EdTech 2009 – National College of Ireland May Sustainability through Staff Engagement: Applying a Community of Practice Model to Academic Staff Development Programmes. Paul Gormley, Fiona Concannon and Michelle Tooher Centre for Excellence in Learning and Teaching (CELT) National University of Ireland, Galway

EdTech 2009 – National College of Ireland May Overview 1. Problem Definition: Sustainability through Staff Engagement 2. Approach taken: Establish a Community of Practice and supporting structures 3. Case Study: Blogs and Wikis workshop 4. Evaluation and Results 5. Wrap-up and questions NOTE: We’ll add you to our PBwiki site if you want any of these materials.

EdTech 2009 – National College of Ireland May About NUI Galway  Student population circa  Blackboard v7.2  Number of Active Courses = 1819  Number of Active Users =  Number of Instructor/Leader Users = 1478  Page Views on Most Active Date =  Average Page Views Per Day = 25363

EdTech 2009 – National College of Ireland May Sustainability through Staff Engagement Issues  2008 Student Survey = 98% pleased with Blackboard  2008 Staff Usage Survey = Mainly being used as a repository  Limited resources for face2face training (38 workshops)  Developing online resources (screenshots, pdfs, video walkthroughs) Requirements  Move towards blended learning offerings  Need to engage students through collaborative and reflective practice  To facilitate staff engagement to embed technology-enhanced leaning

EdTech 2009 – National College of Ireland May Sustainability through Staff Engagement Opportunities  Learning Objects Campus Pack (blogs, wikis and podcasting)  The National Digital Learning Repository (2005-present)  Communities of Practice in teaching and learning culture  A place to share resources nationally  The Irish Learning Technology Association (ILTA)  EdTech2009 conference – Dublin May Action  To plan sustainable Academic Development plans by leveraging a Community of Practice model at NUI Galway

EdTech 2009 – National College of Ireland May Model 1/3

EdTech 2009 – National College of Ireland May Model 2/3

EdTech 2009 – National College of Ireland May Model 3/3

EdTech 2009 – National College of Ireland May Case Study: Blogs and Wikis Workshop Title  Using Blackboard to Support Groupwork, Collaboration and Reflection Strategy  Develop a Community of Practice (‘The NUIG Collaboration SIG’) with the aim of:  Getting academics up and running with blogs and wikis  Developing a space for peer support groupings  Provide opportunities to showcase work in progress  Facilitate the dissemination of best practice  To investigate potential research outputs

EdTech 2009 – National College of Ireland May Case Study: Blogs and Wikis Workshop Timeline = 1 academic cycle 1. Attend workshop training  Added to the SIG 2. Work with CELT member or peer to develop local case studies 3. Encourage academics to keep a learning journal 4. Evaluate and review the process 5. Disseminate results 6. …

EdTech 2009 – National College of Ireland May Case Study: Blogs and Wikis Workshop Setting up the web space - initial 1. SIG Blog – pooling ideas for blogs and wiki 2. SIG Wiki 1. Useful resources 2. Case studies 3. Individual planning pages 3. Workshop resources  Take them and use them!

EdTech 2009 – National College of Ireland May Case Study: Blogs and Wikis Workshop Augmenting the web space – current focus 1. Evaluation methodologies: 1. Whole group questionnaires 2. Student interviews 3. Focus group interviews 4. Lecturer video feedback and recommendations 2. Case studies 1. Wiki template 2. Wiki/blog activities 3. Assessment methods 4. Lessons learned

EdTech 2009 – National College of Ireland May Let’s Have A Look

EdTech 2009 – National College of Ireland May Results  Huge take-up of wikis and blogs across schools/colleges  Medical  Education  Industrial Engineering  Marketing  Commerce…  SIG group number = 100+  Number of publications = 6

EdTech 2009 – National College of Ireland May Has it engaged staff and students? ‘It gets you to think outside the box. You think: this is the real world’ ‘It’s definitely a better way of learning because it's practical and more of a real working environment’ ‘It's a good challenge for future life and working in industry’ ‘Because we can access the wiki permanently, and take our own copy of the wiki, I can look back and see what I wrote and how I wrote it. That's when I'll really recognise the leaning’

EdTech 2009 – National College of Ireland May Has it engaged staff and students? 'The students unprompted told me that they really liked it…I really enjoyed it… I think that they got more satisfaction out of it and that gave me a lot more satisfaction out of it… definitely I’d say the best thing that I could say is that I’ll certainly be using it again and looking at ways in which I can bring it into other courses.’ [staff member 1] 'I think that there is a fear of technology for most people, including myself, I can definitely say that I can run with this now, on my own without the support of CELT into the future.’ [staff member 2]

EdTech 2009 – National College of Ireland May Staff Survey – Trend Analysis When asked about intended use of collaboration tools in the academic cycle, staff indicated:  63% group wikis  57% reflective blog  42% lecturer podcast  35% group blog  23% individual wiki  15% student-based podcasts.

EdTech 2009 – National College of Ireland May Staff Survey – Peer Knowledge Sharing CELT is currently harvesting staff experiences of their student-based collaboration activities. The SIG survey revealed that participants wished their colleagues to share (in order): 1. Student engagement and motivation strategies 2. Marking, correcting and assessment strategies 3. The logistics of using wikis with larger groups

EdTech 2009 – National College of Ireland May Staff Survey – Informing CELT Practice When asked how CELT could best support the academic community for , the SIG identified the following priorities: 1. Uploading student and staff experience (e.g. case studies, videos, testimonies etc.) 2. Conducting student research and evaluations (including student perceptions of learning technologies) 3. Supporting academics to develop research-based practice 4. Show and tell sessions (e.g. coffee mornings and informal gatherings) 5. CELT to work with academics to create case studies and conduct joint research activities

EdTech 2009 – National College of Ireland May Applying the Model  Have applied this model to:  NUIG: ‘An Introduction to Educational Podcasting’ workshop  Nationally: ‘Learning Technologies: From Pilot to Mainstream’  Collaboration strand: Train the Trainer in Trinity College Dublin and University College Cork  Staff development workshops at four Institutes of Education  Using PBwiki as a SIG space for this group  Currently evaluating the impact of this model

EdTech 2009 – National College of Ireland May Dissemination Channels  Institutional  NUI Galway Teaching and Learning Forum  National  PB Wiki sites  National Digital Learning Repository  Irish WebCT/Blackboard Users’ Group  International  BBWorld Europe09  EdTech2009

EdTech 2009 – National College of Ireland May Wrap-up and questions