School of something FACULTY OF OTHER School of Geography FACULTY OF ENVIRONMENT Introducing new cultural and technological approaches into institutional practice: an experience from geography Helen Durham and Katherine Arrell

Structure Introduction Collaborative Learning Geography experience: Global Positioning System New technologies and new cultures Implementation and critical success factors Influencing institutional practice School of Geography FACULTY OF ENVIRONMENT

JISC/NSF Dialog-Plus project DLIC Digital Libraries in Support of Innovative Approaches to Learning and Teaching in Geography (Dialog-Plus) UK: Leeds and Southampton USA: The Pennsylvania State and University College at Santa Barbara Geographers, computer scientists and education specialists Model of creating digital learning objects called ‘nuggets’ Aim: to design, create and support the redeployment and embedding of digital resources within consortium courses and modules School of Geography FACULTY OF ENVIRONMENT

Initial reflections on project nuggets Limited re-use of learning materials Common learning objectives Level of study Quantity of material Learning environment (technology / classroom / field and lab) Initial reflections identified learning objectives as a critical factor in nugget re-usability Aim: to increase the success of reusable learning materials through truly collaborative design School of Geography FACULTY OF ENVIRONMENT

Proposed collaborative design framework Potential collaboration explored by Penn State and Leeds To meet this aim we identified the following objectives: Identify common learning objectives and To establish level, quantity, learning environment common to all collaborators To share expertise To internationalise learning case studies School of Geography FACULTY OF ENVIRONMENT

GPS – an international e-learning experience School of Geography FACULTY OF ENVIRONMENT GPS/personal navigation units now a familiar site either as hand-held unit or ‘Sat Nav’ in your car (e.g TomTom) Useful to geographers as a fast and accurate method of location acquisition in the field. International collaboration in design and creation of ‘training’ nugget Improve student experience in the field

Implementing Collaborative Learning Activity Design (CLAD) New cultural approach for Leeds project members Introduced CLAD methodology Elements: Concept mapping: visualisation and realisation of nugget Web conferencing tools (e.g. Access Grid and HorizonWimba): overcome time difference issues, discuss strategic and operational design and development issues – document/application sharing Nugget Developer Guidance Toolkit : facilitate seamless production of nugget – defines aims, tasks, L&T approaches School of Geography FACULTY OF ENVIRONMENT

Methodology of CLAD School of Geography FACULTY OF ENVIRONMENT Flowchart of CLAD process 2 iterative processes: design and development cycles Identification of personal/common teaching requirements Identification of learning objects Identification of learning topics Identification of links between topics Parse into nuggets Formalise pedagogic approach (Toolkit) Develop/refine learning material Share material with collaborators Comment and edit Design cycle Development cycle

Collaborative technologies School of Geography FACULTY OF ENVIRONMENT Schematic of nugget design E-Learning Toolkit

Nugget deployment: Critical success factors Nugget completed early 2006 Successfully deployed by all design partners Possible repurposing by Southampton Positively received by student cohorts Feedback to be incorporated for 2007 deployment Flexible design for face to face, at distance, in field and multi-level learners Communication: Technology and expertise High quality reviewed learning materials, designed and structured by many ‘experts’ has led to improved learning materials that have been successfully embedded within existing modules and programmes. School of Geography FACULTY OF ENVIRONMENT

School of Geography FACULTY OF ENVIRONMENT Available at Leeds via: Nathan Bodington VLE as PDF and web version Word file for use on PDA

Influencing institutional practice Truly collaborative design of learning materials requires increased discussion, reflection and sharing of learning and teaching practises. Technological investments Increased provision of effective communication technology and support for design, revision and deployment. Cultural investments Investing in high quality, reviewed learning materials should change, i.e., increase the ‘student experience’ but may require higher ‘investment’ in teaching and learning New approaches and methods of adapting current institutional frameworks (administrative, legal and financial) Potential issues surrounding managing student expectations, institutional ownership, and mentality of sharing School of Geography FACULTY OF ENVIRONMENT

We feel that this methodology raises several interesting questions: Do learning materials designed and refined by many ‘experts’ make better materials? Can we successfully use learning materials without common learning objectives? Should this be a pre-requisite for any collaborative learning materials? If so, are current frameworks sufficient to support this type of collaborative design? Are there any disadvantages to this framework? School of Geography FACULTY OF ENVIRONMENT