Text and speech

First notes- interviews with graduates from a fully online work-focused BA

Personalisation - All modules are designed to enable students in a wide range of employment contexts to personalise their study focus in order to identify and achieve professional development targets and demonstrate progression of academic skills.

Research - each module involves the application of research strategies in small scale projects to enhance individual professional practice and contribute to organisational learning.

Digital competence - students explore communications technologies and the effective use of technologies relevant to their current work role and to their career aspirations.

Interviews were conducted using Schutze's narrative interview method. Audio recordings were listened to then transcribed by reducing the speed by 30% to match my typing speed. Audio recordings of Skype or Phone interviews were captured using Audacity, these were saved using a participant code; P1, P2, etc. Each was listened to at normal speed then transcribed by slowing the playback to match my typing speed. Immersion in data has proved valuable in my past research, at this point I had immersed myself in the interview three times. The transcript was typed on a plain text page, in order to analyse it i reduced it to smaller chunks and pasted each into subsequent cells in the first column of a spreadsheet. This was the first stage deconstruction, the breaking down of the narrative into meaningful discrete units in oder to manage the analysis.

The next step on my spreadsheet was to add emphasis markers. Additions such as [conviction], [questioning self] or [tentative] indicate the nature of the words as indicated by tone of voice. Adding this layer involved a detailed listen to the recording, this time with lots of pausing and rewinding to check emphasis or meaning. My perception of each narrative became increasingly detailed as it was broken down into to little chunks of a few sentences.

Using a spreadsheet is a logical way of dealing with a complex narrative. Having examined the transcripts in this way I felt I had become over occupied with detail and needed to view the data in a different way.  I now wanted to be a removed and immersed listener to the whole story of the narrative. To listen to it in the same way I would a radio play. Sea kayaking from point to point on open sea can involve hours of rhythmic repetitive movement with very little distraction, in gentle sea conditions it is immensely calming and meditative and promotes a great state of mind for reflection. I transferred two interview recordings to my phone, put it in a waterproof phone case put my headphones on and set off for a gentle sea kayak trip with a GoPro mounted on deck so I could shout out any notes I wanted to make. 

Listening to students talking in this way did help me at least feel like I was more able to mentally step inside their skin and walk around in their existence as promoted by Harper Lee via Atticus. P4 opens by discussing why she chose the course, it is immediately apparent that the phrase: 'family comes first' was a high level governing factor and that when this participant was looking for a course she was looking for a 'manageable course’ in order to achieve hear family first ideal. Analysis of the whole transcript via spreadsheet shows that for this participant the underlying affective driver remained 'family first'. Listening to the whole of the narrative while kayaking it clear that in every instance P4 considers the manageability of the experience. Literature based research and use of technologies is not perceived as relavant to career needs so there was no attempt to excel in these areas but there was care to ensure an adequate pass. The participant had set clear parameters in order to fit study to life without significantly compromising the life experience for those around her. Her strategy for achieving this was to create a detailed individual learning plan and to modify it regularly to track progression. The more detail she put into the ILP the more useful it became and the more confident she felt in respect of her ability to be flexible. 

BA LTR Major Project titles

Recent major project titles implemented by BA Learning Technology and Research students

Action Inquiry 

An action inquiry into how my practice can be changed to provide more effective support for an autistic child with limited speech capabilities in social interactions. (Learning Support Assistant).

An action inquiry to determine if my practice can be enhanced by the implementation of differentiation to my Work Skills lessons. (Cover Supervisor).

An action inquiry to improve ICT support across a school federation. (ITNetwork
Manager).

An action inquiry into how to improve a middle school website. (TA).

An action inquiry into improving interventions for children with SEN in the primary school setting.

An action inquiry to improve communication in a complex needs classroom. 

An action inquiry to improve the use of email in a university department. 

An action inquiry into improving the delivery of interventions for children with SEN in a school setting.

An action inquiry into how to improve a middle school website. (IT coordinator)

An investigation into improving my time management and organisation skills. (Teaching Assistant, special school).

An action inquiry to develop lesson introductions in a primary school. (Higher Level Teaching Assistant).

Improving how I contribute to training opportunities for coaching staff within my organisation. (Football Development Officer).

An action inquiry into how the development of an online location for shared knowledge can improve the management of University accommodation. (Residence and Accommodation Officer).

An investigation into improving my time management and planning skills. (Dual role Verbal Behaviour therapist/Teaching Assistant).

How can I improve my teaching skills through improving my communication skills? (Teaching assistant - secondary school).

An Action Inquiry to Develop the use of the Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) in a Primary School. (ICT leader, unqualified teacher).

Literature based studies
Literature review: outdoor play in Early Years education. 

Literature review: the effects of male teachers in a primary school setting and how this can have both a positive and negative effect on achievement in both boys and girls.

Literature review: The outdoor environment as a facilitator in expanding young children’s capacity for learning. 

Literature review: The effect of male teachers in primary schools on the achievement of boys.

  

Literature review: Traveller and Gypsy Children: education and inclusion.

Literature review: Is there a consensus as to the value of identifying learning styles in helping children learn at a special school?. (Teaching Assistant, KS3). 

Evaluative studies

A case study of the effectiveness of mobile technology to support teaching and learning. (ICT coordinator, primary school).

A case study of personal experience in Work Based Learning. (Receptionist for an accountancy firm).

A case study in music education. (Peripatetic music teacher). 

A case study of the use of technology for teaching in a secondary school. 

  

A case study of good practice in collaborative working between a teacher and support assistant within a primary school.

A review of literature on the impact of technology use on learning in the classroom.

A case study of how effectively iPads are used by staff and students to support teaching and learning in a school federation.

A case study evaluating the benefits of an organisational merger to create a single delivery unit within a central Government department. (Civil Servant).

A case study to investigate collaborative working between a teacher and a learning support worker. (HLTA).

A case study of the techniques used to devise a curriculum plan for the subject of Information and Communications Technology.

Case study: Professional Development for a Higher Level Teaching Assistants in a Special School.

A case study of Assessment for Learning within an infant school. (HLTA).

An evaluative case study of approaches to Information, Advice and Guidance in post 16 apprenticeship programmes.

An evaluative case study of the Using & Applying strand of Key Stage 1 Mathematics.

Case Study Investigation into how effectively mobile devices are used by staff in the Education Village Academy Trust to support teaching and learning.

Research into the theory of middle child syndrome and a case study of real experiences of being a middle child and how these experiences relate to issues identified in the literature. (Family-based study by a mother). 

An evaluative case study of access to online homework within a primary school. 

A case study of the techniques used to devise a curriculum plan for the subject of Information and Communications Technology.

An evaluative case study of the Using & Applying strand of Key Stage 1 Mathematics. 

An evaluative case study of assessment for learning strategies in a primary school. (Deputy Manager). 

Case study: Professional Development for Higher Level Teaching Assistants in a Special School. 

A case study of Assessment for Learning within an infant school.

A case study to evaluate staff attitudes and levels of engagement following the reorganisation of delivery functions in the DfE Academies Group (DfE civil Servant).

An evaluative study of the development of an app for PE teachers.

An evaluation of the use of visual cues in a primary school setting. 

An evaluative study of strategies to combat bullying in a school.

An Evaluative Study of IT service delivery in my department. (IT specialist, car manufacturing company).

An evaluative study of learning through play and storytelling to develop children’s literacy skills. 

An evaluative study of the design, development and use of a self-evaluation resource to promote appropriate behaviour in an Early Years setting. 

  

An evaluative study of the importance of creativity and creative learning in an Early Years setting.

An evaluative case study of approaches to Information, Advice, and Guidance in post 16 apprenticeship programmes.

An evaluative case study of access to online homework within a primary school.

An evaluative study of the advantages and practicality of server virtualisation for a modern secondary college. (ICT Co-ordinator).

An evaluative study of teaching logic skills within the computing curriculum. (IT technician, secondary school).

FOS day 3

Twitter shower discussing 3Es Framework. 

From this initial introduction it seemed to me that there is an assumption that students will at first have relatively low levels skills and that learning design should help them progress across the continuum towards developing an deploying higher level skills.

It sounded a bit prescriptive at first I was left thinking what if students in a group are not all at the same level of tech or learning competence? What about mixed group work where students scaffold each other? As the Twitter shower progressed I warmed to it a bit. It certainly looks like it could be a useful set of prompts for individuals or small differentiated groups.  

In the Twitter shower/storm/deluge there seemed to be a fair consensus towards the value of early empowerment and ownership amongst students. I need to read the storify to check that it is all a bit swirling round at the moment. mostly due to me experimenting with Tweetdeck, TweetChat and Hootsuite during the hour, rather aptly I was seeing in the Tweets that others were doing the same and we were also touching on the value of iterative experimenting / play with no fear of failure / seeing experimenting and failure as a potentially valuable learning process and the need to be clear to students that they are allowed to fail so they can learn from that experience. 

I spent a fair bit of time thinking about the structure of my own practice.

Gaining credit by learning from things that do not go well is built into the Ultraversity model for learning design. That partly reduces the risk of failing a module but that is not to get weak students and easy ride to an award it is to encourage experimentation - sometimes radical experiments lead to  useful innovative solutions and I don't want to hold anyone back from trying new things. There is no point in setting out on a journey that is bound to fail, many errors can be avoided by good planning. There is ownership of the learning from day 1. Students develop an ILP or research plan in the first few weeks of a module that shows how they will adapt the module to fit with their own workplace context and personal needs. There is a tutor review and negotiating of approaches process built in, this is supported by peer - peer review as well so that generally ensures that the student's proposed approach will enable them to meet the learning outcomes and that any errors in interpreting goals or designing activities are identified and rectified before they become problematic.

We adapted Richard Winter's Patchwork Text' approach to encompass assessment of a wide range of electronic media and so call our version the Patchwork Text and Media approach. At the module level activities are broken down into discrete but related patches, these are then stitched together via a retrospective critical commentary. In this the students self evaluate what they have learned about learning on both the personal and organisational level. This is because these are work focused students integrating study into their work activities with the aim of improving personal practice and contributing to organisational learning as well. 

The degree is process driven with themes relating to the title: 'Learning, Technology and Research'.

A module might have a structure as below:

Patch 1. Literature review. Learning about theory and developing a critical voice while doing so. some of the key theory areas we cover include reflective practice, action inquiry, prototyping and testing, professional development, research design, presentation of information. These are then interpreted as learning processes students can apply.

Patch 2. Design how to apply the theory to improve practice in the workplace. This is a problem identification and solution design phase, the problem may be how to improve something that has gone wrong, something that is weak or something that is already good but could be better. Ideally some of the modules will focus on addressing professional development or appraisal targets the student has.

Patch 3. Implementation of theory to solve a problem.  This is the active research phase, processes from theory are used to implement change, data is collected and evaluated, iterations of improvement cycles progress, findings are articulated. 

Patch 4. Project evaluation. Having applied theory to practice the literature is re-evaluated in the light of experience - was it interpreted correctly in the lit review; did it stand up to scrutiny when applied in the real world? What was learned about practice through this approach to problem solving / implementing improvement strategies? How could the findings contribute to improving practice in the wider organisation? 

Stitching. Retrospective evaluative commentary. In this activity each patch is reflected on from a learning perspective; identifying what went well, what could have been improved and what the improvements might be. If there were weaknesses in the interpretation of literature for example the student might devise a better way of approaching searching for literature and developing a systematic review process. Less visible aspects are examined such as their participation in peer review, their use of technologies or of the library and other services. Recommendations for how they will enhance their learning strategies ready for the next semester are devised. 

Students are encouraged to consider; who was I  - what did I learn  - who am I becoming - what do I need to do to become the person I aspire to be? 

Fos day 2

Ye like with my day 1 blog I have written too much again but this is my learning journal so reflective notes for my benefit to help me think through what I have been doing and learning.

I spent a little more time in the FOS G+ community G+ still doesn't feel like a great place for hosting large communities, like with lots of things they can be fit for purpose but just don't attract some people and really work for others - Twitter is perhaps one of the best recentish examples of social network software that has the Marmite love it or hate it touch. I at first was not impressed but came to appreciate it over time, I have used G+ for many years and apart from the Hangouts it has never grown on me. That might be partly because of all the stuff that happens outside of what I would like to happen http://ii-learning.blogspot.co.uk/2015/07/g.html but is mostly just due to how it is organised.

The second chat was focused on flexible pedagogies with this as the core reading: https://www.heacademy.ac.uk/sites/default/files/resources/npi_report.pdf

I popped into the chat stream this morning to see what had been added since I left and James Clay had posted a link to his previous thoughts on informal learning - http://elearningstuff.net/tag/learning-spaces/  I agree with the thoughts about not being able to design informal learning, as soon design by a tutor or teacher creeps into in the real world the learning becomes formalised although that does depend on your conceptualisation of what formalised means. Discussions I have had over the last 18 years about this have tended to include reference to what happens in organisations in spaces such as around the water cooler or coffee area. Here conversation can be less formal and perhaps more spontaneous but I question how free that really is with the potential for a line manager to be round the corner or to arrive without being noticed - do people hold back? Does conversation tend to be more focused on gossip or moaning about colleagues or the organisation rather than learning from each other about stuff that is not directly related to accredited or work-focused, role-related learning?

One of the first online learning communities I joined included in its online design the provision of spaces for informal learning, it was hosted in FirstClass and included community folders tagged as the kinds of places people might hang out informally, there was a bar, a bus, a garden, a train, and more besides. It felt artificial and there was a lot of talk about e-moderating back then (Gilly Salmon style) so a suspicion that there would be some staff monitoring so it did not feel totally informal to some members although there was plenty of off topic discussion it mostly seemed to be social posturing and arranging liaisons. Today with more social spaces available I think it is better to suggest that students self organise in spaces that are tutor free/ Having discussed informal learning and made the suggestion I have been provided with insights into such spaces and they do seem to sometimes provoke strong bonding and valuable discussions. When the BA LTR course first started a small group of students did this on their own initiative and created  http://www.ultrastudents.co.uk/  more recently LTR cohorts have use G+ circles as informal spaces and I think there is some Facebook related interaction as well. Although the G+ spaces were informal the discussions seem to have often been very much focused on course related topics, I think the move might have been more related to dissatisfaction with the course discussion software limits on layout and tools rather than a need to escape tutors for informal learning. Several groups have then invited tutors into the spaces but that risked the whole course facilitation moving out of the institutional VLE and I was not keen on that fragmentation so suggested they post key points from their informal discussions into the VLE spaces.

We were asked to add an image that represented flexible pedagogies I had really struggled with that during the day and could only think of a blank canvas on which tutors and students could negotiate what and how they would learn in an equal partnership co-learning co-constructing. Given we are talking about flexible pedagogies for courses that was perhaps a step too far as negotiation would have to include topic and accreditation criteria. I would love to try that but I think perhaps a little too disruptive to gain institutional adoption. The notion of equality was questioned in the Twitter shower I think it rather came out of the rapidity of the discussion - equal in terms of mutual respect in this context as the tutor does hold the keys to what needs to be achieved and how that might be achieved within the framework of the institution so there is some hierarchy implicit.  n the time-limited pressure of a one hour chat I eventually hit on an old picture of a day with friends on Vilarrube beach near where we lived in Galicia. I wasn't impressed with myself but it served the purpose of stimulating my thinking about flexible pedagogies.

This kind of setting provides some materials, some structure, some limitations, but also adds some freedom in that adjacent to the castle that we had all set out to communally build were independently built structures such as dragons and cars, the boys can be seen in the distance starting to make a tunnel world -  their idea - dozens of holes linked by dozens of tunnels. Temperature was in the high 30s so forays into the sea were frequent. I guess that could equate to my needing breaks from study - diversions and mulling things over times to refresh the mind.

I have got a bit diverted into thinking about informal learning and identity, remembering just now about off topic discussions that developed integrated into the main online learning community discussions, I recall topics with stances being defended via vigorous evidence based debate such as creationism / evolution and the role of genetics and whether evolution can happen on a relatively rapid time-frame, particle physics and the possibilities of quantum computers - how will moving from binary to zero, one and 'simultaneous zero and one' affect calculating processes/power? Debate about single/multi-universe possibilities, discussions about cooking, health, keeping fit are just some of the seemingly spontaneous topics that come to mind and that fall into the informal learning category in my opinion. Some were spawned by course related topics such as discussing literature about reflective practice and flow theory leading to a chat about about the value of mulling critical incidents over when running or hill walking. All helped people learn, be that about how to express themselves and debate without causing or taking offence or how to find further information to bolster their arguments, or just how to have fun together with relative strangers who will not meet during a course.

I am more than happy for students and staff to chat about all sorts of things in the same space as their learning discussions, clear labelling of threads is important so those who want to can filter out what they do not want to be involved in. Sharing thoughts about what you are interested in helps convey identity, engaging in debates such as the creationism / evolution one also helps model good behaviour and critical friendship - debate the idea and accept difference rather than attacking it or getting angry about a person's stance. All very useful practice for engaging in course related critical peer review or debate.

One aspect that can limit flexibility is the mode of assessment, many institutions seem to have set processes for assessment that limit the product - submit a bound thesis, hand in an electronic file through something like Turnitin, post work in a community portal that picks certain things up as assessable, fill in an online quiz that is automatically marked there are many approaches and many of them impose limits; often text is to the forefront. One driver is reducing the time spent by markers, another is homogeneity so like is compared with like across a cohort. I had a discussion at the JISC connect more conference in Bristol and heard frustrated tutors complaining about the technological dog wagging the pedagogical tail - that is a situation that really limits pedagogy.

One of the aspects of the Ultraversity project I was very pleased to be associated with was the use of assessment by online portfolio. This amplifies how students can convey information both during the course of a module and at the point of assessment. There are very few restrictions as to what can be included, there is a limitation in that files have to be in the portfolio so can't be hosted online, this enables date stamping so ensures no changes are made after the submission date.  Assessors may not be able to install new software on their machines so access and interoperability is a key concern and addressed during semester to ensure that what is submitted can be assessed. File size can also be an issue although I have accepted portfolios that included single files of over 250Mb with agreement by prior negotiation that the creation of high resolution video was a work based competence so should be assessed in hi resolution format. There is no typical portfolio but over the three years a student might well have included at various times: Word, PDF, PowerPoint, Excel, various video formats, various audio formats, Prezi, screen shots of maps made using a range of concept mapping tools, Gant charts, animations, scanned paper sketches, electronic drawings, graphs and charts, images and posters, tables, diagrams, cartoons, Powtoons and more.

It was mentioned that institutions can be resistant to flexibility / innovation and I can't disagree but my experience at Anglia Ruskin has shown that they can also be willing to let people explore new approaches and to adopt some of what is learned into the mainstream. Economics are key to maintaining an institution and it is understandable that the new needs to be shown to have benefit before large scale investment can be directed along non -traditional vectors.

Since the chat I have also been thinking about what my online pedagogy is based on, I don't feel I can wear the badge of any specific learning theory, I am not an instructivist or constructivist, I don't really go for behaviourism and not keen on multiple intelligences and definitely not learning styles, I don't like dogma or didactic stances, I can't just accept 'truths' and don't see truths as permanent states or 'proof' or 'truth' as particularly useful concepts; proofs are limited by current strategies and often overthrown as time progresses understanding, 'truth' seems a dangerous concept that can limit thinking. I admired Alfred Korzybski and his idea in http://pialogue.info/books/Science-and-Sanity-Korzybski.pdf that the concept of 'is' is a limiting factor although it is a word that is hard to avoid using it should not be taken as meaning an absolute belief or state. When we say x is y we are only mapping our notion of what x might be; a map is not the territory.  Knowing is a fragile and individual thing, I can't believe in collective intelligences. I am not hugely keen on measuring students against set criteria but can accept that in most situations that is needed for credit bearing awards.

 I do want to help students develop critical thinking skills; to be aware of the fragility of knowledge and able to challenge their own internal constructions about reality; be able to articulate themselves well in whatever medium they choose; to listen to what others have to say; to listen/read deeply and critically and to say openly what they think without seeing any of it as needing to be set in stone or intransigent. I am sure that can be achieved by many people using many pedagogies and am still struggling as to whether it is possible to, or even worth, defining my own.

BA LTR course aims, elements and impact.

The BA LTR course arose out of the Ultraversity project in 2003. It places the workplace as the key context of study, students focus on developing professional expertise relevant to their current workplace role and acquiring further skills that provide a platform from which to achieve career progression and / or access to post-graduate learning.

 Students learn about research strategies and apply them in the workplace to evaluate and enhance their practice. They explore entrepreneurship by prototyping new uses of technologies and exploring the design and management of innovations to personal and workplace practice. The course aims to develop students as adept 'knowledge workers', effective practitioners who are also critically reflective agents of change, able to manage their own learning and professional development, to generate new knowledge and contribute to organisational development within and beyond their own workplace. See Kamtsiou et al. (2007, pp, 7-12).


Summary of key aims of the BA LTR course:

1. To develop a personal philosophy of learning, the use of technology and research which relates to their own work setting
2. To acquire the ability to analyse and synthesise knowledge of practice so as to solve practical problems and situations
3. To maintain a flexible approach to change as a participant, and awareness of their own power to influence change
4. To appreciate the enriching nature of working collaboratively in communities of inquiry that share insights and perspectives
5. To develop a continuing concern for their own professional development and the appropriate strategies to achieve this
6. To provide an appropriate foundation in professional and technical understanding, and knowledge and skills on which they can build through continuous professional development
7. To develop the skills of action inquiry as an enduring capacity for lifelong learning and improvement in the workplace
8. Develop the capacity to communicate to a wider audience.

Key components include:

Learning that is process rather than topic driven. This places the acquisition and application of strategies for research and professional development at the heart of the course so allowing significant personalisation of learning by individuals. Typically in each module, theory is initially explored through a critical review of literature, then by practical application of the theory in the workplace followed by further review of the effectiveness and impact of this experiential learning. This provides students with significant expertise in applying professional processes for personal and organisational development; key skills that have proved attractive to employees when students start looking for employment progression. The approach also maximises the diversity of workplaces the course is relevant to and consequently the potential range of students that might be attracted to it.

Reflective Practice and Action Inquiry are core approaches that students find valuable and adopt as life-long and life-wide strategies as implied in this comment from a student:

"BA LTR has opened up a spirit of inquiry within the cohort and made individuals challenge their use of technology. It is curiosity and a willingness to experiment that will lead to change. If teachers do not experiment with, or try and work with, technology then they will never ever get close to being in a position to grasp its fitness for purpose and therefore the potential to add value to learning using technology in and outside the classroom.”

Professional Development Planning. A review of workplace competences in the first semester enables students to identify appropriate professional development targets that can be met through personalising course study foci. Professional development progression is reviewed annually using a reflective process to ensure effective integration of work-based learning needs into the individual program of study. This key theme culminates with a focused module in the final semester where students develop a systematic approach to preparing for future employment and further learning. They review their progress and create a graduate skills portfolio that evidences achievement and shows how they plan to further develop their work-based and academic skills. During this final module they also develop an evidence based impact study that shows how their activity had impacted on self, colleagues and the wider workplace. 

Flexible learning design. This is achieved in part by placing variety / flexibility within one fixed set of modules rather than achieving it via students selecting from a bank of modules. This requires negotiation of study focus between student and tutor to ensure personalisation of study is appropriate to meet the learning outcomes of any one module. This is achieved via module specific individual learning contracts or research proposals. The approach emerged from a cybernetic analysis of traditional learning design using Beer's (1985) viable systems analysis. The distribution of variety is shown in this diagram taken from a recent EdD paper:

This variety analysis approach was also applied to reduce complexity of module resources by breaking down the activities into a range of smaller patches that accumulate over the semester. These patches are 'stitched' together via a concluding self assessment of meta-learning in the form of a retrospective analytical commentary on the learning activities carried out in each patch. With work based study courses it is also important to allow some flexibility in the pace of study within a module as students may be faced with unexpected changes to their workflow that interrupt study. An insight into strategies for this can be read here.

Technology enhanced learning. Developing significant expertise in using current and emerging digital technologies is a key theme that is integrated throughout the course. Students learn how to locate, filter and retrieve online information - a key skill for today's learners and one that is critical to developing a professional knowledge base. The ability to 'locate, learn from and contribute to' relevant professional networks is another essential skill they develop; this enables them to participate in the knowledge society. 

Digital technologies are progressing at a rate that many workplaces find difficult to keep up with; they have become an essential professional tool and the progression is likely to continue with technologies becoming more ambient and all pervasive, figure 13 on this post summarises some potential medium and longer term developments as identified by the TELMap group at a meeting in Brussels 2013. 

Prestridge (2012), Wastiau et al. (2013), Donohue (2015) and Wheeler (2015), show there is a pressing need to deal with this complexity and discuss the value of integrating ICT skills development into learning systems. They and many others point out the need for adequate teacher competence, in particular the need for teachers to be able to make appropriate decisions about what, when and how to use ICT. Beetham, McGill and Littlejohn (2009) and Beetham and Sharpe (2010) argue that in the modern digital or knowledge society there is a need for all of society to develop strategies to handle the complexity of information and to incorporate emerging technologies into both life and learning. Over recent decades the provision of free at source social media has resulted in students and the wider public being able to progress from consuming media to creating and publishing their own media, Carneiro (2010) suggested that ICT enhanced learning requires new theories as the learning possibilities are more complex than those encapsulated by traditional theories such as behaviourism, cognitivism and constructivism. He offered the term ‘Generativism’ the ongoing derivation of new meaning through sense-making from experience and a shared body of knowledge. Students on the BA LTR course will recognise all of these concepts as part of their learning landscape.

Social learning and communities of practice.  The one-to-many and many-to-many opportunities provided by structured social discourse in online community software is critical to the success of this model. This evolved from the traditional distance learning model where a tutor would speak separately, but less frequently, to each individual and so often end up repeating the same message many times. 
The course deploys a largely asynchronous approach to course discussion, this is initially located in institutionally provided software but students often go on to self organise supplemental communities in a range of social media. The core communities are collaborative online communities of practice and inquiry with the module foci as the practice at the heart of the community and facilitated discussion as the glue that bonds the communities. The integration of community of Inquiry and Community of Practice concepts (Wenger )is discussed here.

Constructive alignment in review and feedback. In order to attain high level marks it is important that students are able to use constructive alignment strategies to self assess their work in progress against module expectations, module specific assessment criteria and generic standards of scholarly practice. The development of self assessment skills is supported by the facilitated peer review process where students are encouraged to offer objective and constructive commentary of draft work in the spirit of critical friendship. Although this is often done in text tutors model use of other approaches that can encourage students to develop more advanced strategies. 

Student comment on tutor use of audio feedback:

"I think it is fantastic that you use voice recordings as well as written feedback, it really enabled me to understand the context in which you were giving the information. It also gave me the ability to 'sense' whether I was on the right track or not."

Student comment on their own experience of peer review via audio:

“…we inadvertently stumbled upon gold when we decided to do it [peer assessment] using audio because immediately you could sense the hesitation in the voice of your critic, 'the humanness of the medium' was the phrase that I used whereas text can be very harsh because it has no tone no intonation its not organic. I think one of the reasons why video wasn't used for me is self consciousness, its nothing more not even vanity, you can see a lot in a voice…”

 As students progress through the course the peer feedback approach becomes a critical feedback loop with detailed discussions emerging via review and response to review. Tutors model and monitor this process and ensure that review comments are aligned with relevant criteria. The same criteria referenced constructive alignment is used by tutors when providing formative feedback on draft work and along with end of module summative feedback. The final module requires the construction of an impact study which is critically reviewed by peers. In this there is an element of presentation and defence of learning that is akin to the viva that concludes doctoral studies.

Assessment by online portfolio. Assessment of media rich portfolios amplifies the potential for students to express themselves creatively by using a range of digital literacies. Although a proportion of formal writing is required, students are encouraged to use alternative genre and range of appropriate media to present aspects of their assessment products. A portfolio will typically contain Word or PDF documents, PowerPoint, Prezi or other presentation files, academic posters, video and/or animations. Students are encouraged to explore the potential of hardware and software that is in use in their own workplace as well as emerging technologies that could be of use to support their study needs and may have future relevance in the workplace. All work for assessment has to be uploaded to the student's secure and private portfolio. It has to be made available in formats that can be readily accessed by the assessors, appropriate choice of file types is discussed and agreed during semester; compatibility testing of recently emerged technologies is also done during semester if needed. Given the university requirement for date stamping the submission, any work hosted live on the internet, such as on personal web-sites, is not accepted for assessment. 

Dissemination of learning processes and research findings in the workplace. The course embraces the concept of individuals being able to contribute to organisational learning no matter what level they are at within the organisational hierarchy. Students learn how to design small-scale practical research projects using action inquiry, Reflective practice or case study approaches to identify and implement changes for improvement of personal and/or organisational practice. Others in the workplace are often involved in this aspect of study via consultation, participation, as mentors or via workplace advocacy. Many students have found that they gain increased recognition and respect in their workplace quite early in the course. it is not unusual for this to result in increased responsibilities or even internal promotion during the first or second year of study.

 It can be argued that the research process is not completed until it is shared with a critical audience. In their final year students plan a dissemination event where the process and findings of their major project are shared with a small and carefully selected workplace audience who are invited to provide critical feedback. This event can lead to significant impact both on the recognition of the professional abilities of the student and in contributing to learning and change within the organisation. It is also not unusual for students to report that they have been subsequently asked to demonstrate and share their media skills with colleagues, line managers or even organisational leaders. This comment came from a Teaching Assistant:

 “My Deputy Head delivers several training courses at a School training centre. Following my dissemination event she asked me to look at her presentation on ‘Visual Supports.’ She stated that my PowerPoint had made a powerful impact and that the images were strong. I worked with my Deputy Head showing her how to adapt slides according to the theory I had learned and applied to my presentation. She then finished the presentation and forwarded to me for my thoughts.”

An insight into student perspectives on the impact of the course can be gained via this selection of student comments that have been aggregated here.

References.

Beer, S., 1985. Diagnosing The System for Organisations. John Wiley, London and New York, NY.

Bradshaw, P., Powell, S. and Terrell, I., 2005. Developing engagement in online community of inquiry: lessons for higher education. Innovations in Education and Teaching International, Vol. 42 No. 3, pp. 205-15.

Carneiro, R., 2010. Spotlight Topic 3. Open Educational Practices and Generativism. Universidade Catolica Portuguesa. Slideshow Available at: [http:// cloudworks.ac.uk/cloud/view/3827] 

Donohue, C., 2014. Technology and Digital Media in the Early Years: Tools for Teaching and Learning. Routledge, e-book

Millwood, R., Powell, S. and Tindal, I., 2008a. Personalised learning and the Ultraversity experience. Interactive Learning Environments, Vol. 16 No. 1, pp. 63-81.

Millwood, R., Powell, S. and Tindal, I., 2008b. Developing technology-enhanced, work-focused learning – a pattern language approach. Proceedings for TSSOL 2008, Technology Support for Self-Organised Learners. Austria. pp. 84-105.

Prestridge, S., 2012. The beliefs behind the teacher that influences their ICT practices. Computers & Education, 58, pp.449–458.

Wastiau, P., Blamire, R., Kearney, C., Quittre, V., Van de Gaer, E. and Monseur, C. 2013. The Use of ICT in Education: a survey of schools in Europe. European Journal of Education.

Wenger, E., McDermott, R. and Snyder, W., 2006. Cultivating communities of practice: a guide to managing knowledge. Harvard Business School Press. 

Wheeler, S., 2015. Learning with ‘e’s: educational theory and practice in the digital age. Crown House Publishing.

Refining the assignment: telling the story.

This info was aimed at undergraduate students approaching the stage of reviewing and refining work in the weeks approaching the submission deadline for their major project. 

The final activity before preparing your files for handing in should be a thorough spelling and grammar check to ensure no errors were introduced in last minute changes such as copy pasting phrases within a paragraph into a better order. You should also check your citations and References are in line with Anglia regulations while doing your last checks.

Below are some general thoughts on refining UMP assignments: 

Its getting rather late to be checking that you have done what the module guide requires but you should remember not lose sight of that. 

You need to show that you have set out on, and completed, a well planned and purposeful learning journey. The account should include reference to meeting Anglia Ruskin ethics guidelines. The required documentation for this should be in your appendices. 

When presenting your assignment you need to check you have told a cohesive story, its not quite a simple as needing a ‘beginning - middle – end’ structure but that is a good framework to check for on the level of the whole project, each chapter, your paragraphs and sentences. 

Whichever option you chose your narrative should show that you have applied your planned approach to achieve a systematic and objective exploration of your topic. Your research question/s provide a focus within the topic, the themes and issues you explored should have relevance; they should clearly be part of your attempt to address your research question/s. The research question/s should be a particular focus in your conclusion.

Reference to a range of perspectives and the wider context can help develop a more complete story. Where there are differing perspectives or opinions you should show you have compared and contrasted views of key authors and taken into account practitioner perspectives or analysis of personally collected data where relevant. You should ensure that the assessor can see that you understand both the local environment and the wider ecosystem in which the research is set. Have you provided sufficient evidence of local detail and wider context? Getting the balance right will help you construct a clear and cohesive story.

For example:

• A case study of assessment practice in an educational institution can provide insight into a local environment.
• A review of assessment policy documentation could provide insight into relevant factors from the wider context that govern such institutions. 
• Analysis of recent government statements could indicate possible future developments and how that could influence local environments. 

Exploring any one of those as an information source is interesting but bringing them together provides a more holistic perspective. 

A strong conclusion is important, this should refer to information presented in earlier chapters but should not repeat it. In the concluding section you will present a commentary that discusses key themes and findings that emerged from your research and how these are connected to the research question/s. This is an opportunity to show that you can construct informed evidence based statements that convey what you have discovered. You are unlikely to have found a perfect answer to your research question/s, however; what you should be able to demonstrate is a graduate level engagement with the research question/s that extended your knowledge base about the project topic. 

Once you have got to the end go back and check your introduction does introduce the assignment you ended up writing.

Are you over the word count? 

Have you checked Assessment regulation 6.63 for what can be excluded from the count? You should see the regulations in my.anglia.

Have you checked the study skills documents for info on precise and concise writing and on what is key to a story and what can be left out? http://anglia.libguides.com/studyskills

Have you said: 

"I found that Doctor Henrietta Red Herring, a renowned and respected psychologist and educator in the United States of America, wrote a book in 1999 called: 'I don’t need a title here but I will put it in anyway.' In this book in Chapter 2 she says…" 

Or have you said: 

"Herring (1999, pp22-35) suggested…" 

The latter will generally be sufficient unless you have been instructed to provide detailed background information. 

Check your style and reduce to the essence. 

If your ‘final draft’ is still over the word count you could try colour coding using the highlight tool, this will help identify priority areas for editing and those that you can leave alone. This does take time and you might find that after trying it for a page or so you can then stop such detailed highlighting and just see the main priorities and address them. 

some ideas are below:

What is essential? – Pale green - pale because you don't need to check it again
What is important? – Stronger green - stronger because if you have done all you can to reduce amber and red bits these are the nest bits to try and reduce.

What is interesting/relevant but not essential to the main focus of the module - Pale amber - of the priority areas this is the least important as tangential comments can evidence transfer of knowledge or extensions to learning.
What might be overly descriptive? - Pale amber, reducing description should be done. Cut down descriptive words, change to more analytical text or remove. 

What is repetition? – Strong amber - This must be addressed, repetition is seen as a weakness.

What is not relevant? - Red 

Check each highlighted bit in your assignment again then delete everything in red. 

The stronger highlight colours are the areas where you are most likely to be able to reduce words without impacting negatively on the value of what is written as far as assessment goes. For example; where you have identified repetition you might combine statements to produce 1 succinct statement then consider where it is best placed in the narrative and where you can now refer back to that original statement rather than repeating it in a different form. Where you are overly descriptive cut out all but key detail, then address the engineering of the narrative, cut out superlative adjectives and adverb clauses. Sometimes a long sentence can be shortened by breaking it down into several shorter sentences. Just the act of removing the linking words should do that - and, furthermore, because, additionally, they also...

Some draft text:

Smith (2002) reports that his study findings suggest that time spent learning outside the classroom reduces stress in primary age children, he also mentions several other benefits identified in the study including opportunities for exercise, strengthening the immune system and collaborative social learning and many more from which he constructs a strong argument in favour of developing policy to promote higher levels of learning outside the classroom. 

Repetition noted and prioritised with strike through, overly descriptive terms identified:

Smith (2002) reports that his study findings suggest that time spent learning outside the classroom reduces stress in primary age children, he also mentions several other benefits identified in the study including opportunities for exercise, strengthening the immune system and collaborative social learning and many more from which he constructs a strong argument in favour of developing policy to promote higher levels of learning outside the classroom. 

Final text:

Smith argues in favour of developing primary school policy to promote higher levels of learning outside the classroom. His 2002 study found this reduces stress and improves fitness while strengthening the immune system.

Don’t forget the spelling and grammar and referencing check I​ mentioned back at the start.

Depending on your course you may be required to have your assignment bound, if this is the case it is very important not to leave binding until the last day in case the binders are over stretched - it would be a shame to miss the deadline or to have to hand in unbound work.