students frequently involved designing and delivering carefully scaffolded authentic communication activities, and performing practical and creative learning tasks. This approach is consistent with the ideas of Social Constructivism and Activity Theory which I was introduced to at the Open University in 2010, when I studied for the Postgraduate Certificate in Online and Distance Education (Pg Cert ODE).

Delivering information

Effective delivery of information to learners is an important role in teaching and I train and support lecturers to do this in a range of ways. For example:

• Developing audio visual material using Adobe Presenter for enhanced PowerPoint presentation with embedded audio narration and formative quizzes; using Kaltura for recording webcam and screencapture videos to introduce students to courses and/or to deliver mini lectures; or using Panopto to record live lectures delivered in classrooms and lecture theatres.
• I have helped lecturers to create material for students to engage with at home in order to facilitate a ‘flipped’ approach to learning.

Collaboration and discussion

Simply delivering information and expecting learners to absorb it does not equate to good teaching, however. Another important aspect of teaching involves fostering activity, collaboration and dialogue to facilitate learning – an essential component in social constructivist approaches to teaching.

• I introduced the use of wikis for group projects to a module for students of architecture to enable students to collaborate on a group project. This online space has affordances which enable collaboration and communication (e.g. collaborative editing and threaded commenting).
• I have introduced the use of Piazza to several modules and programmes as a means for students to ask and answer questions collaboratively and in the open, enabling all users to benefit from the questions and discussions therein. It combines features of wikis, discussion forums and FAQ systems.
• I led the introduction of TurningPoint/ResponseWare to foster greater discussion and questioning in lectures, in order to make them a less didactic and more collaborative and interactive experience.

Feedback

I am aware of the vital role that constructive and timely feedback plays in helping students to learn. To facilitate this I have:

• trained and supported lecturers to use the screen capture functionality in Kaltura to record video feedback on written summative assignments. This gives students with much richer and more extensive feedback than could be written in the same amount of time.
• explored with staff the use of formative feedback via the ‘comments’ functionality in PebblePad, and in wiki and blog systems.

Reflective approach to learning

I have a good understanding of the role that reflection plays in learning – encouraging and scaffolding students to consider what they have learnt, how they learnt it, what they could do differently, how to address the things they do not understand, and how to make the best of the things they do understand.

I am the lead administrator for PebblePad e-portfolio platform in the faculty, a technology which can be used to facilitate a reflective approach to learning. I am responsible for its support and deployment in the faculty.

• I set up the spaces (PebblePad Workspaces with associated assignments, conversation areas, feedback settings, plus access for staff, students and external assessors) and develop the assets (workbooks,  blogs, webfolios, page templates etc.) in PebblePad to enable students to record and reflect on their learning activities.
• I advise, encourage and support lecturers to set tasks for students which provide space and time for reflection.

My reflections

I have found that university lecturers often need ideas and support to move beyond the the didactic information delivery model typical of much ‘lecturing’. This contrasts with my experience of teachers of English as a foreign language (EFL), who tend to have highly developed expertise in facilitating communication and task based approaches to learning.

I was trained as an EFL teacher to keep Teacher Talking Time (TTT) to a minimum in class (in order to increase student-student time on communication) and to use the Socratic method of dialogue and questioning to check understanding of key concepts – to ask rather than tell. I believe this equates with the notion that teachers should be a ‘guide on the side’ rather than ‘the sage on the stage’: acting as facilitators of learning rather than providers of information. This foundational understanding of teaching and learning has helped me greatly in my role as a Learning Technologist

Technology is changing approaches to teaching and learning and the roles of learners, teachers and support staff. One example which encapsulates this change is the recently popular ‘flipped classroom’ approach. With the expansion of the Internet and World Wide Web, high quality information (including academic content from leading universities) is now easily accessible and largely free, for those in parts of the world with easy Internet access, at least.

With easy access to information the need for lecturers to deliver information orally to students in large (and expensive) lecture theatres is reduced. The challenge for teachers and learners to convert that information into usable knowledge and skills remains, however.

One of the roles of a Learning Technologist is, in my opinion, to keep abreast of  the educational technologies that can be used to support lecturers following, for example, the flipped model. Moreover, it is to introduce lecturers to these ideas if they are not already aware, to help them understand how they may benefit learners, and to help them navigate and make effective use of the pedagogies and technologies involved.

However, possibly because of the relative newness of the role, we are sometimes eyed with suspicion as interlopers. I have experienced this with lecturers not wanting to hear teaching ideas from a person they see as (merely) providing IT help. This situation is exacerbated when senior members of staff use us as ad hoc IT support, or when our managers set us to work on tasks that, in my opinion, are the responsibility of IT staff rather than learning technologists.

Evidence

For evidence of my understanding of teaching, learning and/or assessment processes see the following posts: