Rationale:

To provide all members of the University Executive with a detailed briefing about the current position of e-learning at Sheffield Hallam University and about the broader e-learning environment, with the aim that this informs thinking and decision-making in preparation for the next phase of Corporate Plan. This engagement evolved from a 20 minute presentation at a routine University Executive business meeting into a briefing paper, a six week Blackboard course and an interactive workshop.

 

Briefing Paper:

In late January 2007, a “traditional” briefing paper The future of e-learning at Sheffield Hallam University was circulated to the University Executive. The briefing document outlined:

• the current e-learning position at Sheffield Hallam University
• some analysis of the factors that have contributed to our success so far (also captured within this Institutional Review Document)
• opportunities for future direction of development
• challenges that we face in moving forward
• request for decision regarding next steps and order of priority.

 

The document also included a jargon buster regarding web2.0 technologies commonly referenced in the popular and education presses.

 

Blackboard Course:

At the same time as circulating the briefing paper, the University Executive were invited to join a six week Blackboard (Bb) course. The aims of the course were to give the group some practical insight into what typifies the blended student experience of Sheffield Hallam University, to provide access to additional electronic resources and to demonstrate the value added of this form of more detailed and interactive engagement with the topic. The course was to demonstrate how Bb can be used, to act as an exemplar although consciously only using techniques and functionality that require minimal technical skills ie easily within the reach of all academic staff.

 

The structure of the course was as follows:

 

Week 1:

Participant survey – to enable the tailoring of content and to inform the emphasis of the planned workshop (included at the end of this section)

First content section released –Background Information (based largely on content of the briefing paper with some additional graphics files to illustrate background in non-text format)

 

Week 2:

New content section released – “Need to know” including information and resources on the following themes: New Technology, New Learners, New Learning Styles and Skills, New Learning Spaces

Interactions included – some examples of typical learning activities also included for participants to try eg discussion board, online test etc

 

Week 3:

New content section released – “e-learning 06/07” focusing on e-learning at Sheffield Hallam - scale, examples and activities, new initiatives underway in the year and some information about the student portal development

Seeded discussions – based upon a couple of free-text responses to the survey, opportunity to answer some common questions ahead of the workshop so that we can move past them and make more effective use of face to face

 

Week 4:

Survey results fed back to group – a summary of the findings of the survey highlighted that most participants felt they knew a little about the history of e-learning at Sheffield Hallam University but that this was their first experience of e-learning and Blackboard. It was also reported that the face to face session would focus upon the following (most requested) themes:

• How should we respond to students growing expectations of increasingly sophisticated e-learning provision?
• How do we ensure staff have the appropriate skills to support future e-learning activities?
• How should we be targeting our investment in technology to prepare for future needs?

Further seeded discussions - further free-text responses to the survey were used to see discussion, again extending the opportunity to address common questions ahead of the workshop.

 

Week 5:

New content section released –“The future…?” not for the feint hearted a section exploring the possibilities of Learning in a virtual world?; What? No content?; The end of Blackboard?

Preparatory activities - for the workshop the following week:

"What e-learning at Sheffield Hallam means to you?" jot down the first 3 words that come to mind and bring them to workshop

What about Sheffield Hallam "beyond the water's edge"? Choose one of the following sites, go to the home page and enter "Sheffield Hallam University" into the search box? Make a note of one interesting, intriguing or surprising thing you find. The sites to choose from are

http://www.wikipedia.org/

http://www.flickr.com/

http://www.youtube.com/

http://scholar.google.com/

http://www.blogger.com/

 

Week 7:

Feedback survey - following the completion of the Bb course and the face to face workshop, participants were invited to provide feedback on their experience, its effectiveness in meeting their needs and any comments they had about the key themes emerging from the workshop

 

The Workshop:

The workshop took place on Monday 5 March 2007 and lasted on 1 1/2 hours. It was scheduled to follow on from a routine University Executive business meeting and there were 14 of the 16 members in attendance.

 

The event was facilitated by Louise Thorpe (Head of Academic Innovation), Paul Helm, (Head of LTI), Ellie Caldwell (2nd year Psychology student and student e-learning assistant) and Danny Lawson (3rd year Computing student and LTI placement student). During the workshop Paul and Danny "live-blogged" the session to showcase how the technology can extend the engagement not only beyond the time of the face to face event but also beyond its physical location. Colleagues in the LTI and other e-learning support staff were following the blog synchronously; doing the quiz at the same time, asking questions and commenting on the other activities. A summary of the activity on the blog was shared with the participants towards the end of the workshop.

 

The format of the workshop was as following:

Activity 1:

A light-hearted quiz (with the aid of a laptop) with questions based upon the briefing paper, the Blackboard course and the preparatory activities.

 

Activity 2:

A group-based role play exercise engaging with different student profiles and their expectations of e-learning and other e-support as part of their learning experience

 

Presentation:

An input from a 2nd year Psychology student, firstly on her experience of e-learning and that of her friends (warts and all!), secondly about her observations about working with staff as a student e-learning assistant.

 

Presentation:

Head of LTI shared with group his own use of a blog to brief staff in the LTI about his own work, he then went on to share some of the content and comments from the live blogging exercise.

 

Activity 3:

Q&A discussion about the key issues facing the institution if we are to build upon our current position with regard to e-learning and strategies we might employ to address these.