scholarly journals Doing staff development: Practices, dilemmas and technologies

2008 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
John Hannon
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Staff Development ◽  
Online Teaching ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Educational Development ◽  
Academic Staff ◽  
Daily Practice ◽  
Learning Technologies ◽  
Learning Technology

<span>Online learning technologies now pervade higher education institutions, and the convergence of teaching and learning onto technological systems has created new work practices and a demand for staff development. Educational developers are located at a nexus between the institutional and pragmatic imperatives, from which tensions and incongruencies emerge and need to be resolved in daily practice. In this paper, this nexus is explored by analysing accounts of educational development practice from one institution, based on interviews with educational developers. This paper considers staff development practices in higher education in response to the processes of change associated with learning technology, and the strategies used to resolve incongruencies and conflicts that emerged from these practices were analysed. The discourse analytic method of "interpretative repertoires" (Potter &amp; Wetherell, 1987) is used to explore the resolution of dilemmas in practice. In this case study, two contrasting repertoires are used to account for staff development: one that 'enables' academic staff in their use of learning technologies, and another which 'guides' staff in their online teaching towards specified technologies. The intersection of the two repertoires in the institution presented dilemmas for educational developers. The responses to these contexts and the implications for educational development are explored.</span>

scholarly journals Enabling learning through technology: some institutional imperatives

2011 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Audrey McCartan ◽  
Barbara Watson ◽  
Janet Lewins ◽  
Margaret Hodgson
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Staff Development ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Academic Staff ◽  
Educational Practice ◽  
Learning Technology ◽  
Higher Education Funding ◽  
Institutional Practice ◽  
Effective Use ◽  
Technology Programme

The imminent completion of many Teaching and Learning Technology Programme (TLTP) projects means that a considerable number of courseware deliverables will soon be available to Higher-Education (HE) institutions. The Higher Education Funding Council's intention in funding the Programme (HEFCE Circulars, 8/92, 13/93) was to ensure their integration into academic curricula by providing institutions with an opportunity to review their 'teaching and learning culture' with regard to the embedding of learning technology within their institutional practice. Two recent workshops, conducted with a representative sample of newly appointed academic staff in connection with the evaluation of materials to be included in a staff development pack whose purpose is to encourage the use of IT in teaching and learning (TLTP Project 7), strongly suggested that the availability of courseware alone was insufficient to ensure its integration into educational practice. The establishment of enabling mechanisms at the institutional level, as well as within departments, was crucial to ensure the effective use of learning technology.DOI:10.1080/0968776950030115

scholarly journals Contextually responsive and knowledge-focused teaching: disrupting the notion of ‘best practices’

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (SI) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ceclia Jacobs ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Staff Development ◽  
Best Practices ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Academic Staff ◽  
Knowledge Bases ◽  
Good Teaching ◽  
Approach To Teaching ◽  
Conceptual Paper ◽  
Higher Education Teaching

The notion that universal ‘best practices’ underpin higher education teaching is problematic. Although there is general agreement in the literature that good teaching is not decontextualised but rather that it is responsive to the context in which it occurs, generic views of teaching and learning continue to inform practices at universities in South Africa. This conceptual paper considers why a decontextualised approach to higher education teaching prevails and interrogates factors influencing this view, such as: the knowledge bases informing this approach to teaching, the factors from within the higher education sector that shape this approach to teaching, as well as the practices and Discourses prevalent in the field of academic development. The paper argues that teaching needs to be both contextually responsive and knowledge- focused. Disrupting ‘best practices’ approaches require new ways of undertaking academic staff development, which are incumbent on the understandings that academic developers bring to the enterprise.

New Knowledge - New Learning?

2013 ◽  
pp. 530-539
Author(s):  
Maria Slowey ◽  
Ekaterina Kozina
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Curriculum Reform ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Academic Staff ◽  
Bologna Process ◽  
Postgraduate Education ◽  
Learning Technology ◽  
New Learning ◽  
New Knowledge ◽  
The Bologna Process

The landscape of university undergraduate and postgraduate education in Ireland has undergone a significant change within the broader context of the Bologna Process in Europe. In recent years, a range of national steering initiatives have sought to promote curriculum reform, enhancement of teaching and learning, use of new learning technology, new forms of student support, and professional development of academic staff. The aim of this chapter is to analyse both underlying challenges and some significant achievements. The latter include examples of collaborative initiatives between academics and centres for academic practice and student learning in universities and joint projects across an alliance involving eight institutions of higher education. The authors also talk about the drivers of curriculum reform in higher education and illustrate how these are translated in practice through the introduction of a major curriculum reform initiative, the Academic Framework for Innovation (AFI) in one university.

scholarly journals The Need to Focus on Digital Pedagogy for Online Learning

2019 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 25 ◽  
Author(s):  
Halvdan Haugsbakken ◽  
Shaun Nykvist ◽  
Dag Atle Lysne
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Online Learning ◽  
Staff Development ◽  
Learning Environments ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Academic Staff ◽  
Pedagogical Practices ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Online Technologies ◽  
Digital Pedagogy

As pedagogical approaches to teaching and learning continue to evolve to meet the needs of students in a rapidly changing, globalized world that is heavily influenced and reliant on digital technologies, it is anticipated that the learning environments in Higher Education will also be transformed. Consequently, this transformation of learning environments is often synonymous with the adoption of and continued focus on the potential benefits of online learning in the Higher Education sector. It is within this context that this paper reports on a small-scale case study in a large Nordic university where the learning management system, Blackboard was piloted and implemented using a top-down approach consisting of the comprehensive training of academic staff, students and support staff. The explorative approach used in this study identifies three common themes in the data as it follows a group of academic beta testers (N=23) who are involved in the initial phases of implementation. The study explores the educators’ primary use of Blackboard, whilst attempting to understand how academics perceive and interpret the role of online technologies to support effective pedagogical practices. Drawing on data from participant interviews, the study highlights the need for increased academic support for online learning design and a renewed focus on staff development of effective pedagogical practices

scholarly journals FOCUS on technology-supported learning in further education

2011 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Janice Smith
Keyword(s):  
Staff Development ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Further Education ◽  
Learning Technologies ◽  
Information And Communications Technology ◽  
Learning Technology ◽  
Ict In Education ◽  
Learning And Teaching ◽  
Software Products ◽  
Third Phase

The Dearing Report of 1997 has raised the profile of the use of information and communications technology (ICT) in learning and teaching. This in turn has led to a demand for staff development on the successful incorporation of ICT in education (Smith and Oliver, 2000). In HE, there have been a number of targeted funding initiatives such as the Computers in Teaching Initiative (CTI) and the current third phase of the Teaching and Learning Technology Programme. This latter programme focuses on embedding learning technologies rather than developing software products, leading to generic projects on the implementation of ICT in education. As these projects aim for cross-institutional transferability, there seems no reason why - although carried out in the context of HE - they should not be widened to address the needs of the FE sector.DOI:10.1080/0968776000080309 

scholarly journals From Face-to-Face to Online UDeL Camps: Supporting Staff at Higher Education Institutions in Developing Universal Design for eLearning (UDeL)

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Håkan Eftring ◽  
Elinor Jeanette Olaussen ◽  
Helen Petrie ◽  
Merja Saarela ◽  
Tarja Ladonlahti ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Online Teaching ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Universal Design ◽  
Higher Education Institutions ◽  
Education Institution ◽  
Online Teaching And Learning ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Challenges And Opportunities

The TINEL Project is running a series of camps for staff at higher education institution to support them in developing inclusive eLearning. The first camp was conducted face-to-face, but the coronavirus pandemic meant that the second camp was conducted online. This created a case study in inclusive eLearning in itself and allowed us to experience and reflect on the challenges and opportunities of inclusive online teaching and learning. This paper presents the structure and content of the two camps, our reflections on moving from a face-to-face to an online situation and our elaboration how the UDL principles apply to eLearning to create Universal Design for eLearning (UDeL). We found that because we already had a syllabus for the camp prepared, transferring it to an online camp did not present a great number of challenges. Some aspects of the online situation were actually advantageous (e.g. presenting all materials digitally and making them fully accessible) while others were difficult to overcome (e.g. engaging all participants in online activities and discussions). We provide a set of recommendations of how to implement the three principles of UDL in eLearning situations.

scholarly journals The COVID-19 pandemic: a catalyst for creativity and collaboration for online learning and work-based higher education systems and processes

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tashmin Khamis ◽  
Azra Naseem ◽  
Anil Khamis ◽  
Pammla Petrucka
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Developing Countries ◽  
Staff Development ◽  
Online Education ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Organisational Change ◽  
Faculty Training ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Regulatory Frameworks

PurposeThe purpose of this research is to focus on work-based problems catalysed by the COVID-19 global pandemic, based on a case study of a multi-continental, multi-campus university distributed across Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Pakistan. Higher education institutions (HEIs) in developing countries lacked pre-existing infrastructure to support online education and/or policy and regulatory frameworks during the pandemic. The university's programmes in Pakistan and East Africa provide lessons to other developing countries' HEIs. The university's focus on teaching and learning and staff development has had a transformational organisational effect.Design/methodology/approachCase study with participatory approaches aimed at co-production of responsive systems and co-creation of effective curriculum and faculty training is used.FindingsSystems and processes developed across the university in the effort to ensure educational continuity. From the disruption to all educational programmes and the disarray of regulatory bodies' responses, collaboration emerged as a key driver of positive change. The findings reiterate the value of trust and provision of opportunities for those with the requisite competencies to lead in a participatory and distributive manner whilst addressing limited human and financial resources. The findings reflect on previous work respecting organisational change recast in the digital age.Originality/valueThis paper reflects the authors' work in real-time as they led and managed changes encountered during the COVID-19 pandemic. The paper will be of value to management and leadership cadres, particularly in developing contexts, responsible for recovery and sustainability of the higher education sector.

scholarly journals A STILE Project case study: the evaluation of a computer-based visual key for fossil identification

2011 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jean Underwood ◽  
Arne Dahlberg ◽  
Simon FitzPatrick ◽  
Malcolm Greenwood
Keyword(s):  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Academic Staff ◽  
Learning Technology ◽  
Higher Education Funding ◽  
Resource Base ◽  
Student Access ◽  
Computer Based ◽  
Set Up ◽  
The Uk

The STILE Project (Students' and Teachers' Integrated Learning Environment) is one of 76 projects set up under the UK Government's Teaching and Learning Technology Programme (TLTP) initiative sponsored by the British Higher Education Funding Councils (HEFCs). The STILE Project uses hypermedia to provide greater opportunities for independent and flexible modes of learning both in a campus situation and for distance learning. The approach is resource-based. STILE provides a mechanism for both tutors and learners to discover and access relevant resources when they need them, together with facilities that enable users readily to use and re-use existing materials, to integrate them together, and to add further materials of their own in a way that seems natural to them (see Ruggles et al, 1995). The result is not a closed and finished product,but a set of tools and services and a continually developing resource base. The effect is to ease the load on academic staff in maintaining and supporting student access to resources, and to enrich the set of resources available to both staff and students.DOI:10.1080/0968776960040205

Teaching Off-Line Digital Video Editing On-Line

2012 ◽  
pp. 845-858
Author(s):  
Sarah Atkinson
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Online Teaching ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Digital Video ◽  
Virtual Learning Environment ◽  
Video Editing ◽  
Online Higher Education ◽  
Video Tutorials ◽  
On Line

This chapter focuses upon a case study of an online higher education intervention – an interactive resource the author has devised as an aid to the teaching and learning of undergraduate digital video editing (DVE). This resource specifically addresses drama and fiction postproduction principles, practice and techniques. The repository, which includes streamed materials available to download, guides the student through the film production process in a step-by-step way (for students), with suggested class based activities and tasks using the materials (for tutors). The resources include the script, all planning documentation, all production paperwork, and all rushes shot for different productions. The student/tutor navigates through these materials guided by a combination of voice-overs, video tutorials by those personnel involved in the production, and clips taken from the “making of” documentaries. This chapter explores the intervention within the wider context of higher education online teaching and through the lens of virtual learning environment pedagogic theory.

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