Supporting and enabling scholarship: developing and sharing expertise in online learning and teaching

Lists

Barnes, Fiona, Cole, Sue and Nix, Ingrid ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2297-8849 (2018) Supporting and enabling scholarship: developing and sharing expertise in online learning and teaching. Journal of Perspectives in Applied Academic Practice, 6 (1). pp. 66-74. ISSN 2051-9788

Preview

PDF
Barnes-Cole-Nix.pdf - Accepted Version
Available under License Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial Share Alike.
Download (422kB) | Preview

Official URL: https://doi.org/10.14297/jpaap.v6i1.323

Abstract

Online learning and teaching is an area of academic practice which is subject to rapid and ongoing change – to which universities must respond. It is vital for educators to keep abreast of the digital skills and pedagogically sound ways to deliver effective learning experiences that will appeal to students in a competitive marketplace. Yet, when it comes to using technology in their teaching, staff capabilities can vary tremendously. Lack of confidence with the ‘tools’ and approaches, and scepticism over their potential can obstruct the integration of teaching and ‘tool’.

In addition, for many academics the motivation driving their teaching is the content of their subject-discipline rather than digital pedagogies. Some staff may also be working in relative isolation. Furthermore, there can be a distance between researchers and practitioners, making it difficult to directly influence practice. Therefore, the challenge is how to advance understanding about digital pedagogies to deliver technology-enhanced-learning, and how to share and develop this understanding on an ongoing basis.

A scholarship model offers the possibility of addressing such staff development needs. This paper explores a scholarship approach used by the Teaching Online Panel (TOP), which went some way to meeting the challenges of how best to:
•support scholarship investigations when people are dispersed across the UK and mostly working independently
•maintain motivation for completing small, ongoing projects
•share good practice promptly within an evolving environment
•share understanding of each other’s practice in settings where staff perform different, but intersecting roles.

The TOP approach, with its emphasis on the importance of a support network, fits well with the academic literature on ‘communities of practice’ (Wenger, McDermott, & Snyder, 2002) and ‘landscapes of practice’ (Wenger-Trayner & Wenger-Trayner, 2015a). Based on TOP’s experiences, we highlight the vital role played by ‘brokers’ who motivated workers to share their knowledge through completing projects. The brokers then operated between the different areas of the institution to ensure the findings reached relevant audiences.

This approach does not come without challenges and our reflections offer suggestions about how future scholarship initiatives can prepare to meet these.

Item Type:	Article
Identifier:	10.14297/jpaap.v6i1.323
Keywords:	supporting scholarship, communities of practice, landscape of practice, staff development, online learning and teaching, brokers, enabling scholarship
Subjects:	Education Education > Higher education Education > Teaching and learning
Depositing User:	Ingrid Nix
Date Deposited:	02 May 2018 13:22
Last Modified:	04 Nov 2024 12:02
URI:	https://repository.uwl.ac.uk/id/eprint/4898

Downloads

Downloads per month over past year

Actions (login required)

View Item

References

Beetham, H., Falconer, I., McGill, L., & Littlejohn, A. (2012). Open Practices: Briefing Paper. JISC. Retrieved from: https://oersynth.pbworks.com/w/page/51668352/OpenPracticesBriefing

Buckley, S., & Du Toit, A. (2010). Academics leave your ivory tower: form communities of practice. Educational Studies, 26(5), 493-503.
doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/03055690903425532

Cambridge, D., Kaplan, S., & Suter, V. (2005). Community of practice design guide: A step-by-step guide for designing and cultivating communities of practice in higher education. EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative (ELI). Retrieved from: https://library.educause.edu/~/media/files/library/2005/1/nli0531-pdf.pdf

Chandler, K. (2016). Using breakout rooms in synchronous online tutorials. Journal of Perspectives in Applied Academic Practice, 4(3), 16–23.
doi: https://doi.org/10.14297/jpaap.v4i3.216

Cowan, J., George, J.W., & Pinheiro-Torres, A. (2004). Alignment of developments in higher education. Higher Education, 48(4), 439–459.
doi: https://doi.org/10.1023/B:HIGH.0000046722.64326.dc

Edwards, A. (2011). Building common knowledge at the boundaries between professional practices: Relational agency and relational expertise in systems of distributed expertise. International Journal of Educational Research, 50(1), 33-39.
doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijer.2011.04.007

Eraut, M. (2009). How professionals learn through work. In N. Jackson (Ed.). Learning to be professional through a higher education ebook. Retrieved from: http://learningtobeprofessional.pbworks.com/w/page/15914952/Howprofessionalslearnthroughwork

George, J.W., Cowan, J., & Gibbs, G. (1997). Brilliant Ideas for Tutoring from Region 11, Edinburgh, Open University in Scotland internal paper.

Harteis, C., & Billett, S. (2008). The workplace as learning environment. International Journal of Educational Research, 47(4), 209–212.
doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijer.2008.07.002

Kirkwood, A., & Price, L. (2012). The influence upon design of differing conceptions of teaching and learning with technology. In A. D. Olufsson, & J. O. Lindberg (Eds.). Informed design of educational technologies in higher education, (pp. 1-20). Hershey: IGI Global.
doi: https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-61350-080-4.ch001

Kubiak, C., Fenton-O’Creevy, M., Appleby, K., Kempster, M., Reed, M., Salvason, C., & Thorpe, M. (2015). Brokering boundary encounters. In E. Wenger-Trayner, M. Fenton-O'Creevy, S. Hutchinson, C. Kubiak, & B. Wenger-Trayner (Eds.). Learning in landscapes of practice: Boundaries, identity and knowledgeability in practice-based learning (pp. 81-94). Abingdon: Routledge.

Price, L., & Kirkwood, A. (2014). Using technology for teaching and learning in higher education: A critical review of the role of evidence in informing practice. Higher Education Research and Development, 33(3), 549-564.
doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/07294360.2013.841643

Thorpe, M. (2014). IET Research and Innovation Report: The strategic use of forums on modules and qualifications. Unpublished Internal document, The Open University.
Wenger, E., McDermott, R. A., & Snyder, W. (2002). Cultivating Communities of Practice: A Guide to Managing Knowledge. Boston, Mass., Harvard Business Review Press.

Wenger-Trayner, E., & Wenger-Trayner, B. (2015a). Learning in a landscape of practice: A framework. In E. Wenger-Trayner, M. Fenton-O'Creevy, S. Hutchinson, C. Kubiak, & B. Wenger-Trayner (Eds.). Learning in landscapes of practice: Boundaries, identity and knowledgeability in practice-based Learning, (pp. 13-30). Abingdon: Routledge.

Wenger-Trayner, E., & Wenger-Trayner, B. (2015b). Introduction to communities of practice: A brief overview of the concepts and its uses. Retrieved from: https://wenger-trayner.com/introduction-to-communities-of-practice/

Tools

CORE (COnnecting REpositories)

The University of West London

Supporting and enabling scholarship: developing and sharing expertise in online learning and teaching

Abstract

Downloads

Actions (login required)

Menu