1. http://www.prowe.ac.uk PROWE (personal repositories:online wiki environments) – using new networking tools and shared repositories to support part-time distance tutors’ professional development Anne Hewling PROWE Project Officer Open University

2. http://www.prowe.ac.uk PROWE – what is it? a JISC-funded Digital Repositories Programme Project between OU and UoL Combines: - new communications tools e.g. wikis and blogs - part-time distance tutors/associate lecturers - continuing professional development needs - communities of practice - repository theory and practice

3. http://www.prowe.ac.uk What drives it? "In what ways could wiki and wiki-type environments be useful and useable as personal and informal repositories to support professional development within part-time tutor communities of practice?"

4. http://www.prowe.ac.uk What does that mean in practice? What are the CPD needs of part-time teaching/tutoring staff? What kind of sharing do these staff already do, or need to do, or want to do? What can new technologies like wikis, blogs etc. offer in response to these needs and wishes?

5. http://www.prowe.ac.uk And “the ones that got away”… till now… Is anyone out there interested in sharing? What are their existing pedagogical models and how do they expect things to roll out?

6. http://www.prowe.ac.uk Institutional context - OU Around 150,000 undergraduate and more than 30,000 postgraduate distance students Nearly all students are studying part-time About 70 per cent of undergraduate students are in full- time employment and more than 50,000 students are sponsored by their employers More than 25,000 OU students live outside the UK

7. http://www.prowe.ac.uk Institutional context - UoL Around 10,000 undergraduate and 8,000 postgraduate 6,000 students are studying part-time distance courses both in UK and overseas 65% of postgraduates are on courses with a significant distance learning, often online, element

8. http://www.prowe.ac.uk Staffing context The Open University has… More than 7,000 tutors with diverse backgrounds All dispersed around UK, Europe and elsewhere Highly structured learning/teaching/working environment Distance-only institution Moving towards Moodle in 2007 The University of Leicester has… Approximately 350 Associate Tutors In at least 11 departments A wide range of tutor roles, duties, activity/involvement levels Blended environment Moved to Blackboard in 2005

9. http://www.prowe.ac.uk What has happened so far? - user needs assessment - tools assessment - metadata and other complicated repositories bits - elgg and Plone – testing environments

10. http://www.prowe.ac.uk What happens next? - bigger and better trialling (more people, longer, more directed activity) - development of documentation and models - evaluation - reaching some conclusions…

11. http://www.prowe.ac.uk Matters arising - what is a typical tutor and what are typical needs? - PRMS - "if it 'ain't broke, why fix it?" - facilitation - why not/why?

12. http://www.prowe.ac.uk PROWE: “A community is like a ship: everyone ought to be prepared to take the helm.” Henrik Ibsen

13. http://www.prowe.ac.uk Contact us: Webpage: http://www.prowe.ac.ukhttp://www.prowe.ac.uk Project email: info@prowe.ac.ukinfo@prowe.ac.uk Project Officer email (OU): a.hewling@open.ac.uk a.hewling@open.ac.uk