Connect, collaborate create – encouraging digital presence and professionalism by experimenting with micro-learning

Description

This paper will introduce, participants to micro-learning delivered through 1minuteCPD which aims to improve the teaching and learning experience by utilising technology to solve some of the challenges of engaging practitioners in developmental activities. These challenges include the development, by students and academics, of a digital presence and online identity. Also, the project considers the possibilities digitally delivered micro-learning in CPD – and its interplay with institutional agendas.

Takeaway

Micro-learning could be an affective mechanism for building digital presence and professional in practitioner’s approaches to teaching and learning within the Manchester School of Art.

Abstract

One of the biggest challenges facing educators today is encouraging and developing digital literacy, presence and professionalization amongst students and academic colleagues. We believe that this is not a new phenomenon or one unique to our institution, but one that exists across the sector. Staff primarily cited a lack of time as a pervasive reason for non-engagement with an array of training sessions provided. This aligns with much of the research done in this area (Singh and Hardaker, 2014; Kopcha, 2012).

In trying to remove this barrier we have embarked on an experimental use of micro-learning. We have created an Open Educational Resource (OER). It consists of a daily, drip-fed collection of one minute tips with educational technologies. By using micro-learning we are breaking down the barriers to training, by creating a resource that takes just one minute and can be accessed on any device, anywhere they have an internet connection. These short, daily iterations, expose staff to different technologies and techniques, building familiarization and foundations for further conversations.

In order to identify relevant topics to include in our blog, we have used a thematic analysis of 2399 free text comments, gathered from our internal student satisfaction survey, that related to the student experience of technology enhanced learning across the institution. Completing the thematic analysis has provided us with five core development areas to focus our micro-learning on. By taking an evidence-based approach we are helping the institution to close the feedback loop, whilst also providing staff with relevant and timely training interventions.

Based on our assumptions that we were not alone in our struggle to fill the seats on our training courses, we felt we would like to help other institutions and academics facing similar challenges. Instead of restricting access to this resource, we have shared it freely under a Creative Commons license. The blog is shared online and can also be accessed through Twitter and Facebook. We have been encouraged by the take-up of the resource and the engagement both inside and outside of the institution. As of March, we have received over 13,000 views from over 3,000 unique visitors from across the globe since our first post on 1 January 2016. To make the resource more useful to the wider community, we have aligned our posts to the UK’s JISC’s 6 Elements of Digital Capability Framework.

In this session we will explore our journey in creating an open-access, micro-learning resource, that not only meets the needs of our institution but is also relevant and engaging to the wider community. We will share our initial reflections on the project, including early feedback and interviews regarding impact and success of the experiment, gathered from both inside and outside of the institution.

References

Kopcha, T. J. (2012) ‘Teachers’ perceptions of the barriers to technology integration and practices with technology under situated professional development.’ Computers & Education, 59(4) pp. 1109-1121.

Singh, G. and Hardaker, G. (2014) ‘Barriers and enablers to adoption and diffusion of eLearning: A systematic review of the literature–a need for an integrative approach.’ Education + Training, 56(2/3) pp. 105-121.